Farewell.
"I Don't Want To Know" indeed. The last 72 hours have been marked by a deluge of bad news for music lovers. Instead of spreading a series of death notices out over a week, I'll mention six sad items all at once.
It began with the awful word of Jay Reatard's passing. A couple months back I downloaded the free EP Matador offered. It's fantastic. I swore that I wasn't going to miss Reatard the next time he came through town.
Word of the disaster in Haiti came next. Wyclef Jean protege Jimmy O was killed. Here's a heretical (but compelling) video.
Poor Teddy Pendergrass! You wanna know how old I am? I bought a couple Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes 45s as a child. This was one.
Then I learned that prolific jazz drummer Ed Thigpen died. He was 79.
Bobby Charles' death also hit me hard. Much like Jesse Winchester, Charles was a tasteful singer-songwriter who- intentionally or not- stayed out of the spotlight. "I Don't Want To Know" is from a star-studded 1998 album. Yes, that's Sonny Landreth on guitar.
This morning I read that reggae musician Yabby You died on Tuesday. His best sides were compiled by Blood & Fire.
Please let it stop for a while.
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It's about time! Gil Scott-Heron is back in the game. Here's his new video.
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Friend and loyal There Stands the Glass reader Rick alerted me to this amusing video for "On the Cover of AARP" by a reunited version of early '70s psych-folk band The Kansas City Jammers.
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I'm really digging the juxtaposition of the cracked female blues voice with the patented ECM chamber jazz sound on the new album by Tord Dustavsen.
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Kansas City Click: I intend to catch Friday's performance by jazz collective Black House Improvisors' Collective at Paragraph Gallery.
Kansas City band du jour The Grisly Hand plays Saturday at the Riot Room.
Aaron Lewis sings Sunday at The Midland.
4 comments:
Thanks for posting the Bobby Charles track. Very nice. I wasn't familiar with the 1998 album, but now I'll have to check it out. Do you know the self-titled album he made in the 70s with The Band? I see it's back in print. Highly recommended.
Mick Green of (Johnny Kidd & the) Pirates also died this week. That wasn't him on the original version of Shakin' All Over (he joined later), but he was a big influence on pub/punk rock when the Pirates reformed in the 70s. A real Master of the Telecaster.
Yeah, Steve, I own that album as well, but true to the There Stands the Glass credo, I opted for the more obscure title.
I've been going on a bit of a pub rock binge as of late. Thanks.
Then you may want to check out this series on pub rock that I'm partway through on a blog I contribute to:
http://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/index.php/2008/12/08/jim-ford-godfather-to-pub-rock
http://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/index.php/2009/01/19/pub-rock-also-rans-part-1
http://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/index.php/2009/04/02/pub-rock-also-rans-pt-2-kilburn-aamp-the
Given recent events, I have to get to work on the next installment, the one on the Pirates/Dr. Feelgood/Eddie & the Hot Rods.
I have mixed feelings, Steve, every time I discover a new site that will require a huge investment of my time and attention. Rock Town Hall fits the bill. Great stuff. Thanks (I guess) for bringing it to my attention.
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