birthday Archives - Page 37 of 51

Bob Marley would have been 70

Almost all of Bob Marley’s songs are message songs

It’s inevitable that people who die young are frozen in time so that when they hit some age almost twice what they were when they passed away, it’s difficult to imagine. Reggae music superstar Bob Marley was only 36 when he died in 1981 of cancer, but before that time, he brought a whole new sound to the world.

Since many of the Wailers songs were, for contractual as well as artistic reasons, recorded more than once, the versions below may not be the ones referred to in the description.

16. Rock, Roots, Reggae (1976) – oddly, this is the only Marley single to reach the Billboard (US) Hot 100 charts, peaking at #51.
15. Simmer Down (1963) – the first single released by The Wailers. It was the #1 hit in Jamaica in February 1964.
14. Waiting in Vain (1977) – from the great Exodus album, it reached #27 on the UK singles chart.
13. Exodus (1977) the title song of the album that Time magazine, in 1999, named the best album of the 20th century.

12. I Shot the Sheriff (1973) – probably the song that introduced most Americans to the music of Bob Marley, but not HIS version. Eric Clapton’s cover version was a massive international hit in 1974. LISTEN.
11. Redemption Song (1979) one of his last works, and one of his greatest, it’s a simple solo acoustic recording utilizing some of Marcus Garvey’s words. It has been heavily covered, including versions by Johnny Cash/Joe Strummer, and by Stevie Wonder, which I own.
10. No Woman, No Cry (1974) – I think the song’s history is as interesting as its performance. “Though Bob Marley may have written the song, or at least the melody, songwriter credits were given to Vincent Ford, a friend of Marley’s who ran a soup kitchen in Trenchtown, the ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica where Marley grew up. The royalty checks received by Ford ensured the survival and continual running of his soup kitchen.”
9. Could You Be Loved (1980)- as usual, it fared better on the charts in Europe (and New Zealand!) than in the US. “The song is considered by many reggae fans to be disco influenced.”

8. Lively Up Yourself (1974) – this is the first song on the Natty Dread album, the “first recorded without former bandmates Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. It is also the first album recorded with the I-Threes, a female vocal trio that included Bob’s wife, Rita Marley, along with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt.”
7. Buffalo Soldier (1983) – this was from Marley’s final recording sessions in 1980, not appearing on record until the 1983 posthumous release of the album Confrontation. “The title and lyrics refer to the black U.S. cavalry regiments, known as ‘Buffalo Soldiers’, that fought in the Indian Wars after 1866.”
6. Three Little Birds (1977) – I was watching some cartoon with The Daughter about five years ago, and it used this song, to great effect. It was released as a single in 1980, reaching #17 on the UK charts and “has been covered by numerous other artists.”
5. One Love/People Get Ready (1965, 1977) – it was first recorded by Marley’s original group, The Wailers, then rerecorded for the Exodus album. “The song contains an interpretation of The Impressions’ song ‘People Get Ready’ written by Curtis Mayfield.”

4. Is This Love (1978) – released on his 1978 album Kaya.
3. Get Up, Stand Up (1973)- almost all of Marley’s songs are message songs. This was the last song Marley ever performed on stage, “on September 23, 1980, at the Stanley Theater, now the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.”
2. Jamming (1977). -the 1980 Stevie Wonder hit Master Blaster (Jammin’) (LISTEN) was a tribute to Bob Marley.
1. Stir It Up (1972) – I may have heard the 1973 Johnny Nash version (LISTEN) first, but prefer the Wailers.

Or you can listen to most of these songs HERE.
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Last two-thirds of Coverville cover story in honor of Bob Marley.

Don’t Sleep Through the Revolution, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It may be true that you can’t legislate integration but you can legislate desegregation.

As I am wont to do, for this anniversary of Martin Luther King’s birthday, I want to recommend another less well-known, but important, speech, the 1966 Ware Lecture: Don’t Sleep Through the Revolution. Delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. at the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in Hollywood, Florida, May 18, 1966.

Here’s just an excerpt:

One of the great misfortunes of history is that all too many individuals and institutions find themselves in a great period of change and yet fail to achieve the new attitudes and outlooks that the new situation demands. There is nothing more tragic than to sleep through a revolution.

And there can be no gainsaying of the fact that a social revolution is taking place in our world today. We see it in other nations in the demise of colonialism. We see it in our own nation, in the struggle against racial segregation and discrimination, and as we notice this struggle we are aware of the fact that a social revolution is taking place in our midst.

Victor Hugo once said that there is nothing more powerful in all the world than an idea whose time has come. The idea whose time has come today is the idea of freedom and human dignity, and so all over the world we see something of freedom explosion, and this reveals to us that we are in the midst of revolutionary times. An older order is passing away and a new order is coming into being.

The great question is, what do we do when we find ourselves in such a period?…

First, we are challenged to instill within the people of our congregations a world perspective. The world in which we live is geographically one…

Secondly, it is necessary for the church to reaffirm over and over again the essential immorality of racial segregation. Any church which affirms the morality of segregation is sleeping through the revolution…

The next thing that the church must do to remain awake through this revolution is to move out into the arena of social action. It is not enough for the church to work in the ideological realm, and to clear up misguided ideas. To remain awake through this social revolution, the church must engage in strong action programs to get rid of the last vestiges of segregation and discrimination.

It is necessary to get rid of one or two myths if we’re really going to engage in this kind of action program. One is the notion that legislation is not effective in bringing about the changes that we need in human relations. This argument says that you’ve got to change the heart in order to solve the problem; that you can’t change the heart through legislation. They would say you’ve got to do that through religion and education. Well, there’s some truth in this.

Before we can solve these problems men and women must rise to the majestic heights of being obedient to the unenforceable. I would be the first to say this. If we are to have a truly integrated society, white persons and Negro persons and members of all groups must live together, not merely because the law says it but because it’s natural and because it’s right. But that does not make legislation less important. It may be true that you can’t legislate integration but you can legislate desegregation.
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I’ll also point you to Martin Luther King Jr.: Remembering a Committed Life by Gary May, “who wrote the book, Bending toward Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy. May appeared on Moyers & Company [in July 2013] to discuss his book and the agonizing but ultimately victorious struggle to pass the 1965 voting rights legislation — which he described to Bill as ‘a perfect example of the value of collective change to bring about progress in this country, people getting together and being committed and willing to risk their very lives to bring something when the country desperately needs it.'” Note, of course, how the Supreme Court has chipped away at voting rights legislation in recent years, which, I imagine, would have made Dr. King very sad and/or very angry.

Rod Stewart is 70

The album I found most unpleasant was Rod Stewart’s 2009 release, Soulbook.

I have this like-meh feeling about singer Rod Stewart, who turns 70 today.

A couple of his early albums I own. Gasoline Alley [LISTEN] features the great Bobby Womack soul classic It’s All Over Now and a nice cover of Elton John’s Country Comfort.

Then he released the near-perfect album Every Picture Tells A Story [LISTEN] in 1971. Side two of the LP was extraordinary, with the #1 hit Maggie May, Mandolin Wind, the Motown hit (I Know) I’m Losing You, and closing with Tim Hardin’s Reason to Believe.

The title of his third album with the Faces, A Nod Is As Good As a Wink… to a Blind Horse, made me laugh. It featured the hit Stay With Me [LISTEN], which went to #17 in 1972.

I enjoyed some of his subsequent hits, such as You Wear It Well. But I wasn’t that big a fan of the period that included Tonight’s the Night and Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?, let’s just say, and I mostly didn’t pay much attention to him subsequently.

Something that singularly did NOT interest me was which blonde woman he was dating or married to at any given time, a topic of seemingly endless fascination by others.

By the 21st century, he was still putting out songs. But from 2002 through 2010, he started releasing tunes from The Great American Songbook, something lots of singers, from Linda Ronstadt to Paul McCartney have done. They were pleasant albums, what I heard of them.

The album I found most unpleasant was his 2009 release, Soulbook. It was covers of his most successful era, the 1970s, but, to my ear, he brought nothing new to the table; I thought it was ironically soulless.

Here are 144 minutes of what someone dubbed the Greatest Songs of Rod Stewart.

You might see Rod riding the NYC subway. He was recently sued for reusing an image of the back of his head.

Elvis Presley would have been 80

I like the historical reference in the Elvis song: “No such zone.”

As I’ve noted before, my father really hated Elvis. He resented this white artist stealing/exploiting/ profiting from performing black music. (But then half of the musicians in the ’50s and ’60s from Pat Boone to Led Zeppelin “borrowed” from black music). So I never owned any Elvis music as a child or teenager. Still, I did like some of his songs. So I watched the ’68 “comeback special” and became grudgingly, a mild fan.

I’ve written about Elvis a few times. But I never pegged my favorite songs because he would have turned 70 after I started this blog. The chart action refers to the Billboard (US) singles charts.

12. Blue Suede Shoes (#20 in 1956)- great song by Carl Perkins, but I prefer his original, which might have made Perkins a bigger star if he hadn’t gotten into a serious car crash.
11. Are You Lonesome To-night? (#1 for 6 weeks in 1960) – I’m not that fond of songs that involve people talking. This is one exception, mostly because “You know someone said that the world’s a stage And each must play a part” always cracks me up. “Someone” said? That was Billy Shakes!
10. All Shook Up (#1 for 9 weeks in 1957) – particularly love the vocal delivery: “Well-a bless-a my soul”

9. Suspicious Minds (#1 in 1969) – Elvis in his comeback mode being relevant.
8. A Little Less Conversation – with JXL (#50 in 2002). I had never heard the original from the 1960s, which was a minor hit.
7. Don’t Be Cruel (#1 for #11 weeks in 1956 with Hound Dog) – the opening guitar lick and the backup singers make this for me.

6. Love Me Tender (#1 for 5 weeks in 1956). There’s a traditional song called
Aura Lee from which this tune was stolen; at some level, I appreciated the audacity of that.
5. Return to Sender (#2 for 5 weeks in 1962). This is the period I really started discovering Elvis. And I like the historical reference in the song, “No such zone”, just a year before ZIP Codes were implemented for delivering mail in the United States.
4. Little Sister (#5 in 1961). I might have heard a cover of this first and tracked it back to the original.

3. Heartbreak Hotel (#1 for 8 weeks in 1956) this is SO much a blues piece. Listen to the guitar line.
2. Hound Dog (#1 for #11 weeks in 1956 with Don’t Be Cruel). Poor Elvis got to sing this to an actual hound dog on Steve Allen’s show. I always appreciate a great cover, and this take on Big Mama Thorton’s song is transformative.
1. Jailhouse Rock (#1 for 7 weeks in 1957). I’m sure my affection has as much to do with the choreography from the movie as the song’s appeal.

Kursed by Kardashian; Garry Marshall turned 80

Garry Marshall is probably best know for being the creative force behind such TV shows as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork and Mindy, and The Odd Couple.

There is infotainment in popular culture that I chose not to know, such as just about anything about the Kardashians. I can’t help but know there’s a bunch of sisters, some the daughters of the late OJ Simpson murder trial attorney Robert Kardashian. All their names begin with the letter K. They have (had?) a reality show that must be popular. Kim has a child named North West.

There becomes a time, though, when “everyone’s talking about it.” I was watching this ad for a new game show called Celebrity Name Game, hosted by soon-to-be-former late-night talk show ringmaster Craig Ferguson. Courtney Cox is giving a clue, “She’s on TV and she’s got a big butt,” and the contestant immediately responds, “Kim Kardashian.”

I would have had no idea. Seriously.

Shortly thereafter, I become inundated with KK news. She’s on an ad for the show Two Broke Girls, playing herself. Kim sues an actress for copying her poses and having a large butt; apparently, she’s very litigious.

Then, there are the recent magazine shots, which Mark Evanier helpfully described as having “her bare butt glistening with oil and, it would seem, her waistline photoshopped down to make it thinner, therefore making her butt seem bigger.” And then she showed even more.

Fortunately, KK’s bottom did not get as much social media response as the recent comet landing, so she failed to “break the Internet,” whatever that means.

Not knowing about Kim Kardashian was really nice. And now I can’t unknow it.

In general, I’m just not that social media aware. Of the 50 items listed in The Best Memes of the Last 15 Years, I had not heard of 2/3s of them. I’m perfectly fine with that.

Oh, I do need another topic here.

I managed to miss the fact that Garry Marshall turned 80 on November 13. In case you don’t know him, he’s an actor. He was a writer for the Dick Van Dyke Show in its later years. He directed several movies such as The Princess Diaries, Runaway Bride, Pretty Woman, Beaches, and The Flamingo Kid. He’s probably best known for being the creative force behind such TV shows as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork and Mindy, and The Odd Couple.

Thanks to newspaper writer Mark McGuire, I discovered something. Those of you who watched The Odd Couple might remember the intro (WATCH): “On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his wife.” Thus that date, November 13, was not random, but rather self-referential.

For next year, know that, according to McGuire, “Happy Odd Couple Day… can celebrate the fact that opposites attract. It can be a day to give a shout-out to old friends. It can commemorate one of the all-time great comedies. Really it can mean just about anything you want it to mean.”

Here’s the Password episode
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Speaking of Jack Klugman (sort of), Glen A Larson has died. I was an avid watcher of Quincy, M.E., as well as McCloud, Switch and It Takes A Thief. He was also involved with Magnum P.I., Battlestar Galactica, Knight Rider, and much more.