Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXII--The Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter

The Rolling Stones--ever heard of 'em?

I'm going to dispense with the brief weekly band history--there are many writers much more talented than I who have chronicled the Stones in books and articles numerous times over.  Suffice it to say they have been around longer than the majority of the people in the world have been alive (1962) and have won pretty much every accolade and honor that a band can win.  For me, they are in the triumvirate of greatest rock bands of all-time, which would be The Who, The Beatles, and The Stones in that order (and, oddly enough, considering that we Americans invented rock and roll, they're all English bands).  Three of the original band members--Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Charlie Watts--are still performing, and a fourth, Bill Wyman, is still with us but just got tired of the rock and roll grind after a mere thirty years.

Written by The Glimmer Twins (Jagger/Richard--and what a great epithet that is) as the lead track for their 1969 Let It Bleed  LP, "Gimme Shelter" was never released as a single surprisingly enough.  Considered by some (myself included) to be their greatest song, "Gimme Shelter" also may be the song most emblematic of the 60's--it's hard to think of another song that better encapsulates the assassinations, the Vietnam War, the race riots, the chaos and tumult, and eventually the hope that came out of that era.

"Gimme Shelter" opens with a guitar solo from Keith Richards that could best be described as sounding like what your reflections looks like in a House of Mirrors (wouldn't surprise me at all if the Breeders got their inspiration for the guitar work in "Cannonball" from Richards' stunning guitar work on this song)--it is otherworldly.  Jagger throws in a quick harmonica bit before opening with his ominous vocals:  "Ooh a storm is threat'nin'/My very life today...."  Nine words in and it already has greatness written all over it.  The song continues with more dire imagery as the guitar grows bolder and bolder and is joined by Charlie Watts' background gunfire drumming before the creme de la creme of the song--career background singer Merry Clayton joins in for easily the greatest backing vocals in the history of rock and roll (think Aretha Franklin on steroids).   And as the two wail, "War, children, is just a shot away" again and again and you begin to think it's all doomed, it's all said and done, Jagger cuts in with this  "Love, sister, is just a kiss away...."  How fucking fantastic is that?  No matter how bad it gets, love is always right in front of you.

It's a once in a lifetime song from a once in a lifetime band.

Lyric sheet:  "Gimme, gimme shelter/Or I'm gonna fade away...."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Demented and sad

Kory Langhofer, a conservative lawyer from Arizona, said this week that since we already know how Antonin Scalia would vote on the cases the Supreme Court has heard this term, that his vote should still count despite the fact that Scalia is dead. 

(Funny that, since republicans are always screaming for voting restrictions out of their fears that dead people vote in general elections....)

Here we have an abject lesson for those who claim that there's no difference between Democrats and republicans:  The Democratic Party at times may be unwieldy, bungling, and obtuse, but at no time are we Democrats ever completely and totally out of our fucking minds.

Judging from Mr. Lanhofer's comments re Antonin Scalia's voting prerogative, we most assuredly can tell that the wheels have come completely off the tracks for the crazy train that is the republican party.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXI--Lyle Lovett: Friend of the Devil

I tried, as I was thinking about today's tune, to think of a song that was a cover version that I enjoyed so much more than the original and came up with nary a one other than Lyle Lovett's version of the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil."  In fairness, as I've noted before, I'm not an aficionado of the Dead but I can't really say I'm a big fan of Lyle Lovett, either.  A mystical confluence of musical events, one supposes.

Lyle Lovett's career has been marked by a quiet consistency.  He started recording in the mid 80's and has more or less released an album every two years and while his sales have never soared into the stratosphere he has several gold records, a devoted following, and some serious respect in the music community.  Along the way he's won four Grammy Awards, appeared in numerous movies, and married Julia Roberts (if only for a couple of years).  Not a bad ride for the lanky Texan.

Written by Robert Hunter with music by Jerry Garcia, "Friend of the Devil" originally appeared on the 1970 Grateful Dead album American Beauty.  It tells the story of a man on the run from the law who makes a deal with the devil and then finds himself on the run from Satan, too.  The original Dead version is an uptempo folk tune, and immediately became a fan favorite (and a musicians favorite, too--it's been covered by roughly 20 different artists, including Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Dave Matthews, and the Counting Crows).

Though he wasn't the first (Loggins and Messina were actually the first and most others followed, including the Dead in their live version), Lovett slowed the tempo of "Friend of the Devil" considerably and turned it into a masterpiece.  Released in 1991 on the Dead tribute album Deadicated, the liner notes say there's a bass, some drums, and some piano on the song, but I'll be goddamned if I can hear any of them.  And that's because Lovett's vocals so overwhelm the ears (the acoustic guitar is plenty noticeable, however) as he sings with a quiet pathos that makes you empathize with the fugitive protagonist as he misses his sweet Anne Marie and fears spending the rest of his life in jail.  It's American folk at its finest--a tour de force of the old west and one of its many outlaws, all in a perfect harmony from a wondrous vocal performance by Lovett.

Like the man says, "I set out running but I take my time...."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

This is what happens when you vote republican, Part II

Once again, into another circle of hell that the republicans have created for the rest of us:

The citizens of Birmingham, Alabama, realizing the game is rigged for the working class of America, took the only step available to those of us caught in the cycle of month to month subsistence:  they voted to increase the minimum wage in their city to $10.10 an hour (keep in mind, if one can find a full-time job, this comes to a whopping $21,000 a year.).

The republican state legislature of Alabama, unable to resist businesses they can fellate, are now moving forward with a bill that would prevent municipalities such as Birmingham from setting their own minimum wage, citing that it would make things too complicated to have numerous minimum wages in the state.

Leaving aside the fact that if Alabama republicans find multiple minimum wages rates too complicated it's a wonder they can tie their own fucking shoes. how in the hell can anyone vote for people who subvert democracy and actively seek to make average Americans lives considerably worse economically all the while claiming they are following the will of their voters?

What's the matter with Kansas?  Try what's the matter with republican voters, period.

Peace,
emaycee

This is what happens when you vote republican, Part I

Well lookee here:  seems that in Michigan, after our republican leaders poisoned Flint's children in an effort to "save" money, amid new allegations that a veteran's home which was privatized wasn't providing quite the same care as the union nurses Governor Snyder's minions fired, and the maggot infested food that Aramark (contracted by--who else? our republican leaders) fed to the state's prisoners, some republicans, off the record, are admitting that perhaps running the state of Michigan like a business hasn't worked out all that well.

Ya think?

I've said it before and I'll say it many more times until enough people stop believing republicans' bullshit free market mantra:  There is absolutely nothing the government can do that the private sector can't do a lot worse while charging us a lot more money.

Peace,
emaycee

The farce be with you

Thanks to work requirements which command that people receiving food stamps work twenty hours a week or forfeit their benefits after three months for three years, over 500,000 Americans could be going hungry by the end of March.  Of the twenty-three states (all controlled by republicans--surprise, surprise) that have implemented these restrictions, exactly zero have either made exceptions for high unemployment rates or added programs to help their residents look for work.  Keep in mind that requiring people to work to receive assistance does not magically create jobs that aren't there--it just means that more Americans will go hungry for no good reason.

I note this not just because I'm outraged by the callousness of republicans, but also because I happened to see a chart of President Obama's proposed budget for fiscal year 2017, and 54% of it, or $622 billion, is devoted to defense spending while 1%, or $12.8 billion, is devoted to agriculture and food (which is where food stamps are allotted).

What do you suppose it says about a nation that spends over six hundred billion dollars on weapons and war machines but only slightly more than twelve billion dollars to feed the least among its citizens?

Somehow I don't think that's what the founding fathers had in mind when they called for "a more perfect union."

Peace,
emaycee

With friends like these

In its infinite wisdom, the republican establishment, now that Marco Rubio is its only viable candidate, is announcing that Bob Dole and Mitt Romney are endorsing Rubio in his bid for the republican nomination.  Because nothing--I mean absolutely nothing--fires up the republican base quite like the endorsements of two moderate republicans who lost imminently winnable elections to candidates (Clinton in '96 and Obama in '12) that the base absolutely despised.

Who, outside of the clueless national media, do they think these men are going to influence?  Because it's really hard to see supporters of either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz suddenly changing their votes based on the words of two men they think are twits that lost to the womanizer and the black guy.

Jeez, I should have been a republican adviser--if only I'd known when I was young that they were more than happy to pay fortunes for bad advice.  

I could have given them plenty of that.

Peace,

emaycee