Like everyone else I liked and admired Dolly Parton and featured her in four posts over the years.
This is Train Train from her bluegrass period backed by the great pickers at Union Station with Allison Krauss singing backup. You can also hear her transform Stairway to Heaven into a gospel hymn with her adding lyrics at the end, and perform a lovely version of Neil Young's After The Gold Rush with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt.
Let's go beyond mellow and laid-back and sluggishly stumble our
way to the almost comatose. Get your favorite drink, relax in a comfortable big chair, and listen to the The Notting Hillbillies performing Your Own Sweet Way. Featuring Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits on guitar and vocals (he also wrote the song). Mark doesn't play a lot of notes but every one he plays is just right.
And remember:
It doesn't matter what I say
What I do or what I think
You can lead a horse to water
You can't make him drink
You'll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way
Bob Dylan turned 85 a couple of days ago. Recently I came across this 1995 performance of Restless Farewell, released by Dylan in 1964, and rarely performed by him since then. I was surprised to see Dylan singing it at a Hollywood celebration of Frank Sinatra's 80th birthday and end by saying "Happy birthday, Mr. Frank". His admiration for Sinatra is real, in more recent years, Dylan recorded an album of Sinatra songs.
According to Wikipedia and other sources, Dylan was the only performer that night to not sing a Sinatra song, and it was The Chairman of the Board who requested Bob sing Restless Farewell. I don't know if the story is true but, in accordance with the Official Policy of this Blog, we're going to go with it.
Restless Farewell is a Dylan tune I'd forgotten about until a few years ago and has since become a favorite. Looking at the lyrics, and particularly the final verse (see below), I can see why Sinatra might indeed have requested it.
Oh, a false clock tries to tick out my timeTo disgrace, distract, and bother meAnd the dirt of gossip blows into my faceAnd the dust of rumors covers meBut if the arrow is straightAnd the point is slickIt can pierce through dust no matter how thickSo I'll make my standAnd remain as I amAnd bid farewell and not give a damn
From Neil Young in 1992. Background vocals on the recording by Linda Ronstadt. Bringing back beautiful dreamy memories. Think I can stay there for awhile.
Because I'm still in love with youI want to see you dance againBecause I'm still in love with youOn this harvest moon
I'm beginning to hear voices and there's no one aroundNow I'm all used up and I feel so turned-aroundI went to church on Sunday and she passed byAnd my love for her is taking such a long time to dieGod, I'm waist deep, waist deep in the mistIt's almost like, almost like I don't existI'm 20 miles out of town, Cold Irons bound
Make this the Super Bowl halftime show, cowards https://t.co/l9rqmERbfC
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) March 6, 2025
Outstanding guitar work by Fogerty along with a scorching vocal guaranteed to peel the paint off your walls (honest, just play it loud enough). The guy bashing the drums so hard is Kenny Aronoff, long-time member of John Mellencamp's band.
In the midst of this dismal and ridiculous election season, let's take a moment to remember a dark horse candidate for the Democratic nomination in 1844 who became an enormously successful one-term president. I give you James K Polk, immortalized by They Might Be Giants in their song of the same name.
What were his successes?
In four short years he met his every goalHe seized the whole southwest from MexicoMade sure the tariffs fellAnd made the English sell the Oregon territoryHe built an independent treasuryHaving done all this he sought no second term
Three months after leaving office James Polk was dead from cholera. Perhaps the most consequential of our 19th century presidents other than Lincoln.
Funny clip with Dave Grohl, former Nirvana drummer and current leader of Foo Fighters, talking with Pharrell. Grohl reveals the disco inspiration for his playing on Nirvana songs!
saw this pharrell x dave grohl clip last week and i’m still sitting here shook pic.twitter.com/BFlI2zUwpv
— mike taddow (@MikeTaddow) July 4, 2021
You can find several version of Doc Watson performing this traditional folk song on YouTube but I like this best, because you can hear Doc's wonderful speaking voice and telling the story of how he met his wife RosaLee. RosaLee and Doc were married for 65 years, with RosaLee passing six months after Doc in 2012. Ms THC and I saw Doc perform in 1978. An appropriate song for Valentine's Day.
Chris Isaak, Wicked Game.
The world was on fire and no one could save me but you
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do
I never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you
And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you
That boy can sing! And the sinuous guitar riff is something else. And all so casual.
It was twenty years ago today that Warren Zevon died at the age of 56. Thought it was appropriate to listen to a few of my favorites. We'll skip the great ones from his breakthrough album Excitable Boy; Werewolves of London, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner.
My favorite, and an outstanding example of Warren's underrated talents as a musical composer, is Desperadoes Under The Eaves
I was sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian HotelI was staring in my empty coffee cupI was thinking that the gypsy wasn't lyin'All the salty margaritas in Los AngelesI'm gonna drink 'em upAnd if California slides into the oceanLike the mystics and statistics say it willI predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill
The phone don't ringAnd the sun refused to shineNever thought I'd have to pay so dearlyFor what was already mineFor such a long, long time
Bill Lee. About one of my favorite ballplayer characters.
You're sposed to sit on you ass and nod at stupid thingsMan that's hard to doBut if you don't they'll screw youAnd if you do they'll screw you tooAnd I'm standing in the middle of the diamond all aloneI always play to win when it comes to skin and bone
I Was In the House When The House Burned Down
Boom Boom Mancini. Its chorus is "Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon" but the song is really about the brutality of boxing. Ray "Boom-Boom" Mancini was the lightweight champion in 1982 when he fought Duk Koo Kim of South Korea (which is referenced in the lyric). Mancini won by TKO in 14 rounds but many thought the fight should have been stopped earlier because of the beating Kim was absorbing. Kim collapsed after the fight ended, dying four days later. Mancini attended the funeral in South Korea and went into a severe depression. Kim's mother committed suicide three months later and the bout's referee killed himself five months after that. Mancini returned to the ring, beating challenger Bobby Chacon in 1984. The relentless beat of the song echoes that of the ring.
You know, the Sheriff's got his problems tooHe will surely take them out on youIn walked the village idiot and his face was all aglowHe's been up all night listening to Mohammed's Radio
My Shit's Fucked Up. Recorded for the album Life'll Kill You, shortly before his cancer diagnosis. Somehow he knew, and you laugh despite yourself because it is all so true.
Keep Me In Your Heart. From his final album, recorded when he knew the end was near. Beautiful sentiment.
There's you, you're sleeping over there
Whilst me I'm sitting here
With so much sea between us
I can't make it much more clearFar too few and far to follow
For shame I'll heed the cry
Be with me when I need a drink
Be with me when I die
Had forgotten about this song until stumbling across it recently. From Procol Harum's 1969 album, A Salty Dog. Has similarities to the sound of some of the quieter early 70s Peter Gabriel-era Genesis songs. Also reminds me, melodically and arrangement wise, of Standing In The Doorway from Bob Dylan's 1997's album, Time Out Of Mind.
On President's Day, a tribute to perhaps the most consequential one-term president in our history, James K Polk. A compulsive workhorse, quarrelsome, and not a guy I'd invite for dinner, but who grabbed the American southwest, got the British to give up their claims to the American northwest, lowered tariffs, and established an independent treasury which handled federal finances into the early 20th century.
Became president in March 1845, leaving office in March 1849, and dying three months later, the shortest ex-presidency in our history.
The song is from They Might Be Giants. The founders are graduates of Lincoln-Sudbury High School, down the road from where we lived in the mid-70s.
In 1844, the Democrats were split
The three nominees for the presidential candidateWere Martin Van Buren, a former president and an abolitionistJames Buchanan, a moderateLouis Cass, a general and expansionistFrom Nashville came a dark horse riding upHe was James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump
Austere, severe, he held few people dearHis oratory filled his foes with fearThe factions soon agreedHe's just the man we needTo bring about victoryFulfill our manifest destinyAnd annex the land the Mexicans commandAnd when the votes were cast the winner wasMister James K. Polk, Napoleon of the StumpIn four short years he met his every goalHe seized the whole southwest from MexicoMade sure the tariffs fellAnd made the English sell the Oregon territoryHe built an independent treasuryHaving done all this he sought no second termBut precious few have mourned the passing ofMister James K. Polk, our eleventh presidentYoung Hickory, Napoleon of the Stump
With Burt Bacharach's passing at 94 the tributes are pouring in along with those lengthy lists of memorable songs. I've written twice about Burt in Is Christopher Walken The Burt Bacharach Of Acting? and on his wonderful 1990s collaboration with Elvis Costello, Painted From Memory.
Here are four favorites (lyrics on the first three by brilliant Hal David), starting with Colin Hay's version of I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself.
Next up are two from Dionne Warwick, Anyone Who Had A Heart, with its odd-timing and rhythms (a Bacharach trademark), and Alfie, a simply sublime combination of musical composition, lyrics, and a perfect vocal, creating a very odd tune, and the title song for the movie which made Michael Caine, playing a rotten guy, a star.
Last is Burt and Elvis with the title song from their album Painted From Memory.
My first instinct on hearing this song by Widespread Panic is to call it a throwback, but since it's from 1994 I'm not sure what it's a throw back to. In any event, its a good song and, yes, it does take me back even though I'm not quite sure as to when. Ain't Life Grand?
Been spending a little time listening to covers of Bob Dylan songs. Some great stuff out there. This is Jenny Lewis doing Standing in the Doorway from Dylan's 1997 album, Time Out of Mind. It's a demo she did in 2019.
Let's go beyond mellow and laid-back and sluggishly stumble our way to
the almost comatose. It's a quiet Saturday night, sit back
in a comfortable big chair, relax, and listen to the Notting Hillbillies performing Your Own Sweet Way. Featuring Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits on guitar and vocals (he also wrote the song). Mark doesn't play a lot of notes but every one he plays is just right.
And remember:
It doesn't matter what I say
What I do or what I think
You can lead a horse to water
You can't make him drink
You'll go your own sweet
Your own sweet way
Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've witnessed your suffering
As the battles raged higherAnd though we were hurt so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms
I've posted this song before (though not this version), but it seems to always remain timely. The unique sound of Mark Knopfler with those mumbled, yet moving, lyrics and the fat, lush guitar.
My top travel destinations that I've never been to are Israel and Istanbul and the Aegean Coast of Turkey. Below is a satellite photo of Istanbul, its sprawling suburbs, and the Bosphorus.
— Archillect (@archillect) March 6, 2022
Istanbul is on the European (left shore) where the Bosphorus discharges into the Sea of Marmara. The old city is on the promontory, just south of the inlet. It is also the location of the ancient city of Byzantium, founded in the 8th century BC and later refounded as Constantinople by the Emperor Constantine in 330AD. Conquered by the Ottomans in 1453 and later officially renamed as Istanbul in 1930; as They Might Be Giants reminds us, it's now Istanbul (Not Constantinople).
Ideally, we'd start with a visit to Istanbul to see both the modern city and the archaeological remnants of its long history and then travel down the coast of Asia Minor to the excavations at Troy and on to the ruins of the cities of the Classical World such as Ephesus. Ephesus is also the setting for Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors and we are great fans of the Flying Karamazov Brothers interpretation of The Bard's work, which we watched on several occasions with our children.
Ephesus
