Standing my ground

So much agitation on the internets tonight makes me think it's time for some cool blues. Clarence Gatemouth Brown.

I'm Gonna Cry

I've known the redheaded lead singer of this group since she was a kid. She's the daughter of my friends Mark and Molly Bode. Practically watched her grow up. Couldn't be more proud of her if she was my own.

A star is born

Commander Chris Hadfield is leaving the International Space Station today. He's been literally orbiting the earth for a long time. A couple of days ago he had to do a space walk to fix an ammonia leak on the station. His last gift to us earthlings is this video, karaoke from outer space.

Your moment of Zen

Fish gotta swim...



... birds gotta fly.

Moses, don't get lost

Working on clearing out the archives on quiet Sunday afternoon. This seems like the perfect time to post this video. John Davis And The Georgia Sea Island Singers:

Fly on little wing

Dozed off before I posted this last night, so a belated tip of the hat to Jimi Hendrix who would have been 70 years old yesterday. This was always one of my favorites.



Wish he was still with us. So many of the best performers of that era died too soon. On the other hand, they could have all ended up like Elvis, which would have been just as tragic.

Hey Mambo

Wish there was actual footage of her performance for this one but the recording is so good, I'm posting it anyway. Not quite PC I guess, but for reasons I no longer remember this was one of my favorite songs as a child. The song was covered by many. I vaguely remember Dean Martin doing it. But no one did it like Rosemary.



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A change is gonna come

Someday. Feels like I've been waiting for a very long time.

Since I'm getting a late start -- again -- and it's already a holiday weekend, I'm going to post this via Greg Mitchell on the twitter. Always did love Sam Cooke and the video here seems especially appropriate for these times.



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It's the singer, not the song

Well, it looks like they had quite a party in the East Room, what with all the legendary musicians that showed up including B.B. King and Mick Jagger. They had the whole audience shaking it, including Michelle and Barack. And damn if our president isn't a pretty good singer. Yep, he did it again:



Details on the festivities here.

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She's my pride and joy

I was so bummed I forgot to watch The Voice last night. A woman I've known, literally since she was a baby, was on the show. But thanks to my Facebook friends who posted the video, I got to watch Naia Kete nail her performance. (Sorry, it can't be embedded.)

She was so great, I was seriously in tears, just busting with pride and happiness for her. And that's her mom Kulpana in the video at the end. Who is also a tremendous musician in her own right, having fronted more than one successful band. In fact the whole family is ridiculously talented. Pretty sure the tall guy with the dreads is Naia's baby brother, also a fabulous performer. Think the last time I saw him, he was barely out of his stroller. They grow so fast.

Anyway, Naia got to pick between two teams. I'm glad she chose Blake. I didn't like the way Cee Lo was looking at her. I suspect he would have been hitting on her more than coaching her. Blake seemed much more sincerely interested in her talent.

Meanwhile, I haven't had a real vacation in at least five years and I found an affordable beach I like. Don't think I can deal with politics tonight. I spent three hours this afternoon in the sun, walking on the sand to collect a handful of shells. My hair is all fluffy from the salt air. Which is more exercise than I've had in at least six months. Feeling tired, but happy and peaceful.

Going to spend a few days here before the hotel rates go up. But it might rain tomorrow so I'll catch up in the morning.
[photo viawith bonus video]

Angry patriotism

Haven't heard this new Bruce Springstein album yet and the reviewer is bit hyperbolic but the quotes from the Boss are good.

"A big promise has been broken. You can't have a United States if you are telling some folks that they can't get on the train. There is a cracking point where a society collapses. You can't have a civilisation where something is factionalised like this."

(Internet is dicey here tonight so the videos won't load but archiving for future listening.)

"Pessimism and optimism are slammed up against each other in my records, the tension between them is where it's all at, it's what lights the fire."

The album is the last on which Clarence Clemons, the legendary saxophonist from the E Street Band, played on before he died last year. "When the sax comes up on Land of Hope and Dreams," Springsteen says, "it's a lovely moment for me."

RIP Clarence. He was one of the greats. Be worth buying the album just to have his last gig.

If you want a lover

Rainy Friday night here and my belly is full of Indian food. Finally. Been craving it forever and can't get it in the little city. Been such an ugly couple of days in politics. Don't feel like blogging about it anymore tonight so some music. This was on the soundtrack of some TV crime show I was watching last night.



I love Leonard Cohen. He's held up well over the years.

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Off the hook

Why I love the twitter machine. This, from 1964, showed up in my stream with the caption, "They seemed so dangerous then." So they did, but in retrospect, they look so innocent compared to what happened after...



Via my long time pal A. Rascal, who introduced me to the fabulous Michele Hush, who not only has an exquisite eye for the gorgeously historic sounds and images of my era but is on a mission I admire and support. Instantly fell in love with her blog dedicated to rescuing the endangered word "divinipotent." Click over and check the sidebar to find other words in need of adoption.

Of thee I sing

There may be nothing more cringe inducing than a politician who treats a speaking engagement like a Karoke contest. I still have nightmares from watching the video of John Ashcroft singing "Let the Eagle Soar." But some do it better than others. Herman Cain suffered no small amount of mockery after he sang that gospel hymn, "He Looked Beyond My Faults." Which paled in comparison to the outpouring of derision when he sang, "imagine there's no pizza."

The pizza song was worthy of the snark, but I thought he pulled off the gospel song pretty well. It was weird but he has a decent voice so it wasn't that painful. However, when it comes to singing pols, President Obama is the new king of soul. Everybody is posting this one, and so am I, just so I have it in the archives forever.



But that's not the half of it. His Al Green is the best, but check out his Aretha and Dionne Warwick. Man, but our POTUS can sing. Hoping more of these turn up so TPM can put together a mash-up for future historians.

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Jazz is the thing that folks. Dig. Best.

Yes, I know it's traditional to post them, but forget White Christmas or Count Your Blessings or the rest of Bing's sappy holiday songs. This isn't festive in a seasonal way, but it's rocking around the Christmas tree.

I do not count the time

I'm fast approaching an important birthday. There's a zero at the end of it. So I've been thinking about the space-time continuum. I don't measure time in the same way I did when I was young. That's not to say I don't keep to a daily schedule, but I don't measure the passage of time in hours and days and weeks. Not even in months and years.



Time moves differently at this stage of life. I cherish it in single moments. I measure it in seasons. And decades.

That track by Richard Thompson, former bandmate of Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention. An under-appreciated British invasion band of the day. Still under-appreciated. I saw him live at the Baystate in lovely downtown Noho, he didn't even fill that room. Criminal neglect of great talent.

Bonus track: Nina Simone's unique cover.

In memoriam: Otis Redding

Otis Redding died on this date in 1967. He was only 26 years old. Like so many of that era, we lost him too soon. This song was my favorite of all.

Darkness, darkness, be my blanket

For reasons much too complicated to explain, and especially at this time of year, on the soundtrack of my rather long life, this song has always been in the top three. Tonight, it's at number one.



Not the best quality recording but it's about the lyrics for me.

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Little known facts about a well known blogger

In keeping with the holiday theme of giving thanks, I'm thankful for Mike Finnigan, whose generous linking at his Blog Round Up at Crooks and Liars launched my own little blog into the Google rankings and encouraged me to keep blogging. And I'm far from the only one. Mike's relentless kindness to lesser known bloggers is legendary.

But I never knew until now that Mike is also such a huge musical legend. I mean, I knew he was a great musician but not that he played with Hendrix, among many other illuminaries. Yet he still shaped the political internets in his spare time. Just wow. How lucky am I to count him as a friend?

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2000 Light Years from Home

It's another one of those nights when I have so much to say, I can't say anything. Except this.





Presently, I'm wandering somewhere within the space between those two worlds. The same, but different. Sound is better in the first one. Video in the live version so captures the essence of that moment in time.