I mentioned to Aimee that I’d probably go to Silver Platters after work, because it was Record Store Day, and I’d never gone to a record store on Record Store Day. We tried one year, but they closed just before we got there.
“If you can’t find anything, you could get me ‘1989’ by Sailor Twist!” she said.
“Sailor Twist” is an easier name to remember than “Taylor Swift.” Just so, Tina Shrimpton is easier to remember than Tilda Swinton.
I wandered around and got some stuff.
As the weather warms, I always like to get African music, so I got “Radio Mali” by Ali Farka Toure. Rai music is an old favorite, so I got an Algerian compilation, “Algerian Proto-Rai Underground.” Also got two DVDs: Rory Gallagher “Irish Tour ’74” and “Gimme Shelter,” about the Rolling Stones’ ill-fated 1969 US tour.
Algeria isn’t far from Tunisia, and when I think about the Rolling Stones, I remember stories about them smoking hash in Algeria, so Algeria has always seemed like a cool place. “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out” was recorded from that tour, and I always listen to that in the Summer too.
If you want to learn to play guitar, just learn that album and you’ll be well-equipped for wherever your musical inclinations take you.
My current haiku project includes last week’s installment, “Irish Summer,” so even the Gallagher purchase has a Summer connection.
No Taylor Swift, so I inquired at the cash register.
“She’s in the Country section.”
“No way!”
He dashed off and got me a copy of “1989,” still on sale.
Hank Williams and Porter Wagoner are looking over my shoulder (literally: souvenir black & white photos I got at the Country Music Hall Of Fame in Nashville) and I like to think they would approve of my objection to the idea that Taylor Swift is a country musician.
I read the review in The New York Times that said Ms. Swift is too singular an artist to be in any category smaller than the category of Pop that is the genre of music that not only aspires to but actually achieves a level of universal popularity. I agree.
You might not like Taylor Swift, out-of-step person you, but you know her. She is gigantic.
I can’t help but think of Shania Twain, because she was still called a country musician when what she was up to was something that had no trace of country at all that I could tell. Then I saw a photo of her wearing the classic Ramones t-shirt, and who am I to judge? She was married to Mutt Lange, so she presumably knows her way around AC/DC.
I wonder what Taylor thinks, because, little-known fact– I too am a country musician, though no one thinks so, but it’s true, and that doesn’t stop me from also being a blues musician who sometimes plays jazz too.
A musician shouldn’t be blamed for being extra-musical.