testify
Jackson Southernaires, “Can’t Make It By Myself,” live, Jackson, Miss., 1996
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lagniappe
reading table
Barn’s burnt down—
now
I can see the moon.—Mizuta Masahide, 1657-1723 (translated from Japanese by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto)
No stage. No microphone. Just heart.
Evangelist Mary Brown and the Spiritual Singers, “I’ll Fly Away,” live, North Carolina (Plymouth, pop. ~4,000), 2011
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lagniappe
art beat: Thursday at the Art Institute of Chicago (after meeting with a client at the nearby federal jail)
Paul Cezanne, The Bay of Marseilles, Seen From L’Estaque, c. 1885
If a stranger, standing next to me in front of this painting, leaned over and whispered, “There’s no better place to be on the planet,” I wouldn’t disagree.
Silver Quintette, “Sinner’s Crossroads” (1956)
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Bessemer Sunset Four, “I Feel Like My Time Ain’t Long” (1930)
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Dixie Hummingbirds, “Every Knee Surely Must Bow” (1946)
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Famous Davis Sisters, “I Want To Be More Like Jesus” (1957)
*****
What do these tracks have in common? All were featured the other night on Sinner’s Crossroads, arguably (to these ears, anyway) the best show on radio. It airs Thursday night, from 8 to 9 p.m. (EST), on mighty WFMU-FM. Not only can you hear it live; every show is archived and remains available on-line. To my mind there’s no better gateway to gospel music.
alone
Mississippi Fred McDowell, “Wished I Was In Heaven Sitting Down”
Live, Mississippi (Como), 1959
Little Richard, Jerry Lee—they’ve got nothing on this gal.
Rev. Julius Cheeks (lead vocals), Marge Cheeks (piano), Knights of Washington, D.C., “Morning Train,” TV show (TV Gospel Time), early 1960s
Aretha’s daddy
Rev. C. L. Franklin (1915-1984), “I’m Going Through,” recorded live at New Bethel Baptist Church (8430 Linwood St., Detroit, Mich.)
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Rev. C. L. Franklin (right) with Joe Von Battle, owner of Detroit’s JVB Records and Joe’s Records Shop, c. 1950s
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Life is a chronic problem.
five takes
“If I Had My Way I’d Tear The Building Down,” AKA “If I Had My Way,” “Samson and Delilah”
Blind Willie Johnson, recording, 1927
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Reverend Gary Davis, live (TV show)
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Peter Paul & Mary, live (TV show)
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Grateful Dead, live, New York (Radio City Music Hall), 1980
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Bruce Springsteen, live, Italy (Verona), 2006
One of my favorite live gospel recordings.
Brother Joe May (joined by members of the Sallie Martin Singers), “Move On Up A Little Higher,” live, early 1950s
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lagniappe
radio
Today, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., WKCR-FM (Columbia University), continuing its Bach Festival, features cellist Pablo Casals.
*****
reading table
Poverty kept me from thinking all was well under the sun and in history; the sun taught me that history is not everything.
—Albert Camus (translated from French by Ellen Conroy Kennedy)
two takes
“Strange Man” (D. L. Coates)
Patty Griffin, live, London, 2013
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Dorothy Love Coates (1928-2002; MCOTD Hall of Famer), recording, 1968
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lagniappe
art beat
Helen Levitt (1913-2009), New York, c. 1940
two takes
The Caravans (feat. Cassietta George), “Walk Around Heaven All Day”
Live
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Recording, 1964
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lagniappe
reading table
Interview of Alice Munro, last month
It’s hard to imagine a male writer, having just won the Nobel Prize in Literature, being so direct, so natural, so down to earth.
music clip of the day 