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The CHIRP Blog
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesAlbum Review: Chicago Artists Against Trump
Music has always been a reliable outlet for protest in turbulent times. At least, it used to be. It’s been a while since commercially released music embraced the spirit of protest. From the 1960s to the late 1980s, a protest or “issue” song that addressed everything from war to the environment to equal rights to government corruption could be found somewhere on the pop charts courtesy of a broad collection of major artists from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Marvin Gaye to the Sex Pistols to Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Starting in the 1990s, when major labels consolidated into today’s corporate monoliths, music that overtly criticized social issues protest music started to decline. By the 2000s, message music disappeared entirely as pop artists learned not to risk their livelihood by taking a stand on something, not when Fox News and an invisible army of Internet trolls stood ready to shame and shout down anyone who dared criticize power and by definition didn’t “support the troops” (otherwise known as getting the "Dixie Chicks treatment").
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesPhotos: CHIRP Night at the Whistler (01/25/17)
We had a blast at the first CHIRP Night at the Whistler of 2017! This edition featured The Jacob Horn Trio and Wyys. Thanks to photographer Shelby Hagstom for capturing these images. Plan to join us next month when we welcome Pool Holograph and Courtship to the Whistler stage!
The Jacob Horn Trio
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writes@CHIRPRADIO (Week of January 30)
New Media
- Shawna Kaiser talks to Jason Wajswol, founder of local non-profit Drive By Fooding
- Josh Friedberg rediscovers Willie Nelson’s all time country classic Red Headed Stranger
Josh Friedberg: Music Historian's Corner writesRediscovering Our Record Collections: “Red Headed Stranger” by Willie Nelson
by Josh Friedberg
Willie Nelson’s mainstream success began with a spare concept album (some would say “rock opera”) that went completely against the grain of country music at the time. Today, Nelson’s Outlaw persona is taken for granted, including in mainstream country circles: CMT (Country Music Television) even voted Red Headed Stranger as the #1 country album of all time.
But in 1975, this album came as a surprise to everyone, including Columbia Records. The label granted Nelson artistic control over his music, and they were shocked when they heard this bare-bones album that cost only $20,000 to make. To everyone’s surprise, the album sold millions of copies and became a beloved classic of the genre, including among rock critics.
Often forgotten, however, is the fact that Nelson didn’t write a lot of the songs on the album. This is surprising because up to this point, Nelson had been known as a songwriter of hits for other artists: in the ‘60s, his songs became hits for Patsy Cline (“Crazy”), Faron Young (“Hello Walls”), Ray Price (“Night Life”), and others. Red Headed Stranger is also full of instrumentals and fragments that move the story along.
When I first heard this album a long time ago, it struck me how scattered this album seems for such a classic: unlike earlier Nelson albums of the time, such as 1974’s Phases and Stages, there aren’t many fully fleshed out songs of even two or three minutes. There are, however, a few exceptions: gems like his classic version of a song Ernest Tubb had made famous three decades earlier, “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” and the five-minute, startlingly vulnerable “Can I Sleep in Your Arms” are two standouts.
Today, I love listening to this album, but I’m still somewhat mystified by the concept, as I am with a lot of higher-level concept albums. I have trouble following the storyline, though the album does feel cohesive. This is Nelson’s most acclaimed album, but if I want a collection of songs (as opposed to a concept album), I might prefer Stardust, his highly popular 1978 collection of pop and jazz standards like “Georgia on My Mind” and “Blue Skies.”
Still, this is a classic album experience that rewards time and repeated listening.
SKaiser writesDrive By Fooding
For most of us a bad day means arriving late to work, spilling coffee on the bus, stepping on ice cubes while wearing socks, you know, reasonable complaints. But when's the last time you slept outside in a Chicago winter?
"I started Drive By Fooding after watching a Youtube video where an actor pretends to be homeless and asks people for money. Their reactions were things like, "get a job" or "get away from me." After the interaction he took off the costume and most people realized they weren't treating homeless people as they would want to be treated. This actually triggered memories of a short period in my life when I was homeless, and I decided to do something to help not only directly through donations, but also, in ways to help others realize how they should treat people better in general," said Jason Wajswol, founder of the local non-profit organization.