Gladys Horton, R.I.P.

A post to mark the passing, last week, of Gladys Horton. Horton was the lead singer of The Marvelettes. Fifty years ago this summer The Marvelettes released "Please, Mr. Postman", which become Motown's first song to reach #1 on the Pop Charts. Here is a video of The Marvelettes performing that song.

Dottie Peoples -Testify

For today's gospel song here is Dottie Peoples performing "Testify". I believe that she wrote this song.

Charle Louvin - R.I.P.

A post to mark the passing earlier today of Charlie Louvin. A member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1955, he has released several albums in the last couple years. and has continued to tour, recently opening for Lucinda Williams.

In the 50's and early 60's Charlie and his brother, Ira, performed as the Louvin Brothers. They are still revered as one of the best country groups of all time, remembered for there outstanding harmony. In the early 60's they split up, and shortly after that Ira was killed in an automobile accident.

A video of the Louvin Brothers performing "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby".



A segment of a documentary dealing with brother duos, including the Louvin Brothers.



A recent video of Charlie performing the Louvin Brothers Song, "Great Atomic Power".



Charlie recorded this tribute to his brother on his 2007 album Charlie Louvin.

Amos Lee's - Mission Bell

A couple videos of songs from Amos Lee's new album Mission Bell, released today. You can listen to Lee's recent NPR appearance here.

"Violin"



"Cup of Sorrow"



"Clear Blue Eyes" no video for this one, but I am posting the audio because Lucinda Williams sings on this track.

Sierra Hull

Last Saturday I went to see 19 year old mandolin virtuoso Sierra Hull and her band Highway 111. They performed on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center. You can stream that concert here. They do include vocals, but I am posting instrumentals here.

An '09 performance from Merle Fest



"Clinch Mountain Backstep" performed with Ron Block the banjo player with Alison Krauss' band Union Station.



"Daybreak in Dixie"

Ricky Skaggs & Tony Rice

Today's gospel song is "The Soul of Man Never Dies" performed by Ricky Skaggs and Tony Rice.

Dolly Parton Covers

A second Dolly Parton post. In addition to being a great singer and entertainer, Dolly Parton is a talented and prolific songwriter. Here are a couple of her songs cover by other singers.

Alison Krauss performing "Jolene".



I believe Dolly wrote this song specifically for Emmylou Harris, "To Daddy".



Bettye LaVette performing "Little Sparrow". This is very different from the way Dolly sings it, but that shows the song's versatility.

Happy Birthday Dolly Parton

I cannot let Dolly Parton's 65th birthday pass without a post dedicated to her. Here are some videos from years gone by.

Accompanied by Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt here is "Applejack"



I always liked this one "My Tennessee Mountain Home ".



Despite the fact that this never got radio play, it is a great song, "Down from Dover".




Past posts with Dolly:

The Dark End of the Street - November 6, 2010

Songs for Labor Day - August 31, 2010

Up Above My Head - September 17, 2009

Pete Seeger for MLK Day

This is one day late, because my computer was at the repair shop. So a belated post to mark the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Pete Seeger with his song "Take It From Dr. King".

Mahalia Jackson

Today's gospel video is from Mahalia Jackson's 1958 appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival. I think this is the performance referenced in the first video of the Elton John & Leon Russell post earlier this week.

A couple songs on the video. First, part of Thomas A. Dorsey's song "Walk Over God's Heaven "—I have three different versions of this song in this previous post. Then Jackson performs "Didn't It Rain". Finally, the performance ends with "The Lords Prayer".

Squeeze

Just because I have always liked this song, here is Squeeze with "Tempted".

Elton John & Leon Russell

Elton John has made a duet album with one of his idols, Leon Russell. It is titled The Union. The album was produced by T Bone Burnett, who also executive produced The Secret Sisters' album, the subject of my last two posts.

Here is the promo video.



"If It Wasn't For Bad" the first single.



"Gone to Shiloh" with Neil Young

The Secret Sisters - House of Gold

Today's gospel song is another one from The Secret Sisters' new album. "House of Gold" is a Hank Williams song. I posted Patty Griffin's version of this last year in the post Hank Williams - Gospel Covers.

The Secret Sisters

Laura and Lydia Rogers—A.K.A. The Secret Sisters— released their first album last year. With harmonies that harken back to the mid-20th century, they have found rapid success, and will be touring with Loretta Lynn, Ray LaMontagne and Amos Lee this coming year. Here are a couple videos.

"I've Got a Feeling"



"Tennessee Me"



"Do You Love an Apple"

Adele - 21

Looking ahead to the new year, the new album I am most anxious for is Adele's 21, the follow up to her first album, 19. This looks to be the first track on it—"Rolling in the Deep".



More Adele:

Sam Cooke Covers - August 25, 2010

Adele - Pt. 2 - March 22, 2010

Adele (My very first post) - August 17, 2009

Dr. Billy Taylor - R.I.P.

I have not had internet access for a couple days, so I am a couple days late in remarking on the death of Billy Taylor. (Obituary Here) I do not listen to that much Jazz, but I have always liked Taylor, both his songs and his work on the CBS Sunday Morning show.

To mark his passing here Taylor and Les McCann perform what is probably Taylor's best known song, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free ".



My favorite version of the song is by Nina Simone.

Iris Dement - Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

For this week's gospel song here is Iris Dement's version of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms". This song is played as the soundtrack for the final scene of the current film True Grit. In fact the melody of this song played on piano is included throughout the of the film. I am not sure if it is Dement's piano playing that is feature, but it sounds a lot like her.

The images in this video are totally unrelated to the film.