I have a good friend at work that is a huge Rush fan. He turned me on to some early Rush albums that I had not heard, including Caress of Steel which was released in 1975.
Today’s Long Song Tuesday cut, The Fountain of Lamneth, is from that album. Let’s listen…….
I have to say that I enjoyed this (maybe a little overblown but hey they were young). What did you think?
Thanks to some covert video obtained by Mother Jones magazine we can now all hear what Mitt Romney tells his millionaire friends and what he really thinks about nearly half of the American electorate. Here, listen for yourself……
Well I’ve got news for you Mitt, I am one of the 47% of Obama supporter that you just gave the finger to and I pay taxes. In fact I pay taxes at a % that that is over twice the % that you pay and I don’t even come close to the $200,000 per year salary that you seem to think represents middle income in the United States. Just for the record Mitt… the average income in the United States is closer to $50,000 per year not $200,000. Look in the dictionary under “out of touch” it has a great picture of you.
Mitt….since you refuse to release more than one year of tax returns who knows what % tax you paid for every other year…..I am guessing something close to zero. Why else would you try so hard to hide those returns.
It gets better…let’s listen as Mitt tells his millionaires buddies about the best consultants that money can buy that he has working on his campaign.
I don’t know about you but that little clip scares the hell out of me. Mitt is using the same consultants used by Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli election. Mitt obviously is very close to Mr. Netanyahu since he refers to him as “Bibi” and by “close to” I mean “in the pocket of “. If you don’t believe me then do the research yourself. What you will find is that Mitt and Bibi are great friends having worked at the same Boston consulting firm in the 70s. All of a sudden the comments that Mr. Netanyahu made over the weekend make sense (go to any any internet news site and search if you missed his comments). He was campaigning for Mitt….after all you never know when Israel might need a shitload of cruise missiles and a couple of thousand young American lives to finish off a war that Israel starts. But hey….a relatively small price to pay for the presidency.
So, here is how Mother Jones wrapped up the story that they broke. They sum things up better than I ever could so I won’t even try to compete.
Here was Romney raw and unplugged—sort of unscripted. With this crowd of fellow millionaires, he apparently felt free to utter what he really believes and would never dare say out in the open. He displayed a high degree of disgust for nearly half of his fellow citizens, lumping all Obama voters into a mass of shiftless moochers who don’t contribute much, if anything, to society, and he indicated that he viewed the election as a battle between strivers (such as himself and the donors before him) and parasitic free-riders who lack character, fortitude, and initiative. Yet Romney explained to his patrons that he could not speak such harsh words about Obama in public, lest he insult those independent voters who sided with Obama in 2008 and whom he desperately needs in this election. These were sentiments not to be shared with the voters; it was inside information, available only to the select few who had paid for the privilege of experiencing the real Romney.
Now you know what I think….let me know your thoughts.
I had a major meltdown on Friday but now I’m back in the saddle so hang on tight…..the ride may be a little rough.
Here is my new theme song. (a couple of cover versions followed by a live performance by the songwriter with a great introductory speech)
Jackson Browne (acoustic)
Eddie Vedder (acoustic)
Pearl Jam
Steven Van Zant – the writer of the song
As I move forward with this blog there willl be no more “pussyfooting”. In case that is a uniquely American term, let me define it for you:
Pussyfooting: To act or proceed cautiously or timidly
From here on out I am going to say exactly what I feel and…..to use Steven Van Zandt’s words, I plan to:
………question every motherfucker every time!
Here are a couple of topics I plan to address head-on in the next couple of weeks, in addition to my usual music posts.
As I said…..hang on tight!
Today I am tired. I’m tired because its the end of a long work week but more than that I’m tired of the bullshit going on in the world right now. So….”tired” is the word of the week. Since I am so tired you only get two songs today.
In addition to being “tired” I am really down at this point so I’m taking the weekend off from posting. I will re-evaluate whether I’m going to continue with this blog on Monday.
For what its worth, I am more convinced than ever that John Lennon had it exactly right. I suggest you spend some time thinking about this song over the weekend.
America is easily my favorite Simon and Garfunkel song. Let’s listen…
This may be as close to perfect as you can get. I still get goosebumps listening to the lyrics:
“Kathy, I’m lost” I said, though I knew she was sleeping
“I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why…”
Counting the cars on the New Jersey turnpike
They’ve all gone to look for America
So….it should come as no surprise to anyone that Paul Simon was one of the recipients of the Polar Music Prize last month in Stockholm, Sweden. Here is what the award committee had to say about Paul:
“The Polar Music Prize 2012 is awarded to Paul Simon. Nobody else is more deserving of the epithet of “world-class songwriter.” For five decades, Paul Simon has built bridges not only over troubled waters but over entire oceans by (re)joining the world’s continents with his music. With consummate skill, innovative arrangements and provocative lyrics that never fail to capture the currents of his age, Paul Simon has compiled a library of songs which will remain open to future generations.”
As part of the ceremony, First Aid Kit performed America in honor of Paul. Let’s listen to their cover version of the song.
For those of you who don’t know, First Aid Kit is two Swedish sisters (I did another post about them back in January). I thought they did an excellent job with America and Paul seemed to really enjoy the performance.
As always, let me know what you think!
The Last Nail, the last song on Dan Fogelberg’s Captured Angel album, has always been one of my favorite songs. Here is what Dan had to say about it in the liner notes for the Portrait box set.
A very cathartic song about finally letting go of my first great love. Never thought I’d use the word Pennsylvania in a song, but there you are.
Let’s listen……
I recently found an interview where Dan talks about The Last Nail and Tucson, Az (Gazette) (which I posted about a couple of days ago). I though you might enjoy hearing it so let’s listen….
Ok, that was not a good idea….it is way too sad that both Dan, and the woman Dan obsessed about all through high school/college, died way before their time! Sorry to bring everyone down.
By now you are probably saying I thought this was a “My Final Playlist” post, why would anyone want to use this song at their funeral? The answer to that question is that I don’t want to use the whole song, just this part….
I was always very taken by this part of the song and think it would be a great way to say goodbye to friends. What do you think?
Let me leave you with this live performance of The Last Nail from 1982.
Have you signed the petition to get Dan in the Rock and Roll Hall of Face? No? You know he deserves it…..so do it now!
In 1987 Dan Fogelberg released, Exiles, his tenth album. He was in the process of going through a divorce (not one that he initiated) and coping with a seriously broken heart. The album is all about grief with songs that touch on all of its stages: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. Today we are focused on Anger.
Dan wrote all of the songs on Exiles with the exception of It Doesn’t Matter which was written by Stephen Stills and Chris HIllman and originally released by Manassas. We featured the Manassas version our Southern California Sound #13 post but let’s listen again to refresh our memory of what the original sounded like…..
I love this song and, while the lyrics are sad, I never considered it to be angry. If I had to categorize the tone of the Manassas performance it was resigned…..definitely not angry.
Back to Dan and his cover version of the song. Believe it or not, his version is not on YouTube so I put it on my private channel just for you guys. Let’s listen and then we will talk.
Angry, Angry, Angry….the last 90 seconds of this song are amazing. Although I have huge respect for Dan’s guitar skills, I never imagined that he had that solo in him. I don’t know if Dan had screaming matches as part of his divorce but if he didn’t that guitar solo definitely got it out of his system. It was a musical, one sided, all out screaming match and I am willing to bet that he was emotionally spent after recording it. I am seldom surprised by musical performances but this one was an exception.
All I can say is well done Dan……..we miss you very much!
If you haven’t done it already, go back to yesterday’s post and sign the petition to get Dan into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
Here is Mitt Romney campaigning with right wing televangelist Pat Robertson. In this clip Mitt claims that President Obama plans to take God off of our coins. Oh my god, surely the end is near…..
Many of you outside of the US may not be familiar with Pat Robertson…..so let me introduce you to him, or better yet let’s let him introduce himself via this clip from his TV show today.
So, the Republican party continues to claim that they are not waging a war on women……….
What do you think?
So…..my series of Todd Rundgren posts last week got me thinking about other favorites of mine that are still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That train of thought led me straight to Dan Fogelberg and this special edition twofer (two for one) long song Tuesday post.
I have been a Dan Fogelberg fan since the release of his first album, Home Free, in 1972. I had the good fortune to see him in concert multiple times during the 70s and 80s including acoustic solo shows and full band rock and roll shows. He never disappointed me! Dan is one of my favorite artists of all time and I think it is a sin that he is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Let’s listen to some music and see if you agree with me.
Today’s post spans a good portion of Dan’s career. We start with To The Morning, the first song on his first album. Here is what Dan had to say about the song in the liner notes for his career spanning box set named Portrait.
I wrote this (in the summer of 1970) when I was 18 years old. This was the first song that made me think I might actually make a living as a songwriter. I still find it a special piece to perform.
This is a live version of the song from a 1973 concert in Denver. As you listen to Dan in the introduction to the song you can tell that this is a young artist but one that is on his way up. He is particularly excited about a pending purchase of a home in Colorado. This house would serve as the inspiration for much of his future songwriting. Let’s listen…..
Good stuff….it reminds of seeing Dan in a solo performance immediately following the release of Nether Lands in 1977. Dan had nearly lost his voice but was determined to put on a great show and that he did. Seeing him at the piano singing singing Nether Lands may be my favorite concert memory of all time.
Next up is a song called Tucson, Az (Gazette) from his Windows and Walls album. Much to my surprise, Dan indicated that this was his favorite song in the liner notes for Portrait.
My all-time favorite track. The critics dismissed it because of its length but I am still fiercely proud of it. It was an immense undertaking and took months to complete. I consider this probably my best journalistic lyric writing. A movie for the ears, all it lacks is the popcorn.
Although it is not one of my favorite songs from Dan, I can appreciate the songwriting and the musicianship that it represents. Let’s listen……
So….do you agree with me that Dan belongs in the Hall of Fame. If so, sign the petition at the following link.
Petition To Get Dan Into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
If you still haven’t made up your mind, stay tuned. You will have a couple of more opportunities this week to change your mind.
I spent all of today tagging and categorizing each of the posts on this blog.
If you look on the right hand side of the site you will now see a list of categories that have been assigned to posts. You can click on any of these categories to display the applicable posts.
If you look below the list of categories you will see a “Tag Cloud” that displays the most frequently used tags on the blog. The size of the text used for a tag indicates its relative frequency of use. You can click on any tag to display all of the posts that use it.
The categories and tags should help you to quickly find old posts that are of interest. I hope you enjoy these enhanced features. As always, let me know what you think.
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 