Bobbie Gentry - Mississippi Delta
By Fusion 45 | July 22, 2008
Bobbie Gentry was one of the first women singers in Nashville in the 1960’s to write her own music and lyrics. Though the “countrypolitan” sound was boss around Music Row in those days, Gentry favored a smokier sound, rooted in gospel and blues and infused with a touch of Southern Gothic.
Her most well-known song, Ode To Billie Joe, the story of Billie Joe McAllister, was a perfect example of the blues-based narrative style that made her popular (and the song actually spent a number of weeks on the black music charts).
On the flip-side of Billie Joe is this tune, which she also wrote. Based on the standard 16-bar blues form, with harmonica on the second verse and great saxophone rhythm track, this sounds like it could’ve just as well been in the Chamber Brothers repertoire.
Sister Bobbie could get it on.
Bobbie Gentry - Mississippi Delta
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A Visit To Asia And A Pizza Dinner
By Fusion 45 | July 21, 2008
My second son turned 8-years old this past weekend.
For his celebration, he chose to go to a Portland Beavers baseball game, preceded by a pizza dinner, some splashing in a big fountain at a nearby park and a trip to the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. (I think that’s totally cool.)
The Chinese Garden is one of the most beautiful places in all of Portland. In the late 1980’s, when the city became a sister city to Suzhou, China, the idea of building a “scholar’s garden” in Portland started to take root. It took another 20 years and $12 million dollars but finally the project was completed in 2000 on a site in the Chinatown neighborhood that was formerly a parking lot.
Remarkably, Portland is also home to the Portland Japanese Garden, as well. The Japanese garden is even more spectacular, set on 5 acres on the west hill overlooking the city.
It was a beautiful, sunny, breezy day spent walking hand-in-hand with my newly minted 8-year old.
If you’re ever in town, well, we recommend both…and pizza!
Topics: Props and Missives | 1 Comment »
John Hartford - The Poor Old Prurient Interest Blues
By Fusion 45 | July 19, 2008
Truth be told, the little blue-haired lady I mentioned a few days ago in my post about Strawbs had one up on me. She may not have known about Strawbs — who, according to White Ray at Echoes In The Wind, were said to be the British version of the Band – but she knew John Hartford and I really didn’t. Oh, the shame.
The short story on Hartford is that he came from a fairly wealthy, intellectual background, was obsessed with the banjo, the fiddle and the Mississippi River and spent most of his life pursuing his knowledge of all three. He wrote one of the most famous pop songs of the 1960’s, Gentle On My Mind, a song he said “bought his freedom”.
The little old lady might have known Hartford from his appearances on the Glen Campbell and Smothers Brothers TV shows. Or, she might’ve known him from actually listening to the 1969 John Hartford album she sold me for 25 cents. Given the content of the record — bizarre and certainly left of center — the mind reels at the kind of conversation blue-hair and I could’ve had had I known what I was getting into.
John Hartford - The Poor Old Prurient Interest Blues
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I’m Giving You The Willies
By Fusion 45 | July 18, 2008
Before and aft of Willie Nelson on my iPod are Willie Mabon and Wille Nix.
Mabon was the more famous of the two. He recorded the original version of I Don’t Know, made famous later by the Blues Brothers. Mabon’s version was a huge hit for Checker Records in 1952, helped usher in the era of rock and roll on Alan Freed’s early radio shows and was covered by another famed white-guy, Tennessee Ernie Ford. The Belushi version is probably better known to my generation, though, if nothing else than for his treatment of the lyric: “If it’s women that kill me, I don’t mind dying”.
Nix was an itinerant tap dancer and vaudevillian before he taught himself drums and played about the south with the likes of B.B. King and Sonny Boy Williamson. He never stayed in one place long enough to make a lot of records but this recording, from The Chess Story, is still readily available. The version recorded by Big Bill Broonzy is thought to have been a big influence on Led Zeppelin.
Willie Nix - Truckin’ Little Woman
COMMIT WITH CASH: The Chess Story
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Willie Nelson - Always Now
By Fusion 45 | July 17, 2008
There’s a touch of melancholy in the air today. Do you feel it or is it just my office where it’s settled? Too much work. Not enough play. Things seem to be slipping away. (Wait…I’m writing poetry!)
Willie Nelson helps that. I’ve been spending some time with his new album, Moment Of Forever
Photo Credit: This pic was taken by Jason DeCrow for the Associated Press and borrowed from the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a newspaper is the thing you use to brush the crumbs off your table at Starbucks, so they don’t gum up your laptop while you’re reading Google news.
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Aretha Franklin - Sparkle
By Fusion 45 | July 16, 2008
In conversation with Ruthie yesterday, Aretha’s name came up a couple of times. Obviously, it was about the voice but it was also about her approach to the piano.
Whilst hanging out in the living room playing this crazy pirate board game with the wife and family (and fielding the unfortunate dismay of my 10-year old, who was losing badly), this one came on. Not really a piano tune, but it presented itself in the shuffle.
Ruthie on the phone yesterday; Aretha on the stereo tonight. It’s all connected (though I’m fishing for a connection to the pirate game).
Topics: Props and Missives | 3 Comments »
Ruthie Foster - Heal Yourself
By Fusion 45 | July 15, 2008
Amidst a day that was way too busy, I got the spend a half-hour on the phone with my Singer of The Year, Ruthie Foster, talking about what goes into being the (truly) Phenomenal Ruthie Foster. I’ll have the full interview here in the the days to come. In the meantime, here’s the funkiest of the Phenomenal cuts.
Go Ye To Amazon. Maketh Thou Commitment With Fundage
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