COVID19: Make-A-Wish Edition

 Posted by
Apr 142020
 

I am a big fan of Wesley Stace (the artist formerly known as John Wesley Harding) and I have had a few occasions to speak with him over the years after shows at the merch table (captive audience). When he put out his last LP, featuring the “Minneapolian Sound of The Jayhawks,” I was in heaven. My favorite band, The Jayhawks, with one of my songwriting heroes. We had an (possibly imagined) moment after a Squeeze show in Atlanta (he opened) while discussing how we both loved The Jayhawks.

I saw him play a month ago: back when there were concerts! (At Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta – birthplace of Indigo Girls and John Mayer) and we traded a few FB messages (ok, he responded to my messages) about mandolin and songs he chose to play for this particular pre-shutdown show. So basically we are best friends now.

So this week some of his Facebook fans created an “imaginary tribute LP” and posted which artists they wanted and what song they should perform (The Cure should do “Goth Girl,” for example). Many were deceased (Johnny Cash), others were never going to say yes (Billy Joel will never record “My Least Favorite Things”). Some were serious, some were to be clever (Jacob Dylan playing “Making Love To Bob Dylan”).

My suggestion was to have The Jayhawks record “Kiss Me Miss Liberty” from John Wesley Harding’s New Deal (1996?). Wes “liked” it and it became part of the “imaginary” track line up.

Then a funny thing happened, Wes started to reach out to the artists and they started agreeing to record the songs that the “fans” wanted them to play!

Graham Parker started the ball rolling last week with his cover of “The Devil In Me” and I began to construct the Jayhawks arrangement of “Kiss Me Miss Liberty” in my head as a cure for my captivity boredom.

So today I see a message from Wes to me (ok to the group) that Gary Louris (of The Jayhawks) is the next artist to record a Wes song, thanks to Eric Leland (well, after I reminded him that it was my idea).

So I am basically a record executive again! COVID19 dreams do come true!

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Musical Artists You Like Better for Things They Do Beside Their Music

 Posted by
Apr 132020
 

Since she first hit the public eye as one half of a singing duo, let’s agree that Cher is a singer. For me, despite liking a couple of Sonny & Cher songs well enough, I can’t think of a singer with a less-appealing voice than Cher’s. Are you one of those people who say, “Oh no, I can’t sing to save my life!” I bet you have a more appealing singing voice to my ears than Cher’s.

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Kicks: “Just What I Needed” vs “Sugar Magnolia”

 Posted by
Apr 132020
 

In a private discussion last week with my close personal friends E Pluribus Gergely and Lady Gergely, EPG wanted to know how I could say with a straight face that I liked The Grateful Dead‘s “Sugar Magnolia.” First, I reminded him, I like the song with an associated chuckle, which is how I like 10 of the 11 songs that make up my nearly heroic Dead Dozen playlist on Spotify. There’s nothing wrong with having an associated chuckle over a loved one, is there? Think of the friends and lovers in your life.

Somehow, he brought up “Just What I Needed” and my longstanding beefs with the perfect pop craft of The Cars. He wasn’t satisfied with my equally longstanding belief that the first Cars record is one of the most solid, justifiably hit-packed records of all time. He wanted to know why, if you’ll excuse my French, I’d rather fuck “Sugar Magnolia” than “Just What I Needed.”

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Heart of Dark Star

 Posted by
Apr 102020
 

My wife and I went out for a quick pickup the other day. We took her car. Bluetooth picked up a random Grateful Dead mix from her phone. One of my favorite 11 Dead songs, from a Dead Dozen mix that I curated and shared with friends on Facebook a couple of months ago, played. Then some others I didn’t know so well. I’ve come a long way through the years in appreciating the Grateful Dead. Even when we left off with Rock Town Hall in 2016, I would have been hard pressed to compile a mix of 11 Dead songs I actually liked – and not for strictly humorous purposes. A couple of weeks ago, I got some deeply upsetting, if expected, personal news, and I immediately turned to my Dead Dozen mix for comfort, letting myself shed some tears during “Ripple.”

Anyhow, while we made our quick run to the liquor store, something called “Dark Star (single version)” popped up on my wife’s random list. I had no idea there was such a thing. “Dark Star” is a song I can’t identify to save my life. The one time I saw the Dead they played it live, and the 19,997 Deadheads around me and my other 2 Dead-hater friends went wild. I furiously sucked on a bowl for the next half hour, but I didn’t get it then. I try to listen to recordings of that song every couple of years, to see if anything sticks. Nothing ever does. It’s like that kid back in your early school days: “I remember the name, but I can’t see his face!”

I thought this single version of “Dark Star” might help me see the heart of “Dark Star.” You know what I concluded?

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This May Be the Wrong Place to Ask, but…

 Posted by
Apr 092020
 

One thing I’ve been trying to do while working from home, isolated in a spare bedroom that now serves as my office, is to be more patient and open in my listening habits. I listen to albums I play in the background all the way through – no needle lifting! I have been listening to lots of artists I normally don’t listen to, including albums released past 1983. I’ve been listening to genres of music I normally don’t make much time for, especially classical music. My wife walked in on me listening to a Mahler symphony the other day and exclaimed, “I never thought I’d walk in on you listening to classical music,” as if I’d been watching bestiality videos…

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Listen Here

 Posted by
Apr 092020
 

Does anybody have a half-decent music podcast they can share?

My own diet, and it’s far from a rich one, includes the David Hepworth-hosted A Word in Your Ear podcast. It’s an irregular recording, usually with an author or musician, and is done in London. Chatty, informative and rarely outstays its welcome.

I’ve dropped in for a few sessions at Strong Songs, where the host pulls apart a well known tune to see what makes it tick. As I can’t read music, some of the more technical aspects of musical structure sail over my head.

What’s on your podcast download?

I’ve got time on my hands right now for a few good ones.

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