Author: chimesfreedom

Editor-in-chief, New York.

Living Colour: “American Skin (41 Shots)” (Cover of the Day)

Living Colour 41 Shots

When Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were closing out their 1999-2000 reunion tour with the E Street Band, Springsteen introduced a powerful new song, “American Skin (41 Shots).” The song, about an incident of police brutality, has prompted a few covers, none as powerful as one by Living Colour during the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 20, 2001.

Springsteen had debuted the song in Atlanta on June 4, 2000. And before the band closed the tour at Madison Square Garden, some called for a boycott of the concerts or called Springsteen names because of the song. Springsteen wrote “American Skin (41 Shots)” about NYPD officers killing Amadou Diallo in February 1999.

The police officers stopped Diallo at his front door because they thought he resembled a suspect. The immigrant from Guinea reached for his wallet and the four officers fired 41 shots, hitting Diallo 19 times and killing him. A year later, the officers were acquitted of second-degree murder and reckless endangerment.

Although officers, the New York City mayor, and others criticized Springsteen for the song, time has been kinder to the writer than to the critics. The compassionate song was not vilifying anyone but highlighting the racism in society that has led to so many other killings just since Diallo’s.

41 shots, Lena gets her son ready for school
She says, “On these streets, Charles
You’ve got to understand the rules
If an officer stops you, promise me you’ll always be polite
And that you’ll never ever run away
Promise Mama you’ll keep your hands in sight”

Springsteen’s live performances of the song are powerful, often bringing up each member of the band one-at-a-time for the repeated refrain of “41 shots.” Others have covered the song, including Jackson Browne.

Living Colour performed “American Skin (41 Shots)” live at the Montreux Jazz Festival around one year after Springsteen had debuted the song. The band’s version is both powerful and heartbreaking, all the more painful because of its continuing relevance today with the deaths of those such as Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Steve Earle’s “Ghosts of West Virgina” (album review)

    Steve Earle Ghosts

    Steve Earle’s latest album Ghosts of West Virginia features music that mostly came out of a play about a mine explosion that killed 29 miners in April 2010. The play was starting a successful run in New York until the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down. But fortunately we have Earle’s music in one of his strongest recent albums.

    Earle’s previous album that is most similar to Ghosts of West Virginia is his 1999 bluegrass album The Mountain. Like that album, Ghosts of West Virginia avoids some of the rock sound that appears on many of Earle’s other albums.

    For the most part, one might never guess that the album originated out of a play. Although the first song on the album, “Heaven Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” is reminiscent of a typical opening chorus for a play, the rest of the album stands on its own with strong songs and performances, such as for one of my favorite songs on the album,”The Mine.”

    Earle began working on the album after Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen contacted him about a play they were working on about the Upper Big Branch mine disaster called Coal Country. In making the album, Earle traveled to West Virginia with Blank and Jensen to interview survivors of the explosion for further inspiration.

    Earle, a liberal activist, has asserted that in making the album he wanted to try to find some common ground with people who might disagree with him politically. For this album, he explained he wanted to create  “a record that speaks to and for people who didn’t vote the way I did.”

    For Earle, though, using his art to explore other personalities and other views is nothing new. It is what an artist does. Earlier Steve Earle songs have humanized murderers (“Billy Austin”), death row prison guards (“Ellis Unit One”), outlaws (“Tom Ames’ Prayer”), and real-life American-turned enemy combatant John Walker Lindh (“John Walker’s Blues”). Although the Lindh song earned Earle some scorn in some corners, it is doubtful that anyone on either side of the political divide will find much argument with the humanity of Ghosts of West Virginia.

    Earle also has a history of generosity in giving space to other artists even if those artists may upstage him. For example, on his 1996 album, Earle sang a duet with Lucinda Williams on the final song, “You’re Still Standing There,” and it was only the strength of an amazing album that kept Williams from stealing the show. And on his 2003 live album Just An American Boy, Earle gave his son and emerging artist Justin Townes Earle the final spot with the son’s song, “Time You Waste,” announcing the arrival of a great talent.

    Here, on Ghosts of West Virginia, Earle does something similar, giving “If I Could See Your Face Again” — a standout song from the point of view of a miner’s widow — to Eleanor Whitmore of The Mastersons. Whitmore’s performance and the aching song breaks your heart (perhaps the added emotion comes from the fact that the Steve Earle & The Dukes album is the first since Earle lost his bassist and band member of 30 years, Kelley Looney).

    If there is any weakness to this Steve Earle album, it is the short runtime. Coming in at slightly less than thirty minutes, one wishes Earle could have added more music. By the time you become immersed n the world of this West Virginia mining disaster, the album ends. On the other hand, it is not such a bad thing that an album leaves the listener wanting more.

    What do you think of Ghosts of West Virginia? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Everyone Needs a Little Extra “Love And Mercy” Now

    Love & Mercy Wilson

    All of us know people who are hurting during the current coronavirus pandemic. In addition to those suffering physically, many are in pain emotionally. I feel fortunate in that I may imagine many times in my life where the pandemic would have been much more difficult for me. But I know that others are now experiencing those worst of times. Health care workers, grocery employees, and other essential workers who are helping us all need help too. And many are lonely and scared, with the social isolation causing more pain. Everyone is suffering to varying degrees, so we all need a little of the love and mercy that Brian Wilson sang about in the song with that title.

    “Love And Mercy” originally appeared on Brian Wilson’s debut 1988 self-titled solo album following his success with The Beach Boys. Although the song was released as part of a double-sided single, it failed to find any chart success. But the song has endured and is more timely than ever.

    I was lyin’ in my room and the news came on T.V.
    A lotta people out there hurtin’ and it really scares me.

    Love and mercy that’s what you need tonight;
    So, love and mercy to you and your friends tonight.

    In the liner notes for the song, Wilson concludes that the song is “probably the most spiritual song” he has ever written. He explains the difference between the two terms in the title: “I would think love is a gentle thing and mercy would be more desperate, ultimately more desperately needed, thing in life. Mercy–a little break here and there for somebody who’s having trouble.”

    Below is Brian Wilson’s official video for “Love And Mercy.”

    This week I rediscovered the song while re-watching the 2014 movie Love & Mercy. I had seen the movie featuring Paul Dano and John Cusack as different era Brians in the theater when it was released. In parallels, the movie shows the young Brian Wilson facing mental issues during the creation of the Pet Sounds album, contrasting that story with the older Brian Wilson escaping an abusive relationship with a “doctor.”

    I equally enjoyed the movie the second time. And this time around, I found a connection to what is going on the world and the video that appears over the end credits showing the real Brian Wilson singing his song “Love And Mercy.”

    Not surprisingly, after I started writing this post about how “Love And Mercy” is a wonderful song for our current times, I discovered that someone else had the same idea. Brian Wilson recently posted a video of him singing “Love and Mercy” from his home (along with “Do It Again”).

    Wilson recorded the at-home video for Rolling Stone magazine’s In My Room series. Check it out below.

    Love and mercy to you and your friends tonight.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    It’s Little Richard’s 1964 TV Special

    It's LIttle Richard

    Little Richard — who was born as Richard Wayne Penniman on December 5, 1932 — passed away on May 9, 2020. He is one of the giants of rock and roll, leaving us many great memories and performances. Among those is a wonderful UK television special from 1964 called appropriately It’s Little Richard.

    By 1964, some time had passed since 1955 when Little Richard had a huge hit with “Tutti Frutti.” Like early rocker Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard pondered the relation between the new music and God. And, by the start of the 1960s, he had started focusing on gospel music.

    But he could not stay away from the music he loved, and he soon returned to making secular music too. And in 1964, Grenada Television in the U.K. broadcast a Little Richard special, The Little Richard Spectacular, sometimes called It’s Little Richard. Little Richard had been out of the spotlight and the British Invasion was emerging, but his talent could not be denied.

    Four years before Elvis’s famous comeback TV special, It’s Little Richard, which featured The Shirelles as guests, was so popular and generated so much fan mail that the TV station rebroadcast the show twice. Check out the special, directed by Philip Casson, below.

    Songs on the special included “I’ve Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy” (with the Shirelles), “Rip It Up,” “Lucille,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Send Me Some Lovin'” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Hound Dog,” “Good Golly Miss Molly,” “Tutti Frutti,” “Jenny Jenny.” The Shirelles performed “Everybody Loves A Lover” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.”

    What is your favorite Little Richard song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    John Fogerty and Family Gift Us “Green River” from the Campfire

    As people are locked down at home during the coronavirus pandemic, John Fogerty has joined other artists sending us gifts through video. Most recently, he gave us a video of the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic “Green River.”

    The video features Fogerty with his children Shane, Tyler and Kelsey around the campfire, apparently from Fogerty’s Ventura, California home. With Fogerty’s great voice, one cannot get much better than this one. In addition to the campfire, there are marshmallows and a stuffed Winnie the Pooh.

    Fogerty begins the video with an explanation of how he got the title “Green River.” A drink inspired the song. Check out the pandemic video of the day.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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