Pophistory: music, movies, history, and life.
Sam Cooke, who was born on January 22, 1931, was one of the century’s greatest singer-songwriters. He also was an electric performer, and while there are not many videos of him singing live available on YouTube, the one below captures him singing Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
Not surprisingly, Cooke puts his own stamp on Dylan’s song. Check it out.
Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Singer-songwriter and former America’s Got Talent star Marty Brown is preparing some new music for release. One of his newest tracks is “American Highway,” just in time for Independence Day.
The song by the Kentucky country singer captures images of small-town America. Below, Brown performs “American Highway” on WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour. Check it out.
Brown has been working on a new album, which will feature “American Highway.” The new songs feature lyrics written by Brown and music written by Jon Tiven, who also plays guitar on the album.
For tour and other information, see Marty Brown’s website.
Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Dwight Yoakam recently posted a video of a rehearsal of “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music).” Yoakam is currently touring with Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams. So, the two join in for a rousing rendition of the song.
Yoakam, Earle, Williams and the band jam on the song with the band in the dressing room before their show, which is part of their “LSD Tour.” Check it out.
“Dim Lights, Loud Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music)” goes back many decades. Joe Maphis, Rose Lee Maphis and Max Fidler wrote the song, which was first recorded in 1952 by Flatt & Scruggs.
The video is by Emily Joyce Photography. Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Singer-songwriter-musician Alonzo “Lonnie” Johnson was born on February 8, 1899 in New Orleans. Johnson was a musical pioneer for, among other reasons, his work with the electric guitar and the electric violin.
Besides the fact he created some great music, he has been credited with creating the note-by-note guitar solo style that became common in many kinds of music. His career spanned decades, starting with his jazz and blues work in the 1920s and 1930s. And after World War II, he had some success as an R&B performer, although he eventually ended up taking other labor jobs to support himself.
Below, Lonnie Johnson performs “Another Night to Cry.”
Johnson died on June 16, 1970 in Toronto. He had been in poor health following getting hit by a car in March 1969. Because he had no money when he died, in 2014 the Killer Blues Headstone Project paid for the headstone on his grave.
What is your favorite recording by Lonnie Johnson? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Folksinger, actor, and famous snowman Burl Ives was born in Illinois on June 14, 1909. Ives had one of the most recognizable voices of American singers, although I suspect that most people today know him for one TV role more than anything else. But many of us, like Johnny Cash, learned some of our first songs from Ives.
In the 1930s, Ives became an important figure in the folk-revival movement. After moving to New York City, he worked for progressive causes and performed with musicians that included Pete Seeger, Josh White, Alan Lomax and Lead Belly.
A rift later developed between Ives and Seeger after Ives, accused of being a communist, cooperated with the witch hunt by the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952. Ives saved his career as others who stood up for the First Amendment suffered. Seeger compared him to a “common stool pigeon.” But Ives and Seeger eventually reconciled decades later.
Ives recorded a number of successful albums and helped popularize songs like “Blue Tail Fly” and “Big Rock Candy Mountain.” Growing up, my family welcomed Christmas every year with Ives’ interpretation of Christmas folk songs on the record album Christmas Eve
Many associate Ives with Christmas for another reason. He provided the voice for the narrator Sam the Snowman in the 1964 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer holiday TV special. Ives also developed a career as an actor, including roles in films like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Big Country (1958).
Throughout it all was his wonderful voice. The warmth of his tone made every song welcoming and familiar.
Below, Ives appears on Johnny Cash’s television show. After performing by himself, Ives is joined by Cash to sit down, tell some stories, and sing some folk songs. Cash introduces the songs by noting how he learned some of his first songs and chords by listening to Ives.
Ives, who was a pipe and cigar smoker, died from complications related to oral cancer on April 14, 1995.
What is your favorite Burl Ives recording? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)