music Archives - Page 50 of 261 - Ramblin' with Roger

February rambling: Rock Hall 2023

Empower Ethiopia

Journalistic integrity requires a reckoning with how news media covers the criminal legal system

The People Onscreen Are Fake. The Disinformation Is Real.

Are AI Chatbots in Healthcare Ethical?

How did we get $32 trillion in debt?

Massive Inequality Is a “Concerted Elite Class Project

How can Democrats win back rural America?

I was given a house – but it already belonged to a Detroit family

Gas stoves, freedom, and the politics of distraction

U.S. Employee Engagement Needs a Rebound in 2023

Here is the publisher’s link to the book titled Side by Side in Eternity: The Lives Behind Adjacent American Military Graves. The book is co-authored by J. Eric Smith, my old blogging buddy. It is currently available for pre-order from the publisher and also from all of the significant book-selling platforms.

From the Books: NO NAME IN THE STREET by James Baldwin

What I Think About LeBron Breaking My NBA Scoring Record by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Mike Roach, a SABR report of a baseball player who played in Binghamton more than a century ago.

Charles Kimbrough, Anchor Jim Dial on ‘Murphy Brown,’ Dies at 86#

Nathan Lane reminiscing about a few of the 25 starring roles he’s played on Broadway

From 2005: Periodical comics face many issues

TB12

Now I Know: The Man Who Did Well By Himself and The Radio Station for People Who are Blind and The $35 Mailbox That Cost $33,000 and Ten Thousand Reasons to Read Before Hitting “I Accept”

Trivia

On Monday, February 6, my wife and I, with a couple who got married six months after we did, were on a Trivia for a Cause team at Fort Orange Brewing in Albany. The cause was Empower Ethiopia. We started slow but ended up in third place, thanks to our teamwork. I was the one who knew there was only one member of the Gilligan’s Island cast, Tina Louise, who was still alive.

Most of the questions were reasonable. But one bugged me. It was about the six ORIGINAL Disney characters on the Hollywood Walk of Fame besides Mickey Mouse? We guessed Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck, which were right, and Goofy, Pluto, and someone else (Daisy Duck?), which were incorrect.

The other answers were Tinkerbell, Snow White, and Winnie the Pooh. Tinkerbell? She was in the J.M. Barrie books. Snow White was in the Grimm books, and Pooh was created by A.A. Milne. The good news is that NO team got more than three of the five.

The final question was about the first filmed sporting event in 1894, produced by Thomas Edison. What was the sport? Look here. BTW, NO team got it correct.

Rock Hall

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is again offering a Fans’ Ballot. You can select up to 5 Nominees daily and submit your vote until April 28th.

Yes, they should have nominated your favorite band, and it doesn’t matter. I still vote.

My ballot includes: 1. Warren Zevon- eligible since 1994, yet nominated for the first time in 2023. Other musicians are pulling for the late singer-songwriter, and so am I. He might get in as a songwriter.

2. The Spinners – I’ve had them in my head since I wrote about Thom Bell, and I’m writing about them again this month. Will the 4th time be the charm?

3. Joy Division/New Order -does this synth-pop group have a chance at its first nomination? I doubt it.

4. Willie Nelson. He’ll be 90 in April, he’s sung with half of everyone, and he just got a Grammy.

The fifth slot I’ve bounced among Rage Against The Machine, ” a legitimately game-changing rap-rock group with critical respect, popular endurance, and contemporary relevance,” on their fifth try; and Sheryl Crow, who I’d been playing a lot during her birth month.

Lately, I’ve been voting for Cyndi Lauper, not just for her 1980s output but for creating the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots, for which she won a Tony.

But I could have easily voted for A Tribe Called Quest, Kate Bush, or the late George Michael. I’m not a big White Stripes fan, but I like Jack White, from his soundtrack for Cold Mountain to his work with Loretta Lynn. Missy Elliot and Soundgarden are worthy. I’m just not that familiar with Iron Maiden.

Yet again, I hope they put, in the non-performer category, Estelle Axton, co-founder of STAX Records!

MUSIC

Playing For Change BHM playlist

Spark Catchers – Hannah Kendall

Redemption Song – Sheku Kanneh-Mason and siblings

Coverville 1431: The Barrett Strong Tribute

Night on Mount Triglav – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

K-Chuck Radio: What’s that in the air?

Burt Bacharach (1928-2023)

Academy Award winner

The New York Times obituary for Burt Bacharach quoted the composer from his 2013 autobiography, “Anyone Who Had a Heart: My Life and Music,” written with Robert Greenfield.

“Mr. Bacharach suggested that as a songwriter, he had been ‘luckier than most.’

“’Most composers sit in a room by themselves, and nobody knows what they look like,’ he wrote. ‘People may have heard some of their songs, but they never get to see them onstage or on television.’ Because he was also a performer, he noted, ‘I get to make a direct connection with people.’

“’Whether it’s just a handshake or being stopped on the street and asked for an autograph or having someone comment on a song I’ve written,’ Mr. Bacharach added, ‘that connection is really meaningful and powerful for me.’”

I thought about that sentiment back in 2012 when Burt’s long-time writing partner, Hal David, died. His passing did not receive the notice I felt his body of work deserved.

On the other hand, Hal wasn’t “sleepy-eyed handsome and suave” or married to Angie Dickinson, the Rat Pack-affiliated star of the television show Police Woman. Burt was, from 1965 to 1981, helping him to be a star in his own right.

Bacharach acknowledged in the autobio that the split with David “was all my fault, and I can’t imagine how many great songs I could have written with Hal in the years we were apart.”

The Times article has several hyperlinks, which you should be able to play. Still, I’ll put a few here.

Award winner

From THR: ” Bacharach also won two Academy Awards for his work on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969): best song for “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” [BJ Thomas] and best musical score. He also won the song Oscar for “Arthur’s Theme” (Best That You Can Do) [Christopher Cross]” from Arthur (1981), which he shared with his third wife, lyricist Carole Bayer Sager; Peter Allen; and singer Christopher Cross.

“Bacharach’s compositions received three other Oscar noms, all of which he shared with David: “What’s New Pussycat” [Tom Jones] from the 1965 Woody Allen comedy; “Alfie” [Cher], the title tune from the 1966 Michael Caine classic; and “The Look Of Love” [Dusty Springfield],” from Casino Royale (1967).

“Bacharach later wrote and produced songs with Bayer Sager, including Warwick’s “That’s What Friends Are For” [with Elton John · Gladys Knight · Stevie Wonder], which won the 1986 Grammy for song of the year; “They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To”recorded by Kenny Rogers for Tough Guys (1986); and the theme from Baby Boom (Ever Changing Times by Siedah Garrett, 1987).

Okay, a few more:

Naked Eyes – Always Something There To Remind Me

A variety of songs from Variety, including, naturally, some by Dionne Warwick

The prewar #1 hits of 1913

Peg O’ My Heart also charted in 1964!

Some of the #1 hits of 1913 are very familiar to me.

Before getting into those songs, some technology news. This is according to Joel Whitburn’s A Century of Popular Music.

Thomas Edison introduced the Edison Diamond Disc Phonograph and records in 1913. “Their sound was hailed as the finest ever heard to this date, but because the phonograph would only play ‘hill-and-dale’ vertically-grooved records and not the laterally-cut discs made by Victor and Columbia, their popularity would be limited.

1913 was also the peak year of ballroom dancing nationwide, “symbolized by the team of Vernon and Irene Castle… This was also the year that the era’s biggest dance craze, the fox-trot, was introduced. “

Seven weeks at #1

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling – Chauncey Olcott (Columbia). Lyrics by Chauncey Olcott and Geo. Graff, Jr.; Music by Ernest R. Ball. Here are the lyrics. Henry MacDonough went to #3 that year with the same song.

When I Lost You – Henry Burr (Victor). “Written by Irving Berlin after his wife of five months passed away. He was unable to write for some time after the tragedy until he found the strength to compose this song. “

Peg O’ My Heart – Charles Harrison (Victor). The song was featured in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1913. Henry Burr went to #2 that year with the same song. It charted for Walter Van Brunt, #7, in 1914. It went to #1 thrice in 1947 for Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats, Buddy Clark, and The Three Suns. Also that year, #4 for Art Lund, #8 for Clark Dennis, and #5 for Ted Weems. Additionally, #64 pop and #13 adult contemporary for Robert Maxwell in 1964. Written by Alfred Bryan and Fred Fischer.

You Made Me Love You, I Didn’t Want To Do It – Al Jolson (Columbia), gold record. From the stage musical “The Honeymoon Express” in which Jolson starred. He re-recorded it in the 1940s. Written by James V. Monaco and Joseph McCarthy.

Six weeks at #1

Last Night Was The End Of The World – Henry Burr (Victor). Written by Harry Von Tilzer and Andrew B. Sterling.

When The Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam’ – Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan (Columbia). This became an Irving Berlin standard.

A comedy track, five weeks at #1

The Spaniard That Blighted My Life – Al Jolson (Victor). Recorded in the 1940s by Jolson with Bing Crosby. Lyricist: Billy Merson

Three weeks at #1

The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine – Henry Burr and Albert Campbell (Columbia). Covered by Laurel and Hardy in ‘Way Out West’ in 1937. Written by Harry Carroll.

Till The Sands Of The Desert Grow Cold – Alan Turner (Victor). Lyrics: George Graff. Music: Ernest R. Ball

Row! Row! Row! – Ada Jones (Victor). From “Ziegfeld Follies of 1912”. Composed by William Jerome and James Monaco.

Two weeks at #1

Sympathy – Walter Van Brunt and Helen Clark (Victor). Written by Rudolf Friml, Otto Harbach and Gus Kahn.

Lucinda Williams is turning 70

Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You

On January 26, musician Lucinda Williams will turn 70. The Associated Press called her “arguably one of the music world’s most articulate and introspective performers.”

I first heard her perform in the mid-1990s in Washington Park in Albany, NY. The next time I saw her was at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center as part of the 1998 Newport Folk Festival. She had played at least twice in my area in the past decade, but I missed her programs.

She put out one of my Top Ten albums of the 1990s, Car Wheel On A Gravel Road. I’ve subsequently purchased about a dozen of her CDs, including some of the music she put out during the pandemic, covers of the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, and Christmas songs, among others.

Lucinda Williams experienced a health scare, a stroke, on November 17th, 2020. “Doctors discovered a blood clot in the right side of Lucinda’s brain, which affected the function of the left side of her body. They treated her for the blood clot, and she was transferred to a rehabilitation facility where she spent nearly five weeks, until December 21st, when she was discharged.

“Luckily, Lucinda suffered no aphasia, meaning the stroke did not affect her speech or ability to sing. It has affected her ability to play guitar, and walking is still a little difficult for her.”

But she was back on the stage by mid-2021. She opened for Jason Isbell in 2021 and Bonnie Raitt in 2022.

In the book

Now she’s about to put out a memoir. “The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has a deal with Crown for ‘Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You,’ scheduled for April 25. Williams… will look back to her wandering childhood, when she lived in 12 different places by age 18, and trace her rise in the music business…

“’For decades now, I’ve shared my innermost thoughts and experiences via my songs,’ Williams said in a statement… ‘After years spent toying with the idea, I’ve decided to finally tell my stories more fully. But this won’t be a sugar-coated memoir; I want people to really see the truth of my life.’” I’ll probably buy it.

I listened to all of her music I had to put together my favorite or her best songs. Nah, Here’s the NPR list, which contains the title song and Joy from that album. The list from The Boot has those and a couple of songs from World Without End that I was considering. Holler County has a different song list.

Here are just a few covers of her songs. There are a lot of them.

Changed The Locks – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Passionate Kisses – Mary Chapin Carpenter

Joy – Betty Lavette

Something I recently heard again:

You’re Still Standing There – Steve Earle with Lucinda Williams

Sunday Stealing: High school, music

an eclectic mix

The Sunday Stealing for this week is nominally about high school. There are a lot more questions about music and recreation, thank goodness.

To that end, I have a great fondness for this song, High School by MC5.

1. You are back in high school… what are you doing after school lately?

Usually, walking my friends home, which involves a circuitous route before I get home. It usually was the friends I walked home with in junior high.

2. Do you do homework early or late? Do you really study?

I did the homework I liked (geometry, trigonometry, history) early. The rest was at the last moment.

3a. Do you go to the games? Football? Basketball.. what is your favorite to attend?

I went to an occasional football game because, because as president of the student government, I felt a vague obligation to go. But the field was across town, so it was more of a pain to get there. Basketball was at my school, and I knew a more significant percentage of the players, including the center, David, who I went to kindergarten with.

b. Do you go to dances? Prom? (what’d you wear?)

I went to a few dances. And I attended two proms, I believe.

prom

That’s me, left rear.

4. Lunch! What are we having today? What is your favorite lunch?

There is a yearbook picture of me on the General Organization (student government) page drinking one of those half-pint containers of chocolate milk with a straw. Beyond that, I have zero recollection of the cafeteria food.

Impossible to answer

5. What kind of music do you like the best?

I have over 2500 compact discs. It is an eclectic mix.

6. Does the radio play in your car, and if so, what station or kind of music plays? Does music play in your home often?

Occasionally there’s music in the car, often dictated by my daughter, who plays music from her phone.

Music plays in my house often. When I am writing – like at this very moment, listening to Volume 3 of The Buddah Box, or I’m cleaning the house, or doing almost everything except eating, watching television, or sleeping, there’s music on.

7. What do you think of the music played in restaurants or stores? Do you find it relaxing or annoying?

It depends on the store. Restaurant music usually puts me to sleep.

It IS my life

8. What part has music played in your life? What kind of music was played at your wedding or at parties you have been to?

I have written about 6500 blog posts. Approximately one-third of them have mentioned music. I sang I Love You Truly at more than one wedding when I was still a boy soprano. Music from Mrs. Joseph started with fourth grade. My failed piano lessons. The MAZET singers at church. The Green Family Singers. Sitting in the stairwell singing with Candid Yam. Church choir as an adult.

I’ve been to lots of concerts, especially before I got married.

Back in 2007, I wrote a post about the rules of playing music. This is to say that if you have north of 2500 CDs, you ought to play most of them at least annually. Now 2500/365 is 6.82, and I don’t always play seven albums a day. But absent meetings and other distractions, I come close on many days.

What kind of music at parties? Again, eclectic.

Green Acres: not the place to be

9. Is the farm for you? How about a ranch, a village or a city? Which is your choice and why?

I’m a city kid. Small cities are fine. I like to walk or bus to the store and to the movies.

10. A short auto trip for the weekend with friends or a long vacation? Where would you go?

I’ve taken weeklong vacations and weekend trips. My wife wants to go to all of the 252 towns in Vermont; they established a new town recently.

11. The quiet life at home with a cuppa and TV or a good book or a night out with friends? Which sounds good today?

I hardly go out much at night. My DVR is about 47% full, so I suppose I should watch or delete some programs.

12. You have a choice of dinner and a movie or a game of cards and snacks at the neighbors’. Where are you going tonight?

I have a hearts game almost every year. But if COVID would ever go away – high transmission in Albany County AGAIN this week – I’d opt for a movie OR dinner, but probably not both in the same evening.

Friendly neighborhood…

13. Is there a hero or character on TV, in a book or a movie .. or even in all three that you especially like? What do you find attractive about them?

I always related to Spider-Man. Or, more likely, Peter Parker, who felt misunderstood. I edited an issue of a magazine about Spider-Man.

14. Was there a book that was better in movie form? How about a movie you thought didn’t live up to the book?

Admitting I never got through the book, The Bridges of Madison County was a better movie. Catch-22 was the better book; there are lots more of those examples.

15. When you choose a book, program, or movie, which subject is it most likely to be: science fiction, mystery, romance, comedy, documentary, etc.? What draws you to a particular book or movie?

Books/movies: history, politics. Film: Documentary. A good review helps in any case because there are lots of books, many movies, and more new television programming each year than anyone could ever watch.