Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe Goes Old School

It was written by the great Jerry Jeff Walker, made famous by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and has become a sort of folk classic, but you know what, I still love Sammy Davis, Jr.'s version best. I think Sammy must have known more than one real-life Mr. Bojangles. When he sings, "We need to see you dance," he means it.



But since we're on the subject of dancers, I can't resist a special bonus for this edition of Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe:



I can't stop myself! Bing and Satchmo, Now You Have Jazz Jazz Jazz!

Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe

How about a little Gospel doe-see-doe?



Nina Simone. There will never be another. Here's a sample from 1968:

Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe!

Ah, not much blogging this week, and now it's time for a little Friday Doe-See-Doe. The Waifs are a fine Australian acoustic string band . . . no, I mean they're really really fine! This song is not only quite beautiful and moving, it tells the story of a piece of Aussie history. Quite amazing songwriting, not to mention singing, picking, the works!

This is the story of the starry nights
through desert plains and city lights
through burning sun and driving rain
she wept aboard the bridal train

from west to east the young girls came
all aboard the bridal train
it was a farewell crossing overland
she's gone to meet her sailor man

That my friend, is what musical story-telling is all about!

Now here's another:

Give me sun give dirt give me water
give me sweet everlasting love

What did I tell you? these guys are good! Now if I could only find some worship music that sounds like this!

Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe

Well, not much time or inclination for blogging this week, but there's always time for the doe-see-doe! check out Morwenna Lasko and Jay Pun:

Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe

Well, when it comes right down to it, I'm still a child of the sixties and early 70s, and though I don't wax nostalgic for those days, some of the music of that era has simply never been matched since (imho). And so, for the second installment of Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe, I return to my roots:

Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe

Sorry about not posting much this week (again!). I'll be back on track next week, God willing. I'll be attending a worship conference at a little Baptist seminary in my neighborhood. It sounds pretty interesting, and blogger Josh Otte will be there, not to mention Gordon-Conwell prof Gary Parret, whose "9.5 theses on worship" can be found here.

So all that is quite cool. I'm really looking forward to it. But now, because it's Friday, let's Doe-See-Doe just like it's the 60s all over again:

A Baseball Doe-See-doe

It's October, and my boyhood heroes, the Fightin' Phils, are still playing ball! This didn't happen often during my years of youthful fascination, hiding my transistor radio under my pillow and listening to the voices of By Saam and Richie Ashburn carry the game to my ears as I drifted to sleep. Meanwhile, my adulthood heroes, the Red Sox, are also still playing (not unusual these days). So let's doe-see-doe to a baseball tune.

Friday is for the Doe-See -Doe

It's time for the music. But first a note. You may have noticed I'm not all that "culture current." I haven't the foggiest notion about the contemporary music scene. It leaves me cold. These Friday "doe see doe" posts have been blasts from the past mostly. I love Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles. I love Woody Guthrie and Arlo, too. Emmy Lou is one of the greats. Folk traditions are the health of music, in my view. Listen to this touching and lovely version of Paul & John's "For No One."



Oh yeah. And I do love old time gospel. This is sweet!

Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe

Not long ago Jared at Gospel-Driven Church started a series called "Tuesday is for the Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha," intended to provide a once-a-week relief from the otherwise quite serious tone of much Christian blogging. I for one really appreciate Jared's Tuesday series, and have thought I should do the same sort of thing. Thus: "Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe". For the first installment, something slow and stately and utterly beautiful:

Christmas Doe-See-Doe

OK, Folks, all you happy happy few who depend on your daily dose of In the Clearing to get you through the day, I'm going to be gone for the next two weeks. It's a mighty act of self-discipline for me, but I'm pledging to take a two week vacation from all blogging. So I leave you with a couple of fine Christmas songs, and I'll see you next year.





Have a very faith-filled Christmas!

Why wait for Friday to Doe-See-Doe!

I've already bought the tickets to see this group in October. Which means, I really like 'em. Band called Crooked Still.

Amazing Grace

It's a day early for the usual "Friday Doe-See-Doe" but I couldn't wait to share this one with you. This had me weeping and cheering all at once. Stay with it to the end:



Found at Rick Ianniello's blog.

Friday is all about the Doe-See-Doe!

Okay, I love soulful brass sections, Wilson Pickett, and of course the Beatles. Ergo:



And now, in the category of stumbling upon funny things in YouTube, here's yet another memorable version of Hey Jude!

Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe

Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe

There's something incredibly fascinating about watching guitar mastery . . . such as this . . .



and this . . .

It's Friday! Let's Doe-See-Doe!

David Rawlings is one of my favorite guitarists to watch. Gillian Welch, well, she rocks.



How bout another? This is my very favorite gillian Welch song. Enjoy.

Come on, let's doe-see-doe!

That's the Yonder Mountain String Band. I like their sound. Here's another:

Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe

I like mountain music just about better than anything. If you're one of those people with a constitutional intolerance for old time string bands and such, you should probably just move along. Here are two songs that have a real old-time feel, each about the ravages of coal mining.

First, Steve Earl and Del McCoury:



And John Prine, one of the finest songwriters of our day:

Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe

Oh, heck, let's just go straight to the top . . . Ella & Ray:

Friday is for the Doe-See-Doe (still)

Change of pace.



BTW, Juan Carlos Jobim, who wrote this, is the coolest of all cool cats. His son's pretty cool, too.