On May 14, 1936, Walden Robert Cassotto, who we all know as Bobby Darin, was born in the Bronx. When one thinks of Darin, the first thing that probably comes to mind is one of his hits from the late 1950s or early 1960s, like “Splish Splash,” “Dream Lover,” “Mack the Knife” or “Beyond the Sea.” But Darin continued to record in a number of different genres, including folk and country, and he also did some acting, even earning an Academy Award nomination.
In 1963, Darin played a shell-shocked soldier in the World War II drama, Captain Newman, M.D.., which also starred Gregory Peck and featured other actors like Tony Curtis, Angie Dickinson, and Robert Duvall. The movie, based on a novel by Leo Rosten, followed the work of Captain Newman (Peck) at a neuro-psychiatric ward of a military hospital in Arizona.
For his portrayal of the shell-shocked Cpl. Jim Tompkins, Darin was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Additionally, at the Cannes Film Festival, he won the French Film Critics Award for best actor. He appears for a few seconds in this preview.
Although he continued to record, act, appear on TV, and become involved in politics through the 1960s and the 1970s, Darin had his final Top 10 hit in 1966 with a recording of Tim Hardin‘s “If I Were a Carpenter.”
Below Darin performs “If I Were a Carpenter” in January 1969 with Stevie Wonder when Darin hosted NBC’S Kraft Music Hall: Sounds of the Sixties special. Their performance has the feel of an impromptu jam, and it is pretty awesome.
Although Darin is only 32 in the performance with Wonder, Darin had health problems through much of his life from a weakened heart due to a childhood illness.
Darin passed away at the age of 37 on December 20, 1973, and at his request, his body was donated to science. As he did in his too-short life, Darin wanted to give everything he could even in death. What is your favorite Bobby Darin song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Linda Perry recently reunited with 4 Non Blondes to perform “What’s Up?” live together for the first time in twenty years. Fortunately, someone was there on Saturday, May 10, 2014 to capture on video the group at “An Evening With Women,” the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center‘s annual fundraising event.
“What’s Up” is one of the most memorable songs from the 1990s. It first appeared on the group’s 1992 album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More! before being released as a single in 1993.
Do you recall why the song is called “What’s Up?” even though the phrase never appears in the lyrics? Reportedly, Perry chose the title instead of the chorus’s “what’s going on” to avoid confusion with Marvin Gaye’s classic song of that name. Anyway, check out the recent performance of the worldwide hit song.
Perry left 4 Non Blondes in 1994, but they still sound great together on “What’s Up?”
George Denis Patrick Carlin was born in Manhattan, New York on May 12, 1937. In honor of the birthday of George Carlin and the stuff that we get on our birthdays, here is one of his famous routines about “stuff,” which is both funny and true.
Carlin passed away on June 22, 2008.
What is your favorite George Carlin segment? Leave your two cents in the comments.
So like a lot of your friends you have been blowing off American Idol this year, perhaps disgruntled after the fiasco of last year’s judges. But now you have heard this year’s judges have been great and, more importantly, the final three contestants may be the most talented top three in the show’s history. Well, here is a short introduction to the top three so you can watch this coming week, where the contestants visit their homes, and the following week’s finale.
Jena Irene, who is from Farmington Hills, Michigan, started out as a Wild Card selected by the judges for the top 13. Early on, she ended up in the bottom three, but she gradually rose to the top with her unique voice. She has a powerhouse voice that can rival former Idol winners like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Then, she can turn around and play a ballad on the piano and blow everyone away like she did last week on “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” While once an underdog, she should win the season.
Caleb Johnson is the loud rocker from Asheville, North Carolina who was an early favorite to win the season and many still pick him to win. Johnson has a huge range that he usually uses to belt out powerful rock songs. If he has had a weakness, it has been that most of his songs have been similar power rockers, but those songs really hit his sweet spot. This week, though, he showed more diversity when he did an unusual “slower” song and covered Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed.”
Alex Preston is the indy Joseph-Mraz-type artist from Mount Vernon, New Hampshire. One can imagine him having a successful career singing his own songs while he plays acoustic guitar. He has been one of the most inventive artists this season. Like Jena Irene, he is not afraid to put his own twist on the songs. His uniqueness has helped him rise to the top three, surprising many viewers. This week he tackled Coldplay’s “Yellow.”
Awhile ago, I picked all three of these performers to make it to the top five, and American voters did an excellent job keeping the best three for the final two shows. All three of these artists have the potential for successful careers whether or not they win American Idol. My guess is that you will be hearing a lot more from Jena Irene at least, no matter what happens. So you might as well give in and watch.
Who do you think will win American Idol? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On May 8, 1541, explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto became one of the first Europeans to reach the Mississippi River. A little more than a year later on May 21, 1542, still on a search for silver and gold in what would become the southern U.S., de Soto died from a fever on the banks of the Mississippi River. His men, not wanting the Native Americans to discover that de Soto was not divine, buried his body in the river.
Blinded by his search for precious metals, the Spaniard could not have foreseen the real value of the water with a name that came from an Ojibwe word for “Great River.” And de Soto could not have predicted that a state would take its name from the river. And he would not know that it all eventually would lead one of the land’s greatest songwriters, born in a state that hosts the headwaters of the mighty river, to use “Mississippi” as the title of one of his late career classics.
Bob Dylan’s “Mississippi”
We continue our series on Bob Dylan’s Late Career Classics with a listen to “Mississippi,” from Love and Theft (2001). Dylan continues to write outstanding songs, but in this series we consider songs that are classics in the sense they are not only identified with Dylan but appear in excellent cover versions, much like many songs from his early catalog.
I am not the only fan of Dylan’s “Mississippi.” Rolling Stone has proclaimed that “Mississippi” is the seventeenth best song of the 2000s, comparing it favorably with Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue.” Further, the magazine ranks it 260th out of the greatest songs of all time.
Dylan must have sensed something special in the song because he made several versions of the song while trying to get it right. He initially recorded it for Time Out of Mind (1997). But he eventually left it off that album because he did not like Daniel Lanois’ arrangement.
So “Mississippi” first appeared on an official release several years later on Love and Theft. Here is Bob Dylan performing the song live in 2002.
Sheryl Crow’s Cover
Because of the delay in Dylan releasing his own version, someone else released a cover version of “Mississippi” before Dylan released the song. Dylan first gave it to Sheryl Crow, who recorded it for her 1998 album The Globe Sessions.
Sheryl Crow in interviews explained how Dylan contacted her to ask if she wanted to record the song. Below is her version.
Dylan’s Slow Acoustic “Mississippi”
Dylan has released alternate versions of “Mississippi.” For my money, the best version is Dylan’s slower acoustic performance of “Mississippi.” This version leads off Dylan’s 2008 album of late-career lost songs and alternate takes, Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8, which as a 2-CD set included two versions of the song and as a 3-CD expensive deluxe version included three “Mississippi’s.”
There are a few good covers of this slower version, including one from “Blues From a Hammock.” And in this cover, Scottish singer-songwriter Rob Naokes does nice job covering the wonderful acoustic version.
Other artists have performed the song too. The Dixie Chicks, like Crow, make a rocking version of the song:
What is “Mississippi” Really About?
Many have speculated about the meaning of Dylan’s “Mississippi.” One writer claimed the song is influenced by the poetry of Henry Rollins. Rolling Stone claims it is “both a romantic promise and a hint of doom.”
The lyrics reveal past regrets (“So many things that we never will undo / I know you’re sorry, I’m sorry too”). But at the same time, there are moments of humor and hope (“I know that fortune is waiting to be kind / So give me your hand and say you’ll be mine”).
The singer recalls there is only one thing he did wrong, he “stayed in Mississippi a day too long.” Yet, what happened in Mississippi remains a mystery to the listener.
Dylan knows that sometimes it is best to let the listener fill in the blanks. “Mississippi’s” magic is in one’s imagination, more powerful than the imaginary gold and silver that led de Soto to his grave in the great river. What do you think “Mississippi” is about? Leave your two cents in the comments.
before being released as a single in 1993.
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, which as a 2-CD set included two versions of the song and as a 3-CD expensive