Music
April 22, 2018 — Scott Johnson
I’ve written about Chris Hillman several times over the years. He has a new disc out with his long-time friend and musical partner Herb Pedersen (Bidin’ My Time, produced by Tom Petty and Herb). Chris and Herb came through town this past Thursday to play at the Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, where we saw them up close. I snapped the photo at right from our table.
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April 10, 2018 — Steven Hayward
It’s been a while since I indulged here my deplorable taste for prog rock, but as I’ve been inhaling second-hand pot smoke for the last two days in Boulder, CO, I think I have a legitimate excuse. Also, because it allows me to employ some perfect social science confirmation bias. The Economist this week includes a story about a pair of social psychologists who have attempted an empirical study of
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March 25, 2018 — Scott Johnson
The mind-numbing stupidity of the news of the day prompts me this morning to take a look back at Mel Tormé. I think Tormé was simply one of the all-time great American artists, too little known and vastly underappreciated. Permit me this salute in the interest of frolic and detour for a few hours and in the hope that I might interest you in deepening your familiarity with his work.
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March 20, 2018 — Scott Johnson
In the interest of anger management therapy on a day that calls for it, I’m taking the liberty of reposting this tribute to a great song with an unusual story behind it. From Ella Fitzgerald to Fran Landesman to T.S. Eliot and Geoffrey Chaucer, here we go: There are a few torch songs that lament the coming of Spring. This time of year, if you’re tuned to one of the
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March 14, 2018 — Scott Johnson
They don’t call her Stormy Monday, but come on. If she’s going to pick a stage name beginning with Stormy, I would like to express my preference for “Monday” rather than “Daniels” as the last name. “Stormy Monday” is one of the great blues songs of all time. Composed by Aaron Thibeaux “T-Bone” Walker, the song was released as a single b/w “I Know Your Wig Is Gone” (or vice
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March 6, 2018 — Scott Johnson
The composer Harvey Schmidt died last week in Houston at the age of 88. Richard Sandomir captures the drama of his professional life in the excellent New York Times obituary. Most notably, Schmidt wrote the music for The Fantasticks. I learn from Sandomir that Schmidt said he wrote the melody to “Try to Remember,” the signature song of the show, in a rehearsal hall in five minutes. Even though I
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March 4, 2018 — John Hinderaker
If there is any place in America where one might have expected a conservative to feel at home, it would be country music. Or would have been, anyway, until the Country Music Association chased Mike Huckabee off the board of its charitable foundation: On Wednesday, the Country Music Association announced the newest members of the board of its charitable foundation: singer Chris Young and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R).
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February 14, 2018 — 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 Philly soul, vintage 1968, and a memorable hit for the Delfonics. What a beautiful pop song. I don’t think they make ’em like this anymore. Hart sang the shimmering falsetto lead on the hit single. Laura Nyro responded deeply to the song. As she did with so
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February 8, 2018 — Steven Hayward
I really like Joseph Bottum (Jody to his friends), the literary editor of the Weekly Standard back at its launch, author of a terrific book (An Anxious Age) and nowadays head of the CLASSICS Institute at Dakota State University in his home state of South Dakota. (Which makes him some kind of 8th cousin of Hinderaker, doesn’t it?) He’s quite the polymath as well as an extraordinary dinner host, as
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February 4, 2018 — Scott Johnson
I saw Loggins and Messina perform live for the first time in the summer of 1972 on the Boston Common. Kenny Loggins seemed too happy to convey the gravity I was looking for. He jumped enthusiastically around the stage. I resisted. I hated the lightweight songs like “Your Mama Don’t Dance.” I couldn’t wait for him/them to get off. I had come to hear John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra,
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January 28, 2018 — Scott Johnson
I’ve wanted to see vocalist extraordinaire Tracy Nelson sing since I was a college freshman, and I came close. Having bought tickets to see her perform with her group Mother Earth in Boston, I waited patiently in the theater for her to take the stage. Some time after the appointed hour, Tracy came out to announce that the band’s instruments hadn’t made it from San Francisco. I was incredibly disappointed,
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December 24, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Last year I compiled performances of the traditional African-American spiritual “Children, Go Where I Send Thee” in observance of the day. I chose videos featuring performances by the Fairfield Four, Hall and Oates, and Odetta. Having had a year to reflect, I stand by my choices. I’ve posted the link above in case you want to revisit them today. This year I thought I would pick a few secular pop
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December 5, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Manny Laureano is the founder of the Minnesota Youth Symphonies and the principal trumpet in the Minnesota Orchestra. We got to know him when our number two daughter played under Manny’s direction for five or six years in the MYS. He is a gentleman and a scholar as well as an American patriot whose political views were altered by 9/11. Do you need to be a conservative to be disturbed
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November 12, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Folk singer Tom Rush performed at the Dakota this past Thursday evening. He brought his young sidekick Matt Nakoa along to accompany him on piano and spell him briefly during the two sets he performed over more than two hours. My cousin DeeDee and our friend Mike Frost joined us for a trip down memory lane with the sempiternal Mr. Rush. We sat next to my old Faegre partner Jim
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October 29, 2017 — Scott Johnson
With the coming of Halloween on Tuesday, it may be an opportune moment for a diversion. If you listen to the right radio stations at this time of the year, you will hear a few songs associated with the holiday. Probably foremost among them is “I Put a Spell on You” by the artist known as Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. I’d like to take the liberty of revisiting the song this
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October 15, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Paul Simon turned 76 this past Friday. Simon has taken his place in the roster of songwriters in the pantheon of the Cosmic American Music. I’ve been a fan for a long time. Simon of course made up one-half of Simon & Garfunkel, the duo that became famous overnight when producer Tom Wilson grafted electric guitar, bass and drums onto “The Sound of Silence” and rereleased it as a single.
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October 8, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Liberals are obtuse: they really don’t understand why, whenever there is a mass shooting incident, conservatives don’t demand repeal of the 2nd Amendment and gun confiscation. A case in point is today’s Associated Press article titled, “Many in country music mum over gun issues after Vegas deaths.” Yes: that is because many in country music, like Americans generally, don’t think that the depraved actions of a murderer should be seized
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