Back in the ’80s, music was pathetic. There are very few exceptions — the world was obsessed with MTV, and artists like Michael Jackson and Madonna dominated radio, and if you didn’t like it, there was always yacht-rock captains like Christopher Cross. There was also new wave, which to some was an attempt to make punk more acceptable, more popular. I bought many records that had guys wearing makeup on the cover and playing weak-sounding keyboards on the record. Then one glorious day, I bought a strange record with a slightly ominous-looking cover photo. Songs the Lord Taught Us was …
Category: Music
Country Music Reclamation Project: Hello Walls
Willie Nelson was fairly new to Nashville when he wrote Hello Walls and pitched it to Faron Young, who was on a hot-streak at that time. Still, the song bears the songwriter’s trademark cadence — almost as if Faron is impersonating him. It was a great performance of an odd little idea, and became a huge hit. Hello Walls (performed by Faron Young) Written by Willie Nelson Hello walls How’d things go for you today Don’t you miss her Since she up and walked away And I’ll bet you dread to spend Another lonely night with me Lonely walls I’ll …
Elsewhere Online: Black Cab Sessions
I’m finding so much music online these days. One really unique stage I stumbled across is provided on Black Cab Sessions, a site that features artists playing about as stripped down as one can get, riding through London in a cab. There’s something about the intimacy and necessary acoustic nature of these videos that is very appealing. I really enjoyed the Fleet Foxes, Beach House and Ryan Adams performances, and there’s a link below to a great Bon Iver appearance, but there are many more that I have to check out. The Black Cab Sessions: http://www.blackcabsessions.com Bon Iver on Black …
Passings: Ron Asheton
The Stooges recorded three frantic, intense LPs, developed a tough and nasty reputation, then watched as their lead singer became an icon. They got old, were remembered and idolized by a relative few, then reunited — like stepping out for the expected encore — and gathered the respect and adoration that might have escaped them earlier. To perform in the shadow of Iggy Pop and not become invisible means you’re doing something right. Ron Asheton’s guitar on the The Stooges and Funhouse records was as raw and wild as Iggy’s vocals and stage behavior, and endeared him to many who …
Country Music Reclamation Project: Coat of Many Colors
I’ve been thinking a lot about my family, with Christmas coming up, and of Christmases past. Whether I was bad or good for the entire year, I was always spoiled by my parents on December 25. I realize now how hard they worked to shelter and feed our family, clothe us and keep us healthy, and still get me that electronic football game or Hot Wheels SuperCharger Race Set. I’ve always felt fortunate, and that feeling has little to do with money. Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors is reportedly autobiographical, and about as clearly written as any work about …
Country Music Reclamation Project: Streets of Baltimore
There are many songs about the pride rightfully felt by rural folk who aren’t “citified” — and by that I mean cosmopolitan, shallow and materialistic. In the early 21st century, we’ve begun to turn “simple” back into something positive, but country music always took the side of the simple folk. Nothing was more transforming than to give up the farm and head for the bright lights of the city. Bobby Bare was among many who recorded this song about fulfilled dreams that turn out to be a fork in the road. Streets Of Baltimore (performed by Bobby Bare) Words and …
Country Music Reclamation Project: She Once Lived Here
I love Gram Parsons. A privileged rich kid from Florida who became an outcast from his family to become a musician. A musician during the long-haired ’60s who had such a passion for country music that he transformed one of the best bands in rock music into a country-rock band for a while, creating Sweethearts of the Rodeo as a testament. He even steered the Rolling Stones toward country music and, I think, given time, would have taken over that group the way he took control of the Byrds. Most of all, I think Gram saw the beauty and honesty …
Passings: Yma Sumac
A staple of every record collector’s “bachelor pad” section, the works of Yma Sumac were weirdly calming, even when they were at their cacophonic, screeching-infused best. She passed away in Los Angeles on November 1. Sumac was born as Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo in Peru in 1922, and released her first American album, Voice of the Xtabay, on Capitol in 1950. She claimed to have descended from Atahualpa, the last Incan emperor, and Capitol made every attempt to play up the exotic nature of her voice, her music and her appearance. She famously had a five-octave voice, capable …
Thank You Lord (for Kasey Chambers)
For an Aussie lassie, Kasey Chambers understands the heartache hidden in country music — you can hear it in her voice, a tearing, weary note that streaks through every song. I first heard her in a crowded bar, a CD played as background to a room full of conversation. It doesn’t happen very often where I hear something that just blocks out everything else, that leaves me having to interrupt people to say, “What the hell is this?” I remember hearing Elmore James in a similar situation, but it was the guitar and voice combination. This was just a sweet …
Country Music Reclamation Project: After the Ball
After The Ball was the first “platinum” single in history, selling more than two million copies of its sheet music in 1892. At its heart is a misunderstanding and the bitter regret of someone who was too hurt and stubborn to accept an explanation, which probably accounted for its melodramatic appeal. (When the Louvin Brothers wrote and recorded “I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby,” they at least let the jealous guy off by explaining the brother-sister relationship while still at the dance.) I love the Blue Sky Boys version of the song, recorded live in 1964 and released on …