This was going to be a Valentine’s post, but I can’t hold back any longer!
Tom Jones never fails to put me in a good mood even if I’m determined to fight it. I challenge you to listen to these songs and not end up with a silly grin on your face. I could just put up the videos of his live performances and make you go beyond grinning to laughing out loud, but this isn’t about Tom’s gyrations. It’s about the very hopeful sound of these tunes and lyrics.
Some trivia about this song: it’s in the opening credits of Shakespeare Retold: Much Ado About Nothing*, which is part of the DVD set that includes the version of Macbeth with James McAvoy and Richard Armitage.
Okay, this one is super sexist and dated, but hey, I’m still smiling:
Come to think of it, most of these are sexist and dated. LOL!
Some more trivia: I saw What’s New Pussycat? in the movie theater when I was a kid. This was the first time I heard that Tom Jones (ne: Thomas John Woodward) was a distant relative. I cannot remember how. Need to ask Mom sometime. It’s only been 30+ years since we talked about it. Yes, I’m admitting how very old I am. LOL!
Last but certainly not least:
Does Richard Armitage like Tom Jones’ music? I don’t know, but I imagine him grinning when he hears it whether he likes it or not. :D
Yeah, I know you wanna laugh, Rich:
“Oh, I want to, Frenz, but I’m supposed to be serious now.”
Yeah, sure you are.
*My favorite story on that DVD set. If you haven’t watched Shakespeare Retold, run and get it!
Sometimes I just get blue. I used to always pick it apart — that blue funk. But analyzing it, nailing it down can be wearying, and sometimes it’s just that I’m a displaced Texan living in the Rockies. Texas can be a terrible and wonderful land, but mostly it’s a big heart with a cutting edge spirit that often thumbs its nose at convention while often appearing tacky with its own. Don’t be fooled by the seeming yahoo. Underneath is a class leveler, and I miss the plain talk and the willingness to be a stereotype in its pursuit. A place where words like ‘shit’ reverberate with meaning way beyond the obvious.
The mentality is best represented in an old joke:
A Texan went to Harvard, and on his first day there he was walking across campus and trying to find a particular building. He saw a group of preppy looking guys and stopped to ask them about it, “‘Scuse me, but can you tell me where the libary’s at?” The obvious leader of this group returned with a sneer, “For your information, it’s ‘library’ and no self-respecting Harvard man would end a sentence in a preposition. Would you care to rephrase that question?” The Texan grinned and replied, “Sure. Can you tell me where the libary’s at, asshole?”
I’m not going to wax on further about my love for Texas. I’ll inflict that on you another day. Feel free to bring the Chainsaw Massacre jokes. I’m ready. :D
Oddly enough, all of this is actually leading to some musicilove.
Shawn Colvin has become the epitome of someone who does her own thing despite her difficulties and is not out to impress anyone unless she wants a boyfriend. ;-). She’s become part of the charm of Austin, Texas along with a cadre of world class artists who make Austin a cultural destination. I’ll talk more about that later if I get inspired. For now I want to focus on Shawn who grew up in London, Ontario and Illinois but eventually settled in Texas. It fit her nature of being tender but hardscrabble when necessary and always startlingly honest.
In her performances she always seems to be trying to get at the truth. She focuses on almost anything but the external, intent on something inside herself, and the timid but wry twist of her mouth reluctantly given makes it devastating. But it’s her voice purring and her guitar along with it that puts a stroke between bone and muscle.
Some of you have heard her pieces. One of her most well known from “A Few Small Repairs” CD:
From the “Serendipity” soundtrack CD:
Other goodies.
From “Steady On” CD:
From “Fat City” CD:
From “A Few Small Repairs” CD:
The title track from “All Fall Down” CD, her latest:
I like that video, but I think I prefer Shawn alone with her guitar:
And I may be wrong about Shawn Colvin’s honesty, but I don’t think so. Just started her memoir. Wow.
And she might wonder, “Who the Hell is Richard Armitage?” I have an answer. :D
Off to listen to the rest of her new CD. She’s also touring in January and Mary Chapin Carpenter will join her in February. I haven’t seen her perform live for years. May have to make a run over to Aspen in February.
edit: I did not realize today is Shawn Colvin’s birthday! Talk about serendipity. :D
In this one below, I love how Bill Evans closed his eyes while he was playing. Classic Bill Evans. Check out the bass player Red Mitchell too. It’s the best way to play. Notes are something to be felt, and sometimes embracing the instrument really is almost like falling onto it, yet it cradles you.
Another one:
This is the stuff of my childhood. My dad was a bass player (both bass violin and bass guitar). 40+ years of playing gigs, and it wasn’t uncommon for my mother and me to go with him. I literally spent my youth in places like Village Vanguard. It took growing up to realize most kids are not hanging at jazz joints when they’re ten. These are just some of the things I finally got freed up enough to write about.
Oh heck, one more and with Bill explaining a little of the trio the first couple of minutes or so:
I’m not sure if this post should get the Richard Armitage tag. My CWS must be on the wane, ’cause I don’t have a good sense if this is his thing or not. :D Okay, yeah, he’s cool enough to like it. ;-)
I listen to music in iTunes and own a few iPods, but I’m careful about how I handle what I buy there or Amazon mp3, etc., and for good reason.
Who inherits your iTunes library?
Why your digital books and music may go to the grave
Many of us will accumulate vast libraries of digital books and music over the course of our lifetimes. But when we die, our collections of words and music may expire with us.
Someone who owned 10,000 hardcover books and the same number of vinyl records could bequeath them to descendants, but legal experts say passing on iTunes and Kindle libraries would be much more complicated.
Whitney Houston is dead at 48. I can’t stop shaking my head.
edit: I have to add this video even if it doesn’t seem to exactly fit the subject at hand. Whitney Houston is the ONLY one who sang this and it was enjoyable. The rest of the time I can feel the masochist who wrote the music laughing at us all when we sit through it.
I haven’t been on my YouTube account in a while, but I got a rash of requests which prompted me to go over and find out why. It seems that Richard Armitage now has his own channel compiled courtesy of YouTube. I wonder how many other celebrities have their own. I can’t seem to find out how you find these things. The notice was one of my in-box items.
Who knew the dwarves singing would be absolutely wondrous by evoking such a keen sense of adventure? It’s telling how the song pervades my spirit and immediately demands an identification with 13 guys from a fictional place. At less than one minute, I’m hooked and ready to go with them. Bravo! Peter Jackson and Howard Shore and Tolkien of course! Bravo! But then comes the let down that the wait will be a year. Thankfully, a few things are occurring to alleviate the withdrawal. I’m reading Tolkien. Read The Hobbit again a few months ago, and pictured Richard Armitage marvelously as Thorin. Thank you again, Peter Jackson! I’m also starting the trilogy and heck, I’ve purchased all of Tolkien’s works including the non-fiction (more on that later) and some of it in more than one format. Several are duplicated on my Kindle. Yes, sometimes I really am insane. Oh, and I’ve purchased this as well as reading lots of excellent sites which give literary analysis of Tolkien.
As if that weren’t enough, I’ve downloaded Over the Misty Mountains Cold (a longer version) to my iPod where I will listen to it until I have learned every measure and their dynamics, and hopefully, get tired of it and then grow to love it again before the movie is released. And I found this video of it on YouTube. Phew, is it fun to surf around today! If you haven’t tried it, go for it. Lots of interesting things to read and watch about ‘The Hobbit.’ Good thing I’m on vacation. Just don’t get caught up on stuff like this as I did.
Tolkien obviously loved music, and his passion abounds even now. He’s inspired countless others with his sense of the epic. Here’s another site I found surfing around awhile back. Wonderful! And be sure to check out the last guy on the list. He and his band are an old favorite — Tolkien inspired songs or not. If you don’t know him, check this out, and I’ll stop there as I feel a tangent coming on. Yeah, I know some of you remember that song. :D
In the meantime, here is an mp3 version for those who need a regular fix.
