NanciNet Digest 10-12-99
// A little more reaction to Nanci's appearance on "Politically Correct,"
// and St. Theresa revisited...
// Enjoy...[BP]
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: pi
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 21:58:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: todd williams (towengmjr@yahoo.com>
Why do so many entertainers get into politics anyway?
You would think entertainment and politics would be
two different things. Unfortunately, a lot of
politics is public image, and vice versa (public image
is politics). If you are well educated in history or
political science or something, I may respect your
political opinions, but if you are a good actor or
singer then why would I value your political opinions.
You might as well be the guy who pumps my gas for all
I care.
Shows like PI just go to show how much we value the
opinions of celebrities. It's ridiculous.
This is certainly not a shot at Nanci or anyone on NN,
(though I am dissapointed that she would go on PI at
all) but this trend troubles me, especially since
celebrities always seem to do so well in elections.
It seems like an unfortunate case of hero-worship.
We sometimes confuse liking someones work, whether
acting, or, I don't know, pro-wrestling, or singing,
for liking them as a person, and, often, for liking
them as a political leader.
NG is my favorite singer. Do I want to see her on PI?
No.
Would I vote for her if she ran for senate?
Probably not.
If she came out with another album this year, would I
buy it? On the day it came out.
I would say the same for any other person whose work I
admire: Seamus Heaney, Harold Bloom, Toni Morrison,
Helena Bohnam Carter, Kenneth Brannagh, or whoever.
Artistic genious and politics should be considered as
two different things.
The only reason I can come up with for this trend of
celebreties doing so well in politics is that we just
hate politicians so much that we would rather have
celebrities as our leaders. Even I have to admit that
I would vote for NG over Dan Quayle or Al Gore.
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Bela Fleck on ACL
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 00:08:56 -0500
From: Rachel Strain (rjs@mail.utexas.edu>
As I was walking under the CMA building between classes at UT today, I
noticed a long stretch limo parked where there are normally FedEx trucks.
An old acquaintance of mine who still works with Austin City Limits
happened to be out smoking a cigarette, so I asked her who was taping
today. Turns out, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones were recording tonight,
and Bela showed up to his pre-show rehearsal in *style*.
Just a little info for the Nanci grapevine!
In Texas spirit,
Rachel :)
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: NN: Bela Fleck on ACL
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 01:50:05 -0400
From: Shawn Kimbro (kimbro@planetc.com>
Intresting coincidence. I just saw Bela along with Sam Bush, Jerry
Douglas, and others yesterday. No limo this time, just a bus. They
opened a show by Santana. It was quite a jam. Carlos has the best rock
& roll band of the year, as far as I'm concerned.
Oye como va,
-Shawn
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: NN: Top 100 Songs of the Century
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 01:59:11 -0400
From: Shawn Kimbro (kimbro@planetc.com>
Hey there,
I'm still entertaining myself, and fighting a bout of insomnia, by
fiddling around with the top ten most important popular songs of each
decade. Here are a few more, Kristina. I'll eventually fill in all the
blanks. I made a very bad omission in my 50s list. I was thinking so
about all the great rock n roll songs that I completely left off Woody
Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." I thought about Guthrie but planned
to include him in the 40s list since that was his best decade. He has
some great ones, but I think that is his most important song.
The 1900s are fairly easy because there are so few songs recorded. Of
course, my number one pick here was written (or at least borrowed) by S.
Foster much earlier, but this is the first time it was recorded.
1. Hard Times Come Again No More - Nassau 1901
2. Freight Train - Elizabeth Cotton 1905
3. By The Light of the Silvery Moon - Billy Murray 1910
4. Casey At The Bat - William Hopper 1906
5. The Cuckoo - Harlan & Belmont 1903
6. Woodsman Spare That Tree - Bob Roberts 1910
7. Give My Regards To Broadway - George Cohan 1904
8. Kentucky Jubilee - Columbia Orchestra 1902
9. Goodbye Red Man - Albert Campbell
10. Pony Blues - Charles Patton 1909
Except for the first four or five, things get tough in the teens. It
was a great decade for the blues. If I hadn't made the rule about
repeating artists, there would be about five more W.C. Handy songs
listed. Perhaps Reid won't flame me for including Al Jolson on this
list.
1. My Mammy - Al Jolson 1918
2. Alcoholic Blues - Vernon Dalhart 1917
3. St Louis Blues - W.C. Handy - 1914
4. Alexander's Ragtime Band - Irving Berlin 1911
5. I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles - Selvin's Novelty Orchestra 1917
6. Hike Along the Old Turnpike - Peerless Quartet 1918
7. The Strolling Yodler - Matt Keefe 1914
8. Kentucky Babe - That Girl Quartet 1911
9. Keep Off The Grass - Vess Ossman 1916
10. The Dying Cowboy - Bently Ball 1919
Warm Regards,
-Shawn
______________Nanci Is My Aeroplane____________________
| __ ____ Shawn Kimbro |
| "The sunshine | \____o__/_/___| Morristown, TN |
| walked \(>-----_/_/____]> ~ |
| beside her" `o | kimbro@planetc.com |
|________ http://www.geocities.com/~trailzzone _________|
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: NN: Top 100 Songs of the Century
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 23:22:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: Reid Mitchell (reidmitchell@yahoo.com>
--- Shawn Kimbro (kimbro@planetc.com> wrote:
> Perhaps Reid won't flame me for including
> Al Jolson on this
> list.
Nah, Shawn, I'm gonna flame you for not including
Charles Mingus's "Good Bye Pork Pie Hat" on your 1950s
list.
Reid The Merciless
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Re: Top 100 Songs
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 22:52:57 -0400
From: Shawn Kimbro (kimbro@planetc.com>
Hello again,
Don here. I guess an opportunity like this only comes around once every
hundred years, and I think I'll get impatient waiting for the next one,
so here's more of what I consider to be the ten most important songs of
each decade. As I move on toward more contemporary tunes I think the
Nanci Griffith content will become more obvious. My bug-zapper induced
revelation is that she has covered many of the most important songs, and
even performed with many of the most important artists of this century.
There is no doubt that her title of torch bearer for folk music is
well-deserved.
The 1920s is my favorite musical decade. It's also the one I've been
dreading most because of the difficulty in selecting ten songs from the
many great ones. But a quest is a quest, and there are windmills left
to topple.
1. The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane - Fiddlin' John Carson 1923
2. Wildwood Flower - The Carter Family 1928
3. Blue Yodel - Jimmie Rodgers 1928
4. Rapsody In Blue - George Gershwin 1924
5. Sally Goodin - Eck Robertson 1922*
6. See That My Grave is Kept Clean - Blind Lemon Jefferson 1928
7. How Many Biscuits - Gid Tanner & The Skillet Lickers 1929
8. King Porter Stomp - Jelly Roll Morton 1924
9. Cluck Ol' Hen - Al Hopkins 1925
10. Wreck of Old '97 - Vernon Dalhart 1924
*This is the very first, and very best fiddle tune ever recorded.
The thirties were the hay-days of real country music. But the best song
to come out of that decade is one I bet everyone who reads this can sing
some words to.
1. God Bless America - Irving Berlin 1939
2. Hellhound On My Trail - Robert Johnson 1937
3. Back In The Saddle Again - Gene Autry 1939
4. Mood Indigo - Duke Ellington 1931
5. Night and Day - Cole Porter 1932
6. San Antonio Rose - Bob Wills 1938
7. Midnight Special - Leadbelly 1935
8. The Great Speckled Bird - Roy Acuff 1938
9. Worried Man Blues - The Carter Family 1935
10. I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart - Patsy Montanna 1936
Warm Regards,
Don K. Odie
_____________________Nanci Is My Aeroplane____________________
| __ ____ Shawn Kimbro |
| "Laughing in the | \____o__/_/___| ~ |
| spirit of America \(>-----_/_/____]> Morristown |
| and singing in the snow" `o | Tennessee |
|_____________ http://www.geocities.com/~trailzzone ___________|
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: BRFTM/Rodney Crowell
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 19:52:50 +0100
From: Ann Tyas (ann@awnpb.demon.co.uk>
I'm feeling pretty chuffed that I managed to find a copy of BRFTM in a
bargain book/CD shop for £3.99-well, actually my husband spotted it!
Now for the questions, and excuse me if I am going over old ground but
being a fairly new fan I tend to concentrate on what I can afford at the
time and what I definitely cannot do without.
I know there has been a lot of discussion about St Teresa... but can
someone fill me in with the background- why it was written and for whom?
Nanci is not a Catholic is she?
I have to say that the version of Gulf Coast Highway with darius Rucker
did nothing for me on first listening and that I prefer the earlier
version[1988?]-does anyone feel the same. Perhaps it will grow on me.
A change of subject- I can't think how I came to be buying Rodney
Crowell except that it was thro' hearing him with Nanci. Can anyone fill
in the blanks for me here. Any additional information about him would be
gratefully accepted.
Ann "over the blue moon" Tyas
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: St. Teresa
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 13:52:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Reid Mitchell (reidmitchell@yahoo.com>
>I know there has been a lot of discussion about St
>Teresa... but can
>someone fill me in with the background- why it was
>written and for whom?
>Nanci is not a Catholic is she?
I won't speak for her current religious beliefs but
Nanci was certainly raised Catholic and the principal
co-writer of the song, Mary Margaret Graham Heenie was
and is a Catholic. Indeed, it's hard for me to think
that the song could have been written by
non-Catholics, insofar as the central question of the
song is whether or not the saint has welcomed home a
mutual friend of Nanci's and Mary Margaret's who
committed suicide; the Church holds suicide to be the
result of the sin of despair and suicides were
presumed damned and thus could not be buried within
church yards (the same applied to actors for that
matter....) The song contrasts this doctrine
regarding suicide to the infinite compassion of the
saint, who was the patron saint of Nanci's and Mary
Margaret's friend. Can these questions be meaningful
outside of that specific religious context? I don't
know; I am not a Catholic and I find the pain of the
questioner compells me more than the question itself.
This is why I have always found the strained quality
of the vocals appropriate to the song. I'm not
surprised that Nanci rarely performs "St. Teresa" in
concert; I saw the Blue Roses Tour four different
times in three different cities and she never
performed it once.
I wait now, with head humbly bowed, to be corrected by
those more theologically knowledgeable.
Reid "I am not a Catholic but you can't prove I'm not
a Catholic's son" Mitchell
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: St. Teresa: post script
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 13:59:05 -0700 (PDT)
From: Reid Mitchell (reidmitchell@yahoo.com>
I should add that "St. Teresa" was originally written
as a poem by Mary Margaret. She then sent it to Nanci
and asked her to set it to music. Nanci did so, but
rewriting the song as well, with a contribution from
her sister. Nanci also became interested in Teresa of
Avila at this time and asked Mary Margaret to send her
books on the saint.
St. Cecilia, as has been discussed before, is the
patron saint of music.
Somewhere in the archive there is a discussion of
this; it was through my participation in it that I
came to know Mary Margaret, who emailed me off-line
about some of my comments.
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: NN: BRFTM/Rodney Crowell
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 99 20:55:42 +0100
From: John Edward Graveling (kai21@dial.pipex.com>
Rodney Crowell --- country music superstar of the late 1980's, his
"Diamonds & Dirt" record was a blockbuster, yielding (correct me here
someone) 5 number one singles. Rodney came to prominence as a member of
Emmylou's Hot Band in the mid 70's. He's a wonderful songwriter and the
vast majority of his records are really, really good. Go investigate. The
last thing he did was with his band "The Cicadas" a couple of years ago.
He was married to Rosanne Cash for a while and is currently married to
recording artist Claudia Church.
John Graveling
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: NN: Recommendation
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 15:47:03 EDT
From: Petop@aol.com
eddie@flash.net writes:
(( Poking through the used CDs I came across Dave Alvin's *Blackjack
David*. This is some really good stuff; kind of a blend of folk,
country, and blues. I highly recommend it.
>>
I find it stunning that an album as good as Blackjack David would be found in
used CDs. That means someone with absolutely no taste bought it, didn't like
it or sold it. Well, maybe the person was hard up for cash and it was between
selling Blackjack David and his first-born so after long, hard consideration.
(After all, I did find Fred Eaglesmith's wonderful "50-Odd Dollars" and
Ramblin Jack Elliott's "Friends of Mine" in a used record bin during a visit
to San Marcos.)
Anyway, if you like "Blackjack David," I urge you to pick up Alvin's "King of
California" along with work by a similar artist, Chris Smither, especially
his "Happier Blue" and "Drive You Home Again" CDs.
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re[2]: NN: Recommendation
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 14:23:21 -0700
From: Dan.Gerson@mckhboc.com
>Anyway, if you like "Blackjack David," I urge you to pick up Alvin's
>"King of California"
And don't forget Alvin's "Blue Blvd", which contains the most stunning
Civil War song I've ever heard, "Andersonville". I used to think
nothing could be more evocative of that period than Claire Lynche's
voice (Front Porch String Band) doing "Kennesaw Line" (having not
lived through it I'm only guessing). But then I heard "Andersonville"
and was floored. It's an emotionally wrenching experience, something
like reading _Beloved_ to me. It such a painful song it hurts, but the
pain was well worth it.
Check out Dave Alvin. He has a deep, muscular voice that really moves
people. His version of Kate Wolf's "These TImes We're Livin In" gets
to me every time.
Dan G.
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Nanci: Performance channel
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 22:30:29 +0100
From: Paul Reeve (paul@preeve.clara.co.uk>
Hi Claire
...Also, I notice in the UK Radio Times in the satellite listings a channel
called Performance which has listed a 30min programme called Nanci Griffith
and Friends. It is apparently a 7 part series. Anyone in the UK know if
this is satellite/cable/digital, and, more to the point, been taping this
and is feeling generous of spirit? Any info would be nice as I don't
remember seeing it mentioned on Nanci Net.
Performance channel is only available on cable in UK, and programmes
apparently air at different times with different cable cos. I don't
think C&W in the London area carry it any more.
While talking about TV, did anyone else get caught by the timing of the
"Leno" show on CNBC on satellite - it was 2000 on Sun, not 2200! Never
mind
Paul
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: Re: NN - Revisited
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 10:59:10 -0400
From: "Donate von Bredow-Gardner" (dvbgardner@genelogic.com>
> "Susan Krauss" (susankrauss@earthlink.net> wrote:
> I picked up a copy of Revisited yesterday ...... All I can say is Oy Vey.
> The first mix gave me a headache. I'm plodding through but this is weird.
Hi there! Someone was kind enough to share a copy of Revisited with me but I
was holding off for almost two weeks before I decided to voice my opinion here,
knowing that I would be at risk of being flamed almost immediately and possibly
being kicked off the nancinet. Deep breath, here it comes.... I was actually
intrigued and enjoyed listening to Revisited. No, it is not "our" Nanci and it
would be so hard to imagine her actually performing her music in disco style.
And no, I would hope she would NEVER jump the fence over to the "other" styles
of music. Nor would I want Joan Baez to start performing with Ricky Martin or
see Pete Seeger or Beth Nielsen Chapman team up with Madonna.
BUT..... I have to admit that I was impressed with the creativity of the person
who put this CD together.
>From a sheer musician's standpoint , I think this was pretty well done. I
personally enjoy writing my own arrangements of all kinds of music and have
often performed cover songs in my very own style as well. I can appreciate
the talent it takes for someone to tranlate Nanci into such an unthinkable,
actually quite "opposite" style. At close listening, of course, there are a
few minor flaws technically and rhythmically, but I'm sure that it couldn't
have been easy to squeeze the timing of Nanci's expressive, more legato singing
style into disco's rigorous and stable beat. In addition, I also think that
the baroque strings arrangement was actually done quite well -- I really
enjoyed that one.
Transposing certain types of music into a different genre is probably an issue
that would cause a fierce debate anywhere, especially when loyalists of a
certain genre feel their territory invaded by subscribers of another. I
sometimes feel that way myself and want to turn up my nose when I hear today's
pop musicians or rap or hip hop artists "steal" classic songs from my
generation, or even from the classical composers themselves (I recently heard a
rap song on the radio with Bach's "Air" from his orchestral suite in the
background). But I also can see that there is quite a bit of ingenuity at
work by some of these artists, and
hats off to those who actually manage to re-write those classics into their own
style of music, especially if it is done well. It does take talent to do
this. And it might not hurt for some rap/hip hop fans to recognize Bach next
time they hear "Air" in its original context. I'd like to think of the effect
of this to be some sort of "outreach" effect. :)
Does anyone remember the LP "Hooked on Classics" in the 70's? (Yes, I'm dating
myself.) This record was pretty successful and introduced a lot of people to
classical music. As another example, my neighbor's little son knows all the
words to "Summertime" -- I know he hasn't been listening to the original
version
peformed by some of our great blues artists. No, he heard the version that is
currently being played all over the radio by some popular group. Do I mind?
No. I tell him that this is actually an "old old" song and I know next time I
play the original version for him, he'll recognize it and sing along. I guess
the point I'm trying to make is that the purists among us may feel "invaded"
when someone borrows "our" music for their own projects. In some cases it is
done so badly that we probably see it as sort of blasphemy toward our style of
music or original composer/artist. But, sometimes, I also believe it may not
be so bad to use such projects to introduce the rest of the world (or at least
those "others") to "our" artists or music genre. Wouldn't be so bad if
someone listening to Revisited would get curious about Nanci now, would it?
Fortunately, I love all kinds of music and don't feel quite as insulted when
there is some cross-dressing going on every now and then, for the sake of
experimenting -- as long as it's done in good taste and giving the proper
credit to the original artists. I would, however, feel VERY insulted if Nanci
herself decided to
cross over into disco-land or a more commercial or pop kinda genre of music.
Okay, I think I've probably put both feet and my knees into my mouth by now.
Take it easy with that flaming, guys. I'm only an independent spirit, a little
weird, but perfectly harmless....... :) I sure hope that Pugsley is armed and
ready to defend me...........
Donate "takes all kindsa music to make the world go 'round" von Bredow-Gardner
===========================
_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: TV, trees, cds and kate wolf (way off topic!)
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 21:11:56 +0100
From: "jenny.frog" (jenny.frog@virgin.net>
Yo everyone out there...
Ok, seeing as how everybody's managing to miss nanci on the box, i'm
thinking tape tree??? somebody out there must have copies they're
keeping quiet. and as for that 7-part series that somebody mentioned
again (i'm sorry, i think your name was claire, but i forget ;), it's on
cable and if anybody has taped it then i would seriously make it worth
your while if you wanted to trade, whaddya reckon? bout £1,000. And
somebody said that letterman gets aired over here eventually on BBC Two,
anyhting on that???
> One nice thing about used CD shops is that many of them have a
> rack of CD players with headphones so you can sample your selection
> before you buy it.
And borders too!! My dad brought me a pil of cds back from his so-called
buisness trip to san fran, among which was 'Cry cRy CrY'...and i knew
all the words cause every time i go into borders i stand and listen to
the whole album. the staff love me. ;) among my other cds were,
'Temporary Road' by John Gorka, which i bought for the nanci-backing and
i love!!! it's wonderful. my dad reckons mary black sings 'Looking
Foraward', is he right? Other i got were Dar Williams' End of the
summer', katy moffat 'angel town', lucy K, 'teh tide', two odetta
albums, one which was released last week. john prine, 'in spite of
ourselves'...but i'm sure you don't really care...
Kate Wolf. I heard her for the first time on Sunday night. Truly wow.
i've listened to this over and over. do but i keep wondering... would i
have been so blown away if kate were still alive. ? would she have
written such incredible songs if she didn't know that she was leaving?
beacause she's dead, does that make her spirit here with me when i
listen, sound sreally cheesey i know, and like i'm just trying to copy
what nanci said about recording ATGD, but it was like that. would that
be there otherwise? i don't know. i hope she'll save me a seat at the
front table of that bar, i want to hear kate live. i want to be that
hippy with the cowrie shells and the ripped levis and head scarf and the
cotton blous, riding in a pick-up along the golden coast of the great
unknown. Kate belw me away tonight. i could harmonise and sing (well, my
versions of harmonsing and singing anyway ;) along when i didn't know i
knew the words. and i could relate. I know this is way off-topic, but i
just wanted to share, because nanci's the reason i put this on my wish
list...
jenny*
// Yes, Kate Wolf is worth discovering. I didn't find her until I was
// nearly 40, so you've got a lot more years of listenting to her than
// I do! [BP]
_________________________________________________________________
Questions about NanciNet? Send e-mail to bpage@scctel.com
Return to Archives or The Blue Moon Page