Archive for July, 2015

President Jimmy Carter talks books, Willie Nelson and decriminalization of marijuana

Friday, July 31st, 2015

www.sfgate.com
by:  John McMurtie

When Jimmy Carter nearly bounds out of a hotel armchair to greet a journalist, it’s refreshing to see that the 90-year-old former president has not been passing the time — like so many of us these days — deep in a smartphone. Instead, he’s holding a book, a murder mystery by P.D. James.

Carter has been an avid reader all his life, and he is certainly no stranger to the written word. He has just published his 29th book, “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety” (Simon & Schuster; 257 pages; $28). It’s a sweeping and often tender overview of his life in which he guides readers through his hardscrabble boyhood in the mostly African American community of Archery, Ga. (where he was raised in a Sears, Roebuck house and worked on the family farm), his time in the Navy (where Harry Truman’s order to end discrimination in the armed forces was “accepted with equanimity” — unlike what he witnessed at home), and, of course, his presidency and remarkably prolific post-presidency as a tireless activist. The book also includes some of his poetry and paintings; he recently finished a 30th book, a self-published collection of his art, which he took up in the Navy.

Carter lives in Plains, Ga., about two miles from Archery. He spoke about his book and current affairs on a one-day visit to San Francisco. His answers have been edited for length.

Read entire article here.

 

Q: What are you reading now that you like?

A: I just got this when I was in Denver. [Holds up a copy of P.D. James’ novel “A Certain Justice.”] The people at Tattered Cover, which is my favorite bookstore in the nation, when I asked them if they had a recent P.D. James, they gave me a whole stack of P.D. James. I finished another book on the Kindle yesterday. It was a book by a Norwegian writer, an exciting murder mystery called “The Snowman” [by Jo Nesbo].

Before that I read the autobiography of Willie Nelson, who’s my buddy. Willie Nelson used to be a running partner of mine. He was a darn good athlete, by the way. I think he had four letters in high school. He still was an avid runner when I was in the White House. So he would spend the night with me on occasion at the White House, and as he said in his autobiography, he smoked pot on the roof. [Laughs.]

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Former President Jimmy Carter once told Rolling Stone magazine that “all the good things I did as president, all the mistakes I made – you can blame half of that on Willie.”

Q: You stayed downstairs?

A: I did, yeah. He concealed his true partner and claimed that he was smoking with one of the servants at the White House, which was not exactly true. [Laughs.] It’s an interesting book. He extolls marijuana throughout the book, that he tried beer and tried whiskey and tried harsher drugs, but he settled on marijuana as the one that was for him.

Q: While we’re on the subject, what do you think of the direction the nation has taken, state by state, at least, as far as marijuana is concerned?

A: Well, I’ve commented on this a lot. In 1979, I made a major speech and I called for the decriminalization of marijuana. And it was well-received. When I was governor, we had a contest among southeastern governors, at least, to see who could have the smallest prison population. And so we decided among ourselves not to put people in prison for the possession of marijuana but to offer treatment for people who had an addiction. So when I was president, we evolved a nationwide policy, and that was one of the premises.

But at that time, we had one person per thousand who was in prison in America. A hundred people per hundred thousand. Now we have 750 people per hundred thousand. We have seven and a half times as many people in prison. And we have eight times as many black women in prison now as we did in 1981, when I left the White House. So that’s been one of the major concerns I’ve had as a non-lawyer, to criticize the American justice system, which is highly biased against black people and poor people. And it still is.

But I think there’s an awakening now of a realization that we too early congratulated ourselves on the end of racial prejudice and white supremacy. And that was a feeling that we had when I was president, that we had pretty much overcome that problem.”

— Jimmy Carter

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Celebrate! It’s Shoeshine Friday — the last one this month (don’t miss out)

Friday, July 31st, 2015

Willie Nelson created this music video with computer software, and it’s one of the greatest music videos ever. And Johnny Knoxville agrees with me.


“Me and my hero.”  — Johnny Knoxville

www.jackassworld.com

Here is my entry for the BEST VIDEO OF ALL TIME.

It’s Willie Nelson’s latest called “Shoeshine Man.” It’s basically Willie sitting in front of his computer singing the song while playing with the Photo Booth application … and it’s hilarious.

Written, produced, edited, directed, smoked, and starring Mr. Willie Nelson himself in what could have been no longer than 20 minutes, this video is more entertaining than those that cost millions. It’s simplicity and sheer nuttiness had me and everyone else in jackassworld howling like silly kids the whole time we were watching it. I bet I showed it to 30 people yesterday and I want to show it you today.

Here is my hero (and everyone else’s) Willie Nelson with his video that is so technologically advanced it’s obscene to be believed. This is “Shoeshine Man.”

Love,

Knoxville

Willie Nelson, “Bad Day on a Strange Horse”

Friday, July 31st, 2015

Thursday, July 30th, 2015

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Save our Humus! – the essential top layer of our soil (Graeme Sait at TEDxNoosa)

Thursday, July 30th, 2015

Learn all about Humus, the layer of soil essential for healthy food production which is being gradually depleted by unsustainable farming practices. Graeme Sait a lifelong human and soil health educator explains how 467 billion tons of carbon has been released from the soil into the atmosphere, and that we urgently need to return that carbon to the soil, and start replenishing the humus in order to reverse the impact.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Willie Nelson, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Somora, “Always on My Mind”

Thursday, July 30th, 2015

www.RollingStone.com
by: Stephen V. Betts

Willie Nelson has always relied on the kindness of his many celebrity friends, whether it’s to perform at the annual Farm Aid concerts or to share a duet with him on the seemingly endless string of LPs he has released throughout his 82 years. In April of 2002, several of those musical family members gathered at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for an informal tribute to the American treasure, with the eclectic lineup including Keith Richards, Sheryl Crow, Brian McKnight, Ryan Adams, Ray Price, Nora Jones and Dave Matthews.

In addition to all-star performances of some of the Red Headed Stranger’s most iconic tunes, the special also celebrated the release of Nelson’s The Great Divide, the 2002 LP that included several collaborations and featured three songs penned by Matchbox Twenty singer Rob Thomas, who duets with Nelson on “Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me),” which became a minor country hit. The more well-known release from the album was the Bernie Taupin and Matt Serletic-penned “Mendocino County Line,” a duet with Lee Ann Womack which made the Top Forty, becoming his first country hit to do so in 12 years. The tune would go on to win a CMA award for Vocal Event of the Year and the Grammy for Best Country Collaboration, and Womack joined Nelson and the house band to perform it during the special.

One of the most dramatic renditions of the night was of Nelson’s massive pop-country hit, “Always on My Mind,” which featured Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Coming four years before Bon Jovi would top the country charts with Jennifer Nettles on “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” the TV show performance featured Bon Jovi, sporting a cowboy hat, taking the first verse and delivering a somber vocal as Sambora and Nelson harmonize. The country great then steps up for the second verse, strumming his faithful guitar, Trigger, and putting his distinctive vocal spin on the song that won him a Grammy and a CMA award.

“Always on My Mind,” penned by Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson, who died July 20th, was also famously recorded by Elvis Presley, the Pet Shop Boys and many others. In 2013, Nelson revisited the track for his duets LP, To All the Girls…, recording it with Carrie Underwood.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/flashback-bon-jovi-sings-somber-duet-with-willie-nelson-20150730#ixzz3hRP8aSoa
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

The Best of Willie Nelson (Liberty Records)

Thursday, July 30th, 2015

best

Willie Nelson wasn’t at Liberty Records for much longer than a couple of cups of coffee, but he did record some great material for the label, including “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Hello Walls,” “Crazy,” and “Mr. Record Man.” This set includes all of these, plus a handful of others from the early portion of Nelson’s career, and it makes for a fine introduction to the songwriting side of Nelson, since some of the best songs he ever wrote are here.

~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide

Track List:

1 Funny How Time Slips Away 3:05
2 Hello Walls 2:24
3 The Part Where I Cry 2:21
4 Undo the Right 2:34
5 Wake Me When It’s Over 2:49
6 Crazy 2:52
7 Touch Me 2:14
8 One Step Beyond 2:27
9 Three Days 2:58
10 Half a Man 2:27
11 Where My House Lives 2:21
12 Mr. Record Man 2:32
13 Darkness on the Face of the Earth 2:49

Rest in Peace, Buddy Emmons

Thursday, July 30th, 2015

Willie Nelson and Buddy Emmons wrote, “Are You Sure ” together.

www.Tennesseean.com
by:  Julie Thanki

Pedal steel guitar innovator Buddy Emmons has died at the age of 78. Nicknamed “The Big E” for his height, Mr. Emmons, a member of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, played with some of country music’s finest, including Little Jimmy Dickens, Ernest Tubb and Ray Price, and his work forever changed the genre. The number of musicians he influenced over the past half-century is immeasurable.

“Buddy Emmons was truly a musical genius,” says Eddie Stubbs, WSM DJ and “Grand Ole Opry” announcer. “He had an unbelievable gift and was so forward thinking. He was placed here at a pivotal time, when the pedal steel guitar was a relatively new instrument. He took it to another level and expanded (the instrument’s) boundaries.”

Buddy Gene Emmons was born on Jan. 27, 1937, in Mishawka, Ind. His father bought him his first lap steel guitar at the age of 11, and the young boy quickly took to the instrument. Soon his parents noticed his musical aptitude and bought him a triple-neck steel guitar.

At 16, Mr. Emmons dropped out of school, then moved to Detroit to play in Casey Clark’s band. It was in this city that country music star Little Jimmy Dickens discovered him in the summer of 1955; by the July Fourth weekend of that year, Mr. Emmons was making his “Grand Ole Opry” debut as part of Dickens’ backing band, the Country Boys. With Mr. Emmons and guitarists Spider Wilson and Howard Rhoten, the band “reached its zenith,” Stubbs said after Wilson’s death in March.

In 1956, Dickens dissolved his band, and Mr. Emmons found a job as part of Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours. His crying pedal steel licks were an integral element of songs such as Tubb’s 1958 hit single “Half a Mind.”

Not only was Mr. Emmons a stunning musician, he also was a remarkable innovator, and would frequently tinker with his steel guitars, experimenting with different tunings and pioneering the split-pedal setup, which can be heard on “Half a Mind.” Mr. Emmons and musician Shot Jackson formed the Sho-Bud Guitar Co. in 1956. Less than a decade later, he’d leave Sho-Bud and create the Emmons Guitar Co. with Ron Lashley.

Mr. Emmons also was a talented songwriter. He and Willie Nelson co-wrote “Are You Sure”; this song was recently recorded by Kacey Musgraves for her 2015 album, “Pageant Material.” He recorded several solo albums over the course of his career as well. His 1963 release “Steel Guitar Jazz” was the first jazz record featuring pedal steel. He’d later join forces with Ray Pennington to form the Swing Shift Band; they’d release a handful of records together.

He’d return to Nashville in the mid-‘70s and would continue doing session work for some of country music’s top artists through the 1980s and ‘90s, including George Strait, Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood and John Anderson. In the late 1980s, he also accepted an offer to tour with the Everly Brothers, and he’d remain with them for 12 years.

Mr. Emmons retired from music after the death of his wife, Peggy, in 2007, whom he had married in 1967.

Farm Aid Concert 2015 Tickets on Sale Now

Thursday, July 30th, 2015

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For concert and ticket information:

www.FarmAid.org

Thursday, July 30th, 2015

Willie Nelson and Kelly Musgrave (Nashville) (9/27/13)

Thursday, July 30th, 2015

musgrave

http://www.classicalite.com

Willie Nelson @The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas (July 26, 2015)

Thursday, July 30th, 2015

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www. vegasseven.com
by:  Cindi Reed

Age has only seemed to improve Willie’s performance. His thin, haggard appearance adds even more authenticity to his outlaw country style. Time has given his voice an extra twang and his sad songs an extra gravitas. To belabor the point: He’s been singing “Funny How Time Slips Away” for more than 50 years.

The band was fantastic, Willie’s guitar is still on point and daughter Amy even made a cameo, harmonizing with her father. The show concluded with a gospel medley that was uniquely Willie. He combined old-timey salvation standards with “It’s All Going to Pot” and “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.” It made for an exquisite country catharsis:

Just keep the music playin’/
That’ll be a good goodbye/
Roll me up and smoke me when I die.

Set List

Whiskey River
Beer For My Horses
Good Hearted Woman
Funny How Time Slips Away
Crazy
Night Life
Down Yonder
Me and Paul
If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time
Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground
On the Road Again
Always on My Mind
Jambalaya
Hey Good Lookin’
Move it On Over
Nuages
Georgia on a Fast Train
Georgia On My Mind

 

Neil Young’s letter to Promise of the Real

Thursday, July 30th, 2015

“Thanks to Promise of the Real for making this tour such a wonderful experience in my life.

I love all the bands I have played with, but this band (and the multi generational thing) is epic!

The ?#?RebelContentTour? was an experience I will never forget.  Once in a lifetime.

The guys, Lukas, Micah, Corey, Tony and Tato are the greatest!

Amazing how easy and natural it was to rock on the old songs and the brand new ones – from Cortez to Big Box, from Wolf Moon to Out On The Weekend.”

— Neil Young

An American Event: Farm Aid

Wednesday, July 29th, 2015

For information about the 2015 Farm Aid fundraising concert, on September 19, 2015, in Chicago, visit:

www.FarmAid.org

Willie Nelson and Ray Price, “Run That By Me One More Time”

Wednesday, July 29th, 2015