RIP Davy Jones
Davy Jones of the Monkees has died at the age of 66. Of course I remember Jones and the Monkees and their Bieber-foreshadowing cuteness, and although I wasn’t much of a fan I did like “I’m a Believer.” Did I … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Music
Neil Young—and old.
Here’s Young singing “Old Man” as a young man: Here’s Young singing “Old Man” as an old[er] man: He’s a lot like he was. [Hat tip: commenter “AGA.”]
Continue reading →Concert fashion
Yesterday I commented on Julia Fischer’s concert decolletage. But perhaps I’m behind the times in classical music fashion, as commenter “Les” pointed out in that thread, when he directed me to highly-acclaimed pianist Yuja Wang’s orange minidress that rocked the … Continue reading →
Julia Fischer, Suzanne Farrell, music and dance, dance and music
I came across this video by accident, because YouTube in its infinite wisdom had recommended it for me. I was struck first by the beauty of the piece, then by the intensity of the performers, then by the gorgeous youthfulness … Continue reading →
Knopfler’s voice
Mark Knopfler, founder of Dire Straits and now solo artist, is known as an astounding guitar player. And that he most certainly is. His playing is unusual, too, in that he almost never uses a pick. His riffs are especially … Continue reading →
Companion pieces: Millay and others
When I hear a song or read a poem, other songs and poems often spring unbidden into my mind. They have some relation to the first, as a sort of harmonic vibration or echo. Sonnets are a particular form of … Continue reading →
Sad
Whitney Houston, dead at 48. I had no idea she was that young, which tells you how her life had been ravaged by drugs and who knows what else. Once a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice, she reportedly got … Continue reading →
MP3 or CD?
I still buy CDs. But then, I’m a Leonard Cohen fan, and apparently that’s the sort of archaic thing we folks do. If I’m just buying a single song, though, I usually pay my 99 cents (or $1.29, because inflation … Continue reading →
Famous Blue Raincoat: the provenance of a familiar tune
My favorite YouTube activity these days seems to involve watching singer/songwriters morph from young to old almost instantaneously. There’s something both creepy and magical about getting into the YouTube time machine and seeing ten different live versions of a song … Continue reading →
The Cat (Stevens) came back
The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens is nothing if not controversial. It’s hard to write about him even now without generating a firestorm of hatred. But I’m going to try. Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) is hated by a lot … Continue reading →
Let’s all chill out…
…and dance. And it’s not even that cold in New England today, so let’s have a summer song:
Continue reading →Tears go by as time goes by
1965. It was a very good year. Let’s sit and watch “As Tears Go By” with Marianne Faithfull: A few more years (forty, to be exact) and a few more tears go by for Marianne. Had Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, … Continue reading →