Category: Music

Willie Nelson Is “Still Not Dead”

Willie Nelson God's Problem

Willie Nelson celebrates his birthday with the release of a new album, God’s Problem Child.   One of the new tracks on the album is “Still Not Dead.”

Nelson was born in Abbott, Texas on April 29, 1933 (although his birth certificate lists April 30 as his birth date).  Now in his 80’s, Nelson’s voice, phrasing, and guitar playing still combine for some wonderful songs.

God’s Problem Child includes songs like “He Won’t Ever Be Gone,” a tribute to Merle Haggard written by Gary Nicholson.  The first single, “Still Not Dead,” is a fun laugh at mortality by a man often rumored to be dead.  Below is the official video for “Still Not Dead.”

The album is full of solid songs that sound like classic Willie. NPR describes the new album as Willie Nelson reflecting “on this season of his life with a mischievousness and equanimity that already feels familiar coming from him.” God’s Problem Child hits stores and the Internet on April 28, 2017.

What is your favorite Willie Nelson song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    John Mellencamp’s “Ain’t Even Done With the Night”

    John Mellencamp
    I remember going to a John Mellencamp concert back in the late 1980s, when he already had a long catalog of classic songs. As the opening notes of “Ain’t Even Done With the Night” began that night, it reminded me that Mellencamp had hit songs even before “Jack & Diane” swamped the radio airwaves.

    “Ain’t Even Done with the Night” appeared on the 1980 album Nothin Matters & What If It Did.  Back then, we knew the singer-songwriter as “John Cougar.”

    Mellencamp has said some disparaging things about the creation of some of his early albums.  But when I first heard him play this song live in the 1980s, he seemed to have a special fondness for this song, one of first hits.

    He told a story about how he wrote the song for a girl he knew in high school.  Then, when he went back to his high school reunion, he took her to his car to play the song for her. But his old flame continued to talk through the song, so he never got to tell her how the song was for her.

    I do not know if his story about the song is true, and I cannot find any verification on the Internet.  But I always think of that story when I hear “Ain’t Even Done With the Night.”

    It is one of those songs that feel like they have been around forever. And “Ain’t Even Done” even seems like it is from another earlier era than most of Mellencamp’s other iconic songs, like “Pink Houses.”

    Another thing that seems from an earlier era is this video of “John Cougar” giving a live television performance of “Ain’t Even Done With the Night.” From his band members dancing in pink tuxes, Mellencamp’s own charmingly awkward dancing, and the finale that pays homage to James Brown, this wonderful video should leave you with a smile.

    Were we ever this young?

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Buy from Amazon

    Little Steven is Releasing “Soulfire”

    Little Steven

    Steven Van Zandt rose to fame as “Miami Steve” during his work with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.  But on a hiatus from that band, the guitarist and singer released several outstanding albums as a lead singer in the 1980s under the name “Little Steven.”  Now, after 18 years, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul are returning with a new album, Soulfire.

    Soulfire features a collection of songs written for various purposes throughout the years.  The album features some of Little Steven’s versions of songs he helped write for Southside Johnny, such as “I Don’t Want to Go Home” and “Love on the Wrong Side of Town,” the latter of which Van Zandt wrote with Springsteen.

    The music sounds like the rock and soul of his earlier albums. Van Zandt explained to Rolling Stone:  “I tried to pick material that when you added it all up, really represented me. So there are a couple of covers, a couple of new songs, and some of what I feel are the best songs I’ve written and co-written over the years. This record is me doing me.”

    I have always been a big fan of Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. I first listened to his work because of his association with Springsteen.  But one listen to his first album made me a Little Steven fan.

    Little Steven’s 1982 album Men Without Women was a great debut. Yet, 1984’s Voice of America is one of my all-time favorite albums. Voice of America included fantastic songs like “Out of the Darkness,” which appeared as a video on MTV, and “I am a Patriot,” later covered by Jackson Browne and by Pearl Jam.

    I also liked Little Steven’s Freedom – No Compromise (1987), which  continued building upon Van Zandt’s political voice with songs like “Trail of Broken Treaties” and “Bitter Fruit.”  His 1989 album Revolution flew below my radar.  Perhaps folks paid less attention because it digressed from the sound of his earlier albums, embracing even more of the electronic sound of the era.  Similarly, when Little Steven finally returned in 1999 with a new album,  Born Again Savage, the garage-rock sound disappointed me a bit.

    Soulfire, however, finds Little Steven returning to the soul sounds of his early great albums. So, I cannot wait for the release.

    The first single from Soulfire is “St. Valentine’s Day.” Van Zandt originally wrote the song for Nancy Sinatra but she never got to record it so he helped The Cocktail Slippers record it originally. Check out the version on Little Steven’s new album.

    Soulfire will hit the Internet stores on May 19, 2017.

    What is your favorite Little Steven song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

    Sgt Pepper Documentary

    Sgt Pepper

    A new documentary celebrates the classic 1967 Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The film, It Was 50 Years Ago Today! The Beatles: Sgt Pepper & Beyond, focuses on the 12 months around the recording of the album.

    The movie, directed by Alan G. Parker, features archival video and interviews with people like John Lennon’s sister Julia and former Beatles drummer Pete Best. Check out the trailer for the movie.

    It Was 50 Years Ago Today! The Beatles: Sgt Pepper & Beyond will be in U.K. theaters on May 26, 2017 followed by release on DVD later in the summer.

    Also, as part of the celebration of the anniversary of the album, a new box set special edition is being released of the album featuring 34 bonus tracks of outtakes.

    For more about Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, check out the video of “Things You Didn’t Know” about the album below.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    October 1992: They Were So Much Older Then

    Dylan 30th

    Our video for the day is the performance of Bob Dylan’s “My Back Pages” at The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration.  The concert — held at on October 16, 1992 at Madison Square Garden — celebrated Dylan’s 30 years of recording.  And this performance featured Dylan, Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Eric Clapton and George Harrison.

    It is an amazing collection of legends onstage doing on of Dylan’s great early songs.  “My Back Pages” originally appeared on his 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan.

    What is amazing about this performance is how at the time of the concert, the singers were already legends and they seemed old at the time.  But looking at it now, they all seem so young.  Or maybe part of that is because I am so much older now.

    Check out the video, which begins with Roger McGuinn singing the song, which he had previous recorded with The Byrds and released in 1967.  Then, the others follow until Dylan takes the lead himself.  In the meantime, one may watch Dylan’s face to make any guesses about what he is thinking as the others sing his song.

    There are various interpretations of “My Back Pages,” although most read it as Dylan’s rejection of his younger idealism.  But like many of his songs, listeners may find their own meaning and a little of their own life in the song.  And, more than two decades ago, we found a little more connection to the song through many of the rock legends of our youth.

    What is your favorite version of “My Back Pages”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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