Kudos from around...
From the blog of Jim Bessman:
And so I am inspired again. But I neglect maybe the most inspiring Carlene Carter. She and the always-inspiring Graham Parker showcased for APAP two nights earlier at Joe’s Pub, the first time, she said, they were ever billed together. GP remains the most consistently compelling singer-songwriter to emerge from the new wave, and was a huge influence on Carlene (she used his pub-rock band the Rumour on her self-titled 1978 debut album). She gave him props after his typically self-deprecating solo set (he joked about getting confused for Gram Parsons and Richard Thompson and just sucking it up and going with it), then did an autobiographical set backed by piano and guitar that was truly triumphant: Here’s a woman with the greatest heritage in country music (the Carter Family, not to mention her step-father Johnny Cash), who caused a stir with her first rock-influenced country albums, then went through years of abuse and then the rapid-fire deaths of her mother June Carter, Cash, her sister Rosey Carter and ex-boyfriend/producer and former Petty’s Heartbreaker Howie Epstein, to emerge last year with the terrific comeback album “Stronger.”
At Joe’s Pub, she sang with abandon, looking and sounding so much like her adorable mother now instead of the glamorous rebel of her debut. And when she finished with “Stronger,” which was written for her sister (“I wanna crawl in that dark hole and curl up beside her/Wanna cradle her sweet soul and never let go”), mine weren’t the only eyes tearing up.
“Don’t shit on your talent!” bellowed Sandra Bernhard on New Year’s Eve, responding to a reveler who shouted out something about Amy Winehouse. The ever-glamorous Sandy, looking easily 30 years younger than she is, simply could not tolerate Winehouse’s appetite for self-destruction, her talent notwithstanding.
Carlene has now officially not shit on her talent. Go tell it on the mountain! Or take it from this post, three and a-half years in the making.
Sometimes it takes a while to get inspired.
And so I am inspired again. But I neglect maybe the most inspiring Carlene Carter. She and the always-inspiring Graham Parker showcased for APAP two nights earlier at Joe’s Pub, the first time, she said, they were ever billed together. GP remains the most consistently compelling singer-songwriter to emerge from the new wave, and was a huge influence on Carlene (she used his pub-rock band the Rumour on her self-titled 1978 debut album). She gave him props after his typically self-deprecating solo set (he joked about getting confused for Gram Parsons and Richard Thompson and just sucking it up and going with it), then did an autobiographical set backed by piano and guitar that was truly triumphant: Here’s a woman with the greatest heritage in country music (the Carter Family, not to mention her step-father Johnny Cash), who caused a stir with her first rock-influenced country albums, then went through years of abuse and then the rapid-fire deaths of her mother June Carter, Cash, her sister Rosey Carter and ex-boyfriend/producer and former Petty’s Heartbreaker Howie Epstein, to emerge last year with the terrific comeback album “Stronger.”
At Joe’s Pub, she sang with abandon, looking and sounding so much like her adorable mother now instead of the glamorous rebel of her debut. And when she finished with “Stronger,” which was written for her sister (“I wanna crawl in that dark hole and curl up beside her/Wanna cradle her sweet soul and never let go”), mine weren’t the only eyes tearing up.
“Don’t shit on your talent!” bellowed Sandra Bernhard on New Year’s Eve, responding to a reveler who shouted out something about Amy Winehouse. The ever-glamorous Sandy, looking easily 30 years younger than she is, simply could not tolerate Winehouse’s appetite for self-destruction, her talent notwithstanding.
Carlene has now officially not shit on her talent. Go tell it on the mountain! Or take it from this post, three and a-half years in the making.
Sometimes it takes a while to get inspired.
posted by cathy at 9:07 PM
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