Before and after... I can't tell who is or isn't in the after vid but I like them, The Marmalade (Scottish) regardless.
I was thinking back to around this time, 1968. Viet Nam war was raging. I was entering my teens. I didn't know about the world. Rode my bike in summer, a sled, or skates in winter lol, Did a little fishing both seasons. But it's been a war of some sort all my life.
In '68 or so I was gifted a newer type of tiny battery-powered radio with transistors. Nearby was an empty house with a basketball hoop where I entertained myself by shooting baskets and listening to music like this. A lot of solitary time then (before) and now (after). The US was/is still fighting natives but on a more covert and subtle battlefield. Anyway, I'm still figuring it out now while a different kind of war begins to boil.
Before, I was vaguely aware. I saw it nightly on the news but the horrors and fears those a few years older than me were facing with the war and draft, I didn't get. I didn't have to go but my uncles did. I had my own survival and identity issues. It took a while to figure out that booze and drugs weren't helpful survival and success tools. (whatever success is?) When my kids were graduating I had to fight off the predatory military recruiters. The recruiters would get surly and threatening with me on the phone because I wasn't willing to turn my boys over to fight some Bush war over oil, fake WMD's and their other shitty lies. FAWK NO! My younger cousins went and came back like my Nam uncles, fuked in the heart and head.
I'm kind of in between the generations in my family; about 10 years younger than my uncles and about 10 years older than my cousins
Someone here was saying the political climate might swing the other way from what we're looking at now. I hope it does. I'd be fine without seeing a hot civil war or ww3 in my lifetime. But, it's threatening to boil over now. My own personal anger and vicious thoughts disturb me at times too. I'm not a psycho or lunatic like I'm seeing pop up more and more often. I'm thinking perhaps I may slip through the cracks of war like "before" when I was young and now again "after" where I lived the majority of my life and before it's checkout time and the game's over.
The changing of sunlight to moonlight
Reflections of my life Oh, how they fill my eyes
The greetings of people in trouble Reflections of my life Oh, how they fill my eyes
Oh, my sorrows Sad tomorrows Take me back to my own home
Oh, my crying (Oh, my crying) Feel I'm dying, dying Take me back to my own home
I'm changing, arranging I'm changing I'm changing everything Everything around me
The world is
A bad place A bad place A terrible place to live Oh, but I don't want to die
Oh, my sorrows Sad tomorrows Take me back to my own home
Oh, my crying (Oh, my crying) Feel I'm dying, dying Take me back to my own home
Oh, my sorrows Sad tomorrows Take me back to my own home
Here's a Before and After that rings true then and now, sadly.
Before
1963 Bob Dylan
"Masters Of War" really is a masterpiece for the ages. Dylan wrote it over the winter of '62-'63 and released in the spring of '63. His lyrics are a protest against the cold war nuclear arms build up. However, we all plainly see and live history repeating itself on the war front over and over and over again.
Continued, with an updated scenario in its outstanding graphics.
The RoJ LiGht from Dublin, in their release of The War On The Poor, performs this rendition. I felt compelled to post it because its video is stunning. It's a good vocal, too, but not Dylan. Be forewarned that there is small glitch in the beginning of the video, but only for a moment, then is smooth sailing through this cover of Dylan's original.
Unfortunate as it is, there's plenty of new material in times since for a sequel to this harried tale song. I really hope a creative genius does what they do best and posts it far and wide, go viral some would say, and sooner rather than later would be great.
After
Leon Russell
1970
This shortened arrangement is not far removed in years from Dylan's original. What Leon gives us here is a gift of his talent in a condensed, concise, comprehensive and creative composition. All those c-words paint the perfect picture of this song. His lyrics relate accurately to times since this release way back in the day and sadly remain steadfast today.
The cycle of war is so utterly dysfunctional, it's mind boggling to think of its existence in perpetuity. We even see it daily now with our people dying in war on our own streets and schools and stores and churches and businesses and cars and subways and highways and well, nowhere is without a chance of becoming fodder for the battle. I remember when "going postal" was a rare occasion, didn't seem that long ago. It's all out of total control, but the song remains the same.
I think I saw your Mom in this video lol just kidding but what an intro to music & all that's good from that time you own, sweet! Good times then, but war mongers changed our history forever, and pathetically continue to do so!
Here's part of the illness they continue to embrace, sung in a song. We're all too familiar with the message that holds true today.
Hold tight to those wonderful memories, great grandma included! So precious to behold!
Man. When I was a kid, we’d pack up the car, and drive to Philly every summer. We’d stay a couple days and then grab a bunch our Philly cousins and go to Wildwood NJ, get a bungalow and do the beach for a week. Probably about ’69 or ‘70, everything was different. In an excellent way really, for a 9 or 10 year old. There were hippies EVERYWHERE! It was awesome. There were men on the boardwalk with leather shoulder bags wearing cutoff jean shorts. It was a ballsy move. It was a hairy situation. You might even say it was nutty! (Oh, D. You’re hilarious!). They were walking around holding hands and nobody said anything. Because nobody cared what anyone else did! one evening everyone was out on the boardwalk, except for my great grandma who was crocheting and watching the crappy TV, when the cops pounded on the door and demanded entry because they smelled pot. They looked around, and realized…great grandma was mad as a hornet when we got back.
That year, I can’t really remember the music. For some reason I keep hearing the Zombies. Within a year or two, there was so much anger. For me the music reflected that. Anytime I hear Ohio, it guts me. One year it was ‘Hair’ and Jesus Christ Superstar’ and general happiness. My cousin was drafted. He mad it home.
WAR! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin’!
*** I completed this much needed edit, hoping to better qualify as a Before and After post. In fact, it's a twofer. Sorry for yesterday's errors in video links and also for not making the grade of the page's intent. No excuse, but really, please excuse me lol... in my defense, I was highly distracted with other goings on at the time of posting and didn't proof at all as I wrote or before publish. One piece of advice I do try to live by since first growing a like for writing, many moons ago, was given by Ernest Hemingway when he is quoted as saying "The only kind of writing is rewriting." I'm living up to his word today. I've always stated it as "The art of writing is rewriting." Funny, though, there may still be errors made and missed, always. Art imitating life. Good thing social media isn't too judgemental in that regard. 🙂 Anyway, I hope you find this post a step up from yesterday's. ***
A favorite tune of mine, "A Song for You" was written and performed, first in 1970, by the late Leon Russell, a bluesman and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer. He's on my regrets of never having seen live list. It's been recorded and performed by many artists over the years. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard it played a few years ago at the ESPY Awards.
Before
1971 ~ This Before clip is Leo Russell & friends, an excerpt "Homewood Sessions" (Memphis).
After 2004 ~ This rendition was sung at a concert to celebrate Willie's 70th birthday, by the late greats Ray Charles and Leon Russell, accompanied by the still with us, possibly because he's fully vaccinated and practices common sense precautions, Willie Nelson. It was recorded not long before the death of Ray Charles, gone but not forgotten.
Before
The next pair of songs includes an artist representing Before, whose music I'm familiar with, but I've not thought of him in an I don't know how long, long time, Ray Price. Although "Night Life" was written by Willie Nelson in 1960, the country great, Ray Price, purchased the song, recorded it and put it in the national spotlight in1963, new information to me. What a lovely recording this is, the music is fine and sweet to my ears. Thanks for the mention of the song, Dip. It's one I like, too, so was an easy pick for a Before and After.
"Listen to what the blues are saying," ...what a line, love it!
After
This After arrangement is most certainly worth a watch and listen, "Night Life", brilliantly performed by another icon, the late great BB King and friends at the Umea Jazz Festival,1986. Who better to sing the blues?
Since there are no hard rules stated for Before and After, I submit these two recordings for their fineness from my perspective as well as their better than two decade split between the recordings.
And next on the Old man channel, A jazz song written by Hoagy Carmicheal in the era/genre called Hot Music or Hot Jazz.
Stardust
Before:
Hoagy wrote the music and Mitchell Parish (Lithuanian) wrote the lyrics. The song has been covered by more than 1500 artists. As you may know, Jazz was the creation of Black artists. The song, IMO, has some disturbingly "Vanilla" interpretations. Here's an example from the 1961 "Ford Show".
FYI I used a piece of stop/start code to isolate this video segment. . First click the "embed" icon button below the youtube video and isolate and copy the quoted section. Then convert to seconds the start and stop times. copy the amended code and paste it into the "add a video" pop-up window here on this site. If you want to use a piece of a longer clip on here, fiddle around with the code doing it a few times and you'll figure it out.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/F_mhUNESemU?start=369&end=560Hoagy wrote the song in 1927 which is now in the category of "Timeless Classics". Neither my mother nor I was born yet (obviously) and the tune is approaching 100 years old. Hoagy wrote a number of classics including "Georgia On My Mind" and a favorite of piano noodlers "Heart and Soul", Hogland was also an actor and an attorney(?).
IMO, many of the artist's interpretations of his hits were better than the original which is common among songwriters.
Up next (After) is Willie Nelson performing Stardust about 51 years after Hoagy wrote it. Willie is a legendary songwriter in his own right having written the Patsey Cline classic "Crazy", The Elvis cover of "You Were Always on my Mind" and one of my favorites "Nightlife". I didn't care for much of his country outlaw music but that's me. Way back I entered a song into a songwriter contest judged by Willie and his band (my first attempt as a songwriter) coming in as first runner up. Willie is also a hellified guitarist. Willie got his covid vaccination at age 87 in Texas.
Thanks for letting me bore you lol!
Love the before and after music, very creative and thought provoking. Beautifully written explanatory text. A strong man made to feel weak, yet holds tough throughout, difficult to fathom… yet mind over matter prevails. And continues to do so. Life is good yet sucks so bad. Saving your children from the war machine & more is amazing heroism in my book & the highest order of love, Papa Bear! Fortunate kids, hope they have gained an understanding of that as they matured, truly, and you, too, for without you fighting for them, well... who knows what kind of fucked upedness (up ed ness) they would have been confronted with to navigate had you been absent. Is it life imitates art or art imitates life, both apply. Appreciate this sharing, circumstance is difficult but vitally fought for survival. Kudos. Highest due respect to you for all that you are.
Also, transistor radios were cool. And the tunes were, too.