Too Darn Hot
Sinead O'Connor, more Kristin Hersh, and that noisy C&W space...
An quickie issue to bridge the gap before new content drops, August 11.
I watched Bob Dylan's audience boo Sinead O’Connor off Madison Square Garden's stage in 1992 and never felt more humiliated at a rock show. Dylan’s silence on this issue, from someone who knows from booing, counts as a major public stain on his character. But I have to report: the streaming edition of that concert (30th Anniversary Concert Celebration) includes her afternoon sound check rendition of “I Believe In You,” so there’s that. Also, George Harrison’s “Absolutely Sweet Marie” still surfs on his wry Beatles charm.
elsewhere
That last Kristin Hersh issue inexplicably omitted mention of her new solo release, Clear Pond Road (Fire Records), dropping next month.
Former TV critic Emily Nussbaum in the New Yorker, a country update that chases diversity in the C&W industry, quotes a racist radio goon, and runs just as Jason Aldean releases “Try That In A Small Town,” which they don’t play in Uvalde, Texas. See also: Kacey Musgraves’s “Follow Your Arrow.” And don’t go to PBS for much meaningful context on your American music history.
incoming
Steve Matteo on filming the Beatles, more on Springsteen with Joyce Millman, David Hepworth on the EMI studios we now call Abbey Road, and Mickey Guyton joins the Shania Twain tour…
album of the month
pj harvey, I Inside the Older Year Dying (Partisan)
noises off
more links at the riley rock index: obits, bylines, youtube finds, reference sites
Funky town moves to Bluesky, for slammin’ repartee with all the coolios
pinterest: get’em off me
beacons.ai: where the compass goes for direction
Re: Album of the month. “A Child’s question’s” chord progression has worn grooves in my brain as if it’s the black wax covered layer of a magic slate! I’ve been enjoying that sensation!
After reading The Philosophy of Modern Song, Dylan's silence on Sinead O'Connor being booed is not in the least surprising. The whole book was a reminder that Dylan was closer in age, and attitudes, to my father (b 1933) than me (somewhat over 60).