She became the muse of her husband Dante Gabriel Rossetti and other Pre-Raphaelite painters.
I wasn’t entirely sure I had ever seen a photograph of Lizzie although I worked on picture research for a book on her sister in inspiration Jane Morris, William’s wife and also muse and fellow artist (she was almost totally responsible for women casting off their constrictingundergarments; the corset and bustle etc., for the free flowing dress and cheese underneath and thus unspoilt lines of the gown) but Lizzie always struck me as a tragic figure and yet also uncommonly beautiful
The Band performing "Life Is A Carnival" on Saturday Night Live, October 30, 1976.
The Band appeared on SNL's second season, and the performance marked one of their last live appearances as The Last Waltz would happen roughly a month later.
we should start the week with some music as we mean to go on . . . . .can you diggit? I think you can!
Tuba Skinny - When They Ring Those Golden Bells - Houston Oct. 2021
Tuba Skinny say:
"When They Ring Those Golden Bells is a beautiful gospel and bluegrass song written in 1887 by Daniel de Marbelle. The copyright was acquired by the John Church Company, and the song was first recorded in 1915 by the Imperial Quartet.
The song has been covered by many famous artists. I counted fifty official versions, including one from behind the "Iron Curtain," where the (then Czechoslovakian) country band, the Rangers, recorded their version in 1971, and the song was titled "Zlaté zvony.”
This well-known theme, as performed by Tuba Skinny, is wonderfully arranged, which adds an amazing freshness to it."
Here's a short playlist (for me) of great music from Ghana from back in the day, and some selections by contemporary artists from there as well. Ebo Taylor just passed last month… He revolutionized Ghanaian music, adding local grooves to the afro cuban ones that were popular at the time as well as adding jazz chords to popular songs. There's a good obituary in the NY Timesand in The Guardian- I had no idea that he and Fela were pals in London, devouring Miles and Coltrane and planning how to create a new kind of African music.
My favorite new Ghanaian artist is Florence Adooni... The range and innovation on her new album is wonderful. (Had to include a cover of Crosseyed and Painless that she did for the recent Naive Melodies project).
Lonzie Thomas of Lee County, Alabama, who was blind and played the streets.
Photo: Frances Benjamin Johnston; Lonzie Thomas outside his home, Lee County, Alabama, 1980, by George Mitchell
From The George Mitchell Collection...
Recorded in Lee County, Alabama, early 1980s; Lonzie Thomas, vocal and guitar
Born in Lee County, Alabama, in 1921, Lonzie Thomas learned guitar from watching his father. Thomas was shot in the face at the age of 22, after which he became more interested in playing and singing. "It was something to keep my mind off worrying," Thomas told Mitchell. He began playing parties, and on the streets of Opelika and Columbus for tips. Being a musician was one of the few ways a blind man could earn money in Thomas' time, although by the time Mitchell recorded him, Thomas was playing mostly for the occasional friend or house guest. Thomas was extremely poor even by the standards of the Deep South. The trailer park he lived in had a fountain in the middle that all the tenants shared and Thomas and his longtime musical partner, Eddie B. Hodge, who lived up the road, would play together for visitors, although no one has been able to locate Hodge since Mitchell recorded him. Thomas remained a well-known player in the Chattahoochee Valley area, mentioned in interviews with Robert Thomas and George Daniel, and appeared at the Chattahoochee Folk Festival at its early years. ~ Sam Sweet
He lived in what was basically a utility shack, in the yard of his daughter's house. His daughter was his caretaker and was very protective of him. George wanted to take Lonzie to record with Albert Macon and Robert Thomas, and the daughter was hesitant to let Lonzie got in a car with George, or with anybody, but George reassured her. So George helped him in the car, and put the car in reverse and drove directly into a nearby ditch. Lonzie turned and said, "Man, George, you well may as well let me drive!" ~ Fred Fussel (from the liner notes)
we don’t often post music links from @1264doghouse but here’s an unusual and very special choice
Robert Planttells the story of how he first met the Canadian folk singer Bonnie Dobson: “A few years ago I bumped into Bert Jansch – I dared to knock on his dressing room door. Anyway, it was fine, and we found amazing similarities in roots and influences from the places we’d been. It was a beautiful thing. It reminded me that in the 60s I used to sing this song, with Band Of Joy, that was immortalised by Tim Rose and the Grateful Dead.
"Later I recorded it [with Strange Sensation on 2002’s Dreamland]. And now there’s a knock on my door, and there’s this lady standing there who says: ‘Hello, Robert. You’re singing my song.’ That was the great Bonnie Dobson, and the song is called Morning Dew.”
Plant wasn’t the first to record Morning Dew. The song has a colourful history, not least because Tim Rose usurped the credits and some publishing royalties in 1967 – and Dobson wouldn’t be recognised as the sole writer for more than 30 years.
