all five horizons

This song has been swirling around my head recently:

Sister, you’ve been on my mind
Sister, we’re two of a kind
So, sister, I’m keepin’ my eye on you.

I betcha think I don’t know nothin’
But singin’ the blues, oh, sister,
Have I got news for you, I’m something,
I hope you think that you’re something too

Scufflin’, I been up that lonesome road
And I seen a lot of suns going down
Oh, but trust me,
No-o low life’s gonna run me around.

So let me tell you something Sister,
Remember your name, No twister
Gonna steal your stuff away, my sister,
We sho’ ain’t got a whole lot of time,
So-o-o shake your shimmy Sister,
‘Cause honey the ’shug’ is feelin’ fine.

I love this movie so much and this particular scene always tugs on my heart strings. It is so affirming and the first time anyone  has ever really shown Celie any love, other than her sister.  I managed to find this song (Miss Celie’s Blues sung by Molly Johnson) on iTunes which is just another reason why iTunes is so great. I would not have wanted the whole soundtrack but I do love this song.  I also love the gospel hymn Shug sings, God is trying to tell you something:

See Daddy? Sinners have soul too.

Goosebumps.

About a year ago, my husband bought himself a bass guitar since he has been wanting to learn to play for years.  It was very pretty and sat happily in our lounge on a stand in the corner. It was picked up occasionally and was a conversation piece but that was about it. Finally, ricardo got round to finding himself a tutor so that he could learn to play in earnest. And learn he did! He clearly has a natural ability for it and enjoys playing immensely. Then a couple of months ago, his tutor told him about one of his other students who had a band that needed a bass player.  And so began my husband’s rock career.

Their first gig was a short 3-song set at an open-mic night at a local pub. While people drank and ate, band after band took to the stage to play an eclectic range of music. I waited feeling completely nauseous. I realised I had turned into Francie who acted like such a jerk when Charlie sang in public for the first time. I didn’t want to be embarrassed for them. Or by them. Most of all, I didn’t want them to make a tit of themselves. I had no idea how good they would be or what they would sound like. I think I was easily as nervous as they were. I needn’t have worried. Sure, they were by no means polished - they still had a lot of work to do - but they sounded good. No, they sounded really good.

The band consists of a 15-year-old lead singer (I could be him mum - completely depressing) with a voice which is more mature than you would expect. Bluesy and strong but still needs to be honed.  The others are all about to go off to Uni which makes ricardo at 29 the grandpa of the group but easily the best looking (although admittedly I am biased).

Last night, the band (called Lucille) played their first full set at another local pub in front of friends and family. It was a roaring success and they should be feeling very pleased with themselves. To have come so far in such little time is fantastic. What is less fantastic is packing about the gear in the pouring rain afterwards but until they start their arena tour, I fear a few more grotty nights in my future of hauling heavy crap around in the rain. They still have a lot of work to do to improve and hone and polish but that’s only natural. And though I didn’t really expect to be doing the whole local band thing again 15 years after I was doing it the first time, I can’t say I’m not enjoying it. Now I just need to make a t-shirt that says ‘Bass Players Do It Better’ to really nark my mum!

I received Cat Power’s album Jukebox for my birthday and listened to it this morning on the way to work. I love it already. The album is nearly all covers with my favourites (so far) being Silver Stallion and Chan Marshall’s (aka Cat Power) own song Metal Heart. I also really liked her version of Blue which is not surprising given that I love Joni Mitchell too. I am really looking forward to getting to know this album better. Here is Silver Stallion:

The full album listing is as follows (thanks to Wikipedia):

1. “New York” (John Kander, Fred Ebb - Popularized by Liza Minnelli in 1977 and Frank Sinatra in 1980
2. “Ramblin’ (Wo)man” (Hank Williams) - Originally released by Williams in 1953 and 1976
3. “Metal Heart” (Chan Marshall) - Previous version appears on Cat Power’s 1998 album Moon Pix
4. “Silver Stallion” (Lee Clayton) - First appears on Clayton’s 1978 album Border Affair; later popularized by The Highwaymen in 1990
5. “Aretha, Sing One for Me” (J Harris, Eugene Williams) - Originally released by George Jackson in 1972[1]
6. “Lost Someone” (James Brown, Bobby Byrd, Lloyd Stallworth) - Originally released by James Brown & the Famous Flames in 1961
7. “Lord, Help the Poor and Needy” (Jessie Mae Hemphill) - Recorded by Jessie Mae Hemphill in either 1979 or the early 1980s, released on her 2004 album, Get Right Blues
8. “I Believe in You” (Bob Dylan) - Originally released on Dylan’s 1979 album Slow Train Coming
9. “Song to Bobby” (Chan Marshall, Matt Sweeney) - The sole original recording on the album
10. “Don’t Explain” (Arthur Herzog Jr., Billie Holiday) - Originally released by Billie Holiday
11. “A Woman Left Lonely” (Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn) - Originally released by Ella Brown and popularised by Janis Joplin on her (posthumous) 1971 album, Pearl
12. “Blue” (Joni Mitchell) - Originally released by Mitchell on her 1971 album Blue
13. “Breathless” (Nick Cave) - Originally released by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on their 2004 album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus