passings
Don Everly, singer, guitarist, songwriter, February 1, 1937-August 21, 2021
When I was a little boy, my brother and I played this record, over and over, on our basement jukebox. Music comes and goes; the earliest songs remain.
Everly Brothers, “Wake Up Little Susie” (F. Bryant, B. Bryant), 1957
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of Chicago and Oslo
Ken Vandermark (tenor saxophone), Paal Nilssen-Love (percussion), “Song for Terrie,” live, Netherlands (Amsterdam), 5/26/16
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
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A big birthday shout-out to my brother Don, my first listening companion. All these years later, the basement jukebox still plays: “Wake Up Little Susie” (Everly Brothers) . . .”North to Alaska” (Johnny Horton) . . .”(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance” (Gene Pitney) . . . Hear it?
sounds of Chicago
Steve Dawson’s Funeral Bonsai Wedding (SD, vocals and guitar; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Jason Roebke, bass; Frank Rosaly, drums), “As Soon As I Walk In” (S. Dawson), 2014
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Music and family have provided two of my life’s through lines. As little boys, my brother Don and I would play in the basement, listening, on the brightly lit juke box, to the Everly Brothers (“Wake Up, Little Susie”), and Johnny Horton (“The Battle of New Orleans”), and Gene Pitney (“The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”). Soon we were out the door, hearing the Beatles at Comiskey Park, the Velvet Underground at the Kinetic Playground, and the MC5 in Lincoln Park. Still the beat goes on, undiminished by the passing years. Last week, for my sixty-second birthday, Don gave me (what else?) a record—the new album by this guy, Steve Dawson.
passings
Phil Everly, singer, songwriter, guitar player, January 19, 1939-January 3, 2014
“Wake Up Little Susie,” 1957
This song I heard constantly, on the radio, on our basement jukebox, everywhere, when I was five. Twenty years later, I married a woman named Suzanne. Coincidence?
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“All I Have To Do Is Dream,” “Cathy’s Clown,” 1960
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“Claudette,” “Walk Right Back,” “Crying in the Rain,” “Cathy’s Clown,” “Love Is Strange,” “When Will I Be Loved?,” “So Sad (To Watch Love Go Bad),” “Bird Dog,” “Be-Bop-a-Lula,” “Barbara Allen,” “A Long Time Gone,” “Step It Up and Go,” “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Devoted to You,” “Love Hurts,” “(‘Til) I Kissed You,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” “Lucille,” “Let It Be Me,” 1983
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When Phil and I hit that one spot where I call it The Everly Brothers, I don’t know where it is. ‘Cause it’s not me and it’s not him. It’s the two of us together.
basement jukebox*
(an occasional series)
Fontella Bass, “Rescue Me” (1965)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
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Tyrone Davis, “Can I Change My Mind” (1969)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
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Otis Clay, “The Only Way Is Up” (1980)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
*When I was a little boy, a big bright shiny jukebox lit up our basement. Daily it granted our wishes, communicated with just the touch of a finger, for “Wake Up, Little Susie” (Everly Brothers) and “The Battle of New Orleans” (Johnny Horton) and “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance” (Gene Pitney). It taught me something I’ve never forgotten—music is magic.
music clip of the day 