Sunday, November 4th
two takes
“When the Gates Swing Open” (T. A. Dorsey)
Otis Clay (1942-2016), live, Chicago, c. 2007
***
Al Green (1946-), live, Memphis, 1983
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: Memphis
2017
Wednesday, April 12th
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)
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lagniappe
art beat
Robert Frank (1924-), Funeral—St. Helena, South Carolina, 1955/56
2017
Sunday, April 9th
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
2017
Thursday, January 19th
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)
2016
Monday, May 30th
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.
2014
Sunday, June 22nd
sounds of Memphis
The Gospel Four, “One More Blessing,” live
2014
Wednesday, May 7th
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.
2014
Sunday, March 23rd
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)
2013
Sunday, September 29th
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?
2012
Tuesday, 11/6/12
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
music clip of the day 