Tag: Hurricane

A Tribute to Greg Trooper

Greg Trooper

Greg Trooper passed away on January 15, 2017 at the age of 61.  Although he had been dealing with pancreatic cancer for some time, the singer-songwriter lived up to his last name, performing shows up until the end.

Chimesfreedom is a big fan of Trooper’s work, and we posted about his songs in the past.  The recent sad news reminds us both how much we will miss Trooper and how much we enjoy his songs.

If you are unfamiliar with Trooper’s work, you cannot go wrong with any of his albums.  He can break your heart with a love song, haunt you with a tale of murder, and give you new perspectives.  With just a voice and a guitar, he created magic.  Yet, he never received the acclaim and popularity he deserved.

Trooper, who was born on January 13 in 1956, brought a unique view, humor, and intelligence to his songs.  He could make you laugh or cry, having earned his diverse take on the world. Trooper was born in New Jersey, but he later lived in Austin, New York City, Kansas, and Nashville before ending up in Brooklyn.

Rolling Stone‘s headline on its article about Trooper’s passing stressed Trooper’s work writing songs for artists like Vince Gill.  But Trooper had a warm wonderful voice that made you think this was a guy you’d like to know (and by reports of those who knew him, he was a great guy to know).

Steve Earle once said he “coveted” Trooper’s voice. Trooper also could do a great cover, and he created one of my favorite Bob Dylan covers with “I’ll Keep It With Mine” off of his Popular Demons (1998) album.  And he gave that voice to many characters throughout his own songs.

I first fell in love with Trooper’s work in 2001 when he released Straight Down Rain, although I would later go back and discover his earlier albums. He had me as a life-long fan the first time I heard “Sometimes It Takes a Hurricane,” a plea for social justice. “Sometime it takes no more than a drop of water/ Sometimes it takes a hurricane.”

Perhaps Trooper never received broader fame because he does not fit squarely into one genre.  Some describe him as a singer-songwriter, some as a country singer, and some as a folk singer with a touch of Memphis soul.  Others place him in the realm of Americana or alt-country.

The title song from his next album, Floating (2003), comes from the folk tradition of ageless murder ballads. It is a beautiful song that will haunt you long after you hear the final lines.  In some ways, it was courageous for Trooper to sing an unusual song like this one.

Floating also contained one of Trooper’s most touching love songs that showed his love of Irish music, “Inisheer.” He named the song after one of the Aran Islands off the mainland of Ireland.

Chimesfreedom previously wrote about “Muhammad Ali (The Meaning of Christmas).” But it is worth posting again here as one of Trooper’s most beautiful songs. Other admirers of the wonderful song include Steve Earle (who covered Trooper’s song “Little Sister” for the U.K. B-side of Earle’s “Copperhead Road” single).

“I am the greatest,”
he said with a grin;
But he was talking about you,
Not about him;
And was teaching me
The meaning of Christmas.

On “This I’d Do,” a song from Trooper’s 2005 album Make It Through This World, Trooper wrote a song where a lover makes promises. In doing so, he took a typical love-song scenario and made it seem both touching and new.

Finally, Trooper shows his sense of humor and love of Irish music with “Mary Of The Scots In Queens.” The song appeared on his final album of original songs, Incident on Willow Street (2013). It also features one of the funniest music videos you will see anywhere.

Those are a sampling of some of my favorite Greg Trooper songs.  Again, you cannot go wrong with any of Trooper’s albums.  But if one were looking for a place to start, one place would be his outstanding 2015 live album, Live at the Rock Room.

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family, including his wife Claire Mullally, who often sang with him.  Trooper will be greatly missed by his fans, who included Billy Bragg, Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Ray Wylie Hubbard, John Fullbright, Allison Moorer, and me. But we will keep enjoying the music. RIP Mr. Trooper.

What are your favorite Greg Trooper songs? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    10 Best True-Life Sports Movies

    top 10 sports
    WatchMojo recently put together a list of the 10 best biopics, considering sports movies based on real-life people and teams. The list, which does not include documentaries, puts together a decent list that is a good start for prompting a discussion.

    There are some good choices on the list, even including some nice surprises like Hurricane (1999), Chariots of Fire (1981), Remember the Titans (2000), 42 (2013), and Cinderella Man (2005). I doubt everyone will agree with the complete list, but everyone will agree with some of the films. Check it out.

    It is difficult to argue with WatchMojo’s number one pick. But no Miracle (2004), Eight Men Out (1988), Brian’s Song (1971), Rudy (1993), Pride of the Yankees (1942), or We Are Marshall (2006)?

    What sports biopics would you add to the list? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Ruben “Hurricane” Carter “in a Land Where Justice Is a Game”

    The arrest and conviction of former boxer Ruben “Hurricane” Carter inspired one of Bob Dylan’s great protest songs and an award-winning performance by Denzel Washington.

    Hurricane Ruben “Hurricane” Carter, who had been suffering from prostate cancer,  passed away on April 20, 2014 at the age of 76. Carter, who was born on May 6, 1937 in New Jersey, was a former boxer who was accused of murder in 1966.

    Carter spent 19 years in prison in New Jersey before a court reversed his conviction in 1985 and set him free.  His story inspired a great Bob Dylan song and a movie starring Denzel Washington.  While both the song and the movie took some liberties with Carter’s story, they both captured truths about the criminal justice system.

    Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane”

    Carter’s case became a rallying cry for the Civil Rights Movement.  Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy wrote a song about the wrongful conviction.  And then Dylan released “Hurricane” as a single in November 1975.

    Dylan played what many fans consider his last great protest song during almost every performance of the 1975 Rolling Thunder tour. “Hurricane” went on to become a top 40 hit, despite its length and level of detail in telling a story.

    Denzel Washington’s Hurricane

    Ruben Carter’s life appeared in a major film too.  In 1999, Denzel Washington portrayed Carter in the movie Hurricane, which was directed by Norman Jewison.

    Washington gave a wonderful performance as Carter, winning a Golden Globe and earning a nomination for the Best Actor Academy Award.  In this scene near the end of the film, Denzel Washington as Carter makes a final plea to the court.

    The Real Story

    The movie and the song took some dramatic license with the facts of Carter’s life. For example, many noted that Dylan’s song overstated Carter’s ranking in the boxing world (“He could-a been/ The champion of the world”).

    Further, some critics argue that the song and movie made Carter too much of a saint and martyr.  Even Carter revealed a more complex story in his own autobiography written in prison, The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472, and later in a 2011 autobiography, Eye of the Hurricane: My Path from Darkness to Freedom.

    Ultimately, the federal judge who reversed Carter’s conviction noted the unjust role of race in the case. And, like all folk songs, the message of Dylan’s song became important on its own.  Although the singer tells a story about one man, the song told the truth about wider problems in the criminal justice system.

    After getting out of prison, Carter devoted his life to helping people in prison who were wrongfully convicted. From 1993 until 2005, he worked as Executive Director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, and he founded a nonprofit organization, Innocence International. RIP.

    Photo of Carter in 1958 via public domain.

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    Hurricane Sandy Concert Ends With Springsteen’s Hope

    Springsteen Sandy Telethon When I heard that several stars like Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Christina Aguilera and Sting were going to appear last Friday on a one-hour “Coming Together” TV concert on NBC, I could not help thinking of the similar benefit that had aired on the four major broadcast networks September 21, 2001 after the 9/11 attacks. There were similarities to that benefit because both marked sad times with performances by many of the same artists in a darkened studio. There were some differences this time, though, such as the fact that the Fox network tried to stir up some controversy about NBC’s Sandy fundraiser.

    Also, on Friday’s show, some of the performers were able to touch on some hopeful notes while still acknowledging the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. For example, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Tyler remembered better times and looked to the rebuilding when they sang “Under the Boardwalk,” accompanied by some of the other artists.

    As the show went on, I tried to anticipate what Bruce Springsteen might sing. After reasoning that “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” probably would not fit with the night’s theme, I had suspected that Bruce Springsteen might perform the somber “My City of Ruins,” which he wrote about Asbury Park and which he performed after 9/11 and had performed at another show in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

    Instead, though, when Springsteen and the E Street Band took the stage for the final song, they reached into their catalog for one of Springsteen’s more hopeful songs, “Land of Hope and Dreams.”

    For an explanation of the legacy, history and optimism of “Land of Hope and Dreams,” check out our previous Chimesfreedom post on the song, including how the song connects to Springsteen’s ending reference here to “People Get Ready.”

    Finally, remember that organizations still need your help even after Hurricane Sandy is no longer on the front pages. Visit Red Cross’s website or some of the other organizations offering help to volunteer or donate. Or text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10.00 to help those hit by the hurricane.

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    Shelter from the Storm

    Tree after Hurricane Sandy In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, there is going to be a lot of cleaning up in the following days. There are some trees down in Queens NY, like the one above, but other areas were hit much worse. The damage has spread all the way from the New Jersey coast to Ohio and beyond, causing problems and leaving people without power in a number of states. In the words of Bob Dylan, as performed by Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, we hope you found shelter from the storm.

    For more images of the storm, check out Slate’s collection of Sandy videos.

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