Arts Journalism for the Love of It
Jane Librizzi
EVERY now and then you stumble across a very impressive blog or two whilst trawling the internet during moments in which you experience rare solitude and freedom. Tonight I have been absorbed for a good hour or two by this blog: www.thebluelantern.blogspot.com The writer is Jane Librizzi, a New Yorker, apparently a freelance journalist and a radio broadcaster, who I wouldn't know from a bar of soap- and yet, becoming absorbed in her thought-provoking blog, you can't help but feel you know her a little. She covers a wide range of subjects, mostly Art and Literature, and she does so comprehensively and professionally with acknowledgement of sources and detailed bibliographies. And you learn so much from her blog- or at least I did- because she covers some really interesting and esoteric subjects. At the moment, in 2012, she seems to be absorbed with Belgian art and Belgian photography. Then there is poetry by an Austrian, Ingeborg Bachmann, a fascinating study of the construction of stairs under the lovely heading 'Evanescence', a discussion of a Paul Signac painting under the equally beguiling heading, 'Luminance', and the professional relationship between Duncan Phillips (patron) and Augustus Vincent Tack (painter). Now I have only gone back in my discussion here to December 3, 2011, and Librizzi has been blogging since September 2005. So she has an incredible wealth of interesting blog entries over a number of years. She also includes a library of books read under a link at the bottom of her page called 'Library Thing.' Here once again I was introduced to the names of many writers and their books totally new to me.
THE other web address that has captured my attention of late has www.artgarfunkel.com Again, a fascinating wealth of information, and great insight into the lesser known of the Simon and Garfunkel coupling.
I have heard quite a lot of Art Garfunkel's solo career, and grew up listening to the 'Breakaway' album with its beautiful, dreamy rendition of 'I Only Have Eyes For You', and the even better 'Watermark' album filled with excellent Jimmy Webb tunes, like 'Mr Shuck 'n' Jive', one of my favourite songs. There is a lyric in Jimmy Webb's 'Wooden Planes' that seems made up and fanciful and dream-like:
Propeller's spinning in the
West Texas wind,
We ran behind
You know we laughed, we thought
our little flight would never end
You were my brother and I,
I knew you were my friend
I wish we
were chasing after wooden
airplanes....once again.
I love the nostagic feel, and it's a lovely song, and to my delight I read an interview with Jimmy Webb in which he talks about how his family did live in West Texas, and furthermore, his father used to buy he and his brother wooden planes to fly in the wind....
On the Garfunkel website, under the tab 'News', we get just that, with information about recent Art Garfunkel happenings, mentioning of new articles, the poem he read to Paul Simon at the latter's 70th birthday, etc, etc. Under 'the G' for Guest, we get biographical details, an introduction to Art Garfunkel's massive Euro wanderings on foot (including maps of his personal voyages), his acting credits, and most interestingly for me, his favourite 60 songs of all time, from Chuck Berry and Johnny Cash at the lower end, to The Rolling Stones and The Beatles at the top end. Many great songs, and somewhat modestly, 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' at No.4- yet I couldn't help but be disappointed he couldn't find room for anything by Joni Mitchell or Van Morrison. The tab 'Concerts' offers the reader insights into past performances and then there is 'Writings' (his own verse and prose) and 'Music', a detailed account of every Art Garfunkel performance on CD or vinyl. He has a 'books read over the years' section under the tab 'Library' which incredibly details every book he has read from 1968 until the present day. A very well read person evidently, and his favourites include 'Wuthering Heights' and 'War and Peace.' The 'body of work' covers the solo period of 1973-2007, and interestingly, he has ranked his own material from 1-134 in terms of quality of vocal performance and overall quality of the song.' I must say, I agree with most of his top ten. I must say, there seems to be quite a lot of navel gazing in this comprehensive website- what other artists rank their own songs and their own vocal performances so assiduously? Yet, it would offer his many fans quite a lot of enjoyment, and I only wish some of my other favourite artists did the same. I for one love lists, and it seems that Art Garfunkel does too.
So we can glean from his website, that Art Garfunkel adores not only music, but travel and literature as well. Perhaps this is (subconsciously or otherwise) him saying 'look at me, I'm not just someone who happens to have a great voice and be a good singer of Paul Simon classics, but I am an interesting and intelligent person in my own right.'
Top Songs by Art Garfunkel
60. Chuck Berry Rock & Roll Music
59. Johnny Cash I Walk the Line
58. Aretha Franklin Respect
57. Jimi Hendrix Foxey Lady
56. The Allman Brothers Band Ramblin Man
55. The Righteous Brothers You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
54. The McCoys Hang on Sloopy
53. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers Why Do Fools Fall in Love
52. The Everly Brothers All I Have to Do Is Dream
51. 10cc I'm Not in Love
50. Jackson Browne Running On Empty
49. The Beatles Let It Be
48. The Beach Boys I Get Around
47. Jimmy Cliff The Harder They Come
46. Little Richard Good Golly, Miss Molly
45. The Police Every Breath You Take
44. Al Green Let's Stay Together
43. Roberta Flack Killing Me Softly With His Song
42. Ricky Nelson Travellin' Man
41. Foreigner I Wanna Know What Love Is
40. James Taylor You've Got a Friend
39. The Supremes Where Did Our Love Go
38. Prince Little Red Corvette
37. Bruce Hornsby The Way It Is
36. Dire Straits Money For Nothing
35. Marvin Gaye What's Goin' On
34. Carpenters Close to You
33. Bob Dylan Blowin' in the Wind
32. Bobby Freeman Do You Want to Dance
31. Fleetwood Mac Rhiannon
30. Sam Cooke You Send Me
29. The Beach Boys Help Me Rhonda
28. The Big Bopper Chantilly Lace
27. Linda Ronstadt & J.D. Souther Prisoner in Disguise
26. Barbra Streisand The Way We Were
25. Percy Sledge When a Man Loves a Woman
24. The Beatles Get Back
23. The Drifters Save the Last Dance for Me
22. Glen Campbell By the Time I Get to Phoenix
21. Bob Dylan Like a Rolling Stone
20. The Everly Brothers Let It Be Me
19. Fats Domino I'm Walkin'
18. Simon and Garfunkel The Sound of Silence
17. Buddy Holly/The Crickets Peggy Sue
16. The Doors Light My Fire
15. Elvis Presley All Shook Up
14. The Penguins Earth Angel
13. Ray Charles What'd I Say
12. Chuck Berry Johnny B. Goode
11. Jerry Lee Lewis Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On
10. Little Richard Tutti-Fruitti
09. Elvis Presley Don't Be Cruel
08. The Everly Brothers Bye Bye Love
07. The Beatles Yesterday
06. Frankie Ford Sea Cruise
05. The Beach Boys Good Vibrations
04. Simon and Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water
03. Ike & Tina Turner River Deep, Mountain High
02. The Rolling Stones Satisfaction
01. The Beatles Here, There, and Everywhere
© 2011 ARTGARFUNKEL.COM
1 comment:
I love most of those songs...thanks ART!
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