The Grass Is Always Bluer On The Other Side

Hello readers! Any guesses to this week’s topic based on the title?  If you are thinking bluegrass music then you are correct!  Those of you who know me know that I am not the biggest fan of country music and therefore may be asking yourselves, why bluegrass? 

First reason is I like bluegrass music and it is not considered country music, though several country artists dabble in it. Second reason is that growing up in the mountains of  North Carolina, I can remember this music being played in stores, sidewalks and fairs and it brings back good memories.

This week I’d like to share with you the history of bluegrass, give you some old school bluegrass examples and some great “new”grass selections as well.

The history of bluegrass

It may be hard to imagine, but most historians credit the early 17^th century with the founding of bluegrass.  The reason being is that the various types of music brought with the people who began migrating to America in the early 1600’s included dance music and ballads from  Ireland, Scotland, and England, as well as African American gospel music and blues. (In fact, slaves from Africa brought the design idea for the banjo an instrument now integral to the bluegrass sound.)  As the early Jamestown settlers began to spread out into the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky and the Virginias, they composed new songs about day-to-day life experiences in the new land. Since most of these people lived in rural areas, the songs reflected life on the farm or in the hills and this type of music was called "mountain music" or "country music." The invention of the phonograph and the onset of the radio in the early 1900s brought this old-time music out of the rural Southern mountains to people all over the United States.

The Monroe Brothers were one of the most popular duet teams of the 1920s and into the 1930s. Charlie played the guitar, Bill played the mandolin and they sang duets in harmony. When the brothers split up as a team in 1938, both went on to form their own bands. Since Bill was a native of Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, he decided to call his band "Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys," and this band sound birthed a new form of country music. By the 1950s, people began referring to this style of music as "bluegrass music." Bluegrass bands began forming all over the country and Bill Monroe became the acknowledged "Father of Bluegrass Music”.  In the 1960s, the concept of the "bluegrass festival" was first introduced, featuring bands that had seemed to be in competition with each other for a relatively limited audience on the same bill at weekend festivals across the country. Carlton Haney, from Reidsville, N.C., is credited with envisioning and producing the first weekend-long bluegrass music festival, held at Fincastle, Va. in 1965.

Bluegrass has had a recent surge in its popularity thanks in part to the movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou and many new bands are combining the traditional bluegrass sound with rock to form a new movement many are calling “newgrass”.

So now readers, I encourage you to check out these recommendations:

Old school:

Foggy Mountain Breakdown (yes that is Steve Martin, who is a great bluegrass musician, check out his CD The Crow: New Songs for the Five String Banjo, you may also recognize Vince Gill and Marty Stuart in this clip)

Rolling In My Sweet Baby’s Arms ( I also enjoy this version by Buck Owens)

Southern Flavor

As you can see in the following clip, bluegrass goes well with Clogging. Clogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create audible percussive rhythms.  Eat your heart out Riverdance.

Bluegrass has its roots in gospel songs as well:

The Cumberlands

When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

“NewGrass”:

Old Crow Medicine Show

• Wagon Wheel
• I Hear Them All
• Alabama High Test

Mumford and Sons

• Little Lion Man
• The Cave

Mountain Heart: While the Getting’s Good

Rhonda Vincent: Heartbreakers Alibi

Chatam County Line: Nowhere to Sleep

The Grascals: Last Train To Clarksville

There you have it readers, some of bluegrass’s finest. Are you a fan of bluegrass? Anyone you like you think I should check out?  Post you comments below and ya’ll come back now, ya hear?

Take A Ride With Me

Hello readers!  One of my goals for 2011 is to buy a new car and while looking through a huge cadre of what I may want to invest in, it came to my attention that there are no really good songs about cars  today like their used to be. So I would like to present to you some great classic song about cars. Keep in mind readers there are hundreds of songs about cars and about driving so I have decided to narrow the field down to a few of my favorites. I have also tried to find versions of these songs that include pictures of the chariots.  So here we go, gentlemen start your engines……

Little GTO

This song by Ronnie and the Daytonas talks about a Pontiac GTO. The Pontiac GTO was built by the Pontiac Division of General Motors in the United States from 1964 to 1974. It is considered an innovative and now classic muscle car of the 1960s and 1970s. Ronnie and the Daytonas were an American surf rock group of the early 1960s that was formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1964. Their primary contribution to popular music was in injecting country sounds into the burgeoning surf rock scene, an innovation that can still be found in surf music today.

409 and Little Deuce Coupe

The Beach Boys had a string of hits about cars in the 1960’s. The song 409 is about  a Chevrolet 409, a 409 cubic inch W-series V8 engine popular with "hot rodders" of the time. Gary Usher, who wrote the majority of the lyrics for the song dreamed at that time of one day owning a Chevrolet 409.  Drag racing, while illegal in many parts, is nonetheless an American tradition and The Beach Boys paid tribute to it in this buoyant ode to a ’32 Ford with a big V8 that is custom made to blow the doors off gear-headed rivals. There are references to a “flat head mill” and “competition clutch” that only a grease monkey could fully appreciate. Also, there’s the suggestion the little deuce coupe can do 140 mph, the kind of exaggeration that’s only allowed in art, although it may very well be true when it claims, “I got the pink slip, Daddy.” The song reached No. 15 on the U.S. pop charts in 1963 and has outlived most of the ’32 Fords it describes.

Rocket 88

Because rock ’n’ roll has had lots of influences leading up to the ‘50s, several have laid claim to being the “first rock ’n’ roll song,” and the argument still rages today. Legendary producer Sam Phillips claimed it was “Rocket 88,” which was written by Ike Turner and credited to a group called Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, which wasn’t an actual band. It was Turner in 1951 who created it and performed the Oldsmobile 88 tribute, which was produced by Phillips, although Brenston sang on it. This is an example of song where an American car represents sexual prowess: “Gals will ride in style, movin’ all along.” The Olds 88 had just come out and was considered to be the fastest car on the road.

Hot Rod Lincoln

Though there have been several versions of this classic, most people know the version by the country/rockabilly band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, which was released early in 1972 and rose to No. 9 on the pop charts and No. 51 on the country charts. One of the more famous lines goes like this: “My pappy said, ‘Son, you’re gonna drive me to drinkin’, if you don’t stop driving that Hot Rod Lincoln.”

Pink Cadillac and Ramrod

Bruce Springsteen has written several songs about cars and racing. Also parts of cars are prominent in many of songs such as “chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin out over the line” from Born to Run. Pink Cadillac  is a humorous rockabilly song that, like Prince's "Little Red Corvette, follows the tradition of the Wilson Pickett R&B classic Mustang Sally in using automobile travel as a metaphor for sexual activity. This is particularly evident as sung by Springsteen in the lyric: "I love you for your pink Cadillac" originally a veiled reference to, well you get the picture…   Ramrod is just a great Springsteen song and if you get a chance to see him live, I hope you get to see him perform this live, if not check out the above video.

One Piece at a Time

Recorded by Johnny Cash the song tells of a Detroit auto worker who watches Cadillacs roll by day after day on the assembly line, knowing that he will never be able to afford one.

He and a co-worker decide to steal a Cadillac, using their assembly line jobs to obtain the parts via salami slicing. He takes the small parts home hidden in his large lunchbox; larger parts are smuggled out in his co-worker's mobile home. Once they have a complete car, they assemble the pieces. The result is an odd-looking Cadillac created from parts of many different models. The vehicle title document weighed 60 pounds, and required the entire staff to type it. This song would be the last song performed by Cash to reach number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, and the actual car can be found at Historic Auto Attractions located in Roscoe, Illinois.

Beep Beep

In the 1950’s the Playmates released the song Beep Beep about a Little Nash Rambler. The song tells of a Cadillac driver and his woes of not wanting to get passed by a smaller car. The song was on the Billboard Top 40 chart for twelve weeks and sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Concurrently with this song, American Motors (AMC) was setting production and sales records for the Rambler models. Ironically because of a directive by the BBC that songs do not include brand names in its lyrics, a version of "Beep Beep" was recorded for the European market replacing the Cadillac and Nash Rambler with the generic terms limousine and bubble car. The song starts slow and gets faster and faster to simulate racing, and to me it is what makes the song so much fun.

So there you go road hogs, some song about cars.  There are tons more I could mention such as Mustang Sally, Little Red Corvette, Hey Little Cobra, Chevy Van, Silver Thunderbird, etc, but I’d like to hear from you. When you think of car songs, which ones come to mind? Until next time keep your eyes on the road and hands upon the wheel…..

75 Years Later And The Livin' Is Still Easy

75 years ago today, a great American opera Porgy and Bess opened.  I am a fan of the opera, and it is a surprise to me to find how many people do not know about it or the great music in the opera.  So, in this week’s post, I hope you enjoy a little history of and music recommendations from Porgy and Bess.

History

In 1926 George Gershwin read Porgy by DuBose Heyward, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, and immediately wrote to the author suggesting that they collaborate on a folk opera based on the novel. Heyward was enthusiastic, but it was 1934 before Gershwin's composing and performing schedules permitted him to begin actual work on the project.

Written at the “Edge of America”, Folly Beach, located on a barrier island about ten miles from Charleston, Heyward and Gershwin would observe the Gullahs, an isolated group living on adjacent James Island, who became the prototypes of the Catfish Row residents. It was a happy collaboration as Heyward wrote the libretto and Ira Gershwin (George’s brother) and Heyward wrote the lyrics.

When it was finally completed in July, 1935, the 700 pages of music represented Gershwin’s most ambitious creation and his favorite composition. According to David Ewen, Gershwin's first biographer, he "never quite ceased to wonder at the miracle that he had been its composer. He never stopped loving each and every bar, never wavered in the conviction that he had produced a work of art."

Porgy and Bess was George Gershwin's longest and most ambitious creation, but it was not truly successful during his lifetime. Some of the songs had achieved popularity before Gershwin's death in 1937, but the work earned real approval and favor only after the 1940 Theater Guild presentation of a slightly revised version.

For years it was performed more frequently in Europe, where it was considered a true American opera, than in America. It is probably the only opera using 1920's and 30's jazz that has survived past the post-World War II period, when composers began to use jazz satirically.

The work was not widely accepted in the United States as a legitimate opera until 1976, when the Houston Grand Opera production of Gershwin's complete score established it as an artistic triumph. Nine years later the Metropolitan Opera gave their first performance of the work. This production was also broadcast as part of the ongoing Saturday afternoon live Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. The work is now considered part of the standard operatic repertoire and is regularly performed internationally.

The Story

Set in the early 1900s in the fictional Catfish Row section of Charleston, South Carolina, which serves as home to a black fishing community, the story focuses on the titular characters, crippled beggar Porgy, who travels about in a goat-drawn cart, and the drug-addicted Bess, who lives with stevedore Crown, the local bully.

While high on cocaine, supplied by drug dealer Sportin' Life, Crown kills another community member, Robbins, during a fight prompted by a dice game, and Bess urges him to flee. Sportin' Life suggests she accompany him to New York City, an offer Bess declines. She seeks refuge with her neighbors, all of whom refuse to help her. Porgy finally agrees to let her stay with him.

Bess and Porgy settle into domestic life together. During a church picnic on Kittiwah Island, Sportin' Life once again approaches Bess, but Porgy warns him to leave her alone. Crown, who has been hiding in the woods on the island, confronts Bess. She initially struggles to resist him but eventually succumbs to his advances and allows Crown to carry her off.

Two days later, Bess returns to Catfish Row in a state of delirium. When she recovers, she realizes she betrayed Porgy and begs his forgiveness. She admits she is unable to resist Crown and asks Porgy to protect her from him.

Crown eventually returns to claim his woman, and when he draws his knife, Porgy strangles him. He is detained by the police merely to identify the body, but Sportin' Life, who has fed Bess cocaine, convinces her Porgy inadvertently will reveal himself to be the murderer. In her drugged state, she finally accepts his offer to take her to New York. When Porgy returns and discovers she is gone, he sets off to find her.

The Music

Rather than talk about all of the music in Porgy and Bess, I want to share with you my top three favorite songs and recommendations for different versions worth checking out. The versions with ** represent my personal favorites.

Summertime

Probably the most recognized song from the opera, and recorded in a record-breaking 15,000 versions. In September 1936, a recording by Billie Holiday was the first to hit the national pop charts at # 12. Other notable recordings include those by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald in 1957, Gene Vincent in 1958, Sam Cooke in 1961, and Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company on the 1968 album Cheap Thrills. The most commercially successful version was by Billy Stewart, who reached # 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. The song also had a reemergence in the 2000’s thanks to Fantasia’s performance on American Idol.

Check out the versions by:

Billy Stewart**

Brian Wilson

Fantasia

Janis Joplin

The Zombies

It Ain’t Necessarily So

Sung by Sportin' Life, the drug dealer, who expresses his doubt about several statements in the Bible. The song has been covered a number of times during the rock era by artist such as The Moody Blues, The Honeycombs, Cher, Cab Calloway, and Jamie Cullum. It is most notably sung by Aretha Franklin and Bobby Darin. Sting also recorded a version.

Check out versions by:

Jamie Cullum

Ray Charles and Cleo Laine

Cher

Brian Wilson**

I Loves You Porgy

The duet from Porgy and Bess, where Bess begs Porgy not to let Crown take her away. This song has also been recorded as a solo number by a number of popular vocalists and jazz musicians, most notably Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and Bill Evans. Nina Simone's recording of the song was a Top 40 hit in the United States in 1958. There are six different versions of the song in the Grammy Hall of Fame. This is the pinnacle song from the opera for me. It is my favorite, so you can see why the ** are on all of the recommendations.

Check out versions by

Nina Simone**

Brian Wilson**

Christina Aguilera**

Billie Holiday**

You may have noticed each one of my recommendations includes music from former Beach Boy Brian Wilson.  I highly recommend you check out Brian’s new CD Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin. It has great covers in the Beach Boy style of some of the most notable Gershwin songs.

So there you have it readers, all about Porgy and Bess, a masterpiece that has been influencing people for 75 years. Have you ever heard all music of Porgy and Bess? What opera do you enjoy? Until next time…

Meanwhile Back at the Hall of Fame.....

Hail, hail Rock and Roll!  This week the spotlight is on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland and dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and others who have in some major way influenced the rock music industry. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was created in 1983 but had no home until 1993.  The search committee considered several cities, including Memphis (home of Sun Studios and Stax Records), Cincinnati (home of King Records), New York City, and Cleveland. Cleveland lobbied hard to be chosen, citing that Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed is widely credited with promoting the new genre (and the term) "rock and roll," and that Cleveland was the location of the first rock and roll concert.

Artists become eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame in their category (performers, non performers, sidemen, early influencers, and lifetime achievement) 25 years after the release of their first record. In order to be inducted, an artist must be nominated by a committee that selects anywhere from nine to a dozen candidates. Ballots are then sent to 500 "rock experts" for voting. Only performers that receive the highest number of votes and more than 50 percent of the vote are inducted. The rest of the categories are voted on by special committees.

Now that you’ve got the history, let’s look at the list of this year’s nominees (the numbers beside a name represent the number of times they were previously nominated):

Alice Cooper

Beastie Boys (2)

Bon Jovi

Chic (6)

Neil Diamond

Donovan

Dr. John

J. Geils Band (3)

LL Cool J (2)

Darlene Love (3)

Laura Nyro (2)

Donna Summer (3)

Joe Tex (4)

Tom Waits

Chuck Willis (5)

Rather than talk about all of these groups, some of which I am sure you know well, I am going to talk to you about the five artists I think should be inducted.

Darlene Love

I love, absolutely love Darlene Love.  In 1962 she began working with producer Phil Spector. With her powerful voice she was soon a highly sought-after vocalist, and managed to work with many of the legends of 1950s and 1960s rock and soul, including Sam Cooke, Dionne Warwick, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones and Sonny and Cher. Darlene sang back-up vocals on Shelley Fabares's hit "Johnny Angel."  She also sang backing vocals on many of the biggest hits of the 1960s, including "Da Doo Ron Ron.” Though credited by Spector as recorded by The Crystals, "He's A Rebel" and "He's Sure The Boy I Love" actually featured Love singing lead, backed by The Blossoms. "Today I Met The Boy I'm Gonna Marry" was released as a single by Spector, and featured Love's name as the artist. Darlene is probably most know for her songs “A Fine Fine Boy” and “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” a song she has performed annually on The Late Show with David Letterman since 1986.

Donovan

The legendary folk-rock/pop troubadour Donovan began his career as an itinerant folk musician, creating acoustic hits in 1965 with Catch the Wind and Colours before transforming the pop music landscape with a series of enigmatic folk/ pop masterpieces that continue to be played on radio and television.  From 1966 through 1969, Donovan scored a string of eleven Top 40 hits in a row, including “Mellow Yellow,” “Sunshine Superman,” “Epistle To Dippy,” “There Is A Mountain,” “Wear Your Love Like Heaven,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” ” Jennifer Juniper,” “Lalena,” “Atlantis,” and “Riki Tiki Tavi.” Donovan was one of the few artists to collaborate on songs with the Beatles, contributing lyrics and vocals to “Yellow Submarine.” Donovan was also invited by The Beatles to join them at Abbey Road Studios for the final orchestral overdub session for “A Day in the Life,” the grand finale of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Neil Diamond

Do I actually need to tell you about Neil Diamond? I’ll let his songs speak for himself.  “Sweet Caroline,” “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show,” “Red Red Wine,” “Holly Holy,” and many, many more. He has sold over 115 million records worldwide, including over 48 million in the U.S. In terms of Billboard chart success, he is the third most successful Adult Contemporary artist ever, ranking behind only Barbra Streisand and Elton John.

Beastie Boys

The Beastie Boys began as a hardcore punk group in 1979, first appearing on the compilation cassette New York Thrash with Riot Fight and Beastie, and later released their debut EP, Beastie Groove, in 1982. After achieving moderate local success with the 1983 release of experimental hip-hop 12" Cooky Puss, they made the transition to hip-hop in 1984 and a string of successful 12" singles followed culminating with their debut album Licensed to Ill (1986) which received international critical acclaim and commercial success. They are one of the longest lived hip-hop acts worldwide and continue to enjoy commercial and critical success. In 2009, more than 20 years after the release of their debut album,  the group released digitally remastered deluxe editions of their albums Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head', Ill Communication and Hello Nasty. Check out “Girls,” “Brass Monkey,” “Intergalatic,” and “Sabotage.”

Bon Jovi

 Again, what can I say about Bon Jovi that you don’t already know?  Throughout their career, which started in 1983, the band has released twelve studio albums, two compilation albums and one live album, and has sold over 130 million records worldwide.  They have performed more than 2,600 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 34 million fans, and were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006. The band was also honored with the Award of Merit at the American Music Awards in 2004, and as songwriters and collaborators, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009. Rather listening to the radio, where you will find their most popular songs played, might I suggest “Bed Of Roses,” “I’ll Be There For You,” “Keep the Faith,” “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” and “You Want To Make A Memory.”

So there you have it readers, a little history about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this year’s list, and who I think should be inducted.  I could write another blog on why I am upset KISS has yet to be nominated, but I will instead take a deep breath… and ask you who from the above list you would like to see make it, or who you think should be nominated.  Thankfully we have to wait at least 24-25 years before Justin Bieber is considered.  Until next time…