{"id":8134,"date":"2011-04-07T11:01:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-07T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/?p=8134"},"modified":"2015-04-09T06:36:05","modified_gmt":"2015-04-09T10:36:05","slug":"delayed-midweek-music-break-wailin-and-waylon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/delayed-midweek-music-break-wailin-and-waylon\/","title":{"rendered":"(Delayed) Midweek Music Break: Wailin&#8217; and Waylon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first time you try to describe The Wailin&#8217; Jennys&#8217; music to someone, you may stumble &#8212; as I have stumbled &#8212; over the inadequacy of language to the capturing of sonic phenomena. <a title=\"Wikipedia, on The Wailin' Jennys\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Wailin%27_Jennys\" target=\"_blank\">Wikipedia<\/a> punts, dubbing them folk and\/or folk-rock. Neither of which feels right to me; I prefer the sense you get from <a title=\"The Wailin' Jennys: bio\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thewailinjennys.com\/bio.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">their bio<\/a>, posted at their site. There you&#8217;ll find words and phrases like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>folk-roots<\/li>\n<li>roots music<\/li>\n<li>bluegrass<\/li>\n<li><em>neo-<\/em>bluegrass<\/li>\n<li>alt-country, pop, and rock<\/li>\n<li>acoustic<\/li>\n<li>folk-pop<\/li>\n<li>show-stopping harmonies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Because of those vocal harmonies, you may also forget (as I have forgotten) that their music is not <em>a capella<\/em>: they each play at least one instrument as well. This list is probably not comprehensive:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>accordion<\/li>\n<li>banjo<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Per Wikipedia, an 'Irish frame drum'\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bodhr%C3%A1n\" target=\"_blank\">bodhr\u00e1n<\/a><\/li>\n<li>guitar<\/li>\n<li>harmonica<\/li>\n<li>piano<\/li>\n<li>upright bass<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Jennys have a new album out, <em>Bright Morning Stars<\/em>, and it&#8217;s a killer. But their take on the venerable &#8220;<a title=\"Wikipedia, on 'The Parting Glass'\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Parting_Glass\" target=\"_blank\">The Parting Glass<\/a>,&#8221; below, appeared on their first full-length album, 2004&#8217;s <em>40 Days<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><object width=\"500\" height=\"405\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/q4egb2gpIg4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0\" \/><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><\/object><\/p>\n<p>Lyrics:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><em>The Parting Glass<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<em> (The Wailin&#8217; Jennys)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Oh all the money that e&#8217;er I spent<br \/>\nI spent it in good company<br \/>\nAnd all the harm that e&#8217;er I&#8217;ve done<br \/>\nAlas, it was to none but me<br \/>\nAnd all I&#8217;ve done for want of wit<br \/>\nTo memory now I can&#8217;t recall<br \/>\nSo fill to me the parting glass<br \/>\nGood night and joy be with you all<\/p>\n<p>Oh all the comrades that e&#8217;er I&#8217;ve had<br \/>\nAre sorry for my going away<br \/>\nAnd all the sweethearts that e&#8217;er I&#8217;ve had<br \/>\nWould wish me one more day to stay<br \/>\nBut since it falls unto my lot<br \/>\nThat I should rise and you should not<br \/>\nI&#8217;ll gently rise and I&#8217;ll softly call<br \/>\nGood night and joy be with you all<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Wailin&#8217; Jennys got their name, of course, as a play on the name of outlaw-country icon <a title=\"Waylon Jennings\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Waylon_Jennings\" target=\"_blank\">Waylon Jennings<\/a> (who shared many a parting glass of his own before gently rising at last in 2002). I am not much of a listener to country music, even the outlaw variety, but I&#8217;ve always thought Jennings&#8217;s cover of &#8220;Suspicious Minds&#8221; (recorded as a duet, with his wife Jessi Colter) superior to Elvis Presley&#8217;s. Jennings&#8217;s voice sounds to me less like someone performing, more like someone honestly frustrated by a situation at least partly of his own making. And as a sort of call-and-response duet, the lyrics acquire a complexity which I think they lack otherwise:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1.25em;\"><em>[Below, click Play button to begin <\/em>Suspicious Minds<em>. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left &#8212; a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 3:56 long.<a class=\"hidden\" title=\"5.6MB - you sure about this?\" href=\"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/audio\/suspiciousminds_waylonjenningsjessicolter.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"border: 1px solid silver; margin: 0.25em 0.5em 0.5em; padding: 1em 0.5em 0pt; width: 400px; float: none; text-align: center;\" title=\"Click Play button to hear 'Suspicious Minds'\">[audio:suspiciousminds_waylonjenningsjessicolter.mp3|titles=&#8217;Suspicious Minds&#8217;|artists=Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter]<\/div>\n<p>Lyrics:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><em>Suspicious Minds<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<em> (by Mark James; performed by Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re caught in a trap can&#8217;t walk out<br \/>\nBecause I love you too much baby<br \/>\nWhy can&#8217;t you see what you&#8217;re doing to me<br \/>\nWhen you don&#8217;t believe a word I&#8217;m saying.<\/p>\n<p>We can&#8217;t go on together<br \/>\nWith suspicious minds<br \/>\nWe can&#8217;t do our dreams<br \/>\nOn suspicious minds.<\/p>\n<p>I saw an old friend I know I stopped to say hello<br \/>\nBut I could still see suspicion in your eyes<br \/>\nHere we go again you ask me where I&#8217;ve been<br \/>\nYou can&#8217;t see the tears are real I&#8217;m crying.<\/p>\n<p>We can&#8217;t go on together<br \/>\nWith suspicious minds<br \/>\nWe can&#8217;t build our dreams<br \/>\nOn suspicious minds.<\/p>\n<p>Let our love survive<br \/>\nOr dry the tears from your eyes<br \/>\nDon&#8217;t let a good thing die<br \/>\nDon&#8217;t you know I never lied to you?<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re caught in a trap can&#8217;t walk out<br \/>\nBecause I love you too much baby&#8230;<br \/>\n<em>[repeat to fade]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first time you try to describe The Wailin&#8217; Jennys&#8217; music to someone, you may stumble &#8212; as I have stumbled &#8212; over the inadequacy of language to the capturing of sonic phenomena. Wikipedia punts, dubbing them folk and\/or folk-rock. Neither of which feels right to me; I prefer the sense you get from their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2252,74],"tags":[2306,2307,2308,2309,2310],"class_list":{"0":"post-8134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-midweek-music-break","7":"category-music","8":"tag-the-wailin-jennys","9":"tag-waylon-jennings","10":"tag-jessi-colter","11":"tag-the-parting-glass","12":"tag-suspicious-minds","13":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-27c","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8134"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16616,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8134\/revisions\/16616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}