---

Blossom Dearie: what a great name! It was her real name, too. Well, Margrethe Blossom Dearie - she dropped the first part, and that was a good choice for Show Biz, I think. And, that voice: light, breathy, girlish, delightfully witty - I loved it from the first time I heard it.  And, not only was she a fantastic vocalist, but considered one of the great jazz pianists - Bill Evans was inspired by her chord work; that tells you something. Everything I’ve Got Belongs to You comes off of her first album for Verve, deriving from the Broadway show “By Jupiter” by Rodgers and Hart, which ran for 427 performances in 1942. The Amazonian lyrics juxtaposed with the little girl voice is kinky perfection. And, her articulation - hilarious and sexy, delivers a delightful confection. Though she was born in Upstate New York, she made her bones in Paris when she formed the vocal group The Blue Stars, which later became the famous “Swingle Singers”. Always entrepreneurial, she started her own label, Daffodil Records in ’74. I

THE DIG THIS THANKSGIVING EXTRAVAGANZA- AN AUDIO MOTION PICTURE-MUSIC, GRATITUDE, INSPIRATION, LOVE, FAITH AND LAUGHTER- OUR GIFT TO YOU AND YOURS.HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM RICH BUCKLAND & BILL MESNIK-YOUR SPLENDID BOHEMIANSBILL MESNIK'S HOLIDAY INVOCATION1) CHAPEL IN THE MOOLIGHT- THE ORIOLES2) THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND- ANDREW GOLD3) IN MY LIFE- DIANA KRALL4) I THANK YOU- SAM AND DAVE5) THIS IS ALL I ASK- TONY BENNETT6) LONG LIVE OUR LOVE- THE SHANG-RI-LAS7) THE TRUTH WON'T FADE AWAY- PROCOL HARUM8) THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE- PETER, PAUL AND MARY9 ) THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER- THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS10) i'LL BE SEEING YOU- FRANK SINATRA11) VANLOSE STAIRWAY- VAN MORRISON AND GEORGIE FAME12) A CHANGE IS GONNA COME- OTIS REDDING13) THANK U- ALANIS  MORISSETTE14) MANY RIVERS TO CROSS15) IT'S MY LIFE- BON JOVI16) MORE I CANNOT WISH YOU- PAT ROONEY SR.17) ALMOST HOME- CRAIG MORTON AND JELLYROLL18) LISTEN PEOPLE- HERMANS HERMITS19) AMAZING GRACE- ELVIS PRESLEY***** PLEASE JOIN US AT "DIG TH

In 1985, the British rock band Dire Straits released the song “Money for Nothing.” It is an undeniable rock classic. It also is a superb entry point for—of all things—judging the morality of capitalism. It is worth a listen as well as a classroom lesson.The lyrics relay the perspective of a laborer. As he sees a video of rock musicians on MTV, he expresses envy. He strains in the delivery of appliances while the musicians enjoy great wealth and adoration with little hardship:We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveriesWe got to move these refrigerators, we gotta move these color TVsListen hereNow that ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do itYou play the guitar on the MTVThat ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do itMoney for nothin’ and your chicks for freeAs the song proceeds, the envy gives way to anger and resentment. There is injustice—even absurdity—in how wealth is distributed! An honest day’s work should be more valued!No shit.“Money for Nothing” is the dream of every generation. For socie

The Wanderer is two minutes, fifty-one seconds of pure swagger. Imagine my surprise when I read a quote from Dion where he said it was essentially a sad song, and that the one of lyrics demonstrated the singer’s existential crisis: “with my two fists of iron - ( I always thought it was “two fifths of wine”) - and I’m goin’ nowhere!”   Dion is a Buddha of self-reflection.He has always been my rock and roll Sherpa since the age of 8 when my friend Larry Bader and I would play “Dion and Chubby Checker on tour”. Larry was Dion and I was Chubby (‘cause I was) - we’d put on the records and lip-sync our act. The Beatles took over as an obsession a couple of years later, but Dion was never far from my thoughts: he kept coming back through the decades: in the late 60s as a folky warrior for peace; playing coliseumson the oldie circuit in the 70s; in the 80s and 90s as a grizzled, born again survivor; then, producing a string of hit blues albums in the 2000s,  And, he’s still at it, sounding better than humanly possibl

Vanguard Records is best known for its eclectic catalog of pivotal jazz, folk, rock and blues recordings by iconic artists like Joan Baez, Linda Ronstadt, Buddy Guy, Charlie Musselwhite, John Fahey, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Doc Watson, Country Joe and the Fish and countless others. Most recently, Vanguard has carried forward the label's legacy of artistic excellence with a diverse roster including Barenaked Ladies, Indigo Girls, O.A.R. and Collective Soul.Riding the tail end of the popular boom of  commercialized  Folk Music, Vanguard's unexpected mega-hit "Walk Right In" soared to the top of the pop chart.  Looking for a long forgotten treasure to mine, Erik Darling and Bill Svanoe, doing what many had done before them, updated an old string band tune, composed by Gus Cannon and recorded with his Jug Stompers in 1929. They arranged it for TWO 12-String guitars (one of which, a leftie model, had to be specially constructed  for Bill), and adding the mellifluous tones of Lynne Taylor to complete

Samuel Laird Cregar (1914-1944) was the youngest of six sons of Edward Matthews Cregar, a cricketer and member of a team called the Gentlemen of Philadelphia. They toured internationally in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Laird’s mother was the former Elizabeth Smith.Laird Cregar was educated at Winchester College in England, spending his summers as a page boy and bit player with the Stratford-upon-Avon theatrical troupe. Upon completing his schooling, Cregar won a scholarship at California’s Pasadena Playhouse, supporting himself as a nightclub bouncer when funds ran out. So broke that at times he had to sleep in his car, Cregar forced Hollywood to pay attention to him by staging his own one-man show, in which he portrayed Oscar Wilde.After a few minor film roles, Cregar was signed to a 20th Century-Fox contract; among his first major roles was the middle-aged Francis Chesney in Charley’s Aunt, the first of several showcases for the actor’s delightful comic flair. With his sinister portrayal of the psychopat

There is a corner off Route 66, in Winslow, Arizona which has been memorialized with a statue of the late musician Glen Frey, in front of a Trompe-L’oeil image of a red, flat-bed Ford truck, containing a girl (my Lord) giving him the once over.  How many songs can you name that have been so celebrated?  Take it Easy, written by neighbors Jackson Browne and Glen Frey, was the cut that launched the juggernaut that was The Eagles - America’s answer to The Beatles, in the shadow of the latter’s dissolution. The joyous, three part harmonies signaled the commercial ascendency of Laurel Canyon Country Rock - and provided a hopeful reset following the emotional bankruptcy of the late 60s. When I took my boys on a road trip to see the Grand Canyon, we stayed overnight in Williams, Arizona, also on route 66. I knew that Williams was not Winslow, but close, and that put a spring in my accelerator as I made the daybreak drive into the park.   There is a great “Be here now” mantra in the line: “We may lose, or we may win,

William Wyler’s intimate epic, from 1946—about three soldiers returning from the Second World War to their families in a small Midwestern city—profoundly and sensitively balances the private demons of scarred veterans and the press of public policies that leave their mark on daily life. Al Stevenson (Fredric March), a prosperous banker and paterfamilias, resumes his warm domestic life with a jaundiced view of country-club presumptions and a hint of a drinking problem. Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), a high-ranking bombardier with recurring nightmares, returns to straitened circumstances and a troubled marriage—and falls in love with Al’s grown daughter, Peggy (Teresa Wright). The third veteran, Homer Parrish, is played by a non-actor, Harold Russell, who, like the character, lost his hands in military service. Though adept with his prostheses, Homer, feeling diminished and dependent, breaks his engagement to the girl next door (Cathy O’Donnell). From lending practices to postwar Red-baiting, liberalized education

A musical phenomenon capturing America’s fancy during that Camelot period, just before Kennedy’s assassination, HELLO MUDDAH, HELLO FADDAH, Allan Sherman’s parody of “The Dance of the Hours” ballet, from the opera La Giocanda was a world-wide smash. (It made it to #2 on the Billboard Top 100, won the Grammy for best comedy performance, inspired books, a sitcom, a musical, numerous commercials, and has been translated into a multitude of languages.Sherman, born Allan Copelon (1924-1973) was a tragic clown who died young from a combination of alcoholism, obesity, and diabetes. His career was a roller coaster which careened from being a successful TV game show producer to ignominious unemployment, then back up to the heights of comedy success as a performer, before plummeting back down to earth and to his early death at the age of 48.Anyone who has ever attended a sleep away camp (as I did at Camp Snow Hill) can relate to this hilarious litany of mayhem, as well might the mothers and dads who may have gotten a s

I’m sure almost everyone who interviews you must ask about “Time Is on My Side.” But could you talk about why you gave up playing it for a while in the middle of your career?"Well you know, after a while, when you sing something that you know you’ve recorded, and you did the first national version of it, and when you’re singing, somebody tells you: “Oh, you’re doing a Rolling Stones song,” I got tired of explaining that I did it before the Rolling Stones. After a while that gets to be old. And so I stopped doing it, because I got tired of explaining that. They didn’t do their homework, they made assumptions. And so at some point you get tired of repeating yourself. Even now, I don’t do it as much as I do others. I sing it, but a lot of times it’s requested before I think about doing it, because I have so many other songs I can do.I have a large enough repertoire that by choice I can either do all of my own material or I can do a few cover songs that I like. And by taking requests, it makes it simpler, be

IT IS TIME TO WALK WITH THE ZOMBIES! 'WELCOME TO THE PORTAL NO ONE LEAVES ALIVE. HALLOWEEN IS UPON US, AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO CELEBRATE THIS TERRIFYING TRADITION THAN A "DIG THIS" JOURNEY INTO THE THE NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE.YOU WILL BE TRANSPORTED AND EDUCATED WITH DELIGHTFUL DREAD AS WE VISIT THE TALE OF ROCK AND REAPER ICON ROKY ERICKSON, A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SPOOKY SPLENDOR OF HALLOWEEN AND THE MEMORY OF JOHN ZACHERLE, THE HEAD MASTER OF THE GHOUL SCHOOL OF OUR YOUTH.ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!PLEASE VISIT "DIG THIS" AT  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2028913 FOR A VARIETY OF ENTERTAINING MUSIC AND POP CULTURE  PODCASTS!!

Ok, this is an ironic first for SUNNY SONGS: an emo number about death. WTF? I can’t really explain why, when I set about devising a list of songs that make me feel good, this one popped into my head. Maybe it’s the unflinching devotion expressed by composer Ben Gibbard. It’s calm, simple, stoic, resolute. “When your soul embarks I will follow you into the dark,” he proclaims. No questions, no hesitation. His love is eternal, and conquers the fear of unending night. We’ll hold hands, he assures his love. I can remember when I first heard it, riding in the backseat of a car on a roadtrip. It wasn’t loud, and took me by surprise, gobsmacking me, and causing me to well up instantaneously.  I wanted to know who that singer was, wondering who could have rendered this perfect piece. I had heard about the band from Bellingham, WA, with the unusual name - Death Cab For Cutie, but I had never actually heard them. The name derives, I discovered, from a song title written by the British Bonzo Dog Band humorists, Vivian

"Moby Grape Just Can't Catch a Break"https://www.npr.org/2007/12/21/17498799/moby-grape-just-cant-catch-a-break

Bob Crewe1930- 2014Inducted Into The Songwriters Hall Of Fame In 1995.While songwriter/producer/recording star, Bob Crewe, is perhaps best remembered for the notable parade of hits penned with co-writer Bob Gaudio for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, his songwriting credits began considerably earlier.In the early '50s, New Jersey-born Crewe first tasted success on the music charts with writing teammate Frank Slay with a batch of hits for a variety of artists. Among the best known were "Silhouettes" and "Daddy Cool" for The Rays; "Lah Dee Dah" and "Lucky Ladybug" for Billy and Lillie; and Freddy Cannon's "Tallahassee Lassie" and "Okefenokee."In 1961, Crewe also blossomed as a recording artist himself, with a pair of solo albums on Warwick Records. Kicks, featuring "The Whiffenpoof Song," and Crazy in the Heart, both produced by one of the more colorful producers of that time.Following these successes as a solo recording act, Cre

All it takes is one good idea; one spark of Promethean fire to ignite a life-long, multi-generational success. For Ross Bagdasarian Sr., it was a sped up tape recording of a nonsense scat phrase: “Oo-ee-oo-ah-ah; Ting-tang Walla Walla Bing Bang…”Taking inspiration from “Duel with the Witch Doctor”, a volume sitting on his bookshelf, Ross bought a tape recorder and set about creating a silly rockabilly tune, featuring a duet with himself. By overdubbing his voice singing slowly, recorded at 1/2 speed, and then speeding up the tape, he created a high pitched character that charmed the world.The resulting novelty record pulled Liberty Records out of near bankruptcy, selling 1.4 million copies and landing at the pinnacle of the Top 100 and R&B charts. He used the same technique to create the world wide Alvin and the Chipmunks craze which he then parlayed into a number of big records and an animated tv series. After Ross’s untimely death in 1972, the franchise was shepherd by his son, Ross jr. into a raft of h

Jimi Hendrix- "Electric Church/ Red House"An unreleased Jam session featuring  Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, Lee Michaels  and the great Buddy MilesThis track was originally intended for release on an album titled "Best Of The Bootlegs". This album was scheduled for release by Warner Brothers in 1994 but was shelved by producer Alan Douglas. All tracks were early demos and studio jam recordings.JIMI HENDRIX ON THE BIG SCREEN:Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church presents the legendary guitarist in full flight at the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival before the largest US audience of his career. This critically acclaimed film combines color, 16mm multi-camera footage of Hendrix’s unforgettable July 4, 1970 concert in its original performance sequence together with a new documentary that traces his journey to the festival amidst the dark shadow of civil rights unrest, the unrelenting toll of the Vietnam War and a burgeoning festival culture that drew together young people across the country who were inspire

Country Hall of Fame member Tom T. Hall's death at 85 in 2021 was by suicide, officials in his native Williamson County, Tennessee, have confirmed to reporters.The cause of death was first reported Wednesday by the website  "Saving Country Music" which followed up on multiple comments posted on a year-end In Memoriam piece and confirmed the cause of death with Williamson County’s medical examiner. Rolling Stone also confirmed the coroner’s determination of suicide with county officials.The report obtained by Saving Country Music showed that Hall “had sustained an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, to the head, on the morning of 8/20/2021. A 911 call was placed at 1115 hours on 8/20/201. Williamson County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) and Williamson Medical Emergency Medical Services (WMC EMS) responded to the call. Paramedics confirmed death at approximately 1133 hours, due to obvious injuries.”Port's Award Winner Tom T. Hall speaks onstage at the 5th Annual ACM Honors at Ryman Auditorium on

Marty (1955) is the poignant, simple character study of a lonely, unmarried, lovelorn middle-aged, 34 year old son who works as a Bronx butcher and still lives with his love-smothering mother. By film's end, he and another homely 29 year old Brooklyn schoolteacher and female wallflower are liberated - both are triumphant over their respective limitations.The film's screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky transformed his own original teleplay into a successful major motion picture - and the modest film remains one of the best examples of the cinematization of a television play. (The 48-minute TV comedy-drama was originally presented on NBC-TV's "Philco-Goodyear Playhouse" series on May 24, 1953 as a 60-minute broadcast, with leads Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand, during a period now recognized as the "Golden Age of Television." It received zero nominations during the Emmys that year.) It was the only film based on a TV drama to ever win Best Picture.As a feature film, it was one of the b

Laura Nyro wrote this song - (a tribute to torch singer Helen Merrill) - in 1966, but, it didn’t do much for her at the time. Three years later, when The Fifth Dimension recorded it, it shot to number 1. The radiant lead vocalist, Marilyn McCoo, sang it to her betrothed, Billy Davis Jr., on the various television variety shows of the day, and audiences lapped it up. Nyro, the oddball composer-prodigy from the Bronx, consistently channeled her soulful declarations to many other artists of the time - (Three Dog Night, Blood Sweat and Tears, Barbara Streisand) before being identified as the singular genius behind the magic. My high school girlfriend Cindy was a 4’11’’ spitfire with an identical twin. Her dad, Hank, a long-distance truck driver with a provocative (to put it generously) sense of humor, enjoyed teasing us. He called me “Keppy” (the yiddish word for Head, because my hair was thinning). Whenever this song came on the radio, trumpeting the refrain: “Marry Me, Bill!” - and it was ubiquitous - Hank, and

"The Cordell Jackson Story" - In Her Own Words And MusicIn Honor And In Loving Memory Of  Cordell Jackson - The Queen Of Rock and Roll And The Memphis GuitarJuly 15, 1923 – October 14, 20041) A Queen's Tale- A CBS News Segment - 1985 2) Cordell Jackson and The A Bones Live- Featuring Miriam Linna and Billy Miller- 19843) Rock and Roll Christmas- 19564) The Split - 1983 5 ) At Home Again ( In The Memories Of My Mind ) - 1983Born 100 years ago, Cordell Jackson was an American guitarist thought to be the first woman to produce, engineer, arrange and promote music on her own rock and roll music label.Jackson founded the Moon Records label in Memphis in 1956. Unable to break into the Sun label's stable of male artists, Cordell received the advice and assistance of RCA Records' Chet Atkins in forming this new label to release her music. She began releasing and promoting on the label singles she recorded in her home studio, serving as engineer, producer and arranger. The artists recorded inc