This is Jimmy’s brother.
Syl Johnson, “Take Me to the River” (A. Green, M. Hodges), 1974
*****
Another take.
Live (with Howard Grimes [drums], Leroy Hodges [bass], et al.), Memphis
**********
lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
two takes
“When the Gates Swing Open” (T. A. Dorsey)
Otis Clay (1942-2016), live, Chicago, c. 2007
***
Al Green (1946-), live, Memphis, 1983
timeless
Old recordings, where everyone involved is long dead, don’t just appeal to the ears—they’re springboards for the imagination. Here’s one made in Memphis nearly 90 years ago.
Close your eyes.
Open your imagination.
They’re just about ready to record.
What’s the room look like?
What’s the last thing said before they start?
Tommy Johnson (1896-1956), “Cool Drink of Water Blues” (1928)
**********
lagniappe
art beat
Robert Frank (1924-), Funeral—St. Helena, South Carolina, 1955/56
another take
Rev. Al Green, “The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow” (T.A. Dorsey), live, Memphis (Full Gospel Tabernacle Church), 1983
**********
lagniappe
art beat
Robert Frank (1924-), Santa Fe, 1955
timeless
Sleepy John Estes (1899-1977), “Diving Duck Blues” (with James “Yank” Rachell, mandolin; Jab Jones, piano), recorded September 24, 1929 (Memphis)
**********
lagniappe
art beat: other day, Whitney Museum of American Art (Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905-2016, through February 5th)
Edwin S. Porter, Coney Island at Night (1905)
Vancouver folkie + iconic Memphis rhythm section.
This should never have worked.
But it does, wonderfully.
Frazey Ford, “September Fields” (Indian Ocean), 2014
**********
lagniappe
reading table
The climate is pretty.
I wrote everything on it.
That’s the activity where it
gets relatively inauspicious.***
And you were sitting there
in the night of life. It sure was good.
My favorite desserts were there.
And when they invite you, it’s like an important document
goes missing. I’ll give you an example:
a twelve-year struggle upstate, in
the slick atmosphere of the breakfast room.
It might have gotten stuck in her farthingale.Otherwise no reply.
—John Ashbery (1927-), “As Someone Who Likes Travel,” fragments (New Yorker, 5/30/16)
To read Ashbery is to read English as a foreign language—which I mean as a compliment.
sounds of Memphis
The Gospel Four, “One More Blessing,” live
basement jukebox
Howlin’ Wolf, “Moanin’ at Midnight,” 1951*
Who needs chord changes?
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
Wolf’s harmonica playing was always the right amount. He would never do anything on the harmonica that would detract from you waiting to get back to Wolf’s voice. . . . There is a certain lonesomeness about the harmonica that just fit the Wolf’s character in voice, in song, in lyric; and he just played that just enough to titillate things he was going to do next with his voice.
***
*HW (AKA Chester Burnett [1910-1976], vocals, harmonica), Willie Johnson (guitar), Willie Steel, drums.
back to church
Bishop G. E. Patterson (1939-2007) Live, Temple of Deliverance (COGIC), Memphis
**********
lagniappe
reading table
The Soul should always stand ajar
—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886; Franklin #1017, fragment)
back to church
Rev. Al Green, “The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow,” live, Memphis (Full Gospel Tabernacle Church), 1984
*****
A big birthday shout-out to my son Alex: where would I be without my guys?
