Carl Wilson, the rock writer, does a great job here explaining Peter Jackson’s epic (when it comes to the Beatles in January 1969, not civilization) TV show about the Beatles, called Get Back. I finished it last night and it is delightful, insightful, and well worth watching. Read his story here.
I’ve said it before, this is the greatest of rock songs. Passion, euphemism, nursery melodies, giant drums, go-go dancers, and a sax solo. Case closed.
I think we may have posted this clip before, but maybe not. It is great.
When I first heard this song it was way more punk rock than most punk rock, thematically if not sonically.
When I was in high school I fantasized about blowing the whole place up. Didn’t we all?
This is the conceit of the movie Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, isn’t it?
But the Boomtown Rats endure, and are important and their initial joust doesn’t say much about gun violence, but it sure does crank on the dynamics of mental health and violence and our lives.
While we go afield, here’s a tune from Saturday Night Live a bit ago.
Chris Stapleton is the biggest rock guy in country music. Think music.
Sturgill Simpson is the songwriter of country life. Think words.
Here the two of them offer awesome guitar solos, and a classic country theme. On Saturday night TV.
I’m glad to have heard it. And won’t ever likely hear it again.
I heard these guys and I went (a little) insane.
But I didn’t hear this. (It was 2014.)
Not swing.
Swing.
By the way, this is a funny “greatest guitar solo”, which starts closer to four minutes in than the 3:40 as advertised. But also fun, and swinging.
There is good playing here, and a minimum of offensive show biz (while there is plenty of show biz). It feels amazing that this clip is from a Grammy Awards show, but who knows? The last time I watched one of those might have been in 1986. This is fun, musically, and larded with a ton of contextual social stuff that someone else might like to unpack.
For me, it is the playing and seeing these big stars live (on tape).
