Pophistory: music, movies, history, and life.
In the video for the song “All My Friends,” Coldplay incorporates archival video footage from World War I.
The new video for Coldplay’s song “All My Friends” uses archival video footage from World War I. The song is from the band’s CD, Ghost Stories. Check it out.
The video will appear on a CD/DVD package Ghost Stories Live 2014, which will be released on November 24, 2014.
What do you think of the video for “All My Friends”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Singer-songwriter Dan Bern writes about the music that was important to him as a kid in “Merle, Hank, and Johnny.” The touching meditation on aging captures the importance of music in one’s life, as the singer looks back on his own life while also wondering what music will mean to his own daughter. “But I’ll make sure she hears Merle and Hank and Johnny / Buck Owens, Jimmy Rogers and George Jones.”
Earlier this year, Dan Bern performed “Merle, Hank, and Johnny” — along with his song “Jerusalem” — at the 2014 Folk Alliance Festival in Kansas City. He also answers a few questions. Check it out.
Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Darius Rucker recently had a hit with “Wagon Wheel,” a song is so catchy that when you hear it you believe that you have heard it all your life. Although the song has not been around forever, it has been around for quite some time, going back through an unfinished Bob Dylan recording to an even earlier time.
When Bob Dylan was recording music for the soundtrack to Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) (an underrated Western gem), he put together what he later called a “sketch” of a song that came to be known as “Rock Me Mama.” He never finished the draft of the song, but you may hear it below.
Reportedly, Dylan credited the title phrase in the song to Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (1905-1974), who in turn apparently developed it from Big Bill Broonzy‘s “Rock Me Baby.” Broonzy claimed he got the idea for the song from an older source, but Broonzy’s is the earliest version we know about.
Crudup’s version of “Rock Me Mama” does not have much similarity to Dylan’s version beyond the title. Yet, Crudup’s song is important for not only influencing Dylan, but it also influenced Elvis Presley. When Presley showed up at Sun Studios, the young man impressed Sam Phillips by knowing Crudup’s “Rock Me Mama.”
Although Dylan never released his version of “Rock Me Mama,” it was passed around as a bootleg, eventually catching the attention of Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. Secor liked the music and some of the words that he could make out in Dylan’s mumbled version. So, he decided to finish the song.
At the time he worked on the song, Secor was going to school in the Northeast, so he incorporated his homesickness for the South in a song about a someone hitchhiking from the North to the South to see his lover. The song, now entitled “Wagon Wheel,” then appeared on Old Crow Medicine Show’s 2001 EP Troubles Up and Down the Road and then on 2004’s O.C.M.S.
“Wagon Wheel” became a bluegrass staple, and country artists and others took notice too. In 2012, Irish singer Nathan Carter recorded a version of “Wagon Wheel” for an album of the same name.
Eventually, the song came to the attention of Darius Rucker in the midst of his post-Hootie & the Blowfish successful career in country music. Darius Rucker has reported that while he is a fan of Old Crow Medicine Show, he did not think much about “Wagon Wheel” until he heard a faculty band at his daughter’s school perform the song. Inspired by the performance, Darius Rucker decided to record the song himself in 2012.
Rucker put “Wagon Wheel” on his 2013 album, True Believers
So, forty years after Bob Dylan recorded some ideas from Arthur Crudup and Big Bill Broonzy, the recording evolved into a song heard by millions of listeners. Secor reports that while he has not had an extensive conversation with Dylan about the song, his sense is that Dylan is pleased with the results. So are a lot of people.
And that’s the story behind the song.
Photo via public domain. Which is your favorite version of “Wagon Wheel”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Folksinger and songwriter Tom Paxton was born on October 31, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois. We celebrate today with one of his classic songs, “The Last Thing On My Mind.”
“The Last Thing On My Mind” first appeared on Paxton’s 1964 album Ramblin’ Boy
In this video, Paxton introduces “The Last Thing On My Mind” as a love song, but it is also a song about loss. The singer’s lover has left him, and while he contemplates what he did wrong, he realizes it is “a lesson too late for the learnin’.” He realizes he could have loved the person better, and the last thing on his mind was being unkind.
We do not know what happened to the narrator and his former lover, but Paxton is still going strong. He recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign for a new CD, Redemption Road, and he continues to tour around the country. Happy birthday Mr. Paxton!
What is your favorite Tom Paxton song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
I long have been a fan of Caitlin Cary‘s music that includes her days as part of Whiskeytown (with Ryan Adams) and her solo career. One of her latest projects finds her joining her musical talents with others to make a statement. In 2013, Cary and singer-songwriter Jon Lindsay co-founded NC Music Love Army. The group is a collective of musicians with a connection to North Carolina who wanted to make a statement about regressive politics in the state. The artists released an album of protest songs in 2013 called We Are Not For Sale: Songs of Protest.
In 2014, as we approach election time, the group is releasing additional songs. Below, listen to Mary Johnson Rockers sing “Senator’s Lament,” a song about the land that sounds timeless while also being timely. After the song, you may listen to alternate versions on the player too.
In “Dear Mr. McCrory,” Lindsay wrote a song directed at the governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory. On the song about voter suppression in the state and civil rights, Lindsay is joined by Cary and BJ Barham (of American Aquarium).
In “Dear Mr. McCrory,” Lindsay asks a question we wonder about for many politicians, “When you were a young man did you wanna be / This person here before us today?” Check it out.
You may download “Dear Mr. McCrory,” “Senator’s Lament,” and other songs through NC Music Love Army’s website. [October 29, 2014 Update: Check out the latest release through NC Music Love Army of “Train Coming” by Dasan Ahanu and Jrusalam.]
Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
