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Quick Sunday Morning addition to the latest edition, right up-top:
Dec 8th marks the 40th anniversary of the death of John Lennon. A special is airing on the the BBC. We watched it middle of the night, after SNL.
It airs two more times Sunday:
10:30-11 am & 4:30-5 pm (both times are Pacific; adjust for elsewhere).
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Now for a quick note on an unforgiveably maddening situation. The new owner of our platform, Blogspot, is Google. Here's their latest disaster in mismanaging the platform:
We carefully built links into the current edition for a wide variety of things.
In our site "publishing & edit" mode, every one of those links goes where intended.
But in your "reader" mode, some of those links instead go to random pages scattered around the Blogspot platform.
We even went back, removed some links and rebuilt them entirely to assure the correct address. But even when we allow the entire address to show, and enable it as its own hyperlink, the platform's foibles can still click you into some cyber limbo on someone else's random Blogspot site from anywhere in its history.
We didn't do it. Please complain to Blogspot's hegemonistic master, the Empire of Google.
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Now, here is the edition as originally published, with our 2nd round attempts to fix Google's goofy altered links.
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IN THIS EDITION...
☆ Yusef / Cat Stevens Music Festival, online TODAY, Dec 5, at Noon Pacific
* - it's now ON-DEMAND and still FREE.
☆ Celebrating the 75th anniversary of BLUEGRASS MUSIC on the Grand Ole Opry Stage, Sat, Dec 5th
☆ Maritime Folknet's Yule Tide Concert, 2020, tonight, Dec 5th
☆ Andy & Renee, Rick Shea, Marina V, Asleep at the Wheel's "Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all!", "Winter's Return 2020" live from Washington State and Alaska, and more online concerts
☆ "Play On," the next big-deal multi-artist benefit concert, on CBS tv Dec 15
☆ Latest "Wine & Song" podcast features Shawn Colvin, Michael McNevin, Rosa Pullman, and more
☆ "The Canyon's" socially distanced carpool concert series: full schedule
☆ The Coffee Gallery Backstage: a beloved music venue needs your help
☆ That monolith in the Utah desert, via the L.A. subway and scenes from "2001: a Space Odyssey"
☆ Stray stuff -- news shorts and listening links --
• Joachim Cooder and Uncle Dave Macon's music
• Stevie Nicks' biz move
• A peek at "Mariah Carey's Christmas Spectacular"
• Orville Peck on vulnerability, creativity, and being inspired by Dolly Parton
• Hear Black Pumas on the Broken Record podcast
• The Wild Feathers' Ben Dumas offers insight on finding "understanding, sympathy and love"
• Jade Bird contemplates those who have left her life on "Houdini," her upcoming album
• Lucero on singing of resilience on "When You Found Me," out soon
• Listen to Amanda Abizaid on some new tracks, including "My Hero," a tuneful tribute to her feline friend
• Warner Bros. takes a huge gamble with all its 2021 films
• A few moments from the outside world: will actual reality finally trump a delusional reality show? (Including our cartoon selection for this edition)
• Finally... we "paws" for a "purrting" shot... since our lead story is about Cat Stevens, this closing "tail" demanded our attention.
☆ Preview of next time: holiday benefit concerts & singles -- artists contributing their music for charitable causes ranging from the United Nations to local food banks.
Let's get started!
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Yusef / Cat Stevens Music Festival, online Dec 5
The '70s brought memorable acoustic stars whose music filled radio playlists. One of the best was Cat Stevens, who later changed his name to Yusef. He's back, and today's artists are celebrating
The "Catsong Festival" is a virtual festival Saturday with more than 40 artists covering Cat Stevens classics.
Announced Nov 30th, the festival of Yusuf / Cat Stevens music will air as a YouTube special event (at https://m.youtube.com/user/YusufCatStevens), broadcast December 5th at noon Pacific, 8 pm GMT. It remains available on-demand after the live webcast.
2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Tea For The Tillerman, an album that has touched the hearts of millions and elevated Yusuf / Cat Stevens to legendary status as a musician and songwriter. On the occasion of this significant milestone and to celebrate the remarkable impact of his broader musical legacy, over 40 bands and musicians including the likes of Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, HAIM, Brandon Boyd of Incubus, Passenger and James Morrison have generously given of their time and talent to perform songs from across the entire Yusuf / Cat Stevens catalogue.
The songwriter who had millions singing along on the radio has returned and his voice is as wonderfully evocative as ever. He has recorded 50th anniversary "reimaginings" of his classic albums Tea for the Tillerman and Mona Bone Jakon.
Included on the album -- and in the concert -- is his timeless song, "Father and Son." In the new album, Yusef sings the father's part, seamlessly interposed with the track of his singing of the son's part from the 1970 original. It sounds simple enough, but the result is as inspired as Natalie Cole singing a duet with her long deceased father, Nat "King" Cole.
Yusef told Christianne Amanpour's PBS audience Friday night, "This song hits all sorts of levels. You know the family is the most important relationship we ever have. But when I wrote this song I was trying to write a musical and I chose to set that in the Russian Revolution. The father represented the czarist-loyal family. The son was from a small family in the country and he wanted to join the revolution. But it's still about parents, it's about children, it's about brothers and sisters."
Asked by Amanpour if his own relationship with his father was contentious, he said, "He couldn't have been more supportive. He bought me my first guitar." He said he has wonderful memories, feels close to, and "as a father myself, and now grandfather," he identifies with his late father. "Before he met my mother, he was an adventurer, and I think I've taken on a bit of that."
Yusef's spiritual journey came about when he contracted tuberculosis as a result of touring, initially with Jimi Hendrix, exacerbated when he became one of the '70s first music stars. "I was run down. I had to stop." He says that break brought the need to seek not just restored health, but peace, a theme that resonates with a great many who have spent quasi-quarantine in introspection and questioning their pre-pandemic paths.
When he arrived at that point in the mid-70s, he says, "Somebody bought me a book about Buddhism. That was the start of things. I was a Christian then." Of course, he eventually converted to Islam, changed his name to Yusef, and then left music for decades.
He says the roots for all that were present in his background, with a father from Cyprus, mother from France, and upbringing in the UK.
"I definitely made some sharp turnings. I had kind of reached the top of music stardom and all that. I needed to find out who I was."
What was the moment that led him to it?
"I was desperately empty inside. It was 1975. One day I went for a swim in Malibu. It was not a good time to go swimming. I found myself far from shore and unable to get back. I made a promise that "God, if you save me, I will work for you. And suddenly along came this little wave that took me safely back to land."
That launched his explorations in earnest, from disengaged Christianity, through Buddhism, to Islam.
"When I came to living the life of a Muslim, all was fine until things went wrong with the world." He acknowledges 9/11 as part of that, but he says it started earlier, in the 1990s. "First came Bosnia and nobody was doing anything about it." That was the first turning point in Yusef finding his voice again as an artist, to call attention, create awareness, "and hopefully make things better."
That recognition -- and of course, a rich catalog of half-century-old hits that sound like they could have been written today -- are the reason so many artists signed-on to perform his music in the online "Catsong Festival" tribute.
Performing in today's online festival:
Dave Matthews
Brandon Boyd of Incubus
Jack Johnson
HAIM
Passenger
Andy Allo
James Morrison
Imelda May
Feist
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Matt Sweeney
Ron Sexsmith
Eliane Correa & Fedzilla
Hamza Namira
Ariel Posen
Mimi Naja
Vintage Trouble
The Brothers Landreth featuring Murray Pulver
Mary Spender
Mollie Marriott
Jason Kerrison
Matt Costa
Sad13
Ruby Waters & Debbie Bechamp
Braison Cyrus
Cinzia & The Eclipse
Mark Diamond
The Lucky 13s
Laura Sheeran & Brian Bolger
Laughton Kora
Noah Kahan
Parker Gispert
The Heartstrings Project
Leoni Jane Kennedy
Sen Morimoto
Kwame Yeboah & Eric Appapoulay
Samba Dos Amigos feating Mani Santos
Erika
Charlie Austen
Alun & Becky Davies
Felicity Urquhart
James Tillman
Moise
The "CatSong Festival," with participation from artists from a wide range of different musical backgrounds and at various stages of their careers, "represents the unity and spirit of inclusion that is an essential aspect of Yusuf’s message of peace," notes its promo. That continues, "The remarkable quality and sincerity of the performances that make up this project shows how profoundly Yusuf’s influence is felt at all levels in the industry; from those just starting out on their musical journey to those who have become legends in their own right and at all points in between."
So what does the artist being honored have to say?
“It’s great to see and hear these covers of my songs given new life. There’s no better honour for a songwriter than to have his songs performed by talented musicians with such love and sincerity. Thank you.”
~ Yusuf / Cat Stevens
He may have been absent from the performing stage for a long time, quietly raising his family. But he is not disengaged. His global "Peacetrain" Initiative continuously tackles world hunger.
If there is any question that the man himself is back, he had booked a global tour for the release of the reimagined Tea for the Tillerman and to showcase live performances of songs from across his catalog.
Of course, like everyone else, those 2020 plans collapsed in "the extended disruption to the music industry due to the global Coronavirus pandemic," as the "CatSong Festival" promo puts it. So once again, we are turning to our small glowing screens for a significant musical experience.
Producers of the event tell us, "Having had to cancel a full year of scheduled touring in 2020, Yusuf is all too aware of the significant threat that the ongoing pandemic poses to live music and is keen to be a part of the solution. He sincerely hopes that this event will give the participating artists a chance to share their talents with his and each other’s audiences. At all levels of the industry, it is imperative that we find ways to allow musicians to connect with new audiences to keep the flame of live music burning."
While you're waiting for the festival to start, enjoy these:
From Sep 10, 2020:
"Father & Son: A Duet 50 Years In The Making," with 3-D cartoon art illustrating the song.
From May 28, 2020:
"New Album: Tea for the Tillerman²" also brings a cartoon music vid and other playable tracks -- “Like it was destiny waiting to happen, T4TT² feels like the timing of its message has arrived again.” ~ Yusuf / Cat Stevens.
From July 19:
"The Plastic Peril" puts his songs to work to address one of humanity's most pressing environmental problems. "Where Do the Children Play" is a music vid here, with text you can read about the artist's current commitment to the planet. Here's an excerpt: "The world is drowning in plastic. From clothes, furniture, gadgets, toys and appliances to packaging and containers, it has pervaded every aspect of our lives. So total is its monstrous grip on modern society that plastics have also made their way into our cosmetics and even our food. – 'People needing more and more and it’s all getting lost.' Sadly, these words from Yusuf / Cat Stevens’ 1972 song ‘Ruins’, sound even louder today."
More info, music vids, and a not-very-obvious concert link are here.
The link to watch today's festival, and to enjoy music videos from the artist himself, is
https://m.youtube.com/user/YusufCatStevens
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CELEBRATING THE 75th ANNIVERSARY of BLUEGRASS MUSIC on THE OPRY STAGE
Tune in Saturday, December 5th at 5 pm Pacific / 8 pm ET / 7 pm CT for a special Grand Ole Opry show featuring The Del McCoury Band, The Travelin' McCourys, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, and Sister Sadie as the Opry and IBMA formidably join forces to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Bluegrass music.
After years in its development, bluegrass as we know it today is said to have been born on the Opry stage at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on December 8, 1945.
It was on that night that Earl Scruggs made his Opry debut with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys that included Lester Flatt, and just three months later the historic line-up that would serve as the prototype for the bluegrass sound was complete: Monroe on mandolin, Scruggs on banjo, Flatt on guitar, Chubby Wise on fiddle, and Howard Watts on bass.
There are many viewing options. These include Circle and Gray TV stations, DISH Studio Channel 102, Sling TV, and other TV affiliates. Circle’s Opry Live is available every week via the Roku Channel and XUMO apps, in addition to a companion livestream on Circle All Access Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Plus, the IBMA Facebook page will be sharing the Opry Livestream Saturday night.
The Opry can be heard on its home station, WSM Radio, at wsmonline.com, and at opry.com and on SiriusXM's "Willie’s Roadhouse" channel. Check your local listings at www.circleallaccess.com.
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More concert delights online live Saturday / Sunday
SATURDAY
Maritime Folknet's Yule Tide Concert, 2020
5 pm Seattle Time (PST, GMT -8)
Hosted by The Whateverly Brothers,
Concert Lineup:
Windborne, Pint and Dale,
Shanghaied on the Willamette
and Dan Maher.
Broadcast links:
On Facebook: Maritime Folknet Facebook Page
On YouTube: Maritime Folknet YouTube channel
Click for Tickets:
Suggested donation of $15
(give more or less as you can afford)
Maritime Folknet is a non-profit dedicated to preserving maritime culture and history primarily through music that highlights boats and the people who work them, especially in the Pacific Northwest.
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Rick Shea returns with his FaceBook Live concert series Sat Dec 5th, 5 pm PST, live from Casa de Calora, here. You can still see last week's show here. More at www.rickshea.com
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DULCIMER U ONLINE WORKSHOPS & CONCERT
"Christmas with Dulcimer U"
Sat Dec 5 – Classes 9 am-5 pm EST/ Concert 4 pm Pacific / 7 pm EST
Registration $69 for all / or Concert only is $15
https://wcupg.wcu.edu/C20252_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=201&SINGLESTORE=true
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MUSIC & CALIFORNIA WINE with ANDY & RENEE, Sat Dec 5, 7 pm PT, is the latest in the live online "Grand Annex Livestream Evenings of Music & Wine" pairing musicians with wines from around the world. Enjoy the music of SoCal favorites ANDY & RENEE, singing cover songs of California plus originals. Before and between sets, San Pedro’s own sommelier and chef (DiningSquared), Mona Harrington guides the livestream wine tasting. Get Tickets and info here.
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SUNDAY
Marina V, always delightful, celebrates her birthday belatedly after "a tough couple of months" following the death of her father.
The concert starts at 12:30 pm Pacific time (3:30 pm New York, 20:30 London, 23:30 Moscow). Tune in here, "even for a minute and say hi!"
If you know her music, request a song here.
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The next big-deal multi-artist benefit concert is Dec 15
"Play On," an all-star benefit concert will air on CBS tv from three famous venues: the Troubadour in L.A., the Apollo in New York City, and the Blue Bird Cafe in Nashville. More later. Mark your calendar.
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Upcoming Live Virtual Concerts
Sat, Dec 19th: Asleep at the Wheel's "Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all!"
Sun, Dec 20th, at 2 pm Pacific, GMT -8
"Winter's Return 2020" is the annual concert by William Pint & Felicia Dale, stars of the maritime music / sea chantey circuit. They are performing from Washington State, joined for this year's live cyber rendition by Tania Opland and Mike Freeman who are in Alaska. Ahoy! Tune in here.
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Latest Wine & Song podcast
episode features Shawn Colvin, Michael McNevin, Rosa Pullman, and more
Podcast now streamable here.
Brad Colerick's latest Wine & Song podcast episode features Shawn Colvin, John Schmitt, CoolHouse, Chauncey Bowers, Jen Starsinic, Michael McNevin, and Rosa Pullman.
BUY TICKETS NOW for the upcoming Wine & Song Zoom concert on Friday, December 18. Brad Colerick & friends (TBA). Showtime is 6:15pm Pacific. Tickets are $10. Brad says, "Zoom info will be sent following your ticket purchase. Gonna be a great time!"
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Socially distanced carpool concert series
Hey, it's Southern Cal, and near the beach, it doesn't get too cold in December.
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Your help is needed for a beloved music venue
The Coffee Gallery Backstage, repeatedly awarded "Best Intimate Acoustic Music Venue in L.A." by multiple publications including the Guide, FolkWorks, and Pasadena Weekly, has been shuttered since March with the pandemic.
Friday night, Susie Glaze and her musical friends played an online benefit to help impresario Bob Stane deal with the venue's bills during this long stretch of all outgo and no income.
Your help is needed, too.
Bob has declared he will not reopen before June, at the earliest, due to the anticipated time to get everyone vaccinated. Socially distanced seating is not an option for an intimate venue where no seat is farther than 20 feet from the stage.
Jump in. Take part. Help your favorite local venue wherever you are. And if you treasure this Southern California musical landmark, please contribute to help the Coffee Gallery Backstage.
Here are the ways to help:
1) Mail a check. Send it to
Bob Stane Or, you may send your contribution electronically by accessing either method below. 2) PayPal |
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Is it full of stars?
Cue the guys in the ape suits
Last week's discovery of a mysterious pseudo monolith by biologists doing a bighorn sheep census in the middle of nowhere was right out of the Arthur C. Clarke / Stanley Kubrick collaboration for 1967's classic sci-fi epic, "2001: A Space Odyssey." The only thing missing is the timpani signature with the orchestra playing "Also Sprach Zarathustra."
Okay, an actual monolith must be made of stone, and this one, in the remote canyons of the Utah desert, appeared to be made of stainless steel. Before it mysteriously disappeared, some Angelinos noticed its strong resemblance to the metal columns used to mark subway and light rail stations in L.A. We couldn't resist showing you a comparison. So here's:
1) the original metal object
2) the inspired L.A. parody, digitally placed into the same setting
3) the pre-human ancestors monolith in "2001"
4) the monolith dug-up on the Moon in "2001"
(Utah discovery photo credit to Kelsea Dockham / Canyon State Overland; parody photo by @militantangeleno; last two, film stills archive.)
By the way, more monoliths have since appeared, then vanished. One was on a Southern Cal hiking trail, another atop a mountain in Romania.
Open the pod bay doors, Hal.
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Stray stuff
Joachim Cooder stopped by NPR Music's World Café to discuss how he discovered Uncle Dave Macon's music and how an African instrument called the mbira informed his latest album. He also performed tunes including "Heartaching Blues." Listen here
"Stevie Nicks closed a deal to sell a majority stake in her publishing catalog late last month," Anne Steele reported... (WSJ)
Marianne Garvey emails: "'Mariah Carey's Christmas Spectacular' dropped Friday on Apple+ and it's indeed spectacular..." (CNN)
“I feel like I'm the most vulnerable I've ever been in my life. And that's the irony of what I do.” - Orville Peck opened up about his creative process, looking up to Dolly Parton and how he's always believed to have a place in country music. Read more
Black Pumas dropped by the Broken Record podcast to talk about their musical synergy, being mentored by Prince and writing one of their biggest songs in a church. Listen here
"... it's time for us to set the new precedent of understanding, sympathy and love." - The Wild Feathers' Ben Dumas gave us insight into what he's been up to in quarantine, including checking Twitter for good news, video chatting with friends and improving his cooking game. Read more
Jade Bird contemplates those who have left her life on "Houdini," the next preview of her upcoming album which is due out later next year. Listen here
FRETLAND wonder if they're on that special someone's mind with "Do You Think of Me," a tender folk offering from Could Have Loved You (out March 26). Listen here
Lucero sing of resilience on "When You Found Me," the empowering title track of their forthcoming record (out Jan. 29). Listen here
Amanda Abizaid has some new tracks. She says, "If you're an animal lover, please check out my single 'My Hero', a special tribute to my beautiful kitty Hiro." Listen here
Warner Bros. will make all its 2021 films available for streaming as they’re released in theaters, "a gloomy assessment of moviegoing’s prospects," said the New York Times when it broke the story on Thursday, December 3.
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A few moments from the outside world: will actual reality finally trump a delusional reality show?
Let's start with this brilliantly concise reality check from Atlanta. Justin Gray of TV station WSB in Atlanta tweeted on Friday:
"Reporters love scoops. We love juicy stories. We love getting a story nobody else has. If there was massive election fraud happening in Georgia we would be all over it. It would be to my personal & professional advantage to be able to break that story. But it does not exist."
We found that, and borrow a few items on the theme, from a compilation made by Brian Stelter, host of "Reliable Sources." Enjoy.
~ Craig Timberg reports that "Covid disinformation sites often use tools from Google, Facebook, and Apple," according to a report from Oxford University... (WaPo)
~ "It's only fake-believe:" David Robson has some advice about "how to deal with a conspiracy theorist..." (Guardian)
~ Kevin Roose writes that the share button "might be the most destructive technological innovation of the last two decades..." (NYT)
~ CNN's Drew Griffin looks at how Trump and far-right media personalities such as Alex Jones are raising money from those who think the election was stolen... (CNN)
~ Erik Wemple: "A screenshot for these times: FoxNews.com runs a story in which Georgia officials refute the 'suitcase' fraud theory -- right below an embedded video from Sean Hannity promoting that same theory..." (Twitter)
~ "You aren't a conservative if you believe in conspiracy theories," Jonah Goldberg argues... (Dispatch)
~ Meanwhile, Trump's Pentagon nominee has spread debunked conspiracy theories and tweets suggesting Trump should declare martial law, per the KFILE team... (CNN)
~ The director of the Covid-in-China documentary "76 Days" says "it's bizarre to me" that the pandemic is still raging in America... (TheWrap)
~ "In an age of corporate media, hyperpartisanship, and alternative facts, the young journalists from Report for America spread into little and middle America to do some old-fashioned shoe leather reporting..." ~ Kevin Cullen (Boston Globe)
Our cartoon selection for this edition illustrates these points
"Trumpian Empire" by Joep Bertrams, politicalcartoons.com, was first published August 25, 2020. More true now than then.
Purrting shot...
Since our lead lead story is about Yusef / Cat Stevens, we couldn't resist this, which arrived this morning via Brian Stelter's "Reliable Sources" newsletter:
San Diego photographer Ion Moe took this shot of his cat, Flora, when she "was engrossed in a rather intense story."
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NEXT TIME...
Artists play benefits and record singles for the holidays, contributing their music for charitable causes ranging from the United Nations to local food banks.
Join us next time to celebrate them, learn how you can help, and find some great new music for your sequestered celebration!
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Stay healthy, stay safe.
Honor the health care people who are, in the words of one COVID unit ER doctor, "Not the front line first responders, but the last line of defense, if it comes to keeping you alive."
How to honor them?
Don't be a maskhole who joins the Branch Covidians.
This will all be over and we can brag about how well we came through -- if we don't get reckless in these final days of great risk.
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On mobile devices, click "view web edition" to bring-up the left side bar with navigation tools and direct click access to all recent editions, month-by-month archives to everything this year, and each previous year since we moved to Blogspot.
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in this new world of the improbable unknown...
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