Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
The 2008 Political "A Song for You"
In 1980 I watched the Willie Nelson, Dianne Cannon movie "Honeysuckle Rose" in which Willie did a song entitled "A Song for You". While I was a pretty hardcore metal head, I really enjoyed Willie's guitar work on the song and the lyrics were haunting. About the only time my generation (the older, but still disillusioned Gen Xers) heard this song was when Willie sang it alone or with Ray Charles. Keep in mind this was a time when people in Detroit and Brooklyn were buying $300 back-cut boa skin boots and wearing big rodeo belt buckles--so Willie and his resulting Outlaw movement gave this song some exposure.
I later found a Ray Charles solo version of the song that was much more keyboard heavy and convinced me that Ray was the writer of the song. It was much more soulful and knowing that Willie would sing any song with anybody, anywhere, and at anytime--I concluded that Ray had to be the song's writer. The song had innate blackness--the suffering, the soulfulness just a certain as the blues has the same blackness. It did not matter to me--I was born in Texas and heard the "N" word more times than any soul should, unless of course one is growing up in an inner city black community. I like what I like for its inherent value not any racial or other reason of bias.
More recently, Usher and Christina Aguilara did wonderful covers of the song. I loved both versions and added them to my Willie and Ray favorite versions on You Tube. I then found a haunting, and perhaps the best version of the song by a performer named Donny Hathaway. Turns out Donny was a Black guy so my theory of the songs "Blackness" was correct I had just attributed the origin to Ray Charles. Again, it did not matter each performer gave their own flavor to the song and each version was beautiful.
I eventually learned that the song was written by Claude Russell Bridges, better known as Leon Russell, a white guy who was heavily influenced by blues, gospel and rock. I heard Leon's original recording of the song and it was not my favorite as he, as a white guy was trying just a little too hard to sound black--or bluesy or maybe he was not the best singer, but I had to respect him because he was the writer of the song that caused the other performers to put the innate soulfulness into the song. I later heard Leon sing the song with Willie and Ray, thirty years after his original version and his style was much more relaxed but just as bluesy.
So what does this have to do with the 2008 political election. It is not about the color of the person but the flavor of their song--a song that should have a uniquely American flavor, which by definition has touches of several flavors. However, if the person, no matter their color, is not able to perform the song beautifully they should not be added to our Favorites menu on You Tube. I submit to you that the two political parties have given us two candidates that are the equivalent of OJ Simpson and Wayne Newton hacking Leon Russell's song. Ray Charles is rolling over in his grave. And we all lose.
I later found a Ray Charles solo version of the song that was much more keyboard heavy and convinced me that Ray was the writer of the song. It was much more soulful and knowing that Willie would sing any song with anybody, anywhere, and at anytime--I concluded that Ray had to be the song's writer. The song had innate blackness--the suffering, the soulfulness just a certain as the blues has the same blackness. It did not matter to me--I was born in Texas and heard the "N" word more times than any soul should, unless of course one is growing up in an inner city black community. I like what I like for its inherent value not any racial or other reason of bias.
More recently, Usher and Christina Aguilara did wonderful covers of the song. I loved both versions and added them to my Willie and Ray favorite versions on You Tube. I then found a haunting, and perhaps the best version of the song by a performer named Donny Hathaway. Turns out Donny was a Black guy so my theory of the songs "Blackness" was correct I had just attributed the origin to Ray Charles. Again, it did not matter each performer gave their own flavor to the song and each version was beautiful.
I eventually learned that the song was written by Claude Russell Bridges, better known as Leon Russell, a white guy who was heavily influenced by blues, gospel and rock. I heard Leon's original recording of the song and it was not my favorite as he, as a white guy was trying just a little too hard to sound black--or bluesy or maybe he was not the best singer, but I had to respect him because he was the writer of the song that caused the other performers to put the innate soulfulness into the song. I later heard Leon sing the song with Willie and Ray, thirty years after his original version and his style was much more relaxed but just as bluesy.
So what does this have to do with the 2008 political election. It is not about the color of the person but the flavor of their song--a song that should have a uniquely American flavor, which by definition has touches of several flavors. However, if the person, no matter their color, is not able to perform the song beautifully they should not be added to our Favorites menu on You Tube. I submit to you that the two political parties have given us two candidates that are the equivalent of OJ Simpson and Wayne Newton hacking Leon Russell's song. Ray Charles is rolling over in his grave. And we all lose.
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