ELDER MUSIC: Together at Home 4
Sunday, 20 September 2020
This Sunday Elder Music column was launched in December of 2008. By May of the following year, one commenter, Peter Tibbles, had added so much knowledge and value to my poor attempts at musical presentations that I asked him to take over the column. He's been here each week ever since delighting us with his astonishing grasp of just about everything musical, his humor and sense of fun. You can read Peter's bio here and find links to all his columns here.
We are all still locked up at home (okay, maybe we can get out for various things, but still). I really want to thank these and other musicians who make this a bit less grim.
Several of the DOOBIE BROTHERS reunite (virtually) to perform their most famous song, and one that’s really appropriate for this column Listen to the Music.
Alas, we can’t have John Lennon performing his most famous (solo) song. In his place here is STEPHEN RIDLEY. Stephen performs Imagine (and bits of other songs) in a (nearly) deserted London railway station. This piano has been used for many musical videos from back when people could congregate.
Here is a video I had originally had in the first of these columns. It got the flick when I found other songs by both these performers. It’s still worth a listen. It’s by BRIAN MAY (guitarist from Queen, of course) and SHUBA. They perform a Queen song, written by Freddie Mercury and first performed by him, Love of My Life.
The CELLISTS OF THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA could easily have fitted into the classical version of “Together at Home”, but that was full, so I decided to include them here. It’s one of J.S. Bach’s most famous tunes, Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, from his cantata “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147”.
PAUL KELLY is one of the world’s finest singer/songwriters. Here he is with JESS HITCHCOCK. Jess is an up and coming singer, if you can call 10 years as a singer, songwriter, teacher, backing singer, composer as “up and coming”. Together they perform one of Paul’s songs, Every Day my Mother’s Voice.
It was JOHN FOGERTY who was my inspiration to produce these columns in the first place – his were the first of these videos I found. He performs with his kids, a daughter who usually plays guitar, but she’s playing drums on this clip, and two sons who play bass and guitar. Not to forget the family dog.
That means today’s instrumentation matches that of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Here’s the Fogerty family with Tombstone Shadow. This might be the best garage band ever.
IAN MOSS was the guitarist and one of the songwriters for iconic Australian rock group Cold Chisel. JIMMY BARNES was the charismatic singer for the group whose vocal style made Joe Cocker sound like Pavarotti.
On this clip there are some others, including Jimmy’s daughter Mahalia Barnes singing harmony. The song is When the War is Over.
DELTA GOODREM is often described as “The Voice of Australia”. It’s a pity she’s not widely known elsewhere so I’ll do my little bit to help that along. She performs the quintessential Australian song Down Under, first performed and written by Men at Work.
Speaking of Men at Work, here is the main man from that group, COLIN HAY. He’s a solo performer these days, although he often calls on a couple of friends to join him. He does that today when he performs the song Ringo Starr made popular, Photograph. Ringo knew what he was talking about as he was a photographer of some note.
Hands up all those who don’t remember PETER FRAMPTON from the seventies. Okay, a few of you, but back then he was everywhere with one of the biggest albums of all time. You know the one, at least those who didn’t put their hands up. Here’s another Ringo song, It Don’t Come Easy.
KRISTEN MOSCA channels Scott Joplin with her tune, Quarantine Rag. She says that it’s her first original rag, and based on the way it sounds, she has a real future in this genre. Scott is smiling down on her and the rest of us.
I was going to end there but thanks to Norma, the Assistant Musicologist, I found this one, and it’s an appropriate way to end. Here is ARLO GUTHRIE performing the old Stephen Foster song, Hard Times Come Again No More.
Arlo has the help of Jim Wilson on piano, Vanessa Bryan as co-lead singer, the great Stanley Clarke playing bass, a terrific choir and others who are mentioned at the end of the video. It’s amazing how relevant a 160-plus year old song can be.
Peter, in the year or so since I discovered Time Goes By and your Sunday music column, I think this one is my favorite. I’ve been filled with a real melancholy these past 2 days with the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and this wonderful selection just “fit the bill”. My gosh, that Freddie Mercury song put a hard lump in my throat, but the Arlo Guthrie video had me grabbing a tissue. As always, thanks for the music sir. PS. Colin Hay...he’s so damn awesome!!
Posted by: Doug M | Sunday, 20 September 2020 at 06:34 AM
Brilliant.
Thank you.
Posted by: Mary | Sunday, 20 September 2020 at 07:45 AM
I'll do my part for Delta- shared her selection via Facebook. Beautiful voice!
Posted by: KATHY ZACHARY | Sunday, 20 September 2020 at 09:03 AM
Oh, Peter (and Norma!) ... thank you so so much. I've been lost in this wonderful selection, listening to several more than once (in particular, the Doobie Brothers and Delta Goodrem) and it has been a great gift being able to be "lost" for a bit. Very impressed by Kristen Mosca and enjoyed learning about Paul Kelly and Jess Hitchcock.
"Listen to the Music", indeed!
Posted by: laura | Sunday, 20 September 2020 at 09:27 AM
Thank you so much for this column, Peter--every single week, but especially today.
Posted by: Linda | Sunday, 20 September 2020 at 11:13 AM
Thank you Peter for this especially wonderful column. The CCR comment from you brought back a memory. I was born and raised in Berkeley, CA and my mother was friends with Lou Fogerty, the mother of the band boys. Mom told me that Lou was proud of her boys but oh my, the constant loud music coming from their garage almost night and day was getting to be a bit much. Not long after that, CCR took off and Lou finally found the peace and quiet she wanted.
Posted by: M. Koch | Sunday, 20 September 2020 at 01:17 PM
Such a wonderful assortment! I'm a big Doobies fan, what fun. I wasn't familiar with Stephen Ridley, and he sings Imagine like it was a prayer. Love of My Life - Shuba is exquisite. Thank you, Peter!
Posted by: Heidi | Sunday, 20 September 2020 at 04:23 PM
I watched and listened to Stephen Ridley and thought, "I an an old woman, soon to leave this world. Young people such as this man will take over the world, and it will be ok."
Posted by: Carol in Denver | Monday, 21 September 2020 at 10:16 AM
Marvelous assortment of music. Reminds me that in the past, when I lived in or close to a Big City, I could turn on various public or college radio stations, and hear a range like this. Now, in a Smaller City, we have one all-classical station, and one mostly-NPR station (and NPR is great), but only a few specialty music shows a couple times a week.
Thank you for putting these together - wonderful to listen to, expansive, AND educational!
Posted by: Kathe | Monday, 21 September 2020 at 07:24 PM
" Hard Times" and the poignant accompanying photos certainly put things into perspective for me.
Posted by: macmsue | Tuesday, 22 September 2020 at 08:06 PM