Waking Up to Emmylou Harris

On this morning's early walk, I left the house at 6:40 accompanied by 1970s Emmylou Harris (Pieces of the Sky, 1975, and Luxury Liner, 1977).  Now, I've always known who Emmylou Harris is, both abstractly and in recordings I've had for years with the Band, Elvis Costello, and John Denver, but this was a TREAT!

Her own "Boulder to Birmingham," Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors," Lennon and McCartney's "For No One," Chuck Berry's "C'est La Vie,"  the Louvins' "When I Stop Dreaming," and Merle Haggard's "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" are just a few of the gems, tied beautifully together with that voice.

Given her longevity and the names of those who have held her in such high regard, I shouldn't be amazed, and probably should be ashamed for taking so long to take this walk, but better late than never.

I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham

I would hold my life in his saving grace

I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham

if I thought I could see, I could see your face

It's quite convenient that I like Mr. Costello, REM, and the riff A LOT!

Does anybody else hear what would become the main riff in REM's "Stand" (1989) in the chorus of "Next Time Round," a 1986 Elvis Costello and the Attractions cut from Blood and Chocolate?

Quick ranking of my Top 10 Elvis Costello albums

10 The Juliet Letters, with the Brodsky Quartet (1993)
Many think that these forays into other genres are quaint or vaguely interesting, but, in the end, not worth his time and effort.  I couldn't disagree more.

9  Almost Blue (1981)
Yeah, I know, even E.C. hated this album, but it got me through my first (and only) year of law school.  He, of course, has revisited country/roots music many times since, but the idea of a young English punk recording in Nashville -- and thoroughly hating the producer for the entire duration -- makes the result all the more pleasing.

8 Punch the Clock (1983)
Those TKO Horns (not to mention Chet Baker on "Shipbuilding")!!!

7 Mighty Like a Rose (1991)
Filled with plenty of clever melodies and intricate arrangements

6 My Aim Is True (1977)
The first of a wonderful career

5 King of America (1986)
Couldn't figure out what to call himself at the time, but real solid songs from beginning to end

4 Get Happy (1980)
Twenty Nick Lowe-produced tracks on a one-disc vinyl album...UNHEARD OF at the time!

3 For the Stars, with Anne Sofie von Otter (2001)
It shouldn't have worked, but it does...beautifully

2  Armed Forces (1979)
Military metaphors for the erotic arena (didn't the Roman poet Horace do that too?)

1  Imperial Bedroom (1982)
One great song after another with a richness and diversity of sound that cannot be ignored...he became our "Town Crier" indeed with this album.

My "Bucket List" (Part I)

Not in any particular order:

Get my Dominican cousin to inject me with boli

Get a Dominican cousin with whom I'm comfortable enough to drop my pants for

Write a book on British singer Matt Monro

Re-subscribe to Mad Magazine

Get hired to be the non-famous member of the pair of hosts in a Time/Life music infomercial

Meet Phil Donahue and/or Elvis Costello

Write the liner notes for a John Wesley Harding cd

Get my share of the Obama stimulus plan

(Potential) Fathers and Mothers

A local medical practice specializing in vasectomies (ouch!) has a radio advertisement the tagline of which is "This is not your father's vasectomy."

Now, I'm unsure of whether it's my uneasiness with medical implements around particularly delicate areas of my body (i.e., I'll never wear contacts for the same reason!) or just my Catholicism (or insecurity) showing, but this seems an really unfortunate turn of phrase.

What's the next ad campaign? The Pill -- The Mother of All Birth Control!

Yes, it alludes to the 70s car ad campaign: "This is not your father's Oldsmobile," but, if my father had bothered to have one, I, as child #3, very well might not have been around. Now, statistically speaking, getting a vasectomy is probably far safer than driving an Olds, but at least you can pass on your 1986 Toronado to your teenagers.

(When a colleague of mine had the procedure done, I dedicated Frank Sinatra's and Keely Smith's 1958 duet "How are you fixed for Love?" to him on my radio show. If you're gonna have it done, at least set it to swingin' music.)

Speaking of mothers and fathers, my favorite British title that didn't make it across the pond (like the American release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone -- well, THAT clarifies things!) is the original title of an Elvis Costello compilation. In the US it was called Girls Girls Girls (with symbols of the American dollar and British pound interspersed into a misogynistic equation), in the UK, Ten Howsyafathers and 10 Bloody Marys.

American record companies and publishers always get uneasy when religion is even tangentially involved. Hence we get Nick Lowe's Pure Pop for Now People instead of the original, and far better, title, Jesus of Cool.