American music historian, author and musician Samuel Charters passed away on March 18th. Known for his field recordings of influential blues musicians, many of the works Charters uncovered went on to inspire and shape much of today’s musical landscape. Born … Continue reading →
Note: this is Part 2 of a two part series. Read Part 1 here. So, down to the jewelry store packing a gun he said, “Wrap it up, I think I’ll take this one.” “A thousand dollars please,” the jewelry … Continue reading →
Dave Van Ronk Live In Monterey Omnivore Records www.omnivorerecordings.com Recorded April 4, 1998 at Carleton Hall in Monterey CA by Rick Chelew this is a lovely 16-song set. It is mostly blues and a … Continue reading →
On the cusp of the 1960s, Dave Van Ronk was the king of the Greenwich Village folk scene and one of the central shapers of the aesthetic he later dubbed “neo-ethnic” – musicians who not only loved old folk songs, … Continue reading →
I‘ll start out by saying that, in my opinion, the most egregious error that the Coen’s made with Inside Llewyn Davis was using the names “Jim and Jean” for the characters in the film. It fuels the mostly unwarranted complaints … Continue reading →
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS directed by Joel and Ethan Coen CBS Films/Studio Canal 105 minutes, Rated R www.insidellewyndavis.com We expect Joel and Ethan Coen brothers to deliver quirky films whose logic drifts toward the surreal. Had that been … Continue reading →
Introduction We here at Murder Ballad Monday are soon fixing to close our second year of writing about our topic of choice! Don’t worry; we have a few more weeks to go before we get to our holiday hiatus, and … Continue reading →
Dave Van Ronk, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, Judy Collins, and Chad Mitchell(this photo looks a little off to me, I can’t vouch for its authenticity) As I mentioned in the first post this week, my friend, Cayce, put me up … Continue reading →
This is Chapter 1 of Stagolee: A Digital Compendium. See also Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, and Chapter 5 Introduction He was a bad man – Stagolee. Folks have been singing, talking, writing, laughing, cussing, and crying about him since 1895, … Continue reading →
This is the first part of a three part series. See also Part 2 and Part 3. Introduction When I first moved to the Berkshires in 1992, I was in my early 20’s and my knowledge of American folk music extended only a … Continue reading →
