On Frank Black’s 2006 Nashville album Fast Man Raider Man, a hidden gem features singer-songwriter Marty Brown joining Black on Ewan MacColl‘s classic “Dirty Old Town.” The duet combines two singers known for different types of music. But the rock sound of the former front man of the Pixies blends well with the Kentucky twang of Marty Brown on the English song.
MacColl originally wrote “Dirty Old Town” for a 1949 play Landscape with Chimneys. Yet, the song about Salford, Greater Manchester, England, has become something of a standard in its own right. In addition to MacColl’s own recording, the song has been covered by such folks as the Dubliners, the Pogues, Rod Stewart, and Townes Van Zandt.
The gritty recording of “Dirty Old Town” by Frank Black and Marty Brown makes me wish they had done more work together. Brown contributed in other ways to Black’s album Fast Man Raider Man, where Brown also played bass and provided backing vocals. They could have named their band “Black & Brown.”
Ewan MacColl, the folk singer and songwriter behind “Dirty Old Town,” wrote a number of songs including “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face.” He passed away in October 1989. But the song about his dirty old home town lives on.
What is your favorite version of “Dirty Old Town”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
One of the important people of the rock era, Max Yasgur, was born to Jewish immigrants from Russia on December 15 in 1919. Yasgur’s place in rock history came nearly five decades later. He was the owner of the dairy farm that hosted the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, which was held between August 15 and August 18, 1969.
After other towns in upstate New York rejected the idea of hosting the festival, Yasgur leased a field in Bethel, New York to the concert organizers. The 49-year-old farmer was paid for the lease. But he also proved his generosity.
When Yasgur saw that such a large number of kids showed up for the concert, he worked to make sure there was enough free water. Also, he told his own kids to give away all of his milk and dairy products to feed the concert-goers.
At one point during the concert, Yasgur addressed the crowd. He began by saying “I am a farmer.” Then, he explained he did not know how to address a crowd of young people. But as you may see in the video below, he did.
Many of Yasgur’s neighbors were angry at him for allowing his land to be used for the concert. Some of them sued him. And his own land suffered damage from the concert.
In 1971, Yasgur sold his land and moved to Florida. A year and a half later on February 9, 1973, he died due to a heart condition. But as Brian Doyle recently wrote in “The Sudden City” in the April 2016 issue of The Sun magazine, “Max had a great heart.” Doyle uses Yasgur’s acts of generosity to remind us in today’s cynical world that there are people everywhere doing good things to help others.
Yasgur’s kindness reminds us to be nice to others. On top of that, he also helped set the table for a concert that emerged as a symbol of people coming together in peace and love.
There was great music. But as Doyle writes, “perhaps the deeper story, the better story, the more substantive story, is how a sudden city of young Americans arose briefly on a hillside for one summer weekend, and no one got beaten up, and hundreds of people . . . handed out water and sandwiches and blankets.”
John Prine is releasing a new album of duets called For Better, For Worse (2016). On the upcoming album, Prine covers a number of country classics with some help from female singers like Iris DeMent, Alison Krauss, Miranda Lambert, Kathy Mattea, Kacey Musgraves, Fiona Prine, Amanda Shires, Morgane Stapleton, Susan Tedeschi, Holly Williams, and Lee Ann Womack.
The Album
For Better, For Worse is a follow-up of sorts to Prine’s 1999 album of similar duets, In Spite of Ourselves. Jim Rooney helped produce the 1999 CD, and he is on board again for the new album.
Prine explained to NPR that he was “kinda tricked” into recording his first full-length CD in five years. His wife and his son-manager suggested he record a handful of songs to fill the last side of a vinyl version of In Spite of Ourselves. Once he got started, they encouraged him to round out a new album.
Although we long for a new album of original material from Prine, this one sounds pretty good so far. He chooses some great songs originally performed by artists like Hank Williams, George Jones, Ernest Tubb, and Buck Owens.
“Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out”
On the new album, Iris DeMent joins Prine on “Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out,” which you may hear below.
Johnny Tillotson and Teddy Wilburn wrote “Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out.” The song was originally recorded by Loretta Lynn and Ernest Tubb in 1969. Check out their version below.
Melissa Etheridge is releasing a new album of covers of classic songs from Stax Records, MEmphis Rock and Soul (2016). One of the songs on the new album is “Hold On, I’m Coming,” made famous by Sam & Dave.
“Hold On, I’m Coming” was written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter and first appeared on the self-titled 1966 debut album by Sam & Dave. Some folks may remember the song from its appearance in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers.
On her upcoming album Etheridge plays the song with a full band, and below performs “Hold On, I’m Coming” live.
MEmphis Rock and Soul hits the Internet and stores on October 7, 2016. The album also includes classic Stax songs such as I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (to Stop Now),” “Who’s Making Love,” “Dreams to Remember,” and a reworked version of “Respect Yourself.” The album is available for pre-order at PledgeMusic.
The film Captain Fantastic (2016) is much better than one might expect. Although a short description of the film sounds like a family television series, the movie rises above expectations so that the sum of its parts make it one of the more enjoyable movies of the summer.
Captain Fantastic, written and directed by Matt Ross, stars Viggo Mortensen as Ben, an idealistic father trying to raise his six children away from society in the wilds of Washington state. As the movie opens, we learn that Ben’s wife is away being treated in a hospital.
Ben is serious about the education of his children, teaching them such activities as defending themselves with knives and rock climbing. But he equally teaches them about politics, philosophy, and literature. For example, the anti-capitalist family celebrates Noam Chomsky‘s birthday instead of Christmas.
As the movie progresses, word about Ben’s wife leads him and the children to go on the road. Some of the more humorous moments involve the family clashing with modern society. Ben also clashes with family members, in particular with his father-in-law Jack, played by Frank Langella.
From a description, so much of the movie seems predictable. But the movie works for several reasons. First, the actors are outstanding. Mortensen, of course, dominates the film. But the actors playing the children do an excellent job of giving personality to the roles. Actors Samantha Isler and George MacKay, for example, show that they have promising careers ahead of them.
Another reason the movie works is that the characters are three-dimensional. Producers of movies like this one are often tempted to make the father character perfect, but Ben is far from perfect, just as Langella’s character is not all bad.
Captain Fantastic does not give a one-sided perspective. Variety even argues that the film is both left-wing and right-wing.
I will not say more about the movie because it is better enjoyed without knowing too much about it. It is not a big-budget summer blockbuster, but it is an enjoyable movie that may be under the radar. Is Captain Fantastic fantastic? I will have to think more about the question, but the movie certainly does restore your faith in small summer movies.
Rotten Tomatoes gives Captain Fantastic a 78% critics score and an 85% audience score.
What did you think of Captain Fantastic? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On Frank Black’s 2006 Nashville album Fast Man Raider Man
hits the Internet on September 30, 2016.
