Bonnie Raitt, NRBQ, John Prine, and the Talking Heads

Raitt, Bonnie. Bonnie Raitt. [Burbank, Calif.]: Warner Bros. Records, 1971.

Bonnie Raitt is one of my very favorite recording artists. She puts on a great live show, too. One thing I love about her is that she is extremely gracious and always remembers to give credit to the original creators of the songs she plays.

Here are just a few of my favorite songs that she covers:

Angel from Montgomery by John Prine:

Me and the Boys by NRBQ
Song about the Midway by Joni Mitchell
Love Me Like a Man by Chris Smither (I used to sing this one when I was in a band.)
Burning Down the House by the Talking Heads
Runaway by Max Crook and Del Shannon:


For a full list of her recordings, visit bonnieraitt.com. The discography is very detailed--in addition to listing the songwriters in large print, she thanks everyone who makes the music happen:

I know how lucky I am to have had such validation and opportunity and I'd like to give credit and thanks to the many people who helped bring these albums to life:

First, to the amazing songwriters, musicians, singers, co-producers, engineers, art directors, photographers, publishing and production assistants who had everything to do with making these records special . . .

ps. Unfortunately, there are a handful of musicians who are not so appreciative. Take Rickie Lee Jones, for example. I was a huge fan until I went to a concert and she cursed her drummer and left the stage in a huff without thanking the audience or her other band members. I would forgive her, but I hear that she does this pretty often. Who does Rickie Lee Jones think she is . . . Johnny Rotten? If I want to listen to rude people complain loudly, I'll save my money and go to an HOA meeting!

It's Only Rock and Roll (or How I Became a Librarian)

Workers from all of our university's libraries are competing for prizes which will be awarded during National Library Week (April 13-19). So far, we've had a Wii tournament, a spelling bee, a ping pong competition, and we're in the midst of an office door decorating contest which I really, really, really want to win.

I just noticed a mistake. It should read It's Only Rock and Roll BUT I Like It.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but my door looks really cool in person. As you can see, it's a collage of all my favorite rock musicians. I used 3-D mounting dots to make the letters and hearts "pop." Each of the paper hearts has a different rock-n-roll quote such as Rock and Roll Never Forgets, I Love Rock and Roll, So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star, Rockin' in the Free World, and, of course, It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It).

Jett, Joan. I Love Rock 'n Roll. Los Angeles, Calif: Boardwalk Entertainment Co, 1981.

Featured musicians include Cracker, Patti Smith, The Ramones, Prince, Blondie, The Pretenders, Camper Van Beethoven, and Bruce Springsteen. There are also photocopies of autographs from my collection: Bono (U2), Marty Wilson-Piper (The Church), Johnny Hickman (Cracker and The Dangers), Chris Frantz (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, and Gorillaz), Mike Peters (The Alarm).*

Talking Heads (Musical group). Little Creatures. New York: Sire, 1985.

You may be wondering what rock music has to do with National Library Week. Well, here's the story . . .

Cutlers, New Haven

I graduated college earlier than I expected, and since I didn't have a career plan in place, I got a full-time job at the biggest and best record store in Connecticut and took a couple of grad school classes at Southern Connecticut State University. One of my good friends who was a grad student and library worker at Yale, suggested that I pursue a career in librarianship.

Southern Connecticut State University

At first I thought she was nuts, but then she explained that all the aspects of record store work that I loved--organizing music (Does Joan Armatrading go in women's music, r&b, folk, or pop?) and hooking listeners up with music I know they will love--I could experience in a library setting. She also pointed out that libraries like to hire people with a basic knowledge of different foreign languages. (I majored in Spanish but I also took beginning German, Italian, and French classes. I can't read any Asian languages, but I can usually tell the alphabets apart.)

Armatrading, Joan. Me Myself I. Hollywood, Calif: A&M Records, 1980.

I was still skeptical, but I agreed to go to the library with her one day to meet her co-workers. Once I walked into the door of Yale's Sterling Memorial Library, I was hooked. It was like walking into a European cathedral. The librarians were incredibly nice and they even offered me a part-time clerical job!

So there you have it--the rock and roll/library connection. Wish me luck!

Havens, Richie, and Steven Davidowitz. They Can't Hide Us Anymore. New York: Spike, 1999.

*I've met other famous musicians--L.L. Cool J., Burning Spear, John Popper, Richie Havens, Taj Mahal--but at the time, I thought I was too cool to ask for their autographs. (Yeah, right!)

Hickman/LeRoy Songbook

My very favorite Myspace site is the Hickman/LeRoy Songbook. Chris LeRoy and Johnny Hickman have been making music together since they were little kids. You know Johnny from the band, Cracker, and Chris from Death of Me.

The Songbook features new and old songs by the duo. I think it is really interesting to see how a song becomes a song--how a song can take on a life of its own and continue to grow and change.







The Songbook is truly an interactive site. Fans' reviews, artwork, and video picks are showcased every week. For instance, I write a book review for the Songbook called The Book I Read. The title is a reference to one of my favorite Talking Heads songs:





And speaking of the Talking Heads . . .

Here's a story about the day I met Chris Frantz.

"This ain't no Mud Club"

Congratulations to Miss New Orleans for correctly answering this week's music trivia question! The initials "CBGB OMFUG" stand for "Country Blue Grass Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers." Miss New Orleans found the answer in this Wikipedia article about the legendary punk rock venue, CBGB's.

CBGB's was famous for premiering great rock musicians such as Patti Smith, Blondie, the Ramones, and the Talking Heads. To learn more about the American Punk Rock Movement, visit CBGB Online which is "the official website to the historic cradle of underground music in New York's Lower East Side." The site includes this first-person narrative by the late Hilly Kristal who founded the club in 1973.

I'm afraid I don't have any interesting personal stories to tell you about CBGB's. I went there a couple of times when I was in my twenties, but I don't remember much.

Stay tuned for next week's trivia question. Who knows? You might find yourself in the winners' circle with Miss New Orleans, Honest Abe, Thursday, and Rockin' Rob!

Tom Tom Club

Tom Tom Club. New York, N.Y.: Sire, 1987. Sound recording.

This Tom Tom Club album is one of my favorites. I love the cover--it was done by the Brooklyn artist, James Rizzi.

Back in the '80s, I worked at Cutler's which is a huge independent record store in New Haven, Connecticut. One day my friend from high school, George Marinatos, came by to say hello. I asked what he was doing in the neighborhood, and he told me that he had stopped by Toad's Place to meet up with Chris Frantz. I didn't believe him. I was like, "you know Chris Frantz the drummer from the Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club? I don't believe you. Get me an autograph to prove it."

About 20 minutes later, George returned with Chris's autograph. I was shocked. I took off work early and went over to Toad's to see for myself. The Tom Tom Club was just finishing up their sound-check. When they were done, I walked over to the stage to say hello and introduce myself. Chris Frantz said something like, "Oh, you're George's friend." I said, "You're my favorite band." And he said, "Thank you. That's so nice to hear."

George Marinatos was a really unique kid. He didn't talk much, but everybody loved him. George was good friends with the reggae musician, Ziggy Marley. This was weird because we lived in a small New England town and Ziggy Marley lived in Jamaica. Back in 1988, Chris Frantz and his wife Tina Weymouth had just finished producing Ziggy's platinum-selling album, Conscious Party. This album included the hit single, Tomorrow People.

ps. Visit the official Tom Tom Club site. You will like it!