Tweedy "Low Key"

Parts of this work week were grueling . . . parts of the day-to-day grind of getting kids out the door, in the door, fed and into bed, were grueling.

I'm glad to end this week on a light note. 

I follow John Hodgman on Facebook, and he posted this Tweedy video, since he makes an appearance.

Tweedy won me over the moment I saw Jeff in the yellow suit.

And as I was watching the video, I was laughing at how deadpan Spencer is.  Then I recalled that (at least the one time I saw him in concert), he always seems kinda deadpan.

There are lots of little laughs in this one, straight through to the shocking conclusion.


See the video on Youtube.

Jeff Tweedy "My Humps"

Well, I was a little surprised that I didn't hear anyone shout out this request from the audience when I saw Wilco on Tuesday, but I know people had to be thinking about it.

Have you heard that Jeff Tweedy performed some Black Eyed Peas songs recently? And "Single Ladies."

Pretty F-N hilarious!

Also, check out the last video. I found it on Youtube and by the title information, I thought I had stumbled upon something that would be akin to the scenario in Tuesday's blog entry, where Tweedy berates an audience member.

Instead, he says something pretty beautiful and powerful, about why people should shut the F- up.


Hear Jeff Tweedy read "My Humps" on Youtube.


"I've Got A Feeling" on Youtube.


See "Rock That Body" on Youtube.



Hear him do Beyonce's "Single Ladies" on Youtube.


Tweedy mocks some talking audience members, on Youtube.

Mavis Staples "You Are Not Alone"

I got to indulge myself a bit, during my vacation a few weeks back.

One of the biggest adjustments in my shift from long-time single guy, to father (of two) and husband (of one), has been the recalibration of my entertainment options.

When you blast the stereo at home these days, it really needs to be a consensus artist.

And, between the 4 of us, there are many. We all enjoy listening to The Beatles and the Glee Soundtracks and Michael Franti and Dan Zanes and many others.

Unfortunately, there are many, many artists and albums that I like that aren’t consensus. So many of my punk rock albums and hip hop records and LOUD ROCKING discs don’t get much play on the home stereo.

But for the first few days of vacation, I didn’t have to worry too much about consensus.

My wife had left for Chicago, for the wedding of a friend. And we sent my 3 year old daughter to Gramma’s house, for a few days in that wonderland.

That left me home alone with the boy. And let’s face it, at 6 months old, he wasn’t really going to argue with any of my entertainment choices.

Sunday morning, I put him in his Elmo car---a roll-y walker vehicle---and as I cleaned up the house a bit, I put on “The Last Waltz” DVD and cranked up the sound.

I was in and out of the room, singing along throughout, but when it came to the scene with The Staples Singers, I just stopped, unable to tear myself away.

How many times have I heard “The Weight” in my lifetime? Hundreds?

How surprised was I, to find myself getting goosebumps, as soon as Mavis Staples started her verse?

After all these years, she still has amazing powers.

Vacation week turned out to be a mini-Mavis fest.

Because I didn’t have to get up early, I was able to stay up and watch the late night talk shows. So I caught Mavis and Jeff Tweedy doing “Wrote A Song For Everyone” on David Letterman. And the very next night she was on The Colbert Report, once again moving me, this time with a Tweedy-penned track called “You Are Not Alone."

Good things come in 3s. And it was enough critical mass to make me run to the stacks when I got back to work, and make sure I had a copy of Mavis’ new record, also called “You Are Not Alone.”

Today on mvyradio, we’re giving away copies of her disc, as The Monday Free CD. Tune in to win.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Mavis Staples & Jeff Tweedy - You Are Not Alone
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Check out the interview with Colbert that preceded the performance. I love her answer to Colbert's question, "Do you sing The Devil's Music?"

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Mavis Staples & Jeff Tweedy
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Edie Brickell “Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"

Oh, it’s happened to you before. You hear a song. You know it. You can hum it. But you don’t know what it is.

One of the great joys of being a DJ, is being the search engine for listeners who are looking for “That Song!” Maybe I love it so much because it connects me to my heritage---my Grandfather was a Private Investigator, believe it or not.

People who call the station looking for “That Song” are often so apologetic. “Sorry to bother you . . .“ but I look forward to these calls. So if you are stuck on finding a tune, give me a call or shoot me an email.

I’ve got a bunch of questions for you, so, like searching for a missing person, the sooner you get to me, the more likely it is we’ll find “That Song.”

If you heard it on mvyradio, what time was it? Often, I can go back and simply look at a log of what has played. But the log is not comprehensive, so . . .

Can you give me any lyrics? The more words the better. I can often recognize it by ear, but I can do a word search to. Can’t remember a lyric?

Male or Female singer? Fast or slow? Folk or Blues or Reggae? The more details, the better.

I spent a couple of hours last week, helping a listener find a particular song. He wasn’t exactly sure what day he heard it, but he knew it had to have played between 10 and 2. He knew it was a female, with a depressed-sounding intonation. And he remembered the lyric “It’s Hard.”

At first I thought it might be Nanci Griffiths’ “It’s A Hard Life,” but I couldn’t find any evidence that it actually played during any of the times the listener had been tuned in.

So I landed upon Edie Brickell’s version of the Bob Dylan song “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.”

This kind of thing happens with Dylan tunes quite a bit.

There are certainly folks who aren’t crazy about Dylan’s voice, and are likely to tune him out as soon as he comes on. And his catalogue is voluminous. So there are lots of Dylan tunes that maybe you’ve heard once or twice or three times, so they are just familiar enough that when Edie Brickell or Susan Tedeschi or Cassandra Wilson or Jeff Tweedy covers it, you can hum along, but your not sure how you even know the tune.

I’m not sure I got this one right, but it was my best guess. So check out this one, from the “Born On The 4th Of July” movie soundtrack, and see if it sounds familiar.

Hear Edie Brickell “Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"

See Dylan sing it, if you don't mind the voice, here