another take
Rev. Al Green, “The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow” (T.A. Dorsey), live, Memphis (Full Gospel Tabernacle Church), 1983
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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)
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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
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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?
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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
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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?
A reader writes:
Have you seen these films?
Furry Lewis, guitar
William Eggleston, Stranded in Canton (1973-74)
***
More?
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lagniappe
reading table
“Election Day”
By William Carlos Williams (1940)Warm sun, quiet air
an old man sitsin the doorway of
a broken house—boards for windows
plaster fallingfrom between the stones
and strokes the headof a spotted dog
back to church
The Canton Spirituals
Live, Memphis, 1993
“Heavenly Choir”
***
“Fix It Jesus”
***
Gospel groups are hard to beat when it comes to longevity. This one got started, in Canton, Mississippi, in 1943. One of the founding members, Harvey Watkins, Sr., is featured here. He passed away in 1994; his son, lead singer Harvey Watkins, Jr., carries on today.
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lagniappe
reading table
my child’s rice cakes
my child’s rice cakes . . .
all in a row—Kobayashi Issa, 1813 (translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
only rock ’n roll
A lot of early rockers recorded in Memphis, in the 1950s, for Sam Phillips’ Sun Records. Some, like Elvis, became famous. Others, like this guy, didn’t.
Malcolm Yelvington, It’s Me Baby (1997)
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
“Drinkin’ Wine Spodee-O-Dee” (Sun 1954)
***
“Rockin’ With My Baby” (Sun 1956)
music clip of the day 