With Nelson Mandela‘s passing, the world mourns the loss of an amazing man. It is hard to comprehend the changes that Mandela helped make in his lifetime. Back in 1985, while Mandela sat in prison and Artists Against Apartheid released the song “Sun City,” one could not have imagined that within a decade Mandela would be president of South Africa. RIP.
Aritsts Against Apartheid was founded by Steven Van Zandt (aka Miami Steve, aka Little Steven) and record producer Arthur Baker. Sun City was a resort in South Africa, and the song called on artists to refuse to play there until apartheid ended. The song and video features such artists as Run DMC, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Hall & Oates, Herbie Hancock, and Ringo Starr.
Only five years after the song’s release, Steven Van Zandt would appear on stage with Simple Minds, Chrissie Hynde, Lou Reed, and others, to sing “Sun City” at a tribute concert for Nelson Mandela at Wembley stadium. They were celebrating Mandela’s release from prison in early 1990.
One of the most beautiful songs of 2013 is “The Sea & the Shore,” written by Amy Speace and Robby Hecht. On the album How to Sleep in a Stormy Boat (2013), Speace performs the song with John Fullbright, who we had previously featured covering Steve Earle’s “Me and the Eagle.”
“The Sea & the Shore” recounts a conversation between the water and the land, although of course it is about more than that. The verses open with the Sea and the Shore exchanging verses, with the Shore reminding the Sea it had left and the Sea reminding the Shore of the promise to return. The song mirrors a breakup between a man and a woman, using beautiful imagery. As things happen in the human world, the song ends in heartbreak. So the Sea took one last look and turned away, And the Shore was more than strong enough to stay; And castles melted back into the sand; Driftwood drifted up onto the land; Rocks rose up proud in shinny skin; Shells began their gossiping again.
On Fullbright’s website, he explains that the video was filmed on a “bitterly cold day in Nashville this past January.” I agree with him that it was worth it. What do you think of “The Sea & the Shore”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash gathered at the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The gathering was not planned, but because of the fast thinking of a recording engineer, it created a unique moment in music history.
How the Gathering Started
On that date, Carl Perkins was in the studio to record a follow-up to his hit “Blue Suede Shoes.” A still-unknown Jerry Lee Lewis, whose “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” would be released in a few weeks, played piano for Perkins.
During the session, Johnny Cash dropped by. And the 21-year old Elvis Presley, who already had left Sun for RCA, stopped by with his girlfriend to say hello. Soon, the singers began jamming together.
Recording engineer Jack Clement had the smarts to run a tape of the session, although the tape would not be heard for decades. But Sam Phillips called a local reporter to take a picture. The local paper used the caption that is still how we remember the session: the “Million Dollar Quartet” (which also later inspired a Broadway musical).
The session includes Elvis playing piano and the group running through a number of songs. Near the end, after Presley got up to leave, Lewis took over the piano and continued playing and singing.
Did Johnny Cash Sing With the Group?
In the recordings, you do not hear Johnny Cash’s voice up front, which has led to some speculation about whether he stayed around to sing with the other three men. In his autobiography, though, Cash explained that he was there the whole time but was furthest from the mike and singing higher than normal to be in key with Presley.
Cash also revealed it was the first time he had heard Jerry Lee Lewis. Cash explained why Elvis left after Lewis took over the piano. “If you’re wondering why Elvis left right after Jerry Lee got started,” he explained, “the answer is simple: nobody, not even Elvis, ever wanted to follow Jerry Lee.”
Available Recordings
The above recording is listed as a “complete” session of the session. There are a number of CD versions, including a 1990 release. Then the songs were reordered for a later 2006 release that also included some additional tracks.
No matter which CD version you hear, I love the recording of the men jamming and laughing together. I periodically listen to the CD of the session the whole way through.
Although we know of the great talent of these four men, it is often easy to forget the joy they found in the music. But that joy radiates through this recording.
What is your favorite part of the Million Dollar Quartet recording? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On December 3, 1967, doctors at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa performed the first successful human heart transplant. Fifty-three-year-old Lewis Washkansky, who was dying from chronic heart disease, received his new heart when cardiac surgeon Christiaan N. Barnard led the nine-hour operation.
Washkansky’s new heart came from a 25-year-old woman named Denise Darvall. Darvall had worked as a bank clerk and enjoyed designing clothes.
Darvall had lost her life when she and her family were out for a family drive. At the time, Darvall and her mother were walking back to their car from a bakery when a car struck them. Darvall’s father, George Darvall, who from the family’s car had witnessed both his daughter and wife being killed, approved the heart donation when he thought of how generous and kind his daughter had been.
Although the transplant was successful, Washkansky died eighteen days later from double pneumonia. Unfortunately, drugs designed to keep his body from rejecting the new heart made him more susceptible to illness. During the eighteen days, though, his new heart worked well, giving hope to future heart transplant patients.
Singer Steve Earle has explained that to live life well you only need two things: “an inquisitive mind” and “a fearless heart.” On the third of December in 1967, the inquisitive minds of doctors, researchers, and scientists created a landmark achievement with the help of the fearless hearts of Lewis Washkansky, Denise Darvall, and George Darvall.
So, here is one of my all-time favorite Steve Earle songs, “Fearless Heart,” dedicated to the women and men who made this accomplishment possible and saved many lives.
The song “Fearless Heart” first appeared on Steve Earle’s excellent 1986 debut album, Guitar Town.
Leonardo da Vinci Heart and its Blood Vessels drawing via public domain.
What is your favorite song about hearts? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On December 1, 1940, Richard Pryor was born in Peoria, Illinois. Pryor had a difficult childhood, suffering abuse as he grew up in his grandmother’s brothel. But he would go on to be one of the greatest comedians of all time.
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