Soul?
Gospel?
Whatever the idiom, this guy kills me.
The Sunset Travelers, featuring O.V. Wright (1939-1980), lead vocals
“Sit Down and Rest Awhile,” late 1950s
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“Ain’t That Good News,” 1964
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“On Jesus’ Program,” 1964
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lagniappe
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), New York, 1966
testify
Mighty Gospel Clouds, “Thank You Jesus,” live, Mississippi (Arkabutla), 1978
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lagniappe
random thoughts
What in this world is more natural than dying?
passings
Bobby Womack, singer, songwriter, guitarist, March 4, 1944-June 27, 2014
The Womack Brothers (featuring Bobby, then 17, on lead vocals), “Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray,” 1961
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lagniappe
art beat
William Eggleston (1939-)
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random thoughts
We’re as rich as we are receptive.
sounds of Memphis
The Gospel Four, “One More Blessing,” live
passings
Jimmy Scott, singer, July 17, 1925-June 12, 2014
“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” live, New York (Birdland), 2000
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lagniappe
reading table
If you were to open up Iona’s chest and pour all the grief out of it, you would probably flood the entire planet, yet it is not visible.
—Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), “Grief” (often rendered as “Misery”; translated from Russian by Rosamund Bartlett)
back to church
Bozie Sturdivant, “Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down,” live, Clarksdale, Miss. (Silent Grove Baptist Church), 1942
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lagniappe
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), East 100th St., New York, 1966
sounds of New Orleans
Treme Brass Band, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” Treme, 2010
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lagniappe
art beat
Lee Friedlander (1934-), Young Tuxedo Bass Band, New Orleans, 1966
testify!
This old world is not my home. I’m just passing through. But while I’m down here, I’ve got a job to do. . . . I’m just working—singing—for my train fare back home.
—Willie Rogers
Willie Rogers (Soul Stirrers), “When the Gates Swing Open,” live
testify!
Lee Williams & the Spirtual QC’s, “I Can’t Give Up,” live, Brownsville, Tenn.
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lagniappe
reading table
Please Give This Seat to an Elderly or Disabled Person
by Nina Cassian (1924-2014; translated from Romanian by Naomi Lazard)
I stood during the entire journey:
nobody offered me a seat
although I was at least a hundred years older than anyone else on board,
although the signs of at least three major afflictions
were visible on me:
Pride, Loneliness, and Art.
alone
Charley Patton (1891-1934), “Prayer of Death,” 1929
music clip of the day 