Wedding Wednesdays - Johnny Cash - Flesh And Blood

I love Johnny, I do. And his marriage with June is one of the stories I think about when I consider love (though, naturally, I hope never to emulate the first eleventeen years of that story).

This is the stripped-down, bare-bones version from Johnny's last years, not the one with the shimmery strings from 1970. Ultimately, this feels more like I hope my wedding will be -- smaller, more intimate. Still perfectly composed and executed, but no pomp or bombast, just quiet satisfaction and happiness with life and love. (If we were having a bigger, more expensive wedding, the other version might be more appropriate, especially since I love June's backing vocals on that take.)

This song is one of those comparative love songs, the ones like "In My Life" which say I love a lot of wonderful things, but I love you most of all. And this song says a lot about the transient beauty of our world, and the durable, lasting beauty of love between humans.

I haven't forgotten what tomorrow is -- click here to see last year's Thanksgiving post. I'm a lucky boy, in a lot of ways, and (not unlike Johnny) one of the things I've been luckiest about is to get a second chance with love. Thanks, sweetie. Happy Thanksgiving.

Johnny Cash - Flesh and Blood
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Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer - Redemption Song

Bob Marley, dying from cancer, wrote "Redemption Song" in 1979, borrowing some words from a speech by Marcus Garvey. Twenty-odd years later, another music legend in the last years of his life recorded a version of the song.

Bob and Johnny didn't share a religion, or a race, or a musical style. I think they would've liked each other, though, and Johnny's take on Bob Marley's original is haunting, moving, and uplifting.

I composed a twelve-hour mix of music for a friend's birthday party last week, and this is one of two songs I got specific raving compliments about. Here you go, Julian. I hope this makes up for us running out of corn.

Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer - Redemption Song
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Stagger Lee Saturdays - Stagger Lee (band)

Here's one that'll take a bit of explanation. I'm working on a compilation of bands who record songs named after their bands (or vice-versa). So look forward to hearing "Bad Company" (Bad Company), "They Might Be Giants" (They Might Be Giants) and even "The Cowboy Junkie's Lament" (The Cowboy Junkies). I was trying to hold off on this till then, but I give you Stagger Lee the band. I don't care for a lot of the other songs this band covers, but I love the atmospherics that start this off -- so unexpected from a bar band.

Stagger Lee - Stagger Lee (band)

The Kooks - Beast of Burden / Sweet Jane medley

I like to provide people with information about the songs I post, but I have next to none about this. This is a medley that The Kooks like to perform live. I have no idea when or where this recording is from, but it's nice and clear, a good quality soundboard recording. (I got it here, where there's also a version of Bob's "Tangled Up In Blue.") The Kooks have opened for The Stones before, but I don't know if this was recorded before or after that. (They got their name from a David Bowie song.)

Still, for all the information I don't have about this live medley, it's still wonderful. It sounds so organic, like the two songs were specifically written to be together like this. (Until I heard this, my favorite live Velvets cover medley was Bishop Allen's traditional soundcheck of "Sister Ray/Roadrunner" which was indeed more organic, since Jonathan Richman deliberately wrote "Roadrunner" around the organ part of "Ray." Sadly, I have no MP3s of this soundcheck.)

The Kooks - Beast of Burden / Sweet Jane