The READIN Family Album
Me and Sylvia, walkin' down the line (May 2005)

READIN

Jeremy's journal

So man became, by way of his passage through the cave, the dreaming animal.

Hans Blumenberg


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Monday, May 11th, 2009

🦋 Monday Random 10 (plus Unfunkked 10)

Haven't done one of these posts for a while; I was inspired to by cleek.

  1. "The Brave Engineer", The Carver Boys. About as Appalachian a song as I can imagine.
  2. "How You Want It Done", Big Bill Broonzy. Really nice, strange-sounding guitar, I think it's a National?
  3. "Mo Jo Hanna", Tami Lynn. (from an Apo mix.) -- This song ought to be on a mix tape right in front of "Polk Salad Annie".
  4. "Yah! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread", Dylan and the Band. The comic book and me, just us, we caught the bus. A good candidate for favorite Basement Tapes track.
  5. "Ozan Kouklé", Lafayette Afro Band. More Unfunkkedage.
  6. "Doin' My Time", Flatt & Scruggs.
  7. "The Wonderful City", Jimmy Rodgers. Cool, this mix is really drawing pretty deep on the breadth and depth of my music collection. (And wow, not even one Robyn Hitchcock track so far!)
  8. "Honky Tonkin", Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
  9. "Original Midnight Mama", Sylvia Smith.
  10. "Avalon Blues", MS John Hurt.
  11. Bonus track, "Pablo" by Sol Ho'opi'i and his Novelty Quartet.
Lots of Apostrophic tracks in this selection; and I would be remiss if I did not mention that he has published another mix tape, Unfunkked X: Stretch -- a FB friend asks whether the image is a still from the live-action movie of "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers". Looks like a good mix; but I haven't been listening to it because I'm listening to another recommendation from Apo. Ain't no sunshine.

posted evening of May 11th, 2009: Respond
➳ More posts about random tunes

Friday, January 6th, 2012

🦋 Notify my next of kin


Found (with some help from Mr. Huddell and Mr. Berman) some fantastic versions of two songs from The Basement Tapes.
  • Joan Baez, "You Ain't Goin Nowhere"
  • The Byrds, "You Ain't Goin Nowhere"
  • The Byrds, "This Wheel's on Fire"
  • Dylan and the Band, "This Wheel's on Fire"
  • Dylan and the Band, "You Ain't Goin Nowhere"
  • The Rave-Ups, "You Ain't Goin Nowhere"
  • Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3, "Olé Tarantula"
  • Robyn Hitchcock, "You Ain't Goin Nowhere"
  • Julie Driscoll, "This Wheel's on Fire"
  • Julie Driscoll, "The Season of the Witch"
I compiled a video playlist of most of these songs on YouTube -- particularly recommend checking out the almost hallucinatory quality of the two The Byrds versions and the really striking fan video for the Rave-Ups' version. And the Venus 3 number, while it strays a bit from the theme of the playlist, fits in quite nicely and fits into a broader playlist theme of "Songs I would wish to cover". (Plus some bonus tracks added, if you listen to the end...)

posted evening of January 6th, 2012: Respond
➳ More posts about The Basement Tapes

Saturday, January 14th, 2012

🦋 Rag Mama Rag -- Kweskin, Muldaur, Helm

Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band is the group that got me listening to old-time music. Not the first old-time I listened to, certainly; but when I heard Maria d'Amato (who would marry the group's banjo player and become one of the great popular music voices of the 60's and 70's as Maria Muldaur) sing "Richland Woman Blues" -- this was in the late 90's sometime, after I had come home from a Christmas visit to my parents with a cassette dub of two records, Jug Band Music and See Reverse Side for Title -- was a signal moment for me, it was when I knew what kind of music I wanted to play, what I wanted to sound like.

It was fun to happen on that Wyos cover of "Rag Mama Rag" last night -- that was one of the first songs I learned to play when I was taking lessons in finger-style guitar from Eric Frandsen. I've added a couple of tracks to the end of my You Ain't Goin Nowhere playlist, ending up with The Band's song "Rag Mama Rag". And re. The Band, exciting news! Ellen and I are going to see Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble at the Wellmont Theater on Friday the 10th.

Update: Midnight Ramble show in Montclair is postponed until April.

posted morning of January 14th, 2012: 1 response
➳ More posts about Music

Sunday, April 15th, 2012

🦋 Rehearsing...

Hm, looks like me and John should start coming up with a set list... On my 42nd birthday, Friday the 18th, we'll be featured artists at Michael's Songwriter's Circle, at Tapastry in Montclair. Today's practice session had a couple of great new and old tunes in it...

  1. Get up high, and come down easy
  2. The Sailor's Hornpipe
  3. Suicide is painless ("Here's the tune M*A*S*H stole from Johnny Mandel, we're stealing it back!" shouts the guitarist)
  4. The Swallowtail Jig
  5. The Galway Girl
  6. Danko/Manuel
  7. Coulter Hue
  8. Long Black Veil
  9. Commuter Rail
  10. Bonaparte's Retreat
  11. (an abortive) See Emily Play
  12. East Tennessee Blues
  13. The L&N don't stop here anymore
  14. Carrie Brown
Let's listen to the Drive-By Truckers singing "Danko/Manuel".
Tapes of some of our rehearsal tunes will be forthcoming... Some of these came out really nicely!

Update: Here ya go! Now with download enabled.

posted afternoon of April 15th, 2012: 1 response
➳ More posts about Mountain Station

Thursday, April 19th, 2012

🦋 Danko/Manuel/Helm

Rest in peace, Levon.

posted evening of April 19th, 2012: Respond
➳ More posts about Obituaries

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