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Category: Roots Music Safari

“Pop” Music then and now – 1964 – 2014 – Diversity vs. Sameness???

callison2So I’ve written before that 1964 was a big year for me, at the age of 13 I visited the World’s Fair in New York, when it was still a big thing, saw Johnny Callison of the Phillies hit the game winning home run in the All Star game – live!  I also attended my one and only World Series game, where I saw “Uncle”  Barney, my mother’s first cousin throw a knuckler to Mickey Mantle which he planted in the right field stands to set the all-time record for most homers in World Series play!! So when I started thinking about the changes in music through the years, I figured that was a good place to start!! In 1964, Rock and Roll was about 10 years old and going full-bore. From Rolling Stone….. read more

A Morning Song Playlist for a Lazy Saturday Morning!!

Misty-03-10-11-_0018I was thinking last night about things that I used to really like about listening to the radio, one of them was when the DJ would could a playlist with a central theme. Sometimes it would be a little hard to recognize but it was still fun.

This morning I woke up thinking, let’s make a morning song playlist….. The first song that popped into my head was “Get out of Bed” by Livingston Taylor. I bet that everyone thought about that one didn’t they!! Next came “I Woke Up this Morning” from Ten Years After. Followed by Joni Mitchell‘s “Morning Morgantown”  Then I thought, what about that song “one misty moisty morning” who sang that?? Spotify saved me and I found the Steeleye Span version that I was looking for! While I was searching for Steeleye Span, I came across Cat Steven’s “Morning Has Broken” why did I not think of the song we used as the recessional at our wedding? read more

This Date in Music -Nov 14, 1977 – Derek Gripper is born and the Safari discovers the Music of Mali!!

Originally Posted Nov 15, 12013

Last night the tiredness of the last now three days of work caught up with me and I was unable to complete this post …….

So tonight I was reviewing the list of jazz musician birthdays on November 14th and a name that caught my attention was guitarist Derek Gripper, who was born on today’s date in 1977. I read in his biography at All About Jazz that….

Derek Gripper is a composer and guitarist from the Western Cape of South Africa, merging “the imagery and mystery of the rural areas of the Cape” with the techniques of classical guitar and the string music of Africa (uhadi bow, umrhubhe, kora, guitar). Derek calls this new evolution of music New Cape describing it as a “rethinking of the Cape’s transcultural heritage.” read more

This Date in Music November 13, 1946 – Ray Wylie Hubbard was born!

Ray Wylie 4On this date in 1946 on of my favorite Texas Music artist/Americana Artist Ray Wylie Hubbard was born. Now like Booker T  and :”Green Onions” in my music world Ray Wylie is usually associated with one song….. “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother”! A song that Jerry Jeff Walker made semi-famous on his album Viva Terlingua! Here’s a little information about Ray from his biography at All Music…

A leading figure of the progressive country movement of the 1970s, singer/songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard remains best known for authoring the perennial anthem “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother.” Born November 13, 1946, in Soper, Oklahoma, Hubbard and his family relocated to Dallas during the mid-’50s; there he learned to play guitar, eventually forming a folk group with fellow aspiring musician Michael Martin Murphey. Befriended by the likes of Jerry Jeff Walker and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Hubbard later formed a trio named Three Faces West, which regularly performed at the Outpost lub in Red River, New Mexico, a musical hotbed also trafficked by artists including Steve lb and Bill & Bonnie Hearne. Upon the breakup of Three Faces West, Hubbard toured the southwestern coffeehouse circuit as a solo act before forming another group, Texas Fever; they too proved short-lived, and he returned to New Mexico to again take up residence at the Outpost. Read More read more

John Gorka, and thoughts about the first song I ever heard from an artist…..

Sometime in the early 90s I picked up the CD Legacy: A Collection of New Folk Music.  Through that album, I was introduced to two WH_Legacyfolksingers who became favorites from that album on, John Gorka and Bill Morrissey. I was thinking about the album and John Gorka,  because I was listening for the first time to Stu Larson and his album Vagabond, about which you will be reading soon. Anyway, my thoughts revolved around the first songs I ever heard by artists.

I know that the first Elton John song I heard was “Your Song” because I can still hear the DJ on WMMR saying now here is a song from this new artist from England Elton John! The Beatles was of course “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, “Light My Fire” The Doors. If I rack my brain I can probably come up with a lot more, but back to Morrissey and Gorka.  The Bill Morrissey song on Legacy was “Handsome Molly” and it’s still a favorite. The John Gorka song on the album was”I Saw a Stranger with Your Hair” it too,  became a favorite, as have many of his other songs! read more

Exploring Birthdays on October 14th leads to Jazz Guitarist Garrison Fewell and Blues Artist Chris Thomas King!

Garrison Fewell2

Over the last several years that I have written this  blog, I have used the lists of birthdays that I have found at several sites as a source to find new music. What I do is read down the lists, find names of musicians that I don’t know then go to Spotify listen and if I like the music I go and read more about the artist,  then I write about them. Here is a post I wrote last year on October 14th, when I discovered Garrison Fewell, and Chris Thomas King…….

This morning I was thinking about how reviewing the birthdays everyday has given me another avenue for discovering new artists Over the last week, I have discovered Terry Gibbs, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Dave Robinson and Mark Whitfield to name a few, which to me is pretty cool! With that being said, it seems that a review of today;’s birthday’s has yielded possibly two more artist and if additional listening confirms what I heard this morning that possible will turn into a definite!! read more

Can Your Playlist Make You Happier? Let’s Test It!!

Your Playlist Can Change Your LifeSo I finally got around to making an appointment for my yearly physical and blood work, I’m only about 5 months behind. So far everything is good EKG was fine as was my blood pressure 110/64 with a resting pulse of 56! The blood work results should come back early next week so we’ll see then about cholesterol, etc.

Anyway, yesterday I went to the library and picked up two books (actually  picked up four but two fit this blog)  first Your Playlist Can Change Your Life and second 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart by Neal D. Bernard MD.  I have read the first book, but want to look at again and try to put some of the exercises and thoughts into practice. I thought that the second book may have some thoughts and recipes that may go with the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart program which will start the first of October. I originally went to the library looking for Superfoods for the Brain but I didn’t see it. read more

Exploring the Jazz Piano of Jaki Byard – One Two Five…..

So yesterday I had some office work to do, typing the soil logs for the test pits that were excavated on Thursday. Since I need to One Two Fivestay focused while I complete the logs, the soundtrack for the morning became jazz. There are two jazz albums on the iPhone that I’ve been listening to over the last few weeks, so they became the soundtrack! The first was an album titled One, Two Five from Jaki Byard and the second Why? from former rock drummer Ginger Baker.

The current release from Jaki Byard is titled The Late Show at it’s currently No 36 on the JazzWeek Chart. (August 25, 2014)  Since I never have heard of Jaki Byard I first went to Spotify to have a listen. Typically, after listening I then go and read about the artist. The Late Show was not at Spotify the latest album that was there was an album titled One Two Five (2014).That album went on the iPhone and what I found was some really fine and interesting solo piano. This morning I went to Wikipedia and then several other sites and this is what I found out about Jaki Byard…… (once again I prove that I have a LOT to learn about jazz) Jaki Byard in his brief biography at Amazon is described as  ” Art Tatum, Earl Hines, Bud Powell, Ran Blake, Cecil Taylor and Bill Evans, all in one”. From Wikipedia….. read more

New Music from Two Master Musicians – Leon Russell and Ian Anderson!!

Leon Russell and Ian Anderson major stars in the 1970s, both released new albums this month! Boy it doesn’t seem possible that it’s been 44 years since I bought Benefit my first Jethro Tull album. Equally implausible, is  that it’s been 43 years, since Leon Russell and the Shelter People spun for its first time on my turntable.

Leon Russell’s Life Journey

Russell’s new album is titled Life Journey about which Life JourneyRussell says “This is a record of my musical journey through this life,” He writes in the liner notes: “It reflects pieces of things that I have done and things I never did.” read more