IF YOU love late-60s rhythm and blues, rent "Stax/Volt Revue: Live in Norway 1967."
It's a badly made film -- really badly made -- of a concert by Stax/Volt stars of the time, headlined by Otis Redding. The black-and-white cinematography is awful and the sound recording worse.
But, oh, the music! And the sight of these guys -- in 1964-style Beatle suits -- working a small stage. And the Norwegian kids: very white, very stoned, very not quite sure of the rules for cool head-bobbing.
A DISTANT UNCLE passed away and left me quite a batch,
And I was livin' high until that fatal day
A lawyer proved I wasn't born, I was only hatched.
Ev'rything's agin me, and it's got me down.
If I jumped in the river, I would prob'ly drown.
No matter how I struggle and strive,
I'll never get out of this world alive.
I'M JUST a poor, wayfarin' stranger,
Travelin' through this world below.
There is no sickness, no toil nor danger
In that bright land to which I go.
I'm goin' there to see my father
And all my loved ones who've gone on.
I'm just goin' over Jordan.
I'm just goin' over home.
A, weh, uh, weh, uh, well,
The little things you say and do
Make me want to be with you.
Rave on, it's a crazy feelin',
And I know it's got me reelin',
when you say, "I love you."
Rave on.
TODAY we kick off intimations-of-mortality week with "Desperadoes Waiting for a Train," performed by Waylon, Willie, Johnny, and Kris, off Highwayman (1985).
One day I looked up, and he's pushin' eighty,
And there's brown tobacco stains all down his chin.
To me he's one of the heroes of this country,
So why's he dressed up like them old men,
Drinkin' beer and playin' moon and forty-two?
. . . I'M GROOVING to the Dixie Hummingbirds.
Most unexpected cut, "Good Health."
. . . .
Take your time. / Don't get upset.
Do yourself a favor: / Don't smoke cigarettes.
Use less salt. / Watch your weight.
Keep in shape. / Don't procrastinate.
. . . .
Do what your doctor / tells you to.
Don't let bad habits / get the best of you.
You know we've all / seen better days.
