The Band of Heaven

[vison]

Hank Williams. None finer, no where, not ever. No one else can tell the story of a broken heart as he did.

Sarah and A. P. Carter. Maybelle Carter.

Muddy Waters. W. C. Handy. Sam Cooke. Especially Sam Cooke! Louis Armstrong. Ella Fitzgerald. Stan Rogers.

My word. Think of the parties they must be having up there!!!

[Athrabeth]

Ah, vison............Stan Rogers. We were listening to his incredible "Northwest Passage" during a Social Studies lesson this week. What better song to "bring home" the drama of Canadian exploration to kids?

Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea;
Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage
And make a Northwest Passage to the sea.

sw0000n

My addition to "The Band" would have to be Kurt Cobain. "Nevermind" and "Unplugged" remain two of our favourite albums ("our" referring to both the parents and teenagers in the house!). As I'm typing this, I can hear my son playing those distinctive chords that begin "Come As You Are"..............which he really shouldn't be doing because he's supposed to be working on a research project for Science. Although interestingly, the topic is "The Impact of Drugs on the Human Nervous System", which is rather apropos, actually.

[Jnyusa]

Ath, I rather like Nirvana, too. I listened to their music attentively for the first time about two years ago, and was very surprised at how much it appealed to me ... not so much to me personally, but how easy it was to understand its appeal to my children's generation.

Another group I like very much, whose lead singer is dead - Depeche Mode.
His name might have been mentioned earlier in the thread, as I don't remember it. But I had an overnight drive back from Ohio once - terrible trip - and hit a patch where the dj was playing DM through the night. Had them in range for about 2 hours and it really took the edge off the trip.

Jn

[vison]

I just don't GET Nirvana. And I've tried, believe me.
It's like The Doors or Jimi Hendrix. Noise.

[yovargas]

It's like The Doors or Jimi Hendrix. Noise.

But what wonderful noise.

[Sassafras]

Jn. wrote ....Another group I like very much, whose lead singer is dead - Depeche Mode.



As far as I know both of the band's vocalists are very much alive.
David Gahan (lead singer) and Martin Gore (primary songwriter and some vocals)

The keyboard player Andrew Wilder did commit suicide in 1995 but he was never a lead vocalist.

I still listen to the albums my then-teenage daughter introduced to me in the 80's.

Remember this one?

Girl of sixteen, whole life ahead of her
Slashed her wrists, bored with life
Didn’t succeed, thank the lord
For small mercies

Fighting back the tears, mother reads the note again
Sixteen candles burn in her mind
She takes the blame, it’s always the same
She goes down on her knees and prays

I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that god’s got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find him laughing

Girl of eighteen, fell in love with everything
Found new life in jesus christ
Hit by a car, ended up
On a life support machine

Summer’s day, as she passed away
Birds were singing in the summer sky
Then came the rain, and once again
A tear fell from her mother’s eye

I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that god’s got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find him laughing.

[Jnyusa]

The keyboard player Andrew Wilder did commit suicide in 1995 but he was never a lead vocalist.

That must be him, Sass. I had the impression that the performer who committed suicide was the leader of the band, which is often the lead vocalist. I confess I'm not familiar at all with the names of the band members or the instruments they play.

jn

[Sunsilver]

Hank Williams. None finer, no where, not ever. No one else can tell the story of a broken heart as he did.

Sarah and A. P. Carter. Maybelle Carter.

Muddy Waters. W. C. Handy. Sam Cooke. Especially Sam Cooke! Louis Armstrong. Ella Fitzgerald. Stan Rogers.

My word. Think of the parties they must be having up there!!!

Now you're talkin' my language, gal!

Of course, two more to add to the list: Johnny and June. I found this cartoon on a website while searching for Cash lyrics, and thought it was perfect for this thread....



At our wedding, Lou Armstrong provided both the first and the last dance (Be My Life's Companion, Moon River) and as a special surprise, Roger sang one of my favourite songs from Johnny Cash:

Beside a singing mountain stream,
Where the pussywillows grew,
Where silver leaf of maple sparkled
In the morning dew,
I braided twigs of willow,
Made a string of buckeye beads,
Mother nature's quite a lady,
But you are what I need,
Flesh and blood needs flesh and blood,
And you are what I need.


[sniff!]

I am sure the deterioration in Cash's health in his final years was due to the way he abused his body with drugs. He shouldn't have died quite so young. Still, I am not surprised that he died so soon after the loss of his wife, June. One of my favorite things was to watch the sparks that flew between them on stage, singing songs like Jackson, and It Ain't Me, Babe... Just can't bring myself to watch that movie about them (I Walk the Line). Having seen the real thing (I rarely missed his show on TV) I just can't bring myself to watch a pale imitation.

One of the things that constantly amazes me about Cash is the sheer volume of his work. Every time I think I've heard it all, I come across something new. One of my most recent finds was a CD of religious songs he did shortly after joining Columbia Records. They are almost all new to me. Most country musicians do a 'faith' album at some point, and usually it's the same old favourites. But most of what's on this CD are songs I haven't heard before, or have heard infrequently (Let the Lower Lights Be Burning, for example.) A few of them are Cash's own compositions.

Few singers/songwriters covered such a broad spectrum of songs, too. Cash did stuff that was out and out Blues, such as "I Got Stripes," "Goin' To Mephis," pure folk, such as Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," "If I Were a Carpenter," and rock "Hurt." He adapted the songs and made them his own, changing lyrics slightly when necessary, and changing rhythm and instrumentation. He even did an album of songs dedicated to the Native Americans (Bitter Tears) which included a number of songs written by First Nation artists such as Peter LaFarge.

Auugh...I could go on for PAGES! What a fascinating man!

[Athrabeth]

Sunsilver, what a great post!

I think my "teenage impression" of Johnny Cash was definitely slanted because of my general rebellion against anything that could remotely be classified as "country". A couple of years ago, when my son was playing "Hurt" over and over again and telling me how "cool" Cash was, I was completely flummoxed. Johnny Cash.......cool?
Then he told me that the original version of the song had been penned by the group called "Nine Inch Nails". Have you ever listened to anything else by Nine Inch Nails?.........

(I'm planning on renting "Walk the Line" this weekend )

Okay.......I have another band member:

Warren Zevon.

I loved this guy from the moment I first heard him, close to what......30 years ago? Is that possible? What a troubador! At the moment, his "Best of" compilation is my favourite "comfort CD".

Here's one of his (many) greats:

Veracruz

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard Maria crying
Late last night I heard the news
That Veracruz was dying
Veracruz was dying

Someone called Maria's name
I swear it was my father's voice
Saying, "If you stay you'll all be slain
You must leave now - you have no choice
Take the servants and ride west
Keep the child close to your chest
When the American troops withdraw
Let Zapata take the rest"

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard Maria calling
Saying, "Veracruz is dying
And Cuernavaca's falling"

Aquel dia yo jure [On that day I swore]
Hacia el puerto volvere [To the port I will return]
Aunque el destino cambio mi vida [Even though destiny changed my life]
En Veracruz morire [In Veracruz I shall die]
Aquel dia yo jure [On that day I swore]

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard them in the harbor
Saying, "Veracruz is dying"

[Sunsilver]

Ath, have you seen the music video for "Hurt"? I cried while watching it, it is VERY VERY painful to watch, especially for someone like myself who knew Cash when he was young and healthy. That whole last album of his hardly has a cheerful song on it. His grief over his wife's death comes through loud and clear.

The CD's of the Best of the Johhny Cash Show arrived today!! Off to ENJOY and reminisce....

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Johnny and June; yes indeed. And Ray Charles. Both Johnny and Ray came through Santa Cruz within a year of their death, as did John Lee Hooker. I missed all three of those shows and will regret it for the rest of my life.

Sun, I thought Walk the Line was quite well done, although I don't have the same deep connection with Johnny as a young man that you had. And it doesn't compare to Ray which was simply uncanny in capturing the spirit of the one and only Ray Charles. Jamie Foxx? Who would have ever believed it?

[vison]

I could scarcely bear to watch that video of Johnny Cash singing "Hurt". It was a masterpiece, though. Just hard to watch.

I bought a four CD collection of Johnny Cash the other day at Costco and I've only had time to listen to two. I don't like them all, but those I like I like very much.

And I found a Sam Cooke CD in a second hand store. It's all religious songs. The loveliest thing. That incredible voice.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

When I got up on the morning of August 9, 1995, I turned on the radio. That was a very unusual thing; I never listened to the radio in those days. For some reason, I tuned in KZSC, the student radio station from the University of California at Santa Cruz. This was even stranger. If I were to listen to a radio station, that would not have been the one I would normally have chosen. I felt compelled somehow to do so.

They were playing a recording of the Grateful Dead's version of the great Traffic song, Dear Mr. Fantasy. The Dead had done that song as a powerful duet between Jerry Garcia and their troubled but talented keyboardist, Brent Mydland, who had passed away in 1980 from a drug overdose (the third keyboardist that the Dead had lost; it was definitely a hot seat).

Dear Mr. Fantasy play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom,
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy

You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that you break out in tears
Please don't be sad, if it was a straight life you had
We wouldn't have known you all these years

As soon as I heard this, I knew. A few tears started to in my eyes. Sure enough, when the song ended, a somber DJ came on said that they had unconfirmed reports that Jerry had passed away that morning. The reports might have been unconfirmed, but I knew that it was true. I could feel it in my gut, in my bones, in my heart and in my soul.

By that afternoon, a group of people had gathered in downtown Santa Cruz, finding solace in their shared grief. For many of these people, the Grateful Dead was their entire life, and Jerry the star around which they orbited. I'll never forget the lost, vacant expressions that I saw in some of their faces.

For us, our involvment in the Grateful Dead scene had been greatly curtailed in the previous several years. The scene had become inundated with young newcomers. There was a new, aggressive energy that was contrary to the respectful, courteous atmosphere of one large family that had made the scene so attractive. The music too had become much more uneven, particularly as Jerry continued to struggled with the demons of drug abuse and his unwanted deification. Plus, we had become more and more interested in African percussion, and dedicated more and more of our energy to our own musical pursuits.

However, on the morning of the Dead's last Bay Area appearance in June of that year, Beth and I both woke up with the same feeling that we had to go to that show. We hadn't been to one in almost two years. We actually had a rehearsal for a gig of our own scheduled that evening, but once it become clear that we had the identical feeling compelling us to go to the show, we managed to reschedule the rehearsal and went to the show. There was only flashes of the old magic, but in restrospect, I'm so glad that we made it.

In those days, I looked ALOT like a younger Jerry Garcia, before his hair went grey. I had the unruly curly hair and beard, the big nose and warm, ugly face. Heading to that gathering in Santa Cruz that afternoon, more then one person did a double take seeing me; as if they were seeing a ghost. It was not a pleasant feeling. To this day, I am uncomfortable whenever someone observes how much I look like Jerry (and not just because I think he was a particularly ugly-looking man).

On August 13, a Memorial Service was held in Golden Gate Park, near where the Dead had done so many free shows in the hey day of the "Summer of Love". When we got there, we heard the unmistakable sounds of our mentor, Babatunde Olatunji (who we had first encountered at Grateful Dead New Years Eve show 10 years prior) chanting "Ajaja" a call to the ancestors -- welcoming Jerry to their realm, with the beat of the drums pounding behind him. It was a powerful day of speeches and music, but for me nothing equalled that first moment of hearing Baba (who himself entered the realm of the ancesters ten years later) chanting from a distance as we approached the gathering, the drums like the heartbeat of the universe.

The following days and weeks, a particular picture appeared in newspapers and magazines accross the country, of Jerry's musical partner, Bob Weir, with his arms stretched to the sky, urging everyone in the crowd to do the same, to send a message of love to Jerry, whereever he was. In front of him is a large drum, still on the stage from Baba Olatunji's invocation. That drum was made for Baba by Beth and I. I've always been very proud that something so precious that we had created was immortalized by that moment.



Ajaja E E
Emi Lo
Ajaja E E
Olo Mi O Baba Sike
Olo Mi O Baba Raba

Ajaja E E
Emi Lo

[Sunsilver]

Very moving, Voronwë! Thank you for sharing. (Though I've never been a fan of the Dead...)

[Primula Baggins]

What a powerful story, Voronwë! Thank you.

(And neither you nor Jerry Garcia is ugly.)

[Impenitent]

Bon Scott, original lead singer (lead screamer? ) of AC/DC died in 1980 of an alcohol overdose.

I can't say that I was a real fan of ACDC, but through the 70's, my teen years, they were the happening thing in Melbourne - brand new, playing pubs and little bars, and they had such fun on stage; and they were sorta 'our boys' - head bangers who were tongue in cheek about being head bangers; and we all went to their gigs, and just had fun and imitated Angus Young (the little guy at the front, lead guitar, who still, to this day, wears a school uniform with cap on stage )

Some of the songs he sang have become iconic: "It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll;"

Hearing of Scott's death was very sad, though I haven't got (nor desire) a single AC/DC album. He just epitomises a moment; an important, fun, carefree, loud moment. I think Australia all mourned him, though he irritated so many.

And then there's Michael Hutchence of INXS; another Aussie who strutted his stuff on the world stage. He was outrageous in his self-love, I think, but also so charismatic - he postured and pranced all over the stage (I always saw a young Jagger in him). They were a Sydney band and epitomised the brash, colourful, self-centredness of the Sydney attitude.

Also a self-inflicted death - strangulation - probably auto-erotically induced.

[Sassafras]

Ah, Voronwë

Sometimes the light's all shining on me
Other times I can barely see
Lately it occurs to me
What a long strange trip it's been ....

I've never been a real deadhead; back in the 70's I celebrated at a few of the gatherings though with a little help from my friends and I've listened to my share of the music ... but if Jerry had written nothing else of note beside truckin' (which of course, he did) I'd place him up there in the rock and roll pantheon.

He was a beautiful man, inside and out.

That was a lovely tribute, made even more special because the drum you and Beth made was played on that day.

[ateelah]

What a wonderful tribute, V! Thank you for sharing!

I was not a true Deadhead but I did enjoy the Grateful Dead very much. My particular favorites were "Box of Rain", "Ripple", "Attics of My Life" and, of course, "Dark Star".

I was a fan of Jimi Hendrix and still wonder if his impact on music would have been greater if he had lived longer. I know he was getting tired of the "spectacle" most fans had come to expect and was more interested in simply playing his music. "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" is one of my favorites of his less well-known songs, and I still enjoy his blues numbers.

For me, no band in heaven would be complete without drummer John Bonham. He's the only drummer in rock, in my opinion, who truly justified a drum solo.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Ah, you have excellent taste, ateelah!

My particular favorites were "Box of Rain", "Ripple", "Attics of My Life" and, of course, "Dark Star".

Those were definitely among my very favorites, as well. Most particularly Box of Rain. 20 years ago (as of this past March 20) I was at a show in Hampton, Virginia when, at the end of the first set, Bob Weir stepped up to the mike and said "Now we're gonna prove that practice makes perfect." They then started playing Box of Rain for the first time since 1973. By the time they played the first three notes the crowd was so loud that you couldn't hear the next 20 seconds of the song. But they really did nail it.

I missed out on a similar experience when they played the first electric version of Ripple in 1 years at what was then called the Capital Center in D.C. where I was living at the time, in 1988 (they played it because a young man who was dying of cancer had made the request of the Make-A-Wish Foundation). But we missed that show (the only one of the three that we missed) because we were seeing Santana. This was a reunion tour with the original band, except with Alphonzo Johnson on bass, and was one of the most incredible shows that I have ever seen, so it was a good trade. During that week we also saw Eric Clapton (with Mark Knofler) and Bob Dylan, in addtion to the two Dead shows and the Santana show. Probably the most incredible week of music I've ever experienced.

Jimi. What can I say? What a virtuoso! I agree with you that he could have had a greater impact on music had he lived longer

And you are so right about John Bonham. Ironically, I think the only rock drummer that could be considered in the same class was the other one that got taken away from us early - Keith Moon. And Bonham's son, Jason, is quite talented, though obviously not his father.

[Alatar]

I was a fan of Jimi Hendrix and still wonder if his impact on music would have been greater if he had lived longer. I know he was getting tired of the "spectacle" most fans had come to expect and was more interested in simply playing his music. "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" is one of my favorites of his less well-known songs, and I still enjoy his blues numbers.

Red House

For me, no band in heaven would be complete without drummer John Bonham. He's the only drummer in rock, in my opinion, who truly justified a drum solo.

Not so... Ginger Baker's Toad is a masterpiece. Also, in a completely different way, Roger Taylor can make a drum solo melodic. Not as technically impressive as Baker, but his solo's are enjoyable as music as opposed to simply demonstrations of skill.