March 1st Spin A Record That Was A Gift:

So, it was suggested by a friend that March first be "Play A Record That Was A Gift" Day. OK. So I couldn't pick one, I went with two. Both of them gifts from my wife. I thought these two were particularly relevant to today. These are uncertain political times in the nation, and both of these songwriters tackled those types of things with gusto. As Joe Strummer sings on Long Shadow, "You don't face your demons down, you gotta grapple 'em jack, and pin 'em to the ground."

Oddly enough, Joe Strummer was a huge Woody Guthrie fan, going so far as to take on the monicker of "Woody" as a young man. Neither was a man to back down, or as Guthrie sang, "Ain't the world's best writer, ain't the world's best speller, but when I believe in something I'm the loudest yeller."    

These are both artists I reach for to get grounded, to refocus, because they both were good at dropping pretense, and cutting to the quick. They both also seem to have been good at turning their weakness into strength. By that I mean, neither was a child of means, both had serious character flaws, and unhealthy tendencies that would have crushed most people. But, these men were able to channel those weaknesses into empathy, and that empathy into fearlessness. Strummer once said, "...I realized early on, you either became a power or you were crushed." Seems like Woody knew this too. It's in that attitude were one feels both the toughness and the tenderness in their songs.

There you go, my vinyl spinning that was a gift.