Monthly Archives: September 2010
Odds & Ends, Vol.1
Hello. I’m sorry to have been away so long. Life’s been busy. No excuse, just an explanation. Looking back over my more recent posts, I’ve realized that there are a few things I wish I’d mentioned in a few of them. … Continue reading
On This Day In Music History: Bruce Springsteen
Today is Bruce Springsteen’s birthday. He was born on September 23, 1949 in Freehold, NJ, the first child and only son of Douglas and Adele Springsteen. At the age of 13, he bought his first guitar at a pawnshop for … Continue reading
One That Got Away
B.B.King and I go way back. In 1969, I bought my first B.B.King album: “Live And Well.” Downbeat magazine, which I subscribed to and read religiously at the time, had praised it as “the most important Blues recording in many … Continue reading
On This Day In Music History: “Rising Sun Blues” Again
In 1937, Georgia Turner was 16 years old, a “thin, pretty, yellow-headed miner’s daughter,” living in Middlesboro, Kentucky. Around her neighborhood, Georgia was known for her singing and, more specifically, for singing a song about a house in New Orleans … Continue reading
Summer’s Over (“Call It Stormy Monday”)
Even when the first day of Fall is many days away, for a teacher (like me), once the new school year has started and you’re back to work, that’s it: Summer’s over. So, how appropriate that today, my first day … Continue reading
On This Day In Music History: A Triple Header
As my father would say: “Age before beauty.” On September 11, 1847, the song “Oh! Susanna,” by Stephen Foster, was given its first public performance. It happened in Pittsburgh, PA, at The Eagle Ice Cream Saloon. The performers were a … Continue reading
On This Day In Music History: Buddy Holly
As a teenager, I knew that the Rolling Stones had an early hit with their great cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away.” I may have also noticed that there was a cover of Buddy’s song “Words of Love” by the Beatles … Continue reading
On This Day In Music History: “Rising Sun Blues”
On September 6, 1933, singer/guitarist Clarence Ashley and harmonica player Gwen (or Gwin) Foster recorded “Rising Sun Blues” for Vocalion Records in New York, NY. This would be the first recording of the song that we now know as “The House of the Rising Sun.” … Continue reading
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