Woody Guthrie’s Yiddishe Mama

Woody Guthrie’s Yiddishe Mama

Woody Guthrie, born 103 years ago today, is best known as the dust bowl balladeer who wrote many of America's most beloved songs, including "This Land Is Your Land." He was a free spirit and a sprite, a vagabond minstrel who spent his 55 years on earth using music to empower the common man. He wrote of the roads he traveled and the characters he met, of "dusty old dust" and the places he lived on "the wild, windy plains." He also wrote about a land and a culture far removed from his Tom Joad roots, a place "where the halvah meets the pickle, where the sour meets the sweet." Yes, folks, it turns out that Woody Guthrie had a Jewish mother-in-law! And folk culture is all richer for it.

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Bob Dylan and Scarlet Rivera: Strings of Rolling Thunder

Bob Dylan and Scarlet Rivera: Strings of Rolling Thunder

Man, I can't tell you how many times my shrink has had to listen to me recount this dream: I'm strutting down the street decked out like Joan Jett -- carrying a guitar/amp/tambourine/harmonica - when a car pulls over and a famous, seasoned musician asks me to stop by a recording studio and rehearse with him. Instant stardom, based on nothing more than IMAGE. Hey, it's no more far fetched than grabbing 15 minutes of fame by being anointed "star du jour" by the glam-bam-thank-you-ma'am "American Idol" judges. Being swept off the street by a rock star may be nothing more than a wet dream for yer blogger, but this really did happen to a young violinist named Donna Shea, better known as Scarlet Rivera.

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‘Magic Dick’ Salwitz: Still Whammin’ and Jammin’ at 72

‘Magic Dick’ Salwitz: Still Whammin’ and Jammin’ at 72

With a nickname like "Magic Dick" you'd better be damn good at what you do. And Richard Salwitz is one of the best -- harmonica players, that is. Today's the 70th birthday of the man who helped put the whammer in the jammer of the J.Geils Band -- from the group's 1965 origins in Worcester, Massachusetts, through their breakup in 1985. In "The Rolling Stone Record Guide," music journalist Dave Marsh described Magic Dick as possibly "the best white musician to ever play blues harmonica."

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Rick Nelson: ‘You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself’

Rick Nelson: ‘You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself’

"But it's all right now, I've learned my lesson well. You see, you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself." Those are lyrics from "Garden Party, a 1972 Top Ten single released by the late singer/actor Rick Nelson. The one-time teen idol who came to fame as the son in the popular 1950s TV show "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" (featuring his real-life parents) would have turned 75 today. He wrote "Garden Party" in response to being booed by audience members at a 1971 oldies show in Madison Square Garden (a "Garden Party").

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It’s Earth Day…and Marvin’s Words Still Haunt

It’s Earth Day…and Marvin’s Words Still Haunt

On this 45th Earth Day I can't think of a better tune to listen to than "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)," a song written and performed by the great Marvin Gaye. I've always been moved by the song's haunting melody and the vivid images expressed in its lyrics. Where did all the blue skies go? Poison is the wind that…

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