Guy Clark is in the Country Music Songwriters Hall of Fame and was a beloved artist during his long career. At the same time, he was a big star. His talent was big, but his shadow was small and intense.
I saw him at Joe’s Pub in NYC a ways back, before he got sick. It was a terrific show, full of gee whiz moments when songs you knew took you by surprise, and songs you didn’t know made themselves feel familiar and important.
Like this one.
While you were hating Nirvana and Pavement and actual crap indie bands in the 90s, the Moldy Peaches advanced.
A suburban rock guy with a love of noise meets a socially challenged preschool teacher who is a great song writer, what can happen?
Great songs can happen. (Though the record that made their names, as it were, wasn’t out until 2001.)
This video was made by fans, which makes it especially valuable. But I like the song.
Not classic, but awfully good.
Dreamy.
Might be my favorite album of the decade. Dee Lite’s World Clique
When A Man Loves a Woman is such a giant song, it dwarfs everything else. But Percy Sledge was a working singer and musician and was no one hit wonder.
The song I thought of when I heard tonight that Percy Sledge died was this one, a simmering ballad with a heart felt and gorgeously emotional (and nakedly emotional) refrain.
I saw the band Dump, which is Yo La Tengo’s bassist James McNew’s side project, in 1998 opening for the Future Bible Heroes in the fun club that once existed under the now defunct Time Cafe. If I’m remembering correctly McNew started the show by saying that he’d seen Prince the night before in the city and they were going to play some covers. And they did.
What I didn’t know is that at some point later the band put out a record of Prince covers. Very much 90s rock, kind of a nice sound.
This shouldn’t be on YouTube. Prince doesn’t like that. I think it must be slowed down a little, to fool the piracy software.
It was scheduled to go up on the 25th, last in my Seven songs from the 80s set, but dangit, I just read that Prince died last night.
This was a pop hit, but did a song better catch the feeling of nuclear risk from that time? And why do we feel that risk no longer exists today?
This weekend at Coachella the legendary Cleveland guitarist Glenn Schwartz performed with legendary Eagles savior Joe Walsh (who introduced Schwartz as the guy who taught him to play guitar), and Dan Auerbach, who is producing a boogie rock album by a band called the Arcs that contains (but certainly not restrains) all three.
I don’t think any of us anticipated seeing the Arc in our imaginary Coachella.
Legendary Clevelander and two-time Tout Wars winner John Coleman turned us on to Schwartz a couple of years ago. He has a great story and obviously great chops.
There is a short clip on YouTube here:
The much better clip is on Facebook, but you have to go to the Rock Remnants page on Facebook for us to help you find it. You should go there. This is excellent boogie rock at its best.
Can I say that Facebook is stupid about these outside links? Yes I can. Please let us link freely.
That said, it’s great to see Glenn Schwartz out and playing. Joe Walsh, too.
