A big fan of James Taylor in my youth, the song that means most to me many years later is Long Ago and Far Away.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. He was age-23 in 1971.
On the Mud Slide Slim album version Joni Mitchell sings background vocals and Carole King plays piano.
Machine Gun Kelly — play this when I’m gone — inspired Jake Frew’s 2020 pandemic video.
Jake Frew is a master video creator. Right now he’s on a road trip to meet and collaborate with other video editors he admires.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I loved a song by Girl in Red, the indie pop music project of Norwegian singer-songwriter Marie Ulven Ringheim. The music dictated everything I put into this fan video.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda is the best anti-war song I know. Pete Seeger called it “one of the world’s greatest songs.”
Remind yourself that old men of privilege and power like Putin send young men to needless deaths.
Click PLAY or watch the Pogue’s version on YouTube.
It was written by Scottish-Australian Eric Bogle in 1969.
I somehow got hooked on this hit from 2002. I particularly like this LIVE version.
Sophie Ellis Bextor is SO beautiful.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Everyone loves Dolly Parton.
And when James Patterson asked if she’d be interested in working together on a book — she was.
If you get the audio book, know that Dolly reads the character of Ruthanna Ryder, a retired country legend who sounds an awful lot like Dolly Parton today.
That said, if you don’t like audio books with multiple readers, you might find this one annoying.
AnnieLee Keyes is the super talented young woman who runs to Nashville with dreams of being the next star.
And things start falling into place.
However, AnnieLee has a dark and secret past. It’s starting to catch up to her.
Dolly has many young fans. There is some profanity, violence and sex in this novel, but far less than any other Patterson book, I reckon.
In conjunction, Dolly released an album of the same name.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rockin’ tipped me to Henning May’s band AnnenMayKantereit. (worst name ever?)
What I liked best is May’s vocals. So rough and soulful.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Back in the 1990s I edited a lot of VHS videos — gak 😕 — and the worst aspect was dealing with audio.
Now that video editing is my hobby, I’m finding that sound design is the most interesting part. Many video creators think it’s the most important part in 2022.
That could be true — BUT many folks watch video on their phones with audio muted. So I also edit to be presentable VIDEO ONLY.
Here’s the best introduction to the topic I’ve seen.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 