DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS

Paul Simon set the standard for a New American Songbook. Reviewing these selections one is struck by the elegance of his melodies - on a par with that other Paul from Liverpool, but with a lyrical sophistication to rival America’s Nobel Laureate poet, Bob Dylan. “America”, as performed here by David Bowie, presents a barren landscape, - mirroring the mundane with the spiritual - to rival the literary prowess of a Hemingway; and the classically inspired “American Tune,” as interpreted by the wizard of New Orleans, Allen Toussaint, quietly goes to the heart of our nation’s ambivalence. I can’t contain my tears whenever I hear it. 

Simon and Garfunkel were known as a unified entity. It took awhile for Paul to extricate himself from his childhood performing partner, Artie. Garfunkel, with his singular, choir-boy voice, needed Simon to provide the words for his divine instrument.  But Simon didn’t need Garfunkel, and if Artie’s acting ambitions hadn’t interfered with Paul’s musical ones, Simon might never have had the confidence to go it alone. Lucky for us it turned out the way it did. Because, since going solo, Simon has amassed a body of work that defines America’s last half century. 

1. Ray Charles: Still Crazy After All These Years
2. David Bowie: America
3. Justin Townes Earle: Graceland
4. Them: Richard Cory
5. Wailin’ Jennys: Loves me Like a Rock
6. Everything but the Girl: The Only Living Boy in New York
7. Annie Lennox: Something So Right
8. The Blue Airplanes: The Boy in the Bubble
9. Blossom Dearie: 59th St. Bridge Song 
10. Allen Toussaint: American Tune 

The “talk talk” continues wherein Rich and Bill “rage against the dying of the light,” to honor our past and opine on the socio-political conditions of the present.  

It was a great reunion at the Hotel Bohemia. Bill and Rich got so engrossed in a variety of topics that we left the recorder running - and, as a result we'll be offering these conversational riches in two parts:

Part one balances the outrages of today against the comic geniuses of yesteryear, along with ruminations about pet relationships, being at Woodstock, and the formative influences of our lives.

Part two will focus on recent additions to the population of the Hotel, namely Country Joe McDonald and John Hammond, Jr. 

Neil Young’s otherworldly ability to morph between raging metalhead to the most sentimental of romantics never fails to astound. Always uncompromising, this cranky Canadian has been inflexible in his stance to be unencumbered - and, prolific - recording over 45 solo albums, not to mention those classics created with Buffalo Springfield and CSN&Y. Surviving polio as a child, and a brain aneurysm in middle age, he kept coming back stronger than ever.  

I’ve seen him live twice: at the Greek Theater during the Greendale tour, then again a couple of years back when my son and I flew to Tucson to celebrate the slower, less blazing, but still mesmerizing octogenarian troubadour. His music has been a touchstone throughout my life, starting with the iconic Reprise album “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” which contained Down by the River - a dorm room sing along. 

His vast catalogue makes it difficult to pick only ten covers, but the range here is evident, swinging from Pearl Jam’s live version of Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World to Emmylou Harris’s wistful floatation on Daniel Lanois’s diaphanous Wrecking Ball. Neil’s own vocal style is so distinctive that it’s tempting to disregard how beautiful some of his melodies are. I think you’ll find that this line up does them justice.

HEART OF GOLD (JOHNNY CASH)

MR. SOUL (THE EVERLY BROTHERS)

ON THE BEACH (BOZ SCAGGS)

KEEP ON ROCKING IN THE FREE WORLD (PEARL JAM)

A MAN NEEDS A MAID (DALA)

BIRDS (THE METERS)

LOTTA LOVE (NICOLETTE LARSON)

WRECKING BALL (EMMYLOU HARRIS)

BROKEN ARROW (WILCO)

HELPLESS (NICK CAVE)

Back in the Tin Pan Alley (and Brill Building) days there were song-pluggers, and there were vocalists, and never the twain met, but this symbiotic relationship formed the successful division of labor for the great American capitalist record business. Whether they be based in NY, LA, or Nashville successful songwriters rarely had hits recording their own material. Hard to believe that it took Willie Nelson so many years to be recognized as his own best interpreter. Of course, that now seems ludicrous, given Willie’s status as “national treasure”.  Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and the like had their go-to writers and arrangers, Phil Spector, Don Kirschner and others kept their stable of regular creatives like Carole King and Gerry Goffin in little cubicles laboring to churn out dozens of standards weekly for their employer’s contracted recording artists.  But, just like any actor worth his salt in Hollywood will tell you: “without good writing, you ain’t got shit”

Two of Country Music’s most covered songwriters are being honored here today, singing for you in their own voices: Guy Clark, doing “That Old Time Feeling”, and Harlan Howard performing “Heartaches by the Number.” These are craftsmen, whose practical, raw boned approach to their art yielded glittering treasures. 

HARLAND HOWARD (1927-2002)

Harland Howard wrote over 4000 songs, 100 of which made the top ten Country charts. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters and Country Music Halls of Fame. There are tribute albums of his songs by Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings and Wille Nelson. He wrote I Fall to Pieces for Patsy Cline, Busted, made famous by Ray Charles, and the monster hit - I got a Tiger by the Tail for Buck Owens. 

Here he is singing Heartaches by the Number, which a cursory dip into YouTube reveals covers by Ray Price, Dwight Yoakam, Guy Mitchell, Leon Russell, Paul Carrack and Kitty Wells, among others. There are no frills here, but I contend that hearing the voice of the man who created the song is a more personal experience, like someone reading you their diary.

GUY CLARK (1941-2016)

The ultimate example of an unsung (pun intended) man of influence is “Old No. 1,” the luthier’s luthier, Guy Clark. His Texas home-workshop was the Austin epicenter of the Outlaw Country Movement that transformed Country Music. Watch the scene from the documentary Heartworn HIghway with Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell sitting around Guy’s kitchen table, trading songs. Townes Van Zandt may have been the most elusive doomed romantic poet of that group, but it was Guy they studied with and trusted - the one they could depend on, the Zen Master of song.

And, what songs! They are like short stories, full of vivid characters, evocative dialogue, and carefully observed detail. Songs like Desperadoes Waiting for a Train, L.A. Freeway, My Favorite Picture of You (for his late wife Susanna - the magnetic beauty patiently putting up with the Outlaw’s shenanigans). Today, he favors us with That Old Time Feeling, a tune that insinuates itself into your consciousness through a stream of unforgettable images. 

THE BILLY STEWART DISCOGRAPHY
 
 Singles:

• Chess 1625: "Billy's Blues" / "Billy's Blues"
• Argo 5256: "Billy's Blues" / "Billy's Blues"
• Okeh 4-7095: "Baby, You're My Only Love" / "Billy's Heartache" (1957 with Bo Diddley, backed by The "Marquees")
• Chess 1820: "Reap What You Sow" / "Fat Boy" (1962) – No. 18 R&B, No. 79 pop
• Chess 1835: "True Fine Lovin'" / "Wedding Bells" (1962)
• Chess 1852: "Scramble" / "Oh My, What Can the Matter Be" (1963)
• Chess 1868: "Strange Feeling" / "Sugar and Spice" (1963) – No. 25 R&B, No. 70 pop
• Chess 1888: "A Fat Boy Can Cry" / "Count Me Out" (1964)
• Chess 1905: "Tell It Like It Is" / "My Sweet Senorita" (1964)
• Chess 1922: "I Do Love You" / "Keep Loving" (1965) – No. 6 R&B, No. 26 pop
• Chess 1932: "Sitting in the Park" / "Once Again" (1965) – No. 4 R&B, No. 24 pop
• Chess 1941: "How Nice It Is" / "No Girl" (1965)
• Chess 1948: "Because I Love You" / "Mountain of Love" (1965)
• Chess 1960: "Love Me" / "Why Am I Lonely" (1966) – No. 38 R&B
• Chess 1966: "Summertime" / "To Love, to Love" (1966) – No. 7 R&B, #10 pop
• Chess 1978: "Secret Love" / "Look Back and Smile" (1967) – No. 11 R&B, No. 29 pop
• Chess 1991: "Every Day I Have the Blues" / "Ol' Man River" (1967) – No. 41 R&B, No. 79 pop
• Chess 2002: "Cross My Heart" / "Why (Do I Love You So)?" (1968) – No. 34 R&B, No. 86 pop / No. 49 R&B
• Chess 2053: "Tell Me the Truth" / "What Have I Done?" (1968) – No. 48 R&B
• Chess 2063: "I'm In Love" / "Crazy 'Bout You, Baby" (1969)
• Chess 2080: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" / "We'll Always Be Together" (1969)

 Albums:

• Chess 1496: I Do Love You (1965) (Billboard No. 97)
• Chess 1499: Unbelievable (1966) (Billboard No. 138)
• Chess 1513: Billy Stewart Teaches Old Standards New Tricks (1967)
• Chess 1540: Cross My Heart (1969)
• Chess 1547: Remembered (1970)
• Sugar Hill/Chess CH-8401: The Greatest Sides (1982)

https://www.johncoltrane.com/

John Coltrane departed this mortal plane more than fifty years ago; today he remains among us, more alive than ever. His sound continues to grab the ears of an ever-widening circle of fans. His legend is stone solid: planted firmly in our culture as that of any 20th century musical giant. His saxophone sound—brooding, searching, dark—is still one of the most recognizable in modern jazz. His influence stretches over styles and genres, and transcends cultural boundaries. The modern ideal of music serving a deeply spiritual, connective purpose? A defining facet of John Coltrane.

To Coltrane, a musician was a message-giver; making music was an endeavor tied to a larger, greater good. “I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music,” Coltrane wrote in 1964 in a letter to his listeners, telling of a prayer to God. In 1966, less than a year before his death, he stated:

“I know that there are bad forces, forces that bring suffering to others and misery to the world. I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good.”

Jazz journalist Nat Hentoff, who interviewed and championed Coltrane, praised him more soberly. “By the time A Love Supreme hit, Trane struck such a spiritual chord in so many listeners that people started to think of him as being beyond human. I think that’s unfair. He was just a human being like you and me -- but he was willing to practice more, to do all the things that somebody has to do to excel. The real value in what John Coltrane did was that what he accomplished, he did as a human.”

David Bowie, aka David Jones, aka Ziggy Stardust, aka Aladdin Sane, aka The Thin White Duke, aka The Man Who Fell to Earth had a vision of a future where everybody would be androgynous. Maybe the trans movement of today found its initial voice with him back in the ‘70s, when he proclaimed “make way for the homo superior.” Like so many others at the time, I glimpsed this insight that proposed expanding beyond the narrow labels to which I had been assigned. 

Like an annunciating alien, David Bowie descended upon the earth to spread his message of an evolving species by employing his celestial musicianship and ethereal beauty. His music inspired others, as we will see from the following playlist, as did this ideal that combined rock and roll with science fiction and glamour. 

Remaining faithful to the promise of his beatific vision, before he died Bowie prepared a final statement to be delivered posthumously: “Lazarus” in which he greeted us from the cosmos: “Look, I’m in heaven…” Even in death he remained eternally loving, and ever hopeful for our advancement.

All the Young Dudes (Mott the Hoople)

The Man Who Sold the World (Nirvana) / The Man Who Sold The World, 1970

Life on Mars (Seu Jorges) / Hunky Dory, 1971

Space Oddity (Brandi Carlisle) / David Bowie, 1969

Rebel Rebel (Rickie Lee Jones) / Diamond Dogs, 1974

Andy Warhol (Stone Temple Pilots) / Hunky Dory, 1971

5 Years (Cowboy Junkies) / The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, 1972

Heroes (Peter Gabriel) / Heroes, 1977

Under Pressure (Karen O and Willie Nelson) / Hot Space (w/ Queen), 1981

Ziggy Stardust (Bauhaus) / The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, 1972

What is a cover song? 

It’s an act of devotion, an organic transmission from the essence of one soul into and through another. And, sometimes, by way of the revelations of time and lived experience, one might even surpass the original. 

Prior to the era of electronic recording, no one “owned” their songs; they were passed on from generation to generation, and neighbor to neighbor - shared and mutating like the living organisms they were. We still retain an instinct to study art through imitation, but if the original exists, why bother? Because we are inspired - (meaning our beings are filled with the breath of their genius) - and we want to capture, and share a bit of that magic. 

The Splendid Bohemians are proud to present a new series called “Cover Art - The Splendor of the Cover Song,” in which we’ll choose a selection of great covers of artists we cherish, by other artists that we love, or want to know more about, or have been surprised by.  For our maiden voyage we chose Van Morrison - one of the most dynamic and multi-faceted songwriters of his generation.  We’ll go beyond the expected choices like “Gloria” and “Brown Eyed Girl” (two of the most covered numbers in Rock) to explore the deeper recesses of Van’s catalogue, and excavate some precious musical gems. Enjoy!

Below is the list of selections, the artists, and the source material:

WILD NIGHT / JOHN MELLENCAMP AND MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO ( From: Tupelo Honey, 1971)

BRIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD / RAUL MALO (From: Into the Music, 1979)

INTO THE MYSTIC / ALLMAN BROTHERS (From: Moondance, 1970)

THE WAY YOUNG LOVERS DO / JEFF BUCKLEY (From: Astral Weeks, 1968)

GLAD TIDINGS / MERRY CLAYTON (From: Moondance, 1970)

MOONDANCE / GREG BROWN (From: Moondance, 1970)

 SLIM SLO SLIDER / JOHNNY RIVERS (From: Astral Weeks, 1968)

MADAME GEORGE / MARIANNE FAITHFUL (From: Astral Weeks, 1968)

FULL FORCE GALE / ELVIS COSTELLO (From: Into the Music, 1979)

BRAND NEW DAY / ESTHER PHILLIPS WITH THE DIXIE FLYERS (From: Moondance, 1970)

"Palisades Park" (from Wikipedia)

Chuck Barris wrote a song about an amusement park and it was suggested he use the name of an amusement park as the title. One night he was in Manhattan when he looked toward the New Jersey Palisades Cliffs, on which the amusement park sat. That was when inspiration hit and the title was added. Years later the Palisades Amusement Park closed, on September 12, 1971.[2] A tribute to New Jersey's Palisades Amusement Park, it is an up-tempo rock and roll tune led by a distinctive organ part. The track also incorporates amusement park sound effects, including the sounds of screaming riders on the roller coasters, and the quoting of a slower version of "Entrance of the Gladiators", played on an organ imitating a hurdy-gurdy or calliope. In the song, the singer takes a walk after dark and discovers Palisades Park, where he meets and falls in love with a girl. Among the list of rides and attractions listed in the song are: Shoot the Chute, Rocket Ship, Roller Coaster, Loop the Loop, Merry Go Round, Tunnel of Love, and the Ferris Wheel.

 Chart performance

Released by Swan Records as a B-side to "June, July and August," "Palisades Park" broke in when a Flint, Michigan radio DJ played it by mistake. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 23–30 June 1962,[3] On the Hot R&B Sides chart, the song went to #15.[4] "Palisades Park" was the biggest hit of Cannon's career.[5]

And, check out Freddy Cannon's webpage:

https://www.freddycannon.com/default.htm