Saturday, November 8, 2008

Bell Bottom of the Barrel Blues

I've started and stopped at least three posts this morning. One even made it to a second paragraph and another actually contained a link, perhaps even more than one. Yet each was nothing but a piece of soulless hackwork, and forcing lines on politics is nothing but a well-placed chisel to my sanity, another piece chipped off, destined to become dust.

But I had nothing else.

So I did what any fool would do when the odds are against him: run like hell to a safe place, a music post.



Whether you're in love, wish you were, are beyond drowning in it to relish every fathom of your descent, wish you could stab it, avoid it, wish it never existed, dream the endless pining would stop, listen up to some good stuff. If you don't dig that, you've got problems worse than mine.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'm definitely diggin' it ... thanks bunches for posting a song that, truly, is very high up there in my personal Top 10.

Utah Savage said...

I know I've heard it, but can't place the players or the time frame. And yes, it's actually listenable, unlike your usual head banger music. And you've given me an idea for a posts.

susan said...

Eric Clapton with Derek and the Dominoes from the album 'Layla', Utah. It comes from a time when it seemed it would always be fashionable to explore the many iterations of love. Boy, talk about old fashioned.

DivaJood said...

Love me some Derek and the Dominoes. And 'Layla' was one of THE difinitive anthems of desperated love. Glad to know you listen to more than metal, RG.

Mauigirl said...

Clapton rocks. Always loved Bell Bottom Blues and Layla (both plugged and unplugged versions).

Randal Graves said...

anita, I know Layla gets the most accolades off this album, and perhaps rightly so, but this might be my favorite track off of it.

utah, jeez, you all overlook when I toss up some Beethoven or Schubert or Chausson?

You're going to do a heavy metal post? Excellent!

susan, you beat me to it! Not all old-fashioned things are bad.

diva, see my comment to utah. I'm a multi-faceted man. Of course, for that snide remark, more metal in the future, boss. Muah.

mauigirl, ugh, you mean the unplugged skiffle version? Yikes. We'll agree to disagree. ;-)

okjimm said...

// a piece of soulless hackwork, //

hey, don't be dis-ing soulless hackwork.... gees... sales and marketing are my bread&butter&(beer). In fact, I owe soulless hackwork everything..... migraines, insomnia, ulcers and painfully persistent rectal itch.

I try to look on the bright side of things.

Utah Savage said...

Okjimm's a genius. Anyone else notice that? Might be time for a post of the Leningrad Cowboys version of "Alway Look on the Bright Side of Life."

Tom Harper said...

Thanks for the nostalgic moment.

Non Je Ne Regrette Rien said...

mais, l'amour n'existe pas.

Bruce Anderson said...

ah - beautfiul beatufiul song....thanks for that. We will be going to itunes to get this, because it's a classic and always makes me smile.

Betty Carlson said...

This is my favorite song from the album, which is probably at least in my top fifty albums (I don't want to get too carried away...)

I think I'll go put it on right now.

Anonymous said...

"mais, l'amour n'existe pas" ... i'm agreeing with 'non, je ne regret rien' here. although to be honest, i go back and forth on that, maybe because l'amour is so goddamn painful at times. i'd rather stick my head in the sand (or, at least keep it there because that's where it spends most of its time).

anyway, my point being to randal: je ne regret's comment is a great title (or subject) for a randal post.

so, get crackin' randal!!

anita

;)

PS ... hope you don't think i'm being presumptuous here. eh. so be it. i AM presumptuous. sometimes. sometimes not. (hey, i'm a pisces, give me a break on that one!!)

Angie said...

Very nice tune! Music posts are a safe haven. Most of the time anyway... Hope you're haveing a good weekend.

Utah Savage said...

It's odd that I didn't know who this was since I have every album/CD Eric Clapton ever made. At least after he left Derek and the Dominos--never heard of Derek and the Dominos--can you give me a year so I can try to figure out where I was? This is indeed disorienting.

Now I have a bone to pick with you Randal. You have turned me back into the obsessed and furious football fan I was in my younger days. I knew two great football players in their college years. Now I can't stop trying to track them down. And nobody gives a shit. Yes, these men are now both in their 60's but they were GREAT PLAYERS. Has no one an interest in football when there were no Tennessee Tigers or whatever the crap their name is. I knew the roster of every great team of the 60's and 70's. Those were the days my friends. I thought they'd never end. And now I'm stuck there trying to track these guys down. If it weren't for your fucking football posts, I'd never have remembered my football obsessed past. God damn it. Now I can't stop thinking about it.

Anonymous said...

"Not all old-fashioned things are bad."

I hope you mean that, because I'm going to date myself here. But if you're talking deeply, beautifully romantic music, quality is timeless.

Frank Sinatra, "You Go To My Head," "Laura" "The Very Thought of You" and "The Second Time Around."

Elvis Presley, "Don't Say Don't."

Kup said...

Hit the spot...

Dean Wormer said...

Thank you for that. A nice mellow way to slide into the morning.

Life As I Know It Now said...

I don't dig Clapton the way lots of others do but oh well, it's an o.k. song I guess.

Now on to more important stuff--I have given you another bloggy award for your writing so come on over and get it.

Randal Graves said...

okjimm, I remember you from that movie, The Life Of Okjimm!

utah, you know those stupid Chicken Soup for the Soul books they have? They should make them with okjimm's wisdom. He's like a beer-swilling zen Buddha dude.

tom, my pleasure.

JNRR, tu n'as pas raison. L'amour existe dans le rêve.

OJL, it's nearly perfect because the sentiment it wants to put forth is beautifully matched to the music. It's something I wish I had written, if I had any musical ability.

betty, no, get carried away, lists, lists, give us lists! ;-)

anita, oh, man, a post on l'amour n'existe pas? Are you mad? I ain't touching that with a ten-foot foot-in-mouth. ;-)

angie, that's exactly what they are, aren't they.

utah, muah! It always brings joy to this cold heart when I can spread a little misery. Give me some information (teams, when they played, positions, all that crap) and I'll see what I can find out.

FOOTBALL!

swa, of course I do. Hell, I love troubadour stuff, and that shit is 800 years old. But the songs you listed are also damn good.

sal, now I feel like a huckster for K-Tel.

dean, I'm glad everyone liked it. I generally don't get that reaction when I toss up some Slayer. ;-)

liberality, I don't either, as I think most of his solo stuff is snooze city, but this is a monstrously wonderful album.

Non Je Ne Regrette Rien said...

rg- peut-etre, mais les reves n'est pas l'existence.

Anonymous said...

Dude...did you want to see me crawl across the floor?