dual personalities

Category: Music

January 13, 2015

“I hear the train a coming”*

by chuckofish

On this day in 1968 Johnny Cash, backed by June Carter, Carl Perkins and the Tennessee Three, gave two performances at the Folsom State Prison

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which were recorded and subsequently released as a live album–At Folsom Prison.

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The album was a hit, reaching number one on the country charts and the top 15 of the national album chart. The lead single from the album, a live version of “Folsom Prison Blues,” was a top 40 hit, Cash’s first since 1964’s “Understand Your Man.” Indeed, the success of At Folsom Prison revitalized Cash’s career. According to Cash, “that’s where things really got started for me again.”

Hats off to the Man in Black! You were one of a kind. Awesome.

 

It is also the birthday of A.B. Guthrie, Jr. (1901–1991), the author of six historical novels that gave an unromanticized picture of the settling of the American West from 1830 to World War II. The most famous, “The Big Sky,” launched his career in 1947, and “The Way West,” published in 1949, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1950. He also wrote the screenplay for Shane (1953), my favorite movie of all time.

I recommend A.B. Guthrie, who is a really good writer and whose character, Dick Summers, is (in my opinion) one of the great ones of literature.

He tried to put himself in Brownie’s place, tried to put there the him that used to be, not the him of now, worn and hard and doubtful by the knocks of living. You couldn’t tell a boy how few were the things that mattered and how little was their mattering. You couldn’t say that the rest washed off in the wash of years so that, looking back, a man wanted to laugh except he couldn’t quite laugh yet. The dreams dreamed and the hopes hoped and the hurts felt and the jolts suffered, they all got covered by the years. They buried themselves in memory. Dug out of it, they seemed queer, as a dug-up bone with the flesh rotted off of it might seem queer to the dog that had buried it.

–-The Way West

So a toast to Johnny Cash and to A.B. Guthrie–two favorites of mine.

4 Comments
November 6, 2014

“I live in my own mind, ain’t nothing but a good time”

by chuckofish

I missed Lyle Lovett’s birthday on November 1, so I will note it now belatedly.

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Lyle, you know, is a 5th-generation Texan and a Grammy-winning country music singer/songwriter and actor. He is one of my favorites. I have actually seen him in concert three times! His picture is proudly displayed on my wall at home along with Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler.

So let’s toast him tonight. Here are a couple of Lyle’s videos to watch and enjoy:

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October 14, 2014

Leave the light on in the yard for me

by chuckofish

Last week daughter #2 sent me a present–a new CD! Way to make my week automatically better. (I had been listening to 1970s CSNY. Woof.)

Anyway, the CD was Lost in the Dream by The War on Drugs, which is an indie rock band I was not acquainted with. So I have been listening to it non-stop in my car and it is wonderful!

Clearly the lead singer is greatly influenced by Bob Dylan. The album is also reminiscent of Dire Straits and Bruce Springsteen–all fine with me. Indeed, there is a lot of “homage” going on and, again, that is fine with me. Try it, I say. You will like it.

Here’s a sample:

 

So make your week better–and as they say, treat yourself.

 

6 Comments
September 26, 2014

“You gotta hear this one song. It’ll change your life I swear.”*

by chuckofish

I received my Williams College Alumni magazine yesterday. I love reading the class notes of the really old classes. Thurston So-N-So, class secretary for the class of 1940-something, had polled his classmates on the question “What is your favorite song?” Then he wrote about the answers. Several of the guys said “The Star Spangled Banner”. Others mentioned songs from the Big Band era that had been personally important to them. Still others said that Williams songs such as “The Mountains” and “Yard By Yard” were their favorites. Thurston promised to continue this conversation in the next issue.

Anyway, it brings up a good question. Do you have a favorite song? I could not possibly name ONE. There are so many categories! There are so many great songs! The mind reels.

We grew up listening to such a wide range of music–from classical to folk to show tunes–and now it is all a big jumble in my poor over-burdened mind. I mean, I remember spending countless recess periods in third grade walking hand-in-hand with my best friend Nancy singing “Edelweiss” out loud. We just loved it. And, no, I do not remember anyone making fun of us for doing this. But I can’t say it is my favorite song anymore.

Likewise I remember loving “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” by Johnny Cash when I heard it on television as an impressionable 4-year old. I’m sure I listened to the 45 my mother bought incessantly. But, again, it is not my favorite song of all time.

What is it about a song that makes it your favorite? Is it a song you can hear over and over and never tire of? Do you hear the first note and think, “Ah. Yes.”? Does it evoke an emotional response? Does it express perfectly how you feel?

Well, here are a few songs that qualify for me:

1. “Moon River” by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini

 

2. “Positively 4th Street” by Bob Dylan (unfortunately this video is not Bob D. singing, but it is the best one I could find. You get the idea)

 

3. “Mack the Knife” by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht

 

4. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” by Hank Williams

 

5. “Man In Black” by John R. Cash

 

Do you have a favorite song?

Of course, this leads to my Friday Movie Pick. How about one of these movies with ‘song’ in the title? Song of the South (1946), Brian’s Song (1971), Song of the Thin Man (1947), The Song of Bernadette (1943), Torch Song (1953). I’m sure there are lots more, right?

 

Have a great weekend!

 

*Sam in Garden State (2004) talking about the Shins.

4 Comments
September 25, 2014

The good old days may not return

by chuckofish

When daughter #1 and I were getting ready for our road trip to Arkansas a few weeks ago, we unearthed some classic CD mixes. This week I have been listening to one marked “Mom’s March Mix” which includes some old favorites, including this one from old Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers circa 1991:

 

You remember that Tom Petty (born 1950) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,

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but he was also a member and co-founder of the late, great super-group The Traveling Wilburys, which included Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, and Jeff Lynne.

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He has also recorded with Johnny Cash and other cool dudes. In fact, he is a pretty cool dude himself. He has even been on The Simpsons–in the episode “What I Did on My Strummer Vacation”.

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Yes, that’s Elvis Costello, Tom, Keith Richards, Homer, Mick Jagger, Lenny Kravitz, and Brian Setzer.

So I hope a little Tom Petty will brighten your day. It has brightened mine.

3 Comments
September 17, 2014

“Don’t look at your feet to see if you are doing it right. Just dance.”*

by chuckofish

So did everyone watch Dancing With the Stars on Monday  night? As you know, I am not a fan of reality television, but I do sometimes get caught up in watch DWTS.

Since I was already depressed by daughter #1’s exit to the big city, I figured I would be a couch potato and check out DWTS. And I admit–I enjoyed it! Yes,  it is pretty low-brow, but one can’t read the Psalms by candlelight every night. Also, I had the 4-way texting thing going with my children, which definitely raises the enjoyment level ten-fold. Even daughter #1, who was at work, had it on, because it is, after all, an ABC show! (The boy was watching some game, but he threw in a comment or two about Lolo Jones.)

Okay, so my faves are:

of course, Sadie Robertson, Duck Dynasty heiress. She is another untrained natural, like Kellie Pickler, who is great to watch. (And I love her parents in the audience.)

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Sadie and her dad

Jonathan Bennett, the cutie from Mean Girls whom my daughters derided, but it is probably a case of methinks-the-lady-doth-protest-too-much;

and Alfonso Ribeiro was quite the dancer–and props for not doing the Carleton!

But I am very disappointed that Lolo Jones didn’t make it to the second week. She is so beautiful and talented! And that is what is so stupid about this show–she is off and Betsy Johnson, Tommy Chong and Michael Waltrip are still on!

For now, I am on Team Sadie. How about you?

*Anne Lamott

5 Comments
August 30, 2014

“There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort”

by chuckofish

Jane Austen was so right. In fact, home is so nice that I could easily become a recluse. I love my house, especially now that the painters have almost finished making it look shiny white and new!

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They did trample my hostas almost to extinction. And one of my spruce bushes got so butchered that we just had to take it away completely. I think the one pictured here will follow and then we’ll start all over again. But that’s fine with me…because they’ve done a bonza job.

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The picture above shows the dining room window — a very large spruce bush used to obscure it.

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The painters had a lot of cool equipment, including this bucket truck to get them up to the top of the house. It made me feel much better about those heights, but it left huge furrows in our front lawn, which will now be a real adventure to mow. But, hey, who cares? The house looks young again and its appreciation is almost palpable. I swear it’s almost smiling.

Meanwhile, on the inside I continue my fight against ‘stuff’ and dirt. I’ve been washing my grimy, boy-hand-printed upstairs hall walls with a trusty Mr. Clean magic eraser and a sponge. No kidding, those magic erasers are really magic, but do be careful about what surface you use them on as they contain formaldehyde.

The newest weapon in my arsenal is a Hoover carpet shampooer. Yep, I took the plunge. I figure that if I have one of my own, I’ll likely use it at least once a year and even if it’s not perfect, it ought to remove the worst of the dirt and spilled tea smell. So today, I’m going to attempt to use the carpet cleaner. Keep your fingers crossed!

Home improvement is so satisfying — you can tell from the (slightly forced) smile, right?

Taken in July during the bathroom re-paint

Taken in July during the bathroom re-paint

So I’m not exactly “Little Green Notebook” as a do-it-yourself blogger. I’m more the “if this incompetent can do it, anyone can” type. But that’s just it. Anyone can! The trick is knowing when to hire someone else to do the job. I think my dual personality has it down pat — as usual, I’m just following in her footsteps.

Have a lovely weekend and think of me toiling away happily with my carpet monster.

 

4 Comments
August 29, 2014

When the light is changing

by chuckofish

I deserved a treat, so I ordered Mary Chapin Carpenter’s 2010 CD The Age of Miracles.

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I am one of her oldest fans (and I mean that both ways)–although we are contemporaries after all, so never mind. Anyway, she never disappoints. It is a very good album and there is one song which really spoke to me. Listen, fellow introverts, and enjoy!

 

And, oh boy, the weekend is upon us once again! The painting in my bathroom is finished (thank you, Gary!) and so my project is to put the room back together.

I will also be readying the house for daughter # 1 who arrives home in a week for a birthday visit. Lots to do–but all fun stuff.

Hope your weekend is full of fun stuff too!

P.S. Today is Joseph Cotton day on TCM–so nothing thrilling to report there. He was in some classic movies, including Citizen Kane and The Third Man, but I am not a big fan of his. With a few notable exceptions like Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt (1943), he made a career of playing the second lead, the good guy who is kind of boring and makes the lead look sexy and dangerous in comparison. In that genre, TCM will be showing Duel in the Sun (1947) which, even though it stars a hot young Gregory Peck playing Cotton’s bad younger brother, is a pretty terrible movie. I liked it as a child though, mostly because of the ethereal Lillian Gish who plays  the aging southern belle who had a thing a long time ago for her reckless creole cousin and so takes in his half-breed daughter, played by the terrible actress Jennifer Jones.  Whenever Gish is in a scene,  “Beautiful Dreamer” plays in the background and follows her around eerily. I’m sure I had no idea what was actually going on, i.e. rape, wreckage and ruin. King Vidor directed it all with a heavy hand, but it does have a rousing musical score by Dimitri Tiomkin.

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So watch it if you’re in the mood for a bad melodramatic western–and I’ll admit, sometimes I am. But I really don’t like Gregory Peck as a bad guy.

5 Comments