It's the music of the '30s I love best, and when I'm in doubt about what to post here on the Friday Songbook, my mind turns to Hoagy Carmichael. His songs, like Johnny Mercer's, have a down-home feel, nostalgic for the country, set to jazz rhythms. The wispy fantasy-of-wealth images of a Cole Porter are not for him. This song, 'Rockin' Chair,' pictures an old black man on his front porch, waiting for the end. The strummed rhythm has a lazy front-porch feel to it, and Mildred Bailey sings it like one completely at home in the lyric.
Few modern singers would even consider doing this song, but it doesn't surprise me that musical historian and guitar god Eric Clapton has tried it on for size.
1 comment:
been awhile since i listened to clapton...
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