From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V10 #4 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Tuesday, January 13 2009 Volume 10 : Number 004 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] Re: shindell-list-digest V10 #3 ["E. Wolke" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:50:49 -0500 From: "E. Wolke" Subject: [RS] Re: shindell-list-digest V10 #3 Out of lurkdom again on the subject of covers, songwriters, and such -- Jackson Browne has had moments of brilliance and some songs that I haven't been able to appreciate. Over the years, these have changed. Heck, a couple of his songs from the (eeeek) 80s have been playing in my head for the past several years -- "For America", as an example, for a country gone so wrong I have wept for my children. I'll bet when he wrote it he thought it was what Tom Paxton calls a "short shelf life" song for the Reagan years. How wrong he was. Also, I've lived in the Washington DC area for almost 20 years now, and "Lawyers in Love" hits my funny bone as never before. RS grew up listening to the radio like the rest of us, and he has been influenced by the best -- from Jackson Browne to the Beatles to the late lamented wildman Warren Zevon, to New Jersey's icon and Woody Guthrie's inheritor Bruce Springsteen, to Dylan to the best in modern folkies like Jim Keelaghan and of course friends like Dar Williams . If he wasn't, it would be like cutting off his ears and taking away his history. I hear a lot of the spirit of Pete Seeger in him, as well as "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy". His cover of "Mercy Street" is lovely, and his taste in other covers is surprising, refreshing, and impeccable. However, what I love most are HIS songs, and I treasure the gems he gives us, even while I must sometimes struggle to keep up on first hearing. I saw Richard for the first time BECAUSE I'm a fan of James Keelaghan and they were appearing together. They got along like gangbusters; sang "Farewell to the Gold" together, and then I almost got whiplash when Richard opened his set with "Courier" and "You Stay Here". I COULD NOT BREATHE. He proceeded to floor me with all the songs. Even Jim, who knows me as the crazy broad from DC who always sings harmony, noticed, and said, "You were certainly listening closely to him," almost as though a bit ruffled. "He hit me hard. Don't you know," I replied, "that's how I listen to you, too?" He seemed mollified by that, even flattered. He's a great guy, but it takes an ego to go out and do this stuff. I'm glad Richard does it, and glad for all my favorite musicians. Though I love folks like Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and other modern classic performers, I hate large concerts (I especially cannot abide BRUUUUUCE - ies), and concentrate on venues where I can go and shake the performer's hand and tell him/her how much I have enjoyed the music. Too bad, I'd love to meet Springsteen, he sounds like an uber-cool guy. So -- I have't heard Jackson Browne's new offering yet, but I'm sure there's a gem or two on there. We've all grown in the intervening time, and I'd be interested in seeing what he sees. I'm sure RS is interested as well... Back to lurkdom, Evelyn Wolke ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V10 #4 **********************************