This article inspired me to post about “Mickey” (1982). Good for Toni Basil. The original version by Racey was known as “Kitty” (1979).
Covers: Sun Brimmer’s Blues
This 1972 Memphis Jug Band song was performed live by Tuba Skinny in 2022 on the YouTube video. Memphis Jug Band leader Will Shade was also known as Son Brimmer or Sun Brimmer.
Covers: House of the Rising Sun
“House of the Rising Sun” is best known from the 1964 version by the Animals but it goes back to old English folk songs. The earliest US version (as “Rising Sun Blues”) is from 1933 by Clarence Ashley and Gwen Foster.
Bob Dylan’s “House of the Rising Sun”: The Spark that Led to His Electric Revolution
“There’s a galaxy of difference between a musket and an AR-15”
make sure to see this brief gun control commercial which shows what old weapons were like
Get On Board – Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder
Get On Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee is the new album by Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder (released on April 22, 2022). It’s not a major work but it’s very relaxed and low-key. It sounds like music someone could make on your porch or in your backyard. I’m a big admirer of both artists and encourage you to explore their solo work. For Cooder, I suggest starting with Into The Purple Valley (1972). For Mahal, I recommend Dancing the Blues (1993). Like Get on Board, both albums revive songs that are not well known today. Cooder finds Depression obscurities like “Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All” and “How Can You Keep On Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)”. Mahal covers songs by T-Bone Walker and Fats Domino, both huge stars in their day but not popular now.
Cal Ripken, Jr. in high school (from Ghosts of Baltimore tweet)
I admit I just assumed that Ripken was drafted high because he was the coach’s son. I didn’t take his prospects seriously until I was on an Amtrak train and found a discarded Boston newspaper sports section. It had an article raving about Ripken who was then at AA.
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan – 5/27/63
The Mothers of Invention – Absolutely Free released 5/26/67
Absolutely Free was the second Mothers of Invention album and is the most accessible album by the original lineup. The longest, most complex, and best track is “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It”.
One of the songs is “Duke of Prunes”. Around that time, I was running for office in my junior high school and decided to give out prunes to students, inspired by the song. One of my friends and I were in the Acme supermarket looking at prune boxes trying to figure out how to get the most for my limited budget. An old lady passed by, pointed to a box, and said to us “This kind is the best”. I guess she thought we wanted a laxative.
“Uncle Bernie’s Farm” is about how toys embrace violence and has the great lines “We gotta send Santa Claus back to the Rescue Mission. Christmas don’t make it no more.”
New POLITICO/Morning Consult poll on guns – updated with more polls
There is no good reason for members of the public to have assault weapons yet Republicans will prevent them from being banned.
Sad! 