Singer of Scots and Sultan of Swat
Testimony, Early Bird, Iona Fyfe, Babe Ruth, Slippin’ Saul
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week’s issue features podcast picks, the late Robbie Robertson’s autobiography, a local breakfast spot, our most recent house concert performer, The Great Bambino, and Better Call Saul. I hope you enjoy the picks and pics.
Fave Five 46: Singer of Scots and Sultan of Swat. The Band’s Bard (Testimony), Potato Pancakes (Early Bird), Scottish Singer (Iona Fyfe), Sultan of Swat (Babe Ruth), and Slippin’ Saul.
Fave Five Lists: Podcast Picks
Our good friend John Bommarito recorded his latest podcast episode in our living room on Friday after our house concert with Iona Fyfe. And the latest Bob Lefsetz podcast features Steve Ferrone, who is a frequent collaborator with my brother David. Here is list of podcasts I subscribe to and listen to regularly.
Five Favorite Podcasts
John Bommarito: Acoustic Alternatives - in-depth interviews with singer/songwriters, including 3 or 4 live songs; available in audio and video
Matt Watroba: No Root, No Fruit - deep dive into important folk records with snippets of music and interviews with guests
Carlos Monarez and Shawn Windsor: Free Press Sports with Carlos and Shawn - irreverent takes on Detroit and Michigan sports
Anna Martin: Modern Love - based on the New York Times essays of the same name
Bob Lefsetz: The Bob Lefsetz Podcast - lengthy interviews with important figures in musical history
Honorable Mention
Omari Sankofa II and Bryce Simon: The Pistons Pulse - extensive analysis of the Detroit Pistons NBA team, with occasional takes on food
Joe Pug: The Working Songwriter - interviews with other songwriters; even his commercials are entertaining
Maggie Rose: Salute the Songbird - interviews with other female singer/songwriters
Book Best Bet
I was saddened by the news that Robbie died one week ago today. I love The Band’s music, and Robbie was their masterful songwriter and guitarist. Only Garth Hudson, who turned 86 two weeks ago today, remains from the original illustrious lineup.
I liked reading his autobiography. It’s filled with stories about legendary musicians from a magical time. I will feature The Band as marvelous musicians in two weeks.
From Amazon: On the 40th anniversary of The Band's legendary The Last Waltz concert, Robbie Robertson finally tells his own spellbinding story of the band that changed music history, his extraordinary personal journey, and his creative friendships with some of the greatest artists of the last half-century.
Robbie Robertson's singular contributions to popular music have made him one of the most beloved songwriters and guitarists of his time. With songs like "The Weight", "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", and "Up on Cripple Creek", he and his partners in The Band fashioned a music that has endured for decades, influencing countless musicians.
In this captivating memoir, written over five years of reflection, Robbie Robertson employs his unique storyteller's voice to weave together the journey that led him to some of the most pivotal events in music history. He recounts the adventures of his half-Jewish, half-Mohawk upbringing on the Six Nations Indian Reserve and on the gritty streets of Toronto; his odyssey at 16 to the Mississippi Delta, the fountainhead of American music; the wild early years on the road with rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks; his unexpected ties to the Cosa Nostra underworld; the gripping trial-by-fire "going electric" with Bob Dylan on his 1966 world tour and their ensuing celebrated collaborations; and the formation of The Band and the forging of their unique sound, culminating with history's most famous farewell concert, brought to life for all time in Martin Scorsese's great movie The Last Waltz.
This is the story of a time and place — the moment when rock 'n' roll became life, when legends like Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley crisscrossed the circuit of clubs and roadhouses from Texas to Toronto, when The Beatles, Hendrix, The Stones, and Warhol moved through the same streets and hotel rooms. It's the story of exciting change as the world tumbled through the '60s and early '70s and a generation came of age built on music, love, and freedom. Above all it's the moving story of the profound friendship between five young men who together created a new kind of popular music. Testimony is Robbie Robertson's story, lyrical and true, as only he could tell it.
Restaurant Recommendation
Early Bird of Northville 333 E Main St Northville, MI 48167
Our friends Bill Sterling and Steve and Kathy Israel were in town for our house concert. I had taken them to Custard Time, Leo’s Coney Island, Buddy’s Pizza, Browndog Barlor, and Bad Brad’s BBQ, all of which they enjoyed. But they really like a good breakfast spot, so on Sunday, I took them to Early Bird. They were impressed with the quality, portions, and prices — and the quantity of roosters of all kinds on display.
I shared my order of potato pancakes with Steve, who ate one with sour cream. I had apple sauce with my two, and they were as good as any latkes I would expect to find at a good Jewish deli.
Bill loves sweet rolls, so we shared a cinnamon roll. The icing was good, but the rest was ordinary. I tried some of Kathy’s homemade corned beef hash, and it was a winner.
From the restaurant: Casual family friendly setting serving American fare and classic comfort food prepared with fresh, homemade ingredients.
Marvelous Musician
Iona performed in our living room on Friday to a sold-out audience of 64. They loved her singing, beautiful voice, and detailed stories, and spent time after the show talking with her at length at the merch table set up in our kitchen.
Originally from Aberdeenshire, she has become one of Scotland’s finest singers, rooted deeply in the singing traditions of the Northeast of Scotland. In 2021, she became the first singer to win the coveted title of Musician of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards.
Iona is a fierce advocate for the official recognition of the Scots Language, leading a successful campaign to pressure Spotify into recognizing Scots and add it to its list of languages. Honored at the Scots Language Awards with the title of Speaker of the Year in 2021, Iona performs both folk and pop songs in the Scots language, remaining true to her rooting in tradition.
Iona has featured in several publications including The Sunday Post, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Times. She won the title of Scots Singer of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards in 2018 and was described as “one of the best Scotland has to offer.”
From Wikipedia:
Iona Fyfe (born January 16, 1998) is a Scottish singer from Huntly, Aberdeenshire known for singing Scots folk songs and ballads. In 2016, she was a semi-finalist of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award and, in 2017 and 2021, was a finalist of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician award. In 2018, she won "Scots Singer of the Year" at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards. In 2019, she won "Young Scots Speaker o the Year" at the inaugural Scots Language Awards, winning "Scots Performer o the Year" in the 2020 Awards, and "Scots Speaker o the Year" in the 2021 Awards. She has advocated for official recognition of the Scots language, successfully petitioning Spotify to add Scots to their list of languages. Fyfe is a National Director of the Traditional Music and Song Association and serves as a committee member of the Musicians' Union Scotland.
Iona stayed with us on Thursday and Friday nights. She met our visiting friends and lamented that it was difficult for her to find a Stanley water bottle. Kathy Israel went to Target and bought one for her, leaving it for Iona to discover along with a note. This was Iona’s reaction on Sunday when she found a gift of her very own Stanley cup:
John Bommarito had planned to interview Iona the morning after the concert, but she preferred staying up late to getting up early. So, John adjusted and recorded the podcast, including three lovely songs, after most of our guests left. The friends who remained retired to our TV room, where we had to keep our voices down to avoid making a surprise appearance on the Acoustic Alternatives recording.
Acoustic Alternatives Podcast
Kenmure
Lady Finella
The Northern Lights #MyHomeInAberdeen
My Playlist
Sports Star
On this date in 1948, Babe Ruth died at the age of 53. He is the most famous, and one of the most extraordinary, players in baseball history. Take a look at his career hitting stats:
He also recorded a 2.19 ERA in his six years of pitching for the Boston Red Sox. The only player since then to star as both a pitcher and batter is Shohei Ohtani, who is fast becoming a modern-day Babe Ruth.
I grew up hearing about the Babe from my dad and reading about him in baseball books and sports magazines. He was larger than life in my mind and remains so today.
From Wikipedia:- George Herman "Babe" Ruth (born February 6, 1895 in Baltimore; died August 16, 1948 in New York) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", he began his MLB career as a star left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox but achieved his greatest fame as a slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees. Ruth is regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture and is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time. In 1936, Ruth was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its "first five" inaugural members.
At age seven, Ruth was sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory where he was mentored by Brother Matthias Boutlier of the Xaverian Brothers, the school's disciplinarian and a capable baseball player. In 1914, Ruth was signed to play Minor League baseball for the Baltimore Orioles but was soon sold to the Red Sox. By 1916, he had built a reputation as an outstanding pitcher who sometimes hit long home runs, a feat unusual for any player in the dead-ball era. Although Ruth twice won 23 games in a season as a pitcher and was a member of three World Series championship teams with the Red Sox, he wanted to play every day and was allowed to convert to an outfielder. With regular playing time, he broke the MLB single-season home run record in 1919 with 29.
After that season, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees amid controversy. The trade fueled Boston's subsequent 86-year championship drought and popularized the "Curse of the Bambino" superstition. In his 15 years with the Yankees, Ruth helped the team win seven American League (AL) pennants and four World Series championships. His big swing led to escalating home run totals that not only drew fans to the ballpark and boosted the sport's popularity but also helped usher in baseball's live-ball era, which evolved from a low-scoring game of strategy to a sport where the home run was a major factor. As part of the Yankees' vaunted "Murderers' Row" lineup of 1927, Ruth hit 60 home runs, which extended his own MLB single-season record by a single home run. Ruth's last season with the Yankees was 1934; he retired from the game the following year, after a short stint with the Boston Braves. In his career, he led the American League in home runs twelve times.
During Ruth's career, he was the target of intense press and public attention for his baseball exploits and off-field penchants for drinking and womanizing. After his retirement as a player, he was denied the opportunity to manage a major league club, most likely because of poor behavior during parts of his playing career. In his final years, Ruth made many public appearances, especially in support of American efforts in World War II. In 1946, he became ill with nasopharyngeal cancer and died from the disease two years later. Ruth remains a major figure in American culture.
Babe Ruth Highlights
Picture Pun
Jimmy McGill was spotted slippin' into Glen Arbor recently.
