For last week and this week, 3 atypical x-mas tracks

Slow Club - Christmas TV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6M-E-P7di0

Not overly Christmas-y, Christmas is really only mentioned in the chorus. The track is more about wishing the person you love could stay with you a little longer. It's good stuff and tunefully catchy.

Shane McGowan of the Pogues (possible solo project?) - Christmas Lullaby http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDJ0IGRByQk

For a very long time Shane McGowan was an unapologetic and very talented drunk. Thankfully, these days he's almost entirely sober. The man can write lyrics that bring tears to your eyes. While Christmas Lullaby isn't the most well-known Christmas track by the Pogues (that's The Fairytale of New York feat. the late Christy McColl), I had never heard it prior to a few weeks ago and like The Fairytale of New York, I like it a lot. Here are the lyrics

It seems like a freeze out
It seems like a freize
Stumbling I fell down
And prayed on my knees
The ice wagon's coming
To pick up the stiffs
Had a chat with an old one
He was gone in a jiff
And Santa and his reindeer
Jumped over the moon
So hush little child
Santa's coming here soon

(Chorus)
Tura lura luray
Tura lura lie
Tura lura luray
It's a Christmas lullaby
Tura lura luray
Tura lura lie
Tura lura luray
It's a Christmas lullaby

I hope you grow up angry
Just like your dear old dad
I hope you grow up brave and strong
Not like me - all weak and sad
You said "Daddy, daddy,
You're stinking of booze"
I kissed him and said, "Kid,
I was born to lose.
But you have a future
And a big one to say
And I hope you'll remember
All the love that I gave."

(Chorus)

Heres to all the little kids
Who haven't got no clothes
Heres to all the little kids
Who haven't got no homes
It's Christmas time in Palastine
It's Christmas in Beirut
They're scrapping 'round for rice
Not for tutti fruits
And the Christmas lights, they blew up
Now the 'lecky's all gone dead
I look like a coal miner
And I've a pain inside my head

(Chorus x2)


unknown Klezmer band from Budapest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpqVYvPIv1s&feature=related

Klezmer is the term for traditional Jewish folk music. I like it a lot better than 99% of the standard Christmas tunes that are ubiquitous during late November and December. I believe that everyone should learn about music with which they are unfamiliar. It beings us closer together as humans. You might also find that you like me, dig the new music.



Happy whatever you celebrate everyone. I wish you the happiest possible new year in 2010.

3 stellar product placements

Faraway Boys - Sailor Jerry Rum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_S8_RCUz3o

It sounds like an advertisement for this rum should sound. "Give me half an hour, I won't be the same..."

Snoop Dog - Gin and Juice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6TUhx2wX0M

It actually tastes pretty good.


Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLeIdH2gTSc

Maybe but this track rocks.

3 tracks that were used by other tracks and the results are rad

I've heard it said that rap and hip-hop are poor forms of music because they "steal" music from previously recorded work. The concept of sampling was in existence long before Rapper's Delight hit the scene. These are three examples of sampling that I like. Both for the original track and the track that did the sampling. Listen carefully.

Frankie Ford-Sea Cruise http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n10yDX8N3o&feature=related was used by The Clash - Wrong 'Em Boyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK03STRXWGo&feature=related


I first discovered the Frankie Ford track on an itunes radio station that played "malt shop hits" from the 50's and 60's. It's wild that the heart of the song ended up on London Calling, a must own for anyone who says they like punk music.

Stevie Wonder - Pastime Paradise http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=840uku8_T4Q was sampled to powerful effect by Coolio - Gangster's Paradise http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFK6H_CcuX8

This track was a defining part of the soundtrack for the movie Criminal Minds. It was the first album I ever owned. When it was released, the picture that Coolio and L.V. painted of life as a gang member left me in awe. While neither positive or negative in it's direction I was in awe because I had never heard such bare lyrics or such a powerful melody before. Before that album I had no schema for hip-hop or rap, these genres were alien worlds. Worlds I felt the need to explore. Years later I saw a recording with Coolio. He said that he and L.V. never intended it to be a "gangster" (focusing on the hard-scrabble and dangerous life of a gangster), largely because Coolio wasn't a gangster rapper. You can't really be hardcore and have the Einstein-like hair that he sported for so many years.

Gustav Holst -Mars, the Bringer of War http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0bcRCCg01I sampled by John Williams -Imperial March (from Star Wars) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bzWSJG93P8

I like Holst's work better though I respect John Williams's talent.

Conclusion - You can't belittle one genre because of it's use of sampling. Everyone does it. As long as it's done well, I approve.

3 bangers from muppets

Like the title says; this week's music comes solely from some very talented musicians.


The Muppets - Bohemian Rhapsody (cover) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY

Epic. Also, beware the danger of video conference calls.

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem - Can You Picture That? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hZciBilEcs

No one band enjoys what they do while sounding rad than Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Zoot, Janice and Animal. This collection of hip-cats and misfits has been rocking out together for decades; and they don't show signs of stopping any time soon.

Kermit the Frog - The Rainbow Connection http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSFLZ-MzIhM&feature=related

A lot of people love this track and the soulful musician who recorded it. We all know Kermit is a frog with a very old soul; at the same time, he's a frog who's happy to be your friend. He's happy doing his thing. Rainbow Connection's writers were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score in 1979 http://theoscarsite.com/1979.htm

Rock on my friends.

3 creepy songs that are easily enjoyed

Musical Youth - Pass the Dutchie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFtLONl4cNc

This catchy tune about smoking marijuana came out in the 1980's. The whole song is really pleasant. I'm not in the "horrified by songs about drugs" camp so that doesn't bother me; the group comes from Jamaica after all, where marijuana use is much more common than in the United States. What creeps me out is the fact that at the time of it's release, the members of Musical Youth were young kids and teenagers. This is especially evident when you see the video. Whether you can deal with 12-year olds talking about passing your joint to the left is a personal thing; I'll still song along to this track, after a shudder or two.

The Grateful Dead - Friend of the Devil http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XacvydVrhuI

A track from an album I listen to quite often. I first discovered the Dead back in middle school and have listened to them off and on ever since. I've been told that Friend of the Devil's two guitar parts are very difficult to play, which only increases my appreciation of the track. The mood of the song is very laid back. A person could readily assume at first listen that the track is about traveling and hard days on the road. "...I get home before daylight just might get some sleep tonight". A closer listen reveals that the narrator has muliple girlfriends and is on the run from the law. He also may or may not be on the run because he doesn't want to support a child that "don't look like me".

Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby - Emmylou Harris http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVZB34ibNo

The harmony in this track is incredible. Each of the women singing on this, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, and Emmylou Harris is famous in her own right as a musician. Amazing synergy was created when they sang together. Though beautiful, the lyrics are about a baby who has been abandoned by all of his or her family, though they suggest the father might be dead. "Didn't leave nobody but the babe yeah". Later the lyrics suggest that the baby was left without food "didn't leave no bottle for the baby" and that the baby is going to die soon "come lay your bones on the alabaster stones and be my ever-loving baby". Creeptastic.

3 for cheers

These are for last week.

Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkwJ-g0iJ6w

Mr. Nash is one of the greats. The Midnight Special was THE show to perform on in the 1970's. Until a recent television episode all I ever heard from Johnny Nash was confined to Best of the 1970's compilation albums. I'm glad my appreciation of his work has increased. In that episode this guy had a steady job, a really attractive doting blonde wife and a dog. That's something all of us want to a degree, me especially. When we'll all be kings, Damn Hell Ass kings. I'm not there yet, to the point where I had three tattoos done that remind me of not being there yet. A blonde pin-up girl, a hot stuff devil and a broken heart. One thus far has led to the other, if I remember that early enough I'll save myself some trouble. Enjoy the track, I really like it.

The Dubliners and the Pogues - Whiskey in the Jar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5WgYoRCs2U

It rocks. A traditional Irish tune about a guy who is planning to dersert from the army and run off with his girl Jenny, but she double crosses him and sells him out to the army. The tune of the track is really catchy but it's the lyrics that make me love this as much as I do.

"The devil take the women because they never can be easy... There's some that take delight in their carriages a rollin, there's some that take delight in the hurly (the Irish sport Hurling) and the bowlin' (Cricket) but me I take delight in the juice of the barely (beer) and courtin' pretty fair maids in the morning bright and early." Respect.

Litmus test of the week

Brother Ali - You Say (Puppy Love) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-32FN-Z1ORs

When you're drunk "in the wee small hours of the morning", sometimes you stumble onto moments of clarity. I've stumbled over a few and I will again. The point is that if you really love someone you want to help them grow in some way even though you may not always be consciously aware of having that desire. The relationship may not last but the good intentions should. It's been my experience that they do in fact remain after it's over. If you significant other is drunk beside you at 3am and you care about each other enough to go where ever the relationship may lead, you chose well. In the end a relationship may not be as awesome as it once was; or even be what you believed it was, remember the good times and appreciate your few pages in that chapter of their life.

3 versions of Glycerine

Bush's 1994 album Sixteen Stone was the first album I purchased with my own money, I was 10. It cost me around a month's worth of allowance. That was money well spent because I haven't stopped listening to the album since 1994. In the days before p2p online music sharing, I wanted the album for track number 10 Glycerine. That track knocked me out back then, and it still does. As far as meaning found within the lyrics, dictionary.com says that the term Glycerine is a derivative of the term gycerol.

glyc⋅er⋅ol

–noun

a colorless, odorless, syrupy, sweet liquid, C3H8O3, usually obtained by the saponification of natural fats and oils: used for sweetening and preserving food, in the manufacture of cosmetics, perfumes, inks, and certain glues and cements, as a solvent and automobile antifreeze, and in medicine in suppositories and skin emollients.

Also called glycerin, glycerine.


Sweetening , as in a sickeningly sweet and likely damaging relationship. The lyrics are heavy and for some screwed up reason they spoke to young Jack, even though it's never been easy with women, but who has it been easy for?

It must be your skin I'm sinking in
Must be for real 'cause now I can feel
And I didn't mind, it's not my kind
It's not my time to wonder why

Every thing's gone white and every thing's gray
Now you're here, now you're away
I don't want this, remember that
I'll never forget where you're at

Don't let the days go by, Glycerine, Glycerine

I'm never alone, I'm alone all the time
Are you at one or do you lie
We live in a wheel where everyone steals
But when we rise, it's like strawberry fields

If I treated you bad, you bruise my face
Couldn't love you more, you got a beautiful taste
Don't let the days go by
Could have been easier on you

I couldn't change though I wanted to
Should have been easier by three
Our old friend 'Fear' and you and me
Glycerine, Glycerine

Don't let the days go by, Glycerine
Don't let the days go by, Glycerine, Glycerine
Glycerine, Glycerine

Bad mood whine again
Bad mood whine again
As she falls around me

I needed you more when we wanted us less
I could not kiss, just regress
It might just be clear, simple and plain
Well, that's just fine, that's just one of my names

Don't let the days go by
Could have been easier on you, you, you
Glycerine, Glycerine, Glycerine, Glycerine


Bush - Glycerine official video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU6KhFWvKPM&feature=fvw

This video makes no sense to me, a lot of videos from this record make no sense to me. This track awakened something that's at the core of my being.

Bush - Glycerine at Woodstock 1999 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm9uqA-b-OU&feature=related

It pains me to say so but a lot of the top bands of the 1990's were at Woodstock '99. Whatever your feelings on the event, it was in my opinion one of the last times Bush was together doing the music that I enjoy so much. Gavin's quote "If you knew how good you fucking look" is my current favorite phrase. This was Bush as kings of their musical mountain.

Bush - Glycerine live on television http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfatUZ5RDG0&feature=related


This version of Glycerine encompasses what I wanted to be when I grew up. Not so much for the money, fame or legions of adoring fans. I wanted to move people with the music I made. This performance did and does that for me. Gavin Rossdale is by himself on stage leaving himself vulnerable both emotionally and physically. As the performance begins rain starts falling, as it progresses the rain falls harder and harder. The man is playing an electric guitar in the pouring rain, risking electrocution any second. I don't know why he risked his life to do this track that night. Was it pride, stupidity? Rumor has it he told the crowd that if they were willing to stand in the rain and see him play, he would stand in the rain and play. Whatever his reason for doing it, I'm really glad he did. The guy has Adamantium balls in my book.

---

3 exceptions to rules

The Smashing Pumpkins - We Only Come Out at Night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHSPVNbF5lY

I was avoiding my landlord last Tuesday. Just don't like the guy. I didn't want alcohol so I looked for a coffee shop. The first coffee shop that I stumbled upon still open at 8:30pm was a christian focused coffee shop. I bought a soy and caramel concoction I'd had before. The place features art from local and regional artists in a gallery upstairs and it's free, so I go there sometimes. This experience was different. It was like night and day. Unless you proselytize I don't have a problem with people who believe in some form of religion. This is doubly true because I was choosing to go where these people were, but most of the people there that night were jerks. I was grunted at by the barista. I got the sense he didn't want to be serving me. maybe he had a terrible day. If that wasn't the reason he just should have come out and said "I don't like something about you." I kept getting mean-mugged by either some of the the dozen people in bible study being held in an open corner of the bookstore portion or the handful of retirees that were also present. Getting leered at happens periodically but it generally happens much less here in L-town, I guess the christian coffee shop was an exception to that generality. Whatever it was, I left after I'd finished half my drink.


Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals - In the Colors http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZwZDEMORtY

This was the first song I heard today. My favorite albums have some form of a timeline for lack of a better describing word or phrase. A few tracks will build up to a point, one or two will reach/describe that point and the rest will return the album to a sense of equilibrium. The whole of an album in my opinion should be more than the sum of it's parts. Ben Harper and the IC's have never been too focused about an album's musical layout. What I mean is that on their records a really fast-paced loud track will come before a slow crooning one, a really happy song will come before a really depressing track. With most other bands or groups, the lack of structure in an album pisses me off. Ben Harper and the IC's are an exception to that rule. The whole album called Lifeline is worth buying. There is no real sense of 'first this, then that" in it's track order, but what is there is really pleasant. In the Colors is a low-key song that makes me take a step back and exhale. Most tracks on this album help with that, the subject matter of the speak readily to an often-sleepy 20-something.


Litmus test of the week

The Ramones - I Want to be Sedated http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMD7Ezp3gWc

Screw The Monster Mash or other common Halloween tracks. This is the song that reminds me of Halloween the most. It does it in October only. If I hear it any other month, it is one of many rad tracks by the Ramones. They helped define punk music in America and didn't give a fuck what anyone thought in the process. If your girlfriend/significant other/hopefully either; can rock out to this during Halloween or any other time of the year, my only thought on the matter is an English fox-hunting term Tally-Ho! (Go for it).

Folk and Blues Greats whose praise is long overdue

The first entry for this weekend is the underrepresented Karen Dalton - It Hurts Me Too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-BIKjypNsE

I had never heard of this lady until a friend said that I should grab the most recent Light in the Attic Records sampler. LiTA records gets a nod of gratitude from me this week. They have apparently made it their mission to bring to modern ears great music from decades ago. The first time I heard Karen Dalton's voice, I didn't know what to make of it. It is still hard to describe even after purchasing two of her scant few records. The tone of her voice seems to say "I've seen a lot, not all of it good". That is a sign of one who has lived life friends. The second thing Karen's voice says is "There is lots of beauty in this world too." That is also a sign of a life lived in actions rather than in years. I don't know much about the woman behind the music, only that she was making folk as a contemporary of one Robert Allen Zimmerman, better known as Bob Dylan. There is a picture in one of my album inserts of Karen Dalton and Bob Dylan singing alongside a third person I didn't recognize. I also can't say why she isn't better known, on par with Dylan if she was his contemporary and in my opinion as talented a songwriter/musician with a more pleasent though equally untrained voice. Listen to her and you'll like it.

Elmore James - The Sky is Crying http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKEdlSTHjtU

Known as the King of the slide guitar, the passion for his subject matter is evident in his voice. Rumor has it that this song was written by James in a few minutes on a rainy day. The man's voice could be listed in the dictionary here http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/the+blues Jimi Hendrix paid homage to James and his skill on more than on occasion. The lyrics for James's version of The Sky is Crying" are striking similar to those for Red House by Hendrix. Jimi Hendrix's first real musical love was in fact Blues. Hendrix also played an intensely psychadelic cover of the song with another person (rumored to be Buddy Miles) on vocals. Elmore James paved the way for Hendrix to become the otherworldly musician that he was. I am also confidant that Jimi Hendrix would agree with the previous sentence, see A Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix for proof.

Litmus test of the week

Huddie Leadbelly Ledbetter - Goodnight Irene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCf60f_sAA0

Leadbelly was the first person I know of to record this song circa 1927, though I am not a musicologist. He was born around the year 1885 and died in 1949 according to dictionary.com You can hear the pain in his voice, it's depth is matched only by one other voice I've ever heard. The song has been covered by half a dozen famous bands and singers, for proof just enter Goodnight Irene into youtube. Leadbelly was an earnest singer if ever one has existed. The world and it's music is better off having had him around. Only recently has his work been given it's full credit. A year after his death the all-white Weavers scored a number 1 hit on the charts with a kid-gloves (omitting the lyrics about the singer's suicide because he can't marry the woman of his dreams) cover of Goodnight Irene. Leadbelly was not credited by the Weavers as far as I know http://www.popculturemadness.com/Music/Number-One-Songs-50s.html. When you listen to this or any other Leadbelly track, give a nod to him in whatever comes after, I'm willing to bet he'd appreciate it. They don't have to enjoy it; if your significant other can appreciate Leadbelly's arduous musical journey, it's a good indicator that you chose well.

3 tracks for slowing your roll

The weekends are supposed to be a time when you take a breather from the often break-neck pace of weekday life. There's a reason you're not supposed to bomb down a ski hill, you might get hurt. Another reason not to bomb a hill is that you might miss the sights that you would see if you were taking it just a bit slower. Picture the early morning sun filtered through a crappy ground level apartment, then play these tracks. See the beauty.

Landlocked Blues - by Bright Eyes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpcZrhPw46M

This song has a sad tone to it with some seriously moving lyrics

"and the moon's laying low in the sky
forcing everything metal to shine
and the sidewalk holds diamonds like a jewelry store case
they argue "walk this way," "no walk this way"

and laura's asleep in my bed
as I'm leaving she wakes up and says
"I dreamed you were carried away on the crest of a wave
baby don't go away, come here"..."


Bunkhouse Theme - Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Soundtrack http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU9ZQdmxC-k

I've never seen the movie but I really like everything on the soundtrack. I first heard this song while hanging out at the record store here in L-Town. Two people next to me were discussing good soundtracks and this record came up in the conversation. The record was put on and I was struck by both the music's simplicity and it's tranquil overall sound. Bob Dylan wrote almost all of the music. A friend described the record as "lazy Sunday music", whenever I feel the need to relax it inevitably finds it's way into the cd player.

This week's litmus test

Song of the Wandering Aongus - by Christy Moore http://www.amazon.com/Song-Of-Wandering-Aongus/dp/B0012EHPB0

I see Christy Moore as the Irish equivalent to Johnny Cash (R.I.P.). His original music champions the working man. His versions of Irish folk songs like "The City of Chicago" and "Back Home in Derry" are played frequently in parts of the country as well. The lyrics for Song of the Wandering Aongus (Aongus is the Irish form of Angus) are taken from a poem of the same name by William Butler Yeats. Yeats's poetry made him one of Ireland's most famous sons. The lyrics involve a search for a lost love of the narrator's. Christy Moore's voice is beautiful in both it's sound and soft timbre. It's as if the man sings in a soft blue tone. I call this track a litmus test because any girl who is familiar enough with Yeats's poetry to recognize this track as an audio version of his poem is worth asking on a date.

THE SONG OF WANDERING AENGUS

by: W.B. Yeats

WENT out to the hazel wood,

Because a fire was in my head,

And cut and peeled a hazel wand,

And hooked a berry to a thread;




And when white moths were on the wing,

And moth-like stars were flickering out,

I dropped the berry in a stream

And caught a little silver trout.




When I had laid it on the floor

I went to blow the fire a-flame,

But something rustled on the floor,

And some one called me by my name:

It had become a glimmering girl

With apple blossom in her hair

Who called me by my name and ran

And faded through the brightening air.




Though I am old with wandering

Through hollow lands and hilly lands,

I will find out where she has gone,

And kiss her lips and take her hands;

And walk among long dappled grass,

And pluck till time and times are done

The silver apples of the moon,

The golden apples of the sun.

3 tracks your ear and brain won't regret

Had to put the play creation on hold because of school. Until time and other resources open up I'm focusing on music that I enjoy, music creates the mood for the play as much as it's sparse dialog. Maybe you'll catch a groove you can ride from these tracks.


The Streets - Blinded by the Lights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A8T4lVu074

The Streets (AKA Mike Skinner) breathed new and innovative life into what for me, was largely a monotonous genre (Hip-Hop) with his first major album release in 2002. You hear his music and you can see what he's talking about in your own head. He makes his own beats, and is refreshingly humble about his prowess as an artist "That's why I've sold 3 million and you've never heard of me.". 3/4 of his albums are accessible for anyone who live or lived near an urban center where it isn't all sunshine and lollipops. This particular track comes from his second album
The song consists of storytelling that is common for The Streets but the video takes the initial concept of to a frighteningly real level. Rumor has it this video was banned from MTV, take that rumor or leave it. I like what the guy does.

The Donkeys - Boot on the Seat http://www.rhapsody.com/the-donkeys/living-on-the-other-side

One of far off San Diego's diamonds in the fluff. The Donkeys combine a mix of instruments, easy tempos and an ability to harmonize that anyone can admire to create their own blend of music that makes you want to slow down and relax. Neither jam bands nor surf rock, though it for me has some of the best elements of both. Their album Living on the Other Side has had some mainstream media play (including on Sons of Anarchy, which is how I discovered them) but it is still largely off of Viacom's radar. Boot on the Seat represents the whole album well; it's happy music to which a listener can apply him or herself as much as they like. It works well in the foreground or background. I saw them a month ago at one of Lawrence's many dive-bars (love this town) for 3 dollars. What I got for that pittance was a group of musicians who love and excel at what they do, 30 or so people in the crowd who all knew the words and a weight lifted from my shoulders which made it just a bit easier to get up the next morning. Even if all I got was that last one, it was well worth the money. Listen to this track and this record, I doubt you'll be sorry.

A track which can be used as a litmus test - Jimi Hendrix - Johnny B. Goode cover. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5BOf-8vHoY

I use "litmus test" because if I were unsure about whether I wanted to take the extra step and ask a girl out; her reaction to a track like this would be a good indicator. Tracks like this are my Magic 8-Ball. This track was performed by Jimi early in his career with The Experience. It's tempo is faster than the original and some of the lyrics are garbled, but he still provides your ears with a musical salvo you won't soon forget. He also plays a lengthy portion of the song with his teeth AND the keeps the tempo of the song largely the same, stellar stuff man. Jimi played this type of song before The Experience had found their own unique sound, they were still working out some of their musical kinks as a trio. (The opinion I just expressed was first suggested in A Room Full of Mirrors, Chistopher Cross's extensive and awesome biography of Jimi Hendrix's life). If the girl in question heard this track and said more than "it's good" or "I like it" I'd ask her what she was doing Friday night. In order for someone to have a conversation about this track they would have to have a knowledge of both the original by the legendary Chuck Berry, and Jimi Hendrix's music other than Foxy Lady, Fire, Purple Haze or Crosstown Traffic. These four tracks are all very good but they are frequently played and in my opinion over-played on the radio. They are interestingly some of the songs Jimi hated playing because he felt obligated to play them. Those tracks helped him first rise to stardom (Cross's biography told me this as well).

I hope you'll give some of this music a listen.

Richard Harris's whisper

This quote from Gladiator was part of the inspiration for the blog's title.

...There was once a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish... it was so fragile. And I fear that it will not survive the winter....

Beginning Whispers

You should check out these tracks, they are the unofficial and in no way licensed soundtrack to the play. Tracks are listed in the order of their appearance.

1. El Lil Lil, El Lil Libiya by Hasna El Becharia (sung in Arabic, traditional music called Gnawa)
2. Blame it on Cain (Alternate) ("Alternate" refers to the acoustic version) - Elvis Costello and the Attractions

3. Go Big - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
4. Devil's Dance Floor - Flogging Molly
5. Burning of the Midnight Lamp - Jimi Hendrix (from the Album The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The BBC Sessions)

6. Sunshine - Atmosphere
7. Feeling Yourself Disintegrate - The Flaming Lips
8. Sayonara - The Pogues
9. One (U2 cover) - Johnny Cash
10. Dolphin Center - The Donkeys (This whole album is a new favorite of mine)

I'm really proud of this

I drew her a few days ago. She as yet has no name.



A battle won, hearty song sung and comradeship again tomorrow.

Be Well