Pophistory: music, movies, history, and life.
George Denis Patrick Carlin was born in Manhattan, New York on May 12, 1937. In honor of the birthday of George Carlin and the stuff that we get on our birthdays, here is one of his famous routines about “stuff,” which is both funny and true.
Carlin passed away on June 22, 2008.
What is your favorite George Carlin segment? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
So like a lot of your friends you have been blowing off American Idol this year, perhaps disgruntled after the fiasco of last year’s judges. But now you have heard this year’s judges have been great and, more importantly, the final three contestants may be the most talented top three in the show’s history. Well, here is a short introduction to the top three so you can watch this coming week, where the contestants visit their homes, and the following week’s finale.
Jena Irene, who is from Farmington Hills, Michigan, started out as a Wild Card selected by the judges for the top 13. Early on, she ended up in the bottom three, but she gradually rose to the top with her unique voice. She has a powerhouse voice that can rival former Idol winners like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Then, she can turn around and play a ballad on the piano and blow everyone away like she did last week on “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” While once an underdog, she should win the season.
Caleb Johnson is the loud rocker from Asheville, North Carolina who was an early favorite to win the season and many still pick him to win. Johnson has a huge range that he usually uses to belt out powerful rock songs. If he has had a weakness, it has been that most of his songs have been similar power rockers, but those songs really hit his sweet spot. This week, though, he showed more diversity when he did an unusual “slower” song and covered Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed.”
Alex Preston is the indy Joseph-Mraz-type artist from Mount Vernon, New Hampshire. One can imagine him having a successful career singing his own songs while he plays acoustic guitar. He has been one of the most inventive artists this season. Like Jena Irene, he is not afraid to put his own twist on the songs. His uniqueness has helped him rise to the top three, surprising many viewers. This week he tackled Coldplay’s “Yellow.”
Awhile ago, I picked all three of these performers to make it to the top five, and American voters did an excellent job keeping the best three for the final two shows. All three of these artists have the potential for successful careers whether or not they win American Idol. My guess is that you will be hearing a lot more from Jena Irene at least, no matter what happens. So you might as well give in and watch.
Who do you think will win American Idol? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
On May 8, 1541, explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto became one of the first Europeans to reach the Mississippi River. A little more than a year later on May 21, 1542, still on a search for silver and gold in what would become the southern U.S., de Soto died from a fever on the banks of the Mississippi River. His men, not wanting the Native Americans to discover that de Soto was not divine, buried his body in the river.
Blinded by his search for precious metals, the Spaniard could not have foreseen the real value of the water with a name that came from an Ojibwe word for “Great River.” And de Soto could not have predicted that a state would take its name from the river. And he would not know that it all eventually would lead one of the land’s greatest songwriters, born in a state that hosts the headwaters of the mighty river, to use “Mississippi” as the title of one of his late career classics.
We continue our series on Bob Dylan’s Late Career Classics with a listen to “Mississippi,” from Love and Theft (2001). Dylan continues to write outstanding songs, but in this series we consider songs that are classics in the sense they are not only identified with Dylan but appear in excellent cover versions, much like many songs from his early catalog.
I am not the only fan of Dylan’s “Mississippi.” Rolling Stone has proclaimed that “Mississippi” is the seventeenth best song of the 2000s, comparing it favorably with Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue.” Further, the magazine ranks it 260th out of the greatest songs of all time.
Dylan must have sensed something special in the song because he made several versions of the song while trying to get it right. He initially recorded it for Time Out of Mind (1997). But he eventually left it off that album because he did not like Daniel Lanois’ arrangement.
So “Mississippi” first appeared on an official release several years later on Love and Theft. Here is Bob Dylan performing the song live in 2002.
Because of the delay in Dylan releasing his own version, someone else released a cover version of “Mississippi” before Dylan released the song. Dylan first gave it to Sheryl Crow, who recorded it for her 1998 album The Globe Sessions
Sheryl Crow in interviews explained how Dylan contacted her to ask if she wanted to record the song. Below is her version.
Dylan has released alternate versions of “Mississippi.” For my money, the best version is Dylan’s slower acoustic performance of “Mississippi.” This version leads off Dylan’s 2008 album of late-career lost songs and alternate takes, Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
There are a few good covers of this slower version, including one from “Blues From a Hammock.” And in this cover, Scottish singer-songwriter Rob Naokes does nice job covering the wonderful acoustic version.
Other artists have performed the song too. The Dixie Chicks, like Crow, make a rocking version of the song:
Many have speculated about the meaning of Dylan’s “Mississippi.” One writer claimed the song is influenced by the poetry of Henry Rollins. Rolling Stone claims it is “both a romantic promise and a hint of doom.”
The lyrics reveal past regrets (“So many things that we never will undo / I know you’re sorry, I’m sorry too”). But at the same time, there are moments of humor and hope (“I know that fortune is waiting to be kind / So give me your hand and say you’ll be mine”).
The singer recalls there is only one thing he did wrong, he “stayed in Mississippi a day too long.” Yet, what happened in Mississippi remains a mystery to the listener.
Dylan knows that sometimes it is best to let the listener fill in the blanks. “Mississippi’s” magic is in one’s imagination, more powerful than the imaginary gold and silver that led de Soto to his grave in the great river.
What do you think “Mississippi” is about? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Previous posts have discussed Johnny Cash’s new album, Out Among the Stars, a collection of twelve previously unreleased tracks found by Cash’s son John Carter Cash. Johnny Cash recorded the songs on the new album during sessions in 1981 and 1984. Now, there is an animated lyrics video for the title track.
“Out Among the Stars” tells the story of a kid who robs a Texas liquor store. The robbery leads to a confrontation with police, and the boy’s father watches the news on television.
What do you think of Johnny Cash’s “new” song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
On May 7, 1901, Frank James Cooper was born in Helena, Montana. After some work as a salesman and promoter, he started working as an actor in 1925, changing his first name to Gary when he signed a contract with Paramount. Reportedly, a casting director suggested the new name after her tough hometown of Gary, Indiana.
Gary Cooper went on to star in many memorable films including Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Pride of the Yankees (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), and The Fountainhead (1949). Cooper was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar and lost for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Pride of the Yankees, and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
He received the Best Actor Oscar twice. First, he won the honor in 1942 for Sergeant York (1941).
Sergeant York features a terrific performance, even if some note that Hollywood may have been motivated to honor the World War I film about a pacifist becoming a soldier to encourage Americans to sign up to fight in the new war. Below is the trailer.
More than a decade later, he won the Best Actor Oscar for High Noon (1952), the last time he was nominated for Best Actor. It is hard to pick a favorite Gary Cooper movie, but I am not sure anything tops High Noon (1952).
We liked Cooper as a hero.
At the 25th Academy Awards in 1953, Cooper was filming another movie in Mexico and was ill. So, John Wayne accepted the award for him.
Below, actress Janet Gaynor announces Cooper’s win, and Wayne accepts the statue.
Interestingly despite Wayne’s joke wondering why he did not get the High Noon role, Wayne reportedly did not like the movie. There are various theories about why, but Garry Wills in John Wayne’s America
Like Wayne, a number of people found political messages in High Noon. Some suspected High Noon had a “leftist” message. By contrast, though, others believed the script, written by Carl Foreman, who would later be blacklisted, was not sending a left-wing message but exploring the way people had cowered to the bully Sen. Joe McCarthy.
Other viewers find in High Noon a conservative message about how one man has to stand up when the justice system breaks down. Or they find an allegory about the Cold War. In Bright Lights Film Journal, Prof. Manfred Weidhorn summed up the contrasting theories about the movie, saying “High Noon, bristling with ambiguity, is a veritable Rorschach test.”
But High Noon is deep down a great movie, however you want to interpret any messages about the man (and his wife) standing up to the bad guys. And maybe the possibility of so many interpretations adds to its American character.
Many years ago when I was in college in the pre-Internet days and had some friends visiting from Sweden, I took them to a revival theater to see High Noon. I thought it was a wonderful example of an American movie, or at least of an example regarding how Americans see themselves.
Another former actor, Ronald Reagan, recognized how the movie remained in America’s consciousness decades later. He invokes the movie in this clip, discussing what it was like for a Republican to be in Democratic territory.
Nearly a decade after High Noon, Cooper would be awarded a third and final Oscar. In April 1961, the Academy gave Cooper a Lifetime Achievement Oscar for his great career.
Cooper again could not accept the award. But this time, unknown to many, it was because of a serious illness.
When viewers saw Cooper’s friend Jimmy Stewart give an emotional speech at the Oscars, though, they realized Cooper was not well. The news soon came out that Cooper was suffering from prostate cancer. He died one month later on May 13, 1961, leaving behind a collection of great films that would be the envy of any actor.
What is your favorite Gary Cooper movie? Leave your two cents in the comments.