A little something from the great Tom Rush: To those who have their loves close by: Be grateful.
Category: music
Nov 08 2023
Have A Little Afternoon Music
…for lovers in the afternoon of life: Dan Fogelberg wrote it; Glass Hammer raised it to glory.
Oct 30 2023
Stories Told In Song
I love a song that tells a good story. Here’s a traditional, performed by Pentangle: In Bruton town there lived a farmer Who had two sons and one daughter dear. By day and night they were contriving To fill their sister’s heart with care. One told his secrets to no other, but to his …
Oct 26 2023
Things Have Been Getting Too Heavy
…so let’s have some music. Here’s Emmylou Harris, from her Stumble Into Grace album: God bless you, Emmylou.
Sep 23 2023
A Musical Reminiscence
The older I get, the more my thoughts are occupied by my past. That’s hardly unusual. Neither is it difficult to explain. After all, more of a septuagenarian’s life lies behind him than ahead of him, exceedingly unlikely advances in human longevity excepted. Besides, a man in his seventies hardly has the range of …
Sep 16 2023
Music For The Ages
In my not-terribly-humble and completely irrelevant opinion, in all the annals of classical composition, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti reign supreme – and Brandenburg Concerto Nr. 3 is the pinnacle of the group. It’s been my favorite classical piece ever since I was a boy. But the Brandenburg Concerti were written for a chamber orchestra …
Sep 13 2023
De-Angrifying Music
Sometimes, nothing else will do the job for me. Herewith, The Telling, with the concluding track from their brilliant first album Blue Solitaire: May you know peace and contentment. They’re getting pretty hard to find, lately.
Sep 10 2023
Some Music For Your Afternoon
With the summer drawing to a close, preparations for the autumn season are in progress. Here at the Fortress, we’re slowly gathering the outdoor impedimenta of summer and taking it to storage, while inside we’re making adjustments to the décor, unloading the summer rounds from the guns and reloading with autumn-appropriate rounds. Yes, really! …
Sep 08 2023
Music For A Friday Afternoon
Each decade has its stand-outs. Sometimes, the dominant modes and motifs of a particular period can cause some of the best offerings of that time to languish in obscurity. It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing to be done about it, other than to enjoy what you enjoy and cluck over the neglected artists’ misfortune. …
Aug 24 2023
When The World Is Too Much With Me
I’m old: 71. The older I get, the less patience I have for a great many irritating and inconveniencing things. A barrage of those things will send me to one of my “escape hatches:” fiction; music; yard work; chess; weapons (this is a big one lately); cooking; or some other. Each of them possesses …
Jul 27 2023
Music For A Windy Afternoon
We’re getting gusts of thirty to forty knots out of the northwest, and Weather.Com is predicting thunderstorms, so let’s have some thematic music. This is Glass Hammer’s cover of the Yes classic South Side of the Sky, featuring Jon Anderson and Susie Bogdanowicz on lead vocals: A river a mountain to be crossed The …
Jul 19 2023
It’s Time For Music
…here at the Fortress – but nothing too upbeat today: It was a night meeting Somewhere in a troubled land They came with no greeting Left without a shaken hand. Nearby the town sleeping Was unaware of what was done No need for watchkeeping They’ll be gone before the sun. You may not see …
Jul 09 2023
Yes, I’m still here
I’m pretty sure that when our gracious host invited me to blog here, he expected a bit more output from me. I do apologize, but my time seems to constantly be gobbled up by all sorts of various undertakings, both physical and mental. However I do try to find some time to smell the roses, …
Jun 30 2023
Some Afternoon Music
I can’t imagine how anyone could remain downhearted or depressed when listening to this classic Nitty Gritty Dirt Band track: Be of good cheer, my dear Gentle Readers. We shall prevail!
Jun 29 2023
Some Music For A Summer Afternoon
Have an old favorite from a group that far too many dismissed as “pretentious” and “unoriginal:”
Jun 27 2023
Music As Prayer
“He who sings prays twice.” – Catholic maxim I was in the middle of the Rosary when I was seized by a powerful desire to hear this piece: Jennifer Warnes’s rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Song of Bernadette:” (Yes, I finished five decades before succumbing.)
Jun 14 2023
Some Music To Lift Your Spirits
Neither I nor anyone else could say anything that would embellish or diminish this magnificent piece: The Flower Kings have been erratic over the years, but this piece is one of the jewels in Prog-Rock’s crown.
Mar 21 2023
Things Are Looking Up
Someone with my proclivities has to be reminded that happiness requires him to “stay close to home:” that is, to keep the greater part of his attention on things that are personally important to him, and to hold the “big stuff” that occupies the attention of the talking heads at a good distance for …
Mar 17 2023
Something Beautiful For Your Friday Afternoon
Because there’s more than enough ugliness to go around: Enjoy.
Mar 11 2023
Saturday Afternoon Music
I’d been thinking about the many changes that have come over my neighborhood since I moved in here, forty-four years ago. I expected few of them. Fewer still have struck me as improvements. But the only constant in life is change, until life ends and one changes no more. Dire Straits, in its …
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