I am not sure who was the person who thought up the idea to pair up Glen Campbell and Stevie Wonder on a Bob Dylan song, but I hope they received a large paycheck. In this video, Wonder and Campbell find a lot of soul in the Bob Dylan classic, “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
It is unclear where the video is from, but it may be from when Glen Campbell had a TV show. They do a wonderful job, playing off each other and not getting drowned out in the production.
Stevie Wonder can make any song his own, and he does a fantastic job. But Campbell is a surprise here when he hits the high notes in a verse. Together the two make beautiful music.
What is your favorite unusual duet? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Bob Einstein, known for his role as Marty Funkhouser on Curb Your Enthusiasm, passed away on January 2, 2019. Einstein also portrayed Larry Middleman on Arrested Development. But to those of us who grew up watching television in the 1970s and 1980s, he will always be Super Dave Osborne.
Einstein’s Super Dave character presented a refreshing and funny take on stunt performers like Evel Knievel. Knievel was all the rage in the late 1960s and early 1970s. And Super Dave’s costume even copied the white outfits with red and blue worn by Knievel during his motorcycle jumps.
While Einstein made Super Dave a goofy character getting slapstick laughs, Einstein’s creation also commented on those of us entranced with watching Evel Knievel. Yes, part of us watched with the hope that Knievel would succeed. But part of us watched because we also hoped to see something go wrong.
For Super Dave, something always did go wrong. His humor inspired other performers. One may trace a short line from Super Dave’s stunts to shows like Jackass. But somehow Super Dave seemed much kinder and gentler, perhaps because he never hurt anyone else. And the “special effects” ensured that we were in on the joke.
After writing for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Einstein first appeared as Super Dave Osborne in the 1972 TV series, The John Byner Comedy Hour. Super Dave would later appear on other television shows, such as Bizarre (1979-86) and Late Night with David Letterman. And Super Dave would get his own television series in Canada in 1987-1991. The character also starred in his own animated television show and a movie, The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave (2000).
Einstein — who was born in Los Angeles as Stewart Robert Einstein on November 20, 1942 — is the brother of actor-director Albert Brooks. He wrote for other shows and did other wonderful acting jobs throughout his career. But every time I would see him on shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, I would always think of him as Super Dave Osborne, the stunt hero I hoped would never die. Rest in peace.
As a kid, one of my jobs was taking out the trash at our house. After I moved away, though, I lived in apartments for most of my life. So taking out the trash just meant putting my garbage in a common receptacle. It was convenient when I lived in a New York City apartment and could walk down the hall and put my garbage in a chute at my leisure. But there was something I missed about having “trash night” when you have to gather all the garbage to put out by the curb for the morning pickup.
Through the years, I would return to my hometown and stay with my family. And I would once again find myself helping with trash night if I happened to be there on that night of the week.
A few years ago, I bought a house and re-encountered “trash night” with my own house, where I had to gather the trash (and recyclables) to put it by the curb for the morning pickup. And once again, it is my household job to take out the trash. While it is an extra chore, perhaps because we had not lived in a house for so long, I find something nostalgic every time I take out the trash, standing by the curb at night.
It may seem odd to find a connection with the garbage. But the chore reminds me of my childhood and gives me a connection to those days and the family who shared the chores who are no longer around. I enjoy the moment and how something so common can give one a connection to the past.
I Love Trash
Perhaps, not surprisingly, there are not a lot of songs about garbage, something that plays such a big role in our lives in various ways. Maybe the most famous song is “I Love Trash” by Oscar the Grouch. For many, the song itself reminds one of childhood and watching Sesame Street.
Below is Oscar the Grouch singing the song that he first sang during the first season of Sesame Street. Oscar is voiced by Caroll Spinney. It makes me laugh that on YouTube around one thousand people have taken the time to give this performance a thumbs down. How can you not love this song?
I’ve a clock that won’t work, And an old telephone, A broken umbrella, a rusty trombone; And I am delighted to call them my own! I love them because they’re trash.
In 1998, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler covered Oscar’s song for the Elmopalooza! album of Sesame Street covers by pop stars. The recording sounds like an Aerosmith hit, complete with Tyler’s great screaming.
Steven Tyler is not the only popular artist to sing “I Love Trash.” On a 1989 episode of The Jim Henson Hour, singer k.d. lang used her wonderful voice to join a group of Muppets on “I Love Trash.” (Unfortunately, the video is no longer on YouTube.)
Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out
Despite Oscar’s popularity, perhaps the song about trash that did the best on the charts is “Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out.” The song written by Johnny Tillotson and Teddy Wilburn and originally recorded by Loretta Lynn and Ernest Tubb was a Top Twenty hit on the Billboard Hot Country Chart in 1969.
The duet by Lynn and Tubb appeared on their album If We Put Our Heads Together (1969). The song is in the tradition of many great country duets, with the couple going back and forth about whether or not the man is cheating. The woman is throwing him out of the house, but the man asks the question of the song’s title about how the garbage will be taken out after he is gone. The song perfectly captures the part that a household chore plays in our lives, and sometimes in our relationships.
More recently, John Prine covered “Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out” with Iris DeMent on his 2016 album For Better, or Worse.
However you discard of your trash and recyclables this week, may you find some joy in your weekly chores.
What is your favorite song about garbage? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Although we knew what was coming on this week’s episode of The Walking Dead for the mid-season premiere for Season Eight, it was still sad to see Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) die. While watching it, though, you might have wondered about that song that played when they showed the flashback to Carl’s days after the bite from the walker.
In the montage, we see Carl playing with Judith. We see him writing letters to his loved ones as he prepared for his death. And we hear an upbeat sounding song.
We must talk on every telephone, Get eaten off the web; We must rip out all the epilogues From the books that we have read; And to the face of every criminal Strapped firmly to a chair, We must stare, we must stare, we must stare.
The song was “At the Bottom of Everything” by Bright Eyes. The band features Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott (often helped by other musicians).
“At the Bottom of Everything” appeared on the 2005 album I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. In the recording before the tune begins, Oberst introduces the song with a story about a man and a woman on a plane right before the plane begins to go down.
The music video directed by Cat Solen includes the story. It stars Evan Rachel Wood and Terence Stamp.
What is the song about? There are various interpretations, but at its heart is an attempt really to get at “the bottom of everything.” In other words, it is about trying to discern some meaning from life when so much of what we do is pointless.
And into the caverns of tomorrow, With just our flashlights and our love, We must plunge, we must plunge, we must plunge; And then we’ll get down there, Way down to the very bottom of everything; And then we’ll see it, we’ll see it, we’ll see it.
What does the song have to do with Carl in the episode entitled Honor? Maybe the producers chose the song because it gives a happy tune to Carl’s final days.
But maybe the lyrics also connected to what Carl was trying to say to his father Rick about searching for a more important end game than just surviving. Like the man and the woman on the plane, in the face of death, Carl wanted something more besides blending into the choir and memorizing nine numbers while denying we have a soul.
What did you think of the Honor episode? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On December 1 in 1940, the great comedian and actor Richard Pryor was born in Peoria, Illinois. His early years were rough, with him growing up in a brothel and his mother abandoning him when he was ten. But he gave us great joy and laughter throughout his life.
Most people remember Pryor’s great standup work and his work in popular movies like Silver Streak (1976). But did you know he had a short-lived TV show for children?
In 1984, Pryor’s Place ran for a short time on CBS. The show featured work by puppeteers Sid and Marty Krofft and a theme song by Ray Parker, Jr. (who had a big hit with “Ghostbusters” that year). But the show was soon cancelled after its debut.
Check out an episode of Pryor’s Place.
What is your favorite appearance by Richard Pryor? Leave your two cents in the comments. Photo via YouTube.
As a kid, one of my jobs was taking out the trash at our house. After I moved away, though, I lived in apartments for most of my life. So taking out the trash just meant putting my garbage in a common receptacle. It was convenient when I lived in a New York City apartment and could walk down the hall and put my garbage in a chute at my leisure. But there was something I missed about having “trash night” when you have to gather all the garbage to put out by the curb for the morning pickup.
album of Sesame Street covers by pop stars. The recording sounds like an Aerosmith hit, complete with Tyler’s great screaming.
(1969). The song is in the tradition of many great country duets, with the couple going back and forth about whether or not the man is cheating. The woman is throwing him out of the house, but the man asks the question of the song’s title about how the garbage will be taken out after he is gone. The song perfectly captures the part that a household chore plays in our lives, and sometimes in our relationships.
.
Although we knew what was coming on this week’s 
. In the recording before the tune begins, Oberst introduces the song with a story about a man and a woman on a plane right before the plane begins to go down.
