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Posts Tagged ‘Music’

Memorial Day/ Ben McCulloch

Posted in Music, Opinion, tagged , , , , , , on May 24, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Civil War Soldier DageurrotypeMemorial Day weekend.  I’m no historical anthropologist so I can’t be completely certain when I say that I don’t believe there is any one group of people on this planet who have not been touched by war in some significant way. The history of this world has been written in the bloody ink of war.

A few years back, when I began doing genealogy for the families of my wife and myself, I was surprised at the many, many generations in each line who had taken part in the wars of their times, putting their lives aside to give so much of themselves– in some cases, their very lives– for causes that often might have been mere abstractions to them.

Part of me is proud that these people have answered the call to be a small part in something bigger.  But another part of me is simply sad to think that they were called on to give so much in  order to satisfy or deny the baser motives of those in power.  War has usually been about greed and acquisition, nationalistic pride or ethnic and religious hatred– in each instance proposed with the greatest conviction and certainty by the leaders of each side of the cause.

And on Memorial Day, we remember the people who actually fulfilled the pleas of these leaders, be they right or wrong.  These citizens did what they were asked and what they felt was necessary in their time and place.  And I have nothing but respect for that.

For today’s image, I chose the daguerreotype of the Civil War soldier at the top because there was something in him that seemed to show the sacrifice of war.  Maybe it’s the steely stare of his eyes.  Or maybe it was his belt that is cinched in to what looks to be a ridiculously tiny diameter, showing how emaciated he appears to be.  I’m not exactly sure but there is something in him that seems contemporary, less dated.

And for today’s Sunday musical selection, I have chosen the song Ben McCulloch from Steve Earle.  It tells the story of two brothers who enlist in the Confederate Army in the Civil War and discover the hard realities of war as they serve under General McCulloch, who was a real person who died in battle in 1862.  The chorus probably echos the sentiments of many soldiers through time for their commanding officers as they face overwhelming odds.

So have a great Sunday and a Memorial Day filled with some appreciation of what the day really encompasses.

 

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How Blue Can You Get

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 17, 2015| 1 Comment »

bb_king_lucille-4Times continually passes on and takes some of our friends along with it as it goes.  Thursday,  that friend was the great BB King.  He was the ambassador and face of the blues for the last half century, a genial presence who crossed over into the mainstream yet maintained the same intensity and integrity as when he was carving out his legend in the 1950’s playing clubs across the country as he toured almost non-stop.

By the time I was in my teens, he had transcended the blues and was part of popular culture.  The Thrill Is Gone was a mainstream hit, winning him a Grammy in 1970, and he maintained a visibility on the television, always accompanied by Lucille, his black Gibson guitar which has become probably the only guitar that most people can recognize by name.   And if they didn’t know her name they most likely knew the sound of her voice. Everybody knew who BB King was.

But my real introduction to BB King came when I was going through the used bin at a local record shop and found a  beat up copy  of  his Live at the Regal Theater from a show in Chicago in late 1964.  It was well worn as though whoever had owned it before had played the hell out of it.  From the second the needle on my turntable snapped into the groove, I understood why  that was so.

Pure electric, a perfect storm of time, place and people made every moment of that record crackle.  One listen and you knew it was about as good as it gets.  I still get shivers when I hear it.

So to honor the passing of our friend, this Sunday’s music is a song that was a favorite of that Regal Theater crowd (and mine as well), How Blue Can You Get?  But the performance I am showing is from a different venue.  It’s from a Thanksgiving show in 1972 from NY’s Sing Sing Prison with BB King, The Voices of East Harlem and Joan Baez.  I think this is a great version of the song and seeing the inmates respond really adds something to it.

So, give a listen to our friend and have yourself a great Sunday.

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Black Coffee

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , , , , , on April 26, 2015| 4 Comments »

black coffeeTime for some Sunday morning music and since I was up extra early this morning the idea of something to pick me up seems like a good idea.  Something like some black coffee.

Not the drink, though I am sipping my coffee as I write. I mean the song.

The sultry Black Coffee was written in 1948 by Sonny Burke and originally recorded by Sarah Vaughan and a few years later by Peggy Lee. There have been many, many covers of this song and most are very good. But there are four versions that really stick out for me, all very distinctly different. They are Vaughan’s original, the one from Peggy Lee, k.d. lang‘s darkly twangy version and the one I am featuring this morning from the great and grand Ella Fitzgerald.

Her version is elegantly spare with her voice and piano interweaving beautifully. It is darkly tinged but there is such strength in her phrasing that it keeps the song feeling surprisingly upbeat. Just a great, great song.

A little bit of trivia about this version: It was the favorite song of Nobel Prize winning poetess Wislawa Szymborska , who requested it be performed at her funeral. You might remember Szymborska from a blog entry here last month that featured her poem Possibilities.

So,give a listen as you sip the morning beverage of your choice.  Maybe a little black coffee…

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Seventh Son

Posted in Influences, Music, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

mose-allison_1Artistic influences,  seeing how a certain artist will take the work of others and transform it into their own, is a fascinating thing.  Sometimes it’s very obvious especially when the influence is of equal renown or when one artist directly copies the work of another.  But sometimes there are great influences that you may not even recognize.

Mose Allison (born in 1927) is such a person, a name you probably don’t know.  But for many musicians in the who found their voice in the 60’s, he was a huge influence.  Jimi Hendrix,  The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Animals, Tom Waits, Van Morrison and many, many others have all cited him as a strong influence on their work.  But Mose Allison, while achieving considerable fame, never became the household name like so many of his admirers.

He was pretty hard to pigeonhole as a musician- at times very bluesy, himself strongly influenced by the delta blues of his home in Mississippi, other times very jazzy or even pop tinged.  But always a unique and individual sound that allowed him to take a song, his own or those written by others, and  give it a new perspective.  I have to admit that I didn’t know much about Mose Allison until just recently but have been thrilled to find his work and can easily see it in the work of so many others.  I encourage you to seek out his work and give it a listen.

To that end, here’s a small sample for this Sunday morning.  It’s his version of the Willie Dixon blues classic The Seventh Son, a song that became a pop hit for Johnny Rivers.  But here, it definitely feels all Mose Allison.  Enjoy and have a great Sunday.

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Zombie Painter

Posted in Music, tagged , , , , , , on March 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

white-zombie-movie-poster-1932-1020199092Been battling a cold the last few days with all that comes with it– filled sinuses, sore throat, throbbing headaches and a now constant rattling cough that echoes around my chest.  Nothing unusual, just one of those despicable three or four day affairs of misery we all go through every so often.

But, oddly enough, I have had a couple of very productive days in the studio.  I think sometimes my painting is best done when I don’t (or in this case, can’t) think too much about it and instead fall into a kind of trance where it is all instinct.  A weird kind of unfocused concentration that is all about constantly moving ahead with little distraction or thought.

Like a zombie relentlessly searching for fresh brains.

Zombie painter.

Which is a convenient segue into this week’s Sunday music selection.  Maintaining the zombie theme, I thought I’d bring out something from The Zombies, the 60’s British Invasion band who had really nice string of hits that have all survived well over the years and stand as iconic remnants of that era.  Songs like She’s Not There, Tell Her No and this week’s song, Time of the Season.  Anyone of a certain age who hears this opening bass and drum line will no doubt have the lines What’s your name?/Who’s your daddy?/ Is he rich. is he rich like me?  immediately running through their mind.

Zombie mind control, that’s what it is.  So enjoy a little of it and have a great Sunday.  I have fresh brains to find.  Well, a fresh canvas to smear stuff on.  Paint, brains–whatever.

PS:  Please use the zombie grip that is depicted on the old movie poster at the top  ( White Zombie— Bela Lugosi– 1932) with great care.  Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.

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Eire

Posted in Music, tagged , , , on March 17, 2015| 3 Comments »

st_patrickI have much to do this morning but thought I would take a moment on this Saint Patrick’s Day  to play a bit of traditional Irish music.  There’s always the temptation to play some America-Irish song that is now attached to our celebrations here which have evolved from a celebration of the Irish saint into an excuse for a one-day drunkfest for obnoxious folks regaled in Kelly green plastic derbies and Mardi Gras beads.  But I thought today deserved something a little more true to the timbre of the day.

I’ve always been drawn to the sound of pipes from a round the world and the uillean pipes of Ireland have a uniquely sorrowful yet sweet sound.  It produces what can described as a mournful wail which fits in well with an aspect of the Irish character.  Here’s a tune called, fittingly, Eire played by a master, Liam O’Flynn,  of the uillean pipes which differ from thetypical  bagpipe in that they are not blown into by the mouth.  The air that flows over the reed to create the sound is produced by a bellows that is pressed against the player’s body by their elbow.

So enjoy a bit of true Irish music and enjoy the day whether you are Irish or not.  Now where did I put that plastic derby?

 

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Weary Blues

Posted in Music, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on March 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Dorothea Lange- 1936 Daughter of a Migrant Coal MinerI was looking at some of Dorothea Lange‘s classic Depression-era photos recently and came upon this image of a young woman. The label says it is from late 1936 and the young woman was the daughter of a migrant Tennessee coal miner living in a camp on the American River near Sacramento, California.  It is such a compelling image that you can almost feel the weariness and sorrow in her.  I find myself wondering whatever became of that girl, if she ever found happiness or contentment or at least shook off those weary blues that seem to be consuming her in the photo.

Lange had a real genius for extracting raw emotion from her photos–it’s so evident when you scan a page of her work where you can see the images together.  It’s obvious that she connected on a very personal level with her subjects, allowing them to expose themselves and their inner emotions within the trust they extended to her.  And with that trust Lange created photos that showed these folks honestly and with dignity, making  you care about these strangers from another era as much as she did in that moment.

That is an extraordinary gift.

Looking at this photo brings me to this week’s Sunday music.  I chose a cover of the old Hank Williams song Weary Blues but done by modern chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux in a more bluesy style.  You would think old Hank was looking at this photo when he wrote the chorus:

Weary blues from waitin’
Lord, I’ve been waitin’ so long
These blues have got me cryin’
Oh, sweet daddy please come home

Have a great day and hope you can use it to shake any weary blues you might have.

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Big Noise From Winnetka

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

krupa ball of fireI’m running a little late this morning and thought I’d fill today with a little music.  It’s a great piece of film from legendary drummer Gene Krupa and his trio doing Big Noise From Winnetka.  I’ve been a big fan of Krupa since first seeing him perform the very swinging Drum Boogie in the Barabara Stanwyck/Gary Cooper movie, Ball of Fire.  Avery flamboyant and strong presence on the stage, he was more famously known for his work on the classic Benny Goodman track, Sing, Sing, Sing, which is the anthem of big band swing.

Anyway, give a listen and watch for some of Krupa’s famous showmanship.  It’s just good stuff and a great way to kick off a tired Tuesday morning.

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Ball of Confusion

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , , , , , on March 1, 2015| 3 Comments »

Ball of Confusion- Artist Jerry Thompson

Ball of Confusion- Artist Jerry Thompson

Hard to believe it’s March first.  With the snow falling and the cold temperatures, it definitely looks to be following the old adage where it comes in like a lion.  I am hoping the lamb is not too far away but this year, who knows?  We might be saying the same thing for April.

Crazy world.  Which brings me to this Sunday’s musical interlude.  I’ve been doing this blog for about 6 1/2 years now (which is hard to believe, as well) and have played a lot of different music over that time.  But for some unknown reason, the one and only Temptations have never made an appearance.  How I could have waited so long is beyond me but I will fix it today.

For many folks, the music of the Temptations could well be the soundtrack of the 60’s and 70’s.  Motown at its very best.  If you grew up in that time frame, their music most likely was part of your life in some way.   My Girl, Just My Imagination, Papa Was a Rolling Stone, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg, and on and on.  I mean, come on!

So today, with another blast of winter weather confusing this corner of the world and the rest of the world in a constant state of chaos, I thought I’d share the tempting Temptations’ Ball of Confusion.  If the world is indeed going to hell as some fear, at least let it go with a beat laid down by the Funk Brothers, Motown’s incredible band of  musicians who performed the music on this and so many other immortal hits.  Have a great Sunday!

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Jazz

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, Motivation, Music, tagged , , , , on February 22, 2015| 2 Comments »

Blues Twilight Cover Richard BoulgerMost  mornings in the studio I will click on to the Pandora site for a little music while I write the blog.  Normally I will choose the  Chet Baker channel which is a blend of his music along with many others in a wide variety of jazz styles.  I find that it’s a great sound to drive my thoughts without overpowering them, energetic and moody at once.  Being able to step in and out of the music while I am thinking make it a great soundtrack to work by in the morning.

Listening to this has exposed me to a lot of artists and their music that were unknown to me beforehand.  Can’t say I know much about jazz or its history, primarily a few of the better known tracks from the legends.  But I try to keep an open mind and don’t turn myself off to it because of my own lack of knowledge, an attitude I hope a lot of folks who say they know nothing about art will maintain as well.  Try it on– maybe it will fit you better than you might think.

So, for this week’s Sunday music I chose a piece from a musician that was totally unknown to me not too long ago, Richard Boulger.  His horn work is beautiful and his compositions flow really well.  I heard this piece one morning and was totally taken by it and now find myself listening to it once or twice a day now while I paint.  It just fits me well.

Here’s Miss Sarah from Boulger’s 2008 album Blues Twilight.  Hope you’ll enjoy it and have a great Sunday.

 

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