Sleepy John Estes released his original recording in 1938.
Month: June 2019
Covers: You’re Breakin’ My Heart
Florida 2020 polls
Covers: The Great Pretender
“The Great Pretender” was released by the Platters in 1955. The cover version I know was by the Band from 1973. Richard Manuel reaches for the high note near the end (at 2:15). In addition to Manuel’s vocal which captures the sadness of the lyrics, the highlight is Garth Hudson’s organ throughout the record.
A great song like this can be done in a wide range of styles as you will see below.
Uncle Meat – The Mothers of Invention (1969)
Uncle Meat by the Mothers of Invention was released in 1969. Compared to their earlier albums, it was much more focused on music with little focus on social issues. This post includes information on the artist who did the cover and how you can get a giclée print based on it. I have also included links to several songs. “The Air” shows the influence of doo-wop which was prominent in early Mothers records. “King Kong” is more representative of the album. I saw one of their concerts in 1969 and it was largely instrumental.
Meat Light is an expanded version.
Cal Schenkel has a web site where you can purchase a giclée print based on his Uncle Meat cover. The picture is of my copy of the print.
Covers: Walking in the Rain
The 2020 presidential election will be a fiasco
If you thought the 2016 election was ugly, it will pale compared to the 2020 election. It’s already clear that the losers will not gracefully accept the results.
If Trump loses, he’ll say it was rigged. He’ll blame the media, the deep state and illegal immigrants.
If the Democrat loses, they will blame foreign interference (which Trump has encouraged) and voter suppression.
There is no limit to how low Trump will sink. He may be indicted as soon as he leaves office (which is what I hope happens) so he is desperate to win.
This is what I expect:
He will lie and call his opponent names.
He will say the Democrats want open borders and crime. He will say they support infanticide. He will say that they want to take your guns away and repeal the Second Amendment. He will say they are socialists.
He will make official events into political rallies.
He will accuse the media and his opponents of treason.
He will threaten not to leave because the results are invalid if he loses.
He will bribe his base – look at the billions he is giving to farmers to offset the damage from his foolish tariffs.
He is already attacking Democratic candidates before the primaries even begin. He is spreading lies about Biden’s health just like he did about Hillary Clinton’s.
He will use the government to investigate his opponents like he wanted to do with Biden and the Ukraine. He will lean on countries who want to maintain good relations with the US.
I’m not the only concerned about what Trump will do:
Supreme Court will rule on the 2020 census citizenship question soon
The Supreme Court will soon make a decision on whether the Trump administration is allowed to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The more we know, the more it’s clear that it’s not about the Voting Rights law, it’s strictly a move to help Republicans. They have lied about their motives and Trump is using executive privilege to hide evidence.
In spite of this, I expect the court to rule in favor of Trump based on political reasons. This would help Republicans for the next 10 years.
Republicans support Trump’s remarks on accepting foreign help
There’s no bottom for Trump or the Republican party. Trump is wrong – the law says you can’t accept foreign assistance in an election. He has backtracked some but other Republicans have supported him. Sad!
Kurosawa on the Criterion Channel
The Criterion Channel subscription service is showing 27 films by the great Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa.
Where to begin? I would start with Yojimbo, a samurai film that has lots of action and is surprisingly funny. The good guy is so tough and the bad guys are so inept and weak. It’s sequel, Sanjuro, is not as good but also worth seeing. I prefer them to his better known earlier epic Seven Samurai.
Among his dramatic films set in the Japan of the 1950s and 1960s, I suggest Ikiru, which is about a terminally ill bureaucrat. I also recommend High and Low which is about a ransom effort and police investigation.
Sad! 