Or at least try sometimes to be happy despite your worries. But it’s not like we’re giving advice here, because what do we know. In any case a catchy tune couldn’t hurt.
Video
The Art of the Remake XVII
You Ain’t No Big Thing Baby, Sam and Dave (1963)
An early, solid soul song from the mighty Sam and Dave.
You Ain’t No Big Thing Baby, Holly Golightly (1998)
Holly’s version is more brooding and sultry.
Holly heard something in the song that was a lot different from the original.
She tore it to bits and made it her own, as we here at The Art of the Remake Division of the Chicago Boyz Zaibatsu demand.
And her live version of it is yet a third interpretation, more of a rave up, with harmonica.
Nice.
“The Speech” — Ronald Reagan, October 27, 1964
Fifty years ago today Ronald Reagan made a famous televised speech in support of Barry Goldwater’s doomed presidential candidacy. The speech was entitled “A Time for Choosing” — but it came to be known simply as “The Speech”.
As Goldwater crashed and burned, Reagan ascended in a single bound to being the leader and embodiment of the American Conservative movement.
It was a spectacular launch to his political career.
Michael Barone has a good piece about The Speech today.
Much of it could be read today and it would still apply, word for word.
UPDATE:
Here is a good article about The Speech and the rise of Reagan: Reagan, Goldwater and Rise of Conservatism, by Pat Horan.
The Art of the Remake XVI
Over the past year or so I have been dinking around on the banjo. I bought a decent instrument along with a couple of books and have been watching a few youtube videos here and there. In general, along with getting some basics down, I am trying to listen to bluegrass songs to try get my ear put together. I am stuck for time – running a business, raising kids, running a tiny farm and all the rest and didn’t want any big commitment – so when I feel like playing, I play. When I don’t, I like looking at it in the corner of the room. After I get some decent basic technique put together and know basic cords, and have some extra time, probably in 2024 or so, I may start taking some lessons.
The banjo is a surprisingly fun instrument to play, and even when you miss, the mistakes aren’t really cringeworthy, like if you were playing a clarinet or trombone. Progress has been slow, but I probably have 25 or 30 years left on this mortal coil to perfect my skills – or not.
Anyways, on the way home from work, after I get the financial headlines from Bloomberg on XM, I typically flip it over to the Bluegrass channel. A few days ago I heard this remake of a (bad) familiar song. The original, from The Proclaimers:
I really have always hated that song.
This is the remake I heard, by Wayne Taylor and Apaloosa:
Obviously, this is the way this song was meant to be played.