Happy Birthday Keith!

Tomorrow is Keith's birthday, so I'll be taking the blog-day off.  I thought I'd give him some early presents here.  There's a wee bit of irony at play here, since he doesn't like it when I do video posts.  In fact, he usually ignores them.  Hopefully, there's something here that will get his attentnion.

First up, some older clips from one of his favorite singer/songwriters, John Prine.  I totally love seeing long-haired, shaggy John!  Of course, all of these videos are way pre-cancer surgery.  His voice sounds completely different these days.

This song is one of my favorites.  It pretty much sums up everything that makes Prine a true musical treasure.



And, this one is just fun!



To wrap the Prine section up, I thought this one would be appropriate.  Back when our beloved Basil was still with us, Keith used to pick her up and dance with her with this one would play.  He was the big old goofy man and she was the big, old goofy girl.   Still makes tear up thinking about it.  But, it kind of sums up everything I love about him.



This is Verlon Thompson doing a live take on one of his songs.  I don't think Keith has heard this song before, but I know he's going to love it.  Thompson may be better known to folks as Guy Clark's guitarist, but he's a fine songwriter in his own right.



Kris Kristofferson. 'Nuff said. Oh yeah, and Johnny Cash too. What more do you need?




Nanci Griffith doing Townes Van Zandt:



And finally, the one song this one sums up my feelings pretty well, performed by John Prine and Emmylou Harris.  (You knew I'd work her in here somehow, didn't you?)  It's their version of a Guy Clark classic.



The other night, Keith told me that he'd taken a liking to me.  After nearly twenty years, that's kind of nice to know.  Happy Birthday, Keith!  I've taken a liking to you too!