Bill Doggett - Night Train

The Firesign Theatre - Zeno's Evil

Peter Bergman was born on this date seventy-five years ago. Here he's the driver.

Benny Goodman Trio - Body and Soul

With Teddy Wilson on piano and Gene Krupa on drums as the other two members of the trio. Recorded in 1935.

Thanks for the Memory

Thankfulness often comes mixed with sorrow. Bob Hope and Shirley Ross perform the original version of this song in The Big Broadcast of 1938.

The Band - This Wheel's on Fire

Words by Bob Dylan, music by Rick Danko.

Frank Zappa - Trouble Every Day

Zappa wrote this song after the Watts riots in August 1965. Fifty years later it's sad how little has changed.

Krugman Points Out the Truth, Again

Dr K speaks. Maybe if he does it long enough people in power will eventually notice.

So the counterintuitive realities of economic policy at the zero lower bound are likely to remain relevant for a long time to come, which makes it crucial that influential people understand those realities. Unfortunately, too many still don’t; one of the most striking aspects of economic debate in recent years has been the extent to which those whose economic doctrines have failed the reality test refuse to admit error, let alone learn from it. The intellectual leaders of the new majority in Congress still insist that we’re living in an Ayn Rand novel; German officials still insist that the problem is that debtors haven’t suffered enough.

Marin Marais - Sonnerie De Sainte-Geneviève Du Mont De Paris

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, viola de gamba; Alice Harnoncourt, violin; Herbert Tachezi, harpsichord.

Sleepy John Estes - President Kennedy

SJE sings and plays guitar on a song he wrote. Ry Cooder on mandolin; the piano player is probably Jim Dickinson.

Dr. John with The Band - Such a Night

Happy birthday to the doctor. Horns arranged by Allen Toussaint, another iconic New Orleans music figure.

RIP Mike Nichols

A founding figure of the improvisational comedy scene in the fifties, an innovative filmmaker in the sixties and seventies (then a more ordinary filmmaker in later years), lifelong friend of Susan Sontag (they met in college), a nice guy and a helluva talent. Here's an example of some early work with his comedy partner Elaine May.

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Emma Lazarus died on this date in 1887.

REM - Feeling Gravitys Pull

It's a Man Ray kind of sky.

Dump - International Airport

Race

H/t Undercover Blue @ Hullabaloo.

RIP John Doar

Pierce on an unsung hero.

Quite simply, there was no braver American amid the tumult of the 1960's and the 1970's than John Doar. Arguably, there were very few greater Americans during that same time. He made the law a shield, and then he made the law a sword, and he stood in against the most dangerous beasts in this country's heart and beat them all. He never wrote a book. He did not become the star he could have become. (Almost everyone else involved in Watergate did, god knows.) And, last Tuesday, he died, at the age of 92. 

The Beatles - I Want You (She's So Heavy)

Why not?

Hampton Hawes - Polka Dots and Moonbeams

Some more 50s-era classic jazz.

Art Pepper - You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To

One of the great alto saxophonists, recorded in 1957 with Miles Davis's rhythm section at the time (Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums).

The Band - Tears of Rage

What is Reality?

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo shows what happens when an ideologically driven news site moves too fast.

H/t PK @ NYT.

As noted a bit earlier, on Saturday Breitbart published an exclusive pointing out that President Obama's Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch was part of the team that defended President Clinton during the Whitewater investigation - not a bad little scooplet. Only it wasn't the same Loretta Lynch, which kind of takes the punch out of the story.

Breitbart then issued a 'correction'. But like I said, it's a correction for the ages.

Johnny Cash - Wayfaring Stranger

Joey DeFrancesco & Dr. Lonnie Smith - Someday My Prince Will Come

Two masters.

Reading of "Dog's Death" by John Updike

The root word in "amateur" is "love."

Guy Clark - My Favorite Picture of You

Happy birthday to Guy Clark. Here's a song about his late wife Susanna, a successful songwriter in her own right.

Frédéric Chopin - Funeral March

Performed by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.

Car Talk Guys on Arthur

RIP Tom Magliozzi, whose reach into the culture, along with his brother Ray, proved surprisingly deep.

Los Días de los Muertos

Los Días de los Muertos were celebrated over the weekend in Mexico. This year the event held a different significance for me. Here's a decent explanation of the phenomenon.

The Walkabouts - Lest We Forget

oops

Forgot to post yesterday. Double duty today.