Category: Music
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Woody Guthrie & Sons: Arlo, Adnopoz, Zimmerman
Tomorrow being Woody Guthrie's 100th birthday, tonight we revisit some of his tunes and some of those he influenced. First a wry number from the man himself: Philadelphia Lawyer. A tale of an East Coast lawyer, a Hollywood maid, and a gun-totin' Reno cowhand name of Wild Bill, with "ten notches carved on his gun." "Now tonight back…
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All Along the Watchtower
The Book of Isaiah, Chapter 21, verses 5-9: Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise ye princes, and prepare the shield. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Jimmy Elledge (1943-2012) and Some Other One-Hit Wonders
Jimmy Elledge, Funny How Time Slips Away. Born January 8, 1943 in Nashville, Elledge died June 10, 2012 after complications following a stroke. The song, written by Willie Nelson, made the #22 slot on Billboard Hot 100 in 1961, and sold over one million copies. Elledge never had another hit. As a YouTube commenter pointed…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: (Anti-)Drug Songs
Buffy Sainte-Marie, Cod'ine Hoyt Axton, The Pusher Dave Van Ronk, Cocaine Blues Velvet Underground, Heroin Warren Zevon, Carmelita Harry 'The Hipster' Gibson, Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs Murphy's Ovaltine? Dubiously classified as drug songs: Peter, Paul, and Mary, Puff the Magic Dragon Doors, The Crystal Ship Tim Hardin, Red Balloon. Volume is poor, so…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Rodney King and Henry Hill
Tonight I permit myself a bit of Schadenfreude (or is it righteous satisfaction?) at the passing of the 'motorist' Rodney King and the 'businessman' Henry Hill. Calling King a 'motorist' as so many knee-jerk liberal journalists did from 1991 on is like calling the mafioso Hill a 'business man.' In 'honor' of these two sorry…
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George F. Will and the Beach Boys Meet Alexius Meinong
"The Beach Boys Still Get Around." Excellent sociocultural analysis by George Will. Opening paragraph: Three hours before showtime, Brian Wilson says: “There is no Rhonda.” Sitting backstage at Merriweather Post Pavilion, gathering strength for the evening’s 48-song, 150-minute concert, Wilson was not asked about her, he just volunteered this fact. The other members of the…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies Deferred: Dick Dale, King of the Surf Guitar
Last night's desert storm knocked out my Internet connection . . . . Before the Beach Boys, who debuted 50 years ago in '62, there was Dick Dale, the father of surf music and my first guitar hero. He took a Fender Stratocaster and played it upside down and backwards, fretting with this right hand and…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Performers Who Ditched Their Italian Surnames, Part II
Part I is here. But first one who didn't. An early manager suggested to Frank Sinatra that he adopt the stage name 'Frankie Satin.' Sinatra would have none of that bullshit. He did things his way. That's Life. Joseph Di Nicola (Joey Dee and the Starlighters), Peppermint Twist, with an intro by Dwight D. Eisenhower! This video…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Doc Watson
The Grim Reaper is gaining speed as he picks off the makers of the music that so impressed us in our impressionable years. In recent weeks Levon Helm of The Band and Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees have passed on. And just a few days ago, Doc Watson, master of the flat pick. So pour yourself…
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Robert Paul Wolff: “The Left Has Had All the Good Songs”
Anarchist philosopher Robert Paul Wolff, over at The Philosopher's Stone, writes, While I was making dinner, Susie put on a CD of Pete Seegar [sic] songs. I was struck once again by the oft-remarked fact that for half a century, the left has had all the good songs. That cannot be irrelevant. By the way,…
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Bob Dylan Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
He deserves it for the hundreds of unforgettable songs ineliminable from the soundtrack of so many of our lives over the past 50 years: 1962-2012. "Blowin' in the Wind" is the most famous of his anthems. You may be surprised to learn that London Ed uploaded this outstanding rendition by Alanis Morissette. Another of Dylan's great…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies Deferred: 50 Years of Dylan
This year we celebrate 50 years of Dylan's music. 1962-2012. Here is a sampler. The kid who put together this video is to be commended for his excellent selections. A good intro to Dylan, but it only scratches the surface of his many-sided genius.
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Performers Who Ditched Their Italian Surnames, Part I
Before Bobby Darin became Bobby Darin he rejoiced under the name, Walden Robert Cassotto. Dream Lover. 18 Yellow Roses. You're the Reason I'm Living. Bobby Rydell started out Robert Ridarelli. Forget Him. Volare. "Letsa fly . . . ." No, his name wasn't Dino Martino, it was Dino Paul Crocetti. Schmaltzy as it is, That's Amore…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Travel, Travail, Transition
Johnny Cash, I've Been Everywhere, man, crossed the deserts bare, man/I've breathed the mountain air, man/Of travel I've had my share, man/I've been everywhere.Pete Seeger, Passing Through. "Yankee, Russian, white or tan, Lord a man is just a man/We're all brothers and we're only passing through."Soggy Mountain Boys, I am a Man of Constant SorrowPeter,…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Cinco de Mayo
In observance of Cinco de Mayo, I scrounge up some Latin-flavored tunes. Gary U. S. Bonds, Twist, Twist SenoraRighteous Bros., Little Latin Lupe LuBill Medley, The Story of Little Latin Lupe LuNana Mouskouri, La Paloma Elvis Presley, Blue Spanish EyesWarren Zevon, CarmelitaFlying Burrito Bros., JuanitaLos Lobos, La BambaAnd finally a visit to Rosa's cantina and…