The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins

In the mood for an old favorite... 

The Last Days Of Oakland

Sometimes success comes later in life.  That was the case for Xavier Dphrepaulezz, better known as Fantastic Negrito.  As a young man, he taught himself to play music by sneaking into music classes at UC-Berkeley.  He even signed with a record company, releasing an album in 1996.  Alas, it wasn't his time.  In 1999, a car crash almost killed young Mr. Dphrepaulezz, leaving him in a coma for several weeks.  This was followed by the record company deciding to drop him. 

In 2007, Dphrepaulezz chose to walk away from his musical dreams and find some other way to pass the time and earn a living.  Lucky for us, he changed his mind a few years later.  In 2014, at the age of 44, he returned to the studio and recorded his first album as Fantastic Negrito.  'The Last Days Of Oakland' is his follow-up album, released in 2016. 

If that doesn't work, you can find the full album here.

Closer

According to the narrative, two young men from Salford, England formed Joy Division in 1976 after going to a Sex Pistols show.  Peter Hook played bass.  Bernard Sumner played guitar and keyboards.  They recruited Ian Curtis as their singer and lyricist, eventually settling on Stephen Morris to play drums. 

The band originally called themselves Warsaw, but later changed their name to Joy Division.  They took the name from 'House of Dolls', a novel about sex slaves who were kept in a wing of a Nazi concentration camp called "the joy division". 

To describe their music as dark would be an understatement.  This was in no small part due to the influence of Ian Curtis, a tragic young man who suffered from depression and epilepsy.  It was not uncommon for Curtis to have seizures during live performances.  Towards the end, his seizures became uncontrollable, and so on May 18, 1980, the night before the band was scheduled to leave for a tour of North America, Ian Curtis killed himself. 

'Closer' is the second and final studio album by Joy Division.  The other members of the band would go on to form New Order after Curtis' death.  I like New Order just fine as synth-pop bands go, but their music lacks the depth and the darkness that Curtis brought to Joy Division.

You can find the full album here or here




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Friday the 13th

Somewhere around 1986 or 87, I broke my baby daughter’s arm on Friday the 13th.

Told ya I hate kids.

My Favorite Things

Thought I'd venture off into Jazz and pay tribute to my favorite piano player, who left this mortal coil two days ago. McCoy Tyner was a special talent. Most might know him for his work with John Coltrane.

I first fell in love with John Coltrane's recording of 'My Favorite Things' when I was ten years old. Drove my father crazy, asking him to play it over and over again. One of the benefits of being the daughter of a horn player. And sure, I fell in love with Coltrane's saxophone, but it was McCoy Tyner's piano that carried me off into worlds that I had never imagined before listening to this work of wonder.  

            

Fair passage to the Land of the Ancestors, Mr Tyner.  You will be missed.  

                                               

                                  

You can find the full album here. 

The Days Of Wine And Roses

The Dream Syndicate were part of the Paisley Underground, meaning Alt-Rock bands in the 80's who were influenced by such 60's bands as The Byrds and Love.  'The Days Of Wine And Roses' was their debut studio album.

The full album can be found here or here.