I Know He Let You In

"I was sitting around the other day, tapping my feet,

A publication came to my door, said you´d died and gone to sleep...

But I couldn´t shed a tear I never knew you well..."

A moving elegy from Minutemen successors fIREHOSE on the death of blues singer extraordinaire Elizabeth Cotten. Haven´t a clue why Mike Watt & co spelled her name wrong btw. Anyone?

"...But I´m missing you just the same,

Libba please rest easy down on Chestnut Street..."

fIREHOSE - In Memory Of Elizabeth Cotton MP3

And then there´s the object of their admiration herself: Elizabeth ´Libba´ Cotten (1895-1987). Lefthanded and self-taught, she held her guitar upside down, playing the bass lines with her fingers and the melody with her thumb: the Cotten picking technique.

"When I die Lord bury me deep,

Way down on old Chestnut Street,

So I can hear old Number 9 as she comes rolling by..."

Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train MP3

Cheers Stipey

It´s Michael Stipe´s birthday today. Well, happy birthday, Stipey. Can´t say I´ve listened to your music much over the last couple of years. R.E.M. never was my favourite band, but up until Document I faithfully bought your records and liked them quite a lot. I never did understand your mass appeal, but you´d probably say the same...

Your later albums frankly bored me a bit. But I give you this: even when you became a big millionselling rockstar you never made the headlines with cliches like lost weekends, dating airhead models, coke binges, reunions (admittedly easy as your band always stayed together), rehab stories etc. etc. And you actively campaigned against Bush. That´s cool enough for me.

So I´d like to celebrate your 48th birthday with a grand old song of yours, from Fables Of The Reconstruction. And with a beautiful song by fIREHOSE about you, which may very well be a deliberate pastiche of both the sound and the lyrics of Athens´ finest. Alright, you can cut the cake now.

R.E.M. - Green Grow The Rushes MP3

fIREHOSE - For The Singer Of R.E.M. MP3