music crushes

Joni Mitchell: ultimate blue

~ jama ~ 32 Comments

“I sing my sorrow, and I paint my joy.” ~ Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell photographed in the Nevada desert by Henry Diltz (1978).

It’s no surprise that the ultimate “blue” song comes from a musician who’s also a painter.

Joni Mitchell has said that she applies the principles of painting to her songwriting. One of her old art teachers once told her, “If you can paint with a brush, you can paint with words.” In “Blue,” the title track from her iconic 1971 album, she sings the color of her heart — a plaintive love song and “somber lullaby” of haunting beauty.

Mitchell is one of the few singer-songwriters whose lyrics read like poetry. She’s largely inspired by personal memories, relating her stories through vivid imagery, striking metaphors, judicious use of rhyme and inventive turns of phrase. “Blue” is achingly honest; there is insecurity and resignation, but also optimism.

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“Portrait of James Taylor” by Joni Mitchell (Christmas 1970).
BLUE
by Joni Mitchell

Blue songs are like tattoos
You know I've been to sea before
Crown and anchor me
Or let me sail away
Hey Blue, here is a song for you
Ink on a pin
Underneath the skin
An empty space to fill in
Well there're so many sinking now
You've got to keep thinking
You can make it thru these waves
Acid, booze, and ass
Needles, guns, and grass
Lots of laughs lots of laughs
Everybody's saying that hell's the hippest way to go
Well I don't think so
But I'm gonna take a look around it though
Blue I love you

Blue here is a shell for you
Inside you'll hear a sigh
A foggy lullaby
There is your song from me

~ copyright © 1971 Joni Mitchell Music, Inc. (BMI)

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clements brothers blues

~ jama ~ 44 Comments

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” ~ Maya Angelou

New album: “Dandelion Breeze” by The Clements Brothers.

There’s nothing like a good song to lift your spirits. If you’re lucky, sometimes one musical surprise can lead to another.

Earlier this year, while scouring YouTube for a good cover version of Simon and Garfunkel’s, “April Come She Will,” I chanced upon a video featuring New England singer-songwriter and guitarist George Clements. His rendition was my favorite of the dozens I had listened to.

Hello, George Clements.

Wow. The beautiful voice, the exquisite guitar picking (and yes, the blue eyes!). Who is this guy, I wondered? How had I missed him before? As a longtime S&G fan, I just knew I had stumbled upon something quite special.

So I listened to George’s other swoon-worthy covers — Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Paul McCartney, more Paul Simon — a veritable playlist of all my fave singer-songwriters. Then I learned George had played Paul Simon in an off-broadway show called “The Simon and Garfunkel Story.” Well, no wonder.

But there was more. To my surprise and delight, I discovered George has an identical twin named Charles ( I love twins!) who also has a beautiful voice and plays upright bass.

Blue-eyed twin musicians in blue (who could ask for anything more?).

Double the deliciousness, double the fun. Yes, please!

Charles and George grew up in a musical family, have been uniquely “in tune” since the womb, and have been playing music together for as long as they can remember. Another nice surprise: they are the youngest sons of popular children’s book author Andrew Clements, who sadly passed away in 2019. (Did you know that before breaking into publishing he’d moved to NYC to pursue a career as a folk singer-songwriter?)

Both twins are formally trained: Charles studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, while George is a Berklee College of Music alum.

Cutie pie twins (my guess: Charles in the blue t-shirt?).

After fronting The Lonely Heartstring Band for about seven years, the brothers decided to rebrand as a duo, releasing their debut full-length album, Dandelion Breeze (Plow Man Records) in August 2023. This acoustic gem is an appealing blend of bluegrass, roots, jazz, rock, and classical influences, elevated by sublime vocal harmonies and instrumental virtuosity. The album features all original material save one track, and I’ve pretty much had it on continuous loop the last few months.

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[songs + recipe] Celebrating Paul’s 80th Birthday + a summer blog break

~ jama ~ 41 Comments

“What I have to say is all in the music. If I want to say anything, I write a song.” ~ Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney turns 80 tomorrow!

We’re celebrating Macca’s milestone birthday by sipping English tea, nibbling on fairy cakes, and listening again to several of his best songs. 

photo by Mary McCartney (2020)

We all have our favorite McCartney tunes – from his time with the Beatles, Wings, and as a solo artist. But have you ever wondered which of Paul’s songs he likes most? 

I imagine “I Lost My Little Girl” will always hold a special place in his heart, since it’s the first song he ever wrote at age 14. He composed it on his Zenith acoustic guitar shortly after his mother Mary died.

Yes, he still has that Zenith!

Here he is on MTV Unplugged (1991). Can you detect the Buddy Holly influence? 🙂

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fangirling about sonny and cher (+ a recipe)

~ jama ~ 43 Comments

“Believe in magic and it’ll happen.” ~ Sonny Bono

Don’t you love how we all have unique soundtracks to our lives?

Hear a certain song and it instantly takes you back — right there, feeling all the feels . . .

They say we’re young and we don’t know
We won’t find out until we grow.
Well I don’t know if all that’s true
‘Cause you got me and baby I got you
Babe
I got you babe
I got you babe

The year is 1965, a very good year for popular music. The Stones sought “Satisfaction,” Dylan confronted us with “Like a Rolling Stone,” the Temptations crooned about “My Girl,” Pet Clark hung out “Downtown,” the Beatles played Shea Stadium, and Arlo Guthrie got arrested for littering.

My friends and I lived and breathed music, poring over the pages of Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine, saving our money for albums and concert tickets, daydreaming about meeting our many idols. Long hair and guitars? Yes, please. British accents? Triple yes. We instantly became rabid fans. So many cute rockers, so little time. 🙂

And then there was Sonny and Cher.  Never dreamed we’d fall so hard for such an oddly dressed couple. Sure, there were other singing duos we loved (Chad and Jeremy, Peter and Gordon come to mind) — but these two were so different, clearly smitten with one another, and their chemistry on stage had us clutching our hearts, yearning for that same brand of pure, perfect love.

We tried to emulate fashion icon Cher, with her gorgeous long black hair, Cleopatra eye make-up, bell bottom outfits and flashy gem stone rings. Sonny was adorable and fun-loving in his bobcat vest and Caesar haircut, exuding a certain paisano charm and friendliness.

Their signature song, “I Got You Babe,” released in July 1965, shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, selling over a million copies in the U.S., while also hitting #1 in the UK and Canada. Once their first studio album, Look at Us, came out in August, there was no stopping them and they were everywhere, touring and appearing on popular TV shows like “Shindig,” “Hollywood Palace,” “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “American Bandstand,” and “Hullabaloo.”

Some say “I Got You Babe” was inspired by Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe.” In any case, Cher had a solo hit with Dylan’s “All I Really Wanna Do.”

And we watched them all, and listened to their music constantly. When we heard they were coming to Hawaii for a concert in December, we were ecstatic.

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welcome friends, soup’s on

~ jama ~ 91 Comments

 

*enters kitchen, eats three pieces of chocolate, then takes out the soup pot. . . *

Hello, Cutie Pies!

Yes, we’re finally back. 🙂

It’s so good to know I can type a few words, find you here, and share this small, safe space with you — cause things in this world seem to be getting scarier and more tumultuous with each passing day.

It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening to our country with everyone fighting and on edge all the time.

 

 

We’re exhausted, frustrated, demoralized, fearful. We feel broken and powerless in the face of unmitigated hate, corruption, and greed.

And then there’s the profound sadness —  three recent mass shootings, and the loss of Toni Morrison and Lee Bennett Hopkins last month.

What to do? How to cope?

Toni Morrison’s words inspire, ground, and uplift:

This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.

I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art.

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