Monday Music: Georgia on My Mind (Willie Nelson)

 In 1978, country music outlaw Willie Nelson showed us how American music might be all of a piece. Known for performing country music, much of which he wrote himself, Nelson recorded an album of pop standards offering a playlist using a blend of pop, country, and jazz. He included two Hoagy Carmichael numbers, the title track "Stardust" and one of my favorite versions of "Georgia on My Mind."

 

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Monday Music: Hard Times (Bob Dylan)

As we celebrate Bob Dylan's birthday this month, here is one of my most delightful finds: Dylan's rendition of Stephen Foster's, "Hard Times," written in 1854. Bob performed this one at Willie Nelson's 60th birthday television special. He is accompanied by John Jackson (guitar), Tony Garnier (bass), Bucky Baxter (accordion) & Marty Stuart (mandolin).

 

 

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Dylan Duets: Celebrating Bob Dylan's 80th Birthday

Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Tom Petty at Farm Aid, 1995

During the month of May, I've been celebrating Bob Dylan's 80th Birthday (May 24) by featuring videos of Bob as he is accompanied by another artist in a duet. If you missed any, or want to hear one again, here is the list:

With God on Our Side (with Joan Baez)

Crossroads (with Eric Clapton)

One Irish Rover (with Van Morrison)

The Times They Are a-Changin' (with a fan from the audience)

The Sound of Silence (with Paul Simon)

Abraham, Martin, and John (with Clydie King)

Pancho and Lefty (with Willie Nelson)

Dark Eyes (with Patti Smith)

One Too Many Mornings (with Johnny Cash)

Knockin' On Heaven's Door (with Tom Petty)

NATIONAL ARCHIVES/HULTON ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES

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Dylan Duets: Pancho and Lefty (Willie Nelson & Bob Dylan)

 Continuing our feature of duets during Bob Dylan's birthday month

Bob Dylan & Willie Nelson  perform "Pancho And Lefty" (recorded April 28,1993 for Willie Nelson's birthday television special, The Big Six-0). The song, written by country music artist Townes Van Zandt, tells the story of a Mexican bandit named Pancho and a more enigmatic character, Lefty. The lyrics tell of Pancho's death, implying that he was betrayed by his associate Lefty who was paid off by the Mexican federales.

 

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Monday Music: Homeward Bound (Paul Simon and Willie Nelson)

In 2003, Paul Simon helped to celebrate Willie Nelson's 70th birthday to sing "Homeward Bound." The two of them sang it together and WIllie offered some excellent picking on old Trigger.

 

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Monday Music: Georgia on My Mind (Willie Nelson and Ray Charles)

 

 

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Monday Music: Happy (Belated) Birthday, John Lennon!

 On October 9,  Lukas Nelson posted on YouTube this delightful rendition of John Lennon's "Watching the Wheels" on what would have been his 80th birthday

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Monday Music: Pancho and Lefty (Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan)

Bob Dylan & Willie Nelson  perform "Pancho And Lefty" (recorded April 28,1993 for Willie Nelson's birthday television special, The Big Six-0). The song, written by country music artist Townes Van Zandt, tells the story of a Mexican bandit named Pancho and a more enigmatic character, Lefty. The lyrics tell of Pancho's death, implying that he was betrayed by his associate Lefty who was paid off by the Mexican federales.

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Monday Music: Crazy (Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson)

Willie Nelson wrote "Crazy" back in 1961, and Country music legend Patsy Cline made it a hit the following year. When Patsy Cline sang country, she could make it sound like a standard right out of the Great American Songbook. Here, putting a smooth jazz spin on the song are Diana Krall, Willie Nelson and Elvis Costello. They performed the number at Willie Nelson's 70th  birthday celebration in 2003.

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Dylan Covers: What Was It You Wanted? (Willie Nelson)

In honor of Bob Dylan's birthday this week, I'm sharing some of his songs performed by other singers. Bob Dylan recorded "What Was It You Wanted?" on his 1989 studio album, Oh Mercy. Willie Nelson included the song in his Across the Borderline album in 1993.

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Monday Music: Homeward Bound (Paul Simon and Willie Nelson)

Paul Simon and Willie Nelson performing at Willie Nelson's 70th Birthday Concert celebration. They work well together singing Simon's "Homeward Bound," Willie playing his well-worn and beautifully resonant guitar, "Trigger."

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Monday Music: Ghost Riders in the Sky

Today's music selection features four takes on one song. My earliest recollection of 'Ghost Riders in the Sky" is the performance by the Sons of the Pioneers. As a kid, I enjoyed that close harmony that they achieved. If I was lucky, on a Saturday morning the TV station would air a movie western featuring Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers.

The song was first recorded, however, by Burl Ives. His rendition offers a most impressive ability to hit those high notes with such a beautiful clarity. Vaughn Monroe then made the song an even bigger hit with his smooth baritone voice. Many years later, Johnny Cash turned it into a hit once again on the radio. Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson bring a raw edge to the song in a live performance which really compliments the music puts the song on another level.

So take your pick, or listen to each one.

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Monday Music: Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)

Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) first appeared on the 1979 album Street Legal. Here is powerful version by Willie Nelson and Calexa from the soundtrack for the movie, I'm Not There. The song is full of symbolism that might take a classroom to unpack. It opens with the question, "do you know where we’re headin’? Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?" which is likely a reference to the Lincoln County War. For a fuller discussion of the symbolism of the song, check out Christopher Rollason's Bob Dylan's "Señor": a wasteland with no easy answers.

Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)

By Bob Dylan

 Señor, señor, do you know where we’re headin’?

 Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?

 Seems like I been down this way before

 Is there any truth in that, señor?

 Señor, señor, do you know where she is hidin’?

 How long are we gonna be ridin’?

 How long must I keep my eyes glued to the door?

 Will there be any comfort there, señor?

 There’s a wicked wind still blowin’ on that upper deck

 There’s an iron cross still hangin' down from around her neck

 There’s a marchin’ band still playin’ in that vacant lot

 Where she held me in her arms one time and said, “Forget me not”

 Señor, señor, I can see that painted wagon

 I can smell the tail of the dragon

 Can’t stand the suspense anymore

 Can you tell me who to contact here, señor?

 Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and kneeled

 Was that trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field

 A gypsy with a broken flag and a flashing ring

 Said, “Son, this ain’t a dream no more, it’s the real thing”

 Señor, señor, you know their hearts is as hard as leather

 Well, give me a minute, let me get it together

 I just gotta pick myself up off the floor

 I’m ready when you are, señor

 Señor, señor, let’s disconnect these cables

 Overturn these tables

 This place don’t make sense to me no more

 Can you tell me what we’re waiting for, señor?

Copyright © 1978 by Special Rider Music

Monday Music: Living in the Promised Land

"Give us your tired and weak

And we will make them strong

Bring us your foreign songs

And we will sing along...

"And room for everyone

Living in the Promised land"

Last week, Willie Nelson became the first country music artist to receive The Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. He performed a song that was first released in 1986, "Living in the Promised Land," telling the crowd, “I think this is one of the most appropriate songs that we could do for this period in America. ... I felt like this might be a good time to kind of try to bring it back.”






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Monday Music: Blue Skies

In celebration of water and blue skies having been found on Pluto.

Monday Music: Willie Nelson - Rainbow Connection

The song is written by Paul Williams, was featured on The Muppet Movie (sung by Kermit with his banjo in that opening scene). It all comes together beautifully here with great video montage and Willie Nelson's heart-felt rendition (playing his one-of-a-kind guitar, "Trigger").

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Monday Music: Moonlight in Vermont

From Wikipedia:

"Moonlight in Vermont" is a popular song about the U.S. state of Vermont, written by John Blackburn and Karl Suessdorf and published in 1944.

The lyrics are unusual in that they do not rhyme. John Blackburn, the lyricist, has been quoted as saying, "After completing the first 12 bars of the lyric, I realized there was no rhyme and then said to Karl, 'Let’s follow the pattern of no rhyme throughout the song. It seemed right.'" The lyrics are also unconventional in that each verse (not counting the bridge) is a haiku. 

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Frank Sinatra and many others have recorded the song, but one of the most memorable and endearing versions is by Willie Nelson on his 1978 landmark album, Stardust. In the liner notes of the 1999 reissue CD, Nelson is quoted as saying, "'Moonlight in Vermont' is my favorite song of all time." 

Monday Music: Stardust

In the movie Men in Black there is a scene in which Tommie Lee Jones' character is showing Will Smith's character some new technology recently acquired from space aliens which will provide a more compact and efficient way of recording music. "I guess I'll be buying the White Album again," Tommie Lee Jones added.
Although I do have the Beatles' "White Album" on CD, Willie Nelson's Stardust is one I have listened to on vinyl, cassette, and CD.

Recorded in 1978, Willie Nelson's rendition of old standards demonstrated that American music has certain essential characteristics that cross all genres, and there are things about every genre that everyone can enjoy. Here is the title track, "Stardust," written by the great Hoagy Carmichael.

A Bit of Authentic Music

"I went to Nashville to learn to write country music. When I finally learned how to write it, they stopped recording it."

                             ~ Pat Terry

I tend to take music in spells. A while back I was listening to jazz.  Before that I was into classical sacred music, then is was folk (it is often folk). We keep a radio on in the back of the house where our dogs are so they will have some stimulation when we are out of the house. We used to keep their radio on NPR, then my wife read some research demonstrating that dogs are most content with rock, so now we have the radio tuned to classic rock, which I've enjoyed when I'm at home with the dogs.

The music I am into now when I'm driving is country. That doesn't happen often but it does on occasion. I love the authentic music you hear on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band anthology albums and on blue grass recordings. What I've found this week is authentic music from Emmylou Harris and Rosanne Cash.  I began to get a taste for it again when I heard Pat Terry in a local concert at Moonlight on the Mountain. Then when browsing the record shop, I came across a CD of Emmylou Harris called Duets.  Emmylou Harris definitely does authentic music, and this recording is one I have enjoyed. It includes previously recorded material she has sung with other artists. One such song is "Green Pastures" in which a young Ricky Skaggs accompanied her from her pivotal album, Roses in the Snow. That album was the one where she firmly planted herself in the bluegrass tradition. Other memorable songs include, "Love Hurts," with Gram Parsons; "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again," with Roy Orbison and "Gulf Coast Highway," with Willie Nelson.

Listening to Emmylou Harris reminded me that I have been wanting to hear Rosanne Cash's The List.  I drove by the public library and found that CD to borrow. If you don't know, "the list" refers to a handwritten list from her father, Johnny Cash, of the 100 songs that she needed to know if she wanted to know anything about country music. Rosanne Cash mentions in the liner notes that at the time she was a teenager oriented mostly to the pop hits on the radio. Thankfully, she kept that list from her dad and recorded 12 of the songs from that list of 100. If you listen to The List you will hear some truly authentic country music – the kind that  Pat Terry half-jokingly says they stopped recording about the time he learned to write it. It's music that speaks to the heart and tells of the hardships and realities of life.

Here's a track off  The List to give you a sample of the music: