Steve n' Seagulls - Thunderstruck

 

These guys are from Finland. Bluegrass Rock in Finland. Who knew? This will wake you up of a morning.

Cripple Creek Masterfully Done

 

Cripple Creek is a lovely little song that's in virtually everyone's banjo repertoire. It's almost a right of passage to do that little slide thing on the third string that Earl does and the rest of us make pathetic attempts to copy.

I love this Billy Conolly version Cripple Creek. It's interesting that in the past few decades we've had some comedians show up as closet banjo players. It's not that banjo players haven't always been odd ducks and would-be humorists, but these three kind of stand out for me.  First Billy:

  

Of course Steve Martin had to have given Cripple Creek a whirl along with 5 others including the great Glen Campbell.  .

No list of comedian/banjo players playing Cripple Creek would be complete without the inimitable Stringbean picking up his instrument.

I hope you found this enjoyable. I love banjo players. They're so wonderfully subversive.

Tom

     

Where Rivers of Delight Shall Ever Roll

Big Wedgwood fan back during the great folk music schism in the church. I have always thought that I want this song played at my funeral. I like the part where it goes, "Then sweeping up to glory, I'll see his blessed face, where rivers of delight shall ever roll.  The Lily of the Valley always gives me a thrill and I like Wedgwood's version the best.

Tom

The Swimming Song

This song is kind of my summer anthem. Five of the best summers of my life were spent as a canoeing instructor, swimming instructor and waterfront direct at Lone Star Camp in Athens, TX. This song by the inimitable Loudon Wainright III, composer of the equally famous "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road".  This versions features the also inimitable Earl Scruggs on banjo.

The song takes me back to the warm green waters of Echo Lake and the golden Texas summers of my youth and young adulthood. Enjoy!

Tom

Pretty Little One - A Different Kind of Murder Ballad

This Steve Martin/Edic Brickell song is an untraditional traditional murder ballad. Usually the girl dies by strangulation, stabbing or drowning at the hands of her evil lover and left for dead somewhere. Sometimes she turns into a swan or something. It's all very tragic. Often the killer is caught and hanged. The country gal in this song, however, has a Daddy who taught her how to take care of herself. Probably comes from one of those families that "cling to their guns and religion." The ending of this murder ballad is rather different from the way most of these things turn out. You will smile, I promise.


Tom King

Love Has Come for You - The Best Anti-Abortion Song Ever

Steve Martin, Edie Brickell and The Steep Canyon Rangers perform this lovely song about an unwed mother who decides to keep her child. This one made me cry, which, of course, was what the writer intended. I was listening to my monster eclectic music collection today and it popped up and as many times as I've listened to it, it still got to me. Edie Brickell does such a lovely job with Steve and the boys.

Tom

Cripple Creek

Cripple Creek is a standard bluegrass tune from way back. And this is one of my favorite versions, not by a country boy from North Carolina, but from an irreverant Scottish comedian who also happens to play frailing or clawhammer banjo.

Earl Scruggs who was not a comedian who plays Scruggs Style bluegrass banjo does a definitive version with Lester Flatt that you can listen to to see the difference and I'll post a link to his version at the end, but for now, I'll post Billy's version because it looks like he's having so danged much fun playing it.

You'll recognize Billy from parts he's played in a bunch of movies of late, including "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" with Jim Carrey. Billy's a very funny guy, but it's better if you catch him where there are some censors available to tone him down just a bit. He was also one of the voice actors in Disney's Brave with his rich Scottish brogue and played a part in the third of Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies "The Battle of Five Armies."

He's actually Sir William Connolly CBE, knighted by the Queen and everything. He's an odd little man, but very talented.

Here's Billy Connolly with Cripple Creek:

And you can find Earl Scrugg's version at this link.  I play a very bad version of Cripple Creek on my homemade banjo but I shall spare you that particular torture. Stringbean, a famous Grand Old Opry comedian does a clawhammer version similar to Billy's, but at much higher speed. In fact, if you play banjo, Cripple Creek is probably one of the first tunes they teach you.

Tom

Down in the River to Pray

I first heard this song in the movie, "O Brother Where Art Thou."  I liked it so much, having seen my fair share of outdoor baptisms, I put it in our Youth Sabbath School Songbook. The kids liked this oldtime style gospel song too. Who said our young people only like rock n' roll?  This song has all sorts of room for harmony and some gentle percussion, it's a lovely song to sing at a baptism or a campfire worship.  

Here's Alison Krauss with "Down in the River to Pray".

Tom King - 2017

In the Jailhouse Now

I got a real kick out of the movie "Brother Where Art Thou", especially the old time Appalachian country music. This one could have been my Daddy's theme song when he was young and stupid. I love the yodeling. Next time I'll post the song about how the Cowboy Yodel Was Born.

A whole bunch of folks in the country music and bluegrass singin' business contributed to the amazing batch of songs that made this weird little Cohen Brothers movie memorable. This was the rock n' roll music of the depression era South and it feels very familiar to me. This is the stuff my kinfolk used to sing on the back porch in the cool of a summer evening.

Here's the clip from the movie where they sing "He's in the Jailhouse Now.":