History: Dr.King

Mason Jennings: Dr. King

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Many hundreds of thousands of words have been written about Martin Luther King, Jr., since his assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. Undoubtedly, hundreds of thousands more will be written.

The words Mason Jennings uses, though, give me goosebumps, everytime I hear them:

"dr. king
i think often of you
and the love that you learned
from jesus
dr. king
i think often of you
and the love that you learned
from jesus
alabama
alabama
bethlehem
up ahead us we've a mighty task
to love the face behind hatred's mask
'cause on the day we understand our past
god almighty we'll be free at last"

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If you saw Modest Mouse in 2004, or Guster in 2007, you might have been lucky enough to catch Mason Jennings as an opening act.

If you saw I'm Not There - that movie about Dylan - you have heard Mason singing the songs "The Times They Are a-Changin'," and "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll."

If you lived in Minneapolis in 1998-99, and were going to The 400 on Tuesday nights, you were lucky to have watched Mason and the first incarnation of his band go through their (remarkably smooth) growing pains.

What I'm trying to say, is that if you like real music, made by a real artsist, who, oftentimes, writes about real (historical) things, you might just dig Mason Jennings.

Mason Jennings official site.
Live Mason Jennings, from the Internet Archive.
The obligitory Wikipedia link.