A time to dance, a time to mourn

Another great is gone

 

Sadly, the world of rock and roll has lost another of its all-time greats with the announcement today of the passing of David Crosby at the age of eighty-one.  Crosby was a founding member of two of rock's most seminal bands, The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and Young a bit later), and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of both.

While I'll obviously remember Crosby's musical contributions to the bands noted above, I'll also remember him for his primal scream of "How many more?" in CSNY's "Ohio" (still the greatest protest song ever written), his never-ending promotion of liberal causes and accomplishments (a master tweeter), and his epic bitch slap of second-rate talent and perfect asshole Ted Nugent when he whined that he wasn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because of "political correctness."

While Crosby had his demons (drug addiction--eventually he did five months in prison for drug and weapons offenses), he would eventually conquer them, and late in his life he noted (quite correctly, I might add) that, "Music's a lifting force.  Music makes things better."

RIP and Godspeed, Mr. Crosby.

While I'm not a religious man, The Byrds "Turn! Turn! Turn!" with its lyrics taken from the Bible book Ecclesiastes seems an especially appropriate endpoint...Enjoy:

Republicans = Losers

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCLI--Judy Collins: Send in the Clowns

 We're coming full circle this week, as I am featuring the woman who was the subject of the song for the first ever Friday Night Jukebox post I wrote, "Suite:  Judy Blue Eyes."  The series has come a long way since then--the posts are certainly longer at any rate--and hopefully will keep going for a long ways....

Judy Collins was born in Seattle, Washington in 1939, and was originally trained as a classical pianist, making her debut at the age of thirteen playing a piece by Mozart.  During her later teens, Collins became captivated by folk music and walked away from her classical training and began performing in clubs across the country at the age of 20.  She released her first album in 1961 and had her first hit single with Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" in 1968.  Collins has had an eclectic career, performing folk, rock, standards, and show tunes throughout it.  She has won a Grammy Award, and was also nominated for an Academy Award for a film she co-directed about her classical teacher.  She has released 28 studio albums (and has a new album scheduled for both this and next year), and 14 singles (with one top ten hit).  Unfortunately, Collins did not have the easiest of lives, suffering from polio, tuberculosis, bulimia, and alcoholism; she also lost her only child, a son, to suicide.  Collins has been active in liberal causes, and at the age of eight-two is still recording and performing in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Fun Fact:  "Send in the Clowns" was written by Broadway composer extraordinaire Stephen Sondheim for his musical A Little Night Music.  Sondheim won a Grammy Award for song of the year after Collins released her version;  she was nominated for a Grammy but did not win.

"Send in the Clowns" was originally released as a single from Collins' album, Judith in 1975.  The single hit #36 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album peaked at #17 on the albums chart.  The single was re-released in 1977 and climbed even higher, before stalling at #19.

"Send in the Clowns" tells the story of a woman who finally realizes she loves and wants to be with a man she had spurned when she was younger, only to find out he's now married.  Lyrically, Sondheim masterfully juxtaposes where the woman and the man are in their current relationship, and at the same time captures its comedic though disheartening end result.  Collins voice was blessed by angels when she was born, and between the beauty of her voice and her depiction of the protagonist lays bare the disappointment at the heart of the song.  Throw in an opening clarinet, and the understated instrumentation provided by a piano and some softly played strings, and you have one of the most lyrically and instrumentally beautiful songs ever written.  Spoiler alert:  in the musical the couple eventually ends up together....

Lyric Sheet:  "Isn't it rich?/Are we a pair?/Me here at last on the ground/You in midair/Send in the clowns..."

Enjoy:

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Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. I--Crosby, Stills, and Nash: "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"

Because I haven't wasted enough of my life on pop music....

For those wondering, it's a song a week, some hits and some not, in no particular order, because touting a great song a week seems somehow worthwhile, goddamnit.  CSN's "Suite:  Judy Blue Eyes" starts it off because last year on some night I couldn't sleep I came across Woodstock on VH1 and this was the first song I heard and I distinctly remember asking myself at two or three in the morning, "Holy shit, has this song always been this good?"  And I thought the whole world (or at least the two or three people who regularly read this blog) should know just how good it was....

Word of warning:  on the Pop Music Coolness Quotient, Nick Hornby I aint.

For those not familiar, "Suite:  Judy Blue Eyes" is as the name suggests--a suite of  four songs, dedicated to Stephen Stills love of the time, folk goddess Judy Collins, amid their imminent breakup.  There's also a play on words with "suite" and "sweet" for those who enjoy the English language....  If nothing else, it's worth listening to just for the harmonies of Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and some great acoustic guitar from Stephen Stills.

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee