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Monthly Archives: September 2003
Robert Palmer, 54; Heart Attack
r. Simply Irresistable died of a heart attack in Paris yesterday, 25 September 2003. He’d had a checkup two weeks earlier and received a clean bill of health.Despite the apparent superficiality of “Addicted to Love” and the associated iconic video, Palmer was a brilliant writer and performer. Continue reading
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
oke up this morning to the strangest sound; like living next to a major freeway, but more of a rumble. It woke me up, starting suddenly and rolling and rumbling like distant thunder. After a couple minutes, I got up to look out into the dark to see if I could make out what it was. The closest freeway is a mile away, and not busy at night. I couldn’t see anything that looked like a sudden LA-sized influx of traffic.Suddenly it hit me. One of the joys of living on the north side of Sacramento is that most of these small towns were built around the railroads. I was hearing a sound I hadn’t heard like this in years—a passing freight train. Continue reading
Posted in blues, jazz, ragtime, rock, trad
Tagged Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Genesis, Gordon Lightfoot, Harry Nilsson, Michelle Shocked, Various
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Comment: Meet Alden Marin
reader writes regarding Meet Alden Marin:”Zeppelin’s first Southern California show was actually May 2, 1969 at the Rose Palace in Pasadena.” Continue reading
Smooth Indeed
or the first time in musical history an instrumental made it to the top of the Album Oriented Rock charts. It’s kinda fun that it was done by a band from my old home town, San Diego’s own Nickel Creek.Calling Chris Thile (pronounce it THEE-lee with a ‘TH’ like ‘thumb’ and you’ll make him very happy) a ‘mandolin player’ is like calling Chet Atkins a ‘Country Guitar Player.’ I get blisters just listening to him. My own Fender mandolin should be arriving any day now. Looks like I’ve got some catching up to do.Nickel Creek is bluegrass with an attitude. Nickel Creek is acoustic rock making a left turn in Albuquerque. Nickel Creek is doing what Jorma Kaukonen, Bela Fleck, and Stephane Grappelli did: creating a very new dimension to a very old genre. Members fiddler Sara Watkins, guitarist Sean Watkins, and mandolin player Chris Thile have been playing together professionally since they were in elementary school. Listening to a live radio broadcast on KPRI right now, it’s obvious they’ve made effective use of the time. Continue reading
New York Times Article on Music File Sharing Ambivalence
oday’s Sacramento Bee published a partial version of a New York Times article by Neil Strauss regarding the confusion and discord in the music industry over file sharing. Once again, it’s obvious the powers-that-be just don’t ‘get’ how to use technology to share information without encouraging dishonesty by their own greed.I’ve mentioned before what a great marketer Moby is; his comments in the article are salient, professional, and correct: “How can a 14-year-old who has an allowance of $5 a week feel bad about downloading music produced by multimillionaire musicians and greedy record companies,” he wrote. “The record companies should approach that 14-year-old and say: ‘Hey, it’s great that you love music. Instead of downloading music for free, why don’t you try this very inexpensive service that will enable you to listen to a lot of music and also have access to unreleased tracks and ticket discounts and free merchandise?’ “Here’s the article in full: Continue reading
Comment: W. C. Handy Walking in Memphis
t was interesting to learn the meaning of the names in the song, but one wasn’t explained… who is “Reverend Green?”ThanksSamAlthough I can’t find an explicit answer, most sources claim it’s a reference to soul great Al Green, who has been a minister at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis since 1974. Guess I shoulda mentioned that in the original article, eh? Continue reading
Threes?
don’t believe the nonsense that bad things come in threes, but if anyone else does, I hope we’re through.I’m not obsessed with death or anything like that—my own life has taken turns that make me certain I want to live forever. But humans are the only creature on this planet who take special notice of death, so consider this instinctive behavior.The ‘Man in Black’, Johnny Cash, Dead at 71 Continue reading
Losing the Excitable Boy
arren ‘Werewolves of London’ Zevon left us last night at the age of 56.Two excellent articles at CNN Continue reading
