music Archives - Page 11 of 41 - Ramblin' with Roger

May Ramblin’

I was listening to one of the few podcasts I follow regularly, Coverville; highly recommended, BTW. Anyway, there is sometimes a segment at the end called Musically Challenged, in which a listener provides a quiz for Coverville host Brian Ibbott, and usually for Brian’s wife Tina. Lo and behold, the quiz for episode 574 was provided by Tosy and Cosh. Tosy was the one who turned me onto Coverville.

I had requested of Brian that he play a Pete Seeger cover in honor of Pete’s 90th birthday a couple weeks ago. Well, Brian didn’t play any Pete covers on May 3, but instead dedicated the whole next show to Seeger. My request for one song became the inspiration for the entire episode. I am pleased.
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A (weird) random conversation starter from Jaquandor.
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On June 6, 2009, in honor of the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson’s trip up the river that now bears his name, a musician will be playing the Mid-Hudson Bridge, the bridge that connects Poughkeepsie and Highland, near my college town of New Paltz. Not just playing ON the bridge, but actually playing the bridge as an instrument.
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1981 Video Predicts The Death Of Print Newspapers.
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Mr. Frog reviews the warts-and-all complete history of Sesame Street. It includes discussion of this scene which always chokes me up:

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How to test your copyright knowledge.
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A couple television programs you should watch. They’ve already aired, but thanks to the Internet, they are easily retrievable.

One is Bill Moyers Journal of April 17. Bill interviews the executive producer of HBO’s critically-acclaimed show THE WIRE, David Simon who “talks…about inner-city crime and politics, storytelling and the future of journalism today.” I’ve never seen The Wire, but now I must watch it on DVD. But you don’t have to have watched that vaunted program to appreciate his insights.

The other is a two-part 60 Minutes report narrated by Lesley Stahl. In Part 1 she “reports on flaws in eyewitness testimony that are at the heart of the DNA exonerations of falsely convicted people like Ronald Cotton, who has now forgiven his accuser, Jennifer Thompson.” In Part 2, she “explores the task of an eyewitness to choose a criminal out of line up through memory. Jennifer Thompson falsely selected Ronald Cotton as her rapist.” Thompson and Cotton are now friends, and have co-written a book, Picking Cotton.
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Dom Deluise as role model for Mark Evanier, of a sort.
ROG

Springsteen and Powell

In anticipation of seeing Bruce Springsteen tonight in Albany, I have, of course, been listening to a lot of his music. And I HAVE a lot off his music:
Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. 1973 LP, CD
The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle 1974 LP
Born To Run 1975 LP, CD
Darkness on the Edge of Town 1978 LP, CD
The River 1980 CD
Nebraska 1982 LP, burned CD
Born in the U.S.A. 1984 LP, CD
Live 1975/85 1986 LPs
Tunnel of Love 1987 LP
Human Touch 1992 CD
Lucky Town 1992 CD
Greatest Hits 1995 CD
The Ghost of Tom Joad 1995 CD
The Rising 2002 CD
We Shall Overcome The Seeger Sessions American Land Edition 2006
Live In Dublin 2007 CD
Magic 2007 CD

What occurred to me is that all of the albums that I have in vinyl and compact disc I got from one source, my brother-in-law John, who was a big advocate for my relationship with his sister Carol, even during the time we were apart.

One December, he asked what I wanted for Christmas, and I gave him a list of Springsteen albums I had on vinyl but not on CD, plus The River, which, for some reason, I had never owned. So John, who was by then living in New Jersey, incidentally, gave me ALL of them; I was angling for maybe two or three.

John died of colon cancer on Lincoln’s Birthday 2002. It seems somehow appropriate to go see The Boss for the first time on what would have been John Powell’s 49th birthday.
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Oh, and here are some great Springsteen covers.

ROG

BRUCE, T-minus 2

A couple months, I was talking to one of my colleagues about the fact that I would be seeing Bruce Springsteen in May. He, who has seen Bruce a double digit number of times but cannot on this tour, sent me three discs of Springsteen ~~bootl~~ unauthorized recordings. Two discs were from 1979.

It was the third disc, though, was the most intriguing. I put it into my iTunes and lo, iTunes recognized it. It turned out to be the second disc of something called You Can Trust Your Car to the Man Who Wears the Star, a 1975 performance that fits chronologically between Springsteen’s second and third albums.

If one Googles the title and Springsteen, one gets over 11,000 hits, so it is not an obscure recording, but rather a legendary one. And now, only 34 years after that recording, I’m going to see Springsteen live myself.

But what’s with the album title? I’m old enough to recognize the original reference – think fossil fuel – but WHY use it? Anyone know?

ROG

O is for Opportunities

OK, I am a sucker for good causes:
BlogCatalog and Heifer International are partnering to call for the end of world hunger and start of hope on April 29. All we ask is that you join thousands of other bloggers and write a post about world hunger on April 29.
You Can Make a Difference.

I am posting this a day early in case others want to join in.

* Right now, more than 500 million people are living in “absolute poverty” and more than 15 million children die of hunger every year.
* World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the population is underfed and another third is starving.
* Even in the United States, 46 percent of African-American children and 49 percent of Latino children are considered chronically hungry.

Organizations like Heifer International are the solution. Every day in April, Heifer International is lifting people out of poverty by providing communities with livestock and agricultural training to improve lives and inspire hope.
What can you do for Bloggers Unite For Hunger And Hope?

* Join this event by visiting Bloggers Unite and adding a badge to your blog before April 29.
* Visit Heifer International to learn more about Pass On The Gift.
*Make a small donation or take some other action to end world hunger.
*Blog about world hunger on April 29 with links to solutions all over the world.

I was stuck for an idea about what different perspective I could bring to the topic, until yesterday, when my American Institute of Philanthropy Charity Rating Guide and Watchdog Report showed up in the mail. Among other information, the website designates the top-rated charities in a variety of categories. For hunger, they include, with links:
Action Against Hunger – USA A+
Bread for the World B+
Bread for the World Institute A
Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest) A
Food Bank for New York City (formerly Food for Survival) A–
Food for the Hungry B+
Freedom from Hunger A–
Global Hunger Project A
The grades are based on “rigorous analysis. Groups included on the Top-Rated list generally spend 75% or more of their budgets on programs, spend $25 or less to raise $100 in public support, do not hold excessive assets in reserve, and receive ‘open-book’ status for disclosure of basic financial information and documents to AIP.” Knowing this information is extremely helpful, for, in the words of the newsletter, “As the unemployment rate continues to rise and home foreclosures increase, it is more important than ever that those who are able lend a hand to their neighbors who need it.”

I am interested to hear from any of you , especially outside the Unites States, to find out if watchdog groups such as AIP exist elsewhere.
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Also, here’s something I learned about watching Bill Moyers’ Journal on PBS, American public television:

Playing For Change — Songs Around The World CD/DVD in stores now

After 4 years of filming and recording musicians around the globe, we are finally releasing our album “Playing For Change: Songs around the World,” featuring a 10 song CD and 7 track DVD. This is a collection of songs and videos featuring over 100 musicians from around the world that have never met in person, but have been brought together through the power of music.

Today is our chance to show the world that independent projects designed to connect and inspire people can be successful.

The album demonstrates that regardless of our religion, race, gender, or political views we can unite through music. The time is now to unite as a human race and this global collaboration driven by your love and encouragement is designed to lead us in that direction.

The CD/DVD is available online or at that increasingly popular purveyor of music, Starbucks.

ROG

iTunes Meme

The meme: the last vestige of the desperate blogger. Thom wrote about the number of cuts from groups and solo artists that populate his iPod. well, I don’t have one, but I do have iTunes, so I thought I’d list those folks.

Unlike Thom, most, though not all, of mine are culled from albums. But it’s not a particular reflection of my whole collection. For instance, the Beatles, who I own extensively, only have 14 cuts, all from the Help! album. Sometimes I remember to add songs and sometimes not. Apparently I have more recently, since most of the artists represented have birthdays in the past five months. So this list might look quite different in a few months. Links are to videos of songs I like and I own.
1. Johnny Cash (Feb)- 153. I do love John R.
1. James Taylor (Mar)-153.
3. Frank Sinatra (Dec)-114. A couple box sets
4. R.E.M. (Michael Stipe: Jan)-110.
5. Burning Spear-101. This was a group that got downloaded from someone else’s list.
6. Aretha Franklin (Mar)-98. Largely from a box set
7. Temptations-95 (Eddie Kendrick: Dec; David Ruffin-Jan; Dennis Edwards: Feb)
8. Heptones-87. Likewise from someone else’s roster.
8. Elton John (Mar)-87. Same birthday as Aretha, BTW.
10. Marvin Gaye (Apr)-80. He also died in April, a day shy of his 40th birthday.
10. George Harrison (Feb)-80.
12. Eric Clapton (Mar)-79.
13. Supremes (Diana Ross, Mary Wilson: both Mar)-76
14. Neville Brothers (Aaron: Jan)-73.
15. Elvis Presley (Jan)-72.
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I mowed the lawn for the first time this season yesterday. When you have a push mower, timing is everything. The mower doesn’t work well on dewy mornings and I don’t do well in the heat of the day. So mowing at 6 or 7 pm is optimal, if it hasn’t rained.

I always listen to music when I mow. Today it was Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage. The title track also appears as the last track of a disc on a six-CD set Say It Loud, which covers 100 years of black music. On the compilation, the Hancock cut sticks and never gets past 4 minutes of the 7 minute song. When I listen to the Hancock album, I expect the same result, but of course it plays fine.
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Charles Mingus Cat Toilet Training Program. Yes, THAT Charles Mingus, no joke.

ROG