Tag Archives: 1938

RIP Bill Withers (1938 – 2020)

“Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?” (1972)

Bill Withers was an American singer-songwriter known for songs such as “Lean on Me”, “Use Me” and “Ain’t No Sunshine”.

I give you “Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?” (1972) because it’s one of the best adultery songs ever with the unforgettable opening lines:

A man we passed just tried to stare me down
And when I looked at you
You looked at the ground

While researching this death, I came across a rather smart piece of music criticism by the American author Robert Christgau (born 1942):

“Withers sang for a black nouveau middle class that didn’t yet understand how precarious its status was. Warm, raunchy, secular, common, he never strove for Ashford & Simpson-style sophistication, which hardly rendered him immune to the temptations of sudden wealth—cross-class attraction is what gives ‘Use Me’ its kick. He didn’t accept that there had to be winners and losers, that fellowship was a luxury the newly successful couldn’t afford.

RIP Kenny Rogers (1938 – 2020)

Kenny Rogers was an American singer mainly known for his work in country music.

Since I have but a flimsy a connection with that genre, my lemma on Mr. Rogers is satisfyingly brief.

However, early in his career, Kenny put out two quirky and interesting records.

“Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” (1967)

The first is “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)“, a song that reflects the LSD experience and captures the short-lived psychedelic era of the late 1960s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFZsZ7O1Z8o
“Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town”

Then there is “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town“, a song about the male angst of a paralyzed Vietnam war veteran and his wife who goes to town to find a lover.

The “Ruby” song concludes with the darkly ominous words “If I could move I’d get my gun and put her in the ground.” Bit of nasty femicide threat there for ya.

RIP McCoy Tyner (1938 – 2020)

McCoy Tyner was an American jazz pianist.

What links McCoy Tyner to the Jahsonic 1000?

Let me tell you.

Among Tyner’s most critically acclaimed albums is Trident (1975).

On that Trident album there is a musical composition called “Impressions” which features a bassline by Ron Carter which was sampled throughout the “The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)” (1991) by Black Sheep. The sample is well-known in hip hop midst because in fact it is the spine of that song. It is also in the Jahsonic 1000.

 Impressions  by John Coltrane interpreted by McCoy Tyner. In this song, the Black Sheep sample in at 3:03.

The song “Impressions” is an interpretation of Coltrane’s composition Impressions (1962).

“The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)” (1991) by Black Sheep. The bassline if featured throughout.

RIP Peter Wollen (1938 – 2019)

Peter Wollen was a British film theorist, filmmaker. and political journalist.

 Signs and Meaning in the Cinema (1969) . I’m curious about the middle cover.

He is best-known for his book Signs and Meaning in the Cinema (1969) as well as his marriage to and collaboration with Laura “visual pleasure” Mulvey.

Wollen reads the U.S. Press: “People Magazine” and “Scientific American” in the same breath

Above is an enigmatic video from Paper Tiger Television in which Wollen “reads the U.S. Press: ‘People Magazine’ and ‘Scientific American’ in the Same Breath”.