JANUARY 22, 2009 ISSUE
Brewer’s Briefs
“It’s been a long, long time coming, but I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will.”
For someone who had recorded songs as frivolous (and fun) as “Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha” and “Twistin’ The Night Away,” the gravity, grandeur and social significance of Sam Cooke’s spine-tingling anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come” are an indelible artistic statement from arguably the most influential soul singer in music history.
While the song did climb the charts, peaking at number 31 on the Billboard Singles Chart in February 1965 following Cooke’s untimely and mysterious death the previous December, “A Change Is Gonna Come” transcended pop music, becoming an almost religious cry for social change by one of black America’s biggest icons.
According to Wikipedia.com, Cooke penned the song’s first draft after speaking with sit-in demonstrators in Durham in 1963. As noted in Peter Guralnick’s Cooke biography Dream Boogie, the composition was a major departure for the pop star who, even while appearing on national television, was denied accommodations at white-only hotels—one of many indignities he and others suffered on a daily basis.
Following Rene Hall’s sublime intro featuring sweeping strings and a muted French horn, Cooke launches into the song’s soaring and memorable opening line, “I was born by the river in a little tent, and just like that river, I’ve been running ever since.”
Now, 44 years later as America embraces its 44th president, some of the dreams that Cooke vocalized with more soul and conviction than on any of his previously recorded works are finally being realized with Barack Obama’s seemingly unlikely rise to power.
Yes Sam, change did come.
This Week…
-The High Country isn’t exactly a hotbed for underground hip-hop sensations like Count Bass D. For whatever reason, the Count has developed a fondness for Boone, returning multiple times to drop beats and rhymes (oh man, I just rhymed!) on local rap fans. The Count will be back in town this Thursday, January 22, at the Dragonfly Theater & Pub.
-Blowing Rock’s Hayes Performing Arts Center will host its second annual Winter Blues Festival this Friday, January 23. Held in conjunction with the town’s annual Winterfest, the show will feature smoking blues from hosts The King Bees, soul and blues legend Roy Roberts and gritty Foothills bluesman Pop Ferguson.
-While sexy Brazilian polyrhythms have long been the foundation for Banana da Terra’s jazzy dance music, the band’s recent sonic explorations find the dynamic trio exploring more experimental sounds and styles. The band will heat up Boone Saloon this Saturday, January 24.
Next Week…
-I sang in choirs both at church and at school when I was a kid. Neither was my idea of a good time. For the boys and girls in the African Children’s Choir, singing and dancing the songs and rhythms of the motherland mean not only entertaining all over the United States, but also getting an education and living a life away from the hellish poverty from which they were removed. The choir will sing at Farthing Auditorium on Tuesday, January 27.
-Award-winning Queen City sensations Tropic Culture will bring their infectious blend of pop, rock, reggae, funk and Latin rhythms to the Dragonfly Theater & Pub on Saturday, January 31. The rhythm-heavy, spicy horn-powered ensemble will open for Winston-Salem’s Solos Unit.
-It’s simple enough to spot a Phish wannabe band a mile away, but Asheville quartet Modo seems to possess the rare ability to have absorbed a touch of the Vermont outfit’s sound without pledging their allegiance to it. Modo uses the same guitar-bass-keys-drums formula to meld air-tight fusion grooves with languid instrumental and vocal passages for a sound that should have plenty of kids dancing in the aisles at Murphy’s on Friday, January 30.
On The Horizon…
-On Wednesday, February 4, Boston’s Girls Guns and Glory will bring their soulful Americana pastiche that The Boston Globe calls, “Buddy Holly meets-Buck Owens-twang.” Drawing other comparisons to Chris Isaak, Lyle Lovett and Roy Orbison, the band’s crooning country-meets-rock has garnered the band accolades at every turn. Girls Guns and Glory will be at Boone Saloon on Wednesday, February 4.
-Sure, they got plenty of press for playing at Nancy Pelosi’s St. Paddy’s day party, but Celtic gypsy rockers Scythian are turning plenty of heads on their own. A blast of string-powered energy from start to finish, the band melds timeless melodies and punk energy for a genre-busting show that’s fun for everybody. The band will be at Canyons on Thursday, February 12.
-Following the Red Headed Stranger’s show at the Holmes Center on Thursday, February 19, alt. country rockers and ardent Willie fans Possum Jenkins will host the officially unofficial Willie Nelson After-Party at Murphy’s. Murphy’s booking agent John Rush will be the judge for the Willie Nelson Look-alike Contest, so don’t forget to braid those locks!
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