Mark Dvorak at Friday at the Ford
Friday night of September 19 was a joyous occasion as singer-songwriter Mark Dvorak returned to Thomas Ford to perform original songs and beloved folk classics. We had been looking forward … Continue reading
Jim Green’s Concert at Friday at the Ford
The library is a place for learning. Everyone who came to Jim Green’s concert at the Thomas Ford Library in May learned the sound of percussive acoustic guitar, a method … Continue reading
All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release by Jean-Michele Guesdon and Philippe Margotin
The spindle on my inner phonograph is stacked high with Beatles records. I have just finished reading All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release by Jean-Michele Guesdon and … Continue reading
Somebody Loan Me a Dime by Fenton Robinson
The name Fenton Robinson won’t immediately bring anything to mind for most people. But it should be as familiar as Buddy Guy or Otis Rush. Robinson not only wrote a … Continue reading
Who is William Onyeabor?
I’m not sure that the fifth volume in Luaka Bop’s World Psychedelic Classics series actually answers the question its title poses, Who is William Onyeabor? They admit to having only a … Continue reading
“Dancing Girl” by Terry Callier
Track #52 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist Well, this is the last post in 2013’s weekend series on music. Since we kicked the series off with a post on Chicago legend Howlin’ … Continue reading
“White Christmas” written by Irving Berlin
Track #51 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist “White Christmas” as recorded by Bing Crosby may be the highest selling single ever. Billboard and other charting services can only speculate because they … Continue reading
“Tzigane” by Maurice Ravel
Track #50 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist Jelly d’Arányi was a Hungarian violinist that lived a colorful life. Grand niece of legendary violinist Joseph Joachim, her own playing inspired works by Bartok, … Continue reading
“The Thing That Should Not Be” by Metallica
Track #49 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist Metal is more well read than most people think. It seems like every metal band has had a crack at some classic book or … Continue reading
“St. Louis Blues” by Bessie Smith
Track #48 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist “St. Louis Blues” is track #10 on the album The Essential Bessie Smith: 781.643 SMI Bessie Smith’s 1925 recording of “St. Louis Blues,” which features … Continue reading
“Range Life” by Pavement
Track #47 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist I like to think of “Range Life” as one of those the-road-is-so-tough songs. You know, like Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page” but for gen x’ers. … Continue reading
“Boo’s Blues” by Booker Ervin
Track #46 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist Booker Ervin is more famous for his stints with Charles Mingus than with his own bands. On albums like Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus and … Continue reading
“Thirteen” by Big Star
Track #45 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist Big Star is not just one of those bands that only serious music lovers and record shop perusers know, they’re one of those bands that … Continue reading
“Step Right Up” by Tom Waits
Track #44 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist I love Tom Waits’ moody side as much as anyone. Those early records from the ’70s are especially full of slow, minor-key, low-life themed masterpieces. … Continue reading
“The Ripper” by Judas Priest
Track #43 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist As far as pop music goes Halloween is a middling holiday. There’s “Monster Mash” of course, “Purple People Eater” maybe, “Thriller” and “Werewolves of London” … Continue reading
“Twenty Four Hours” by Joy Division
Track #42 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist One of the highlights of Joy Division bassist Peter Hook’s recent book Unknown Pleasures is a track by track discussion of the band’s two … Continue reading
“If You’re Feeling Sinister” by Belle and Sebastian
Track #41 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist It’s hard not to root for Jack Black and Katrina and the Waves in that scene from Hi-Fidelity. You know the one—Jack storms into the … Continue reading
“Tattoo” by The Who
Track #40 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist Welcome to my life, tattoo I’m a man now, thanks to you I expect I’ll regret you But the skin graft man won’t get you … Continue reading
“Open” by Rhye
Track #39 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist Automated music recommendations from iTunes, Spotify, and the like are a magical, wonderful, unfathomable thing. A few weeks ago I got this message on one … Continue reading
“Uruumdush” by Hanggai
Track #38 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist I first learned about throat-singing from a 1999 documentary called Ghengis Blues, an excellent film that’s partly about physicist Richard Feynman’s personal search for … Continue reading
“Help Me” by Sonny Boy Williamson (II)
Track #37 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist Borrowing is a part of the Blues, and it’s not only later Rock musicians borrowing from the Delta or Chicago Blues originators. Blues musicians borrowed … Continue reading
“Echos Myron” by Guided by Voices
Track #36 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist I’ve always imagined that the Myron of “Echos Myron” is the classical bronze sculptor, circa the 5th Century BC. Maybe it’s because the lyrics attach him … Continue reading
“That’s Where It’s At” by Sam Cooke
Track #35 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist I declared Van Morrison’s “Sweet Thing” my favorite love song in my last music post. I always find it hard to write something like that … Continue reading
“Sweet Thing” by Van Morrison
Track #34 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist One day, maybe a decade or so ago, I decided to do a little research on a name I had seen popping up in the … Continue reading
“What’s That?” by Sun Ra and his Arkestra
Track #33 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist Sun Ra’s birth name was Herman. Herman Blount. But he’s been known by all kinds of things, from Armen Blouhnt to Sonny Lee. Fact is, … Continue reading
“City’s Full” by Savages
Track #32 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist It’s hard to write about Savages without referring to all the post-punk bands they resemble. It’s so tempting to ramble on about Siouxsie this and … Continue reading
“Heroin” by The Velvet Underground
Track #31 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist In 1967 there was nothing in popular music that sounded quite like this. Sure, drug fueled psychedelic experimentation was common enough in music at … Continue reading
“Allah Wakbar” by Ofo and the Black Company
Track #30 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist This is a surprising little song, and somewhat mysterious to boot. It was recorded in England in 1972, by a band from Lagos, Nigeria. … Continue reading
“L’Enfant Sauvage” by Gojira
Track #29 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist I have a feeling that most of the readers of this library blog are not really into heavy metal. Just a hunch. But I grew … Continue reading
“Pressure Drop” by Toots and the Maytals
Track #28 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist It is you… I say a pressure drop, oh pressure Oh yeah pressure drop a drop on you I say when it drops, oh … Continue reading
“Quattro Pezi (su una nota sola)” by Giacinto Scelsi
Track #27 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist “What’s that noise?” This was my boss at the record store I used to work for, looking up at the overhead speakers warily. “It’s … Continue reading
“Pancho and Lefty” by Townes Van Zandt
Track #26 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist “Play uh… This song first called uh… Called uh Pancho and Lef… Sorry about the air conditioners being off but it, it won’t be … Continue reading
“Shadrach” by The Beastie Boys
Track #25 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist I grew up in a household full of all different kinds of music, especially Soul and Funk which my Mom loved to play around … Continue reading
“Lonely Woman” by Ornette Coleman
Track #24 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist There is a persistent notion of the avant-garde jazz musician as a solitary maverick, squealing away in a closed-off world of personal expression. A … Continue reading
“Help Me” by Joni Mitchell
Track #23 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist By 1974, Canadian singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell had plenty of loyal fans and had won much praise from music critics for her inventive lyrics and strange … Continue reading
“Girl U Want” by Devo
Track #22 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist It’s one of Devo’s most memorable moments. The riff is perfect—a hard edged single note guitar line that’s doubled by a trebley synth to … Continue reading
“When the Springtime Comes Again” by John Fahey
Track #21 on Thommy Ford’s Playlist I don’t really know how to sell people on the solo guitar music of John Fahey. “No really, that stuffy looking guy playing old … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #20: “Parsonz Curse”
Welcome to our series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the collection. … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #19: “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”
Welcome to our series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the collection. … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #18: “Zomby Woof”
Welcome to our series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the collection. … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #17: “Angel of Bergen-Belsen”
Welcome to our new series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #16: “Lush Life”
Welcome to our series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the collection. … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #15: “I Can’t Quit You Baby”
Welcome to our series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the collection. … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #14: “I Lost My Girl to an Argentinian Cowboy”
Welcome to our series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the collection. … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #13: “Lyrics of Fury”
Welcome to our series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the collection. … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #12: “The Yellow Rose of Texas”
Welcome to our new series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #11: “Jesus Christ Pose”
Welcome to our series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the collection. … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #10: “Chasin’ the Bird”
Welcome to our series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the collection. … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #9: “Just One More Day”
Welcome to our series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the collection. … Continue reading
Thommy Ford’s Playlist—Track #8: “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
Welcome to our series highlighting the music we have here at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. Each week of 2013 we will discuss one of our favorite songs from the collection. … Continue reading
