When I’m “trying to tell a stranger about rock and roll”, trying to explain just how wise and sophisticated it can be, I often refer to ‘Younger Generation’, an expectant father’s apprehensions about the daunting task awaiting him.
One of the best songs to come out of the world of rock.
Song Of the week
090: The Cyrkle, ‘Red Rubber Ball’
1966–when Paul Simon mistook Jeff for Art and gave away that unforgettable, bouncy ‘Red Rubber Ball’.
Continue reading...097: Mstislav Rostropovich, ‘Cello Concerto Opus 43, Adagio’ (Mieczyslaw Weinberg)
On Holocaust Day we remember the incomprehensible persecution suffered by Moldovan/Polish/Russian Jewish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919–1996) at the hands of both the Nazis and the Soviets.
Continue reading...080: Tim Ries w. Norah Jones, ‘Wild Horses’
A fetching beauty with a catchy rock song in a first-rate jazz context. What more could one ask for?
Saxophonist Tim Ries toured extensively with The Stones, who sponsored his very fine, very varied Rolling Stones Project.
044: Paul Robeson, ‘Go Down, Moses’
It’s Passover! Let’s sing a song of slavery!
Paul Robeson brought the Spiritual to the concert hall, singing the suffering and indignity of his own father in slavery. A remarkable life any standards.
106: Joni Mitchell, ‘Cactus Tree’
Most of the little I understand of the female psyche I’ve learned from Joni Mitchell.
Continue reading...176: Chuck Berry, ‘Too Much Monkey Business’ (Bob Dylan, ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’)
Who da daddy of rap?
Who da grandaddy?
084: Dmitri Shostakovich, Prelude & Fugue No 16 in B-flat Minor (Tatiana Nikolaeva)
As our hearts weep with the innocent Ukrainian victims of Russian aggression, our thoughts turn to Dmitri Shostakovich, a courageous human being and a great composer who lived and worked under the shadow of Soviet oppression.
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