Music and Opera

If the atmosphere in Tokyo at the moment is relatively radiation-free — it is said to be less than in the cabin of the aircraft which flew us here — the mood among the local population is one of getting on with life. If the atmosphere in Tokyo at the moment is relatively radiation-free — it is said to be less than in the cabin of the aircraft which flew us here — the mood among the local population is one of getting on with life. Apparently, they collectively held their breaths (and stopped drinking the water) for about 24 hours at the time of the earthquake, and then turned

DAC has written some dreadful and awful songs but also some mighty fine ones. Though I prefer the stripped-down version of Would You Lay With Me (In A Field Of Stone) this is still a pretty decent version and definitely from the Good DAC School:

Been a while since we saw some Merle around here. Too long. So here’s the great man singing about his poor mama and her Hungry Eyes:

Amidst all the Dylanmania this week it’s worth recalling that Steve Earle once said, “Townes van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.” He may be forgiven his touch of hyperbole. Nevertheless, To Live is to Fly is one hell of a song and here it is done by the Cowboy Junkies:  

In ‘Poetry of Departures’, in which Philip Larkin imagines escaping his existence as a librarian for a life of wild daring and adventure, he writes: We all hate home And having to be there; I detest my room, It’s specially-chosen junk, the good books, the good bed. In ‘Poetry of Departures’, in which Philip Larkin imagines escaping his existence as a librarian for a life of wild daring and adventure, he writes: We all hate home And having to be there; I detest my room, It’s specially-chosen junk, the good books, the good bed. And my life, in perfect order. It is, he concludes, ‘reprehensibly perfect’. I wish I could

You can’t get much more country than Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down. Here’s a take on that classic lament performed by Waylon Jennings:

Here are Lester and Earl with the boys and, bless ’em, a lovely little sales pitch to put everyone in the mood for some old time harmony. Since it’s Easter this seems like a good time to sing I’m On My Way to Canaan’s Land…

It’s a beautfiul sunny* afternoon heralding the start of summer and so here, to celebrate that, is Maybelle Carter and the girls with one of their many classics, Wildwood Flower: *Sod’s Law dictates it will pour with rain next Saturday since that’s when our cricket season begins.

From an appearance on the Porter Wagoner show way back in the day. You can see why and how Lefty was such an influence on Merle.

Silly but kinda fun too: Ooh for the win, of course. Here’s how it went: [A]ssembling the video was about as tricky an undertaking as as one can imagine. First, Smith had to sell his colleagues on the joke–which wasn’t as hard as he initially feared. Most of his fellow lawmakers–at the time, the legislature was split evenly, with 30 Democrats and 30 Republicans–knew of Astley’s 1987 hit and understood the basic concept of a “Rick Roll,” he insists. “I pitched the idea to a few members, and they liked it,” he recalls. But Smith–who developed the concept with his wife, a few colleagues and several friends, one of whom

Emmylou again and not just because, as Norm reminds me, it’s her birthday today. Here she is with the Hot Band promising to be your San Antone Rose…