Pophistory: music, movies, history, and life.
Check out Jackson Browne covering a Tom Petty classic.
Jackson Browne recently covered Tom Petty’s classic song “The Waiting.” Browne, who last year had COVID-19, shows that he still has his great voice.
Browne recorded “The Waiting” as part of a webcast on October 23, 2020 to celebrate Tom Petty’s 70th birthday. Check it out.
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Listen to a live performance by Hank Williams from July 1952 in Pennsylvania.
I have been listening to the recent six-CD release of Hank Williams performances from The Mother’s Best radio shows as well as reading a biography. So, I cannot get enough Hank. There are not a lot of live performance recordings so I was happy to find this gem.
Below is the audio from Hank Williams performing on July 13, 1952 at Sunset Park in West Grove Pennsylvania. In less than six months, the great singer-songwriter, who was born on September 17, 1923, would be dead on January 1, 1953.
By the time of the 1952 performance, alcohol and heart problems were already haunting Williams, nipping at his heels. But his legendary talent was still on full display. So check out this live performance.
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What better way to say goodbye to 2020 than with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performing “I’ll See You In My Dreams”?
As we say goodbye to 2020, which has been full of struggles, everyone will have their own way of ringing in the new year. We have lost so many people to the pandemic. But while collectively there has been so much loss and heartache, life moves on with births, marriages, and other events that have given joys too.
What better way to end the unusual year than with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s performance of “I’ll See You In My Dreams.” The song, from one of the best albums of the year, Letter to You, is a fitting coda to the year.
I’ll see you in my dreams,
When all the summers have come to an end;
I’ll see you in my dreams,
We’ll meet and live and love again;
I’ll see you in my dreams,
Yeah, up around the river bend,
For death is not the end,
And I’ll see you in my dreams.
Springsteen made a statement with his choice of songs for the show. The album Letter to You features many rousing songs, new and old. Yet, Springsteen did not choose the title song about his connection with fans. He did not choose other songs that can be interpreted as referencing our current national leadership. He did not choose songs from the 1970s that he finally released officially on this album. No, with the year and pandemic on his mind, he chose the two songs most about loss and remembering lost friends and family: “Ghosts” and “I’ll See You In My Dreams.”
Saturday Night Live performances are somewhat notorious for not having the best sound. But the rough-around-the edges performance of the E Street Band, which has not been able to perform live this year, makes this version of “I’ll See You In My Dreams” even more endearing.
Bruce’s ragged vocal chords, the lyrics of loss, and the absence of two band members who chose not to travel due to Covid concerns, help make it the perfect performance for ending 2020.
Wishing you a happy and healthy new year.
Matthew Ryan plays piano for the affecting songs of hope and sorrow on “Life is Beautiful.”
Through recent troubled times, Matthew Ryan has maintained a special connection with fans by consistently releasing wonderful timely (and timeless) new music. In just the last two years he has released several EP’s of vital heartfelt music to comfort us in difficult times. Most recently, Ryan put down his electric and acoustic guitars to sit at the piano for the five tracks on the EP Life is Beautiful.
Ryan had never fully composed songs on the piano before, but the songs show his diligence and talent, as he spent his summer developing his connection to the instrument. And in October, with some help from friends, he put together the intimate recordings.
Ryan explains about the new EP on Bandcamp: “It’s been such a hard year. This for me was like finding switches that lit certain constellations at night. I can’t know how you’ll receive them. I can only hope that these songs and their wide minimalism offer to you some version of what they gave to me: A place for my anger, hope and sorrow, and an embattled but resilient faith in each other.”
Life is Beautiful features three new songs, along with instrumental versions of two of them. The songs are: “Don’t Say Goodbye Yet,” “Untitled Verses for Distance,” and “Tyrone.” The latter two songs also appear as instrumentals. The tracks are available on Ryan’s Bandcamp page for download.
Below is “Tyrone.” Ryan describes it as “a story song describing the power of music.” You may find the rhythmic sound of the piano seeping into your soul as the lyrics and Ryan’s voice take you to another place.
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Science fiction author John Scalzi and singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan release a new Christmas song for 2020 and beyond.
Days before Christmas, singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan and science fiction author John Scalzi have released a holiday gift with a free download of their new Christmas song entitled “Another Christmas (Until I Am There With You).” It is a special holiday song for this difficult year, offering hope and a reminder we need to keep looking ahead.
Scalzi explained that while dealing with an illness that was likely Covid-19, he found it difficult to work on his current novel. So, he decided to try something different in writing a Christmas song.
He continued, “I wrote words that reflected where I was in this winter season, missing family and friends and looking toward when we could all be together again. And when I was done I looked at what I wrote, and I thought ‘This kind of feels like a Matthew Ryan song.’ So I got in touch with Matthew. He took a jumble of words and made them beautiful. He didn’t have to, but he did, and I’m grateful.”
So, Scalzi concluded, “This is from both of us to all of you. It has love and hope in it. May it help you through the end of a long year, and into a better year for all.”
The song fits perfectly for this year (“I know this year is hard for you /
It feels like it’s meant to break us”), and you may find it bringing a tear or two. But it is also timeless, as we all have encountered our own individual bad years, longing for something in the past or the future.
Yet, this year, for our collective grief, “Another Christmas (Until I Am There With You)” is a wonderful holiday gift. “So have some faith it won’t be long / Until we’re once again together.”
“Another Christmas (Until I Am There With You)” is available for free download on Bandcamp until New Year’s Day 2021. I’ve already added it to my Christmas music collection, looking forward to hearing it years from now and thinking of how we made it through this year.
Happy holidays everyone.
