Enough Already With The Ancient Christmas Carols

 

One drudgery of Christmas season – which, as you know, is much, much too long, starting in mid-October – is the tired old Christmas carols the stores insist on playing. Perhaps they assume it makes people more, what, festive, to hear those sleigh bells in the snow, but mostly it just annoys people.

We need some new Christmas music, not just more tedious remakes by whatever singers happen to be popular today.

Every year I try to buy one or two Christmas CDs, or downloads the past two years, hopeful that the new recordings will make a difference, but generally they do not. This year was an exception, as I came across some pretty good music, and added two songs to my favorites list.

First was Christmas Cello by Steven Sharp Nelson, aka one of The Piano Guys. The entire set is wonderful, perfect for decorating the tree, as we did (at least one of our trees), or for just having as background while reading, or talking, or doing dishes. My favorite is Simple Gifts, which is simply beautiful.

Next was Christmas Island by the one and only LeonRedbone. The title track is excellent, but my favorite, barely beating out That Old Christmas Moon, is Christmas Ball Blues. Great for dancing in the kitchen with the one you love, and if you ender up under the mistletoe, even better.

So here’s my updated list of Five Favorite Christmas Songs, with a tie for the bottom spot:

 

1. Merry Christmas Baby, Elvis Presley (another great one for dancing in the kitchen, when the kids aren’t home)
2. You’re All I Want For Christmas, Brook Benton
3. Baby, It’s Cold Outside, Brian Setzer and Ann-Margret (although the Ann-Margret Al Hirt version is much more sensual)
   
4. Christmas Ball Blues, Leon Redbone
5. Christmas Wish, She & Him
   Simple Gifts, Steven Sharp Nelson

What are your favorites?

Another Problem With America: We Confuse Popular With Good

 

I don’t Google. Partly because Google is so pervasive, taking over most aspects of life online, but mostly because Google is not a verb.

I use a search engine called Swagbucks, which rewards users with Swagbucks (duh!) that can be saved up and used to buy stuff, everything from a computer wallpaper of Cage The Elephant (just 5 Swagbucks) to a new scale for the bathroom (6,795 Swagbucks) or full drum kit, with cymbals (37,825). All I ever buy are $5 Amazon gift cards for 450 Swagbucks.

 

Anyway, one way to earn Swagbucks is by answering the daily poll. One recent poll asked:

Which of these decades had the best music?

The results, I'm sad to say, are in the above chart.

What this means is, either it was opposite day when this survey appeared, or it was Moron Day, and 81 percent of these people have been nominated grand marshal of the parade.

As anyone older than 14 knows, the only truly great decade for music was the 1960s, starting with the Everly Brothers, Cathy’s Clown, through the Beach Boys, Good Vibrations, and Aretha Franklin, Respect, to Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bad Moon Rising.

The last half of the 1950s was good, what with Elvis and Chuck Berry and Ricky Nelson and Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly, et al, but the first half was pretty lame. Patty Page, The Tennessee Waltz? C’mon.

Dozens of songs like Unchained Melody and Stand By Me and Hey Jude have proven that they will still be listened to and appreciated 50 years later. You just can’t say that about Lady Ga Ga and Justin Bieber. Does anyone even remember the Thompson Twins?

Liverpool Legends (Another Living Legend That Will Live Long After Lots Of Other Living Legends Have Died)

 

 

Kelly and I have seen the Liverpool Legends three times, and we both agree that their show is excellent. If the Beatles would have had modern concert equipment, this is what they would have sounded like live.

 

What makes them stand out from other Beatles tribute groups is the presence of Louise Harrison, George’s sister. She put the group together, and often sits on stage during intermission answering questions.

 

If you get the chance to see them, either in Branson or as they tour, take it.

 

 

 

That's right - Paul, John, George, Ringo, together again.

* I stole the "Living legends..." line in the title from Eric Idle in The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash.

Head(phones) In The Cloud

I resisted the Amazon Cloud Player. Somehow it seemed risky having music I paid good money for just floating around out there in the ether, but I realized that I don’t know how my computer or my phone work either, digitally speaking, so the music on them is just as mysterious and far away.

Now I can’t get enough of it. The downloads are shockingly fast. I’ve had no trouble with the player, and no problem streaming the audio. It’s been perfect. Plus, all the MP3 music I ever downloaded from Amazon transferred right back up to the cloud, poof, one click, no questions asked.

Listening to it now, I have the music listed by song title, rather than by album or artist, so I could hear all 414 songs in alphabetical order, were I so inclined. Cool.

Not counting 20 Years by The Civil Wars, I have All Of Me (The Piano Guys), All The Roadrunning (Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris), All Summer Long (The Beach Boys), American Girl (Tom Petty), An Empty Cup And A Broken Date (Buddy Holly), And I Love Her (Paul McCartney Unplugged), Angel (Simply Red), Angelina (Bacon Brothers), Another Guitar (The Rainmakers), and Anywhere Anytime (Sara Melson).

And that’s just the As….

Six Degrees Of Norwood

 

I like Kevin Bacon, Kevin Norwood Bacon, as an actor and now as a musician.

Mr. Bacon first crossed my path 30-some years ago when he played Tim on The Guiding Light. What I was doing watching The Guiding Light, I don’t know, but I remember Roger the bad guy, and I remember Kevin Bacon. Like you, I’ve seen him in many movies, notably Diner, Footloose, He Said She Said, AFew Good Men, and Apollo 13.

Searching for a movie to watch one night, I came across a link to the Bacon Brothers, which turned out to be Kevin and his brother, Michael. Doubtful, assuming here was yet another bored, pampered actor trying to cash in on his name, I went to YouTube for a looksee.

First, they are pretty good guitar players. Michael is a legitimate, long-time musician, well-known for scoring movies and television. They’ve played together professionally since 1995 and have released a half dozen or so albums. Their band is solid, and the tunes tend to stick in my head.

Both brothers are good singers, who harmonize well, but I like the edgy passion Kevin brings to his sound. Kevin is also the more prolific song writer. His lyrics are compelling, surprising, authentic, and, dare I say it, at times profound.

Photo from SmokeStackLightning

With a gift card from my mother-in-law, I purchased Philadelphia Road - The Best Of The Bacon Brothers, and it has made me want the entire catalogue.

Check them out on YouTube, or go to Amazon and listen to some samples. I suggest starting with Unhappy Birthday, Old Guitars, Guess Again (my favorite), Only A Good Woman, and Angelina.

This just in: Daryl Hall of Hall and Oats has a great show called Live From Daryl’s House, where he and his band have guest artists over to  his place for food and music. The Bacon Brothers episode is great fun, but check for some of your favorites, too, including the Plain White Ts.

That should give you plenty to do this weekend.

Some Dance To Remember, Some Dance To Forget

I'm listening to Hotel California by the Eagles. What a great song, from the achingly slow, 53-second bass intro to the haunting, colorful lyrics. It is a terrific song, a classic, a wonderful and mysterious short story.

Like all good writing, great songs elicit powerful, emotional images, and remind us of who we are, or should be. Who does the words "she got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends," make you think of? Someone in the news, or someone in your past, perhaps?

Could there be a more simple, evocative description of human loneliness than "some dance to remember, some dance to forget," or the helplessness many of us endure than "and she said, we are all just prisoners here, of our own device"?

Where in literature is there, in so few words, such an accurate depiction of the seeming futility of life than, "they stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast," or the more potent "you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave…"?

Stop And Face The Music Or You Might Miss The $3,000,000 Violin Guy, Too

The man playing violin in the corner of this mass transit entryway is Joshua Bell, an award-winning violinist. His violin is worth more than 3 million dollars.

Because Bell is out of context, he is barely noticed, much less appreciated. During this performance, he collects $32, a big step down from the $100 per seat paid to watch him just two days earlier at a sold-out theater in Boston.

I doubt that I would have appreciated his performance, although I likely would have dropped a dollar or two into his case.

As this article from Dr.Mercola suggests, why not take a moment to recognize the beauty around us, especially in unexpected places?

Just How Many Unsupervised, Tech Savvy 8-Year-Olds With Smartphones Are There?

My brothers and I fought over who got the prize in our cereal box each week. With our corn flakes, we usually got one box of sweetened cereal a week, usually, Super Sugar Crisp, which had the best toys, including genuine Hot Wheels.

Later, the prize ended up on the box rather than in it, those cut-out cardboard records of The Archies that sounded like tin on my tiny record player that could not have thrilled us more.

By the time my children became cereal eaters who fought over prizes, the quality of the toys had gone way down, plastic rather than metal, generic rather than celebrity.

As the Internet became popular, prizes became available online, with secret words children could enter on special web sites. Each box carried the warning to be sure to ask an adult before getting online.

Today, after several years away from eating cereal, I found myself staring at the back of a box of Frosted Flakes, with scenes from the new Spider-Man movie. The kiddies can redeem the secret codes for free movie tickets. There is no mention of asking mom and dad for permission, because there is no web address.

Here’s what it says:

“Listen to your Spidey senses and grab your smartphone.”

“Go to the App Store or Android Market on your smartphone.”

“Download the ‘Kellog’s’ amazing Spider-Man exclusive app.”

“Point your smartphone camera at the scene to the right for an exclusive clip from the Amazing Spider-Man!”

Our children aren’t the target market for sweet cereals. They were teenagers before they got cell phones, and they still don’t have smartphones. Can it be true that enough unsupervised and tech savvy 8-year-olds have smartphones that a national ad campaign that requires them can be successful?

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger And Other Stupid Things Our Children Hear

Bruce Springsteen claimed he “learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school,” which doesn’t say much for The Boss. It may be bad news for me, too, because much of what I say is based on song lyrics and lines from movies. Hmmmmm….

I overheard one of our young teenagers quote a song, and it got me to thinking. The girls recently persuaded me to have the radio on in the car. Kelly and I never listen to the radio while driving. We would rather use that time to actually converse, especially with the girls, but I figure having the radio on is better than having them in the back seat with buds plugged into their ears.

The song quoted is Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You), by someone named Kelly Clarkson, who likely stole the idea from Friedrich Nietzsche. You remember Nietzsche, the German philosopher, poet, cultural critic and classical philologist. I suspect that’s where most modern singers turn when looking for inspiration, classical philologists.

The hook line is the claim that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” but in addition to wondering what effect that has on the girls’ thinking, I wonder whether that’s true. Let’s consider….

• Watching reality TV won’t kill you, but it won’t make you stronger.
• Eating a chocolate bar a day rather than an apple won’t kill you, but it won’t make you stronger.
• Tattoos hurt but won’t kill you and don’t make you stronger, just more ridiculous.

• Spam won’t kill you, at least not quickly, but it doesn’t make you stronger.
• Driving 60 in a school zone propably won’t kill you, but it won’t make you stronger.

• CNN won’t kill you, but it won’t make you stronger, unless you call being misinformed stronger.

• Aspertame won’t kill you, but – oh wait, the jury is still out on that one.

• Procrastination won’t kill you, but it doesn’t make you stronger.

• Cheating at school or cutting corners at work won’t kill you, but they don’t make you stronger.

• Cheating on your spouse, breaking promises to your children, neglecting family obligations, those won’t kill you, but none of them makes you stronger.

What can you add to the list?

Personally, like so many songs, I think it is nonsense, but now another generation of listeners has the notion in their heads. Kind of like an earlier generation that grew up thinking “I hope I die before I get old.”

I wonder what they have to say about it now?

My Favorite Female Singers Are Extras On Frasier

I don’t like women singers, really. Linda Ronstadt, I like, and Stevie Nicks, and Tracy Ullman. So what are the odds that my two favorite female singers both played one-episode bit parts on Frasier?

Sara Melson I checked out after watching the rerun with her appearance as Carrie, the men’s store clerk.

Last night I saw the Zooey Deschanel episode where she plays a childhood friend of Roz. Like a lot of people, I liked Zooey in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Elf and Failure to Launch. There’s just something about her, you know.

A year or so ago I was surprised to come across videos of hers on YouTube. Her singing was delightful, soulful and, well, perky. You know, one of those perky soul singers. I listened to her Hawaiian version of I Should Have Known Better and knew I had to have more.

A quick search on Amazon revealed not only an album of her songs, but an album of her songs for only $5. I immediately downloaded Volume One and listened to it nonstop for days. Then I downloaded Volume Two, still just $5, and liked it even better.

Then there was a Christmas album, too.

If you’ve not heard She & Him, head over to YouTube and give it a listen. Let me know what you think.

Put Your Head On My Shoulder For Only A Nickel

I’ve said before I was born too late for my favorite music, you know, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, Elvis. Thank goodness for Amazon, where I just bought 111 classic oldies as an MP3 download for $5.99. That’s not a typo. I got 111 new tunes for my iPhone for less than $6, or right around a nickel each.

The collection has a lot of obvious standards common to this type of album, generic favorites like Why Do Fools Fall In Love, The Great Pretender, Teenager In Love, Rock Around The Clock, Lucille, Rockin’ Robin, Tequila, Put Your Head On My Shoulder.

But it’s also stuffed with a terrific assortment of great, often overlooked tracks, like Sweet Nothin’s, Brenda Lee, Stupid Cupid, Connie Francis, Hey Paula, Paul And Paula, True Love Ways, Buddy Holly, Hello Josephine, Chuck Berry, 3 Steps To Heaven, Eddie Cochran, Born Too Late, The Ponytails, and perhaps one of the finest songs of the generation, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, by The Platters.

There are plenty of surprises, too, songs I’ve never heard such as True Love by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly, Halfway To Paradise by the unique Billy Fury, and Honey Love by Bunny Paul.

With few exceptions, these are the original recordings my parents listened to on the rcar adio when they were dancing on the picnic tables at the roadside park with all the headlights pointed toward them. Hello Mary Lou is a live version, probably recorded later in Nelson’s career. A couple of the Little Richards sound live, and some of the Carl Perkins songs sound like they were recorded about the time he played the Carl Perkins & Friends Rockabilly Session, so they sound great, but not like the original Sun recordings.

Except for Hound Dog, the Elvis offerings are obscure, buried treasures like Harbor Lights and I’ll Never Let You Go. There are only five Everly Brothers songs, all classics, but there could have been more. The set is light on Roy Orbison and heavy on Bill Haley, but I could not be more pleased. If it included Birthday Party or 442 Glenwood Avenue by the Pixies Three, it would be perfect.

Check it out here.

Note from John: I saw yesterday, July 8, 2012, that Amazon had this download listed for $2.99. That's so cheap, I'm thinking of downloading it again.....