95 North. . . The Newspaper

1968 is often rightly categorized as a year of social upheaval in America. King and Bobby went down. Vietnam was a jungle of violent chaos. Charles Manson went wild on helter skelter, the Beatles White Album  was a pastiche of cultural mess (great album regardless), Steppenwolf was "Born to be Wild", the Doors were a dark L.A launchpad of drugged excess, and Eric Clapton's band Cream was spinning in the white room. Yet, somewhere in this culture of chaos was the antidote of order, simplicity, and true-hearted earnestness. Unsurprisingly, some of the musical world reacted to the swirling world of drugs and disorder by goin' country, setting the stage for the simple and reflective 1970's scene of singer-songwriters a-la the acoustic based music James Taylor, the simple yet profound offerings of Joni Mitchell, and the deeply spiritual ethos of Leonard Cohen. First, here's the music that laid that groundwork: Bookends , Simon and Garfunkel Old friends ...

In Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign , author Jonathan Allen presents a highly readable and compelling political narrative underlining the myriad of deficiencies in Hillary Clinton's 2016 Presidential campaign. Allen places much of the blame for Clinton's loss on the shoulders of millennial big-data champion Robby Mook. Accordingly, the larger lesson here suggests that the overuse of analytics and big data over gut, human instinct, and common sense can lead to utter failure. You can't poll-test everything. Mook wanted to put in place a "strategy" to show the American public the real Hillary Clinton. When it is called a strategy, well, it rings hollow. Authenticity can't be contrived. There is still place in the world for business, government, and other organizations to construct visions and act effectively without reducing human beings en masse to a collection of data points that can be sold and tossed around by the elites. Clinton...

Uncle Tupelo What do you value more in music- the sound music itself or the lyrics?  Of course, the answer is somewhere in between. Or maybe somewhere else. It's all about tone, spirit, and meaning. A sense of life. The following instrumental track from alt-country friends  Uncle Tupelo fits the bill. This acoustic jam finds its joy mixed in with a touch of aching sadness, a tone that reminds us that life is short, and it is to be lived purposefully. Somehow, Uncle T was able to communicate that truth by just playing instruments- the acoustic guitar, the banjo, the bass and the drums. As Bob Dylan ironically sings in "Standing in the Doorway" there's "nothing to be gained by any explanation/ no words need to be said". Sometimes the music just has the right inflection. The right motion to give you just what you need. Take from it what you will- this one's a giver.  " Living is not a contest of duration, but a pageant of meaning. . . ...

For the “Singer/Songwriter” portion of my musical map, I’ve selected artists that generally write and play their own music. For example, the Beatles would not be considered singer/songwriters, since they collectively made music as a band. John Prine, on the other hand, wrote his own songs and often played them solo on his acoustic guitar. Included below is a Spotify playlist with one song from each artist as well as my attempt to write a brief description of their music. I’ll do the same soon with other music genres. Without further ado, here is my map of singer/songwriters. Genres covered: folk, rock, country, blues, and indie rock. classics                               country                       singer/song                indie folk BOB DYLAN : The most prolific musical artist of all time....

"Walkin' After Midnight" accounts for country legend Patsy Cline's most well known song-and for good reason. Complete with woozy guitars, existential questioning disguised as romantic lament, and a brilliant sense of melody, "Walkin' After Midnight" is the perfect song for a full moon. Cline infused these songs with something that wipes you out, and lays you flat on the ground, face to face with basic truths. Her voice echos through the heart of the country and straight to yours.

I discussed Cat Power (Chan Marshall) a bit in my post a few days ago, which you can read by clicking  here.  Eventually, I will review all of these songs, but here is my list of the "Essential Cat Power" songs. Much like my Dylan list, they are the songs that best represent her career, presented in a logical order. Essential Cat Power: Still in Love Rockets Talking People Nude as the News Say Metal Heart I Can't Get No (Satisfaction) I Don't Blame You He War Speak for Me Love and Communication The Greatest Silver Stallion Ramblin' Woman I Believe in You Haiku Ten Cherokee Ruin "If you're looking for something easy you might as well give it up" -Chan Marshall Just for fun, here is the short (1:22) song "Haiku Ten", which is a simple rendition of a famous poem over music made by Sigmatropic (never heard of 'em). Chan's voice is perfect in this one. You'll wish the song went on forever:

Recently, I read an article about an interesting new class being offered at the University of Tenessee. The course is called "Dolly's America", and explores Appalachia, America, music and culture. Well, sign me up. It makes sense to me that a history class should be looking through the lens of Dolly Parton, the great Tennessee born signer-songwriter. In this way, history is viewed from the lens of the "underdog", the poor, the rural, and the outcast. Well, maybe not always, but far too often history is told through the lens of coastal academia. I appreciate the varied perspective this class seems to offer. Click here to read the article about the new class being offered at the University of TN.  I pulled this picture straight from the NYT