basement jukebox
Willie Mitchell, record producer, March 1, 1928–January 5, 2010
O. V. Wright (1939-1980), “A Nickel and a Nail,” 1971
*****
Syl Johnson (1936-), “Take Me to the River,” 1975
*****
Otis Clay (1942-2016), “Trying to Live My Life Without You,” 1972
*****
Ann Peebles (1947-), “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” 1973
*****
Al Green (1946-), “Let’s Stay Together,” 1971
**********
lagniappe
random sights
other day, Kankakee, Ill.
testify!
Lee Williams (1942-2017) and the Spiritual QC’s, “Can’t Run,” live, Memphis
**********
lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Kankakee, Ill. (by the local jail)
two takes
“When the Gates Swing Open” (T. A. Dorsey)
Otis Clay (1942-2016), live, Chicago, c. 2007
***
Al Green (1946-), live, Memphis, 1983
**********
lagniappe
reading table
Spring and All
by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
By the road to the contagious hospital
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
northeast—a cold wind. Beyond, the
waste of broad, muddy fields
brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen
patches of standing water
the scattering of tall trees
All along the road the reddish
purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy
stuff of bushes and small trees
with dead, brown leaves under them
leafless vines—
Lifeless in appearance,
sluggish dazed spring approaches—
They enter the new world naked,
cold, uncertain of all
save that they enter. All about them
the cold, familiar wind—
Now the grass, tomorrow
the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf
One by one objects are defined—
It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf
But now the stark dignity of
entrance—Still, the profound change
has come upon them: rooted, they
grip down and begin to awaken
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
