Belated Friday Fiver

Last Dance

1. What's the last concert you attended?
John Prine

2. Who is the best live performer you've ever seen?
Best? How do you mean? John Prine is my favorite artist, so I've loved his concerts in a way that transcends all others. But I'll never forget seeing David Bromberg live—what an all-out talent! And, back in the day, there was nothing like the Boss. (That was way before online ticket purchases; I slept on a sidewalk all night in Middletown, Connecticut, to get tickets for that one.) He just never stopped. And nothing can compare to all those shows I saw during my Deadhead years (what little I remember of them); they were an experience unto themselves. So no easy answer here.

3. You can invite 2 artists to your house, but they must sing together. Who are they and what one song will they sing?
Easy-peasy: John Prine and Bonnie Raitt singing "Angel from Montgomery."

4. Pick one to see: ABBA, Jimmy Buffett, or Kenny Chesney?
Who's Kenny Chesney? I guess I'd pick Jimmy Buffett.

5. Friday Freebie: Tell us anything you want about music!
I was mentally composing this post the other day, but I never got around to it, so here goes. If you had to pick one artist who's dead that you wish you'd gotten to see perform live, who would it be? Mine would be Lowell George. I've had him on the brain lately for three reasons:

• I recently downloaded a bunch of old bootlegs of him that are just amazing.
• At the John Prine concert last month at Symphony Hall, he told a story about the first time he'd ever performed there, some 30 years ago. He was really nervous, and that feeling was only compounded when he saw Lowell George and the rest of Little Feat sitting in the front row! Can you imagine.
• Lowell George's daughter, Inara George, just released an album. Her voice doesn't in any way remind me of her father's (in the way that, say, Martha Wainwright's voice does remind me of her dad Loudon's—hearing them do a duet is a real treat!); it's sort of a dreamy-sounding voice that makes me think of someone else, but I can't figure out who. Anyhow, I listened to a few clips at the Amazon site, and I heard the entirety of her cover of Joe Jackson's "Fools in Love" on the radio, and it's OK but certainly nothing I'm going to run out and buy. Interesting note: Lowell George's long-time friend Jackson Browne does backup on one track; I also read somewhere that Jackson Browne's song "Of Missing Persons" is about Inara, who was only 5 years old when her father died.

Comments

[Lora]

With all this music, you've encouraged me to go figure out who these people are. Based on what I heard at amazon, Kenny Chesney seems to be feel good country with a twist, not my style, but you might like him better than I do.

[Karen]

Now why didn't I think of that? I just went to Amazon and listened to a few of his clips -- no, he's not for me, either. But I was wrong to write him off without knowing who he is!

[Mark]

I'd have to say the dead singer I'd want to see would be Woody Guthrie. I wish I had seen Morphine before Mark Sandman died or Danny Gatton before he took his life. And if you consider a broken-up band "dead," then I wish I had seen Talking Heads before they split up. I am glad that I saw Warren Zevon before he passed.

And I can't argue with your John Prine/Bonnie Raitt answer.

[terrilynn]

I've seen Bonnie Raitt and John Prine sing "Angel from Montgomery" together (one of my all-time favorite songs ever). It wasn't in my living room, of course, but it was sublime.

We have very similar musical tastes, it seems. I'm a huuuuuuuge Lowell George/Little Feat fan.

A Jimmy Buffett show is a lot of fun, even if you're not a big fan of his music. Lora is pretty right-on about Kenny Chesney-I've always thought he was a talentless hack, but he did a song last year with Uncle Kracker ("When the Sun Goes Down") that I liked.