Amyeighttrack's Blog

I think Dave Edmunds is one of the great under appreciated talents of roots rock ‘n roll. How would I describe his music?

I like upbeat, up tempo rock music – a lot. I like virtuosity on the guitar; clever songwriting; expressive singing; and good interpretation and arrangement of others’ work, where it eclipses the originals or adds something ineffable.

I saw him play at a nice small auditorium during one of Seattle Center’s Bumbershoot festivals, some years back, playing solo with just an acoustic guitar. What a talent!

I put together a playlist on Spotify called Edmunds, Lowe and Rockpile. Some of my favorite, stand-out tracks from the playlist are: Standing At The Crossroads; Born Fighter; Home In My Hand; Halfway Down; It Doesn’t Really Matter; I Love Music; Girls Talk; Almost Saturday Night; Three Times Loser; When I write the Book; and You Ain’t Nothin’ But Fine.

Nick Lowe is a great talent, too. I love his voice; he’s a fantastic singer! He brings a great sardonic sense of humor to his singing and lyrics.

Rockpile and some of Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe’s ‘solo’ work are all basically the same band. Nick Lowe played bass and sang. Edmunds sang, as did guitarist Billy Bremer. Terry Williams played drums. Wow! What a band! They put out an impressive collection of work.

I like trying to guess whether it is Lowe or Edmunds singing on some tracks. Their voices are sometimes similar; and sometimes have their own interesting nuances. This is particularly evidenced on their note-perfect interpretations of Everly Brothers tunes. It’s obvious to me that they influenced and complimented each other tremendously, as musicians.

The Blasters – including the brothers Phil and Dave Alvin – and the solo work of Dave Alvin – also rate high on my current play list. I also made a playlist for them on Spotify: The Blasters and Dave Alvin.

Dave Alvin is one of the primo, number one, undisputed great writers of Americana music. And he’s always a threat on guitar! He’s collaborated as Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women with two of my favorite female singers – Christy McWilson of The Picketts (check out their 1993 album, Paper Doll) and Laurie Lewis (Another fine songwriter! Check out her albums Earth and Sky: Songs of Laurie Lewis and True Stories.)

Phil Alvin – what can I say?! He’s one of the classic vocalists of the Americana genre. His voice conveys excitement and joy. It’s a little similar to Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Malford Milligan of Storyville. Very expressive and soulful. One of my current faves.

Finally, a word about John Doe. I saw him do a free short set at Easy Street Records in Seattle, around the time of his solo album Keeper, in October 2011. Wow. As a fan of the band X‘s album Under The Big Black Sun since the early ’80’s, the great dissonant blend of his and Exene’s voice – and the great instrumentation – was a part of my DNA.

He had another female singer with him. It was all acoustic, I think. But wow. That voice! His presence! It made me think I’d died and gone to heaven; moved me to tears; and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck – all at once! I was working hard and didn’t have the energy to go see him at The Tractor Tavern later that night. But I just want to testify! – if you ever get a chance to see him solo – do yourself a favor – Go!!

Check out my playlists at Spotify –   Search for:  Amy8Trak and then click on fair_choice for additional ones.

UPDATE TO THIS PAGE:

A watercolor of beautiful Discovery Park in Seattle. Watercolor by James Deitz. Website: http://jamesdeitz.com/index.html

This is one of the beautiful old homes in question.

There is so much history associated with this place! Lord, please don’t let the wealthy and greedy usurp our beautiful public property!! These beautiful homes at present are being leased to the public. They are a vital hub of our community. Sacred!! Just fantastically beautiful old homes!! If you’ve never seen them, you can’t even imagine. No home built today could even hold a candle!!! They reek with the beauty of history and karma.

Here is an account of the takeover of the park in 1970 by a Native American group seeking to reclaim the property:  “On the morning of March 8, 1970, two half-mile long columns of vehicles began forming in a south Seattle neighborhood. The vehicles moved north towards Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood and the recently decommissioned Fort Lawton Army installation.  As the convoys headed north onlookers could see the red cloth banners streaming from the antennas of the automobiles. When the caravans reached their destinations, both the north and south sides of Fort Lawton, the occupants of the cars launched a coordinated effort to occupy the fort and establish it as a cultural and social services center for Seattle’s growing Native American population. In the midst of the ensuing struggle, the occupation’s principal organizer Bernie White Bear stated, “We, the Native Americans, reclaim the land known as Fort Lawton in the name of all American Indians by right of discovery.”   http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/FtLawton_takeover.htm  Eventually, they were given a parcel of land on which they built the Daybreak Star Cultural Center.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daybreak_Star_Cultural_Center

Here is a link to Friends of Discovery Park website: http://www.friendsdiscoverypark.org/

Here is a link to Discovery Park on Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Park_%28Seattle%29

Here is a map of the proposed area. Can you imagine?!! To give this area, this district, this property over to privatization?!! Unthinkable!! And then surely then the rest of it would go.

This shows what a big area of the park this is. It is an important, integral part of the historical and cultural legacy of the American people.

Please lend your support. Email the Seattle City Council and urge them to prevent this travesty.

THIS COULD CLOSE WITHIN THE FIRST 2 WEEKS OF FEBRUARY!!

Act now! Write to the Seattle City Council and let them know that we want to keep this historic district in the public domain!! It is not up for grabs!! Private development companies have been trying for years to usurp this National Historic Landmark District for their own greedy ends.

PLEASE SHARE THIS WIDELY!!! LET’S NOT LOSE THESE IMPORTANT NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS TO WEALTHY INDIVIDUAL OWNERS. ONCE THEY ARE GONE WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET THEM BACK!!!

Copy and paste to an email the following (or add your own thoughts):
_______________________________________________________________________

To: PRC@seattle.gov,Ed.Murray@seattle.gov,Patti.Petesch@seattle.gov,Genna.Nashem@seattle.gov,sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov,tim.burgess@seattle.gov,sally.clark@seattle.gov,jean.godden@seattle.gov,bruce.harrell@seattle.gov,nick.licata@seattle.gov,mike.obrien@seattle.gov,tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov,Kshama.Sawant@seattle.gov,PRC@seattle.gov,Lindsay.King@seattle.gov

Subject: Historic Preservation of National Historic Monuments unique to the City of Seattle!

I, ____________(write your name or name of your organization), am/we are (choose one) urgently opposed to the sale of the Nationally Registered Historic Homes within Discovery Park/Fort Lawton in the city of Seattle WA 98199. The ‘buying developer group’ disclosed semi-publicly on 1-1-2015 at near 5pm that the sale closure date would occur within 2 weeks from that time. They have made other equally confident pronouncements since making themselves known and public last May/June and each time with the people’s opposition and your support, their sale closing windows have gone by one by one. Please let it be known that I oppose this or any other developer purchasing these homes. Please do not vote for anything that supports any of the project #’s or the sale itself.

Their intention is to move forward with their closing of sale ownership; renovations; and then the re-sale of each of these National Historic Homes as individual properties after major internal renovations by their many sub-contractors; all of whom are already in place. Keep in mind that the internal renovations of concern are only that which will gain top dollar in the market place when they sell them off individually versus what upholds the historic character and nature of these homes. Not to mention the enjoyment of these National Historic Homes by the many rather than the select most wealthy few! The very idea is a travesty!

Specifically we are opposed to the current plans to close a sale of these homes that are underway which include the grouping of the homes into 3 plots of property (described as Projects #’s 3016939, 3016941 & 3016942) and then a subdivision of these into 22 plots, each plot containing one of the existing homes.

I am absolutely opposed to the single ownership of these homes/parcels. This property needs to revert to the City of Seattle or a stewarding organization, so all residents and visitors can enjoy the park as at present and enjoy the homes in a manner that is congruent to how they have been lived in and enjoyed throughout their history. They should continue to be available to be lived in and enjoyed by the many over the years through lease options rather than lost to the public through individual sale to the minority uppermost wealthy.

CARBON COPIED per email list: Mayor Ed Murray, Seattle City Council Members, and DPD head people: Sally Bagshaw, Tim Burgess (President), Sally Clark Jean Godden, Bruce Harrell, Nick Licata, Mike O’Brien, Tom Rasmussen, Kshama Sawant