How About Some Nanci Griffith?

You can never have too much Nanci.  That's Pete and Maura Kennedy performing with her.

Song for a Sunday

I've always had a fondness for songs about music, especially when they use titles from other songs in the lyrics.

Post Tofurkey Day Music

It's Black Friday. I'm off waiting in line at Half Price Books trying to get a free 100 dollar gift card. One of these years, it will be mine! Regardless, I'll get most of my gift-shopping done right there and pick up a few things for the booth.

Needless to say, I'm on a blogging break today, so have some vintage Nanci Griffith. I'll be back tomorrow. Same blog-time. Same blog-channel.




It wasn't until after Katrina that I realized how many musical artists I like had some sort of tie to the Gulf, either through their music or their heritage. For more than a year afterward, it seemed like every Americana artist we saw either had a story or a song that related to New Orleans, the Gulf of Mexico or hurricanes. I kind of have to wonder if Nanci sings this song with the same sense of abandon any more?



I totally love this song, but my fave part of the video is the Norwegian subtitles when she is talking!



Back from the days when her record label was trying to make her into a country star, replete with all the stereotypes. I have a feeling this may be the only country song ever recorded that mentions the Mormon church.

On the first Tuesday in December, Eddie-torial Comments gave to me...

Nanci Griffith singing "Fist City" with Loretta Lynn at the Grand Ole Opry! Don't get much better than that, particularly for Nanci! Can you imagine getting to perform at the quintessential country venue with one of your absolute idols?

Why, it'd be like Christmas!




Be sure to keep checking back. I've found some really special holiday treats this year!

Another Serving of Birthday Treat!

Only John Prine could come up with a line like:

You come home late and you copme home early.
You come home big when you're feeling small.
You come home straight and you come home curly.
Sometimes you don't come home at all.

The man is pure songwriting genius.

The thing that really gets me abo;ut this clip is how shy Nanci Griffith seems to be. You can see the hero worship for Prine written all over her face. It gives the whole thing a kind of gentle sweetness.

By the way, this was made several years before she recorded the song with him on her Other Voices, Other Rooms CD.




Tomorrow is the big day!

Eddies in Music: Love at the Five and Dime

I've always liked my name. I have known people who hated their names when they were kids, but grew to appreciate them later. I never had that problem. I always liked mine, but it seemed like I could never find it anywhere.

At first glance "Eddie" might not seem to be that unusual of a name, but check out the rack of personalized keychains or coffee cups next time you have a chance. You'll probably find an "Edward," and maybe an "Edwin," and possibly an "Ed." What you won't find is an "Eddie."

Now my name may be short for Edward, but that's not what people call me. And the only two people in my life who ever called me "Ed" are both dead. And if you do find anything printed with a name that sounds like mine, it's usually spelled with a "y." (Which is odd. I've know other Eddie's, but we've all been "ie" people.)

I've owned exactly one thing in my life that as personalized with my name on it, a Wonder Woman beach towel, and it was a special order. I got it when I was in sixth grade and I still have it, since it does have my name on it--and. duh, because it's Wonder Woman!

You also never see that many references to Eddie in popular culture, either. There was "Eddie and the Cruisers" and Eddie Van Halen, and that's about it. Okay, there's also that "Ed, Edd, and Eddy" cartoon on Cartoon Network, but the less said about it, the better. They didn't even spell it right!

So, I'm officially embarking on the Eddie-torial Comments "Eddie Quest." As I find them, I'll be posting Eddie's from the worlds of comics, music, movies, etc. here for our mutual eddie-ficiation. (Sorry about that.)

And here with my first entry is Nanci Griffith with a classic, sweet tale of love, music, and retail therapy.



I just love her sweet introduction. I'm off to search for unnecessary plastic objects. Woolworth's closed here a few years ago, so it's going to take a while. Maybe one of them will say "Eddie" on it. I'll keep it next to my Wonder Woman towel.

When You Can't Find a Friend, You've Still Got the Radio

I wonder sometimes whether young people today have the same kind of relationship to music, particularly to the radio, that I did in my teens. I was a smart, non-athletic, bookworm, comic nerd, who didn't have a lot of friends. My parents divorced, which scandalized some people in our small town, and resulted in us moving away for a while to a bigger town where I really didn't fit in. On top of all that, I was gay and couldn't even begin to admit it, although there certainly were more than enough signs that only I could see.

For a lot of that period of time, my main companions were reading and music. I know for sure that's why I can't begin to imagine getting an e-reader of some kind. It would be like rejecting one of my best friends. Part of the comfort of having a book with me has to do with the spine and the pages and the paper. It may be why the mp3 player has never totally caught on with me as well. There's something about buying and having music in a physical form (at least as "physical" as a CD can be) that is really crucial to the whole process for me.

Back to the initial conjecture, with so many avenues to obtain music these days and with so many huge media conglomerates setting the agendas, is the radio as important to lonely teens these days? On the one had, I think the increased means of access to an ever wider variety of music is a great thing, but does that make it harder to find the stuff that really touches you in the way that only music can sometimes. Is it possible any more for music to be more than background nose to our lives? With a hundred different avenues clamoring for your attention, can you find the one that can be your friend?

I'm not sure what the answers are. I'm not even sure if it matters, but every time I listen to this song, I think about this. I was really wanting to use the version of "Wall of Death" that included Nanci Griffith yesterday, but couldn't find it on YouTube. However, I did set off down a wonderful lost hour of watching Nanci sing. There may be a million ways to acquire music these days, but it is good to know that some of them can still have meaning for me, if no one else. Enjoy.