Category: Music
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April 15th
Did you settle accounts with the Infernal Revenue 'Service'? If yes, then celebrate with The Beatles, Harrison and Clapton, and Tom Petty. No, I am not opposed to paying taxes. I am not anti-tax any more than I am anti-government. We need government, and we need to fund it somehow. It does not follow, however, that…
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Both Sides Now (Clouds)
Joni Mitchell wrote the song and her version is my favorite at the moment. Judy Collins made it famous. I am on a Dave van Ronk kick these days and his rendition, though less 'accessible,' is a haunting contender. According to the Wikipedia entry on van Ronk, "Joni Mitchell often said that his rendition of…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Dedications
Peter L. 40 Cups of Coffee (Ella Mae Morse). Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette (Tex Williams) Don K. One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer (Amos Milburn) Phil F. Money (Barrett Strong) Mike V. Born to be Wild (Steppenwolf) Jeff H. I've Been Everywhere (Johnny Cash) Kathy P. I've Got a Tiger by the Tail (Buck Owens) Marie B.…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Lawrence Auster on Dylan
I was surprised, but pleased, to see that the late Lawrence Auster, traditionalist conservative, photo to the left, 1973, had a deep appreciation and a wide-ranging knowledge of Dylan's art. Born in 1949, Auster is generationally situated for that appreciation, and as late as '73 was still flying the '60s colors, if we can go…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Death and Resurrection
Bob Dylan, See That My Grave is Kept Clean Bob Dylan, In My Time of Dyin' Bob Dylan, Gospel Plow Bob Dylan, Fixin' to Die Johnny Cash, Ain't No Grave Johnny Cash, Redemption Johnny Cash, Personal Jesus Johnny Cash, Hurt Mississippi John Hurt, You Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley Johnny Cash, Final Interview. He speaks…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Forgotten Folkies
Paul Clayton, Wild Mountain Thyme. Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I'm Gone). Dylan borrowed a bit of the melody and some of the lyrics for his Don't Think Twice. This is a proto-version prior to the Freewheelin' album. Dylan talks about Clayton in the former's Chronicles, Volume One, Simon and Shuster, 2004, pp. 260-261.…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
This, Dylan's second album, and one of my favorites, was released in May of 1963 by Columbia Records. Here are my favorites from the album. Blowin' in the Wind, with its understated topicality, enjoys an assured place in the Great American Songbook. London Ed uploaded this Alanis Morissette version which is one of the better covers. Thanks, Ed!…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Van Cliburn (1934-2013)
Van Cliburn, Cold War Musical Envoy, Dies at 78 Tschaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Suze Rotolo and the Songs She Inspired
Surprisingly, I missed the passing of Suze Rotolo some two years ago. She died on 25 February 2011 at 67 years of age. 'Dylanologists' usually refer to the following as songs she inspired: Don't Think Twice. This Peter, Paul and Mary rendition may well be the best. It moves me as much as it did…
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Snow Here Now
But it is a very wet snow that does not survive its contact with the ground. A nasty cold front has arrived from the Left Coast. Can we blame this on libruls too? Snow had the Grapevine closed for a spell. And that puts me in mind of Johnny Bond, 1960, Hot Rod Lincoln: We…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Early and Late
Early in the Morning, Peter, Paul and Mary. An inspirational way to start the day. Early in the Morning, same title, different song, Vanity Fare, 1969 Early in the Morning, same title different song again, Eric Clapton. Can a white boy play the blues? Early Morning Rain, Gordon Lightfoot. There are excellent covers of this…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Literary Allusions
Linda Ronstadt, 1967, Different Drum. Cf. Henry David Thoreau: "“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden Byrds, Turn, Turn, Turn, 1965. Lyrics almost verbatim…
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Three Days Before the Music Died Dylan was Born
Patrick Kurp sends this: On this Day in Duluth in 1959, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Richie Valens, Jiles Perry “the Big Bopper” Richardson, Dion and the Bellmonts [sic], and others played to a sell-out crowd at the Duluth Armory for a “Winter Dance Party” promoted by Duluth’s Lew Latto—three days before Holly, Valens, and…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Letters and the Like
Boxtops, 1967, The Letter R. B. Greaves, Take a Letter, Maria Ketty Lester, 1962, Love Letters, with images from David Lynch's Blue Velvet. If you think the Lynch twist spoils a beautiful song, here it is straight. Often covered, never surpassed. E.P.'s version. Elvis Presley, 1962, Return to Sender Benny Goodman, Airmail Special The Marvelettes,…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Varia
Traveling Wilburys, End of the Line Amos Milburn, One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer The Showmen, It Will Stand. If you remember this underplayed oldie, I'll buy you one scotch, one bourbon, one beer. There was an apologetic sub-genre around this time (1961) of songs celebrating R & R. Fleetwood Mac, Mission Bell. Haunting cover…