Some songs are forever linked to particular memories — my first girlfriend yelling “stop the car!” so she could jump out and dance to “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” on the radio — sitting in stunned wonder as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played their 10-minute version of “Ripplin’ Waters” at the RymanContinue reading “70 songs that always move me”
Category Archives: Listening
70 albums I play regularly
Red and I met because of record albums. She was tired of hauling two boxes of vinyl LPs from one house to another, so after her latest move she looked on AOL for people who listed vinyl collections among their hobbies. “I’ll give them to you, no charge, I just want to get rid ofContinue reading “70 albums I play regularly”
Listening: The Everly Brothers
The other day, while down a rabbit hole, I discovered that the Everly Brothers once recorded John Sebastian’s song “Stories We Could Tell” and not only named an album after it but recorded the album at John Sebastian’s house. This I had to hear, so — despite my resolution not to buy any more recordsContinue reading “Listening: The Everly Brothers”
The mind-boggling power of words and music
And here I go again, looking at the books and records lined up on the shelves and contemplating how many hours or days it would take to read all of the books and listen to all the waiting music. I think about how long it takes to craft a book and send it to market,Continue reading “The mind-boggling power of words and music”
One song at a time
Here is a little something I rediscovered while listening to 78s yesterday: There’s really only one thing you can do while playing old records — listen. The song is anywhere from two minutes to (if it’s a 12-inch record) maybe four minutes, so you can’t really do much more than listen to the song. BeforeContinue reading “One song at a time”
Everything old is new again
One of the first books I read in 2023 was The Year of Less by Cait Flanders, which chronicles a year in which she put a moratorium on buying new stuff and, in the process, reduced the amount of stuff she owns by 70 percent. It got me to thinking about all my things. I’veContinue reading “Everything old is new again”
Reconstructing ‘Calendar Girl’
January! You start the year out fine.February! You’re my little valentine.March! I’m going to march you down the aisle.April! You’re the Easter bunny when you smile.May! Maybe if I ask your dad and mom,June! They’ll let me take you to the junior prom.July! Umm …August! Errr …September! Well …October! Yeesh …November! I give thanks thatContinue reading “Reconstructing ‘Calendar Girl’”