Running After My Hat

Ridiculous pursuits, matters solemn and less so

Weekend Music Break/What’s In a Song: The Avalon Boys (and Not Incidentally, Laurel and Hardy), “At the Ball, That’s All”

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Laurel and Hardy didn’t write this little number, nor did the Avalon Boys and, for that matter, nor did anyone else associated with the film. More about that history in a moment. For now, though, just sit back, click the Play button, and take pleasure in the guileless charm of this three-minute segment of one of their greatest films, 1937’s Way Out West.

(The setup for this scene: the boys have just arrived, via stagecoach, in an old Wild West town. They’re there with a purpose; before pursuing it, though, they turn to head into the saloon. And that’s where they encounter the Avalon Boys Quartet, arrayed on the wooden porch as though to formally welcome L&H to town.)

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All the Snowflakes, the Pennies, the Carefully Stacked Blessings of All the Days

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[About the video: Monk’s “Ruby, My Dear” inspired one of the two Billy Collins poems below; he might have been listening to it while creating the other, too.]

From whiskey river:

Calendars

Back in the blue chair in front of the green studio
another year has passed, or so they say, but calendars lie.
They’re a kind of cosmic business machine like
their cousin clocks but break down at inopportune times.
Fifty years ago I learned to jump off the calendar
but I kept getting drawn back on for reasons
of greed and my imperishable stupidity.
Of late I’ve escaped those fatal squares
with their razor-sharp numbers for longer and longer.
I had to become the moving water I already am,
falling back into the human shape in order
not to frighten my children, grandchildren, dogs and friends.
Our old cat doesn’t care. He laps the water where my face used to be.

(Jim Harrison [source])

…and:

This [year], mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.

(Howard W. Hunter [source])

…and (in different format, without the first stanza):

Blessing in the Chaos

To all that is chaotic
in you,
let there come silence.

Let there be
a calming
of the clamoring,
a stilling
of the voices that
have laid their claim
on you,
that have made their
home in you,

that go with you
even to the
holy places
but will not
let you rest,
will not let you
hear your life
with wholeness
or feel the grace
that fashioned you.

Let what distracts you
cease.
Let what divides you
cease.
Let there come an end
to what diminishes
and demeans,
and let depart
all that keeps you
in its cage.

Let there be
an opening
into the quiet
that lies beneath
the chaos,
where you find
the peace
you did not think
possible
and see what shimmers
within the storm.

(John O’Donohue Jan Richardson [source])

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A Quirky Eclectic Christmas Mix (2018 Ed.)

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[Video: Steve Martin, Edie Brickell, and the Steep Canyon Rangers, “The Strangest Christmas Yet.” You can pop open a transcript of the lyrics here.]

Want to visit the pages for earlier playlists, which include videos, other songs, and some background material not in the “official” current list? Here y’go:

2008 2009
2010 2011
2012 2013
2014 2015
2016 2017  
Per usual in these annual posts, first I’ll give you some notes about using the playlist. And only then will I beleaguer you (or not) with random thoughts which it triggers at this end…

As always beginning in 2008, I’ve added ten new songs; the list therefore now includes 110 songs (well, the first just a scrap of dialogue). Total time required to listen to the whole thing, start-to-finish: now just shy of six hours. This means that — unless you’re interested in only this year’s ten — the best way to play the whole things is in random order, as background so to speak. Here’s the magic button to do that: click on it, and the mix pops open in a separate little window, and will start to play automatically (if you’re not happy with the order, close the pop-up window and click the button again):

[popout font_family_1=”verdana” font_family_2=”lucida” width=”500px”
tracks=”Dialogue from ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’@00_dialoguefromacharliebrownchristmas.mp3,
Hodie Christus Natus Est@01_hodiechristusnatusest_anonymous4.mp3,
Three Spanish Villancicos/Dadme Albricias@02_threespanishvillancicos_dadme_albricias_waverlyconsort.mp3,
Home for the Holidays@03_homefortheholidays_perrycomo.mp3,
Joy to the World@04_joytotheworld_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
The Holly and the Ivy@05_thehollyandtheivy_georgewinston.mp3,
O Holy Night@06_oholynight_celticwoman.mp3,
12 Days of Christmas@07_12daysofchristmas_denvermuppets.mp3,
Nutty Jingle Bells@08_nuttyjinglebells_alhirt.mp3,
Deck the Halls@09_deckthehalls_theroches.mp3,
Mary’s Boy Child@11_marysboychild_charlottechurch.mp3,
River@12_river_peyrouxlang.mp3,
Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel@13_variationsonthekanonbypachelbel_georgewinston.mp3,
The Toy Trumpet@14_thetoytrumpet_fiedler.mp3,
Santa Baby@15_santababy_earthakitt.mp3,
Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer@16_rudolphtherednosedreindeer_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
The Wexford Carol@17_thewexfordcarol_celticwoman.mp3,
Jingle Bells@18_jinglebells_briansetzerorchestra.mp3,
I Saw Mommy Kissing Sanda Claus@19_isawmommykissingsantaclaus_jimmyboyd.mp3,
Silent Night@20_silentnight_cumberlandgapreunion.mp3,
Cold Dark Night@21_colddarknight_samphillips.mp3,
Blue Christmas@22_bluechristmas_elvispresley.mp3,
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen@23_godrestyemerrygentlemen_loreenamckennitt.mp3,
The Chipmunk Song@24_thechipmunksong_thechipmunks.mp3,
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas@25_haveyourselfamerrylittlechristmas_franksinatra.mp3,
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear@26_itcameuponamidnightclear_londonphilharmonicorchestra.mp3,
Winter Creek@27_wintercreek_tonyelman.mp3,
Toy Packaging@28_toypackaging_saragroves.mp3,
Mary’s Boy Child@29_marysboychild_harrybelafonte.mp3,
Ring Christmas Bells@30_ringchristmasbells_rayconniffsingers.mp3,
Dig That Crazy Santa Claus@31_digthatcrazysantaclaus_ralphmarterie.mp3,
The Christmas Song@32_thechristmassong_natkingcole.mp3,
It Really Is (A Wonderful Life)@33_itreallyis_indigogirls.mp3,
Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town@34_santaclausiscomintotown_johnnymercer.mp3,
Baby It’s Cold Outside@35_babyitscoldoutside_deanmartin.mp3,
Sleigh Ride@36_sleighride_ferranteandteicher.mp3,
Shakana Santa Shake It@37_shakanasantashakeit_bodolliswildmagnolias.mp3,
Silver Bells@38_silverbells_neildiamond.mp3,
Branle de l’Officiel@39_branledelofficiel_tavernerconsort.mp3,
Carol of the Bells@40_carolofthebells_georgewinston.mp3,
The Nutcracker: Overture@41_nutcrackeroverture_tilsonthomas_philharmonia.mp3,
O Tannenbaum@42_otannenbaum_vinceguaralditrio.mp3,
Christmas on the Moon@43_christmasonthemoon_troyhess.mp3,
I Wonder as I Wander@44_iwonderasiwander_barbrastreisand.mp3,
Jingle Bells@45_jinglebells_franksinatra.mp3,
Ave Maria@46_avemaria_alhirt.mp3,
Christmas Gumbo@47_christmasgumbo_artneville.mp3,
Frosty the Snowman@48_frostythesnowman_ellafitzgerald.mp3,
I’ll Be Home for Christmas@49_illbehomeforchristmas_deanmartin.mp3,
Stille Nacht Heilige Nacht@50_stillenachtheiligenacht_choirofkingscollege.mp3,
Christmas Is Coming@51_christmasiscoming_knightsong.mp3,
Pat-a-Pan@52_patapan_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
The Little Drummer Boy@53_thelittledrummerboy_viennaboyschoir.mp3,
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas@54_haveyourselfamerrylittlechristmas_toriamos.mp3,
The First Noel@55_thefirstnoel_cumberlandgapreunion.mp3,
Toy Symphony I: Allegro@56_toysymphonyiallegro_isoloistidizagrebantoniojanigro.mp3,
Venid Fieles Todos@57_venidfielestodos_liubamariahevia.mp3,
White Christmas@58_whitechristmas_corporalblossom.mp3,
O Holy Night@59_oholynight_perrycomo.mp3,
Oíche Chiúin@60_oichechiuin_enya.mp3,
Some Children See Him@61_somechildrenseehim_georgewinston.mp3,
Baby It’s Cold Outside@62_babyitscoldoutside_sheandhim.mp3,
Winter Wonderland@63_winterwonderland_bingcrosby.mp3,
Nuttin’ for Christmas@64_nuttinforchristmas_barrygordon.mp3,
Go Tell It on the Mountain@65_gotellitonthemountain_mahaliajackson.mp3,
Jingle Bell Rock@66_jinglebellrock_bobbyhelms.mp3,
The Twelve Days of Christmas@67_thetwelvedaysofchristmas_rayconniff.mp3,
Jingle Bells?@68_jinglebells_barbrastreisand.mp3,
Light of the Stable@69_lightofthestable_emmylouharris.mp3,
The Nutcracker: Final Waltz@70_thenutcrackerfinalwaltz_bostonpops.mp3,
I Saw Three Ships@71_isawthreeships_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
Patapan@72_patapan_julieandrews.mp3,
Fairytale of New York@73_fairytaleofnewyork_pogues.mp3,
The Twelve Gifts of Christmas@74_twelvegiftsofchristmas_allansherman.mp3,
Good King Wenceslas@75_goodkingwenceslas_loreenamckennitt.mp3,
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer@76_rudolphtherednosedreindeer_perrycomo.mp3,
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree@77_rockinaroundthechristmastree_brendalee.mp3,
Let It Snow@78_letitsnow_lenahorne.mp3,
Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring@79_jesujoyofmansdesiring_chloeagnew.mp3,
Silent Night@80_silentnight_sleepingatlast.mp3,
Hark the Herald Angels Sing@81_harktheheraldangelssing_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
Home for the Holidays@82_homefortheholidays_robertgoulet.mp3,
Christmas Day in the Morning@83_christmasdayinthemorning_padraiginniuallachain.mp3,
Mistletoe and Holly@84_mistletoeandholly_franksinatra.mp3,
Christmas Day Is Come@85_christmasdayiscome_caitrionaoleary.mp3,
Oh Christmas Tree@86_ohchristmastree_bobbycliftonoechestra.mp3,
Wizards in Winter@87_wizardsinwinter_transsiberianorchestra.mp3,
Meli Kalikimaka@88_melikalikimaka_bingcrosby.mp3,
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear@89_itcameuponamidnightclear_kelsiesaison.mp3,
Silent Night@90_silentnight_celticwoman.mp3,
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town@91_santaclausiscomingtotown_bostonpops.mp3,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!@92_letitsnow_deanmartin.mp3,
Do You Hear What I Hear?@93_doyouhearwhatihear_roches.mp3,
Sleigh Ride@94_sleighride_ronettes.mp3,
Children Go Where I Send Thee@95_childrengowhereisendthee_nicklowe.mp3,
Gagliarda@96_gagliarda_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
I’ll Be Home for Christmas@97_illbehomeforchristma_dianakrall.mp3,
Merry Christmas Baby@98_merrychristmasbaby_charlesbrown.mp3,
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer@99_rudolphtherednosedreindeer_hotclubofsanfrancisco.mp3,
The Light of Christmas Morn@100_thelightofchristmasmorn_celticwoman.mp3,
(Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man With the Bag@ramh_xmas/1801_everybodyswaitinmanwiththebag_kaystarr.mp3,
Qué Verdes Son@ramh_xmas/1802_queverdesson_losstraitjackets.mp3,
Silver Bells@ramh_xmas/1803_silverbells_tonybennett.mp3,
The Wexford Carol@ramh_xmas/1804_wexfordcarol_tootsweet.mp3,
Ugly Sweater Blues@ramh_xmas/1805_uglysweaterblues_jdmcpherson.mp3,
Ave Maria@ramh_xmas/1806_avemaria_celticwoman.mp3,
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas@ramh_xmas/1807_haveyourselfamerrylittlechristmas_serenaryder.mp3,
The Day It Snows on Christmas@ramh_xmas/1808_thedayitsnowsonchristmas_allentoussaint.mp3,
Mary’s Little Boy Child@ramh_xmas/1809_maryslittleboychild_andreprevin.mp3,
Still Still Still@ramh_xmas/1810_stillstillstill_mannheimsteamroller.mp3″ captions=”Peter Robbins et al.;Anonymous 4;Waverly Consort;Perry Como;Mannheim Steamroller;George Winston;Celtic Woman;John Denver and the Muppets;Al Hirt;The Roches;Charlotte Church;Madeleine Peyroux/k.d. lang;George Winston;Arthur Fiedler + The Boston Pops;Eartha Kitt;Mannheim Steamroller;Celtic Woman;The Brian Setzer Orchestra;Jimmy Boyd;Cumberland Gap Reunion;Sam Phillips;Elvis Presley;Loreena McKennitt;The Chipmunks;Frank Sinatra;London Philharmonic Orchestra;Tony Elman;Sara Groves;Harry Belafonte;Ray Conniff Singers;Ralph Marterie and His Band;Nat King Cole;The Indigo Girls;Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers;Dean Martin;Ferrante and Teicher;Bo Dollis + Wild Magnolias;Neil Diamond;Taverner Consort,Choir,+ Players (Andrew Parrott,conductor);George Winston;Michael Tilson-Thomas + Philharmonia Orchestra;Vince Guaraldi Trio;Troy Hess;Barbra Streisand;Frank Sinatra;Al Hirt;Art Neville;Ella Fitzgerald;Dean Martin;Choir of King’s College,Cambridge;Knightsong;Mannheim Steamroller;Vienna Boys’ Choir;Tori Amos;Cumberland Gap Reunion;I Soloisti di Zagreb + Antonio Janigro;Liuba María Hevia;Corporal Blossom;Perry Como;Enya;George Winston;She + Him;Bing Crosby;Barry Gordon;Mahalia Jackson;Bobby Helms;Ray Conniff Singers;Barbra Streisand;Emmylou Harris;Arthur Fiedler + The Boston Pops;Mannheim Steamroller;Julie Andrews;The Pogues (feat. Kirsty McColl);Allan Sherman;Loreena McKennitt;Perry Como;Brenda Lee;Lena Horne;Chloe Agnew;Sleeping at Last;Mannheim Steamroller;Robert Goulet;Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin;Frank Sinatra;Caitríona O’Leary and Rhiannon Giddens;Bobby Clifton Orchestra – Int’l Children’s Choir – Whitney Keys;Trans-Siberian Orchestra;Bing Crosby + The Andrews Sisters;Kelsie Saison;Celtic Woman;Arthur Fiedler + The Boston Pops;Dean Martin;The Roches;The Ronettes;Nick Lowe;Mannheim Steamroller;Diana Krall;Charles Brown;Hot Club of San Francisco;Celtic Woman;Kay Starr; Los Straitjackets; Tony Bennet; Toot Sweet; JD McPherson; Celtic Woman; Serena Ryder; Allen Toussaint; André Previn; Mannheim Steamroller” text=”Pop Out to Shuffle!” shuffle=”y” autoplay=”y” pos=”rel-C”]

Alternatives, if you don’t want the randomized sequence:

A plain old chronologically-accurate playlist — no pop-up and no random sequence, just start to finish (although you can open it in a pop-out window by clicking (duh) the little “Popout” button at the top left):

…and here are the ten 2018 selections only. As with the complete list, this player just runs through the songs in sequential order, with no shuffle mode:

In any case, or even if you don’t want to listen at all, you might want to glance at the complete current list of song titles and performers. (Note: this is just a listing; you cannot play music from it.)

Now — not that you’re actively wondering — why the “recommended” method of listening (pop-out and shuffle, using the special link so labeled above), rather than listen to the songs in order? Well, as I said, this is the eleventh year for which I’ve done a Christmas-music post. Two specific implications of this fact (cribbed, almost verbatim, from last year’s post):

  • In that time, I’ve started exhausting the back catalogue of music I remember from days gone by, and have begun to rely on suggestions from other sites, on songs newly discovered from artists or albums I’m not familiar with, and so on. So you’ll find that the selections over time have shifted from the old standbys, to the somewhat more quirky eclectic end of the spectrum. For my taste, this will eventually make each year’s list too uniformly unfamiliar… and whatever else might be true about the holiday, I value the familiar!
  • I’ve also developed a practice of trying to balance each year’s music among songs of different types. For instance, I’ve taken to juggling the more recent selections to include both old and new artists/performances; performances by men and women; instrumentals and vocals; “edgy” and/or energetic vs. quieter and/or contemplative renditions; shorter vs. longer songs; and so on. Mixing up the complete list via shuffle mode will distribute these properties much more evenly over time.
  • Finally, I like the idea — even if just imagined — that you can visit RAMH, pop out the playlist, close your other browser windows, and just set the thing going via remote speakers or headphones while you pursue other holiday matters: hanging decorations, cooking, partying…

And now… on to the wool-gathering!

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Give Anything to Find That Birdy Boy

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[Video: “Hit Like A Girl Contest 2018/Good Times Bad Times – LED ZEPPELIN,” a cover version by one Yoyoka Soma, an eight-year-old drummer. Hit Like a Girl is self-described as “the global online contest for female drummers.” Soma did not “win” HLAG, even in her “Drumset <18” category; I haven’t watched the other videos, but it’s hard to imagine that they all radiate quite this — or this much — spirit.]

From whiskey river:

…joy is not a concept, nor indeed a word, that we are entirely comfortable with, in the present age. The idea seems out of step with a time whose characteristic notes are mordant and mocking, and whose preferred emotion is irony. Joy hints at an unrestrained enthusiasm which may be thought uncool… It reeks of the Romantic movement. Yet it is there. Being unfashionable has no effect on its existence… What it denotes is a happiness with an overtone of something more, which we might term an elevated or, indeed, a spiritual quality.

(Michael McCarthy [source])

…and:

Pay attention to the gentle ones,
the ones who can hold your gaze
with no discomfort,
the ones who smile to themselves
while sitting alone
in a coffeeshop,
the ones who walk
as if floating.
Take them in and marvel at them.
Simply marvel.
It takes an extraordinary person
to carry themselves
as if
they do not live
in hell.

(D. Bunyavong [source])

…and:

Advice to the Actress C.N.

Refresh yourself, sister
With the water from the copper bowl with bits of ice in it —
Open your eyes under water, wash them —
Dry yourself with the rough towel and cast
A glance at a book you love.
In this way begin
A lovely and useful day.

(Bertolt Brecht [source])

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Phantom Realities

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[Video: “Translating Architecture into Instruments,” TED video by “contemporary sound, performance and installation artist” Allard Van Hoorn. Van Hoorn’s Urban Songlines project of a few years ago experimented with ways to generate sound — “songlines” of a sort — from various architectural elements. Although I can’t embed the video here, I was especially taken with his “Lusophonic Storyboard,” which you can read about (and whose video can watch/listen to) here. As for songlines in general — the Australian Aboriginal variety — you can read more below.]

From whiskey river:

Phantom Blues

I have the phantom blues.
I’m too tired to be blue.
This is what phantoms do.
They only almost have the blues.

Maybe I’ll get some rest
so I can get depressed.
Yes, that’s it. I need to
feel better to feel worse.

Maybe I am a phantom.
I hadn’t thought of that.
Just an old weary ghost
with an invisible hat.

(Hans Ostrom [source])

…and:

Antilamentation
(excerpt)

You’ve walked those streets a thousand times and still
you end up here. Regret none of it, not one
of the wasted days you wanted to know nothing,
when the lights from the carnival rides
were the only stars you believed in, loving them
for their uselessness, not wanting to be saved.
You’ve traveled this far on the back of every mistake,
ridden in dark-eyed and morose but calm as a house
after the TV set has been pitched out the upstairs
window. Harmless as a broken ax. Emptied
of expectation. Relax. Don’t bother remembering
any of it. Let’s stop here, under the lit sign
on the corner, and watch all the people walk by.

(Dorianne Laux [source])

…and:

Sometimes I muse about how wonderful it would be if I could string all my dreams together into one continuous life, a life consisting of entire days full of imaginary companions and created people, a false life which I could live and suffer and enjoy. Misfortune would sometimes strike me there, and there I would also experience great joys. And nothing about me would be real. But everything would have a sublime logic; it would all pulse to a rhythm of sensual falseness, taking place in a city built out of my soul and extending all the way to the platform next to an idle train, far away in the distance within me… And it would all be vivid and inevitable, as in the outer life, but with an aesthetics of the Dying Sun.

(Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet [source])

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RAMH@10: Still Hangin’ On (and a “Master Mix”)

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Image: 'Wherever I Lay My Hat,' by an unknown user on Flickr.com

[Image: “Wherever I Lay My Hat,” by an unknown user on Flickr. I thought the title especially suitable to my thinking about RAMH these days. (Aside to whoever took this photo — it’s been years since I snagged a copy: thank you very much… and do let me know if you object to my using it finally here!)]

Another year gone by; even less music… at last count, only seven posts assigned to the Music category since last April… How the heck am I going to build an anniversary playlist?

Wait — I know: I can combine all previous years’ mixes into one gonzo list!

Herewith, then, the “Master Mix” (to the extent that there is one). Below the little audio-player thingumabob I’ll mention some details about the mix and how to use it, and then move on to my usual April-style woolgathering. (I haven’t totaled up the length of the whole thing, but there are six earlier lists; each is about one CD’s worth of music, or about 70-75 minutes apiece… which comes to… um… seven hours of music?!?)

Note that this master mix is automatically shuffled; every time you load the page, you’ll get a new mix. (If you want to listen to the songs in the order they were originally played in, I’ve included — in a table below the audio player itself — links to the individual anniversary posts.) You can if you want pop out the playlist into its own browser window — see the “Popout” link at the top left of the player? The popout will be shuffled in the same order as the list shown; it will enable you to close this window, and to go on to something else. Dusting, maybe. Or Facebook (haha).

RAMH@10: The Master Mix

About this year’s mix:

I’ve been meaning to go back for some time and clean up a few of the earlier April posts, which were (to skip over the details) still clinging to old and no longer functional technologies. They’re all up to date now; you can see each of them by following the corresponding links here — each anniversary post includes links to the blog posts featuring that list’s songs:

(Note too that this master playlist allows you to download the song currently playing — that’s the purpose of the Download link to the right of the Popout button. The individual anniversary mixes do not allow downloads.)

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Weekend Music Break: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, “Hey Mama”

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I thought I’d never even heard of this band before this week. But that notion, apparently, makes sense only because I’d never paid attention to various email notifications I’d received about them in recent years. Suddenly they’re again on everyone’s radar — including mine, this time around — for the release of their second album, Tearing at the Seams.

How to characterize their music…? The sound is country-ish, Americana-ish, sorta-kinda Southern rock, but the label which seems most often and most strikingly mentioned alongside the band’s name is soul. Rateliff’s powerful voice won’t make you think Sam Cooke has been reincarnated. And the lead instrumental voices are those of rock, principally guitar, bass, and drums. But yeah: in the spirit of the music and the sense of the lyrics you’ll find plenty of soul. (It doesn’t hurt that the label behind them is the legendary Stax Records, described by Wikipedia as “a major factor in the creation of Southern soul and Memphis soul music.”)

“Hey Mama,” the single whose video I’ve featured here, can be interpreted literally — as a dialogue between a young man and his mother. The guy feels sorry for himself, how hard he works, how little reward he’s gotten for it all, and so on. But his mother’s simply not having it:

Better start acting like this here’s a race…
You ain’t gone far enough to say
At least I tried
You ain’t worked hard enough to say
Well, I’ve done mine
You ain’t run far enough to say
My legs have failed

As I say, the literal interpretation works just fine. But pretty much anyone who’s tried (and tried hard) to succeed at one art form or another may see in it an interior dialogue, too: between the self-pitying voice that says, I may as well give up, and the loving but sterner one that says, Who are you trying to kid? You haven’t started working yet!

The visuals which accompany the song seem to encourage a non-literal understanding of what it’s about. It’s “just” a black-and-white film, not quite all in one take (although it feels like it), of a driver’s-eye view through the windshield of a car in almost non-stop traffic. The moments when the forward movement is interrupted — for pedestrians, for traffic signals which hold things up for a moment — provide some relief. But the overall sense is of an experience which simply does not stop, is impatient with pauses, is relentless.

The frustrated souls who recognize the two voices of the lyrics arguing in their heads will probably recognize this feeling, too.

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A Quirky Eclectic Christmas Mix (2017 Ed.)

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[Video: Wikipedia describes Gayla Peevey as “a former singer and child star from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.” Her first performance of of “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” is the one which opens this video: an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, in 1953, when she was 10. Someone tracked her down last year, when she was 73, and did a second recording — this video’s uploader has tacked it onto the end of the original. (You therefore can enjoy hearing the entire thing twice (you completist, you).) Peevey has been in the news recently because this week, she helped to welcome a new hippo to the Oklahoma City Zoo.]

Want to visit the pages for earlier playlists, which include videos, other songs, and some background material not in the “official” current list? Here y’go:

2008 2009
2010 2011
2012 2013
2014 2015
2016
First things first: let’s get straight to the music, so you can listen without having to wade through my wool-gathering…

As in past years, I’ve got two audio-thingumabob players for you: the first plays the entire lot of songs, now exactly 100 songs (at ten added per year — now up to over five hours total!); the second, just this year’s ten additions to the list.

First, about  the full list… To repeat from last year’s post (with minor edits for clarity):

  • By default, the list plays straight through, from start to finish, in the order in which the songs were first presented here at RAMH.
  • …but you can also pop out the playlist into its own, compact window. This lets you proceed to read through the rest of the post or use your browser for something else — or close it altogether — while the music’s playing. (Note that the pop-out window will automatically begin playing.)
  • If you’d prefer, you can also shuffle the complete list in random order, in a pop-out window, by clicking below (each time you visit this page and click the below link, you’ll get a different sequence). This is now the recommended way to listen to the complete list, for reasons I’ll get into later:
    [popout font_family_1=”verdana” font_family_2=”lucida” width=”500px”
    tracks=”Dialogue from ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’@00_dialoguefromacharliebrownchristmas.mp3,
    Hodie Christus Natus Est@01_hodiechristusnatusest_anonymous4.mp3,
    Three Spanish Villancicos/Dadme Albricias@02_threespanishvillancicos_dadme_albricias_waverlyconsort.mp3,
    Home for the Holidays@03_homefortheholidays_perrycomo.mp3,
    Joy to the World@04_joytotheworld_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
    The Holly and the Ivy@05_thehollyandtheivy_georgewinston.mp3,
    O Holy Night@06_oholynight_celticwoman.mp3,
    12 Days of Christmas@07_12daysofchristmas_denvermuppets.mp3,
    Nutty Jingle Bells@08_nuttyjinglebells_alhirt.mp3,
    Deck the Halls@09_deckthehalls_theroches.mp3,
    Mary’s Boy Child@11_marysboychild_charlottechurch.mp3,
    River@12_river_peyrouxlang.mp3,
    Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel@13_variationsonthekanonbypachelbel_georgewinston.mp3,
    The Toy Trumpet@14_thetoytrumpet_fiedler.mp3,
    Santa Baby@15_santababy_earthakitt.mp3,
    Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer@16_rudolphtherednosedreindeer_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
    The Wexford Carol@17_thewexfordcarol_celticwoman.mp3,
    Jingle Bells@18_jinglebells_briansetzerorchestra.mp3,
    I Saw Mommy Kissing Sanda Claus@19_isawmommykissingsantaclaus_jimmyboyd.mp3,
    Silent Night@20_silentnight_cumberlandgapreunion.mp3,
    Cold Dark Night@21_colddarknight_samphillips.mp3,
    Blue Christmas@22_bluechristmas_elvispresley.mp3,
    God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen@23_godrestyemerrygentlemen_loreenamckennitt.mp3,
    The Chipmunk Song@24_thechipmunksong_thechipmunks.mp3,
    Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas@25_haveyourselfamerrylittlechristmas_franksinatra.mp3,
    It Came Upon a Midnight Clear@26_itcameuponamidnightclear_londonphilharmonicorchestra.mp3,
    Winter Creek@27_wintercreek_tonyelman.mp3,
    Toy Packaging@28_toypackaging_saragroves.mp3,
    Mary’s Boy Child@29_marysboychild_harrybelafonte.mp3,
    Ring Christmas Bells@30_ringchristmasbells_rayconniffsingers.mp3,
    Dig That Crazy Santa Claus@31_digthatcrazysantaclaus_ralphmarterie.mp3,
    The Christmas Song@32_thechristmassong_natkingcole.mp3,
    It Really Is (A Wonderful Life)@33_itreallyis_indigogirls.mp3,
    Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town@34_santaclausiscomintotown_johnnymercer.mp3,
    Baby It’s Cold Outside@35_babyitscoldoutside_deanmartin.mp3,
    Sleigh Ride@36_sleighride_ferranteandteicher.mp3,
    Shakana Santa Shake It@37_shakanasantashakeit_bodolliswildmagnolias.mp3,
    Silver Bells@38_silverbells_neildiamond.mp3,
    Branle de l’Officiel@39_branledelofficiel_tavernerconsort.mp3,
    Carol of the Bells@40_carolofthebells_georgewinston.mp3,
    The Nutcracker: Overture@41_nutcrackeroverture_tilsonthomas_philharmonia.mp3,
    O Tannenbaum@42_otannenbaum_vinceguaralditrio.mp3,
    Christmas on the Moon@43_christmasonthemoon_troyhess.mp3,
    I Wonder as I Wander@44_iwonderasiwander_barbrastreisand.mp3,
    Jingle Bells@45_jinglebells_franksinatra.mp3,
    Ave Maria@46_avemaria_alhirt.mp3,
    Christmas Gumbo@47_christmasgumbo_artneville.mp3,
    Frosty the Snowman@48_frostythesnowman_ellafitzgerald.mp3,
    I’ll Be Home for Christmas@49_illbehomeforchristmas_deanmartin.mp3,
    Stille Nacht Heilige Nacht@50_stillenachtheiligenacht_choirofkingscollege.mp3,
    Christmas Is Coming@51_christmasiscoming_knightsong.mp3,
    Pat-a-Pan@52_patapan_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
    The Little Drummer Boy@53_thelittledrummerboy_viennaboyschoir.mp3,
    Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas@54_haveyourselfamerrylittlechristmas_toriamos.mp3,
    The First Noel@55_thefirstnoel_cumberlandgapreunion.mp3,
    Toy Symphony I: Allegro@56_toysymphonyiallegro_isoloistidizagrebantoniojanigro.mp3,
    Venid Fieles Todos@57_venidfielestodos_liubamariahevia.mp3,
    White Christmas@58_whitechristmas_corporalblossom.mp3,
    O Holy Night@59_oholynight_perrycomo.mp3,
    Oíche Chiúin@60_oichechiuin_enya.mp3,
    Some Children See Him@61_somechildrenseehim_georgewinston.mp3,
    Baby It’s Cold Outside@62_babyitscoldoutside_sheandhim.mp3,
    Winter Wonderland@63_winterwonderland_bingcrosby.mp3,
    Nuttin’ for Christmas@64_nuttinforchristmas_barrygordon.mp3,
    Go Tell It on the Mountain@65_gotellitonthemountain_mahaliajackson.mp3,
    Jingle Bell Rock@66_jinglebellrock_bobbyhelms.mp3,
    The Twelve Days of Christmas@67_thetwelvedaysofchristmas_rayconniff.mp3,
    Jingle Bells?@68_jinglebells_barbrastreisand.mp3,
    Light of the Stable@69_lightofthestable_emmylouharris.mp3,
    The Nutcracker: Final Waltz@70_thenutcrackerfinalwaltz_bostonpops.mp3,
    I Saw Three Ships@71_isawthreeships_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
    Patapan@72_patapan_julieandrews.mp3,
    Fairytale of New York@73_fairytaleofnewyork_pogues.mp3,
    The Twelve Gifts of Christmas@74_twelvegiftsofchristmas_allansherman.mp3,
    Good King Wenceslas@75_goodkingwenceslas_loreenamckennitt.mp3,
    Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer@76_rudolphtherednosedreindeer_perrycomo.mp3,
    Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree@77_rockinaroundthechristmastree_brendalee.mp3,
    Let It Snow@78_letitsnow_lenahorne.mp3,
    Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring@79_jesujoyofmansdesiring_chloeagnew.mp3,
    Silent Night@80_silentnight_sleepingatlast.mp3,
    Hark the Herald Angels Sing@81_harktheheraldangelssing_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
    Home for the Holidays@82_homefortheholidays_robertgoulet.mp3,
    Christmas Day in the Morning@83_christmasdayinthemorning_padraiginniuallachain.mp3,
    Mistletoe and Holly@84_mistletoeandholly_franksinatra.mp3,
    Christmas Day Is Come@85_christmasdayiscome_caitrionaoleary.mp3,
    Oh Christmas Tree@86_ohchristmastree_bobbycliftonoechestra.mp3,
    Wizards in Winter@87_wizardsinwinter_transsiberianorchestra.mp3,
    Meli Kalikimaka@88_melikalikimaka_bingcrosby.mp3,
    It Came Upon a Midnight Clear@89_itcameuponamidnightclear_kelsiesaison.mp3,
    Silent Night@90_silentnight_celticwoman.mp3,
    Santa Claus Is Coming to Town@91_santaclausiscomingtotown_bostonpops.mp3,
    Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!@92_letitsnow_deanmartin.mp3,
    Do You Hear What I Hear?@93_doyouhearwhatihear_roches.mp3,
    Sleigh Ride@94_sleighride_ronettes.mp3,
    Children Go Where I Send Thee@95_childrengowhereisendthee_nicklowe.mp3,
    Gagliarda@96_gagliarda_mannheimsteamroller.mp3,
    I’ll Be Home for Christmas@97_illbehomeforchristma_dianakrall.mp3,
    Merry Christmas Baby@98_merrychristmasbaby_charlesbrown.mp3,
    Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer@99_rudolphtherednosedreindeer_hotclubofsanfrancisco.mp3,
    The Light of Christmas Morn@100_thelightofchristmasmorn_celticwoman.mp3″ captions=”Peter Robbins et al.;Anonymous 4;Waverly Consort;Perry Como;Mannheim Steamroller;George Winston;Celtic Woman;John Denver and the Muppets;Al Hirt;The Roches;Charlotte Church;Madeleine Peyroux/k.d. lang;George Winston;Arthur Fiedler + The Boston Pops;Eartha Kitt;Mannheim Steamroller;Celtic Woman;The Brian Setzer Orchestra;Jimmy Boyd;Cumberland Gap Reunion;Sam Phillips;Elvis Presley;Loreena McKennitt;The Chipmunks;Frank Sinatra;London Philharmonic Orchestra;Tony Elman;Sara Groves;Harry Belafonte;Ray Conniff Singers;Ralph Marterie and His Band;Nat King Cole;The Indigo Girls;Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers;Dean Martin;Ferrante and Teicher;Bo Dollis + Wild Magnolias;Neil Diamond;Taverner Consort,Choir,+ Players (Andrew Parrott,conductor);George Winston;Michael Tilson-Thomas + Philharmonia Orchestra;Vince Guaraldi Trio;Troy Hess;Barbra Streisand;Frank Sinatra;Al Hirt;Art Neville;Ella Fitzgerald;Dean Martin;Choir of King’s College,Cambridge;Knightsong;Mannheim Steamroller;Vienna Boys’ Choir;Tori Amos;Cumberland Gap Reunion;I Soloisti di Zagreb + Antonio Janigro;Liuba María Hevia;Corporal Blossom;Perry Como;Enya;George Winston;She + Him;Bing Crosby;Barry Gordon;Mahalia Jackson;Bobby Helms;Ray Conniff Singers;Barbra Streisand;Emmylou Harris;Arthur Fiedler + The Boston Pops;Mannheim Steamroller;Julie Andrews;The Pogues (feat. Kirsty McColl);Allan Sherman;Loreena McKennitt;Perry Como;Brenda Lee;Lena Horne;Chloe Agnew;Sleeping at Last;Mannheim Steamroller;Robert Goulet;Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin;Frank Sinatra;Caitríona O’Leary and Rhiannon Giddens;Bobby Clifton Orchestra – Int’l Children’s Choir – Whitney Keys;Trans-Siberian Orchestra;Bing Crosby + The Andrews Sisters;Kelsie Saison;Celtic Woman;Arthur Fiedler + The Boston Pops;Dean Martin;The Roches;The Ronettes;Nick Lowe;Mannheim Steamroller;Diana Krall;Charles Brown;Hot Club of San Francisco;Celtic Woman” text=”Pop Out to Shuffle!” shuffle=”y” autoplay=”y” pos=”rel-C”]

In any case, or even if you don’t want to listen at all, you might want to glance at the complete current list of song titles and performers. (Note: this is just a listing; you cannot play music from it.)

Now for the regular audio players… Here’s the complete list (sequential order); you can also open it in a pop-out window by clicking (duh) the little “Popout” button at the top left:

…and here are the ten 2017 selections only. As with the complete list, this player just runs through the songs in sequential order, with no shuffle mode:

As to the “recommended” method of listening — pop-out and shuffle, using the special link so labeled above — why would you want to randomize the complete list, rather than listen to the songs in order? It boils down to one reason: this is the tenth Christmas season for which I’ve done a Christmas-music post. This has two specific implications:

  • In that time, I’ve started exhausting the back catalogue of music I remember from days gone by, and have begun to rely on suggestions from other sites, on songs newly discovered from artists or albums I’m not familiar with, and so on. So you’ll find — starting this year, certainly — that the selections in a single year are starting to shift from the old standbys, to the somewhat more quirky eclectic end of the spectrum. For my taste, this will eventually make each year’s list too uniformly unfamiliar… and whatever else might be true about the holiday, I value the familiar!
  • I’ve also developed a practice of trying to balance each year’s music among songs of different types. This year, for instance, I juggled the selections to include both old and new artists/performances; performances by men and women; instrumentals and vocals; “edgy” and/or energetic vs. quieter and/or contemplative renditions; shorter vs. longer songs; and so on. I juggled things quite a lot, in fact — so much so that I’ve started wondering if I can continue using all these criteria. If I do relax the constraints some, you may find a given year to be “too [insert adjective]” for your taste. Mixing up the complete list via shuffle mode will distribute these properties much more evenly over time.

[Read more…]

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For Deep Roots: International Americana

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'Deep Roots Magazine' logo (2017)I mentioned some months ago that I’d be writing for Deep Roots Magazine, and so I have been. Particularly, as I also mentioned a little while later, I’d been focusing on something called “international Americana” — that is to say:

…music performed generally using acoustic instruments, something like country, something like folk, sometimes incorporating elements of blues and/or bluegrass, often for small, intimate audiences rather than large-scale ones… modest music, and it’s music which springs not from glitzy high-flown impulses, but from simple ones. But — maybe surprisingly — it’s not always in English.

The article in question went up at the Deep Roots site a few days ago. Below, a brief summary:

  • A discussion about what the term “Americana” in means, as a musical genre. (Maybe predictably, I sort of back into that discussion: I begin by considering a band called “Leningrad Cowboys,” an example not of musicians overseas employing Americana-musical tropes, but of importing musicians from overseas into American culture… in America.)
  • Asking — and perhaps answering — some questions about why musicians overseas might even be interested in a native version of Americana music in the first place. The approach here is to consider recording-industry statistics for Australasia as of a few years ago — just before the establishment of the Americana Music Association-Australia.
  • A look at a wonderful resource for anyone thinking of investigating this music themselves: The International Americana Music Show (TIAMS), a podcast/public-radio show produced by a native Scot now living in the US.
  • …and finally, a survey of opinions from international artists who’ve been dubbed (at one time or another, rightly or wrongly, by choice or otherwise) as “Americana” in style. These were the artists I “spoke” with, via email, and feature in the article (in the no-particular-order in which they’re first mentioned in the article):

You can find that article here, at the Deep Roots site. Lots of music over there!

In addition to what’s in the Deep Roots piece, I’ll also be posting here, from time to time, even more information about these talented performers. They were so generous with their time in answering my questions, and yet there were so many of them that I couldn’t give each the attention they deserved!

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What We’ll Never Leave Behind (Until We So Often Do)

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[Video: “September When It Comes,” by Rosanne Cash; performance by Rosanne and Johnny Cash. (Lyrics)]

From whiskey river:

Lines Lost Among Trees

These are not the lines that came to me
while walking in the woods
with no pen
and nothing to write on anyway.

They are gone forever,
a handful of coins
dropped through the grate of memory,
along with the ingenious mnemonic

I devised to hold them in place—
all gone and forgotten
before I had returned to the clearing of lawn
in back of our quiet house

with its jars jammed with pens,
its notebooks and reams of blank paper,
its desk and soft lamp,
its table and the light from its windows.

So this is my elegy for them,
those six or eight exhalations,
the braided rope of syntax,
the jazz of the timing,

and the little insight at the end
wagging like the short tail
of a perfectly obedient spaniel
sitting by the door.

This is my envoy to nothing
where I say Go, little poem—
not out into the world of strangers’ eyes,
but off to some airy limbo,

home to lost epics,
unremembered names,
and fugitive dreams
such as the one I had last night,

which, like a fantastic city in pencil,
erased itself
in the bright morning air
just as I was waking up.

(Billy Collins [source])

…and:

A common misconception is
The belief that thinking is
The creation of thought.
Rather, it is
The reception of thought from
A source which has no name and
From a place that cannot be found.
Since one can’t decide to think
Nor can one decide
Thoughts’ contents,
Why does one
Claim their ownership?
Is every sound Wu Hsin’s because
He can hear them?

(Wu Hsin [source])

…and:

Well, the terrible fact is that though we are all more or less thinking of something or other all the time, some of us are thinking more and some less. Some brains are battling and working and remembering and puzzling things over all the time and other brains are just lying down, snoring and occasionally turning over. It is to the lazy minds that I am now speaking, and from my own experience I imagine this includes nineteen people out of every twenty. I am one of that clan myself and always have been.

(Ted Hughes [source])

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