“In the Timbers of Fennario…” Today’s murder ballad dances merrily along borderlines with which we’ve become familiar in this blog; boundaries between celebration and fear, civilization and savagery, traditional and post-modern balladry – and of course that inscrutable passage between life … Continue reading →
Postcard showing Peachtree Street, Atlanta, ca. 1910 (postcard, public domain) Note: this is Part 1 of a two part series. Read Part 2 here. Introduction – “Betty told Dupree…” What would you do for love? Well, wait, that’s not quite … Continue reading →
Introduction It is, apparently, awfully hard to find a picture of a broken or cracked china doll online that doesn’t immediately bring one to the brink of depression. The one above, though, inspires me. I wish I could link you … Continue reading →
Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Grateful Dead – by Irving Penn, 1967 Janis Joplin – James Gurley – Ron McKernan – Jerry Garcia (This week’s first set.) (This week’s second set.) When I look at portraits from the … Continue reading →
Concert Poster, Oakland Coliseum – Peter Barsotti, 12/31/91 I recently wrote about “Jack Straw” as the Grateful Dead’s only true murder ballad. That effort spurred me to begin this week with a broader look at the act of murder in the Dead’s … Continue reading →
“Listening for the secret, searching for the sound…” I am one of those people who early in life, somewhere around age four, started grappling with the existential ‘problem’ of death. I don’t know why. Maybe it was because my grandmother … Continue reading →
“None recover, they are just replaced.” – Robert Hunter, 1995 Note: This is Part 3 of a three part series. See also Part 1 and Part 2. Introduction At the free concert at Altamont Speedway on December 6, 1969, an eighteen … Continue reading →
The last 10 minutes of the 1939 version of Of Mice and Men Note: this is Part 2 of a three part series. See also Part 1 and Part 3. Introduction Bob Weir’s revelation that John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and … Continue reading →
Note: this is Part 1 of a three part series. See also Part 2, and Part 3. Introduction “We can share the women, we can share the wine. We can share what we got of yours, ‘cos we done shared … Continue reading →
