Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Listlessly scrolling around the dial these past few nights I came across a couple of artists I hadn't thought about in a while. The first was James Taylor-- it's funny to think about how he was once just about as big a name as there was in the biz, and then dropped off the table. I understand why rock critics hate him-- his aw-shucks whiteboy schtick isn't very rock'n'roll, but I can't hear, "Now the first of December was covered with snow/And so was the Turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston" without getting a little chill. I was totally sucked into the show.
Something similar happened a couple of evenings later when I tuned into Van Morrison on an edition of Austin City Limits. Morrison looks like he swallowed Marlon Brando, but he can still belt it like really nobody else. Taylor's show was just Sweet Baby James and a keyboard player, but Morrison was fronting a big band-- three singers, one of whom doubled on trumpet, a couple of guitars, pedal steel.... They swung like crazy, and his material, much of which was new to me, was terrific.
Something similar happened a couple of evenings later when I tuned into Van Morrison on an edition of Austin City Limits. Morrison looks like he swallowed Marlon Brando, but he can still belt it like really nobody else. Taylor's show was just Sweet Baby James and a keyboard player, but Morrison was fronting a big band-- three singers, one of whom doubled on trumpet, a couple of guitars, pedal steel.... They swung like crazy, and his material, much of which was new to me, was terrific.
// posted by Bill @ 12:42 PM 
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