Ten: Psychedelic Edition

Mark Mikel: 2010 Anthem

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I couldn't resist posting Mark Mikel's "2010 Anthem", for the obvious reason.

Mark Mikel is the lead singer and chief songwriter in a fabulously psychedelic band out of Toledo, Ohio called the Pillbugs. He has also recorded a lot of solo material, this song included.

I'm not sure when this song was written, but I'm guessing that 2010 was used as a reference to a not-too-distant future. (See also Paul McCartney's "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five", which this song occasionally echoes.) It's not quite a dystopian future, but it is a rather unsettling vision of future leaders and complacent masses. "Rule our thoughts with catchy quotes / Poison with no antidote / Shove the sh*t right down our throats / We'll swallow" is as good a description of our soundbite culture as any I've heard.


Western Electric: 10-4

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Here's some more modern-day psychedelia, this time from Long Ryders and Cole Porters frontman (and Gram Parsons biographer) Sid Griffin, leading one-album band Western Electric back in '99. The relaxed rhythm, gentle vocals, and woozy pedal steel are pretty indicative of how the rest of the album sounds.


The Yardbirds: Happenings Ten Years Time Ago

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Now for an authentic 1960's blast of energy! "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" scraped the top 40 back in 1966, but what really makes it interesting is that it is one of only three songs the Yardbirds recorded with both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page on lead guitars. Not long after its release, Beck was fired.

Ten: Perfect 10

The Beautiful South: Perfect 10

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I drew a complete blank on songs with Ten/10 in the title for this week's theme... not my modus operandi at all, as I usually have too many tunes in my head and not enough time on the clock - so... I went on an adventure with my dear friend Google... and came up with this one...

My next step was to check the SMM archives to make sure the song had not been used before, whereupon I ran across Robbie's post of a bit over a year ago, covering the same band but a different song - we miss you, Robbie!

I knew nothing of The Beautiful South, but one reading of their lyrics, while listening, made me want to find out more about this group - they're clever, they're catchy, they're... disbanded?!?

Read here for some interesting observations from Wikipedia about double meanings and double entendres - there's also a sweet message behind the "nudge, nudge, wink, wink"...

'Cause we love our love in different sizes
I love her body, especially the lines
Time takes its toll, but not on the eyes
Promise me this, take me tonight...

Ten: Hang Ten

The Jazz Mandolin Project: Hang Ten

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Legend has it that this spirited improvisational jamjazz piece spontaneously arose from a late-night studio stop-in from Phish lead guitarist Trey Anastasio, but despite the regular presence of Phish drummer Jon Fishman on the skins of The Jazz Mandolin Project, the band itself is truly the baby and brainchild of rural New England-based mando master and compositional experimentalist Jamie Masefield. And Jamie continues to experiment: his most recent project involves a combination of video, literature, and live performance, and his most recent album - the sixth from the project - is an all-covers acoustic delight that features Tom Waits' bass player and Pat Metheny's pianist.

Ten: One in Ten

UB40: One in Ten

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First of all, let me apologize. The version of One in Ten heard here is the remixed version from the 1985 EP Little Baggariddim. I am posting it because it’s a great song, and I don’t have the original version from 1981. But the ‘81 version is much better, and it is easier to get. For accuracy’s sake, I have provided a purchase link for Little Baggariddim, but the 1981 album, Present Arms, is still in print, while the ‘85 EP is not. If anyone has the original version, please post it in the comments. Thanks.

Now then. UB40 takes their name from the British unemployment form. One in Ten is their reminder that the statistics you hear and read about represent real people, people in trouble. As 2010 opens, the economy is struggling. My fondest wish for this new year is that we will all notice a positive difference by year’s end. To get there, let’s all take UB40’s reminder to heart, and remember the faces behind the numbers.

Ten: Ten Men Working

Neil Young & the Bluenotes: Ten Men Working

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After closing the '70s with the Rust Never Sleeps/Live Rust one-two punch, Neil spent most of the '80s confounding even his most ardent supporters with a bewildering array of genre experiments: country-rock, electro-pop, rockabilly, pure country, synth-rock, and finally, in 1988, the blues. Many of the experiments were meant to annoy David Geffen, whose label Neil signed to in the early '80s, because Geffen wanted him to sound "more like Neil Young". But for his big-band blues album, This Note's for You, (backed by the nine-piece Bluenotes) Neil had finally found his way out of the Geffen contract and back to his old home, Reprise. And for me, it's the experiment that works the best. No, he will never be mistaken for Muddy Waters. But it's a fun album, and no song exemplifies that joyful energy more than the statement-of-purpose opening track, "Ten Men Working".

Neil liked the song enough to rechristen the band "Ten Men Working" after Harold Melvin (of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes fame) initiated legal action preventing Neil from using the Bluenotes name. Of course, by the following year, he had left the blues behind for a hard-rock power trio billed as "Neil Young and the Restless", perhaps the most aptly named of all his bands.

Ten: Big Ten Inch Record

Bull Moose Jackson: Big Ten Inch Record

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I remember this as if it happened yesterday. It was 1975 and Aerosmith had just released Toys In The Attic. By the release of that album, I was already a hardcore Aerosmith fan. One afternoon my father dropped over, during which time I was playing the LP and it was on the last track on side one, Big Ten Inch Record. Now I always read the liner notes and checked the label for the writer's credits but at 19 years old I sure didn't know who Fred Weismantel was. And without the benefit of the internet, it wasn't always as easy as it is now to do research on such things. When my dad came in and heard their version of the song playing, he simply said, "I know that one, it's an old blues tune. We used to dance to it."

When the song was released in 1952, the B side to 'I Need You', it was considered too risque for airplay and was banned from the airwaves. Loaded with double entendre,it was easy to figure out the song's true meaning. But that, apparently didn't stop my dad! And some twenty years later that didn't really matter much. But what I took away from that was a new realization that a lot of the songs that I liked way back then were actually covers of old blues tunes. After that enlightenment, I started to really pay attention and my love for the blues was born.

Bull Moose Jackson was born Benjamin Clarence Jackson in Cleveland Ohio on April 22,1919. He learned the sax and started his first band, The Harlem Hotshots, while still in high school. By 1943 he was recruited to play the sax for Lucky Millinder's band and began singing when he was needed to sub for Wynonie Harris. It was during this stint with Millinder where he got his nickname for his appearance. In 1948 he had a double-sided hit with 'All My Love Belongs to You' and 'I Want a Bowlegged Woman'. In 1961, he had a minor hit with ' I Love You, Yes I Do'.

The Moose lost his battle with lung cancer and passed away in 1989.

Ten: Ten Year Night

Lucy Kaplansky: Ten Year Night

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I knew my father loved Lucy Kaplansky - at least, I had heard her name, and his recommendation. But the first time I remember seeing her, I was solo, at the Clearwater Folk Festival. And she was so sweet, and so real, so authentically what I needed at that moment, that I bought two albums, and slipped one into the CD player without looking the moment I slid into the long, slow crawl that served as the exit from the camping area.

To be fair, I was emotionally primed. My wife was home, eight months pregnant with our very first child; the jaunt to Clearwater had been designed to be a replacement for our usual trip to Falcon Ridge Folk Fest, which was scheduled for the week after the birth, and it had succeeded marvelously well. The world was heavy with poignancy, I was alone with myself and unfettered, and the utter joy in losing myself to the folk community that weekend had been a true catharsis, just what I needed.

But there, in the car, when I slipped the disc in the player, and this track soared forth on my shitty speakers, everything coalesced.

It was, truly, the first time I had a musical epiphany, the mandolin and the echoing folk guitar, lyrics and the voice, the music and my life coming together for a moment of transcendent glory. In some ways, my entire musical journey since has been a struggle to recapture that sense of wonder, that sense of musical perfection.

Thanks, Lucy. Thanks, Dad. Welcome, 2010. May the new year and decade bring wonder to us all.

In Memorium: John Cephas

Cephas and Wiggins: Black Cat on the Line

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The Piedmont is a region that stretches roughly from Richmond VA, south to Atlanta. More to the point, it is a style of blues native to this area, dating from before WWII. The Piedmont style is characterized by the guitar player playing a bass line with his thumb while playing the chords and solo lines with the rest of his hand. Well known players in this style included Blind Boy Fuller and Rev Gary Davis. But probably the best known performers of Piedmont Blues were the guitar and harmonica duo of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.

Sonny and Brownie were active until the mid 60s, but in 1976 a new duo picked up where they had left off: John Cephas and Phil Wiggins. Cephas grew up in Washington DC, where many people from the Piedmont had resettled, and it was there that he learned the style. But Cephas always felt drawn to the country, and he was eventually able to move to Bowling Green.

Together, Cephas and Wiggins distinguished themselves with their ability to adapt classic blues tunes from other regions to the Piedmont Style. And Cephas also wrote new songs that were firmly in the Piedmont tradition, and sounded like they were old standards. Black Cat on the Line is one of these.

I hope that there are still musicians as talented as John Cephas to carry on the Piedmont blues tradition. It’s one of my favorite styles of blues, and I would hate to see it go.

In Memoriam: Vic Heyman/Sean LaRoche

Rachel Bissex: Just Like That

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Denice Franke: Kindred Skin

[purchase] (on her Comfort CD)

I am weary of death - it has been a difficult year (major understatement)... and, in addition to my mother's passing, there have been a handful of others whose absence has shaken me mightily...

Two of those, while not musicians, were "movers and shakers" on the folk and acoustic music scene... and I was honored to call both of them friend - after I wrote, in my Eddy Arnold In Memoriam post last December 30, 2008, of my visit with Vic Heyman at his hospice bedside, Vic passed a week later... on January 6, 2009. His wife Reba has come back to South Florida for the winter, as usual, but it's still quite a shock to see her without him - a variety of articles have been compiled about Vic and, listening to Rachel's song about the couple, you'll get an inkling of how loved and respected he was...

Last April, Denice Franke performed in the UU church concert series I present - she's based in Texas and, having just gotten word that her former agent/forever friend Sean LaRoche was seriously ill in the Ocala area, she visited with him a few days before making it to South Florida. Soon after, he was admitted into a hospice program and passed away July 15 (4 days before my mom) - Denice sang and dedicated Kindred Skin to Sean at our concert, and she told me later that she had written it for him. He was a raucous, fun-loving, chain-smoking, heavy-drinking man whose spirit was as gentle as his voice was loud - he knew more about the music business than most people had forgotten, but the knowledge was always shared jovially, not pompously. He and I participated in a booking agent's panel together once, e-mailed regularly, talked on the phone sporadically and, one of his last work accomplishments was ensuring that John Gorka, who he represented, would play my series (the show will be next month... Saturday, February 13, 2010)...

These "folk angels" will be much missed - however, we can be comforted... knowing they are even now enjoying that great Song Circle in the Sky!

P.S. I had never heard of Scotland Barr before... but I feel as if I know him now after reading this moving piece by Lisa Lepine, who also managed Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer - as soon as I send this, I will listen to these songs intently... and then make a donation to the Finish the Album Fund, in memory of Vic and Sean (paying it forward... :-)

In Memoriam: Dewey Martin

Buffalo Springfield: For What It's Worth

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Drummers often go unnoticed in the guitar-driven worlds of country rock and folk rock. But you know Dewey Martin's greatest hit - that steady, subtle bass-and-hi-hat heartbeat that kicks off the world's most recognizable war protest song, listed as #63 in Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. And Martin knew the cadence well, having lost a few months of his own early career to the US Army before serving as itinerant drummer for a variety of sixties performers, from Carl Perkins, Patsy Cline, and Roy Orbison to The Dillards and The Standells, going on release a few singles of his own, and, subsequently, joining Buffalo Springfield at its inception.

Martin died in January of last year, having spent much of his life as a well-respected session musician and Buffalo Springfield revivalist, though without the pop culture name recognition of his more famous bandmates Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Jim Messina, and Richie Furay. But thanks to countless Vietnam-era protest films, his beat will live on forever.

In Memorium: Willy DeVille

Mink DeVille: Just to Walk That Little Girl Home

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Willy DeVille had one of the most soulful voices ever, but far too few people ever got to hear it. He formed the group Mink DeVille in 1975, and made something of a splash at CBGBs in New York City. This was good for his career at first, but in the long run, his music never should have been associated with the punk scene. That was not what he was about.

The other thing that limited DeVille’s potential audience was the fact that he was a musical chameleon. His music had a foundation in R & B, but he stirred Cajun, salsa, and even French cabaret music into his musical stew. Late in his career, he performed with an acoustic trio. And he did not like to repeat himself. The thing is, many of the things he tried worked. And there was always that voice.

Mink Deville had a stable lineup for two albums. After that the lineup shifted constantly, until finally, Willy DeVille decided to continue his career under his own name. Whatever he called it, the music was always emotionally direct, and satisfying. I missed hearing some of his work. Now, unfortunately, I have time to get caught up.

In Memoriam: Kenny Rankin

Kenny Rankin: Haven't We Met?

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Kenny Rankin's album Silver Morning was released in 1974 - my then-boyfriend, now-husband and I were segueing to the next step of our college relationship, me still in school (my junior year) in Carrollton, Georgia and him in a post-graduate job with the Red Cross at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. He would drive down to see me or I would take the bus up to see him... a 10+ hour round-trip journey of emotion: anticipation there... and heartbreak returning - we would alternate visits every three months... for two very long years...

We each had a copy of the album in our respective homes, and it was "our" music during that period of our courtship - for making love, for cuddling afterwards, for those special times when no words were required... Kenny's smooth voice and syncopated rhythms would serenade and soothe us. I knew nothing about him other than he had the power to make time stand still - he made us believe everything would be okay and we would eventually be together for life (and here we are 33 years later, but that's a whole other song... :-)

I never bothered to learn Kenny Rankin's backstory... and we didn't even invest in another one of his recordings (could it get any more magical?) - I only just found out about his June passing, because I was immersed in my mother's life transition this summer, and it feels as if I've lost a friend...

In Memoriam: Liam Clancy

Liam Clancy: Navvy Boots On

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Originally the term 'navvy' was used for the navigators who were the men who first dug canals and performed inland navigation in Australia. Skilled at moving rock and earth by hand they were also known as excavators, bankers, diggers, and occasionally as pinchers, blue stockings, thick legs or bill boys tradesmen. They were considered an underclass of people who had their own style of dress and way of life that lasted from the mid-18th century to about the 1940s. The term, though not well known in the U.S. is still being used in the U.K. but with changed meaning: now used for a laborer,usually Irish. Because of that change, it has led many people to believe that all navvies were Irish but they were not. In fact most were English.

Liam Clancy was the youngest and the last surviving member of the original Clancy Brothers. He passed away on December 4, 2009. Regarded as the most powerful vocalist in the group, Bob Dylan regarded him as the greatest ballad singer ever. Tom Clancy died on November 7, 1990, Patrick Clancy died on November 11, 1998 and Tommy Makem died on August 1, 2007. Of his status as the last survivor of the band Liam said: “There was always a pecking order, especially when you’re working with family. But they all died off, and I got to the top of the pecking order, with nobody looking over my shoulder. There’s a great sense of freedom about that”

Being a huge fan of the Clancy Brothers and the Irish-Folk genre in general I was deeply saddened with his passing. Thankfully, they recorded enough music to keep me smiling through the sadness.

In Memoriam: John King

John King: Gavotte I and II (From J.S. Bach's Cello Suite No. 5, BWV 1101)

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When John King passed away earlier this year, he left a gaping hole in the ukulele community. Though he only released two albums, John was a master of the tiny, four-stringed instrument, an author of numerous books, and a generous soul who often shared his extensive knowledge of the ukulele, classical guitar history, and Hawaiian music with anybody who asked, on various online forums and at ukulele festivals.

John was unique among ukulele players in that he played in a classical style known as campanella, originally developed in the early Baroque period for the five-course guitarra española, an early ancestor of the modern six-string guitar. Campanella involves playing each succeeding note of a melodic line on a different string, allowing each note to ring out with bell-like resonance, not unlike a harp. The results redefined what a ukulele could sound like.

Like all our featured artists this week, he will be missed.

In Memorium: Mary Travers

Peter Paul & Mary: Puff the Magic Dragon

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I will get to Mary Travers, but first, let me set the scene.

In the late 1940s, there was a group of folk singers called the Almanac Singers. Members included Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. Their songs were overtly political, and the group was destroyed by the blacklist. Seeger then formed the Weavers. The Weavers avoided political material, and enjoyed a few hits in the early 50s, but soon they too were blacklisted, and could no longer find work. But the Weavers showed that there was a sizable audience for the ensemble folk sound. The folk revival was in full swing, and soon the airwaves were filled with pop-folk groups. The songs were apolitical, and hit followed hit.

By 1961, Greenwich Village in New York City was a center of the folk scene. Mary Travers was one of the few who actually grew up there. That year, she joined up with Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow to form Peter, Paul & Mary, and they began to play local gigs. The next year saw the release of their first album, which was an immediate success.

But Peter, Paul & Mary’s timing could have been better. The next year, the Beatles arrived in the United States, and the popularity of the pop-folk sound vanished. So how is it that Peter Paul & Mary did not? There were two reasons. Ironically, Peter, Paul & Mary stayed in the public eye by performing political material. They played at civil rights demonstrations, and then at peace marches, which is where I first heard them.

The other thing that kept them in the public eye was one song: Puff the Magic Dragon. This song became, (and still is), a classic kid’s song. The lyrics about the power and the limits of childhood imagination are certainly one reason. But the sound of these three voices are a vital ingredient, and it can’t work without Mary Travers. Of course, it can’t work without Peter Yarrow or Paul Stookey either. I find it hard to separate them.

The group would last until 1970, and then go their separate ways for solo projects. They would find that the magic that happened when they were together was essential, and they would regroup in 1978. From there on, they would reaffirm their commitment to social causes. And they would record two albums especially for children and their families, including a new recording of Puff.

One last thought. If you get a chance, catch a special on PBS called Lifelines. It shows up during fund drives. Here, Peter, Paul & Mary share the stage with some of their inspirations, some of their contemporaries, and some of the musicians they inspired. Mary Travers had lost her youthful figure by this time, but I have the strong impression watching her that she is a mother figure here. To me, hers is the strongest presence among some very strong personalities. It is a quiet strength, calmly watching over the proceedings. I don’t know if that is how it was in the group for all those years. But that is how I will think of her.

In Memoriam: John Dawson

New Riders of the Purple Sage: Panama Red

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John Collins Dawson IV, nicknamed "Marmaduke", was the leader and one of the co-founders of the New Riders Of The Purple Sage. Born in Detroit he was the son of a California filmmaker. Before attending the Millbrook School for Boys near Millbrook, NY. where he studied music theory and history, he received guitar lessons from Mimi Farina, Joan Baez's sister.

By 1969 The New Riders were the opening act for the Grateful Dead. Original members of the group included three future members of the Dead; Jerry Garcia on pedal steel, Mickey Hart on drums, and Phil Lesh on bass. By 1970, Spencer Dryden and Dave Torbert replaced Hart and Lesh, respectively. Throughout '70 and '71 the New Riders and the Grateful Dead toured together and in '71 Jerry Garcia was replaced with Buddy Cage on the steel guitar, freeing up both bands to play independently of each other. It was during this same period when along with Garcia and Robert Hunter, Dawson co-wrote "Friend Of The Devil". He also appeared on three Dead albums during the same era.

"Marmaduke" became an English teacher in Mexico in 1997 when he retired from the music business and remained there until his death on July 21, 2009.

I first became acquainted with the New Riders back in the 70's when I first heard their now classic 'Henry' , a song about smuggling dope which I might add was posted by Darius back during the Drug theme.

For this post I've chosen another well known tune, Panama Red, written by Peter Rowan, the title track of their 1973 LP. and while it may be considered a bit mainstream, it's a fine example of this band's music.

In Memoriam: Koko Taylor

Koko Taylor: Wang Dang Doodle

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It was a rough decade for the Blues, a genre still heavily dominated by an aging population of once-seminal musicians born in the twenties and thirties. And though everyone has their favorite, no one will be more missed in my household than "Queen of the Blues" Koko Taylor -- a Chicagoan house cleaner, discovered by the legendary Willie Dixon in 1962, who went on to become one of the most beloved and well-respected blueswomen in history, in no small part for her gritty 1966 recording of Dixon's Wang Dang Doodle, which sold over a million copies.

An earthy-yet-upbeat woman in a male-dominated world, Taylor's "rough, powerful vocal stylings" influenced the rasp and bellow of dozens of blueswomen from Janis Joplin to Bonnie Raitt and Susan Tedeschi. Her last performance, at the 2007 W.C. Handy Awards ceremony, marked her 29th win, making her the lifetime recipient of more Blues Music Awards than any other artist.

Solstice, Etc.: The All Purpose Carol

Christine Lavin & the Mistletones: The All Purpose Carol

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The Runaway Christmas Tree is the source of this wee slip of a song. The album is a family favorite in our house. Most of the content, as the title suggests, is Christmas oriented. But, for 58 seconds, there is this wonderful bit of inclusiveness. I wanted to conclude my posting for this week’s theme in that spirit. If your tradition has not been included this week, I encourage you to adapt this song to your needs. I don’t think Christine Lavin would mind, as long as you properly acknowledge her, and don’t put the result to commercial use. I hope all of our readers from whatever tradition have had/ will have a wonderful winter holiday.

Solstice, Etc.: Light One Candle

Peter, Paul and Mary: Light One Candle

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Hanukkah, from a purely Jewish point of view, is a minor holiday. I don’t think much is made of it in Israel. But, here in the United States, its importance is inflated. Hanukkah becomes a statement of Jewish identity in the face of competition with Christmas. There has always been, it seems to me, the fear on the part of Jewish parents that their children would convert to Christianity to get more presents.

But Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary remembers the true meaning of Hanukkah in his song Light One Candle. Hanukkah celebrates the freedom to practice one’s religion in the face of adversity, and the passing on of knowledge from one generation to the next is an essential element of any Jewish holiday. The holiday also recalls God’s promise to look after His children. And, oh yes, there was also some sort of military victory. That’s enough for any holiday to have to do.

For me, the rhythm of Yarrow’s song also recalls the touching of the shammas to the other eight candles to light each in turn. So Yarrow has perfectly captured the spirit of Hanukkah in a mere three minutes. No wonder any number of Jewish musicians have covered this for Hanukkah collections.

Solstice, Etc: Winter Solstice

Ralph Towner: Winter Solstice

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What does the Jewnitarian/Pagan set do on Christmas Eve? In my house, at least, once the kids are in bed, we generally turn on the tree, turn out the lights, light a fir-scented candle, and snuggle in front of the fire to something mystical, mesmerizing, and less-than-Christmassy. And though most of the year this sort of stuff is a bit too experimental for me, on a night like this, it's just the thing for atmosphere.

Avante-garde jazz guitarist Ralph Towner, who whet his teeth on the world of free jazz and improvisation with the Paul Winter Consort in the sixties after years of training as a classical guitarist, has long been known among the new-age set for both his preference for small-scale production sans amplification and his penchant for cross-genre fusion of folk music, Indian classical forms, and freeform jazz. Fittingly, this sparse, atmospheric track comes to us from Towner's 1975 sophomore solo album Solstice.

Solstice, Etc.: Hanukkah Medley

All Gods' Children: Hanukkah Medley

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What would it sound like if Sun Ra's Arkestra was beat up by a klezmer band? Well, it would sound something like "Hanukkah Medley", the first song on the first side of the first All God's Children cassette (released before the apostrophe had migrated to the right of the "s".)

It starts out with a maniacal laugh, followed by a minute and a half of what sounds like the band warming up. Just when you're ready to give up on it, the noise dies down, bandleader Adam Bernstein counts it out, and we're off on a four-minute, high-speed chase through Klezmerville.

This is music full of energy, full of life. Dancing to it at their many shows in the '90s was a missed marketing opportunity for the next big aerobics craze.

A band that couldn't be pigeonholed, all four songs on that debut cassette sounded completely different from each other. There was a tango, a big-band version of a Woody Guthrie favorite, and the hard-to-classify Gulf War statement "Guns and Humus". The band would follow a similarly eclectic pattern for all their releases.

When I first posted an AGC song here, none of their catalog was commercially available. But as of last week, the complete AGC studio catalog, as well as many previously unreleased live recording are now available. The MP3 of "Hanukkah Medley" I've included here comes from my digitization of my own well-worn cassette. If you want the real deal, hit up the "purchase" link above.

Solstice, Etc.: The Cutty Wren

Steeleye Span: The Cutty Wren

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There are two ways I can think of to find songs for Solstice. One can look among the works of neo-pagan singer-songwriters. Here you will find many appropriate songs. There are some musical gems, but also a great deal of music that is unlistenable. I am not plugged into this scene, so I don’t know how to tell the difference.

But, another method should be available. Surely, in places where solstice was once observed, there should be a vast body of traditional material. But, try and find it. At a glance, there would seem to be no trace left of these songs. Actually, there is indeed a vast body of traditional songs for solstice hiding in plain sight. What happened was, most of these songs are considered Christmas songs, and their pagan origins have become obscured over time.

Think about the current example. Maybe you know your scripture better than I do. Is there any reason a wren should be hunted on St Stephen’s Day? Not that I know of. And yet, in parts of the British Isles, that is exactly what happens. There are a number of wren hunting songs, and a ritual procession that goes with the hunt. The wren is placed atop a pole, wrapped in holly and ivy, and taken in ritual procession to be buried. A picture of one such procession can be seen above. You can see the holly and ivy bundle containing the wren. More pictures, as well as a fuller description of the procession and accompanying rituals, can be found here.

I have found references that indicate that the wren in these traditions was originally a gold-crested wren, like the one pictured above. These birds are now simply known as goldcrests. It’s easy to see how this bird could be thought of as the “king of all birds”, given the golden crown he wears. It’s also easy to see how he would be associated with the sun. Solstice, in pagan belief, marks the death of the old sun god, and the birth of the young sun. The old god was ritually sacrificed so that the young one could be born. This sacrificial victim would have been a special effigy made for the ritual. (The notion that the druids practiced actual human sacrifice comes from Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars, and was probably nothing more than wartime propaganda; there is no archeological evidence to support this idea.) So it makes all the sense in the world that the wren hunt would be a survival of old solstice customs.

So there is probably more than you ever wanted to know about the hunting of the wren. Enjoy the song, and have a blessed St Stephen’s Day.

Christmastime: Christmas Blues/Blue Christmas Edition

Bob Dylan: Christmas Blues

[purchase]

Heart: Blue Christmas

[purchase]

Screeching in under the wire once again, in an attempt to meet the midnight deadline - we're on the road for our annual family holiday trip to South Carolina and Georgia, with limited time and spotty internet here at the Knight's Inn in Aiken...

I empathized when Anne posted about having a hard time getting excited about Christmas this year... mine for a completely different, but equally valid, reason - this is my first time back to the Atlanta area since Mom's passing in mid-July, and I seem to be paralyzed... with sadness... and fear... and numbness. I really just want to stay home and hibernate until 2010, and am trying to find the proverbial silver lining - there will be so many triggers of grief, but there will be equal sparks of memory. We will uphold previous traditions and make new ones - Mom's spirit will give us the strength and the serenity to navigate this first major holiday without her... but, right now, the blues prevail... and the two songs above run through my heart and mind...

Much has been said about Bob Dylan's venture into Christmas music... and it is very hard to take seriously - however, the fact that "all of [his] U.S. royalties from sales of these recordings will be donated to Feeding America, guaranteeing that more than four million meals will be provided to more than 1.4 million people in need this year's holiday season" goes a long way toward lending credibility to the project (wonderful interview here)...

I've always loved the Very Special Christmas series and, no matter how many people cover Blue Christmas, my favorite will always be the one by Heart on Volume 2 - "won't be the same, dear, if you're not here with me" indeed...

Christmastime: Stocking Stuffer Edition

OK. I have a confession to make. There are a few songs that get played to death this time of year that I actually like. A lot. These are somewhat guilty pleasures for me. I share them in the hope that it isn’t just me.

The Waitresses: Christmas Wrapping

[purchase]

Here, The Waitresses blew their credibility. This great new wave band had burst on the seen with a great come-on song, I Know What Boys Like. And now, a Chistmas song? And a corny one at that. But, this one hits me in my soft spot. I get choked up every time I hear it. And I am really not sure why.

The Pretenders: 2000 Miles (It‘s Christmas Time)

[purchase]

Here is a character who is far from home as Christmas approaches. The theme of separation and longing is a Christmas song cliche from the time of the dinosaurs. But The Pretenders put it over beautifully here.

The Kinks: Father Christmas

[purchase]

And then there’s this one. The deceptively upbeat music frames a tale of kids who are desperate enough to rob a department stare Santa. Sadly, this song is old enough to be current again. On the plus side, The Kinks use this tale to call our attention to the needy, and implore us not to forget them at Christmas.

Christmastime: Christmas For Cowboys

John Denver: Christmas for Cowboys

[purchase]

We started our week with John Hartford on the silent river at Christmas Eve; we end it with John Denver on the lonesome prairie, that clear, high tenor ringing out his preference for the sky and the range, the saddle and the reins on Christmas Day.

The songs both come from and celebrate the opposite ends of the country, one with water and wheel, one with snow-covered plains; Hartford's Christmas is warm and damp with the deep South, while Denver's is cold, windy, and snow-covered. But stick 'em together, and there's something eminently paired about these two songs, something deeply akin about their songwriters.

Guess I've got a soft spot in my heart for songs - and men - that reject the trappings of crass overplayed commercial existence, to celebrate instead the beauty of a workingman's communion with nature, where the the work is sacred, the fire is sustenance, the wide-open horizon is the endless promise of another year, and the starlit sky is a Christmas tree lit from the heavens.

And who can resist one more coversong, for Christmas' sake?

Jars of Clay: Christmas For Cowboys

[purchase]

Christmastime: Christ Was Born on Christmas Morn

Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers: Christ Was Born on Christmas Morn

[purchase]

It's funny--we've posted a week's worth of songs about Christmas, and the closest we've gotten to the religious origin of the holiday is a song by Jethro Tull.

So let's get some religion with the Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers and their 1929 recording of "Christ Was Born on Christmas Morn". I got this on a wonderfully quirky CD called Where Will You Be Christmas Day? that includes a wide variety of pre-Beatles 20th century music split neatly into two parts: songs of a more holy nature (including this one), and songs that wouldn't be allowed anywhere near a church (sample song title: "Christmas in Jail--Ain't That a Pain"). It's a nice reminder of a time when regional music still existed and Christmas hadn't yet been commercialized beyond recognition.

Christmastime: Twas The Night Before Christmas

Wynton Marsalis: 'Twas The Night Before Christmas

[purchase]

It's a scientific fact that this song actually has the power to make you cooler. So if you're feeling a little pudgy around the waist; if you suffer from nostalgia for your more youthful years; if your idea of a good time is slumping into the couch and watching Grey's Anatomy, give this song a spin a few times. You just might find yourself wearing a beanie, reading Langston Hughes, and hanging out in downtown cafes until the sun comes up.

If you're not up for that kind of commitment, you may want to consider skipping down to the next song.

Christmastime: Holly Jolly Christmas

Martin Sexton: Holly Jolly Christmas

[purchase]

What have we here? This is Star Maker Machine, right? I know I didn’t come here for the Christmas songs that are playing at the mall!

Yes, I know. Holly Jolly Christmas certainly fits that category. And I must apologize to Anne, who must have heard the song a million times this year. But Martin Sexton takes this hoary old chestnut and makes it new. And he accompanies himself with just an acoustic guitar, but he makes this song swing. So if anyone knows a mall that it is playing this version, please let me know. I want to finish my shopping there.

Christmastime: Christmas Island

Leon Redbone: Christmas Island

[purchase]

Maybe visiting Star Maker Machine will help somebody win a trivia contest one day. Consider Lyle Moraine. Moraine was a film actor who appeared in over forty films from 1936 to 1975. But you don’t know his name. The vast majority of his appearances were uncredited. His best known film was probably Vertigo, but again, his appearance did not even warrant a listing in the titles. Moraine also wrote a song once, and that is possibly his best claim to fame. The song, Christmas Island, was a hit for The Andrews Sisters in 1946. There were a flurry of cover versions for about the next ten years, and then silence descended. In 1987, Leon Redbone rescued the song, and made it the title track of his holiday album. Since then, there has been another flurry of cover versions. Jimmy Buffet also made the song the title track of a holiday album. I can find no trace of any other song that Lyle Moraine may have written.

Thankfully, Leon Redbone, while not exactly a household name, is far better known. Redbone has made a career of rescuing old songs. He plays guitar in a style that shows a ragtime influence, and sings in what I would call a warm bass growl. His love of his material is obvious in everything he performs. His Christmas Island is no exception.

Christmastime: Christmas In New Orleans

Louis Armstrong: Christmas In New Orleans

[purchase]

Christmas In New Orleans celebrates the fact that, in spite of the images of picturesque snowscapes, hot chocolate, ice skating, and rudy cheeks that are thrust upon our senses from every major media outlet this time of year, Christmas in fact comes in many shapes and sizes depending on where you live. Having grown up in the central valley of California, I know that sometimes Christmas involves outdoor tennis matches. Later in life I spent a couple of years in South Africa, so I know that sometimes Christmas is a hot summer day and a braai at the beach. Now I live in the Midwestern US where Christmas is cold and white. Louis Armstrong reminds us that for people in the Crescent City, Christmas is barefoot choirs, Creole beats, and a Dixieland Santa Claus. What could be better?

In fact, with it being -5 degrees outside as I write this, I'm sort of wishing I was there right this minute!

Christmastime: Christmas in Suburbia

Martin Newell: Christmas in Suburbia

[purchase]

Martin Newell's The Greatest Living Englishman is a minor gem of eccentric pop. If it sounds a bit XTC-ish, your ears aren't deceiving you--it was produced by XTC mastermind Andy Partridge. It doesn't hurt that, like Partridge (and Robyn Hitchcock and Ray Davies), Newell excels at detailing the minutia of English life.

"Christmas in Suburbia" starts out describing a pretty normal Christmas, where folks "jingle jangle by electric candle light", but by the end of the song, Martin is waking up in someone else's home with "an angel in the bed". Merry Christmas!

Christmastime: Birthday Card At Christmas

Jethro Tull: Birthday Card At Christmas

[purchase]

The Jethro Tull Christmas Album has three songs on it with 'Christmas' in the title. Two of them are re-recordings: A Christmas Song and Another Christmas Song. What a dilemma. But at least it narrows it down because in my opinion the entire album is magnificent and post worthy. Besides the two old Tull favorites, a new one for the album was added, Birthday Card At Christmas. It's Jethro Tull at their best. If you like Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull and/or Christmas music, or all of the above, this album is a must. It's an absolute gem.

Christmastime: Christmas Face

Fisher: Christmas Face

[Free Christmas Download]

I am having a really difficult time giving two-hoots about Christmas this year. In fact, I am really looking forward to it being over with. One reason for that is because I am working retail over the holidays and the constant Christmas music and lines of demanding people without so much as a chance to take a drink of water can wear anyone down. The stress of decorating, finding gifts, hoping packages arrive on time, and holiday guests and baking is a lot as well. It makes a season that is supposed to be joyful, calm and loving, none of those things for me.

But the main reason is that it's a lonely Christmas, as my boyfriend will be a state away and my brother and his wife just welcomed their first child into the world in late October and were instructed by the pediatrician not to travel with him for at least 2 or 3 months, meaning they will have to remain in California and the rest of the family in Pennsylvania (and you can't get time off from retail this time of year) for the the holidays, making it a lonely one for both of us.

This song has always touched me in a personal way in that sense, since the song is about being away from your loved ones during the holidays and being unable to feel the cheer people expect from you for Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
It doesn't feel the same.
But it feels like California is a million miles away.
And I can't find my Christmas face.

Christmastime: Merry Christmas From the Family

Jill Sobule: Merry Christmas From the Family

[purchase]

Although I learned later that this song is a Robert Earl Keen composition, I fell in love first with Jill Sobule's version on the You Sleigh Me holiday compilation - I remember laughing, wondering what was up with this crazy song... until she got to the harmonized Noel, Noel, The First Noel lyric, when I felt the prick of tears behind my eyelids...

It still hits me that way - they're wacky... they're imperfect... they're family. We can all relate - pun intended...

P.S. Todd Snider has covered this as well, but the bootleg version I have is low volume and virtually unlistenable - would love it if someone has one of better quality to share... :-)

Christmastime: On Christmas Eve

John Hartford: On Christmas Eve

[purchase]

Master songsmith John Hartford was notorious for preferring life on the river to anything else, even music. So it's no surprise to find him lonesome and soul-searching on a full moon Christmas Eve, staring into the muddy Mississippi, wondering why he prefers the sound of the steam, the sight of the Pitman arm coming around again, the spanish moss and a bonfire on the moonlit banks to family.

To be fair, though, Hartford's simple, loving celebration of the lyrical elements of the Louisiana river setting is its own answer.

It's true that there are many lonely souls this time of year, yearning to be taken in by the company of friends. But for all those who prefer the company of the self at the holidays, this song offers an unparalleled template for comfort and joy.

We Are Family: We Were Family Edition

This week, we have had songs by brothers, sisters, and by parents and their children. But no one else has tackled married couples. Perhaps this has to do with a question: when should two (or more) people in a committed relationship of choice be considered a family? Surely, a same-sex couple, who can not legally marry, are no less a family than a heterosexual couple that can. And were Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer not a family because they never actually married? I wouldn’t think so. Still, society has its opinion, and those would have been controversial choices.

There is also another aspect to this. Were a couple who have since broken up a family while they were together? I don’t think the answer has anything to do with whether or not they had children together. I think the closeness they felt when the relationship was at its best is far more relevant. And the music they made together is often the best clue to this. Let’s look at three examples.

Richard and Linda Thompson: I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

[purchase]

The most obvious example is Richard and Linda Thompson. They were married shortly after Richard completed his original stint with Fairport Convention, and they were together for many years. Their recordings together were always billed as being by both of them, and they achieved a style together that is demonstrably different from how either of them sounds on their own. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight is a fine example of that sound.

Joni Mitchell: My Secret Place

[purchase]

Joni Mitchell’s jazz period ended after the Mingus album, (how do you top that?), and the death of bass player Jaco Pastorius. At that point, she did two things that would have been unthinkable to those who had followed her career to that point: she married bass player and producer Larry Klein, and she decided to rock out. The albums from this “rock” period are some of Mitchell’s least known work, and her most uneven. The best songs from this time, however, are as good as any in her catalog, although stylistically different. Mitchell’s marriage to Klein eventually ended, but he worked on her most recent album, Shine, although they were no longer married. So I would say that Klein is still part of Mitchell’s musical family.

Suzanne Vega: In Liverpool

[purchase]

My last example is also the most problematic. Suzanne Vega’s marriage to producer and keyboardist Mitchell Froom only lasted for one album, 99.9 F degrees. I remember that the reviews at the time of the albums release hailed the album as a bold new direction for Vega. And I remember reading an interview with Vega at the time where she talked about how excited she was.

I saw Vega live a few years later, after the marriage was over. Vega reached a point in the performance where she was ready to take requests from the audience. But first, she cautioned us that she would not play any songs from 99.9 F degrees. But, to my ear, there was one song on the album that sounded like the rest of Vega’s material to that point. So I blithely shouted out, “In Liverpool”. Sure enough, that was the one song she had done with Froom that she was willing to lay claim to at that point, and it sounded great that day. So I don’t know how Vega feels about Froom or these songs nowadays. But I also don’t know if that answers the question of whether, however briefly, she and Froom were a family.

We Are Family: Country Brother Teams Edition

Delmore Brothers: I´ve Got The Big River Blues

Monroe Brothers: Nine Pound Hammer Is Too Heavy

Blue Sky Boys: Are You From Dixie?

[purchase]

With Christmas approaching fast, it´s high time for some heavenly harmonies. And for these, look no further than the country brother teams of the thirties, aiming for that high lonesome sound. This is what inspired famous sibling combinations of a later date like the Louvins and the Everlys.

No matter if it´s Alton and Rabon Delmore from Elkmont, Alabama, Charlie and Bill Monroe from Rosine, Kentucky, or Bill and Earl Bolick from Hickory, North Carolina: these voices were made to soar together.

We Are Family: Kate and Anna McGarrigle

Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Complainte Pour Ste Catherine

[purchase]

In time, Kate McGarrigle would marry Loudon Wainright III, and have two children by him, Rufus and Martha. Kate and Loudon would then split up, but they would all eventually perform together in something called the McGarrigle Family Hour. But, before any of that happened, it was just Kate and her sister Anna. There is also a third sister, Jane, who sometimes appeared on their albums. The McGarrigle sisters are from a suburb of Montreal, and they always wrote and performed songs both in French and in English. I am a native English speaker who speaks no French, and so I have no idea what this song is about. But here is French-Canadian folk-reggae with gorgeous female harmony vocals. The sound of this one grabbed me when it was first released, and it has never let go. That said, if anyone would like to provide a translation in the comments, please feel free.

We Are Family: The Roches

The Roches: We

The Roches: We Three Kings

The Roches: Big Nuthin'

[purchase]

We are Maggie and Terre and Suzzy
Maggie and Terre and Suzzy Roche
we don't give out our ages
and we don't give out our phone numbers
(give out our phone numbers)
sometimes our voices give out
but not our ages and our phone numbers

From the ridiculous to the sublime to the ridiculous again - I offer up three tunes from three sisters who got their start singing Christmas carols on the sidewalks of New York. They released a duo CD, recorded and performed as a threesome for a while, scaled down to a duo again, enjoyed separate careers... and reunited as a trio in 2007 - their quirky lyrics and exquisite harmonies have made them a cult favorite for decades.

We is from their debut eponymous recording in 1979 - of their entire catalog, it's still my favorite (does anybody else seem to prefer the one that made you a fan?). When Darius posted one of their songs a few months back, I commented that if we ever had a Waitress theme, I had dibbies on Mr. Sellack - that challenge still stands!

We Three Kings is from their holiday CD of the same name, released in 1990 - besides the stunning Middle Eastern interpretation of this classic carol, they cover Deck the Halls with a Latin flavor and Winter Wonderland in Noo Yawkese. My children were and 9, 6 and 2 when this album came out... and it's *still* the first one we put on when we begin decorating for the holidays - pass the tinsel... :-)

Big Nuthin' is from their 1989 Speak CD - it "told the tale of how appearing on a certain television show was supposed to change their career forever, but it turned out in the end to be a Big Nuthin'. When the group played it that year on the Johnny Carson show, the host somehow didn't get the joke." (read the rest of the Oct/Nov '95 Dirty Linen article here)...

Who have we worked with
do we know anybody famous
(anybody famous)
do we know anybody famous
(anybody famous)
and as a point of interest
we spell our last name R-O-C-H-E

We Are Family: Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Wrote A Song For Everyone

[purchase]

John and Tom Fogerty had not settled their differences in 1990 when Tom passed away from AIDS, the disease a result of a tainted blood transfusion during back surgery. Their falling out occurred due to Tom's 'lack of opportunity', he felt his contributions were overlooked and brother John had too much control over the band. Tom left the band in 1971 during the recording of Pendulum.

Formerly known as The Golliwogs, the band became Creedence Clearwater Revival when in 1967 they were offered a full length LP record deal, but only if they changed their name. Tom Fogerty's friend Credence Newball (adding an extra 'e' so as to resemble creed, or faith), 'clear water' from an Olympia beer TV commercial, and 'revival' so as to renew the commitment to the band, are the elements that made up the band name.
John Fogerty penned 'Wrote A Song For Everyone' after a tiff with his wife, though it seems it could apply, at least in part, to his relationship with his brother as well. He was quoted in an interview about the song, "But there I was, the musician manic and possessed the only guy holding things up. Without me, it all collapses, so I'm feeling quite put upon. As she walks out the door, I say to myself, I wrote a song for everyone, and I couldn't even talk to you."

Actually posted by Bert, with my assistance due to technical difficulties

We Are Family: The Vaughan Brothers

The Vaughan Brothers: Tick Tock

[purchase]

I have to confess, I was never a huge Stevie Ray Vaughan fan. I appreciated him, but never went out of my way to get his music. Same with his older brother, Jimmie. And Family Style, the only album they recorded together, is not a particularly great album.

Don't get me wrong--there's some fine guitar playing, for sure. But overall, it's a little to slick for the blues, and the songs for the most part are forgettable.

Except one song. "Tick Tock" has mesmerized me since the very first time I heard it. With its "time's tickin' away" refrain, it became painfully poignant when Steve Ray was killed in a helicopter accident a month before the album's release. But even outside of that context, it's a fantastic song. Musically, it's a slice of retro-soul blues. The lyrics are a simple plea for world peace, a slightly desperate '90s counterpart to the '60s' "Get Together". Every year, that plea seems a little more desperate.

Tick tock, people.

We Are Family: The Allman Brothers

The Allman Brothers: In Memory of Elizabeth Reed

[purchase]

Brothers Duane and Gregg Allman grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida and formed various bands... The Escorts, The Allman Joys, The Hour Glass... before eventually connecting with Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks, Berry Oakley and Jaimoe to form The Allman Brothers Band, a Southern rock, roots and blues group who were at the top of their game in the late 60's and early 70's until the untimely deaths of Duane and Berry in separate motorcycle accidents, one year and three blocks apart (they're actually buried next to each other in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Georgia)...

You can certainly read more about the various incarnations of the band since - what I recall personally is that, spending my teen years in Atlanta, I was lucky to see them live, for free, many times in Piedmont Park, Live at Fillmore East changed my life (the band consisted of two lead gutarists, two drummers, a bass player and a vocalist/keyboard player - who does that?!?)... and I had a poster of Duane over my bed until I went away to college in 1972...

In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, which I wanted to post for our Long Songs theme... and again for Leftovers last week but never got around to it either time, is, in my opinion, a perfect instrumental, written by Dickey Betts...

From Wikipedia:

In this performance, Betts opens the song with ethereal volume swells on his guitar, giving the impression of violins. Slowly the first theme begins to emerge, and Duane Allman's guitar joins Betts in a dual lead that sometimes doubles the melody, sometimes provides a harmony line, and sometimes provides counterpoint. The next section has the tempo pick up to a Santana-like, quasi-Latin beat, with a strong second-theme melody being driven by unison playing and harmonized guitars.

Betts now takes a solo that starts from the second theme. This leads into an organ solo from Gregg Allman, with the two guitars playing rhythm figures in the background. Throughout, percussionists Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson play in unison, providing what has been described as "a thick bed of ride-snare rhythm for the soloists to luxuriate upon."

Now it is Duane Allman's turn, and he starts out quietly rephrasing the first theme. He then gradually builds to a high-pitched climax, with Berry Oakley's bass guitar playing a strong counterpoint lead underneath him against the band's trademark percussive backing. Allman cools off into a reverie, then starts up again, finding an even more furious peak. Parts of this solo would draw comparison to John Coltrane and his sheets of sound approach, other parts to Miles Davis and his classic Kind of Blue album. Duane Allman biographer Randy Poe wrote that the solo reflected the emerging jazz fusion movement, but in reverse: "[Allman]'s playing jazz in a rock context." Allman himself told writer Robert Palmer at that time, "that kind of playing comes from Miles and Coltrane, and particularly Kind of Blue. I've listened to that album so many times that for the past couple of years, I haven't hardly listened to anything else." Almost two decades later, Palmer would write of the Allmans, "that if the musicians hadn't quite scaled Coltrane-like heights, they had come as close as any rock band was likely to get." Rolling Stone would say in 2002 that the song's performance found the musicians "lock[ed] together ... with the grace and passion of the tightest jazz musicians," while in 2008, it said the trills, crawls, and sustain of the guitar work represented "the language of jazz charged with electric R&B futurism."

Following the Duane Allman solo, the band drops off and a relatively brief but to-the-point percussion break is taken by Trucks and Johanson, that reflects Kind of Blue drummer Jimmy Cobb's work. The full band then enters to recap the mid-tempo second theme, and the song is finished off abruptly. The Fillmore audience lets a couple of silent beats pass before erupting in applause.


I can still hum/ba-dum/air-strum every note of the 13-minute tune... 38 years later - backstory on Elizabeth Reed's inspiration here (and, interestingly, she is buried "144 steps to the south" of Duane and Berry)...

We Are Family: The Staple Singers

The Staples Singers: Respect Yourself

[purchase]

The Staple Singers, (family name Staples, go figure), were a father and his three daughters. There was also a son, Purvis, but I think he must have dropped out early. Pictures of him with the group are hard to find. Pops Staples died in 2000, and since then only Mavis has been heard from, as far as I know. But in their day, what a joyful sound they made. The Staple Singers originally worked in an acoustic folk-gospel style. But, in the early 70s, they signed with Memphis R&B label Stax. It was there, working in a soul-gospel style, that they achieved their greatest success. Respect Yourself comes from that period, and resonated with the Civil Rights Movement at the time of its release.

Curiously, there was a connection between the Staple Singers and Talking Heads late in the Staple’s career. Their last hit was a cover of the Talking Heads song Slippery People, and Pops Staples appeared in the movie True Stories.

We Are Family: Throwing Muses

Throwing Muses: Not Too Soon

[Purchase]

A girl befriends another little girl when they're both 8 years old at school and they become fast friends. A few years later, her divorced father falls in love with the friend's divorced mother and they get married. The two best friends are now sisters. The sisters go on to start a band together. It sounds like the makings of a corny movie or sitcom (hello Brady Bunch!), but is actually the real story behind Throwing Muses, the band started by step-sisters Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly.

Though most of Throwing Muses later albums were after Donelly's departure from the band to start her band Belly and later do solo work, the band's first few albums featured Kristin and Tanya's song-writing and vocals. As is the case with many such bands, we have our favorites. I am a Tanya Donelly follower myself, and only went back to hear her Throwing Muses work after her solo work. So, for this entry, I am obliged to include one of Tanya's songs, though the band is considered Kristin's baby and her band since she did most of the songs and was the one who stayed with it long after Tanya's exit.

We Are Family: The Neville Brothers

The Neville Brothers: Yellow Moon

[purchase]

I got a chance to see the Neville Brothers live in their hometown way back in my teenage years, in the midst of the Jazz and Heritage Festival, and let me tell you, if you've seen 'em too, you know I'll never forget the swampy energy that oozed from that stage that night like dark voodoo sweat.

Unusually for a sibling act, the Neville Brothers started off separately, making names for themselves as solo and session players; they did not perform together until their uncle Big Chief Jolly brought them together for a 1976 recording session for his Louisiana carnival "tribe" The Wild Tchoupitoulas. On their own, each of the brothers had evolved his own style - Art as the long-time post-doo-wop solo artist and founding keyboardist for The Meters, Cyril as the hand percussionist who followed in his older brother's footsteps, Aaron as the angelic and saccharine soul pop singer, Charles as the rock & roll and jazz session saxophonist. Put 'em together, and the sound is a fusion of all these styles and more: big, bold, smooth and sultry all at once, and every second of it pure New Orleans funk through and through.

We Are Family: Van Halen

Van Halen: You Really Got Me

[purchase]

Sometimes it's fun to try to post something that meets the theme in more ways than one. It's sort of like sinking a three-pointer in a basketball game.

In this case, brother-band Van Halen is covering a tune by another brother-band, The Kinks.

Alex and Eddie Van Halen started playing music as kids, one on the guitar and the other on drums. What I didn't realize until researching this post, is that it was Eddie who was on the drums and Alex who handled the ax. At some point early in their career their interests shifted, and they traded instruments. The world should be grateful that they did as Eddie went on to become perhaps the most wildly inventive and celebrated guitar player of the post-Hendrix era who, with the help of a one-of-a-kind vocalist, made Van Halen the most successful rock act of the 80's.

Anyone who watched the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert on HBO last week knows that Eddie's influence is still widely noticeable. Case in point: None other than Jeff Beck broke into a classic sequence of Eddie two-handed finger-taps during one of his solos.

I'll let someone else write about The Kinks, maybe the greatest brother-band of all time. In the meantime, enjoy this cover song that is special in the sense that it rocks even harder than the original.

We Are Family: Pieta, Zoe, and Constie Brown

Pieta, Zoe, and Constie Brown: Ella Mae

[purchase]

Going Driftless, a Red House Records celebration of the songs of beloved label founder and folk musician Greg Brown, is hands-down one of my favorite tribute albums. The disc features a plethora of female voices I've grown to love - among them Lucy Kaplansky, Lucinda Williams, Iris Dement, Ani DiFranco, Shawn Colvin, and Eliza Gilkyson - and it makes for a great set, the songs soaring once loosened from the earthly bonds granted through Brown's deep basso voice and loose, ragged style.

But of all the covers on the album, there's no song so delicately, poignantly done as Ella Mae, an early rarity Greg Brown wrote in tribute to his father's mother, here performed by his three singer-songwriter daughters. Though it's the sibling trio that makes the song fit our theme, there are four generations of family here - subject, son, songwriter, and performers - lurking like ghosts in the performance, and the bittersweet ache of family heritage and missed opportunity is palpable in every measure.

Photo: Greg Brown, daughter Pieta, and singer-songwriter Bo Ramsey.

We Are Family: The Shaggs

The Shaggs: Philosophy Of The World

[purchase]

Three sisters, and one dad with a mission. Austin Wiggins thought it would be just marvellous if his three girls formed a band together, so he bought Dot, Helen and Betty their instruments, paid for their music lessons and even found them a record deal. The resulting Philosophy Of The World came out in ´69 in a small edition on a fly-by-night label, and did nothing. End of story? Nope.

Over the years, that unique album slowly but surely acquired an amazing cult status. And why may that be, you ask? Well, simply because Philosophy Of The World might just be the most primitive, endearing, beguiling, irritating, heartbreaking, skin crawling record you´ll ever hear. A stone outsider classic.