I’m pretty excited about Sunday Spin at Benetti’s Coffee Experience this weekend, as my father-in-law, Jim Gutwein, has chosen all the music.  Katy’s parents are in town for Thanksgiving, and I asked Jim to share some records before they leave.  (Most of the records are culled from his personal collection, and Jim is proud to gloat that all are original pressings thereof.)  He has decided to play Christmas music Sunday evening, so grab a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and wind down from the hectic holiday weekend, looking forward to the Christmas season.

1. Nat King Cole Trio – “The Christmas Song” (original 45 from 1946, not the version made popular in the the early 1960s)
2. Bing Crosby – excerpt of a radio broadcast from A Christmas Sing with Bing (1956)
3. Joan Baez – side 1 of Noel (1966)
4. The Ramsey Lewis Trio – Sound of Christmas (1961)
5. Tony Bennett – Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album (1968)
6. The Miracles – side 2 of The Season for Miracles (1970)
7. The Temptations – side 1 of The Temptations Christmas Card (1970)
8. Various Artists – side 2 of A Christmas Gift for You (1963)
9. Charles Brown – side 1 of Charles Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1960)
10. James Brown – side 2 of James Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1966)

We’ll augment your own research on these record with handout Sunday evening.  See you there from 6:00-9:00.

On November 25, 1976, the Band played what they had advertsied as their final concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Fransisco.  Their performance, along with that of dozens of other performers, was filmed by Martin Scorses and released as The Last Waltz.

My favorite Band song is “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”   Even though I hate the Confederacy, what it stood for, and the way it destroyed the South, this song always makes me cry.

The most famous version besides the Band’s is by Joan Baez.  Her version hit #3 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1971.

Here’s a band I sorely miss – the Black Crowes.

And wrapping it up in an ironic sort of way is this version by Richie Havens.

Strange that one of the greatest songs about the South was written by a Canadian band.

Siz sevdin mi nasıl seversiniz?

İliklerinize kadar titrer misiniz mesela? Tırnak uçlarınızda hisseder misiniz yüreğinizin sesini? Beyniniz karıncalanır mı kimi zaman? Dizlerinizin bağı mı çözülür yoksa? Ya da sevdiğinizi  içinize sokasınız mı gelir ?.

…. Ellerini tutum ve  karanlıkta yıldızlar gibi parlayan gözlerinin içine baktım:

“- Ne düşünüyorsun? ” dedi.

“- Seni Seviyorum ” dedim.

Gülümsedi: “ nasıl? ” dedi.

“-7 yaşımdaki kızımı sever gibi,17 yaşındaki sevgilim gibi, 70 yaşındaki anam gibi ” dedim.

Sarıldık.

Bir çift güvercin kanat çırptı.

Ayrıldık.

Konuştuğu dili pek anlamıyordum. Onu  okuduğu barış türküleriyle anımsıyordum.Türkülerinin anlamını bilmiyordum ama hissediyordum.

1992’de, gece vakti saat üçte, Sultanahmet’ te ,o benim için söylüyordu türkülerini. Ben  sadece  ona söylüyordum Nazım’ın şiirlerini.

O , Joan Baez’ di.

Farklı dillerden konuşuyorduk ama ortak dilimiz sevgiydi. O gün ikimizin de yaşı  ondokuzdu. Gerçekte ben yirmidokuz, o kırkdokuzdu.

Nazım Hikmet’ in 90.Doğum Günü  etkinlikleri hafta boyunca sürecekti İstanbul Kuruçeşme’ de. Boğaz kıyısında toplanmıştı Nazım severler. Nazım’ın kaçmak amacıyla  kayığa  bindiği noktada buluşmuştu Nazım dostları. Nazım Rus şilebini usulcacık okşarken onun elleri, bizim yüreğimiz yanıyordu. Bindi, gitti…Balıkçı motorlarına doluştuk hepimiz. Peşinden gittik, yetişemedik. Dönüşte şiirlerini okuduk hep bir ağızdan.Genco Erkal okudu, Savaş Ay’da, Zeynep Oral’da.Ben de okudum:”Akdeniz’e bir kısrak başı gibi uzanan memleket” imizi. Beni en yürekten alkışlayanı duyumsadım o kalabalığın arasında.Göz göze geldik Joan’ la.

Motordan inerken  yardımcı oldum ona. Ellerini tuttum ve bırakmadım bir daha. Bugün dahi bırakmış değilim.

Nazım’dan şiirler, ogün Kuruçeşme Mülkiyeliler Evi’nde 24 saat sürecekti. Hep birlikte oraya gittik.Gece yarılarına dek şiirler türküler söyledik. Ben ve Erkan Coşkun  birlikte onun arabasıyla gelmiştik, saat 2.00 olmuş ve dönecektik. Joan Baez, Genco Erkal ve ressam Avni Arbaş’da gitmeye hazırlanıyorlardı. Bırakabileceğimizi söyledik.

Önce Avni Arbaş’ı bıraktık  evine. Sonra…Sonra Joan  Baez  “Sultanahmet Meydanı’na gitmek istiyorum” dedi. Gittik: Erkan, Genco, Joan ve ben…

Meydan’a varana dek Genco’nun çevirmenliğiyle anlaştık.Bende ates bacayı sarmıştı bir kere, anlaşıyorduk işte! Meydana geldigimizde, Joan Baez yürümek istediğini söyledi. Çıktı, biraz yürüdü. Sonra geldi, benimle yürümek istediğini belirtti.Benim de canıma minnetti. Uzun siyah paltosu, kırmızı kazağı ve kırmızı meşin eldivenleriyle muhteşemdi.

Elimi tutu, eldivenlerini çıkarttım elinden ve ben onun elini tuttum. Hava soğuktu, çırılçıplaktı ellerimiz. Ellerimizde bir telaş vardı ama sıcacıktı ellerimiz.Yürüdük Ayasofya’ya doğru öylece.”Poem, poem!” diyordu sürekli bana. Hiç bir dediğini anlamıyordum, tercüman da yok yanımızda!

“ Şiir ” demek istiyormus. 8-10 tane siir okudum ona. Dahası yok. Gerisini kafadan attım. Anlamış, gülüşmüştük sonra.

Kaç saat geçti bilmiyorum. Bana bir saniye gibi geldi anımsamıyorum.Genco ile Erkan’ın  bekledikleri geldi aklımıza. Döndük arabaya. Ertesi gün yine görüştük.Yine buluştu ellerimiz. Sonraki gün konseri vardı Spor Sergi Sarayında. Bir kağıt çıkardı ve “bunları biliyor musun” dedi bana; kağıtta Türkçe “Yiğidim aslanım burda yatıyor” ve “Kapıları çalıyorum birer,birer / Çocuklar öldürülmesin teyze, amca bir imza ver” türküleri vardı.

Beraber söyledik, türküleri çalıştık. Konserde bu türküleri Zülfü Livaneli’yle birlikte  söyledi.Türküler zaten Livaneli’nin bestesiydi. Bir de şiir okudu Nazım’a…Kendisi yazmış. Refik Durbaş’ın Türkçeleştirdiği şiiri Genco Erkal okurken, gözyaşlarım akıyordu  içime. Ve ben,usul usul ağlıyordum 10 bin kişinin içinde…

***

10 yılı aşkın süreç geçti.

Şimdi senin kıtandayım Joan, sana  cok yakındayım. Yüreğimin sesini duyuyor musun!

Seni çok, ama çook seviyorum…

***

Siirin Türkçesi bende yoktu, bu kez  Toronto’da yaşayan gazeteci ozan Engin Aşkın  Türkçeleştirdi..

Ertan Gün

Hamilton / Kanada

egun@cogeco.ca

NAZIM’A  ARMAĞAN

Ben oradaydım Sultanahmet’ te

Oradaydım buzullu bir kış gecesinde

Pırıl pırıl ay gökyüzünde ışırken

Çıplak ağaçların dallarında

Genç bir adam da oradaydı

Benimle yürüyen

Tek bir sözcük bilmiyordu

Benim konuştuğum dilden

Tutuverdi elimi usulcacık

Yumuşacık kırmızı eldivenlerimden

Ve; patladı yüreği yüce bir coşkuyla

Musikiyle örtüşen bir öfkeye doğru

Şiirin kucağında bitimsizce büyüyen

Hüküm giymiş yılların suskunluğuna doğru

Koşuştu bahçelerde iki küçümen encik

Uçuştu gökyüzünde beyaz martılar

Ayasofya’ ya başımızın üstünden

Kanat çırptılar ve şiir bitti

“Nazım Hikmet! Nazım Hikmet!” diye haykırıyordu

“Nazım!” “Nazım!” diyordu yineleyerek

Hiddetli, hasretli, hararetli

Ben özlemle ağlıyordum oralarda

Akarken içime öfkenin sesi

Hiç durmadan yürüyorduk birlikte

Yürüdükçe yürüyorduk bir şiirden diğerine

Meydan okuyorduk suskun heybetiyle duran Sultanahmete

Ay oradaydı, ben oradaydım

Nazım oradaydı

Bize kalan tüm şiirleri oradaydı

Oradaydı o bitimsiz öfke

Oradaydı özlemle sızlayan yürekler

JOAN BAEZ

14-01-1992/İSTANBUL

Se alguém leu o post recente sobre Joan Baez sem conhece-la por certo deve ter achado que eu só posso ter exagerado. Na verdade eu fui economico. Baez é celestial. Meu espírito democrático se esvai no que tange a ela. Acho que quem a ouve e não a ama só pode ter algum problema. Bem, no espírito de usar o youtube para ilustrar o que digo, aqui vão vídeos dela cantando. Se achar que não é divino, o problema é seu:

“Donna, Donna”:

de Bob Dylan, “It Ain’t Me, Babe”, primorosa!

Finalmente, “The House of Rising Sun”.

Não sentiu nada? Problema seu. Achou que era Deus cantando? Bem vindo!

VERME BRANCO

I love Christmas music, so when I saw a chance to buy a Christmas CD and do a good deed, well … you know the rest.

(And no, it’s not the CD you may think it is … already have one or cough10cough of those.)

I picked up Mr. Bob Dylan’s Christmas album. I do love the Bobster from way back (“Blowin’ in the Wind” is my all time favourite) and even more so when I read in my local paper newspaper that “Dylan will donate all his U.S. royalties from album sales to the charity group Feeding America.”

Cutest (and grooviest) couple ever: Bob with Joan Baez.

Here’s what else the story reported:

“Feeding America said it expects to provide meals to 1.4 million people this holiday season with the album proceeds. Columbia said Dylan plans to donate his international royalties to two charity organizations that give meals to needy people in Britain and the developing world. But details on that partnership are still being worked out.”

Dylan added:

“It’s a tragedy that more than 35 million people in this country alone — 12 million of those children – often go to bed hungry and wake up each morning unsure of where their next meal is coming from.  I join the good people of Feeding America in the hope that our efforts can bring some food security to people in need during this holiday season.”

Now, that truly is the Christmas spirit, isn’t it?

P.S. Here comes Santa! Enjoy!

Oggi comincio, su richiesta vostra, a raccontare qualcosa di più della mia ” passata ” vita artistica, aggiungendo delle notizie a quelle già inserite nella biografi-mini che trovate in alto. Naturalmente, il tutto avverrà attraverso le canzoni da me scritte e per la maggior parte interpretate, cominciando dalla prima, se non in assoluto, quella che mi dette le prime soddisfazioni e cioè: Chitarre contro la guerra

Siamo nell’autunno del 1966 e il movimento studentesco si agita nelle piazze portando idee di cambiamento e sogni di una vita più libera e serena. La guerra del Vietnam e tutti i suoi orrori hanno colpito le coscienze giovanili e i cantautori ” d’oltre oceano ” da Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan e Joan Baez lanciano i loro messaggi di pace affinché abbiano il sopravvento su quelli limitati agli interessi del ” potere “.

A quei tempi avevo 19 anni, mi ero appena trasferito da Torino a Milano ed iniziavo la mia carriera di cant’autore proponendo al Festival delle Rose di Roma, cantando in coppia con Carmen Villani, e con lo pseudonimo del solo nome ” Umberto ” quello che sarebbe diventato un mio cavallo di battaglia di quei tempi, appunto Chitarre contro la guerra.

Carmen Villani – chitarre contro la guerra (1967)

Io e Carmen ci piazzammo molto bene e la canzone vinse il premio più significativo, il Premio della Critica Internazionale, premio che mi permise di farmi conoscere in vari paesi europei. Grazie a You Tube ho trovato una versione di Carmen Villani relativa ad una sua partecipazione ad una trasmissione su Rai 1 del 1967… Della mia versione originale purtroppo ho trovato solo la copertina, ma quella di Carmen rende ottimamente l’idea.

The Czechs aren’t very good at brand development in any context and the development of their national brand is no exception.  Its probably on a par with the efforts of the UK, which in my opinion are pitiful.

An important trick in the national branding arsenal is to big-up national events that support the character of the brand.  The Czechs kinda manage to raise a pulse or two when it comes to their national ice hockey team (who apparently are a bit good) and conjur up a little enthusiasm for their national football (soccer for you Americans out there) team, when they reach the finals of the World Cup, which isn’t the case this time around (he, he!).  However, they haven’t missed the opportunity to milk the lump-in-the-throat, emotional potential of the velvet revolution.  What Czech wouldn’t swell with pride at the memory of their David to the Russian Goliath (well maybe a few old Commies!) which, being twenty years ago this week provided a timely fillip to their national brand development campaign.

Their take on a celebratory TV spectacular was a characteristically high-brow celebration for Vaclav Havel (The figurehead of the revolution and the first post-Communist President) with live (well, I think there was a pulse in most cases) performances by a load of American esoteric like Suzanne Vega, Joan Baez and Lou Reed who, apart from being old muckers of Havel were, I guess, bang on the spirit of a nation whose escape from tyranny was led by a playwright.  British support came in the shape of a series of arms-length video messages from the likes of Mick Jagger, Peter Gabriel and … surprise, surprise … Bono – always good for a sound-bite in the cause of liberty, but still can’t pronounce his old mate Vaclav’s name correctly!  The event was probably sufficiently high-brow to pass well over the heads of the majority of those Czechs who would otherwise have been waving football scarves and definitely inaccessible to the average ice hockey supporter, but I hope that’s not all the celebrations this nation can muster.  Well, let’s see.  Meanwhile, maybe what we need to get brand development going in Blighty is a revolution?  Don’t be too quick to discount that idea!

Attention: This article is taken from ISSUE #1 of The Peace Report.(PDF download page)

By Rena Guay

Welcome to the first issue of the new OCC newsletter. We hope you find it interesting and useful. It will come out about once or twice a month, more frequent only for special circumstances or important breaking news about our work. We know you are busy and have an already overflowing inbox.

Please let us know what you think. If you would like to unsubscribe, or would like us to invite someone to receive it, more info and links are at the end of this email, or at the list homepage—http://tr.im/E9rH

We are going to be making the old Yahoo Group into a more general discussion list for those who choose to participate in a conversation about Oklahoma peacemaking, GI Rights work, alternatives to militarism and the like. You can join by sending an email to okobjector-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or, you can visit the web page for that group,  http://groups.yahoo.com/okobjector. where you can unsubscribe or update your membership (such as to a less-frequent mailing)

Action alert!

We need motivated, energetic folks to help with our alternatives to military service project. There are roles to play in front and behind the scenes. See below under events.

OCC activities

Rethink Afghanistan film
Our screening on 10/14 was the Oklahoma premiere of this important and timely documentary. We had a gread discussion afterward, and signed a petition “Demand Civilian Solutions for Afghanistan” which the producer provided. You can sign and learn more at rethinkafghanistan.org.

The DVD was added to OCC’s library, and is available for local screenings. If you want to order your own copy, they are $25 and if you order through OCC, we get $5 from the film company. More information can be found at: http://tr.im/E9rc

Web sites redesigned
Rena has remodeled our online presence with new designs for centerforconscience.org and okgirighthotline.org. Check them out!

Article published
Moses Mast wrote a wonderful article explaining our GI Rights work, and it has been published in the latest issue of the Peace Strategy News, the newspaper of the Oklahoma City Peace House www.okpeacehouse.org. It’s also posted on our web site,  www.centerforconscience.org.

We continue to operate the Oklahoma GI Rights Hotline, and coordinate associated servicemember legal support, which is our largest expense. If you are moved to help with this project, our mailing address is below, or you can check our web site, where you can donate with a credit card.

Upcoming OCC events:

Help our youth find “Work Without War”
We’re having a hastily called meeting on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 1pm at Joy Mennonite Church to do some counter-recruitment planning. Please join us if you can, or email us with your interest in future meetings of this project. We will be doing outreach not just in schools, but at public events, and at recruiting stations.

November Business Meeting
We’re rescheduled the November meeting from the usual first Sunday to the second Sunday of the month instead. So join us on Nov. 8 at 1pm at Joy Mennonite Church, 504 NE 16th. Among other things, we’ll have a report from our GI Rights hotline attorney, James Branum, on the recent National Lawyers Guild conference, where he was one of the presenters of the workshop on courts-martial.

2009 Fall Peace Festival
We will again be at the Fall Peace Festival sponsored by the Peace House. Please stop by our table and say hi. We are hoping to have a place for folks to sign holday cards and write letters to GI resisters who are serving sentences for their refusal to fight an illegal immoral war. If you would like to help with the table, contact Rena at 405.615.2700.

Other News of Interest

The Honest Recruiter
New updated edition of Sgt. Abe, the Honest Recruiter is now available.This is THE essential counter-recruitment tool, so make some copies and have them handy for distribution to anyone thinking of joining the military, or of recruitable age. They should make the decision with ALL the facts, and not the selected spin given by recruiters. The site also has the handout in Spanish, as well as a video. www.thehonestrecruiter.org

Obama’s War
PBS did outstanding work with its Frontline documentary Bush’s War. Now they reexamine the subject with Obama in the White House. It has prompted a lot of discussion as to whether it’s too soon to criticize the new president for the problems he inherited, or whether the anti-war movement is being too lenient on the new commander in chief when he is continuing, or expanding, Bush’s militaristic policies. What do you think? Watch the film at http://tr.im/E9qO and let us know.

The sound of peace
Speaking of PBS, did you catch the wonderful profile of lifetime pacifist Joan Baez on PBS earlier this month, part of their American Masters series. If not, don’t worry, you can watch online until Dec. 10 at http://tr.im/E9qj

Recommended reading:

“Cyber Resistance” by Dahr Jamail
Technology has enabled alternative voices to penetrate the wall of silence around soldiers and war. www.truthout.org/10230910

“Multiple Deployments May Raise Risk of Military Spouse Suicide” by Stacy Bannerman Available at: http://tr.im/E9sB

We also recommend the following books: The Will to Resist by Dahr Jamail and Rules of Disengagement by Marjorie Cohn and Kathleen Gilberd

On Facebook?

Become a fan of OCC’s page: facebook.com/centerforconscience
Oklahoma Center for Conscience—centerforconscience.org

Donations are tax deductible. Mail to

Oklahoma Center for Conscience

504 NE 16th,

Oklahoma City, OK 73104

Die Geschäfte schließen. Der Tag ist bald zu Ende. Sie sitzt stumm in einem heruntergekommenen Cafe. Ein Baby lastet schwer auf ihren Knien. Wenn sie es herunter nimmt, beginnt es sofort zu schreien und die Leute schauen sie mit missgünstigen Blicken an.
Die Jugend ist eine Lüge, die über die Schmerzen und Verletzungen hinweg täuscht. Sie macht die Gesichter glatt und die Seelen unbekümmert. Und doch kann sie schon erahnen, was kommen wird. Ihr Gesicht, das sich in den dunklen Scheiben vage spiegelt, wird alt werden und Falten werden wie umgekehrte Narben über diesen Moment und jeden anderen Auskunft geben.

Liebe ist nur ein Wort, hat er ihr in einem dieser Momente gesagt. Sie reibt sich die müden Augen und weiß, dass das nur die halbe Wahrheit ist.

Blowin’ in the Wind

Da Wikipedia, l’enciclopedia libera.

Blowin’ in the Wind è il titolo di una famosa canzone di contenuto pacifista scritta da Bob Dylan nel 1962 e pubblicata la prima volta l’anno successivo nell’album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.

Questo brano è da molti considerato il manifesto della generazione dei giovani statunitensi disillusi dalla politica portata avanti negli anni cinquanta e sessanta dal loro paese e sfociata dapprima nella guerra fredda e poi nella guerra del Vietnam.

Quando scrisse questo motivo, Dylan non era ancora quel paladino della controcultura che dopo pochi anni avrebbe rimesso in discussione – con la propria attività artistica di poeta e musicista – antichi pregiudizi e paure nuove; ma già allora – giovane cantastorie proveniente da un piccolo sobborgo minerario del Minnesota – era in grado di mostrarsi cosciente e padrone – in termini di comprensione del senso delle cose – dei nuovi pericoli derivanti dall’era atomica (i temi del fall out erano peraltro già stati illustrati con amara e sofferta poeticità dai cantori della beat generation, in primis Jack Kerouac ed Allen Ginsberg).

Bob Dylan e Joan Baez hanno spesso eseguito in duo ed in concerto Blowin’ in the Wind

Tre semplici strofe sono in questo caso sufficienti al compositore-poeta per interrogarsi su tematiche sociali ed esistenziali. In particolare, al centro della sua visionaria poeticità sono il senso della condizione umana e l’incapacità dell’uomo di ripudiare in maniera definitiva e totale ogni tipo di guerra.

Nel ritornello – rivolto metaforicamente ad un ipotetico amico, nel quale si potrebbe identificare l’intera umanità – viene data una risposta che lascia uno spiraglio all’ottimismo: una risposta che c’è, e a portarla basterà un soffio di vento.

Nel corso degli anni questa canzone ha avuto numerose rielaborazioni (cover), tanto in versione acustica quanto a ritmo rock, da parte di diversi gruppi e cantanti di ogni parte del mondo. Fatta propria dagli esponenti del movimento beatnik (i cosiddetti figli dei fiori) veniva spesso suonato – e tuttora lo viene – sulle scalinate e lungo i borghi artistici delle principali metropoli del mondo. Si ricordano qui le versioni, storiche al pari di quelle incise in studio e dal vivo dallo stesso autore, del trio Peter, Paul & Mary e di Joan Baez nonché una versione in italiano tradotta da Mogol e cantata dai Kings da Luigi Tenco e incisa anche da Milly nel suo album doppio “D’amore e di libertà”. Nel 2000 anche Mina ha inciso una sua versione del brano, inserita nella compilation Mina per Wind, disco fuori commercio in quanto promozionale.

Joan Baez and B.dyllan in love

Var och lyssnade på William Fitzsimmons igår på Södra Teatern. Skön snubbe, sköna låtar, skön publik.

Slår jag upp Svenskan idag för att få min upplevelse bekräftad. Men icke en rad om Fitzsimmons, i stället sida upp och sida ner om Joan Baez och hennes kärlek till Jussi Björling. Inget fel i det, eftersom såväl Baez som Björling är förträffliga, men trodde reportrars uppgift här i livet var att rapportera nyheter, inte det som vi redan visste.

Inte en rad som sagde Fitzsimmons. Lika illa i de andra blaskorna.

Okej, får väl dra mitt strå till stacken då.

Snubben spelar utsökt akustisk gitarr, sjunger känsligt om än möjligen en smula enahanda. Låtarna låter rätt mycket samma likadant, men gillar man det, vilket jag gör, är det inget fel med det.

Framför allt är hans mellansnack fantastiskt roliga och ståuppiga, även fast han sitter ner, med en känsla för tajming som påminner en hel del om Woddy Allens 70-talsståupp, vilket inte vill säga lite.

Betyg: 4 getingar/tärningar/fyrar/vovvar/stjärnor/osv

Kolla in honom här på Spotify.

Trust: Photographs of Jim Marshall

Omnibus Press, ISBN: 9781847726490, Price: $29.95, Height:12″, Width:10″, Pages:168, Binding: Hardback, Publication Date: Sept 1, 2009,   ISBN-10: 1847721109 ISBN-13: 978-1847721105, $34.95  Available here from amazon.com.

My heroes aren’t musicians or photographers but writers like the late Jack Kerouac and Richard Brautigan. There is an exuberance in their work that I also find in this “must have” coffee-table book of Jim Marshall classics. His work is not the hype but the genuineness of such geniuses as Otis Redding, Janis Jopplin, Miles Davis, John Coltrain, Mick Jagger, Joan Baez, the original Weavers, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and just about any other top music performer from the fifties to the turn of the century. We’ve embraced their myths, but forgotten their humanity—at least until now.

Sure there is Jimi Hendirx burning his guitar and Bobby Dylan rolling a tire, but look at the tenderness in Odetta’s gaze as she embraces Elizabeth Cotton backstage at the Berkeley Folk Festival (Odetta had been all but forgotten working as a domestic for a long time until she was rediscovered). Or Johnny Cash’s thoughtful stride going into Folsom Prison in 1968 to do a recording his record company, Columbia, didn’t want him to do. Marshall recounts, “They weren’t expecting any trouble but they had armed guards up in the towers… Not all the men would have been Johnny Cash fans before but by the end they certainly were. If Johnny would’ve said follow me out of here to the prisoners, they would have followed him out.”

There’s the shot of  Miles Davis taking a call at a phone booth in the middle of a work-out; he cradles the receiver in a boxing glove. A young Aretha Franklin looking like a girl on a first date. A shirtless Frank Zappa looking like someone’s brother. I like Marshall’s Introduction and the little verbal sidelights he provides that put the pictures in context. There are a few surprises. Did you know that Harry Dean Stanton has a great voice? He and Willie Nelson played a half hour show together for the crew on the set of the Big Bounce with Owen Wilson.

Marshall likes to come across as a tough dude (“I worked hard but I never really considered it work. I always enjoyed myself and only did it if I had complete control and access. My reputation was such that managers didn’t, and don’t fuck with me.”), but he has a real sense of what makes photography work. As Jason Fine, Executive Editor  of Rolling Stone Magazine, adds in his Afterward to the book, “What comes across is a deep empathy for the musicians he photographed with an ability to capture their pride and sense of purpose.” Jim Marshall: “I love all these musicians—they’re like family. Looking back, I realize I was there at the beginning of something special.”

There is no trick angles, no cropping, no Photoshop manipulated imagery. This is like a family album of our pop culture, where we study the pictures looking for what was to come in faces pure and full of dreams. As the poet Richard Brautigan wrote, “we stopped at perfect days / and got out of the car.” – John Lehman

Lucha Reyes, born Maria de la Luz Flores 23 or 28 May (different sources use different birth dates) 1906 in Guadalajara, was one of the earliest of Mexican recording artists, and though recordings in the 1920s, introduced European audiences to Mexican music.   Due to her European success, her difficult personal life and her apparent vulnerability, she has been called “the Mexican Piaf” — and her voice does have some similarities to the French singer — although her throaty renditions of  lower class and generally masculine popular music form, as well as her self-destructiveness, might make her better styled “the Mexican Janis Joplin“.

Having moved with her mother and sister to Mexico City, by her early teens she was singing Revolutionary songs in the Capital and singing between acts in visiting circuses.   At the age of 15, she toured California, becoming a hit on the Mexican-American entertainment circuit.  Returning to Mexico,  and taking her step-fathers family name (Reyes) her then-pure soprano voice was known throughout Mexico where she was one of the first radio-era stars.

In 1925 she was invited by impresario Juan N. Torreblanca to join his Orquesta Típica Mexicana on its European tour. The soprano whose artistic renditions of Mexican classics would not be the Lucha Reyes who returned home in 1927.

The story is that Reyes was just unprepared for a winter in Berlin, and a bad cold or throat infection forced to leave the tour.  The story goes on that a gentlemanly piano player moonlighted in a whorehouse to raise the cash for Lucha’s return to Mexico where she could spend the next two years recovering.   Of course, her non-stop drinking and partying may have had something to do with leaving the tour, and with the dramatic change in her voice:  huskier, edgier and, suited not for delicate songs about La Paloma but perfect for the music of cowboys and cantinas:  mariachi and ranchera.

It’s not just the riotous living and heavy drinking that makes leads to the comparison of Reyes and Joplin.  Remember that when Janis Joplin first came on the scene, woman singers like Joan Baez and even Grace Slick were a sort of earth-mother or girl-friend in their stage persona.  Reyes and Joplin both opted to join a male sub-culture (mariachi for Reyes, the southern blues for Joplin) and burned out trying too hard to out macho the machos.

Reyes, like Jopin, often performed with a liquor bottle in hand, and made on stage references to her  rowdy lifestyle.  That Reyes was the first female mariachi lead singer of note made her antics fodder for the gossip columnists and — like Janis Joplin — an improper example to be pointed out by proper parents to their misbehaving daughters.

And, in the end, it got them both.  Janis Jopin was only 27 when she died of a combination of heroin and alcohol in 1970.   Reyes managed to survive a bit longer, but ended her own troubled life (25 June, 1944) at the age of 38, washing down about 20 barbiturates with a bottle of tequila.

Lucha Reyes was in very few films, in part because her erratic personal life made he a director’s nightmare. But sing she could:

and considering these songs!

what do you guys think?

and, last but not least, joan baez!

eg frys ned smilet ditt
så eg kan lukke auga
å sjå deg

det skeive smilet ditt
fleire novembre etter

framleis med mellomrom
mellom fortenna

frys du
er du kald

kan du få mitt sjal
rundt halsen

Thorsten hat mal wieder gewühlt, damit sein Regal endlich voll wird, wir haben eine neue Kategorie und präsentieren unsere Wohnzimmerkritik im Schnelldurchlauf zu Skye Edwards, Ilse DeLange, Sophie Zelmani und Carol Elliott.

Carol Elliott © offizielle Myspace-Seite

Carol Elliott – The People I Meet

Fangen wir mit der ältesten CD – in jeder Hinsicht – im Reigen an: Carol Elliotts The People I Meet ist ein Folk-Album mit Countrystimme, eine Stimme, die hier und da auch an unsere Konzertkritik von letzter Woche, Ann Vriend erinnert. Wer früher Mary Black gehört, hier und da mal Joan Baez bei den Eltern geklaut hat oder auch gerne mal eine Art Countryscheibe zum Autofahren braucht, ist mit Carol Elliott gut bedient. Frau mit Gitarre und melancholischen Texten, aufgenommen in Nashville. Leider mit lieblos gruselig gestaltetem Cover (das gehört bei Taxim aber wohl zum guten Ton). The People I Meet stammt aus dem Jahr 1996 und so sieht es auch aus. Ob sich bei der Produktion von Folk bis heute dramatisch etwas geändert hat, entzieht sich unserer Kenntnis, vielleicht sind aktuell wieder andere Raumklänge schick. Diese Produktion ist jedenfalls solide und hat keine negativen Auswirkungen auf die künstlerische Leistung. Schöne zweistimmige Passagen bekommt man ebenfalls geboten wie z.B. bei »Angels«. Thorstens Favoriten auf dem Album sind neben dem Titeltrack auch »V.T. & Me« und »What about us«. Jule hingegen steht mehr auf »Angels« oder »Roller Coaster Ride« – den Thorsten nach kurzer Überlegung doch auch dann besser findet  als den Titeltrack… Und überhaupt das ganze Album »gar net schlecht«.

Ein empfehlenswertes Folk-Album – und genau dazu sollte man entweder in entsprechender Stimmung sein oder Folkfan. Sonst findet man es vermutlich langweilig und die Stimme gewöhnungsbedürftig.

Carol Elliott – The People I Meet

Noch ein paar soft und hard facts: Optisch erinnert Frau Elliott ein wenig an die mögliche Mutter von Juliette Lewis. Außer diesem einen Album gibt es leider keine anderen Veröffentlichungen, derzeit schreibt sie Kurzgeschichten, betätigt sich als Malerin und ist hier und da auch noch auf der Bühne zu sehen, allerdings nur in USA. Kaum zu glauben, aber es gibt sogar eine deutsche Fansite mit ein paar alten Fotos und Bildern von ihrem (einzigen?) Auftritt in Deutschland bei Jürgen v. d. Lippe. Der Bass auf diesem Album stammt vom Alisson Krauss-Bruder Viktor, Produzent Steve Gibson war entweder Country- oder Pornostar, genaues ließ sich von uns via Google oder Wikipedia nicht recherchieren.

Grabbelkisten-Fazit: Carol Elliott kann uns die Winterabende vor dem Kamin oder der Etagenheizung versüßen, am Besten mit einer Kanne Tee, Kerzenlicht und leckeren Plätzchen *hoho*. Einige billige und vor allem gebrauchte CDs sind z.B. bei einem großen Frauenkriegerversender zu erwerben.
Grabbelkisten-Preis: 2,99 Euro (im MediMax, Böblingen), Vergleichs-Preise schwer zu finden, da kaum noch erhältlich; ab 0,85 (an amazon angeschlossener Versender)

Carol Elliott – The People I Meet
VÖ: 1996 bei Heartstrong Records, VÖ in Deutschland 1999 bei Taxim Records

Carol Elliott bei MySpace
Carol Elliott im Web

Aktuelles Promobild von Skye Edwards © Thierry Le Goues

Skye – Mind how you go

Just zum gestrigen Trefftag hat Skye ihr neues Album Keeping Secrets veröffentlicht (hat der Thorsten ja gut hinbekommen) – komplett in Eigenregie wie es scheint, denn an einem Label ist sie laut ihrer MySpace-Seite nicht interessiert. Wir wollen uns aber dem bereits 2 Jahre alten Mind how you go widmen, dem ersten Soloalbum von Skye Edwards. So, und jetzt kurz in euch gehen, genaauu, das ist die ehemalige Sängerin von Morcheeba. Damit hat sie bei Jule schonmal einen kleinen Bonus für die Erst-Hörung. Denn Morcheeba haben unbestritten mit ihr ein paar groovende und eingängige Veröffentlichungen auf den Markt gebracht. Das Album beginnt mit einem Mädchentrack – denn die gucken schließlich Grey’s Anatomy (wieder so eine Entdeckung aus dieser Serie, gute Auswahl und Arbeit, Mister oder Miss Music-Supervisor). »Love Show« bleibt auch der Titel, der am meisten überzeugt auf Mind how you go. Das Album hört sich im weiteren Verlauf leider stark nach Bandproduktion und nicht nach Solokünstler an. Recht präsenter Bass und oft zurückgestellte Stimme. Was bei dem (hier) fragilen Sound von Skye Edwards leider kontraproduktiv ist. Die Songs klingen teilweise so, also wolle man auf jeden Fall nicht die Morcheeba-Fans vergraulen (z.B. bei »Solitary«), aber trotzdem etwas Eigenständiges erschaffen. Gelingt das?

Skye Edwards – Mind how you go

Ruhig, elektronisch-akustisch, ein Album für den frühen Morgennebel, aber nicht zum Wachwerden, sondern zum finalen Chillen bzw. Absacken bei Sonnenaufgang. Es geht längst nicht so ab wie bei frühen Morcheeba-Alben, sondern es plätschert alles sehr smoooooooth vor sich hin. Schade auf jeden Fall, dass die Stimme nicht ausreichend zur Geltung kommt, Bonus (siehe oben) also leider durch den Produzenten (Patrick Leonard, der wird nachher nochmal wichtig) verspielt. Wir hatten das Organ von Frau Edwards bei Morcheeba etwas präsenter in Erinnerung (wahrscheinlich lag es an den Unmengen Lagavulin, die laut CD-Booklet von Leonard angekarrt wurden, dass es dermaßen entspannt klingt). Mind how you go stellt sich ein wenig als »Do you mind how« (oder so ähnlich) heraus. Das Album rauscht durch die Ohren, tut nicht wirklich weh und zurück bleibt wenig. Aber wer schon bei Sade Durchhaltevermögen bewiesen hat, wird Skye Edwards sicherlich bis Minute 42 treu bleiben. Ähnliches könnte auch für das neue Album gelten, das allerdings deutlich elektronischer daherkommt – urteilt man nach den kurzen Teasern auf der MySpace-Seite. Empfehlungen zur richtigen Hör-Vorbereitung der Alben geben wir hier aus rechtlichen Gründen nicht, aber wer nicht drauf kommt, sollte mal einen Blick auf den letzten Titel des hier vorgestellten Albums werfen.

Grabbelkisten-Fazit: Auf keinen Fall während einer langen Autobahnfahrt hören, sondern erst wenn ihr wieder zuhause seid und nichts mehr vorhabt. Mind how you go ist dank der schönen Stimme auch für Patienten mit Schlafstörungen bestens geeignet. Thorstens persönliches Fazit: »Jetzt hab ich halt einen weiteren Regal-Zentimeter im CD-Archiv dauerhaft aufgefüllt.« Immerhin ist die CD hübsch.
Grabbelkisten-Preis: 2,99 Euro (im MediMax, Böblingen), heutiger Vergleichs-Preis 14,95 (amazon) und 14,99 (jpc)

Skye – Mind How You Go
VÖ: März 2006 bei Eastwest (Warner)

Skye Edwards bei MySpace

Video zu Love Show

Sophie Zelmani fotografiert von Mister Magicknips Anton Corbijn

Sophie Zelmani – Memory Loves You

Auch hier haben wir es mit einer fragilen Stimme zu tun: Sophie Zelmani ist sowas wie die schwedische Leonore Cohen (und hat unglaublich geniale Promofotos wie dieses hier, das musste Jule einfach so groß abbilden). Durchgängig ruhige Songs, aber eben mit deutlich mehr Spannung und Dynamik als bei Skye Edwards. Wie sagt Thorsten so schön: »Der Sound atmet.«, will sagen, Spielfreude und Seele sind da wo sie hingehören: auf das Album. Die Songs haben Tiefe und sind teilweise schwere Emotionsbrocken, Zelmani ist mit jeder Faser ihres Körpers dabei (Zelle kann man ja nicht mehr sagen). Auch die Produktion des Albums passt perfekt in seiner Zerbrechlichkeit, da hat ihr langjähriger Produzentenpartner Lars Halapi – selbst Country- und Jazzmusiker und Gitarrist auf Memory Loves You – einfach den Bogen raus. So fragil und nah die Songs selbst sind, so fern und unnahbar bleibt Sophie Zelmani, wenn man einen Blick in ihre Biografie und z.B. die aktuell abgesagten Tourdaten wirft. Sie gehört eher zu den scheuen Stars, die am liebsten ihre Songs und Ideen im Studio verwirklicht, aber kein großes Interesse an Öffentlichkeit hat. Das soll ihr gegönnt sein, wenn sie weiterhin so melancholisch-schönen Akustik-Pop veröffentlicht.

Sophie Zelmani – Memory loves You

Ihre Heimat Schweden liebt sie, dort stieg ihr letztes Album The Ocean and Me direkt auf Platz 1 ein. Hier und da sind Ähnlichkeiten zu Jewel in ihren besten Zeiten festzustellen (abgesehen von der Stimme). Denn zum Pop gesellen sich in einigen Songs auch ein wenig Country oder Folk. Memory Loves You stammt aus dem Jahr 2007, davor hat sie bereits sechs Alben veröffentlicht, die allerdings völlig an uns vorbeigegangen sind. Unser Favorit: »Love on my Mind«.
Wer mehr über Sophie Zelmani und ihre Art von »langweiliger Musik« erfahren will, sollte mal einen Blick auf diesen laut.de Artikel werfen.

Grabbelkisten-Fazit: Schöne Songs für vernebelte Herbsttage oder wahlweise windige Tage in der Prärie oder der frostigen Blockhütte.
Grabbelkisten-Preis: 2,99 Euro (im MediMax, Böblingen), heutiger Vergleichs-Preis 7,95 (amazon) und 17,99 (jpc)

Sophie Zelmani – Memory Loves You
VÖ: Februar 2007 bei Epic (Sony Music)

Sophie Zelmani bei Myspace

Sophie Zelmani im Web

Artist-Site bei Sony Music

Produzent Halapi bei MySpace

Wundervolles Manga-Video zu Time von der aktuellen VÖ The Ocean and Me

Ilse DeLange mit kleiner Lederjacke

Ilse DeLange – The Great Escape

Was unsere Begeisterungsfähigkeit angeht, müssen wir einerseits zugeben, dass Jule wohl am heutigen Abend eher der Popmusik zugeneigt ist und ihr Frau DeLange bei unserem Extrem-Listening (vier Alben in 2 Stunden) spontan am besten gefallen hat. Andererseits widmet Thorsten der Optik des letzten Albums deutlich mehr Aufmerksamkeit (Männer!) und sagt, dass das nur an der Farbe des Inlays liegt (grün – ja, schon klar…). Der Rest, also die Akustik, langweilt ihn eher. Abgesehen von der grünen Farbe erinnert das Styling ein wenig an die 70er (und das hat jetzt nicht Thorsten gesagt), sehr lichtdurchflutet (mehr Weichzeichner gibt’s nur bei Bilitis). Optisch hat sie entfernte Ähnlichkeit mit Avril Lavigne oder Nicole Kidman. Leider passt Frau DeLange die Jacke vom Shootingkleiderständer nicht. Aber die hatte sie bei den Aufnahmen wohl nicht an. Zumindest singt sie nicht eingequetscht, sondern mit recht klarer Stimme, hier und da mit gewöhnungsbedürftigem Vibrato (wer sich noch an die Songs der Kelly Family erinnert, weiß was wir meinen).

Ilse DeLange – The Great Escape

Produzent Patrick Leonard – jaa, da isser wieder – hat den Lagavulin offensichtlich im Schrank stehen lassen, denn die Platte klingt deutlich frischer als der Solo-Erstling von Kollegin Edwards. DeLange klingt ein wenig wie ihre Landsmännin (oder wie sagt man da jetzt? Landsfrau? Landsmannseuse?) Anouk, nach einer Prise The Coors und deutlich nach Sheryl Crow, und dann kann man hier nach Wahl noch ein paar Popdamen eintragen. Denn die sauber produzierten Popsongs hätten auch von anderen Künstlern veröffentlicht werden können. So eine echte Handschrift ist nicht zu erkennen, es fehlt an Eigenständigkeit. Was nicht die Qualität schmälern soll; handwerklich ist das alles recht gut. Gesang und Arrangement kuscheln sich schön zusammen, ab und an gibt es auch Überraschungen. Aber der echte Knalleffekt bleibt aus. Vielleicht ist das ja bei ihrem aktuellen Album Incredible anders – das kann man bei obig erwähntem CD-Versender für sage und schreibe 70,- Euro als Import erwerben. Irre… Ist im Onlinestore von Ilse DeLange deutlich günstiger…

Grabbelkisten-Fazit: Fast 60 Minuten bietet The Great Escape – schöne Popmusik, die hier und da vielleicht etwas druckvoller und eigenständiger daherkommen könnte. Für Anouk-Fans sicherlich eine hübsche hollän- – äh ups – niederländische Alternative. Thorsten gefällt nach wie vor das Cover noch am Besten an der CD. Also vielleicht vorher mal kurz reinhören
Grabbelkisten-Preis: 2,99 Euro (im MediMax, Böblingen) und für Jule 0,- Euro (Thorsten hat ihr die CD gleich geschenkt), heutiger Vergleichs-Preis 17,95 (amazon) und 17,95 (jpc)

Ilse DeLange – The Great Escape
VÖ: Februar 2007 bei Universal

Ilse DeLange im Web

Ilse DeLange bei MySpace

Ilse DeLange bei Twitter

Video zu So Incredible vom gleichnamigen, aktuellen Album (wir fragen uns, warum man mit einer Niederländerin ausgerechnet ein Video im Wohnwagen macht?)

Have you heard of Odetta? If you’re a fairweather folkster like me, chances are you probably haven’t. She was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, who had Carly Simon weak at the knees and Maya Angelou waxing cosmological. You’ve probably heard of some of the acts she influenced, though: Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, Janis Joplin… she is even indirectly responsible for the career of Bob Dylan, but don’t hold that against her.

Her music is joyful, playful, pissed-off, regretful, angry, and has the power to tie your bowels into knots. The folks at Wears The Trousers Magazine have had the good sense to organise a tribute album, Beautiful Star: The Songs of Odetta, featuring a selection of Odetta’s finest songs sung by a range of established indie artists (Marissa Nadler, Liz Durrett) and up-and-coming, hot-out-of-the-studio new talent (Haunted Stereo, Katey Brooks). Released on November 30th, all proceeds will go to women’s charities (The Fawcett Society and The Women’s Resource Centre), so there really is no excuse not to buy it. Needless to say this tribute to a great under-acknowledged female singer, organised by a feminist music magazine, whose proceeds are being donated to charities aimed at helping women, gets a big feminist thumbs up from EYS. Head on over to their Myspace page and pre-order yourself a good old slice of ear-nourishing feminist do-goodery. Sail away, ladies.