From the award-winning documentary, Playing For Change: Peace Through Music, comes the first of many songs around the world being released independently. Featured is a cover of the Ben E. King classic by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it traveled the globe. This and other songs such as One Love will be released as digital downloads soon; followed by the film soundtrack and DVD early next year.
Before leaving to spend Thanksgiving with her brothers and cousins in Dallas, Barb arranged for the nice folks at TajTunes to deliver a little singing Thanksgiving message.
We were listening to some new tunes on Roger’s iPod as we drove back to Jeff City from Columbia. Like most new cars, his has an input jack for the iPod (or whatever). So it was easy for me to pull out my nano [insert joke here], plug in and play one of my tunes.
As we listened, it occurred to me this simple act couldn’t happen in a pre-iPod world, at least not easily. Yeah, I guess I could have had a pocket-full of cassettes or CD’s, but Roger and I had thousands of songs between us and we thought nothing of switching from his iPod to mine.
My old pal RP was an avid collector of 45 rpm records. He had big cardboard boxes jammed with “singles.” The best we could do back then was stack 20 or so on a fat little spindle that would drop the next 45 down to the turntable. Shuffle? Sure, like a deck of cards.
I seem to recall RP telling me he had copied all of his 45’s to CD. Don’t know if he’s made the final leap to an iPod.
It’s hard to imagine what’s next but even hard to imagine there won’t be a “next.”
I can’t recall posting on the purchase of Anheuser-Busch by Belgian beverage giant, InBev. I’m a Bud fan but have been drinking Beck’s (made by InBev) for a year or two. New owners always tell you nothing is gonna change but it’s not true and nobody believes them anyway. But The Game is truly global now and we have to get used to it. Just as the rest of the world has had to deal with our military and economic superiority. Both of which are facing serious challenges. As Bob Dylan said, “How does it feeeel?”
I mark this moment with this musical tribute. One of my favorites.
“Terrestrial radio is in bigger trouble than ever, I am convinced. I just finished driving down a highway in rural (state), listening to streaming music on the free Pandora Radio app for my upgraded version 2.0 iPhone. This was via edge, not 3G. Pandora plays randomized songs. But when an all-you-can-eat music service (maybe Apple’s, someday) has this same kind of app, it’s game over for music radio. I’ll be able to listen to any song I want while driving, and won’t even have to load it on my iPod before leaving.
If you are unfamiliar with Pandora, it works like this: I enter the name of a song or artist. Pandora creates a “station” that plays music like the example I submitted. I “like” or “dislike” each song and Pandora keeps tweaking my play-list accordingly. I can have as many stations as I choose. Just music. No annoying DJ’s. No commercials.
If I’m the program director of an “only the hits” radio station, should I be concerned about this technology? I can’t please all the people, all the time. But all of the people can please themselves, all of the time. What is my Plan B?
It’s always fun to showcase talent from “down home.” Neal E. Boyd is from Sikeston which is just up the road (from Kennett, MO) in Sikeston, where he’s an insurance salesman.
He’s also a competitor on America’s Got Talent, the show I’ve (never watched) but always thought of as the poor man’s American Idol. Neal sings opera. And from our Small World File, Neal attended choir camp at Arkansas State University under the direction of my old friend Viretta and he sang at the Christmas Eve service of the Presbyterian Church in Kennett a couple of years back. A gig made famous by frequent appearances by Sheryl Crow.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a sadder love song than We Just Get Along by the Evangenitals.
I gave it some thought before I wrote that. I tried to remember some of the saddest love songs (are all sad songs love songs?) I’ve heard in the last 40+ years. Don’t worry, I won’t try to list any here. My list wouldn’t look anything like yours.
How sad and achingly beautiful is We Just Get Along? Do you remember the moment in Thelma and Louise when Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis are sitting the car near the edge of the cliff with the cops coming for them and they look at each other with perfect understanding? It’s that sad. And just a little bit sadder.
I’m nothing like her
Which may be why he likes me so much
I don’t have her power
I don’t have her touch
No one’s in heaven here
but no one’s in hell
We just get along
Naw, that doesn’t cut it. You gotta sit in the dark with that last beer, remembering. Remembering a time when you were in love and they weren’t.
As I listened to the half dozen cuts from the CD (Everlovin’) I kept wondering, “Why aren’t these songs hits?” But that’s just the old DJ/Billboard Hot 100 coming out. We don’t need radio to make hits anymore. The songs –if they’re good enough– take on a life of their own and roll across the Internet, from one link to the next.
I really enjoyed the movie Million Dollar Baby… right up until I realized it was not going have a happy ending. I spent the last 15 or 20 minutes of the film in the lobby, watching some brats play air hockey. I didn’t watch the ending of Old Yeller either. I bring it up because I just discovered a connection between Maggie Fitzgerald (the Hillary Swank character) and Juli Crockett, the lead singer of the Evangenitals who dropped us a comment last week.
“Boxing trainer Jerry Boyd had never met Juli Crockett when he wrote the stories on which the film Million Dollar Baby is based. But when he did–at a bout in San Diego–he was convinced she was Maggie Fitzgerald, the tough and driven fighter of his fiction (played by Hilary Swank in the movie) come to life. Like Fitzgerald, Crockett came from the South, grew up without a father (but found one in the ring), and had a brief but stunning pro career (3-0, with 2 knockouts) cut short by injuries (though not nearly as severe as Fitzgerald’s). Other parallels: ambition, boxing style, that smile. Crockett, now 29 and a grad student, saw Million Dollar Baby for the first time last week.” [Interview in USNews]
Turns out Ms. Crockett is much more than a humble singer/songwriter.
It never ceases to amaze me how many of the people I mention here find my humble little notes and get in touch. I could mention a few but it would be the worst kind of name dropping. Okay, I’ll mention one.
A week or so back I gushed about the song Fuck ’em All by the Evangenitals and how I had searched (unsuccessfully) for the lyrics. Well, guess who left a little comment love:
“I’ll tell you what… I’m going to add Fuck ’em All to the Evangenitals website, and I’ll put the lyrics up there just for you. :-) Give me a few days, and as you wish, so it shall be. Thanks for finding us, for listening, and for hearing.”
Love, Rev Juli Crockett (lead singer/songwriter)
– The Evangenitals