Gravity Got Me Again: Mitch Hedberg

Mitch Hedberg

The brilliant stand-up comic Mitch Hedberg was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota on February 24, 1968. After starting his comedy career in Florida and then moving to Seattle, he got a big break by appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1996.

Hedberg went on to make people laugh onstage and to work on television and film. His unique pattern of speech and comedic style, partly created because he suffered from stage fright, makes him one of the most identifiable comedians. He was also simply brilliant.

This video appears to show Hedberg’s first appearance on Letterman. He was on television with David Letterman ten times in his career, but this video clearly is an early performance (and some on YouTube note it is that first appearance).

Previously, we had posted Hedberg’s first appearance on Letterman in 1996, but that video appears to no longer be available.  So, instead, here is his 1998 appearance on the show.

Unfortunately, Hedberg died at the young age of 37 in a New Jersey hotel room on March 30, 2005. The medical examiner listed cocaine and heroin as the cause.

Fortunately, though, his work is still finding new fans and making us laugh today. He is missed.

“I write jokes for a living, man. See I sit in my hotel at night, I think of something that’s funny and then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen’s too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain’t funny.” — Mitch Hedberg

What is your favorite Mitch Hedberg line? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    New Video from Marty Brown: “Country Girls”

    Country Girls

    Country singer Marty Brown has released a new video for his song “Country Girls.”  The long-time country star and America’s-Got-Talent alum co-wrote the song with Jimmy Yeary.

    To promote the new song, Brown released a new video.  In the video, Brown gets a call while fishing. Then, he must make his way to his wife and his fans along various country roads.

    “Country Girls” is another solid country hit from the writer of the wonderful “Whatever Makes You Smile.” Check out “Country Girls.”

    For more information, check out Marty Brown’s website.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    The Springsteen Song Rejected By the Harry Potter Films

    Bruce Springsteen finally officially released his song “I’ll Stand By You” on one of his albums on “Tracks II,” but he wrote it for a Harry Potter movie.

    Springsteen Song Harry Potter

    One of the songs to finally appear on an official Bruce Springsteen album in the massive Tracks II set is “I’ll Stand By You” (called “I’ll Stand By You Always” in other places).  The track appears on the Twilight Hours “lost album.”  The song had appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Blinded by the Light, but it was originally intended for one of the Harry Potter films.

    The Harry Potter films had almost everything.  They had magic and adventure.  They had a story beloved by children and adults.  But they did not have a Bruce Springsteen song, although they could have.

    Bruce Springsteen offered his song “I’ll Stand By You Always” to the franchise, but filmmakers turned him down.  Reportedly, Springsteen wrote the song between 1998 and 2000 after reading the first Harry Potter book to his eldest son, Sam.  He then made the song available to director Christopher Columbus for either Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).

    Springsteen explained to BBC Radio 2 that “I’ll Stand By You Always” “was a big ballad that was very uncharacteristic of something I’d sing myself.”  He added, though, that “it was something that I thought would have fit lovely.”

    The song’s rejection had nothing to do with the quality of the song.  Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s contract stipulated that no commercial songs could be used in the movies.

    “I’ll Stand By You Always” almost had a second life when Marc Anthony planned to include it on his album Mended (2002).  But ultimately Anthony left the song off the album.

    In Springsteen’s demo version, “I’ll Stand By You Always” is a quiet ballad.  The lyrics contain no overt references to Harry Potter, but they do sound like they were written from a parent to a child.

    I know here in the dark tomorrow can seem so very far away;
    Here the ghosts and the goblins can rise from your dreams to steal your
    heart away;
    Together we’ll chase those thieves that won’t leave you alone out from
    under the bed, out from over our home;
    And when the light comes we’ll laugh my love about the things that the
    night had us so frightened of;
    And until then,

    I’ll stand by you always, always, always.

    Around the time that Springsteen was shopping the song to the Harry Potter folks, a CD-R with the song was given to some executives at Columbia Records.  But the song is not generally available.  Springsteen’s demo of “I’ll Stand By You Always” hit the Internet for a brief period recently, but for now it is gone.

    Springsteen does tend to release old songs eventually, so we eventually did get an official release of “I’ll Stand By You Always.”  But before it was released we had to imagine how it sounded as Conan O’Brien does below (“Let’s raise our wands to all the wizards and steel workers. . . “).

    Post updated in 2025. Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Sturgill Simpson and the Dap-Kings: “All Around You”

    Simpson Dap-Kings

    The 2017 Grammy Awards had several highlights.  While much of the buzz is rightfully upon amazing performances by the likes of Beyoncé, Adele, and A Tribe Called Quest, one wonderful performance that did not get so much attention was Sturgill Simpson and the Dap-Kings performing Simpsons’ “All Around You.”

    Simpson and the Dap-Kings make a perfect fit.  And, they were not thrown together by the Grammy folks as an attention-getting pairing.  The Dap-Kings, who attended the Grammys for a tribute to their former lead singer Sharon Jones, played on Simpson’s 2016 album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth.

    Check out Simpson and the Dap-Kings kicking it at the Grammys on “All Around You,” a song Rolling Stone described as “a tale of uplift in the face of adversity.”

    “All Around You” is from Simpson’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. Simpson wrote the album as a letter home from a man to his wife and newborn son. Working on the album, Simpson was inspired by his own time in the Navy, his separation from his own newborn while touring, and in a letter his grandfather wrote.  A Nirvana song also helped develop the album’s themes.

    Simpson’s performance was not the only highlight for him last night. He also took home the Grammy for Best Country Album. And then, after the show, he celebrated with a stop at In-N-Out-Burger.

    What was your favorite performance at the Grammys? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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