timeless
R. H. Harris (1916-2000; :30-) and His Gospel Paraders, “Have You Got Good Religion,” live (TV show [TV Gospel Time]), 1960s
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
My spring is just this:
a single bamboo shoot,
a willow branch—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Sam Hamill
timeless
Dixon Brothers (West Dixon, lead vocal, guitar; Ervin C. Dixon, lead guitar; Steve Dixon, baritone; Carter Dixon, tenor), “Walking In My Jesus Name,” recorded live (Palladium [Houston, Tx.], 1967-1985)
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of Chicago
Mighty Clouds of Joy (feat. Joe Ligon [1936-2016]), “Ain’t Got Long Here,” live (TV show [Jubilee Showcase]), 1964, Chicago
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
more
Gospel Songbirds (feat. Otis Clay [1942-2016, right] and Morris Dollison Jr., aka Cash McCall [1941-2019, left]), “I Believe,” live (TV show [Jubilee Showcase]), 1964, Chicago
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
sounds of Chicago
Gospel Songbirds (featuring Otis Clay [1942-2016], 1:55-), “Help Me Run This Race,” live (TV show [Jubilee Showcase]), Chicago, 1964
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Grapes, Lemons, Pears, and Apples, 1887 (detail)
*****
reading table
He walks on, northwards, toward the snow
and things unseen, unknown.
Slowly the imperfect cities’ sounds grow still,
only streams hold forth chaotically
while white clouds play at nothingness.
He hears an oriole’s song, delicate,
uncertain, like a prayer, like weeping.—Adam Zagajewski (1945-), from “The Great Poet Basho Begins His Journey,” translated from Polish by Clare Cavanagh (The Threepenny Review, Spring, 2021)
alone
This performance, which I first posted over a decade ago (when she was alive), still takes my breath away. Listen how, after hitting a peak, she pulls back (2:00-, 3:50-).
Whitney Houston (1963-2012), “A Quiet Place” (J. Cleveland), live (TV show), 1987
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
another take
Rev. Paul Jones, “I Won’t Complain” (P. Jones), live, Texas (Texas City), 1989
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
passings
Lawrence Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919–February 22, 2021), poet, publisher, bookstore owner
“The World Is a Beautiful Place,” City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
testify!
Stevie Wonder, “I Won’t Complain” (P. Jones), live, Memphis, 1998
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
more
Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945), “Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed” (trad.), 1928
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
Mingling with the wind
the snow comes falling;
mingling with the snow
the wind comes blowing;
by banked coals
I stretch my legs,
idle, idle,
in this grass hut
a shut-in,
and counting, find
that the second month too
like a dream
has come and gone—Ryokan (1758-1831), translated from Japanese by Burton Watson
timeless
Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945), “God Don’t Never Change” (W. Johnson), 1929
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Midnight frost—
I’d borrow
the scarecrow’s shirt.—Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694 (translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
music clip of the day 