This week's musical miscellany

This week the cable/satellite TV network Ovation has been celebrating "American Revolutionaries: Rock N Soul" with a series of fine music films and documentaries.  So far, the lineup has featured Johnny Cash: Half A Mile A Day, Jim Jarmusch's Neil Young: Year Of The Horse, Legends of Rock 'N' Roll  Live, Jimi Hendrix: American Landing, and Mahalia Jackson: The Power And The Glory - all highly recommended.

Tonight, Ken Mandel's Masters Of American Music: Bluesland airs at 9 pm EST.  The 1993 PBS doc traces the development and influence of the blues on American music and culture; the artists profiled include B. B. King, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy Waters, and Chuck Berry.  I've not seen this before, and I'm looking forward to it.  Ditto for tomorrow night's Janis; the 1974 Howard Alk biopic of rock's first female superstar will also air at 9 pm EST.

Both films have encore showings immediately following at 11 pm EST, and if you missed any of the others, Ovation will rebroadcast them at various times over the weekend.  Check out their schedule here.

Other items I've enjoyed this week: to celebrate the recent release of Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series Vol. 9 and the Original Mono Recordings box set, Columbia Records has produced both a short documentary film about the recording of the Witmark Demos and a cute faux-retro PSA advising us all to "Stick With Mono!"



Rolling Stone also debuted a new music video for Dylan's "Guess I'm Doing Fine," which uses archival footage of both Dylan and New York in the '60s.



If you're on the fence as to whether or not the Mono box is worth it, this review on Soundspike details the sonic differences between these remastered reissues and their previous CD incarnations.  I know what I want for Christmas this year!

I discovered a great new (to me) music blog the other day, courtesy of the fine folks at No Depression. Dustin Ogdin's tale of how he finally came to appreciate the music of Dylan and Peter Rowan in some ways mirrors my own musical journey.

One producer/musician I'm always eager to listen to is Daniel Lanois.  He's about to take to the road with his latest project, Black Dub, and you can preview the band's new album on NPR.

Robert Plant's recent appearance with the reformed Band of Joy at the BBC Electric Proms is available for listening here.  Better hurry, though - it will only be online for one more day!

While I'm waiting for Life and Vintage Vinos to arrive in my mailbox, I see Keith Richards has just told BBC Radio 6 that the Rolling Stones are working on new material and that a tour is in the works for 2011.  Listen to the interview here:



And in other Keef news, proof that sometimes angels do indeed have dirty faces.

Song of the moment: I Don't Want to Talk About It

You probably know this song from Rod Stewart's cover version, recorded at Muscle Shoals in 1975 for his Atlantic Crossing album.  It was a hit on both sides of the pond, reaching #1 on the UK Singles Chart (1977) and climbing into the top fifty on the Billboard Hot 100 (1979).  The band Everything But The Girl would have another top-ten UK hit with it in 1988.

It's too bad the song's composer has never had the same amount of exposure.  Georgia-born Danny Whitten is best remembered as one of the founding members of the rock group Crazy Horse.  Written with Nils Lofgren, "I Don't Want to Talk About It" was included on the band's 1971 self-titled release, which would sadly be Whitten's last.  He had been abusing heroin since the late '60s, and his alcohol and drug addictions were spiraling out of control - to the point that bandmate Ralph Molina finally sacked him during rehearsals for Crazy Horse's upcoming support tour.  On November 18, 1972, Neil Young gave Whitten $50 and a plane ticket to Los Angeles when he proved unable to keep up with the other musicians during the recording sessions for Harvest.  Young received a phone call at his Bay Area ranch later that night - Danny was dead at 29 of an overdose of Valium and vodka.

Young's deep grief over the loss of his friend and musical cohort can be traced through several of his songs (such as "Don't Be Denied" - written the day after Whitten's death - and "The Needle and the Damage Done") as well as through entire albums (the dark, edgy Tonight's The Night).  Young admitted to his biographer Jimmy McDonough that he "felt responsible.  But really there was nothin' I could do - I mean, he was responsible.  But I thought I was for a long time. [...] Danny just wasn't happy.  It just all came down on him.  He was engulfed by this drug.  That was too bad.  Because Danny had a lot to give, boy.  He was really good" (Shakey, pp. 389, 390).  And this mournful, haunting ballad - augmented by Whitten's soul-weary lead vocal, the CSN-esque backing harmonies from the rest of the Horse, and the shimmering slide guitar from guest musician Ry Cooder - proves it.  

I can tell by your eyes that you’ve prob’ly been cryin’ forever,

And the stars in the sky don't mean nothin’ to you, they're a mirror.

I don't wanna talk about it, how you broke my heart.

If I stay here just a little bit longer,

If I stay here, wont you listen to my heart, whoa oh, heart

If I stand all alone, will the shadow hide the color of my heart;

Blue for the tears, black for the nights we’re apart

And the stars don’t don't mean nothin to you, they're a mirror.

I don't wanna talk about it, how you broke my heart.

If I stay here just a little bit longer,

If I stay here, wont you listen to my heart, whoa oh, heart?

My heart whoa oh heart

I don't want to talk about it, how you broke my heart.

If I stay here just a little bit longer,

If I stay here, wont you listen to my heart, whoa oh, heart?

My heart whoa oh heart.

My heart whoa oh heart.

My heart whoa oh heart.

(lyrics courtesy of Wikipedia)