So for the last week or so I have been tried to start my day i.e. before I start my morning feeding of our five cats and cleaning liters boxes, etc. Welcome to my morning world! With three easy half sun salutations The half sun salutation is a perfect way to start the day or actually to relax any time during the day! You don’t need as much room, or to get on the floor for this one so it’s good for anywhere! Here are some instructions for the routine…..
So now it is time to relax unwind and get ready for sleep. For the last two weeks I have, on most mornings, done one of the days from the Yoga Journals 21 Day Yoga Challenge beginner series. Over the last forty years while never doing yoga on an everyday basis I have done it a lot. Predominately, Hatha yoga, but I also have done Iyengar yoga, and Kundalin, which I did for about a year. Usually I find that if I do yoga for a few days in a row I feel better, have a lighter step and more energy. Most times I catch myself asking why I feel so good and of course my response is you are doing yoga, duh! And then of course I stop! Why I don’t know! Anyway, over the last two weeks I am seeing the same results and while part of the wellness that I feel may be attributed to the fact that I am away from my self-inflicted stressful job I am still working around the house and feeling great!
Through the years Jerry Jeff Walker has introduced me to many great songwriters like Guy Clark,and Townes Van Zandt. Two other songwriters songs appear on the Jerry Jeff’s album Live at Gruene Hall.. First, three Chris Wall songs appear on the album “I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight”..”Trashy Women” and this one “Rodeo Wind” Can’t you just see that cowboy out in the barn saddling his horse, with his woman leaning against the frame of the barn door, as he gets ready to ride off into the sunset!
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o it looks like right now my mind is trapped in the folk revival in Greenwich Village in the 1960s with thoughts of Tom Paxton, Carolyn Hester, Mississippi John Hurt and others. This morning the first song the popped into my head was Tom Paxton’s “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound”. You know at least two or three times a week this song plays in my mind – maybe it’s the line “trying to find what I was meant to do” that does it for me! Anyway, when I search YouTube this morning for the song, this is the version that came up first, featuring Nanci Griffith and Carolyn Hester along with Tom……
So the other day when I was writing about John Sebastian, I mentioned that John played on Fred Neil’s first abum Bleeker & MacDougal. This got me thinking about Fred Neil so here is a repost of a post I did a while back. But first two things the first is on Neil’s album John played harmonica! Secondly, I also mentioned that the Lovin’ Spoonful got their name from Mississippi John Hurt’s song “Coffee Blues” So here it is:
Now back to Fred Neil…….
Ok so when I started this blog, my idea for morning music was to play something that made me happy! Kinda’ a morning pick me up that we all need! So here we go – after reading and listening to both John Sebastian and Jerry Jeff the other day, I started to think about songs that they sing that put me in a good mood! Here’s three of then, two from Jerry Jeff and one from John Sebastian – with Jerry Jeff we’ll dance in the Hill Country Rain and then ride down that road with Curly and Lil because you know – “It’s good times when they get here….” and the John Sebastian is gonna’ painted rainbows all over your blues!! Have a good day y’all!!
So what can you say about John Sebastian. He had a great run with the Lovin’ Spoonful lots of great hits like: “Do You Believe in Magic”, “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?”, “Nashville Cats” and many more. He also had a good solo career. Yet most younger people know him for one song the theme song to, “Welcome Back Kotter! “Anyway, two of my favorite John Sebastian albums are his first self-titled solo album and Cheapo-cheapo Productions Presents John Sebastian. Lots of good stuff on both albums. Some of my favorites from John B Sebastian include: “Red Eye Express”, Magical Connections”, “She’s a Lady” and “Rainbows All Over Your Blues”. My favorite track on Cheapo- Cheapo is “Younger Generation” a couple of Spoonful songs “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind” and “Nashville Cats” appear on the album. Visiting Wikipedia I see that John:
So return with me now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, the year was 1969, I was a naïve eighteen year-old and sometime during that year. probably on Gen Shay’s show on WDAS-FM this song from Jerry Jeff Walker.
So on this day in 1942 in Oneonta, NY, one Ronald Clyde Crosby, aka Jacky Jack, and more well-known as Jerry Jeff Walker was born!! Jerry Jeff’s music has been a part of the musical soundtrack of my life since the late 1960s. And his music has been with me as I walked across the campus of the University of Florida singing “High Hill Country Rain”, to rocking my children to sleep to “Mr Bojangles”, to sending my son’s best friend into hysterics over “Pissin’ in the Wind” and of course “Redneck Mother” is always just a moment away in that jukebox in my head! The first few songs on his album Navajo Rug can for some reason always pull me out of a bad mood. His music introduced me to songwriters like Guy Clark, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Bill Staines and the great Chris Wall as well as a myriad of other Texas musicians!! Ok so I could go on and on about Jerry Jeff but Jerry Jeff over the years has spread the celebration of his birthday over three days, performing concerts in Luckenbach and in Austin, so I think that it’s only fitting that I at least spread it over at least ONE day. So with that thought in mind, I will post Jerry Jeff songs throughout the day today. I can hear my wife now, oh joy! NOT!
