Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Not all heroes wear capes.

No one could have predicted…

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

This really is a full service blog.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

You are here: Home / Music / I hear you singing in the wire

I hear you singing in the wire

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Glen Campbell RIP. Wichita Lineman, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Gentle on My Mind, a lot of great songs he did.

Update. I didn’t know this:

After playing on many Beach Boys sessions, Mr. Campbell became a touring member of the band in late 1964, when its leader, Brian Wilson, decided to leave the road to concentrate on writing and recording. He remained a Beach Boy into the first few months of 1965.

Reader Interactions

193Comments

  2. 2.

    A Ghost to Most

    Great talent. I was a fan in my yoot, before I grew to dislike Nashville country.

  5. 5.

    ? Martin

    No front page on the passing of Haruo Nakajima? Certainly a greater cultural impact, and extremely topical given international events.

  7. 7.

    phein55

    The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour:

    Ray Charles
    Linda Ronstadt
    The Beatles (!)
    The Monkees
    The Osmonds
    Lily Tomlin
    Waylon Jennings
    The Righteous Brothers
    The Smothers Brothers (of course!)
    Three Dog Night

    I don’t know who else. I remember watching with my Dad, who was a big Smothers Brothers fan, for whom Glen started out as the summer replacement, if I recall correctly.

  9. 9.

    Mike J

    @gbear:

    And he was a great studio guitarist with The Wrecking Crew that performed on so many hit records in the 60’s.

    Carol Kaye at the beginning of Wichita Lineman MAKES that song.

  11. 11.

    Kathleen

    I think Wichita Lineman is one of the most perfect pop songs ever. The lyrics, arrangement, production and Campbell’s poignant plaintive vocals are just beautiful. Brings back lots of memories, too. RIP Glenn Campbell. I always loved his voice.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    At one time while in school used his syndicated TV show as an alarm clock.

    Would often set myself down for a very late afternoon siesta. After the local and network news – even with the TV volume on low – his ebullient opening exclamation of “Hi! I’m Glen Campbell” would instantly jolt me awake in time to still get to the dining hall for dinner.

  13. 13.

    A Ghost to Most

    @? Martin:

    Haruo Nakajima

    One man’s cultural icon
    Is another man’s WTF, I guess.
    Glen Campbell was an icon to me.

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    @Doug!

    Up, Up and Away (in My Beautiful Balloon).

    If radio didn’t already exist, it would have been invented to play that (again and again and again).

  19. 19.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Kathleen:
    My son and I both consider Van Morrison’s ‘Into The Mystic’ the best pop song, but Wichita was a great song.

  22. 22.

    frosty

    One of the football players in my high school got elected to the All-County team the year the song came out, so of course he went through the halls singing “I am a lineman for the County …”

  24. 24.

    Schlemazel

    Inoffensive pop. I enjoyed his work well enough but he was a much better musician than his hits would indicate.

    I got interested in Brian WIlson’s insanity a few years back (though I have to say I HATE the Beach Boys) so I knew he fronted for them for 6 months. REally the guy was an unbelievable musical talent but I do not see him having the sort of legacy his skill should have left.

    His partnership with Jim Webb produced a lot of very listenable tunes

  26. 26.

    ? Martin

    @A Ghost to Most: You do a global survey of whether people have heard of Glen Campbell or Godzilla, and it won’t even be close.

    Not to take anything away from Glen Campbell, but kaiju and specifically Godzilla is one of the greatest Japanese cultural exports.

  28. 28.

    Barbara

    @Kathleen: I believe I was 8 years old when I first heard it and even at 8 that yearning covered a lot of ground to reach me in my little suburban house. Melissa by the Allman Brothers holds the same place in my heart. Just great songs both.

  30. 30.

    Quinerly

    Thank you for this thread. Rachel Maddow is very intense. Not sure I can take her tonight.

    Need diversion.

  32. 32.

    A Ghost to Most

    @? Martin: Probably. But as a member of the target demo for Redneck Revolt, Glen Campbell was early soundtrack for me.

    Different strokes.

  33. 33.

    TenguPhule

    motherfuckers I’m fat I’m perfectly happy with my watermelon as is and all you skinny healthy people are telling me to eat it with salt

    John Cole is upset about being lectured on how to eat a watermelon.

  34. 34.

    TenguPhule

    @Schlemazel:

    given the great cultural gifts Japan has to offer that is very sad

    Giant rubber suit monsters crashing through cardboard city sets are one of those things that makes life worth living.

  35. 35.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Quinerly:
    Just writing about it made me put it on the stereo, and crank it.

    Eta. If I had a funeral, it would have been played

    If they have a wake, it must be played, along with some other songs.

  36. 36.

    Kathleen

    @Barbara: I was in high school when Wichita Lineman hit. Allman Brothers and Melissa – yes! Love the Allman Brothers.

  44. 44.

    Caphilldcne

    When my dad was stationed in Germany we’d go to the in base grill and sing along to country tunes and I can still remember singing rhinestone cowboy. My first dose of adult disillusionment. Ghost riders in the sky was my fave tho.

  45. 45.

    Kathleen

    @raven: Well I’m old as hell and can’t remember squat. Heading to St. Paul for my 50th high school reunion in September and it’s sobering.

  47. 47.

    raven

    @Kathleen: Mine too, the 16th. I’m going even though I got my GED in Korea 5 months before the class graduated. When I was up there last year one of my buddies said “you are the last motherfucker we thought would have a doctorate”. Fuckin right dawg.

  52. 52.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Kathleen:
    You might need to get in line to be old here.

    I’m so old I can remember when Steve Doocey wasn’t a slobbering fascist, and I think I’m well down the list

  53. 53.

    Kathleen

    @raven: Thank you. That was amazing. I will have to become more acquainted with his music. Also enjoyed the comments, especially this one:

    Simon Ambrose Now that you mention it Simon, hard not to associate the symbolism of this wonderful song with that of the concluding lines of the great short story “The Dead” by that other magnificent Irish genius, James Joyce: “His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.”

    The song and the Joyce quotation gave me chills. I loved “The Dead”.

  54. 54.

    Quinerly

    @A Ghost to Most:
    Seen Van twice…both times at NOLA Jazz and Heritage Festival. Great shows…first one was around 95 or 96. He was carrying way too much weight, hot NOLA spring heat, head to toe in black. Closing out the old Ray Ban stage…he struggled through the 90 min show but the encore was Into the Mystic. I had been drinking beer and eating all day in the sun. My boyfriend at the time and I ended up hanging right at the stage with some local chicks who had smuggled in a strong sangria (at 9 in the morning, it was 5 when we met them). Long story short, baked in the sun sangria will rock a gal’s gypsy soul.? Love me some Van. Checkout his country album from a few years ago….”Pay the Devil.” The duets album is great too. New album out in September.?

  56. 56.

    MomSense

    @Mnemosyne:

    Have you tried pepper pineapple? I sprinkle pineapple rings with fresh pepper and sauté both sides in a little butter in a non stick skillet. Put in a bowl with some really good vanilla ice cream and then drizzle the caramelized pineapple juice from the pan over the top of the ice cream.

  57. 57.

    raven

    @Kathleen: Hard Nose the Highway isn’t one of his most popular works but I’ve always like it. It may have to do with the fact that I saw him at the Lion’s Share in San Anselmo on my 1st honeymoon. People my like Into the Mystic bit THIS is my Van Morrison

    Mystic Eyes

  58. 58.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Kathleen:
    @raven:

    I had my 50th HS reunion in 2010. Unfortunately, the two or three people I really wanted to see ended up not coming that year. Hoping for better luck for the 60th in 2020.

  61. 61.

    Kathleen

    @Schlemazel: St. Joseph’ Academy in St. Paul. All girls’ Catholic high school which closed in 1971. I believe it was the oldest private school in the state – the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet founded the school in 1851. James Hill’s future wife was a graduate. The Sisters of St. Joseph now use the facility to do community service/social justice work. A St. Joseph nun (not from my school) was arrested in the early 90’s for protesting at Fort Benning SOA when she was in her 70’s. I’m not a practicing Catholic but I love those nuns.

  62. 62.

    Schlemazel

    @raven:
    High School fails a lot of very bright, talented people for a lot of reasons. The shame is more folks do not overcome being failed. Nice to hear you did. I had no idea you had a PhD. What is it in?

  69. 69.

    raven

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yea, I mean I saw many of the people I wanted to at my friend’s memorial up there last September. There are about 50 people going to this and, while I recognize the names, I wasn’t really close with any of them. I was a bit of an oddball in that I hung out and even dated girls in the class of 66 and then went into the green machine that year. I just figure, what the hell, it probably won’t happen again and I do feel like I dug myself out of a really shitty situation there and I’m happy the way things turned out.

  70. 70.

    Felanius Kootea

    RIP. Heard and loved Cassandra Wilson’s cover of Wichita Lineman before I even knew about the original.

  72. 72.

    Mnemosyne

    @MomSense:

    I have not, but it sounds interesting. I tend to steer away from black pepper-based dishes because G grew up in one of those Midwestern homes where the only spice his mom knew about was black pepper, so she used a lot of it.

  73. 73.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Quinerly:
    Thanks for the tips. Right now I have been absorbing Jason Isbell’s Nashville Sound, and hope to see him at Red Rocks in September. Amazing songwriter.

  77. 77.

    Schlemazel

    @Kathleen:
    Ah, St. Joes. Many are cold, few are frozen.

    The Mother Church is a mixed bag. When they were put upon they were very liberal and today some of that still survived.

    I went out with a girl who went to Murray, she told some horror stories about things she was told by the nuns there. “never go on a date to a restaurant with white table cloths because it reminds boys of bed sheets.” “Never wear patent leather shoes because boys will look for the reflections of your panties”

  80. 80.

    raven

    @Schlemazel: EdD in Adult Education. Actually my dissertation was a qualitative study of GED grads. Why they quit, why they went back and the sense they made of the process.

  82. 82.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kathleen:

    I’m not getting what the connection is between skinny people and salted watermelon, but it’s been that kind of day. They’re doing major construction on the roof at my office and the smell of whatever sealant or other chemicals they were using gave me a mild migraine. Ugh.

  83. 83.

    Barbara

    @Quinerly: Van Morrison grew up as a Seventh Day Adventist in Northern Ireland and so was an outsider to both sides of the sectarian disputes in that land. His uncle or father had what was for that time a true rarity, a huge collection of American blues recordings. Before record stores all went out of existence I was wondering through and decided to buy a Van Morrison two set album called Hymns to the Silence. I could listen to that all day, every day. I used to play it when I worked late until they took my CD player away.

  84. 84.

    Schlemazel

    @raven:
    WOW! What a great topic for you! That is not only relevant to you but a topic that deserves attention. Nice work

  86. 86.

    Kathleen

    @raven: Did you know you would be going into the service when you graduated? I cannot imagine what it would have been like to know I could be sent into that war.

    ETA And congratulations on your Doctorate.

  89. 89.

    q

    OMG…OT,

    @DrJillStein
    Urgent. Prevent WWIII. Flood the White House switchboard now: Negotiate don’t escalate with North Korea! 202-456-1414

    Sure maybe people will call, but still…but fuqqqqq you Jill!

  90. 90.

    Shana

    @Kathleen: I just went to my 40th. Really nice to see the small group of friends I actually wanted to see. Very interesting to see what everyone had done with their lives, even the ones I didn’t hang with. Although I had an unfortunate discussion with a woman who’s married to someone who is, or was, an exec at News Corp (Fox) who went on and on about how Murdoch remembered her name after only having met her once before. It took all I had to not go off on how much he’s debased civic society etc. over the years. And this was after I told her I’m a democratic precinct captain at home and have been for the last 10 years. Pleasantly surprised to have so many people talk about how awful Trump is and how much they’re doing to resist.

    For a little context, I grew up in a smallish midwestern community that was largely union factory workers – John Deere is headquartered in the area, International Harvester used to have a good sized factory. Nice to see that so many of the children of those workers are still democrats.

  91. 91.

    trollhattan

    @raven:
    “Mystic Eyes” is a nearly perfect pop song and one of the all-time great breakout songs, up there with “Break on Through” and “Precious.”

  92. 92.

    raven

    @Kathleen: I didn’t graduate, the judge gave me my choice between jail and the Army. I went in on my 17th birthday and went to Korea and then Vietnam. Now I have to go to bed!!!

  93. 93.

    Quinerly

    @Barbara:
    I still listen to Hymns to the Silence. Great CDs. My once a month Sunday listening…especially in the winter. I think I have everything Van has done…vinyl in highschool and college…CDs later. And, yes, I still buy vinyl and CDs.?

  96. 96.

    Barbara

    @Baud: My husband tells me that salt on melon and sugar on tomatoes is true Southern and I tell him I’m not.

  97. 97.

    Schlemazel

    @Mike J:
    My youngest was in a semi-successful metal band. They used to cover “Come On Get Happy” By the Partridge Family. Many of these covers are meant to be ironic

  98. 98.

    Kathleen

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’ve not kept in touch since the fall after graduation my parents moved to Cincinnati and I attended school in Portland, Oregon. I moved so much as a kid that I’ve not been good at all in cultivating connections. However, I’m very excited because I’m also going to see 2 of my second cousins whom I’ve not seen since the early 1960’s. One lives in Minneapolis and the other lives in Wyoming and she’s coming to visit her sister so we will be getting together.

  101. 101.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    To the extent I had friends in high school (I was a bit of a recluse and not by any stretch what you would call “popular”), I was just as likely to be close to people from the Class of ’59 or Class of ’61 as from my own Class of ’60. But I don’t get invited to their reunions, and am in touch with only one of them. (Have kept up friendships with several from my own cohort.)

    The way things turn out is … the way things turn out. Looking back at all the choices and decisions, it seems inevitable to be here, now.

  102. 102.

    Shana

    @raven: That sounds really interesting. Phds are sometimes so specialized that no one outside the area can understand what they’re about, but yours sounds good for a fairly well educated layperson.

  106. 106.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Quinerly:

    Don’t particularly care for watermelon. I find it boring, but less so with salt. And always salt on cantaloupe, which I love. Have never used pepper on either, though.

  109. 109.

    Mnemosyne

    @Schlemazel:

    G knows a librarian who was in a band that was successful enough to get a record deal, but fell apart shortly afterwards. The guy took part of his money from the contract and went to library school at UCLA with it.

  110. 110.

    Schlemazel

    @Mike J:
    Yes, they were doing “I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts” but were not getting the reaction they wanted. I actually suggested ‘Get Happy’ since they were all too young to remember it. It was a big hit & they sold a bunch of CDs based on it

  112. 112.

    Yarrow

    I always liked “Rhinestone Cowboy.” And “Wichita Lineman” is a great, great song. RIP.

  115. 115.

    NotMax

    @Kathleen

    John Huston’s last film. He went out at the top of his game. Wikipedia:

    John Huston’s final film is an adaptation of the classic short story by James Joyce. This may have been one of Huston’s most personal films, due to his citizenship in Ireland and his passion for classic literature. Huston directed most of the film from a wheelchair, as he needed an oxygen tank to breathe during the last few months of his life. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, and was praised by critics. Roger Ebert eventually placed it in his Great Movies list; a section of movies he claims to be some of the best ever made. Huston died nearly four months before the film’s release date. In the 1996 RTE documentary John Huston: An t-Éireannach, Anjelica said that “it was very important for my father to make that film.” She contends that Huston did not think that it was going to be his last film, but that it was his love letter to Ireland and the Irish.

  116. 116.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Kathleen:
    As far as I can remember with advanced CRS, he started in Buffalo as the clown guy on tv, then in DC, before going full fascist on the network that shall not be named. Family in WNY; lived in Maryland way too long.

  117. 117.

    Kathleen

    @Schlemazel: Murray was on “my side of town”. I was the only one from Blessed Sacrament (East side of St Paul) to go across town to SJA (more west side of town). We got a little bid of that but only from a couple of the older nuns. I had some brilliant teachers, both nuns and lay people. When I look back at that era (1963 to 1967) I marvel at how lucky I was to be in an environment that encouraged me to develop all of my talents and my mind and prepare me for college. There were some very talented and bright young women in my class, 5 of whom went down to Mississippi the summer of 1966 to help in a school I believe. I thought my freshman year in college was easy compared to St. Joe’s to be honest. It was that rigorous. I treasure that time (though I rebelled sometimes!). It wasn’t all about getting married.

  118. 118.

    frosty

    My dad taught us to put salt on watermelon, so I thought it was a Long Island thing (Bellerose and Huntington Harbor).

  119. 119.

    Quinerly

    @OldDave:
    He’s so great. So underappreciated. I regret never seeing him live. Same regrets re Townes.? Never had the opportunity re Hartford. Could have seen TVZ but turned down the tickets.

  124. 124.

    Quinerly

    @frosty:
    Big in the south. Maybe no so much now but I remember church picnics, church homecomings in the 1960’s…everyone salted watermelon.

  125. 125.

    Mnemosyne

    This just popped into my head: when is the MSM going to start whining about “Trump fatigue” the way they complained about “Clinton fatigue”? God knows I’m sick of having to think about the fucker, and it’s only been 7 months since he was inaugurated.

    If I didn’t live in a midnight-blue part of CA where even the old white guys hate Trump, I probably would have had a nervous breakdown by now.

  126. 126.

    Kathleen

    @raven: My dad was in radio so he met quite a few stars in his day so I didn’t have too many illusions about that growing up!

  127. 127.

    q

    reading an lurking on this tread mostly. Sorry, but the only Glen Campbell song I think I know is Rhinestone Cowboy.

  128. 128.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @A Ghost to Most: Isn’t he though? We saw him on the Southeastern your and had 2d row pit seats bought 2 weeks before the show. On the tour behind Something More than Free the same venue was sold out within the week of sales opening. We were given balcony seats as a gift, so we saw that. Mr. Q got me Nashville Sound, but I admit I haven’t listened to it yet.

    I’m even more embarrassed that I don’t have Poor David’s Almnack, the new Dave Rawlings Machine album yet. We may go down to Louisville next week to see them again – well worth the drive.

    @Quinerly: Always salt on watermelon!

  129. 129.

    Kathleen

    @Shana: I’ve kept in touch with two classmates, both of whom have remained staunch Democrats. Not sure about the other women so I guess I’ll find out!

  130. 130.

    Yarrow

    I recently stopped into a Whole Foods and they were offering samples a watermelon salad made with watermelon (duh), feta (which was fairly salty) and mint. It was yummy.

  137. 137.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Quinerly: ZOMG! I wish I’d had that chance. Gillian Welch talked about moving to NAshville and how it was like seeing her record collection come to life – Townes, John Hartford, Guy Clark, they’d be out around town “and they came to your gigs.” I think it was her introduction speech for the Townes ACL HoF induction (which was long overdue, imo).

    @Omnes Omnibus: I know, right? Maybe way too many pschotropic drugs that day? No other explanation comes to mind, for an otherwise clearly sensible person, judging by comments here.

    @Kathleen: I haven’t forgotten you! I’ve been working in Dayton, so my energy is low.

  140. 140.

    Barbara

    @Mnemosyne: The former lead singer of the Brooklyn Bridge later became insurance commissioner then governor of Missouri — Jay Angoff.

  141. 141.

    Quinerly

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    But as a tiny child in the 1960’s I got to see Hendrix open for the Monkees in Greensboro, NC. I was nuts about Mickey (all the other little girls in my class loved Davy) couldn’t wait for the show. Hendrix was a blur. I was 6. Still have the program. A prized possession.

  143. 143.

    lamh36

    reading an lurking on this tread mostly. Sorry, but the only Glen Campbell song I think I know is Rhinestone Cowboy

  145. 145.

    OldDave

    @Quinerly:

    I regret never seeing him live. Same regrets re Townes.

    Sadly, regretfully, I never saw either, either. On the other hand, I’ve seen John Prine in concert several times, and Mark Knopfler twice (including at the Fabulous Fox), so I guess I can die happy.

  146. 146.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho:
    I’ve been a big fan of Isbell since his drunken DBT days. His song writing, always impressive, got better when he sobered up.
    The Nashville Sound contains some excellent songs: ‘Tupelo’ is a favorite, and ‘White Mans’ World’ takes a LARGE swing at white privilege.

  148. 148.

    Quinerly

    @OldDave:
    Prine…at least 5 or 6 times. Knopfler (who might be my very favorite musician) NEVER. I have to act my act together on that one.

  152. 152.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SFBayAreaGal:

    The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road
    The Rock Island Line is the road to ride
    The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road
    If you want to ride you gotta ride it like you find it
    Get your ticket at the station for the Rock Island Line

  153. 153.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @lamh36: FWIW that is the only one that sticks in my head. I know the names of some of the other songs mentioned in the thread, but the title connects with nothing in my head. There is Galveston, though; you may have heard it too. Generally, country music isn’t my thing.

  155. 155.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Quinerly:
    A guy I work with saw John Prine at Red Rocks a couple weeks ago, and said he still put on a great, long show, with all his medical problems

  156. 156.

    Schlemazel

    @Kathleen:
    I had a very hard time justifying the two different Catholic Churches, one so nututining ang encouraging and one so stiffeling and prohibitive.

    St. Pats was a couple blocks from my house but most of the kids that went there went to St. Bernard’s rather than Hill. Hill was for the rich kids

  159. 159.

    Shana

    @SFBayAreaGal: Interesting. I rarely run into anyone who doesn’t confuse it with Rockford. I took a tour of the high school as part of the reunion. I’d been totally unaware that the high school had been built as a WPA project and had all these amazing art deco details. There’s a Little Theatre that’s a text book definition of the style – curved walls in the theatre itself, circular ticket booth, it should be used as a set for a movie set during the time period.

    I have to say, having graduated in 1977, I was so glad to get out of the community, that I didn’t enjoy the setting at the time, but appreciate my youth there now that I’m grown. The freedom of having grown up in the 60s and 70s in a community like that is something my children could never have experienced. I tend to express it as benign neglect, we knew our boundaries, knew to be home for meals, otherwise were free to roam at will. Other than places like the community where John Cole lives, I’m not sure how many of those places are left nowadays.

  160. 160.

    OldDave

    @Quinerly: Sorry you missed the April 2010 ‘Get Lucky’ concert at the Fox. SWMBO and I also saw his last concert in the US on Halloween 2015. I’ve heard nothing about an upcoming album or tour. :-(

  165. 165.

    Inventor

    He had a song named “Kids” about a dad explaining to his children that he and their mother were splitting up and he won’t be living with them any more.

    It came out at almost the same time my own father made that announcement. I’ve never been able to listen to that song all the way through.

  167. 167.

    lamh36

    @Omnes Omnibus: doesn’t ring a bell either. Country is definitely NOT my thing either. the occasional “country pop” songs I’ve heard of course…ya know “country-lite”, but deep banjo twanging country music…NOPE

  169. 169.

    Quinerly

    @A Ghost to Most:
    He’s in the St. Louis area about once a year. Don’t hold me to that.. but I think so…at one time much more. The last time I saw him was a bit ago in Arkansas. Friend in Eureka Springs is a big fan. Always a good show. Great interaction with the audience

  170. 170.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @lamh36: I know the music of Memphis better than that of Nashville. I suspect you do too. OTOH, some of the people being mentioned in this thread (Townes van Zandt, for example) wrote songs that would have worked as old school country blues. Angst, heartbreak, and booze…

  174. 174.

    Quinerly

    @OldDave:
    Does Knopfler have anything new out? I haven’t checked. I think Amazon is supposed to alert me. If you haven’t checked it out, take a listen to Knopfler and Van on Van’s 2015 Duets album…”Irish Heartbeat.” It’s actually a great album…Georgie Fame, Natalie Cole, Mavis Staples (love me some Mavis…she really should have married Dylan), Joss Stone, Taj, Stevie Winwood, and others…..

  176. 176.

    OldDave

    @Schlemazel: Could be worse – the 2015 Knopfler tickets were well over $100 each. Last Prine concert we attended was $63, but closer than the nosebleed. Good luck. As Omnes says, YOLO!

  177. 177.

    trollhattan

    @raven: @Felanius Kootea:
    Saw Cassandra two or three years ago and she was as engaging and quirky as you’d expect, an exceptional and unique talent. Her group was straight up the best jazz band I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot of great jazz bands. Jeez.

  178. 178.

    OldDave

    @Quinerly: Latest album was “Tracker”, which was 2015. Nervous tapping of fingers….
    And yes, I need to look into the Van Morrison Duets album.

  179. 179.

    Villago Delenda Est

    “I am a lineman for the Army….”

    The 36C version of “Wichita Lineman” starts with this…

  182. 182.

    dm

    @phein55: Yes, Glen started as a summer replacement for “The Smothers Brothers”.

    Then “The Prisoner” (the surreal Patrick McGoohan marvel) was summer replacement for the Glen Campbell show.

  184. 184.

    Quinerly

    @OldDave:
    Yep, got that one. If you like Van, check out Pay the Devil from a few years back. Old school Country like “There Stands the Glass” and “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It” plus an original or two of his own tucked in for a surprise ( I was like…”who did that, where I have I heard that?” obviously, new but flows so well with the entire album.) Well produced album from about 10 years ago.

  185. 185.

    StringOnAStick

    @Quinerly: John Hartford was so great in person. I was fortunate to see him a couple of times as the headliner at the Telluride Bluegrass festival in the mid 1970’s, when it was still a small festival. Such a talented and interesting guy. I recall seeing him perform Gentle on my Mind on Glen Campbell’s show; he was a lot more comfortable with a live audience than TV but his TV performance really stuck with me because of how honest it was.

    In other news, my husband was chased by a bear on a local trail early Monday morning on a cloudy quiet day. They surprised each other and he looked up and saw a bear running ywards him from just a few feet away. My husband had to turn around and threaten several times to get it to back off, including hitting it on the nose several times with the raincoat he had in his hand. It was a juvenile bear and eventually it went up the hillside making a crying noise and obviously was looking for mom. This on a trail at the edge of Denver and usually full of runners and riders but the weather kept everyone out that morning. There is a stream along the trail and the wild raspberries are ripe right now so maybe that had something to do with it. My husband got away with a slightly sprained ankle; could have been a lot worse. I know there are people on this site who know this area, this was on Apex trail, just so they know.

  189. 189.

    J R in WV

    Had no idea John Hartford wrote that song. He was a wonderful person, I got to see him in a tiny amphitheatre in a city park in Huntington many years ago, probably 2 or 300 people tops. He was solo, as so often, and worked on a plywood sheet with sand to softshoe sounds with. There was a mike pointed nearly straight down on the plywood.

  191. 191.

    J R in WV

    @J R in WV:

    Also, wonder if there’s any way to know all the famous albums he appeared on as anonymous guitar genius on? Glen Campbell, I mean. I got distracted by Stephen Colbert’s opening tonight, which had an amazing take on Kim and Trump. I recommend it.

    G’night all…

  193. 193.

    low-tech cyclist

    Another Glen Campbell fan checking into the thread a bit late. “Wichita Lineman” is of course a song for the ages, more than enough to justify his musical career if he’d never done anything else. But that was far from his only good song. “Galveston,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Gentle on My Mind,” “Try a Little Kindness”…good stuff.

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