A friend introduced me to Steve Fromholz’s music back in 1970 and I fell in love with his writing. And even though Lyle Lovett does a killer version of this song, I believe the original is still the best.
02/24/2012
Obama sings the blues
This is what passes for news these days. We, however, are above such things. Hmmmm — well, if no one else is going to post it…
02/17/2012
My turn at the Doctor
Some performers are disappointing to see live because so much of their “talent” comes from studio electronics. I got to see Malcolm John Rebennack Junior play at the Texas State Fair many years ago, and he was amazing. If you find that name too hard to pronounce, then just do like everyone else and call him Dr. John…
02/15/2012
Soulville
This is playing in my house tonight. Give a listen. It’ll fix what might be ailing you.
Ben Webster Quintet, Soulville
02/10/2012
My turn at Ray Charles
Ray Charles is like a music god to me. He’s the reason I became a musician. Encouraged by my mother and trained by my music teacher to play by ear, I learned to play gospel, blues, country, rock and roll, boogie woogie, and jazz from listening to his records. As a welcome home present, Mother took me to see him live at a theater in Dallas, Texas when I returned from being stationed overseas. The acoustics were terrible, and he was only onstage for 20 minutes, but we didn’t care. I’d give anything to be half the musician he is…
02/03/2012
My turn at the King
Growing up, I learned guitar (and so very much more) from an old black farm hand who was locally famous for his musical ability. I didn’t know then that he had a Masters in Music, but had to work on a ranch to put food on the table – there just weren’t that many jobs for a black man with a college degree in those days.
I took my first lesson from Trig when I was eight. I applied myself, and by the time I was 10, he was taking me around to country churches every Sunday afternoon to jam with other old black musicians. Looking back now I realize that those were the best times of my life.
As far as I know, he never cut a record, but Trig always had a top-notch band of professional musicians, and they always had a gig. The proudest day of my life was when I came home from the military and Trig asked me to become a member of his band.
When I first met him, my teacher looked and played a lot like his musical hero, and that’s how I’ll always remember him. So, since there’s no recording by Alva Lorenzo “Trig” Ward, I give you his muse, B. B. King – he’s almost as good…
01/28/2012
Jolene
One of my fave C&W geetar playing singers, Matraca Berg, kills on this Dolly Parton cover. Forget chirpy and maudlin; she slows it down, blues it up, with just the right amount of pleading and pathos in her rich voice. Nice arrangement, too. The addition of a mandolin is brilliant.
01/27/2012
My turn…
I admire many musicians, and have been fortunate enough to get to see them all live. The absolute greatest thrill, however was seeing Stephane Grappelli in a small, intimate jazz club on a rooftop in Ft. Worth, Texas. Remembering it, I still get goosebumps.
I have about 30 gigs of Stephane on my iPod – virtually everything he’s recorded. (Guess what I listen to most often?) Although I discovered this musical giant late in life, I studied violin just to be able to play like him. Arthritis kept me from succeeding, but nothing keeps me from enjoying.
01/21/2012
Song for Newt’s Ex-wives
Otherwise known (by me) as “Marianne’s Lament.”
Lyrics:
You say that you’re born again
cleansed of your former sins
You want me to say “I forgive and forget”
But you’ve done too much to me
Don’t you be touching me,
go back and touch all those women you’ve madeChorus:
’cause God may forgive you, but I won’t
Yes, Jesus loves you, but I don’t
They don’t have to live with you and neither do I
You say that you’re born again, well so am I
God may forgive you, but I won’t
and I won’t even tryWell, the kids had to cry for you
I had to try to do
things that the Dad should do
since you’ve been gone
Well, you really let us down
You may be Heaven ‘bound
but you’ve left one hell of a mess here at home(chorus)
and I won’t even try.
Well, what can I say? In actuallity, serial adultery is only one of Newt’s many faults, and I wouldn’t even care so much about this (figuring that it’s between him, his wives, his kids, and his mistresses) if he wouldn’t make such a big damned deal all the time about family values. It’s called hypocrisy, Newt, and you’re the owner and captain of that particular ship.
In the meantime, Dr. Keith Ablow writing for Fox News, has twisted himself into a pretzel trying to convince readers that Newt’s three marriages would actually be good for the country.
So, here’s what one interested in making America stronger can reasonably conclude—psychologically—from Mr. Gingrich’s behavior during his three marriages:
1) Three women have met Mr. Gingrich and been so moved by his emotional energy and intellect that they decided they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with him.
2) Two of these women felt this way even though Mr. Gingrich was already married.
3 ) One of them felt this way even though Mr. Gingrich was already married for the second time, was not exactly her equal in the looks department and had a wife (Marianne) who wanted to make his life without her as painful as possible.
Yes, you read that correctly. And no, this was not satire (at least, it’s not supposed to be satire).
01/20/2012
Covers
The song I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know originated with Blood Sweat & Tears founder, Al Kooper, and has been covered by many singers but none better than the great Donny Hathaway. A thisclose second is Ali Ollie Woodson, here performing it with Euge Groove.
01/20/2012
R.I.P. Etta James
What a voice! What a loss to the world of music.
Edit: Her obituary in Billboard.
01/19/2012
The True Meaning
The remarkable Nathan Chan, cellist, plays and explains
The Swan by Camille Saint Saens
