Tuesday 25 October 2016

Sunshine Came Softly


The other night, I had the pleasure of attending a Donovan concert in Toronto.

His voice isnt what it used to be, but hes such a good storyteller, and his songs practically sing themselves anyway, so it was all good.

What was especially heartwarming is that not everyone in the audience had white hair.  I was amazed at how many people under 30 were there and they werent casual listeners.  They knew him.  They were fans.

Donovan himself described his musics timeless appeal as hopeful melancholy.  He confronts that madness of our species, and shares his sadness at our willful self-destructiveness, but he celebrates the wonders of the world around us with an enduring spirit of hopefulness.

He is the hurdy gurdy man, singing songs of love.

Thursday 13 October 2016

Admit That The Waters Around You Have Grown


Well!   Bob Dylan has won the Nobel Prize for literature, and I think thats very cool.

Thursday 6 October 2016

But My Mother Didn’t Know


Guitar duos are still the thing, man.  Aint nothing better than to listen to two cats play off one another:  John and George, Hammett and Hetfield, Allman and Betts, Trucks and Haynes, Ronnie and Keef, Jimmy Page and himself

But go way back to 1959, and have a listen to John Lee Hooker and (I think*) Eddie Taylor jam their way through Im In The Mood.

Fantastic.

* I know there are multiple versions of this track.  Theyre all terrific, but hopefully Im referencing the right one.