New Music for Old Rockers – RIP Edition

I haven’t done a NMFOR post in almost 4 months. Without live music, it sometimes seems to me that new music doesn’t exist. But it does! There’s some excellent new music being released. Here are some links to new music by Tame Imapala, My Morning Jacket, Bruce Springsteen, and Dayglow. Now the last song isn’t new. It was released over 2 years ago by a high school kid with a green screen, some musical talent, and the ability to write an easy, listenable song. Over 42 million YouTube views later and it finally is getting some radio airplay.

I want to make it clear – none of these artists have died. They are just examples of new music being made despite the Age of COVID.

That brings me to this new release of an old song written by someone taken from us by COVID – John Prine. Kurt Vile teamed with John Prine to record Prine’s “How Lucky.” I like the contrast between Vile’s clean vocals and Prine’s rough, cancer-scarred vocals that somehow still sound great. And together at the end of the song, their voices blend together magically.

It got me thinking about all the musicians we lost in 2020. I put together this supergroup …

First, I want John Prine writing song lyrics. Then I’ll choose another COVID victim, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, to chip-in a clever pop melody to go along with Prine’s lyrics and also play some bass guitar. On drums will be Neil Peart of Rush. No discussion needed there. Playing piano and helping with vocals will be Little Richard. If a synthesizer is needed, we’ll recruit Florian Schneider from Kraftwerk. We can get a big sound from the combined rhythm guitars and vocals of Spencer Davis, Kenny Rogers, and Bill Withers. Lead guitars would be manned by Eddie Van Halen and Peter Green of the original Fleetwood Mac. We’ll keep Charlie Daniels standing by in case we need a fiddle. Helen Reddy and Johnny Nash can add their soaring vocals. We’ll ask Toots from Toots & the Maytals to bring the drugs and the cool vibes. Sadly, I could go on and on with too many lost, many to COVID.

I like to think of all the departed making great music together in paradise, which is a great way to segue to Prine & Vile live in concert in 2018 collaborating on Prine’s “Paradise.”