Dirt Track Date

Because there's a little trailer trash in all of us...

This Land Is Your Land

Woody Guthrie wrote this song on February 23, 1940.  He didn't think much about it at the time.  It took him another four years to get around to recording it.  Since then it has become both an anthem and a protest song, one that has been covered by pretty much everyone.

Seemed like a good song to feature in these angry times.

Deciding which version to use took a few hours.  Finding a copy of Woody's version with decent sound quality proved to be an impossible task, so I considered versions by Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul and Mary, Wanda Jackson, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Country Joe McDonald, Tom Morello, Ani DiFranco, Bruce Springsteen, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, The Staple Singers, Chicano Batman and Steve Earle.  I was leaning towards Sharon Jones when I remembered this version by Mojo Nixon

Being a bit of a goof, I had to go with Mojo.

Peace out...

Got the Dying Computer Blues

#1's dying.

Stronger Than Dirt

It's been said that Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin both started off trying to sing like Willie Mae Thornton.  You might know her as Big Mama Thornton.  'Stronger Than Dirt' was her third album.

A bonus video for your viewing pleasure...

Don't Like The Weather?

Don't worry.  It'll change...

Saturday Night Free-for-All

She's high. I'm drunk. Let's roll.

Siri has Alzheimer's

So I'm cruisin' down the road, 15 miles over the speed limit as usual, and decide to turn on the radio. It comes on right in the middle of an excellent tune that I want to know the name of. So I reach for my phone, eyes darting from the road to the phone to fire up Siri, and I ask her to identify the song. So far, so good.
Now comes the tricky part.

I have to fumble for a pen and paper to write it down (assuming I was lucky enough to get Siri to even know what the song was), and now I find myself careening into oncoming traffic. Needless to say, I die in a fiery crash, and I blame Siri.

Has this ever happened to you? Of course it has. Your funeral was beautiful.

But there is a solution - Shazam.

With Shazam, you just tap the Shazam symbol, and not only is the song identified, but you have the option of getting the video and lyrics right on your screen with the tap of a finger, as well as other songs by the same artist. But the best feature is that it remembers the songs you've looked up, so you can wait until you're safely in the garage to make note of them.

Shazam is available in the App Store. I know...shameless plug.

So, since yesterday was Valentine's Day, I'll open with this, although I actually wanted to make this evening's thread topic "Anti-Valentine's Day". I think I'll still go in that direction, playing tunes that express my love for thing other than my Valentine.

The Criminal Under My Own Hat

T Bone Burnett is a musical jack-of-all-trades... singer, songwriter, guitarist, a producer of albums and a producer of soundtracks for film and television.  Released in 1992, 'The Criminal Under My Own Hat' is his seventh solo album. 

Just Folks

Israel "Izzy" Young was a music lover who founded the Folklore Center in Greenwich Village in 1957.  Some of the artists who performed at the Folklore Center, or who simply browsed through the books and records, included Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Tim Buckley, Phil Ochs, John Sebastian and Joni Mitchell, to name a few.  Indeed, it was Izzy who organized Dylan's first concert in New York City.

Izzy was a bit of a rabble-rouser too.  In 1961, when the Park Commissioner stopped issuing permits for folk musicians to play in Washington Park, Izzy led what would become known as the "Beatnik Riot", although it really wasn't much of a riot unless you include the actions of the cops who got a little pushy.  Izzy continued fighting the good fight in court, eventually getting the ban removed.

In 1973, Izzy moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where he owned and operated a second Folklore Center until his death last Monday, February 4th, at the ripe old age of 90.

Seems only fitting to pay tribute to Izzy and to the music that he loved.

Think I'll start things off with Tim Buckley.

Don't Bogart that Joint

R.I.P to Keith Knudsen (drummer & vocalist for The Doobie Brothers) who died of pneumonia on this day at the age of 56 in 2003.

On Every Street

Had a request for some Dire Straits.  Didn't have to be asked twice...

Psycho and Psychic

Joe Meek was a British record producer, sound engineer and songwriter who is credited with developing space age and experimental pop music, as well as the use of sampling, reverb and overdubbing.  In 2014, NME named him the greatest record producer of all time.

The artists that Meek worked with includes Petula Clark, the Blue Rondos, The Tornados, Tom Jones, The Honeycombs, and my personal favorite, Screaming Lord Sutch and The Savages.  He also had a chance to sign Rod Stewart but ran from the room with his fingers in his ears when Stewart began to sing.

Like so many creative people, Meek had his demons.  He was schizophrenic and bipolar, his mental health made worse by his use of amphetamines.  He was also fascinated with the idea of communicating with the dead, often setting up recording equipment in cemeteries.

Perhaps Meek did communicate with the dead on one occasion.  In 1958, he claimed that a spirit had warned him that Buddy Holly would die on February 3.  When Holly played in London, Meek tried to warn him but failed to meet up with the singer.  Holly would go on to die in a plane crash, along with Richie Valens and the Big Bopper.  The date?  February 3, 1959.

Eight years later, Meek would shoot his landlord and then turn the gun on himself.  The date was February 3, 1967.

Yes, This is a Thing.

Know what this is?

A Nambian "artist" named Max Siedentopf has decided that Toto's "Africa" should play on a loop, using solar batteries, for eternity in the desert. This is his sound installation, consisting of six speakers attatched to an MP3 player with "Africa - and "Africa" alone.

Of course. He's 27.

So if you're ever lost in the African desert, don't bother following the music.

Surely you understand that I'm required to post it here now, and you're required to play it, and repeat it, for eternity. Either that, or move to Africa. Your choice.