Saturday, April 27, 2013

Even Jackie Wilson's great talent couldn't lift him higher and higher

Jackie Wilson was a truly great singer and entertainer who was never able to scale the heights that his talent truly deserved. I blame management. Where was Berry Gordy when Jackie needed him? Chasing  a Dream Girl, I suppose. 

To Be Loved

Higher and Higher

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Sometimes we live. Sometimes we die. Sometimes we cry.

"Sometimes we live. Sometimes we die. Sometimes we cry." 

Sometimes we know, sometimes we don't
Sometimes we give, sometimes we won't
Sometimes we're strong, sometimes we're wrong
Sometimes we cry
Sometimes it's bad when the going gets tough
When we look in the mirror and we want to give up
Sometimes we don't even think we'll try
Sometimes we cry
Well we're gonna have to sit down and think it right through
If we're only human what more can we do
The only thing to do is eat humble pie
Sometimes we cry
'Fore they put me in a jacket, and they take me away
I'm not gonna fake it like Johnnie Ray
Sometimes we live, sometimes we die
Sometimes we cry
Sometimes we can't see anything straight
Sometimes everybody is on the make
Sometimes it's lonely on the lost highway
Sometimes we cry, sometimes we cry
Gonna put me in a jacket, and take me away
I'm not gonna fake it like Johnnie Ray
Sometimes we live, sometimes we die
Sometimes we cry, sometimes we cry
Sometimes we live, sometimes we die

Sometimes we cry, sometimes we cry

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Winstone tastes good like Flintstones' cigarettes should

Fred and Barney, sneak a smoke before their dames, Wilma and Betty, throw the wet mop and bucket at 'em. (A Don Draper Production).

Monday, April 8, 2013

Bruce sings for Ol' Blue Eyes who takes his turn and sings for Angel Eyes

Dean and Sammy, (not to mention Bruce and good ol' Tom Waits) had nothin' 
on ol' Frankie when it was time to belly up to the bar.

Bruce sings Angel Eyes for Frank Sinatra - 1995
Sinatrs sings Angel Eyes for you, me and Joe - 1974
Frank, Bruce and some other guy

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Duke Ellington - La Plus Belle Africaine - 1969

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - Berlin - 1969
La Plus Belle Africaine - (The Beautiful African Flower)
Black Beauty featuring Johnny Hodges

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Groovin' through this world of beauty with the Rascals

It can happen on any soft, summer day when the flowers are in bloom and the young grass is tall and damp with dew that I spend a part of some sunny morning groovin' to the Rascals. 

Monday, April 1, 2013

All Human Knowledge is Moonshine - H.L. Mencken

Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken (1880 – 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, editor, satirist, critic of American life and culture, and a scholar of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he was widely known for his attacks on America's Puritan tradition and its "booboisie".  He was, perhaps, the most influential writer of the first half of the twentieth century. His coverage of the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" trial ridiculed defense attorney William Jennings Bryan for his "theologic bilge" and established him as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the first half of the 20th century and a curmudgeon and misanthrope of incalculable influence. 
Damn funny to boot.
Below is a selection of my favorite Menckenisms: