June Carter Cash

By Brian Barney JUNE CARTER CASH Wildwood Flower Dualtone Records The heartbreaking beauty of June Carter Cash’s last record, Wildwood Flower, defies description. The tracks flow in an autobiographical movement, where the purest of instrumentation provides the background for songs that tell the stories of a life based on tradition, and values that escape the trappings of politics and trend. The CD is an obvious final testament to her 2002 visit to her parents’ home in Virginia, where she sat on the back porch, singing family classics with husband Johnny, and her cousins, Janette and Joe Carter. What followed was a two day recording session producing 14 songs, eight of which are heard on Wildwood Flower. Opening track “Keep on the Sunny Side” sets the tone with rich, full bodied, piercingly bright 6-strings that provide accompaniment to her voice which, while somewhat quavering, resonates with as much strength and emotion as the version recorded by her late mother on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will The Circle Be Unbroken. The enchantment continues throughout with gut-wrenchers like “Storms Are On The Ocean” with its’ string arrangements so achingly beautiful that…well…let’s just say, it could set a grown man to weepin’. There is also an air of fun and abandon in tracks like “Temptation,” and snippets of conversation between June and family spanning time from early Opry days to the current sessions. Standout tracks featuring flat top at its’ best can be found in “Alcatraz” and “Cannonball Blues,” while gospel meant for hand holding and praise is displayed in classics like “Anchored in Love.” The Carter/Cash coalition has long been considered by many to be the most important and influential contribution to Americana and country music ever, and proof of that is certainly found in this must-have record.

The Upscale Vagabond

By Frizell Bailey One evening I was walking down Brady Street when a couple sitting on the sidewalk near Jimmy John’s asked me for some spare change, a fairly common occurrence. Usually, depending on my mood, I fork over whatever I happen to have in my pocket or say I don’t have any cash on me if my pockets are empty. The pair was a young couple, probably in their early to mid twenties. Their black lab-ish dog sat next to them wearing a bandana. Given my situation at the time, the term “spare” change had taken on a much more literal meaning. Struggling to balance graduate school and a personal life out to kill me, working had become sporadic at best. I politely told them that I had no change to offer and continued on my way. But a block or two down the street it occurred to me that there was something rather odd about this down-on-their-luck trio. While the two humans looked sufficiently scruffy to be panhandling, the dog looked decidedly less needy. What nerve they had, I thought to myself, to ask me for money when they have a dog that looked like it had never missed a meal or bath. The couple, I decided, must be dirty and un-kept out of personal choice, or to scam suckers like me for change. This got me thinking about myself and my own situation. My well kept appearance belied the fact that I had no job, very little money, and no place of my own to live. Despite this I had managed, through the kindness of others and other more creative means, to fairly closely maintain my standard of living. This was the genesis of the upscale vagabond. The Ethos of the upscale vagabond. The upscale vagabond ethos was borne out of necessity. Since college I have acquired certain tastes. Though not quite caviar in scale, my personal likes are definitely not the ramen noodle tastes of my undergraduate days. Needless to say, even though I was temporarily “down on my luck,” I had no desire to return to this lifestyle. Upscale vagabond existence is about living above your means, but without actually paying for it. It’s about being able to sip suds or martinis when you can really only afford fountain drinks with free refills. It’s who you know. The adage “it’s not what you know but who” applies not only to getting a great job, but also to having a fun and fulfilling social life, especially when money’s a little tight. When you’re broke is not the time to be timid or introverted. Trust me, people will exchange cocktails for lively conversation. On the question of libations, the first thing you want to do is chat up your bartender. They’re at work so they have to be there. And especially if they are working a shift alone, they’re probably jonesing for a little conversation, particularly with someone who is not either tanked out of their mind […]

John Hughes Knocks on Heaven’s Door

By John Hughes I was a bleak geek living in a house where the only art was a pair of framed oil portraits of Presidents Washington and Lincoln, and the only music came from my sisters plinking away dispiritedly on an upright piano, because they had to, for piano lessons. There were no plants in my house, there was no poetry, and we watched the television a lot. Knowing no better, I was reasonably happy; but I just knew there had to be something more to life than television, school and the Green Bay Packers. I was 14 years old, living in Brookfield in 1971, surrounded by “Nixon’s the One” bumper stickers and sentiments, lonely in a world which seemed cold and rough — until Bob Dylan tapped me on the shoulder. I bought a Dylan cassette because I liked the cover. I hiked up to the department store (Treasure Island, on Capitol Drive) with my paper boy money, and bought the cassette with the coolest cover. I liked the blue light swirling around Dylan’s curly head on his Greatest Hits, Volume 2 album. I had no idea who he was. I had no idea that he was an icon, a voice for millions of disaffected youth. When I bought that cassette, I was doubling my music collection but increasing my musical knowledge tenfold. The other cassette I owned was James Taylor’s Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. I plugged in to Dylan and turned on, sitting there at my desk, eating Cheetos, covered in pimples, a revolution occurring in my inner core. I had no idea that this was happening all over the world with other people. I loved Dylan mostly because of his voice. It had so many contours and hollows, I was endlessly fascinated. And he said, “I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it.” I’ve never gotten over that image. He said, “There’s beauty in that silver singing river, there’s beauty in that rainbow in the sky, but none of these and nothing else can touch the beauty that I remember in my own true love’s eye.” He said, “Down here next to me in this lonely crowd, there’s a man who swears he’s not to blame. All day long I hear him cry so loud, calling out that he’s been framed.” He made me feel something I’d never felt before, something to do with the mystery of the heart. It seemed essentially good in Dylan’s hands. This was pivotal for a young person with an emerging sexuality and political consciousness, both of which were at odds with my milieu. I would come home from middle- or high school, traumatized by the day’s events, lie down in the middle of my bedroom floor, stare at the ceiling, and listen to Dylan. I loved him deeply. The net effect of his work was like, in the middle of a chorus of voices, this one voice was whispering to me: “You know how, when you’re […]

Warren Zevon

By John Hughes WARREN ZEVON The Wind Artemis Records www.warrenzevon.com Before Warren Zevon died in early September, he assembled an all-star cast of friends to help him craft his own epitaph — a final CD recorded in the aftershock of his fatal diagnosis. A songwriter’s songwriter, he maintained great integrity throughout his career, no matter what the prevailing fashion. May he rest in peace. We are treated to much more than a parting novelty. In The Wind, Zevon takes us on a tour of American music. He sings like Woody Guthrie on the opening cut. From there he tours us through a Springsteen-esque rocker, hyper-charged by Bruce himself; and the Dylan classic “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” done with a touch of gospel. He gives us a blues romp and songs sung like Jackson Browne and Willie Nelson. “Prison Grove,” a standout effort that could have been pulled from the Lomax field recordings songbook, is highlighted by a chain-gang chorus of Springsteen, Browne, Jordan Zevon, Jorge Calderon, T Bone Burnett and Billy Bob Thornton. There are also two sensitive, lovely ballads, written and played straight, sung just like Warren Zevon. He deploys his friends — especially Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, Springsteen and Calderon — with maximum efficiency. It all adds up beautifully, for ten songs. But all this is just so much clearing of the throat as Zevon prepares us for song 11, the dramatic finale. In the final song of his life, Zevon blesses us with an extraordinary moment — a dying man bids adieu. He wrote the song for his two children, but sings it for everyone. He taps deep emotion without being maudlin. He stands tall in his deathbed. His last request? “Keep me in your heart for awhile.” Yes, Warren. Will do.

Being Thirteen

By

Brick Lane

By

Elvis Costello

By Jon M. Gilbertson ELVIS COSTELLO North Deutsche Grammophon www.elviscostello.com As he grows older and perhaps wiser, Elvis Costello increasingly resembles another former enfant terrible from the UK: writer Martin Amis. Both sons of notable practitioners of their respective arts, both more famous than their fathers, they are almost embarrassingly skillful and variegated: Amis the novelist, reviewer, journalist; Costello the explorer of New Wave, Tin Pan Alley, country & western, rhythm & blues. Costello’s latest album, North, finds him meditating in the gorgeously melancholy shadows once inhabited by Cole Porter, the Gershwins et al. He’s been there before, but never so deeply. His facility with the forms – particularly the alternately lush and spare arrangements, which include a horn nonet, the classically trained Brodsky Quartet, and Attractions keyboardist Steve Nieve — recalls the clarion blurb on Amis’ last paperback, 2002’s The War Against Cliché: Essays and Reviews 1971-2000: “Is there anything Martin Amis can’t write about?” Indeed. Is there any musical style Elvis Costello can’t master? More to the point, does a creative chameleon eventually forget or lose sight of what he’s best at? The most devoted Costello fan, asked to define the man’s essence, would reach for the early work, its electric guitars and tumbling wordplay. Yet North deserves better than polite applause. Even more than Painted From Memory, Costello’s much-lauded collaboration with Burt Bacharach, these 11 songs weep with the admission of a romanticism usually thwarted by irony or buried in anger. From the desperation of “You Left Me in the Dark” to the serenity of “I’m in the Mood Again,” North is about passionately careful artistry. It is about Elvis Costello’s cracked but strong baritone register. It is about grace in the teeth of love. Above all, North is about hopes: betrayed, dashed, renewed, fulfilled. The album represents the outpouring of a beating heart, not another notch in an artist’s impressive catalog.

Jon M. Gilbertson

Brian Jones

Jason Keil

The First Day of School

By Lucky Tomaszek My middle child, Emma, starts kindergarten this month. Like all parents, I find it hard to believe that this baby is ready for such a large endeavor. She is a smart, beautiful and creative five year old who truly seems ready for a slightly more structured learning environment. Emma has already learned so much. She is just starting to read and loves to add single digit numbers. She can tell you anything about bugs and loves art. She knows the colors of the rainbow and is borderline obsessed with putting all of her toys in ROYGBIV order. And she is craving more! When I sent my older child Lena to public school for the first time (albeit briefly, as it turned out), we made a big deal out of the day. She got a new dress to wear, with nice shoes and a new headband. She took a long bath the night before and I spent extra time and care combing her hair and trimming her nails. In the morning she jumped out of bed, excited to start on this new adventure. I helped her dress and gave her a necklace to wear to school, so she’d have something to hold on to if the day seemed hard. Of course we took pictures, lots of pictures of Lena’s first day of school. Eventually, group schooling didn’t work out for our family and I brought her home to start homeschooling. As I am getting ready to homeschool Emma, I think back on that other first day of school warmly. It was fun to shop with Lena and buy her first day of school dress. It was wonderful to spend the extra time with her the night before the big day. And the look on her face when I gave her the necklace was priceless. It was clear to both of us that she was growing up, and this first day of school was a rite of passage. These rituals of dressing up and taking pictures mean a lot to families. They make a special occasion out of these important events. Rituals like this show your kids that you know they’re ready to take this next big step and you believe they can succeed. All of this helps your child feel like a valued member of the family and increases their self-confidence at a time when kids are nervous and scared about trying something new. I want to make Emma’s entry to homeschool kindergarten just as special as Lena’s entry to public kindergarten. Emma is emotionally and developmentally ready to take the next step with more a formalized learning environment, and that step should be marked. We have decided that we will dress up in first day of school clothes and take pictures. We will break out our new school books for the first time and do a little lesson, and then we’re going to celebrate Emma’s entrance to kindergarten with a picnic at a local park. I hope […]

What the hell?

Dear Readers, I’d like to open this month with a question: What in the hell is going on in America? Have we been so successfully distracted by the “Iraq Conflict” and the near cataclysmic domestic situation that we don’t care about obvious attempts to undermine democratic process? So that’s two questions, but really, what does it take to make us mad these days? While America munches Doritos and consumes the laughably mismanaged Gray Davis recall like so much reality TV, 11 Texas State Senators are hiding in New Mexico (at press time), using the only constitutionally allowed means (breaking the quorum in the Texas Senate) of blocking an illegal redistricting, spearheaded by Gov. Rick Perry and House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R- Texas) and passed by the U.S. Supreme Court without legislative review. The new districting, which falls outside Texas’ legal frequency of once per US census, is a blatant effort to gerrymander US Congressional districts to a solidly Republican majority. Perry has called in The Departments of Homeland Security, Transportation and Justice to “help bring these guys back,” even though they’re not breaking the law. The Governor has indicated he will continue calling special sessions until the Republican redistricting plan is enacted, despite the fact that the Republican-controlled Texas Supreme Court recently rejected the Governor’s writ of mandamus filing to compel the Senators to return. Meanwhile, eleven Democratic state senators are exiled from their state, unable to be with their families, friends and constituents, for fear of being arrested. In the most recent indignity, Republican Senators voted to fine the absent Democrats up to $5,000 per day, and to revoke parking and other privileges for their staffs, for as long as the Senators are away. Needless to say, while these measures are mean-spirited, they have not been effective. Meantime, Ashcroft is on a stump tour of the country to garner support for the PATRIOT Act, parts of which are scheduled to expire soon. The Administration doesn’t want that, and they’re meeting with more opposition than anticipated. Of special note is that the Attorney General has cancelled his scheduled Milwaukee visit, the only stop in the state. No explanation has been given, so we must ask ourselves: does he feel adequate support won’t be found here, or is he confident enough in our habitually low voter turnout that he doesn’t need it? Read Richard Walter’s special We The People feature, “Hope Lives in Tonasket.” It’s the story of how a tiny town of mostly conservative farmers has passed a town resolution to protect the Constitution from “enemies of the state, both foreign and domestic.” The time to leave affairs of state in the hands of the “experts” has passed. I truly believe this country was founded on principles of Liberty And Justice For All, and the time has come to get off the couch and take notice. Use it or lose it: it’s a phrase never more loaded with meaning for each and every one of us. Back here in […]