Music: Levon Helm - By Jim James
Here's a piece by Jim James of My Morning Jacket on the great Levon Helm. It's from Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Singers Of All Time"
Check out the whole list here.
"There is something about Levon Helm's voice that is contained in all of our voices. It is ageless, timeless and has no race. He can sing with such depth and emotion, but he can also convey a good-old fun-time growl.
Since Papa Garth Hudson didn't really sing, I always felt that, vocally, Levon was the father figure in the Band. He always seems strong and confident, like a father calling you home, or sometimes scolding you. The beauty in Richard Manuel's singing was often the sense of pain and darkness he conveyed. Rick Danko had a lot of melancholy to his voice as well, but he could also be a little more goofy. They were all different shades of color in the crayon box, and Levon's voice is the equivalent of a sturdy old farmhouse that has stood for years in the fields, weathering all kinds of change yet remaining unmovable.
The best thing about Levon is that he has so many sides, from the sound his voice gave to the Band's rich harmonies to how he can rip it up on songs like "Yazoo Street Scandal," "Don't Ya Tell Henry," "Up on Cripple Creek" and "Rag Mama Rag." He can pop in for sensitive moments, such as in between Manuel's vocals in "Whispering Pines." And he laid down one of the greatest recorded pop vocal performances of all time: "The Weight." I was fortunate to get to go to one of his Midnight Rambles a few years back when My Morning Jacket were recording up in the Catskills. To see him walk out on that stage and sit down behind the drum kit in person was a thrill. No one else plays the drums or sings like Levon, much less doing it at the same time.
There is a sense of deep country and family in Levon's voice, a spirit that was there even before him, deep in the blood of all singers who have heard him, whether they know it or not."
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Music: Mornin’ Ya’ll
I'm amazed - My Morning Jacket
This song makes me happy. Enjoy for yourself.
Get well soon Jim James.
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Music/Film: Elvis In Vegas on CMT
I got hitched in Vegas. I got hitched in Vegas by the King. I'm pretty sure it was him. He was real tall though, like 6'8.
I asked him if he ever played any ball. "No man, I always been the king".
Good enough for me.
Elvis and Vegas is real close to maybe the best match for performer and venue ever. The ironic thing is that Elvis was so obviously not a dapper Vegas cat - he was a hillbilly badass who could split your lip with a Karate chop and got buried in the backyard. Anyone wonderin' about the King's countrified-ness would do well to watch Elvis '56 which, just through photos and interviews - no videos - tells the story of the King's breakout year in 1956. It's him stealin' a kiss with a high school sweetheart, roughhousin in a half full swimming pool with his buddies, buying his first ring (the horseshoe, for good luck). Narrated by another great Southern wildcat - Levon Helm of The Band - it's a portrait of a real sweet country boy about to go poof like those fireworks Kerouac wrote about.
Frank Sinatra seemed at home in Vegas, swingin' with a deck of songs about heartache, booze and the good life but New York was really his town. The King, on the other hand, was just trying to find a place big enough to contain him. He was bigger than that ol' out-of-luck cowboy hitchin' a ride in all those postcards. Now Elvis in Vegas is like Santa at the North Pole. But there was a time when it wasn't so. Those jump suits everybody finds so damn funny were a brand new thang. He looked kinda like a crazy hillbilly super hero, like he'd just piloted a home-made spaceship that carried him and David Bowie back to earth. That suit was so fly that Evel Kenievel even co-opted it, jumping sharks and school buses in (a version of) it. And after all, if yer gonna do athletics, a high collar white polyester jumpsuit covered in rhinestones is just what you wanna wear. Remember Kurt Russell in the John Carpenter-directed Elvis TV Movie, telling his costume guy - I'm playin' Vegas man, can you make me somethin' you know.. .like a karate Gi?"
Now CMT will air a special all about Elvis in Vegas on Monday Aug 11th at 8pm (and the Blue Ray DVD will go on sale at Walmart for $10 bucks the same day). The take on it is how Elvis Presley reinvented Vegas and how it reinvented him. This thing oughta be pretty interestin' with everyone from 50 cent to The Rock to Tom Jones and Nancy Sinatra - you even got 'ol crazy-ass but very artful David Lynch - waxin' poetic on the king. I wonder if they're gonna have those flyin' Elvis's there? They got performers too. Everyone from rappers Three 6 Mafia doin' In the Ghetto to Toby Keith and Joe Perry doin' Mystery Train. And you got Chris Isaak and Brandi Carlile doin' love me tender, and you even got 'ol Celine Dion doin' Can't Help Falling In Love, which is when I'll be takin a peanut butter and banana break. But hey man, you can't have it all. I might even watch Celine, I just won't tell no one. What happens in Viva Las Vegas, stays in Viva Las Vegas. Check out the trailers for the show here.
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Music: Johnny Cash - One Piece At A Time
You know they built that car - the one from "One Piece At A Time." They built her for Johnny Cash. The song was written as an homage of sorts to the Detroit auto workers who built Cadillacs, but could never afford to purchase one. Wayne Kemp wrote it. He played lead guitar for George Jones and wrote a buncha great tunes, including "I'm The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised" for Johnny Paycheck. According to blogger Ted Baylis, Bruce Fitzpatrick, (standing far right in the pic) owner of Abernathy Auto Parts and Hilltop Auto Salvage in Nashville, TN, was asked by the promoters of the song to build the vehicle for international promotion. Bruce had all the different models of Cadillac mentioned in the song when it was released, and built a Cadillac using the song as a model. The car was presented to Cash in April of 1976.
We stumbled upon a video Johnny did for that thing - and well, maybe a video wasn't quite the right thing to do at that point. Starts out real cool with a performance, and then at about the 45 second mark, the home movie clips start. I don't know what 'ol Johnny was on but he's shakin' it on the hood like a gal in a Sir-Mix-Alot video. But man, he's still Johnny freakin' Cash. As for the car, they had her parked out in front of the House of Cash (check out Steve Menke's great Johnny Cash site) for a few weeks way back when, wonder where she is now.
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Music/Film: The Weight - The Band
From The Last Waltz, The Band doin' The Weight with The Staple Singers. The lead-in's a hoot with Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson talkin' about The Band's name.
Check this out:
The Best of the Staple Singers [ CD - Amazon ]
The Last Waltz (1978) [ DVD - Amazon ]
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