Minor Wisdom

John Campbell, “Saddle Up My Pony”

In a comment to my recent post about John Hammond, Greg Peters recommended John Campbell. Greg said that Campbell’s album Howling Mercy “will take the top of your head clean off.” If this video is any indication, then Greg is right.

A discovery

So I’m driving home from work one evening, listening to WWOZ. It’s a blues show. And as I hit Lee Circle, this amazing acoustic number comes out of the speakers. The song is “No One Can Forgive Me But My Baby.” The words are arresting. The guitar playing is like nothing I’ve ever heard—a deep musical exploration of a simple, traditionally structured blues song.

I had to know who this artist was. Trouble is, WWOZ generally plays song after song after song, with no talking in between for maybe a 15-minute stretch or longer. So I got home before they announced who had played the last several songs.

I got inside, got upstairs, and turned on the radio. One more song, and then, finally, the DJ. The DJ said that the guy singing “No One Can Forgive Me But My Baby” was John Hammond. Now of course I’ve heard of John Hammond—he’s hardly obscure. But I’ve never really heard any of his music before, until now.

Anyway, I must get the album with this song on it. A little bit of searching, and I find it on Got Love If You Want It. Point, click, order. It arrived the day before yesterday, and hasn’t left my car stereo since. It’s the deepest, most involved, most committed blues I’ve heard in a long time. I’m going to have to get me more stuff by this guy.

Obama, Clinton, and McCain are of one mind on Darfur

The three remaining major presidential candidates released a joint statement today on Darfur. This is encouraging.

Quotation of the day

“The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men! A weird life it is, indeed, to be living always in somebody else’s imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could at last become real!”

— Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain 362 (50th anniversary ed. 1999). (Yes, I’m still making my way through this book. I read slowly.)

Quotation of the day

JFK, 1961:

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Athenae, just yesterday:

You do not lose people because you ask too much of them. You lose people because you ask for too little.... [I]t’s not too hard and you can in fact beat back the inevitable with your bare hands and it can happen, and all you need is the example of someone telling you, instead of sit down, shut up, stand up, start yelling. Fight, for the love of your immortal souls. Fight.

In the aftermath of 9/11 they could have asked us for anything. Anything. Enlistment en masse. National service. Financial sacrifice. Put your pantyhose in a drawer and draw a line down the back of your legs with an eyeliner pencil; they could have asked us to build 100,000 airplanes and we would have done it, because we can. But they asked us to go shopping, they told us to take off our shoes in the airport, they lied to us about Iraq. They asked us to be angry and they asked us to be scared and they asked us to turn on each other, and wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly what happened. They asked us for nothing and that’s exactly what they got.

And the irony is that in our whole life as a country we were never stronger than when we reached out and held on to one another. When we have been weak, when we have failed, it is only because then we let go, turned our backs, hated and feared and strung up garlic and picked up stakes. It is only because then we forgot ourselves, as we have now.

Hat tip to Suspect Device.

Taj Mahal and Corey Harris: “Sittin’€™ on Top of the World”

All I can say about this video is it’€™s as sweet as sweet tea.

See also A Scale Canadian, where Jim Bates has posted a live performance of “Shelter from the Storm” by Bob Dylan.

Your song

Today is the 58th birthday of Bernie Taupin, the guy who wrote the lyrics for most of Elton John’s song. To commemorate Bernie’s birthday (and for the sake of nostalgia), here’s a video of “Your Song,” Bernie and Elton’s first U.S.A. mega-hit. (Hat tip to Word Sell.)

Another Barathon survived

I’m happy to report that I survived last evening’s running of the 26th annual Tchoupitoulas Barathon. Six miles, six bar, six beers; time 1:02:25. Not bad, considering that my longest recent run was five days prior: five miles (with no beer stops) in just under an hour.

I didn’t take a camera along this time. But my wife, Suzanne, did. She took some snapshots, which I uploaded here.

The Pretenders: “My City Was Gone”

Here’s a rock-and-roll apple that didn’t fall far from the blues tree: the Pretenders’ live performance of “My City Was Gone.” Orleanians can relate to that.

The good folks at What About Clients Paris?, who led me to this video, have their own version of Saturday Evening Blues going. Today’s installment there is Howlin’ Wolf performing “Dust My Broom.”

Get your FYYFF t-shirt right here

If you want an FYYFF t-shirt (you know you do!) but can’t make it to Dirty Coast’s store on Magazine Street to buy one, fear not: you can buy one (or several) on line at Dirty Coast’s web site. While there, check out the photos of Hana Morris and some NOLA bloggers modeling these coolest of t-shirts. (All proceeds from the sale of these shirts go to Hana and kids.)

While you’re visiting Dirty Coast, check out some of their other offerings. My wife, for instance, just bought a Geauxbama shirt (I’m so envious!), and my t-shirt drawer includes NOLA Gothic. Next on my Dirty Coast wish-list is their NOS&WB welcome mat.