Woody Guthrie, rares clips vidéos de 1945-47

Deux très courts et rares clips de Woody Guthrie jouant "Ranger's Command" en 1945 et "John Henry" en 1946.

Sur le premier, on ne sait pas trop si c'est lui ou le pickup qui joue, sur le deuxième, il est a priori accompagné par Sonny Terry à l'harmonica et Brownie McGhee à la guitare, quoique Dave Alvin (sur Facebook) pense qu'il s'agit peut être de Josh White.

Woody Guthrie, "Ranger's Command"

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Woody Guthrie : "John Henry"

En prime, un long clip de Alan Lomax avec Pete Seeger où "John Henry" apparaît dans une version légèrement plus longue (à 9:30). Juste avant, un autre extrait avec Woody Guthrie chantant "East Virginia Blues" (à 8:00).

Chanson du jour : Let's Get Some Beers, Pete Nelson

I don't call what I do 'folk music'. The best term I've come up with is 'foreground music', meaning it's not meant to be background music, but has to be more closely listened to, as opposed to the hook-oriented pop music that shoots straight into your brain. 'Foreground music' might for example, tell a story where, if you miss the beginning, you don't get the end. ...Pete Nelson

La chanson du jour est tirée de l'album The Restless Boys Club publié en 1996 par le romancier Pete Nelson sur le jeune label Signature Sounds. C'est un bon album d'où ressort cette fabuleuse chanson, "Let's Get Some Beers" où l'on entend successivement Bill Morrissey, John Gorka, Cliff Eberhart, Greg Brown et Pete Nelson, qui composent le Restless Boys' Choir, avec Cormac -not the writer- McCarthy à l'harmonica.

Chacun explique à sa façon que la cinquantaine arrivée, tout ce que l'on fait de mieux, c'est de parler de ses échecs sentimentaux, professionnels ou simplement personnels autour d'une bibine (ou d'un café)!

MP3 : Let's Get Some Beers (Pete Nelson, 1996)

On le trouve chez Signature Sounds ou chez CDbaby

Voici le compte-rendu de All Music Guide. Je n'ai pas trouvé trace de Peter Mulvey sur le disque, mais à part ça, c'est intéressant.

Pete Nelson is certainly not the only storytelling folk singer in the business. It has, in fact, become something of a folk reviewer's cliché to compare a singer/songwriter to a novelist, short story writer, or playwright. But such descriptions are unavoidable in discussions of Nelson's work, and they are even more apt when applied to him than they are to better-known storytellers like Dar Williams, Ellis Paul, and Darryl Purpose. That's because story seems primary to Nelson and music only secondary. On his debut album, The Restless Boys' Club, fundamental conventions of popular music are regularly tossed aside if they don't suit the narrative. In the liner notes, his lyrics are printed in prose format with complete sentences, paragraphs, and quotation marks. Nelson's choruses, usually the heart and soul of a song, tend to be brief and unmemorable, almost thrown away; enlisted in service of the verses rather than the other way round. Meter and rhyme are all but vanquished from the tragicomic opener, "Norman," and on "Let's Get Some Beer," the purported solo artist steps aside to let an all-star cast (John Gorka, Bill Morrissey, Cliff Eberhardt, and Greg Brown) voice his characters. Nelson's own voice -- soft, thin, and sometimes unsteady -- seems a liability on the first listen, but he uses its gentle, unaffected simplicity to great effect. Of course, none of this would work if the stories weren't well told. But Nelson has a great gift for quietly underscoring the poignant depth of ordinary events in ordinary lives. And though he isn't nearly as good a singer or composer as most of the celebrity guests that play on his albums (Paul Williams, Chistine Lavin, and Peter Mulvey, to name a few), he finds plenty of luminous musical moments to shed light on those well-crafted narratives. ~ Evan Cater, All Music Guide

Grayson Capps, le concert que vous avez manqué à la Pomme d'Eve

Désolé de ne pas avoir pu accueillir Grayson Capps à la Pomme d'Eve (lire ici). Pour me faire pardonner, voici un concert acoustique enregistré tout récemment où il interprète des titres de son tout nouvel album, Rott and Roll.

Bon concert!

Hayward Williams, Wisconsin rules!

Hayward Williams vient du Wisconsin, comme Jeffrey FOUCAULT et Peter MULVEY. C'est un jeune homme charmant qui est venu à la Pomme d'Eve en juin 2006 avec cinq potes, en route vers la coupe du monde de foot en Allemagne. Il avait ce jour-là ouvert pour Vince Bell (ci-dessous).

Il vient d'enregistrer une session pour les Basement Tapes studios. Une vidéo et quatre morceaux sont disponibles: Devil's Lament * Problems with Hemingway * For my Baby (and one more for the road) * Toe to Toe.

Hayward a sorti trois albums à ce jour, dont vous pouvez écouter les extraits en cliquant sur les images ci-dessous. Vous y retrouverez Mulvey à la production, la guitare et les harmonies sur plusieurs titres.

Et pour terminer en vidéo, le making of de son album Uphill/Downhill:

Les Grands Disparus : Stan Rogers

J'ai découvert Stan Rogers sur le dernier disque de John Gorka, Writing in the Margins. Lock Keeper.mp3 est surement la plus belle chanson de cet album, déjà magnifique. Dialogue entre un éclusier et un batelier, vie sédentaire ou périple permanent, fidélité ou amours plurielles, femme et enfant ou jeunes beautés de tropiques. Bref, cette chanson m'a donné envie d'en savoir davantage sur Stan Rogers. Né en 1949, il a chanté le Canada des plaines et des Grands Lacs, des provinces maritimes et de l'Ouest, à l'image de des personnages de Lock Keeper. Il est décédé en juin 1983, dans l'incendie de l'avion qui le ramenait du festival de Kerrville.

Si vous aimez les grosses voix capables de faire vibrer les chansons de marins comme les ballades les plus délicates (Guysborough Train.mp3), si vous aimez David Francey, alors Stan Rogers est fait pour vous.

Une dizaine d'albums en tout, du premier Fogarty's Cove au posthume From Coffee House to Concert Hall, qui résume bien la carrière de Rogers.

Stan Rogers, Barrett's Privateers

Oh, the year was 1778, HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
A letter of marque came from the king,
To the scummiest vessel I'd ever seen,

God damn them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

Oh, Elcid Barrett cried the town,
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
For twenty brave men all fishermen who
would make for him the Antelope's crew

God damn them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

The Antelope sloop was a sickening sight,
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
She'd a list to the port and her sails in rags
And the cook in scuppers with the staggers and the jags

God damn them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

On the King's birthday we put to sea,
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
We were 91 days to Montego Bay
Pumping like madmen all the way

God damn them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

On the 96th day we sailed again,
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
When a bloody great Yankee hove in sight
With our cracked four pounders we made to fight

God damn them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

The Yankee lay low down with gold,
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
She was broad and fat and loose in the stays
But to catch her took the Antelope two whole days

God damn them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

Then at length we stood two cables away,
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
Our cracked four pounders made an awful din
But with one fat ball the Yank stove us in

God damn them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

The Antelope shook and pitched on her side,
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
Barrett was smashed like a bowl of eggs
And the Maintruck carried off both me legs

God damn them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

So here I lay in my 23rd year,
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW!
It's been 6 years since we sailed away
And I just made Halifax yesterday

God damn them all!
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns-shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's Privateers.

Greg + Bo = 2 Pomme d'Eve sold out!

Ca a mis un peu de temps, mais ça a fini par se remplir les deux soirs, soit 110 personnes à chaque fois. C'est peut-être un détail pour vous mais pour moi ça veut dire beaucoup, surtout par rapport à des soirées à 20 billets vendus...

Anyway, Greg Brown et Bo Ramsey, c'est deux concerts inoubliables pour clore l'aventure Acoustic in Paris, Part 1 (on ne sait jamais, des fois que Dave Alvin passe par ici...), différents l'un de l'autre, tantôt blues, tantôt folk, avec des moments de grâce, "The Poet Game" ou "Late Night Radio", "Billy from the Hills" ou "Folsom Prison Blues" pour terminer la deuxième soirée.

Le compte rendu de Paco sur Docteur Blues et les photos de Jérôme, toujours chez Docteur Blues. Ces deux-là font la paire!

To read an excellent review in English, please check out Leaky Sparrow's website

A écouter :

Greg Brown, Late Night Radio (Bath Tub Blues)

All across Kansas, all across Kansas in the night-
We'll reach Missouri in the dawn's early light.
My sister and I in the back seat don't care how far we got to go.
We want to keep rolling, listening to that late night radio.

Mama took the suitcases and blankets made us a little nest.
Every time we peek up she says "You kids try to get a little rest."
We can hear her and daddy singing, warm as the dashlight glow,
In the back seat, rain for the drumbeat, listening to that late night radio.
We're almost sleeping, tucking in our legs and arms.
We're almost dreaming, looking through the rain at the little lights of the farms.
If we get stuck in the mud, my daddy he will carry us I know.
The music's coming all the way from Texas on the late night radio.

Now my own children are back in that nest where I used to be.
Every time they peek up, I say "You kids now try to get a little sleep,"
And the older girl says, "Daddy I wish we could drive all night, Just go and go-
Oh I love it when it's raining can we listen to the radio?
Listen to that late night radio.

Can we drive all night and Daddy listen to can we drive all night now
Daddy and listen to that late night radio?
In the back seat, rain for the drum beat, listen to that late night radio?
In the back seat, rain for the drum beat, listen to that late night radio.
Coming all the way from Texas, Oh that late night radio.
In the back seat, rain for the drum beat, listen to that late night radio.
Oh I love it, I love it , I love it, Love it when it's raining
Can we go and go and go and go and go and go and go and ....
Listen to that late night radio.
Can we go and go and go and go and go and?"

TOM PAXTON est venu à la Pomme d'Eve!

Bon, ça y est, le légendaire Tom Paxton est venu à la Pomme d'Eve! Pour en savoir plus, cliquez ici

Et pour écouter les deux rappels avec Robin Bullock à la mandoline et Eric Andersen, c'est là :

Last thing on my mind

Ramblin' Boy

Tom Paxton à la Pomme d'Eve

C'est ce soir et c'est complet, mais pour une fois que la "grande " presse annonce les concerts Acoustic in Paris...

Cliquez sur le lien ou ici pour lire l'excellente présentation de Quiet Man.

Bernard Loupias dans Le Nouvel Observateur :

Eric Bureau dans Le Parisien

Nouvel album chez Appleseed Records :