Obama vs. Clinton in the Hills

Whenever I read informed analysis of political events, I get all teary and feel mooshy inside.

The Carter Family - The Little Log Hut In The Lane

Listening to this song recently, I realized that this must be where the bluegrass band Old and in the Way got their name.

This song is from the first era of the Carter Family, when they were still a husband & wife & in-law/cousin trio. Maybelle's bass-string soloing on the guitar is featured prominently.

Happy Cows - sheep escape

The most popular video on YouTube that features cows.

Anonymous 4 - Miro genere

This piece was written over six hundred years ago. This recording, of four women singing a capella, is a little more recent.

Big Star - Thirteen

One of my relatives turns thirteen next month. For most people that's one of the best times in their lives, and one of the worst. Then years later they can look back and write a song about it.

The cultural references in this song are so tied to a time and place (the USA in 1966) that it's probably hard to get the exact nuances. But the key point, expressed in subtle lyrics and beautiful music, is that at some point we begin to grasp the bittersweet nature of life, and to see just how bitter it can be, and just how sweet.

Traffic - Hole in my Shoe

An English band in the late sixties puts out a song with a Mellotron part. Who knew?

For some reason this version is both sped up and extended--the bridge is repeated at the end. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

P. Seeger, B.J. Reagon, J. Ritchie - O Mary, Don't You Weep

I post this just to indicate how much experience Bernice Johnson Reagon has in the progressive politics/music community. A while back I posted a song by Sweet Honey in the Rock, a group she founded. Here she is in the sixties with Uncle Pete and fellow folk revivalist Jean Ritchie.