// Folks, I came down hard today on the tone of the list lately.
// I hope no one decides to go away, mad or otherwise. But it would
// be nice if we could come back to a bit more Nanci content than
// we've seen lately. 
// Anybody know how Hooker's doing? 
// Enjoy...[BP]

_________________________________________________________________
Subject: NN: more to worry about than a dead horse
   From: Bob Riegner (rg48@yahoo.com>

Dear Fellow Nanci-Netters

First of all the horse is dead--let's stop beating it.
Concerning Blue Roses & OVOR2:  1.  Some of us love them, 2.  Some of
us like them 3.  Some of us are disappointed 4.  Some of us hate them.

How can this be?  Don't we all like the same exact Nanci albums, same
exact songs, same exact movies, same exact foods etc. etc. etc.

Let's not forget why we are on this net--because we have been touched by the
magic of this woman's music-- all of us in different ways--As for me I think
she has one of the great voices of all time (of course I think the same about
Bob Dylan and Neil Young-so what do I know?)I think she is far and a way the
best singer/song writer working today, I also admire her character and the way
she handles herself (and let's face it gentlemen-we males are all secretly in
love with her).  She has reached the point that all great performers
eventually reach--that of not being able to be catergorized--she's a risk
taker and innovater and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now.  Instead of dwelling so much on our 'opinions' of the last two albums, we
should be more worried about her health (and James Hooker's health also).

If indeed she has thyroid cancer shortly after having breast cancer--we should
all realize that we may be losing someone we love very much.  Kate Wolf
appeared on Austin City Limits in December 1985--one year later
she was dead--from leukemia.

Does anyone know how Nanci is doing in her battle with this terrible disease? 
If the thyroid has to be removed will this effect her voice?  Are there any
medical people among us that can enlighten us on the type of cancer Nanci has?

So let's stop beating the dead horse, and start worrying about the person who
brought us all together.

Bob Riegner


_________________________________________________________________


Subject: Re: NN: re:more to worry about than a dead horse
   From: Shawn Kimbro (kimbro@planetc.com>

Bob,

According to Nanci's management, her radiation treatment for thyroid
cancer occured in the summer of 1998 and was successful.  The bout with
breast cancer occured two years earlier (summer 96) and Nanci has
released no details about the treatment except to say it was also
successful. As far as I know, that's all that's been reported.

Warmly, 
-Shawn

_________________________________________________________________


Subject: NN: Re: More to worry about than a dead horse
   From: BMiller224@aol.com

I confess I didn't read too much of the NN commentary on the Oyster Boy
review, because I thought the article itself was mostly a bunch of frat-boy
flippery.

But I thought his country-club-twit comment that Nancy shouldn't sing folks
songs about people having tough times because she hadn't suffered enough in
her life was a particular silly comment.  And I couldn't help but think when I
first read that, oh, I guess breast cancer doesn't count as suffering in his
eyes.

It's a strange concept anyway, apart from the biographical insensitivity.
Should only drunk singers sing drinkin' songs?  I've seen Merle Haggard do it,
but I'm not sure he does it best in that condition.  Should only illegal
immigrants sing a song about migrant farmworkers like "Deportees"?  Should
only a convicted murderess sing a song like "Dress of Laces"?

Something tells me that popular culture won't be greatly enriched if
performers start restricting themselves to exclusively autobiographical
material.

Bruce Miller
San Bruno, CA


_________________________________________________________________


Subject: NN: Fat City
   From: Ed Maier (eddie@flash.net>

Didja ever throw something in the trunk of your car and then 
forget about it? I just found Shawn Colvin's album 'Fat City'
in my trunk. I think I bought it about six months ago and just
forgot about it. Sometimes I wake up like a duck: every morning
is a brand new world. Anyhow, the album is very nice. I also
bought 'Sounds Of Wood And Steel 2' this week, in which Nanci
plays an instrumental version of 'Year Down In New Orleans'.
If I could play that well, I wouldn't be sitting at this
keyboard. Or then again, maybe I would.

Ed
-- 
"We both hate getting all scared
And all caught up in whatever
You and I, we gotta stick together."
               -Cory Sipper


_________________________________________________________________


Subject: NN: Re: Rosi, Gillian, and the Merlefest
   From: George Golob (geogo@earthlink.net>

First I must have missed the first post about the Merlefest that people 
are talking about...when and where is it?
Rosie Flores' new album "Dance Hall Dreams" on Rounder records is out 
this week, and some of the Tower stores have it on their listening 
stations.  It's great. Especially a moving song to her recently passed 
away Father, called "Who's gonna Fix it Now?" Also some great 
swing/rockabilly tunes and another Wanda Jackson cover that Rosie does 
so well.  She'll be at the Moondog Cafe in L.A. with Katy Moffatt on 
March 24 and 25. and at Sacred Grounds in San Pedro on the 26th, and at 
the "Cowboy Poetry Festival"  in Santa Clarita CA on the 27th,
Gillian Welch is at the Troubadour in L.A. on April 17
george



_________________________________________________________________


Subject: Re: NN: Other Voices, Too
   From: Petop@aol.com

John Graveling  writes:

(( This is by no means the best work  Nanci has ever done, but as someone who
always prefers original material,  to covers, I find it not a lot worse than
"OVOR", which I think is 
 somewhat overrated.  >>

I won't say OVOR is overrated, but I will take the minority viewpoint in
screaming that "Other Voices, Too" is incredibly underrated and
underappreciated, not only by those on this list, but by too many consumers in
general who are not used to someone like Nanci Griffith, who is usually so
demure behind that angelic sounding voice, not only standing musically naked
but baring her entire soul for all to see. While "OVOR" displayed that Nanci
was an excellent interpreter of the works of others, "Other Voices Too"
reveals to me more of Nanci, where she comes from and what she passionately
believes in. I like all of Nanci's recordings, but, in my opinion, she has
recorded five seminal works and they are "The Last of the True Believers,"
"Once in a Very Blue Moon," "Little Love Affairs," "Other Voices, Other Rooms"
and "Other Voices, Too."


_________________________________________________________________


Subject: Re: NN: Request for Steve Earle recommendation
   From: Petop@aol.com

David Roloff  writes:

(( I'd like to pick up a few Steve Earle CDs and can't remember if 
 anyone ever recommended his work on Nancinet.  Any of you Earle fans 
 have a recommendation for a newly interested listener?  >>

Not only is "Guitar Town" Steve Earle's unqualified masterpieces, it is one
of the finest albums you'll find anywhere by anyone. If you can only get one,
this is the one to have. In addition, you will not be disappointed by "Train
a-Comin'," "I Feel Alright" and the excellent compilation called "The
Essential Steve Earle" which pulls the best from his first three albums and
leaves out the wretched excesses.


_________________________________________________________________


Subject: NN: On the Road
   From: jalvo@cloud9.net (John Alvord)

I've been pretty busy recently. My wife (Anne) and I are getting ready
to move to Big Sur, California. This has been a substantial effort...
convincing my company to let me work remotely, finding a consulting
gig for Anne, new house, house movers, RV across country, etc etc.

If all goes as planned, Anne and I and three cats are shoving off in a
24 ft RV rental on the evening of March 29, 1999. And will arrive 6-7
days later in Big Sur, where our new house has phone lines galore
being installed. Route 80 all the way.

So wish us well!

john alvord & Anne Ashley

Music, Management, Poetry and more...
  http://www.candlelist.org/kuilema
  Cheap CDs @ http://www.cruzio.com/~billpeet/MusicByCandlelight
 

// this, of course, means the info concerning nancinet buttons 
// will eventually be changed...have a safe trip. [BP]

_________________________________________________________________


Subject: NN: Tribute to Joe DiMaggio
   From: Beth Herron (bherron@asgnet.psc.sc.edu>

I happened to be watching CNN earlier today, and as part of their
tribute to Joe DiMaggio, they quoted Nanci's song, "Marilyn Monroe. . ."
from Poet in My Window, and even showed the album cover when talking
about the song.  It was a nice remembrance piece about DiMaggio, and I
thought fitting that they included Nanci's words along with Paul Simon's
more famous ones.

Beth 


_________________________________________________________________


Subject: Re: NN: Dixie Chicks
   From: LEWISMW@aol.com

I was wondering why they've hardly been mentioned on this list ...even after
winning a few grammies. They're pretty removed from "mainstream country" .  

And how can you not like a group where one of the members cites Maria McKee as
an influence?

Lew White


_________________________________________________________________


Subject: Re: NN: Dixie Chicks
   From: RonHennesy@aol.com

Hello Lew!

I love the Dixie Chicks.  I think they are immensely talented young women who
deserve their commercial and critical success over the past year, with a
number of awards.  They are wonderful singers and instrumentalists.  Though
not primarily songwriters, they did write their most recent single, "You Were
Mine," a beautiful ballad.

A few months ago on this list I had the audacity to compare their single hit
"There's Your Trouble" to Nanci Griffith's "Ford Econoline."  I seemed to
unleash a firestorm of outrage at the idea.  The main objection a few of
Nanci's fans had to them seems to have been the word "chicks" in their name.
My own reaction to the firestorm was, "Lighten up, folks.  Show a sense of
humor."

Somebody had the idea that the word "chick" was slang for "prostitute."  That
was a new one to me.  I remember old-time singers like Frank Sinatra and Sam
Cooke used the term to indicate a man's affection for women.  An example from
a Sam Cooke song (as I remember the lyrics):

        It's just another Saturday night and I ain't got nobody.
        I have some money 'cause I just got paid.
        All I want is some chick to talk to;
        I'm in an awful way.

Nothing disrespectful to women in that, as far as I can see.  And anyway, why
would the women in the Dixie Chicks trio want to be disrespectful to
themselves?

Best wishes to all,

Ron Hennessy


_________________________________________________________________


Subject: NN: Imagine...
   From: "David E Mahaffey" (musemaker@innocent.com>


ImagineRadio, that is. I don't remember hearing about this from anybody on
the NanciNet, but maybe some of you will enjoy the concept, if nothing else.
At http://www.imagineradio.com, everybody can be their own personal DJ.
Choose at least 25 artists from nearly every conceivable genre of music ( I
can't find the classical section! ) and assign each one a rating of 1-5.
ImagineRadio will then create a streaming radio station, just for you,
playing artists you rated a 5 pretty regularly and those you rated a 1 from
time to time. Imagine...Nanci, Dar Williams, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt,
Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earl...everyone can come
up with 25 artists! And if not, you can pick whole genres of music, boost
the rating of a few artists (such as those listed above), and have
ImagineRadio randomly assign ratings to every other artist in the genre. And
when you hear a song come across that you don't like, you can instantly
change its rating to severely limit or eliminate its rotation altogether.
You could, of course, do what I did...there's a listing of EVERY artist they
play, so I went through artist by artist and added dozens from several
different genres. Enjoy! I'd love to hear some of your creations, send the
address to me at musemaker@innocent.com.

David E Mahaffey

Visit Skip Ewing Fans Online
http://www.fortunecity.com/westwood/chanel/22/skip.html


_________________________________________________________________


Subject: NN: Other Voices Too
   From: Bruce Armstrong (wmba@navnet.net>

Man, I haven't written to this list in ages, although I've always s*bscribed
to the Digest.

So why delurk?

I'm annoyed with myself!

For years, I've maintained a Nanci web site with pix, that I know a lot of
you have visited and enjoyed.  And do you know, last year, I was so dismayed
with the reaction of the list to OV Too that I committed the ultimate sin of
not buying the CD at all.  No, I was happy to believe that Nanci had passed
beyond her Best By date like old stale peanut butter cookies, and that her
mispronunciations and gargles were like dried-up chewy raisins, difficult to
take.

So when my record club finally made OV Too available, and I had to buy
something to make up my must-purchase number, I thought, "What the hell!"
and ordered OV Too.

Then today I finally opened the CD and played it.  It's been the best Sunday
I've experienced in years, notwithstanding shovelling six inches of snow in
the teeth of a 50 mile an hour nor'-easter.  The best darn CD I've bought in
the last year.

OV Too is entertainment, and it's upbeat, amazing considering Nanci's health
problems at that time in '96.  Also the sound is great to this audiophile.
This is more like the folkmusic of the past, not the singer/songwriter stuff
we've become accustomed to these days, which may or may not be folk
depending on your definition.

I love every track, and I don't mind it at all when she backs up another
artist -- Nanci is the very best at that there is, as folks who have John
Gorka's album from '92 or Pat Alger's album from the same timeframe will
attest.  The "mispronunciations" that occur are fully consonant with Nanci
as I've heard her through the years.  There is no dissonance to my ears at
all.  BRFTM is the weak album.  This is not.  She's in tune, and quite
wonderful -- nobody else I've heard can sing so loud and so soft in tune,
often in the same song.  Now I remember why I first got into her music.
She's an anomaly, a wonderful and unusual singer, quite unique.  "Dress Of
Laces" freaks me out.

May I say that I think we all get too close and over-analyze Nanci?  Stand
back like I did for a year, and then you get hit between the eyes.

So that critic from Florida or wherever:  You're wrong, my friend.
Completely and utterly out to lunch.

Oddduck, I'm with you all the way -- you make me grin with your observations.


Bruce "I *must* remember to trust my own ears" Armstrong


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