Credit…Louisa Gouliamaki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Listening to NPR this morning, I learn that Greek composer and politician Mikis Theodorakis died Thursday at age 96.
Theodorakis’ music for the film Zorba the Greek became a worldwide shorthand for a seize-the-moment kind of joyfulness.
The music and the film scene still provide one of the most memorable scenes in my lifetime.
— kenne
White-winged Dove On Ocotillo — Image by kenne
Metal Art On the Road to Santa Fe — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Everybody’s talkin’ at me
I don’t hear a word they’re saying
Only the echoes of my mind
People stopping, staring
I can’t see their faces
Only the shadows of their eyes
— from Everybody’s Talkin’ by Fred Neil
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
I can’t let this month get by without recognizing the 50th anniversary (May 21, 1971) of the release of Marvin Gaye’s
masterpiece album, What’s Going On.
“OK, let’s just get this out of the way. Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On LP is a masterpiece. If it’s not in your top five
or at least within the realm of your top 10 albums of all-time, then I seriously think you need to reevaluate your list.
Not many albums give you a snapshot of the world at the time of its release and still remain very relevant decades later.
What’s Going On most certainly does.” — Terry Nelson (albumism.com)
Gaye released the single, What’s Going On, after co-writer Renaldo “Obie” Benson saw police in Berkeley, Calif.,
brutality beat anti-Vietnam War protesters. Gaye would later say, “What mattered was the message. For the first time,
I felt like I had something to say.”
The album went platinum, and Rolling Stone would place it among the greatest albums of all time.
Now fifty years out, its influences are evident today as the nation wrestles with inequality and a racial reckoning.
— kenne
We first became aware of Giddens about 15 years ago as one of the founding members of the country,
blues, and old-time music band Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she is the lead singer, fiddle, and
banjo player. In 2008, we attended the annual Houston iFest where local and international musicians and the
“iFest New Artist of the Year,” the Carolina Chocolate Drops, were scheduled to appear.
Since then, this very talented musician and her unique artistry continue to blossom.
Carolina Chocolate Drops (April 2008) — Images by kenne
Houston’s Little Joe Washington (April, 2008) — Image by kenne
“Personal inconvenience, experience, and environmental impact notwithstanding, a willingness to drive all over
and beyond Harris County has its rewards for the Houston blues aficionado wanting to make the rounds.
Not only is that travel necessary to access the various widely separated business establishments featuring live
performances on a weekly basis, but for those in the know, it’s also the key to experiencing some unique
presentations of the music — both of which evoke an earlier era.”
— Roger Wood (Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues, 2003)
The Blues On Campus (Lone Star College, Montgomery – 02/19/03) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
“The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits.
It’s better keeping the roots alive,
because it means better fruits from now on.
The blues are the roots of all American music.
As long as American music survives, so will the blues.”
Anna B Savage — Source: Music&Riots
London-based singer-songwriter has completed a new project,”A Common Turn.”
In Clash Magazine, Jamie Wilde begins her review:
“Michelle Obama once said that to “dare to be vulnerable”
is to break down barriers and show others who you really are.
With Anna B Savage, this quote can be applied explicitly throughout her
tenderly captivating and embracingly
vulnerable debut album ‘A Common Turn’.”
An artist brave enough to show vulnerability . . .
Here’s a link to the full album — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpymbnIc1YY
Ground Zero Blues Club Memphis (01/21/10) — Abstract Art by kenne
“There are only two kinds of songs;
there’s the blues,
and there’s zip-a-dee-doo-dah.”
— Townes Van Zandt
Another Glass Of Wine My Dear (April 5, 2007) — Image by kenne
Have Some Medeira, M’dear
She was young, she was pure, she was new, she was nice
She was fair, she was sweet seventeen.
He was old, he was vile, and no stranger to vice
He was base, he was bad, he was mean.
He had slyly inveigled her up to his flat
To view his collection of stamps,
And he said as he hastened to put out the cat,
The wine, his cigar and the lamps:
Have some madeira, m’dear.
You really have nothing to fear.
I’m not trying to tempt you, that wouldn’t be right,
You shouldn’t drink spirits at this time of night.
Have some madeira, m’dear.
It’s really much nicer than beer.
I don’t care for sherry, one cannot drink stout,
And port is a wine I can well do without…
It’s simply a case of chacun a son gout
Have some madeira, m’dear.
Unaware of the wiles of the snake-in-the-grass
And the fate of the maiden who topes,
She lowered her standards by raising her glass,
Her courage, her eyes and his hopes.
She sipped it, she drank it, she drained it, she did!
He promptly refilled it again,
And he said as he secretly carved one more notch
On the butt of his gold-headed cane:
Have some madeira, m’dear,
I’ve got a small cask of it here.
And once it’s been opened, you know it won’t keep.
Do finish it up.
It will help you to sleep.
Have some madeira, m’dear.
It’s really an excellent year.
Now if it were gin, you’d be wrong to say yes
The evil gin does would be hard to assess..
Besides it’s inclined to affect me prowess,
Have some madeira, m’dear.
Then there flashed through her mind what her mother had said
With her antepenultimate breath,
“Oh my child, should you look on the wine that is red
Be prepared for a fate worse than death!”
She let go her glass with a shrill little cry,
Crash!
Tinkle! it fell to the floor;
When he asked,
“What in Heaven?”
She made no reply,
Up her mind, and a dash for the door.
Have some madeira, m’dear.
Rang out down the hall loud and clear
With a tremulous cry that was filled with despair,
As she fought to take breath in the cool midnight air,
Have some madeira, m’dear.
The words seemed to ring in her ear.
Until the next morning, she woke in her bed
With a smile on her lips and an ache in her head…
And a beard in her lug ‘ole that tickled and said:
Have some madeira, m’dear!
—Flanders and Swann
Texas Johnny Brown at Houston’s Shakespeare Pub — Photo-Artistry by kenne
(Click on Texas Johnny Brown to see archived blog posting on TJB)
— Eugene Chadbourne Source: allmusic.com
Ye Vagabonds LP
I love British folk music — enjoy.
Galveston Bay — Image by kenne
Janet Yellen — Source: Getty Images
Biden: Yellen needs a “Hamilton” musical. Dessa: Here you go.
Houston Blues Legend, Sherman Roberson — Image by kenne
