MORE NPR

So I've been listening to more of the NPR's list of 100 most important works of the twentieth century and I've realized a few things. They use different styles of story telling. One of their variations is the one person narrating the whole thing. It is usually a writer or musician that tells their take on a song. For instance, Don Dixon tells the story of Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis. He is a record producer that has produced acts like The Smithereens and REM. His take on the song, and Jerry in particular, is that he was the first dangerous guy in Rock N Roll. Elvis was too pretty, and nice, while Little Richard was having too much fun. But Jerry had the Devil in him. They even have a clip of Jerry Lee arguing with someone in the studio about the Devil. Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Lee's cousin and the famed televangelist knew the score about Jerry, as portrayed in the movie "Great Balls of Fire." And it turned out later in Jimmy's career that he had a little of the Devil in himself as well.

Another type of storytelling is the one where the host narrates the story and mixes in an occasional blurb by a guest. It's a pretty good style of storytelling which gets to the point quickly since there are no questions asked. An example of this is Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line." On this one, Roddy Crowell, is the one with the blurbs.

One more style of storytelling, and my favorite, is the regular interview where the host asks questions and the guest, well, answers them. A typical Q and A. With some narration on the side. Kind of like 60 minutes. Ray Charles was interviewed in this fashion for What'd I Say and the interaction between guest and host, Robert Siegel, was pretty good.

There are just so many stories that I haven't gotten to yet. There are 100 in all, hence the name of the series. Hopefully I will get around to the rest of the stories and if I hear anything else I like I will certainly write about it.

LISTENING TO NPR

So I've been listening to NPR's list of 100 most important American musical works of the twentieth century and I must say they're pretty good. I found it while clicking on links at NPR. The programs aired in the year 2000. So I guess it would make sense to have a list like that at that time.

The segments are well produced, the guests and hosts are good as well. As guests they've had people like James Taylor, Loretta Lynn, Arlo Guthrie, Al Green, Ray Charles and Paul Simon. So you can't go wrong with guests like that. Although, the host who interviewed James Taylor for the song Fire and Rain did treat James like he might bust out crying at any moment. I know the song is autobiographical about a painful time in his life, but that was forty years ago. I'm sure James has learned to cope with it by now. And maybe even humorously. James is an amusing guy and anyone who's been to one of his concerts would know this.

My favorite guest so far has been Rodney Crowell for Johnny Cash's I Walk the Line. Rodney is a Grammy winning Country music artist. He was once married to Rosanne Cash, who is Johnny's daughter. I haven't listened to all of the stories yet. So my favorite might change. One of the things I liked about Rodney was his description of Cash's voice. He said something like, if any one of those faces on Mount Rushmore could sing, it would come out singing like Johnny Cash. I thought that was a pretty descriptive way of putting it, and probably quite true. Of course, if those sculptures could talk, they would sound like James Earl Jones.

I've learned a few things from the programs which could be used on the podcasts. One of them being to have a point of view. This definitely makes the stories more interesting. I'll keep you posted on other stories that grabbed my attention. Till next time.

"HURT" BY NINE INCH NAILS AND JOHNNY CASH

Hurt by Nine Inch Nails was the next song picked for a podcast. It's a pretty depressing song, if you ask me. It does, however, have an interesting story. Trent Reznor wrote it and in fact Trent IS Nine Inch Nails. He does everything except stand at the Walmart counter and sell it to you. Actually, who knows if they even sell it at Walmart...Just checked and they do, but only online and in limited stores. I'm surprised because Nine Inch Nails has songs with titles like Star#*@#er. And lyrics that would make Christian Bale blush.

Anyway, one of the most interesting facts about the album, The Downward Spiral, which includes Hurt is that Trent rented a house to set up his equipment and record the album. What Reznor didn't realize until later when someone told him, was that the house he rented was where Sharon Tate was killed by Charles Manson's butchers. Once Trent was out of the house, he supposedly tried to convinced the owner to tear down the house. The owner did tear down the house eventually.

Another good story about Hurt was that Johnny Cash covered it and won a Country Music Award for best single. The video also won a Grammy. Another interesting turn of events is that the house on the video, which is Johnny Cash's house in Tennessee, was bought by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees once Johnny passed away. He was renovating it when the house burned down. Who knows, maybe the ghost of Johnny Cash didn't want a Bee Gee to live there. And what is a Bee Gee anyway. Can you imagine Johnny singing Stayin' Alive. That would be something. Oh man, I wish I could do voices.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get anyone interested in being interviewed. I tried the fan sites but no one bit. Maybe I will try a book author. I've tried to get real authors, but haven't had any luck. I'm sure we will eventually.

THE LOST PODCAST

We did a podcast that I think of as The Lost Podcast. The podcast in question is about the Donna Summer song Love To Love You Baby. It's an interesting story about the beginnings of the disco era. Donna Summer is known as the Queen of Disco. She has expanded to other types of music and has sold an impressive 130 million records worldwide.

One of the more interesting facts I found out was that Donna testified at a murder trial she witnessed when she was a teen. She actually knew the person on trial. He was from the neighborhood. That must've been tough for her and her family because there is always the fear of retaliation from the guy's friends. Just think of it. What would you do in that situation? I don't know what I would've done. It would've been pretty easy for me to say that I couldn't see well cause I need a new set of glasses. I guess Donna did the right thing and it worked out for her. This was one of the reasons she left for Germany, where she hooked up with Giorgio Moroder and as they say, the rest is history.

Giorgio Moroder is an Italian record producer who has been a big part of Donna's career. Giorgio has gone on to win three Oscars, for Top Gun, Flashdance, and Midnight Express. When he produced the song for Donna, it was just a demo for someone else to sing. He then showed it to Neil Bogart from Casablanca. He liked it so much that he didn't want anyone else to sing it. They eventually released it.

We interviewed Cathy, a fan who has a Donna Summers tribute site. The raw interview had potential. The reason it is considered as the Lost Podcast is because I did not back up the file and it got lost. This won't happen again because I now have Carbonite? And it backs up everything quickly.

I haven't really contacted her to redo it because it's embarrassing. Maybe I'll ask someone else. The research and the questions are done already, so might as well. Every podcast, if done correctly, is a learning experience. And I am pretty sure that I've gotten something out of this.

BACK TO WORK

That felt good. Taking some time off, that is. I was, as they say in self-help lingo, sharpening the saw. Which kind of means relaxing so that you can resume to work refreshed. In my case, however, I was busy reformating my hard drive and re-installing all the software. This is no way to relax and is actually the opposite of relaxing. I suppose these are the trials and tribulations of using a computer. It's not like I was checking out porn or downloading illegal music. There are actually people out there who will put viruses on Christmas images. Oh well.


I'm looking forward to working on Story of Songs this year. I can't wait to find out which songs we do and who we interview. Both are, of course, crucial to the success or failure of the podcasts. Some songs have terrific stories. One would think that just repeating the story would make a good podcast. It hasn't turned out that way however. It's very easy for a bad interviewee to ruin an otherwise good story. I imagine the same is also true in reverse. A good interviewee can make a lackluster story shine. That might be one of our goals. It would be good to take a regular top forty song and get the best possible person to do the interview. It would be interesting to hear the results.

I will also continue writing the blog. Writing it is kind of interesting for me and I've learned things that I would not otherwise have known. If anyone read the Christmas blogs, they would know what I mean. How would anyone know, for instance, that Irving Berling, who wrote White Christmas, had an infant son who died. On Christmas Day. That must've been heartbreaking. Or that "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" was banned in Boston.

Anyway, so here's to the New Year. And new administration while we're at it.

Cheers

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We wish you all a Happy New Year from the staff at Story Of Songs.

MORE CHRISTMAS SONGS

There are so many good Christmas songs that would make good podcasts that I thought I'd write about a few more.  One that I think would be interesting is White Christmas. I know I mentioned it briefly last week but what I didn't know until a few days ago is that Irving Berlin, who wrote the song, was beset with tragedies. For one, his first wife contracted pneumonia during their honeymoon and died as a result. Another horrible tragedy is that his infant son, Irving Berlin Jr, from his second wife, died on Christmas day. That was something that affected him the rest of his life.

Another song could come from the album A Christmas Gift For You from Phil Spector. It is now considered a classic Christmas album. Sleigh Ride by The Ronettes is probably the most popular of the songs. When the album first came out it was a flop. It had the misfortune of being released on November 22, 1963, which is the day John F Kennedy was shot. I doubt Phil Spector would do the interview, although you never know. 

One last song that I think would make a particularly good podcast is I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause written by Jimmy Boyd. I had never heard of Jimmy Boyd, but apparently he was some kind of a child prodigy. He also has a great story. He wrote the song when he was a month shy of thirteen years old. It became an instant hit that sold two and a half million records in its first week. That was a big deal in the early fifties.  The most interesting part of the story is that the Catholic Church in Boston banned the record because it mixed sex with Christmas. According to news stories, Jimmy Boyd went to the Archdiocese in Boston and explained what the song was all about. The Catholic Church lifted the ban the very next year. I guess it took them that long to figure it out.

Like I said last week, I could go on. I was hoping to say that I have to do some Christmas wrapping. No such luck. Still need to do some shopping. I think i'm going to start using the Ringo hello and goodbye. Peace and love.