Lester Flatt

Earlier this week the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed H. Res. 583 honoring Lester Flatt (1914-1979) for his "invaluable contribution to American art as both a songwriter and a performer, leaving an indelible legacy in bluegrass music." From his work with both Charlie and Bill Monroe, then with Earl Scruggs, and then as Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass he was a pioneering figure in bluegrass music. So today a couple video os him.

Here is the gospel song, "Canaan's Land", with Earl Scruggs playing the guitar instead of the Banjo.



Here are Flatt & Scruggs performing the Carter Family song, "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy".



Finally, a later video of Lester Flatt performing "Rollin' in my Sweet Baby's Arms".

Les Paul

Here is another video from the New York Times' Last Word series, Les Paul (1915-2009). He died last August at 94.

Here is a video going back to the days when he was with Mary Ford, "How High the Moon".



Here he is with his trio doing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from 1988.

Odetta

I found a couple good videos in the New Times' Last Word series that they include in their obituary section. Here is a good interview with Odetta (1930-2008) done not to long before she died in December 2008.

I did a post with an Odetta video previously on Labor Day.

Here is a video of Odetta's appearance on the Johnny Cash Show in 1969. First she sings "Black Woman", and then she duets with Johnny on "Shame And Scandal In The Family".

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band also appeared with The Blind Boys when I saw them earlier this month.

Here is a short documentary about the history of the band.



Here is a video of "Down In Honky Tonk Town" from 1973.



Since they are from New Orleans it is only appropriate to include this video of "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?"



Here are both The Preservation Hall Jazz Band and The Bind Boys of Alabama with "Down By The Riverside".

The Blind Boys of Alabama

I went to see the Blind Boys of Alabama—formerly The Five Blind Boys of Alabama—about a week and a half ago, but I have been doing other posts, so I am finally getting around to doing one on them today. In this first video Clarence Fountain discusses the group. Because of his health Fountain no longer tours with the group, but he was one of the founding members in 1939.



Here is the current line up of the group performing "Amazing Grace" to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun".



Here they perform "Well, Well, Well" with Ben Harper. This song is from the album they did together, There Will Be a Light.

Two Deaths

Two deaths reported today in the world of music: Carl Smith and Kate McGarrigle.

Martin Luther King Day

For Martin Luther King Day I am posting Patty Griffin's musical rendition of his last speech. This song has been cover be several other artist now, but since Patty wrote the music I am including her version. "Up To The Mountain" off the album Children Running Through.



On January 26 Patty is releasing a gospel album titled Downtown Church. NPR is now streaming the entire album at this page.

Paolo Nutini

Paolo Nutini, from Scotland, has released two album that I have listened to a lot.

From his first album, These Streets, here is "Last Request".



From his second album, Sunny Side Up, here is "Candy".



For the fun of it, here he duets with Petula Clark on "Going to Chicago Blues".

The SteelDrivers

I posted two videos from The SteelDrivers when they won Emerging Artist of the Year at the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards. (IBMA Awards Pt. 3) But they have so many great songs, that I have to post some more.

From their album The SteelDrivers here is "Heaven Sent".



"Where Rainbows Never Die" - I am not sure if a recording of this song has been released. Also this video starts with the ending of the song "Blue Side of the Mountain"



I don't know if this next video is actually The SteelDrivers, or just Chris Stapleton the lead singer and songwriter. You can hear more of his songs on his My Space Page. This is "Daddy Doesn't Pray Anymore".

Danielia Cotton

I realize that I have been posting a lot of videos by musicians who have been around for a while, so this week I am going to post on performers who have come on the scene recently, starting with Danielia Cotton. I have seen her perform live seven times, which is by far more times that I have seen anyone else. I don't think most of these videos do justice to what a great singer she is, which is part of the reason I have not posted any of her videos before. That being said these are some of the best available.

"Let It Ride" - off her 2008 album Rare Child



"it's Only Life" - This is my favorite Danielia Cotton song, it is from her 2005 album, Small White Town



"Take My Heart" from Small White Town



"Testify" from Rare Child & "Devil in Disguise" from Small White Town

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello made my top five for last year, but he also started out about the same time as Alison Moyet and the Buggles, so I am giving him a post today.

This clip of "Alison" is listed as his first television performance. If that is true it must be from about 1977.



"Shipbuilding" is my favorite Elvis Costello song. This is a good version of the song, but the version on the album is even better, because it includes a trumpet solo by Chet Baker.



Finally, a more recent performance. Here is Willie Nelson's song, "Crazy", with Willie and Diana Krall.

Buggles

Doing the Alison Moyet post made me a bit nostalgic for music from the early 80's, which I don't really listen to much anymore. In the process I did find two great videos by the Buggles. The Buggles as a group did not last very long, but the lead singer, Trevor Howard, and the keyboard player, Geoff Downes were performing with Yes when I saw them sometime in the early 80's

These videos are from a 2004 concert for the Prince's Trust, and may be one of the few times these songs were performed live. Both songs are off the album The Age of Plastic released in 1980. "Video Killed the Radio Star" was the very first video broadcast on MTV when it when on air, August 1, 1981.



Here is the title track of the album, "The Age of Plastic".

Alison Moyet

To celebrate 25 years as a solo artist, Alison Moyet has re-recorded many of her songs and released them as a Very Best album. The album has only been released in the UK, but she has been making the rounds on TV over there, and doing concerts to promote the album. Consequently, a lot of great video has shown up. So I am going to post some of it today.

I did previously post her version of "That Ole Deviled Called Love" in my Billie Holiday Covers post.

First, a song that she wrote from her album Hoodoo, "This House".



This song, "All Cried Out", goes back to her first solo album, Alf.



"Only You" goes back even farther, to the Yaz album Upstairs at Eric's. This was probably the only album of electronic music I was ever taken by.



Finally, I can't pass up her version of "The Windmills of Your Mind". The original song, recorded by Rex Harrison's son Noel, came from the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair. This song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.