Friday, January 23, 2009

Cabin Fever



Is it really only January? It feels like this winter is dragging on and on. Maybe because it’s so cold here in the northeast. And dry, I think I can write my next blog by scratching it into my skin. What’s that famous quote from Richard III? Now is the winter of my discontent. The only thing good about it is my bedroom stays dark until my alarm goes off.

Summertime and the living is easy. I want the sound of Fenway Park on my TV. I want to run out to the mailbox on a Saturday afternoon in my bare feet, slowing down to feel the sun on my face. Now, I bundle up and walk slowly on the snowy parts of the ice so as not to look like the least graceful person in the neighborhood when my feet slide out from under me.

I want to hear the roar of the crowd at a Clay Aiken concert. I love the roar of a crowd at Fenway when someone jacks one over the Green Monster but it’s a different kind of roar. More like a “there it gooooeees!” or “get out of here”. (Actually, in Boston it’s more like “Get outta heaaah”.

The closest thing I’ve heard lately is the roar of the crowd on the Mall in Washington DC at January 20th . It’s the roar of happiness, anticipation, expectation and celebration all rolled into a single emotion. Thousands of voices sounding as one.

They say that anticipating something so much will always make it seem like a letdown. Remember your prom? It was never quite as glorious as the picture in your head in the weeks leading up to it. Your wedding? Such a blur that you need the video to remember it.

But a Clay concert where the swell begins from the vibration of the floor to the electricity up your spine and finally culminating in the sound of thousands of hands coming together as one while the wave of a roar builds to a fevered pitch has never failed to live up to the expectation. For two hours (or more) it’s an emotional and audio journey from dance to laughter to breathless amazement and a few “I can’t believe he just said that” thrown in for good measure.

We don’t know if we will get to experience that this summer. Something tells me we will, although with so many talents in music, acting and comedy there are probably many options for him. He’s been talking a lot about singing again after a year of success in acting. Thinking about it without knowing probably contributes to my winter of discontent, more so than my oil bill or my stock portfolio. My dry fingers long to do the Ticketmaster Tango.

So, I begin my anticipation. How will he enter, similar to the ways he has done before? Will it be from the back of the arena? Will it be from within an elaborate stage setup? Will my mind go blank as anticipation meets reality? Watch and remember. And listen. Listen to the crowd. What’s exactly does that sound like?

Joy. It’s the sound of joy.

Want to reminisce?




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Posted by Corabeth at 10:04 PM 5 comments

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Danny O'Keefe - He's Back - In Time

I've been a huge fan of Danny O'Keefe for more than 30 years. And after a long time waiting - he's back with a new album, In Time. Check out Danny's MySpace to hear four cuts. And listen to all four - the only thing they have in common is the intimacy and poignancy of the lyrics and music.

Best known for his hit, Goodtime Charlie's Got The Blues, O'Keefe wrote a number of songs that became hits for other performers, most notably Jackson Browne's version of The Road that appears on his "Running On Empty" album and Judy Collins' cover of "Angel Spread Your Wings" on "Judith".

I've often thought that Danny is the most brilliant lyricist I've hear heard - and after all this time - I still feel that way. I remember the unexpected jolt I felt when I picked up Breezy Stories, his 1973 album. Complex, poetic, heartfelt lyrics combined with incredible arrangements. I hadn't heard anything quite like it before. I searched him out and saw him perform whenever I could. And wasn't disappointed at all when I grabbed his next album, So Long Harry Truman in 1975 with wonderful harmonizing by Linda Ronstadt, Don Henley and Glenn Frey,among others. American Roulette was released in 1977, containing one of my favorite O'Keefe songs, You Look Just Like A Girl Tonight and has become even more as I get older. The Global Blues was released in 1979 and then Danny seemed to disappear from my life.

In 1984, The Day To Day was released and then rereleased in 1989. Two songs, Along For the Ride and Someday, supposedly charged in the 20's on the AC charts - but I honestly never heard them on the radio. Someday is one of my favorite songs on this album. I've added it to my growing list of "songs no one knows about that I wish Clay Aiken would cover". Yeah, fat chance!

"Love songs on the radio, pictures on the screen
What does all this really mean to you?
The high life on the avenue, the players on the scene
Look so lost they don't know that it's true
Someday, someday soon
Love's gonna change the way of the world

I hear it on the radio; I see it on the screen
But what does all this really mean to me?
The channel's always changing, but the picture stays the same
People are always longing to be free

Someday, someday soon
Love's gonna change the way of the world

Wait a minute! I've heard this one before
Love will always be the great cliché
Wait a minute, Love's worth waiting for
When your heart is over-flowing
You can give the rest away

Someday, someday soon
Love's gonna change the way of the world
Someday, someday soon…"


Then I had a really long dry spell. I knew that in 1998, O’Keefe founded the Songbird Foundation (www.songbird.org), which seeks to protect songbirds and their habitats that are being destroyed by deforestation caused by non-sustainable coffee growing practices in Latin America. The Foundation educates and encourages coffee-drinkers to drink sustainably grown coffee rather than sun-grown coffee. Sustainably grown coffee is shade grown, organic, and Fair Trade.

Then in 2000 I fell upon Runnin' From The Devil! And what an amazing album! Filled with so many personal songs. Heartbreaking songs like Piece of the Rain:

"As the silver pearls of light
Slide down my window
I watch a stream of cars go by
Like shadows melting in the night

I listen to the sound of splash and whirl
I listen through the rain
To the whole wide world
I sit back down and loosen the shoes of my dreams

And I pick on my guitar
As I sit waiting by the phone
Tonight I'm more than single
Tonight I am alone

And if I could hold you with my heart
Like you were the guitar in my arms
I wouldn't have to play so long
My hands could feel the pain
If I could hold you with my heart
Like you were the guitar in my arms
I wouldn't be here in the dark
Playing pieces of the rain

A man who won't turn back
Will not know how to stop
Try living at the bottom
If you think that it's so lonely at the top

It's all puppet moves in pantomime
Who's voice is this that sings?
I think I'm on my own
'Til I feel your mem'ry pullin' on the strings

And if I could hold you with my heart
Like you were the guitar in my arms
I wouldn't have to play so long
My hands could feel the pain
If I could hold you with my heart
Like you were the guitar in my arms
I wouldn't be here in the dark
Playing pieces of the rain

I can see your face
Float out of the blue
Staring off into space
Wonderin' if you ever knew
Every piece I play
I play a piece of you

And if I could hold you with my heart
Like you were the guitar in my arms
I wouldn't have to play so long
My hands could feel the pain
If I could hold you with my heart
Like you were the guitar in my arms
I wouldn't be here in the dark
Playing pieces of the rain"


Alison Krauss does a lovely version of "Never Got Off The Ground" from this album on her Forget About It cd. And Sheila is a song I never tire of hearing. Well, Well, Well is a song Danny co-wrote with Bob Dylan and Outlaw is an insightful song about love and fame. There's not a song on this album I skip - but that's pretty much true for all my O'Keefe albums.

To get a feel for the brilliance of Danny's lyrics - go to his website, Danny O'Keefe and click on Song Lyrics.

After Don't Ask, a collaboration with his long-time associate Bill Braun was released in 2003 Danny seemed to disappear. The music business is one I'll never understand. To me, Danny O'Keefe was a brilliant artist deserving of wide recognition. But for some reason, he never became a household name and there are so many people who have never heard of him.

I made do by playing his songs and googling name every once in a while just to see what he was up to. Finally, just the other day . . . I Hit Pay Dirt! Danny O'Keefe released a new album, In Time and I bought it right away. It's on repeat constantly.


Danny, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your music touches my soul.

Do yourselves a favor and pick up a Danny O'Keefe album - or all of them:



Or do a quick MP3 download of:

. Or download a great compilation:




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Posted by The ConCLAYve-Nan at 5:28 PM 0 comments
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