This video gem captures country singer-songwriter Marty Brown performing several songs in 1992, long before he became a fan favorite on America’s Got Talent. The show is from an appearance at Longhorn Dance Hall in Calgary, AB, Canada.
Brown sings songs such as “Don’t Worry Baby,” “My Wildest Dreams,” “Your Daddy’s Long Gone,” Hank Williams’s “Honky Tonkin’,” and “Honey I Ain’t No Fool” (one of my favorites, starting at the 13:26 mark).
[2018 Update: Unfortunately, the Calgary show is no longer available on YouTube. So, below is a clip from the same year of Brown singing “I Had a Dream.”]
Emmylou Harris recently appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert with her band The Red Dirt Boys and gave a moving performance of Steve Earle’s “The Pilgrim.” The song is my favorite from Earle’s bluegrass album The Mountain (1999), so it was great to hear Harris’s wonderful voice giving it a new interpretation and a new meaning.
In introducing the song, Harris touched upon today’s political culture and the plight of refugees. She noted, “This song is for the over 65 million displaced persons around the world.”
And then she began the song.
I am just a pilgrim on this road, boys; This ain’t never been my home. Sometimes the road was rocky long the way, boys; But I was never travelin’ alone.
Roll Columbia: Woody Guthrie’s 26 Northwest Songs will make you feel like you are sitting in a bar in Oregon listening to singers capture the spirit of Guthrie. The album, released by Smithsonian Folkways in early 2017, pays tribute to the 26 songs Guthrie wrote in 30 days while working for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA).
Guthrie began his work for the BPA in May 1941, documenting what he saw in the Pacific Northwest. During his month there, he was paid $267. And in that short time he produced a number of songs used for a BPA movie soundtrack that later would be abandoned. Guthrie only recorded 17 of the songs, but researchers discovered the other nine songs in the 1980s.
Folklorist Bill Murlin and Joe Seamons worked together to create Roll Columbia, an album putting together Guthrie’s BPA songs. What makes the album special is that the artists on the album all currently live in the Pacific Northwest. So, their connection to the place brings an added immediacy and timelessness to the songs.
You will recognize some of the songs on the album, such as one of Guthrie’s greatest songs, “Roll On, Columbia, Roll On.” Other songs you may know include versions of “Jackhammer John” and “Hard Travelin’.” But one of the joys of the collection is hearing new songs, or old songs interpreted in new ways. One of my favorites is “Eleckatricity and All,” recorded by Annalisa Tornfelt, Emily Dalafolet, and Kristin Tornfelt.
The producers asked each artist on the album to record two songs from the BPA collection. Some artists stayed very close to Guthrie’s melodies and styles, while some took slightly different approaches. But they all still capture Guthrie’s spirit. The performances would not be out of place in a small Northwest bar or club.
The liner notes for Roll Columbia are wonderful. They not only tell the history of Guthrie’s songs. They also provide additional information about the specific recordings and artists for each song.
Artists on the album include: Carl Allen, Kristin Andreassen, Peter Buck, Darrin Craig, Steve Einhorn, Chris Funk, Tony Furtado, David Grisman, Tracy Grisman, Ben Hunter, Michael Hurley, Al James, Orville Johnson, Scott McCaughey, John Moen, Cahalen Morrison, Bill Murlin and Fine Company, Jon Neufeld, Kate Power, George Rezendes, Pharis and Jason Romero, Caitlin Belem Romtvedt, David Romtvedt, Joe Seamons, Martha Scanlan, Timberbound, and Annalisa Tornfelt and the Tornfelt Sisters.
Interestingly, the producers also recognize the complex politics underlying the songs. They realize how our views about dams have changed over time. Thus, it is interesting to speculate about how Guthrie today might have approached some of these songs. How would knowledge about the environmental impact of dams affect his approach?
Overall, Roll Columbia: Woody Guthrie’s 26 Northwest Songs is a highly enjoyable collection, providing an album you will want to put on and listen to several times. You’ll enjoy the music on its own. And you may also enjoy the stories behind the creation of the songs and the historical context.
For more on the story of how Guthrie came to write these songs, check out the book 26 Songs in 30 Days: Woody Guthrie & the Planned Promised Land by Greg Vandy. This short video shows a little more about Guthrie’s work for the BPA film.
In previous posts, we have discussed some of the classics song written by Bob Dylan late in his career. Recently, two of our favorite artists covered one such classic song when sisters Allison Moorer and Shelby Lynne recorded Dylan’s “Not Dark Yet.”
“Not Dark Yet” first appeared on Dylan’s Time Out of Mind album in 1997, and it later appeared on the soundtrack for Wonder Boys (2000) (which featured another Dylan gem, “Things Have Changed”). On an album with themes of aging and death, “Not Dark Yet” stands out as a great song tackling those issues.
Sometimes my burden seems more than I can bear; It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.
The song did not make the top 5 songs about death discussed in the movie High Fidelity (2000). But an alternate scene filmed for the movie did have John Cusack’s character Rob adding Dylan’s song to the list created by Jack Black’s character.
Allison Moorer and Shelby Lynne have chosen “Not Dark Yet” as the title track of their first album together. The CD features mostly covers, and “Not Dark Yet” does a great job of displaying the harmonies of the two sisters.
Their harmonies combined with an organ create a foundation for the song in gospel, a bit unlike Dylan’s more bluesy version. As NPR notes, the Moorer-Lynne collaboration give the song a “more searching sound.”
You can love both versions, and I do. Check out “Not Dark Yet” recorded by Moorer and Lynne.
The album Not Dark Yet hits stores and the Internet on August 18.
Check out our other posts on Dylan’s late-career classics. What is your favorite of Dylan’s late-career classics? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On June 25, 1967, the first live, world-wide satellite program was broadcast to an estimated 350 million people around the world. The “Our World” global broadcast ran for a little more than two hours and featured representatives from around the world. Fourteen countries provided material (after the Soviet Union and six other Eastern Bloc countries pulled out apparently in response to Western nations’ response to the Six Day War).
“All You Need is Love”
The Beatles, the biggest music act of the time, represented Great Britain and the BBC. The band performed “All You Need Is Love” with a little help from some friends.
The song was written specifically for the “Our World” broadcast. After the Beatles signed the contract in May for the show, John Lennon wrote “All You Need Is Love” for the broadcast. Then, the band recorded a rhythm track and some backing vocals. The song was especially powerful considering the Vietnam War was a major issue at the time.
The Beatles performance of “All You Need Is Love” from Studio Two at Abbey Road Studio included The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, and Marianne Faithfull singing along in the audience. According to The Beatles Bible website, Lennon recorded additional vocals after the broadcast.
The entire Beatles performance of “All You Need is Love’ is not currently available on YouTube, but you may check out a portion of the Beatles segment below.
The original broadcast appeared in black and white, but the above video is from 1995’s The Beatles Anthology special, which colorized parts of this segment, using color photographs taken at the event.
Playing for Change
The “Our World” performance is not the only time “All You Need Is Love” went around the world. Although not done with the technological marvel of a live broadcast, Playing for Change put together kids from around the world singing the song about love and harmony.
Check out the Playing for Change version of “All You Need is Love.”
What is your favorite part of “All You Need Is Love”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
, which was recently re-issued.
is a highly enjoyable collection, providing an album you will want to put on and listen to several times. You’ll enjoy the music on its own. And you may also enjoy the stories behind the creation of the songs and the historical context.
