Music
May 21, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Bob Dylan celebrates his 82nd birthday on Wednesday. When he snagged the Nobel Prize for Literature a few years ago, I pulled out all the stops by posting a big set of my favorite covers of his songs. I don’t have any stops left to pull, but I’m adding a few more covers (again) this year in honor of his birthday this week. In my estimation Dylan is first and
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May 21, 2023 — Scott Johnson
This coming Wednesday is the birthday of Minnesota native son Bob Dylan; he turns the ripe old age of 82. It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there. I want to celebrate him as long we’re both still around to enjoy the occasion. He is a remarkable artist, self-invented, deep in the American grain. A few years back I visited Dylan’s old home at 2425 7th Avenue East in Hibbing.
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May 7, 2023 — Scott Johnson
We went to see Richard Thompson performing at the Dakota this past Monday and Wednesday evenings. Thompson is a giant of British folk and folk-rock — a founding member of Fairport Convention and singer/songwriter of awesome gifts. In Fairport and in his own career after leaving the band he has drawn on the British folk tradition to write classic songs that sound like part of it. He titled one of
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May 2, 2023 — Scott Johnson
While we were out at the Dakota last night taking in British folk giant Richard Thompson came the news that the singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot had died at the age of 84. He was a proud Canadian, but one wouldn’t call him a Canadian folk giant. He was a folk giant simply — a brilliant songwriter, an old-fashioned carouser who was also an incurable romantic, and a pensive kind of man’s
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April 27, 2023 — John Hinderaker
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is in Washington, meeting with Joe Biden. So far, the most newsworthy aspect of Yoon’s visit has been Joe Biden’s collaboration with the sycophant press to impersonate a mentally competent president. But let’s take two minutes out of our fight to preserve civilization to enjoy a moment of fun, courtesy of President Yoon. During the state dinner at the White House last night, Yoon
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April 23, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Out of the blue yesterday my wife asked me, “Do you like Elton John?” Well, I like pop music. I like well-written pop songs of every genre, from folk to blues to soul to country and rock. I thought I would program an hour’s worth of music, I think mostly lesser known, of a few favorites that take me out of myself and send me off looking for more of
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April 21, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll reflects on Alan Jackson’s THE OLDER I GET. She writes: I know that Scott covers the music beat. I’m not trying to poach on his territory, especially since he does a darn fine job with it. But every once in awhile a piece of music just seems to fit perfectly as a theme song for what’s going on in your life. This has happened to me a few
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April 2, 2023 — Scott Johnson
We went to see singer/songwriter Karla Bonoff perform at the Dakota in downtown Minneapolis this past Thursday evening. Her site is here. Her upcoming tour dates are here. When the Dakota announced the show we jumped on the tickets and snagged seats at Table 150, directly in front of Bonoff. I took the photo below from our table during her first number. Bonoff performed with Nina Gerber supporting her on
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March 26, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Aretha Franklin — the Queen of Soul, as Steely Dan reminded the “sweet young thing” in “Hey Nineteen” — died in August 2018. Jon Pareles recounted her life and work in his excellent New York Times obituary. Dominic Green paid tribute to her as “simply the finest popular singer of her generation.” Dominic also wrote a brilliant review of the Amazing Grace documentary for the Spectator. Yesterday was the anniversary
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March 20, 2023 — Scott Johnson
I’m taking the liberty of reposting this tribute to a great song with an unusual story behind it as a break from the news of the day. Since I first wrote this 17 years ago, YouTube has become a rich musical resource that allows me to fill out the story. Stretching from Ella Fitzgerald to Fran Landesman to T.S. Eliot and Geoffrey Chaucer, this is the bare-bones version of the
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March 19, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Singer/songwriter John Sebastian celebrated his 79th birthday on Friday. Sebastian grew up in Greenwich Village in a musical family. He is saturated in American music — a multi instrumentalist whose best instrument may well be harmonica. I can pick out his distinctive harmonica sound as an uncredited session player on tracks by Tim Hardin, Tom Rush, and other mainstays of the ’60’s folk scene. Sebastian was the front man and
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March 12, 2023 — Scott Johnson
The instrumental virtuoso David Lindley died March 3 at the age of 78. He played just about every stringed instrument I know of as well as a few I don’t. His New York Times obituary by Alex Williams seems just right to me. He subordinated his talent to enhance the music of the great artists with whom he worked, Jackson Browne foremost among them. I don’t know Lindley’s work sufficiently
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March 5, 2023 — Scott Johnson
And now for something completely different, I would like to introduce readers to Benjamin Bagby. Mr. Bagby is a medievalist, musician, composer, and performer. Among other things, he has memorized and performed the epic poem Beowulf. At the bottom of this post is a video of Bagby performing Beowulf at the 92nd Street Y in August 2020. Bagby’s performance begins at about 1:50 of the video. I read Beowulf in
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February 26, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Former Beatle George Harrison would have turned 80 yesterday. He was the Beatles’ lead guitarist. In the shadow of John and Paul, he slowly emerged as a songwriter. He had great taste and a gift for three-part harmony. I would like to note the anniversary of his birth with a few of the highlights of his recording career from the Beatles’ songbook and after. Forgive me for omitting your own
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February 23, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Trip Shakespeare was a local Minnesota band that landed a record contract with A&M Records. Twin/Tone Records has posted a brief history of the band here. Brothers Matt and Dan Wilson were both Harvard guys and members of the band, which also included bassist John Munson and drummer Elaine Harris. They recorded the wittily titled Are You Shakespearienced? (Twin/Tone, 1989) and the classic Lulu (A&M) before dissolving into Semisonic. Dan
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February 14, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Written by William Hart and Thom Bell, produced by Thom Bell and Stan Watson, “La-La (Means I Love You)” is a classic of Philadelphia soul, vintage 1968, and a memorable hit for the Delfonics. What a beautiful pop song. Hart sang the shimmering falsetto lead on the hit single. Do they make them like this anymore? Laura Nyro responded deeply to the song. As she did with so many of
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February 12, 2023 — Scott Johnson
The death of composer Burt Bacharach this past week gives us a fitting occasion on which to celebrate his work — work mostly with lyricist Hal David. Bacharach and David formed a professional partnership made in Cosmic American Music heaven. As Lloyd Billingsley counsels us in his brief American Greatness tribute to Bacharach: “Take a good look and listen, people. You won’t see a composer like this ever again.” For
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