Happy Birthday to the American producer and guitarist Daniel Lanois, who is turning 74 today. Although he has released eight albums on his own, he is probably best known as a producer. And his resume as such is most impressive. The list of artists he has produced records by includes Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson and U2.
Daniel Lanois’ solo career has been a little more low-key, although not without some minor success. I’m not too familiar with his solo work, as I only own his first two records. Still, both are very fine albums, and I’ll post one from each of them here. So here’s to yet another of those who are in the background, still being an important part of the music we enjoy. Happy Birthday to Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois - The Maker (Acadie, 1989)
Daniel Lanois - Lotta Love To Give (For the Beauty of Wynona, 1993)
Daniel Lanois has also done a few soundtracks, both for film and video games. Without a doubt, the best known of these is Red Dead Redemption 2, one of the biggest video game successes ever.
I’d like to give a shout out to the memory of a mostly forgotten American singer and songwriter. His name is Steve Goodman, and he passed away 41 years ago today. He is basically known for one song that he wrote, namely City of New Orleans. The song is a not about the town, but about a train called City of New Orleans that runs between Chicago and New Orleans.
City of New Orleans is a great song, and has become a standard in country and folk music. It has been recorded and/or played live by numerous artists through the years. Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson have done it, both on their own and together with The Highwaymen. Other artists worth mentioning are Arlo Guthrie, John Denver, Judy Collins and Sheryl Crow. Both Nelson’s and Guthrie’s versions became hits.
Steve Goodman released eight albums between 1971 and 1984, the year he sadly passed away from leukemia only 36 years old. Although he was a highly respected songwriter among his contempraries, his own career never really took off. His records got good reviews, but didn’t do much commercially. So let’s keep the memory of Steve Goodman alive with his own version of City of New Orleans
Missioned Souls is a family band from the Philippines, who does a magnificent version of this old Deep Purple classic. The oldest member is the bass player (and keyboardist) who is 16. The lead guitarist is 14 and the singer is 12. And look at the kid behind the drums. He’s 11, and his drumsticks are almost as long as his arms! Still, he’s nails it. This is cool!
The American keyboardist Don Preston is most probably among the oldest musicians still alive. Today he is turning 93! Happy Birthday to him! He is best known as a member of Frank Zappa’s band The Mothers of Invention from 1967 to 1974. After his split with the Mothers, Don Preston’s been very active, albeit mostly in experimental music and jazz, so we haven’t really heard much about him.
Still, Don Preston has done quite a few albums, both solo and collaborations. The best known artists he’s recorded with are John Lennon, Robbie Krieger (The Doors) and Captain Beefheart. Between 2000 and 2016 he was part of The Grandmothers, a band of ex-Zappa musicians he co-founded. He’s also been touring most of the time, and has been active until at least a year ago. The last info about concerts I can find while doing some research for this, is from September last year, when he was 92!
Now back to the Mothers, Don Preston was on stage at the Montreaux Casino in December 1971. It was during one of his keyboard solos the infamous fire started, the fire that caused smoke on the water on the Lake Geneva shoreline. One of the song played right before was Call Any Vegetables. There’s no official live recordings of the gig at the casino, so we’ll have to settle for a version recorded live in Los Angeles a few months prior to the gig in Switzerland. Still, it may be a fitting song to celebrate Don Preson on his 93rd birthday
The Mothers - Call Any Vegetable
If anyone is interested, there are bootleg recodings of the concert at the Montreaux Casino on YouTube, with decent enogh sound quality.
Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) would have turned 91 today. So here’s to the memory of this magnicifent songwriter, of one of the greatest ever…and to the future. We may still hope
I got on a Cohen roll tonight, and I’d like to share this one too. The muse behind this song is Marianne Ihlen, a woman from Norway. She was born the year after Cohen, and after their relationship in the 1960’s was over, it seems she sort of stayed with him for the rest of his life. When he heard that she was diagnosed with terminal cancer in the summer of 2016, he sent her this e-mail:
Dearest Marianne,
I’m just a little behind you, close enough to take your hand. This old body has given up, just as yours has too. I’ve never forgotten your love and your beauty. But you know that. I don’t have to say any more. Safe travels old friend. See you down the road. Endless love and gratitude.
your Leonard
Leonard Cohen passed away a little less than two months after Marianne Ihlen. Shorthy after his death, this pic was taken in Montreal in Canada. Cohen was born in one of the city’s suburbs.
Allow me a little music history again today, because 132 years ago today the American blues musician Lemon Henry Jefferson was born, Best known to the world as Blind Lemon Jefferson. He was one of the pioneers in blues, and has been called “The father of the Texas blues”. His recording career lasterd only four years. from 1925 until he passed away in 1929 at the age of 36. Still he was a very popular and successful artist in the 1920’s, selling lots of records.
Blind Lemon Jefferson went on to become an influential artist in the history of blues and rock. Although he did not influence his contemporaries, his distintct voice and intricate guitar style was to difficult for them to pick up on, he went on the become a big name decades after his death. In 1955 Carl Perkins released Matchbox, later to be covered by The Beatles. Perkins did not credit Blind Lemon Jefferson, but Matchbox is basically just a rewrite of Jefferson’s song Matchbox Blues.
What is perhaps Blind Lemon Jefferson’s best known song is See That My Grave Is Kept Clean. So here’s to the memory of one of the pioneers of the music we listen to and love today. To Blind Lemon Jefferson
Blind Lemon Jefferson - See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (1927)
See That My Grave Is Kept Clean has been covered by loads of atrists. Blues giants like B.B. King and Lightnin’ Hopkins have done it. Bob Dylan had it on his debut album. Then there’s the Grateful Dead, Canned Heat, Lou Reed, Mike Bloomfield…and the Dream Syndicate, to mention a few.
The Dream Syndicate - See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (1988)
Blind Lemon Jefferson was buried at Wortham Negro Cemetery (as it was called back then) in Texas. His grave remained unmarked until 1967, when a gravestone was raised in the area where he was buried. To this day nobody knows exactly where he was buried. In 1997 the gravestone was in poor condition and was changed to the one that stands today. Ten years later the name of the graveyard was changed to Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery.
I’d like to pay tribute to the English bassist Danny Thompson, who passed away two days ago at the age of 86. He is best known for being part of the classic line-up of the folk rock band Pentangle from 1967 to 1973. Thank you for the music Danny, may you be remembered
Just a few more words about Danny Thompson before I stop. He started out on the British blues circuit in the 1960’s. Between 1964 and 1967 he was a member of Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, a band that honed some musicians that went on to great success, among others Charlie Watts, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. He was also playing with John McLaughlin back then.
When the classic Pentangle split up in 1973, Danny Thompson went on to session work, most notebly with Richard Thompson and John Martyn. In addition he’s been part of some of Pentangle’s reunions through the years. He also released few solo albums, which mostly went by unnoticed to the larger public, including me. Still, we lost a fine musician two days ago. I got to see Danny Thompson live once, playing bass with Richard Thompson in 1991.
Happy Birthday to Bryan Ferry, who is turning 80 today! Best known as the singer in Roxy Music, and for his long and successful solo career. Although I do like his solo work, to me he will always be the frontman in Roxy Music. This band entered my life the autumn 52 years ago, and is still one of my favourite bands to this day. If I remember correctly, this song was the first one I heard by them.
Happy Birthday to the Mexican/American singer and guitarist Cesar Rosas, who is turning 71 today. He’s been one of the singers and guitarists in the Los Angeles band Los Lobos from 1973 until today. Los Lobos is a very good band, who plays a mix of rock, blues and country, at times heavily blended with traditional Mexican music. Now we might as well let Cesar Rosas sing a song to us on his birthday
Los Lobos - Wicked Rain (live 2002)
Sometimes Los Lobos goes all Mexican, with traditional instruments like requinto jarocho, bajo sexto and guitaron. So while we’re at it, let Cesar sing one more song on his birthday, this time in Spanish.
