Song of the week
You can’t go wrong with Sam Cooke.
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Sam Cooke, “Sugar Dumpling (Original)” (1962)
Not the best week in national politics, but the weather was nice here. Gratitude for the little things. This posthumous hit from 1965 is one of my favorites by Sam Cooke. Three things to listen for: 1) the appearance of professional nurses; 2) a demand for the coffee; and 3) a dinner “with seven different kinds of meat.” I’ve been trying to figure out that menu for years because it sounds pretty good: carnivolicious! cholesterrific! hypertensational!
Lagniappe: “A Change Is Gonna Come”
More stuff at Can’t Explain.
July 29, 2011 5:00 pm
Posted in: Music, Other
33 Comments
33 Responses
eric - July 29, 2011 | 5:03 pm · Link
“Counties In Eric Cantor’s District May Lose AAA Credit Rating Because Of Debt Ceiling Stalemate”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....13227.html
“WASHINGTON—Moody’s Investors Service is warning 162 local governments that they risk a downgrade of their AAA credit rating because of the federal government’s inability to come to an agreement on a plan to raise the debt ceiling.
The affected local governments are most heavily concentrated in Virginia and Massachusetts. One of the counties, Hanover, falls squarely in House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) district. Parts of two more counties, Chesterfield and Henrico, are in his district as well.
“The ratings of these local governments, particularly those with a high economic dependence on federal activity, would be vulnerable to a downgrade of the U.S. government,” said Moody’s Senior Vice President Matt Jones.”
gbear - July 29, 2011 | 5:04 pm · Link
Well, you could go wrong with Sam Cooke if you were the guy who shot him.
Neil - July 29, 2011 | 5:08 pm · Link
Correction: You can’t go wrong with Sam Coomes
Seriously, pick up Featuring Birds sometime.
evap - July 29, 2011 | 5:17 pm · Link
A Change is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke version) is the greatest ever U.S. pop song recording. IMO, of course. I will always associate it with Obama since I listened to it on the night he got elected and then again while celebrating his inauguration.
ppcli - July 29, 2011 | 5:18 pm · Link
Whenever I encounter the latest horror from christianists in American politics, I take a moment to remember the many great blessings Christianity has brought to humankind. High on the list is Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers singing Nearer To Thee live at the Shrine concert. The last two minutes are as close to a musical representation of redemptive religious ecstasy as anything I know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEXlTes-HEU
SteveinSC - July 29, 2011 | 5:19 pm · Link
Robert Reich is Shrill, Oh my Quick grab the smelling salts, clear the fainting couches, the BJ Obots will tut-tut.
Turgidson - July 29, 2011 | 5:28 pm · Link
I think Sullivan is trying to get himself taken off the “monitor and mock as needed” list. He has a post earlier today on Krauthammer’s lying that Benen could easily have written. It’s almost shrill.
JPL - July 29, 2011 | 5:28 pm · Link
Why not just make this a thread about dead musicians. That’s less depressing than the news.
wmd - July 29, 2011 | 5:30 pm · Link
I was using lagniappe this week too; not usually part of my vernacular. interesting to see someone else writing it.
Violet - July 29, 2011 | 5:31 pm · Link
Wow, when did this start happening? I just set up a gmail account for an older family member who isn’t very familiar with such things. Before the account could be activated they required a phone number for either a voice call or text message with a verification code.
Is this some new anti-spam thing or something?
jeffreyw - July 29, 2011 | 5:39 pm · Link
He told me that “they’s seven kinds of meat in a turtle: they’s chicken and pork, beef and lamb, shrimp, fish, and goat.”
LM - July 29, 2011 | 5:41 pm · Link
@wmd:
Are you a Southerner? I have never in my life heard anyone in the West or Northeast use lagniappe, only older folks who live in the South. Places I’ve lived, people say freebie, swag, gift (or gift-with-purchase), bonus gift or track, etc. I’ve never heard lagniappe spoken unless by someone with a Southern accent. My son, in his twenties, wouldn’t have a clue what it means. Care to shatter my misconceptions about this?
efgoldman - July 29, 2011 | 5:42 pm · Link
@ 10 Violet – July 29, 2011 | 5:31 pm ·
A few weeks ago, they tried to get me to do it on my existing accounts. I found a click-thru, (don’t remember where, though) and now they leave me alone.
And Another Thing... - July 29, 2011 | 6:02 pm · Link
Change is Gonna Come is #1.
For #2, I nominate Cooke’s Bring it on Home to Me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAQE-tHjPAc
JPK - July 29, 2011 | 6:31 pm · Link
@jeffreyw: Goat. That’s the one that kept eluding me. Thank you!
Kathy in St. Louis - July 29, 2011 | 6:37 pm · Link
I was hoping that the song this week would be That’s Life, by Frank Sinatra. I was hoping we’d be thinking about the Tea Party when we got to the line, “Riding high in April, shot down in May”. Guess not.
Cris (without an H) - July 29, 2011 | 6:41 pm · Link
I think that’s #1 for me. Lou Rawls’ backing vocal is the element that pushes it over the goal.
I deeply love Sam Cooke’s music, but I’ll readily admit that the orchestration was often a little overproduced. You know what would be heaven? Sam Cooke’s vocal on “Shake” over Otis Redding’s backing.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal - July 29, 2011 | 6:42 pm · Link
fuck everything
Omnes Omnibus - July 29, 2011 | 7:04 pm · Link
@ Cris (without an H): I have a copy on vinyl of Cooke’s “Live at the Harlem Square Club” where he sounds as raw and immediate as anything Otis ever did. For any one who does not have it, I suggest getting it now rather than later. Brilliant.
nellcote - July 29, 2011 | 7:27 pm · Link
Not to take anything away from Sam Cooke but I prefer the more raw Little Milton version of Change is gonna Come.
burnspbesq - July 29, 2011 | 7:43 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yes.
Although it must be said that Aaron Neville can sing the living daylights out of “A Change Is Gonna Come.”
Cris (without an H) - July 29, 2011 | 7:46 pm · Link
Omnes:
great call. I also have that album (on vinyl), and every word you say is true. I think that his studio production was meant to appeal to a whiter audience, so it was a little more pop than soul. Same with Jackie Wilson.
burnspbesq - July 29, 2011 | 7:46 pm · Link
Stumbled across this this morning. A brilliant performance of one of the greatest sad songs ever written.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7vMKwOpo9k
Svensker - July 29, 2011 | 8:21 pm · Link
No, you can’t.
wmd - July 29, 2011 | 8:30 pm · Link
@LM
I’m from the midwest, think I picked it up from reading.
SteveinSC - July 29, 2011 | 8:37 pm · Link
Are you a Southerner? I have never in my life heard anyone in the West or Northeast use lagniappe, Not used in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, or Mississippi. It is not American, it is not Southern it is French.
Steeplejack - July 29, 2011 | 9:03 pm · Link
@SteveinSC:
Yes, it’s a French word, but it is used in certain “genteel” Southern demographics, i.e., tasteful (older) white ladies. I have heard it in Alabama and Georgia.
JPK - July 29, 2011 | 9:04 pm · Link
I picked it up from reading Mark Twain. He talks about it in Life on the Mississippi.
http://www.twainquotes.com/Lagniappe.html
LGRooney - July 29, 2011 | 9:05 pm · Link
You mean Sam Cooke, the lead singer for Journey in its heyday?!
Steeplejack - July 29, 2011 | 9:22 pm · Link
I love Sam Cooke, but I wanted it entered in the record that the Animals also did a great version of “Bring It on Home to Me.” Nice and churchy, and I always love Eric Burdon’s voice. Just let go of that whole “British invasion coöpting black American music” thing. We must look forward, not back.
And, hey, they did a nice version of “Shake,” too. Kickin’ Hammond B-3 organ solo from Alan Price at 1:20.
JPK - July 29, 2011 | 9:38 pm · Link
@Steeplejack: The Animals were my favorite British Invasion band at the time and I still think they’re one of the best, even though they have since been overshadowed by some of the others. That’s a terrific cover of “Shake.”
Steeplejack - July 29, 2011 | 9:57 pm · Link
@JPK:
Let me point you to this CD I found: Retrospective. Twenty-two hits by the Animals, pristinely remastered. Pretty much your one-stop shop for their best.
It doesn’t include “Shake,” unfortunately.
JPK - July 29, 2011 | 10:40 pm · Link
@Steeplejack: Looks like a nice collection!