Birthday Bonanza

Alan Lomax

Nolan Ryan, Hall of Fame pitcher, was actually on my show decades ago. I can’t remember what he was selling, I know it wasn’t an air conditioner, but it sure was fun to meet the man who pitched 7 no hitters.

And an amazing baseball player and human being, Jackie Robinson, was born this day in 1919. Jackie broke the color line in major league baseball and was the first African-American elected to the Hall Of Fame. With all of the insults and physical threats, he played the game with great ability and dignity. Branch Rickey signed him to the Brooklyn Dodgers with the understanding that in addition to playing the game, he had to take on an historic role and not lose his cool. What an inspiration. Jackie and Roy Campanella were the reasons this kid in Ohio was rooting for a team hundreds of miles away.

This is also the anniversary of the birth of Thomas Merton. What team did he play on? God’s all star team. He was a monk and one of my favorite writers. He was born in 1915. Even though he liked his solitude, he also ventured out into the world and took on issues of peace and saw the connections between Christianity and Buddhism. Incredible thinker and writer.

We do have some musical birthdays to celebrate. Franz Schubert was born 1797. He was an Austrian composer who only lived till his early 30′s, but kept busy. He left an amazing body of work. Years ago I was lucky enough to get to sing his Mass in G. If you were lucky enough to in your choir days, sing along. Once you learn this stuff it stays part of your skin and soul forever. If you are a choral person you know what I mean. Schubert was still a teenager when he composed this. Not a slacker.

On this day in 1915 Alan Lomax was born. Like his father, he dedicated his life to recording blues, gospel and folk music in the small towns and fields of the USA. At the R&R Hall of Fame in Cleveland, look for his reel to reel tape recorder and ponder how music would be so different if not for the Lomax family. This is his recording of Vera Hall. One of Moby’s favorites.

Philip Glass is 74. He is one of the leading minimalist composers. He has worked with Ravi Shankar, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen and others.

Charlie Musselwhite is 67. Great blues harp player.

John Lydon is 55. You may know him as Johnny Rotton, lead singer for the Sex Pistols and PIL. 55? No way. I had tickets to see the Sex Pistols at the Ivanhoe Theatre, but they broke up before they made it to Chicago. Major bummer. We all went to Wax Trax Records and cried.

And last but certainly not least…Phil Manzanera hit the big 6-0 today. Phil is the brilliant guitarist for Roxy Music. Lots of great guitarists out there, and Phil is one of them. He’s also one of the most original.

Here’s Phil and Roxy with an outstanding cover of Neil Young’s Like A Hurricane.

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