Monday Music: Foggy Mountain Breakdown

Bluegrass fun on Late Night with David Letterman featuring Steve Martin, the legendary Earl Scruggs, and "Men with Banjos Who Know How to Use Them." "Foggy  Mountain Breakdown" was written by Earl Scruggs and first recorded in 1949 with his friend Lester Flatt by their group, "Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys."

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Paul Simon on Late Night with David Letterman (1986)

In this interview, shortly after Graceland has been released to rave reviews and great success, Paul Simon talks about what he sees as important in the work of music and talks some about the process of writing. He then sings "The Boxer" including the new verse added when S & G did the Concert in Central Park:

                  Now the years are rolling by me
                  They are rocking easily
                  I am older than I once was
                  And younger than I’ll be
                  But that’s not unusual.
                  No, it isn’t strange
                  After changes upon changes
                  We are more or less the same,
                  After changes we are
                  More or less the same.

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Paul Simon on Late Night (1982)

An interesting interview with Paul Simon on David Letterman's Late Night. It is pre Graceland, and post Concert in Central Park.  There is a human quality that is almost as good as the early days of low budget PBS programming. Among other things, Simon talks about the Concert in Central Park and the events that resulted in his writing "The Late Great Johnny Ace." He also sings a few lines of "Citizen of the Planet," which he says is "half written" (it became a song several years later and was sung at the Simon & Garfunkel "Old Friends Reunion Tour" in 2003).

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Monday Music: Jokerman (Bob Dylan)

I still love the studio version on the album, Infidels, but this is a great live performance back in 1984 on Late Night with David Letterman.





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Monday Music: Steely Dan

Walter Becker died last week at the age of 67. The jazz rock group that he and fellow musician Donald Fagan formed, Steely Dan, provided us with an easy groove soundtrack for our lives during the 1970s. When I went off to college, “Rikki Don’t Lose that Number” was all over the airwaves. You didn’t even have to buy a record to hear their music – it was usually in the background somewhere on someone’s radio or turntable.

Here are two selections: one from a live appearance in 1995 on The Late Show with David Letterman. They play their 1977 hit, “Josie.” You can tell Letterman was excited to have them on his program. When he greeted them afterwards, he said, “Look kids! It’s me and Steely Dan!”

The second is their 1974 hit, “Rikki Don’t Lose that Number.”

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Monday Music: St. Paul and the Broken Bones

Our local guys are becoming a national sensation! Here is the group St. Paul and the Broken bones on Late Night with David Letterman. (Next week: Alabama Shakes).

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