Revolving Circle

Song 561: This week the playlist puts the spotlight on Spinning Wheel by Blood Sweat and Tears, written by David Clayton-Thomas, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Following last week's bit featuring Even Dozen Jug Band luminary Maria Muldaur, this week's track comes from a group that included fellow Jug Band mate Steve Katz. I didn't necessarily enjoy the various RnR genres that emerged in the closing years of the 1960s, including the jazz-rock style that B, S & T embodied, but this 45 got my hoops turning quite rapidly when it lit up the airwaves around the time I graduated HS, in June of 1969. Less than 2 years later, during the winter of 1971, as a sophomore at Northwestern U., I got a ticket to watch the band perform live at the college auditorium, and I definitely relished hearing the horns that night. Having grown up in an area that prizes carousels, and that still champions them, I understood at a young age that what goes up must come down and a spinning wheel has got to go round, so it always felt good to ride a painted pony and let the spinning wheel spin. Regarding the bad times currently percolating, I think it makes sense to drop all your troubles by the riverside, ride a painted pony and let the spinning wheel fly, if and when the chance comes along.

The Time at the Special Place

 Song 560: This week the playlist comes around to Midnight at the Oasis by Maria Muldaur, written by David Nichtern, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Around the time my companion and I fled the fierce Chicago winter, moving to Atlanta, GA, in February of 1974, this single got a lot of attention as it climbed the charts, and for good reason. Back then I knew a bit about the history of the Even Dozen Jug Band, but I only learned of Maria's membership in that group a few years ago, mainly thanks to Wikipedia, so at the point when this hit stirred the airwaves, I did not have a clue about the dues MM had paid to set the stage for her stardom. Regardless of how she arrived, though, this jangle quickly got a bunch of us singing along, and according to what she hears from fans at her concerts in recent years, during its chart excursion, the piece inspired plenty of sexual encounters, loss of virginity, and pregnancy. Understandably, when we see heaven's holding a half-moon shining just for us, we might want to slip off to a sand dune real soon and kick up a little dust. Despite the current pandemic situation, at least some of us can still get to the place where we've got shadows painting our faces and traces of romance in our heads.

Monetary Influence on Duration

 Song 559: This week on the playlist you can hear If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time by Lefty Frizzell, written by Lefty Frizzell and Jim Beck, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. During my single-digit years in the 1950s, my family would go see the Ohio relatives every summer, and on those trips I got to hear a bunch of major country hits, thanks to my aunt and uncle having a truly impressive LP collection of classic C&W spinners. This cut rode the airwaves a year before I was born, so on those recurring visits, I quickly learned the gem, to the point where I could soon sing along, and I relished the chance to do so. Of course, growing up in a fundamentalist household, I'd never admit any intentions to dance, drink beer and wine, but as long as I didn't put a magnifying glass on those lines, they got no particular scorn. Also, living in a lightly-patriarchal circle, it did sound a bit strange to have the male expect the female to provide the monetary flow, but I could very well understand the compelling reason to start out tonight and to spread joy, since if you spread it right you have more fun, baby, all the way down the line.

Experts of Destruction

 Song 558: This week on the playlist you’ll find Masters of War by Bob Dylan, who also wrote the song, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I started becoming a Dylan fan soon after Peter, Paul and Mary brought Blowin' in the Wind to everyone's attention. Over the following years, I kept seeing Bob's name on songs I really liked, such as Mr. Tambourine Man (Song 326) and It Ain't Me Babe, but I didn't get to hear his own voice until I arrived at Northwestern U. in September of 1969. On my first day at the dormitory, I met a fellow student named Smiley who played a BD 33 for me, and I initially didn't care for the sound of his voice, judging its quality as the reason that he had succeeded much more as a writer than a singer. Over the next year, though, I became a major fan, thanks in part to a roommate who would spin his first greatest hits LP quite a bit. At a certain point in that stretch, I added the Freewheelin' disc to my collection, and it soon became a favorite, making me appreciate Mr. Zimmerman even more. This cut graces that album, and before long, I had rated it as one of the best antiwar songs of all time, and possibly THE BEST. That being the case, I decided to add it to the list now because today, 4/4/21, marks the 17th year commemoration of the death of Casey Sheehan in Iraq. I learned of his demise in July of 2005 when his mother Cindy shared the story on a podcast, and included a poem written about Casey by her daughter Carly. Hearing this moving story and poem inspired me to finish an antiwar song I had started, which became Song for Casey. I posted that Elder Statesman track on SoundCloud today, and you can hear it by clicking on the title. I offer my sympathy to Cindy, Carly, and the rest of their family, for their loss, and I'd say that all the money the Masters of War made from their Iraq destruction clearly will never buy back their souls.