Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Meeting the Bishop


The serendipity of life..is a bit like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon. I just bought my second and third Solomon Burke albums yesterday. This one "Soul Alive" recorded in 1981 in Washington, and another best of... It is awesome - this man is the true bishop of soul and is so full of good intentions in a gritty kind of way. "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" is the theme that runs through (and it was Burke's song long before the Blues Brothers got hold of it).

But now the six degrees bit. I loved the Jon Cusack movie, High Fidelity, and the music in that, rushed out to buy the soundtrack. It has some wonderful Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello's mournful "Shipbuilding" and Stereolab's great tune called "Lo Boob Oscillator"! Then I picked up the original Nick Hornby novel, which unlike the US based film is set in the UK and has a completely different 'soundtrack'(if a book could have such a thing). Anyway to cut a potentially long story short the book refers to an all time top ten of songs which is topped by Solomon Burke's "Got to get you off of my mind" which I had heard neither the artist or song. OK that's only about 4 degrees of separation but that is how I got to meet the bishop.

6 comments:

Third World Ant said...

Speaking of soundtracks and speaking of Lost in Translation (one of my top movies - you've reminded me to update it to my blog profile, thanks!), have you got that one? I simply adore it. As for High Fidelity, never watched the flick, but loved the book. Great taste, ATW!

ATW said...

Ant - Have I a favourite movie or a blog profile?
Blog profile , yes - but pretty much ignored and poorly filled in, so doesn't really mean much. I'll update it in fit of boredom one day. The stupid question section is oft cited as one of the main reasons that people leave blogger. I've been toying with the idea of putting a photo of my 8 yr old bakkie on the profile. (it's still got CA plates & sharks rugby bumper sticker, but thats about the only bit really going for it + it's paid for).
Fave movie - would be big lebowski - it's the only one that i have actually gone and bought the dvd - although I once bought a dodgy VHS of Clockwork Orange with Dutch subtitles. That said also loved Lost in Translation - but never sure if it was due to my swooning over Scarlett Johansson or because Bill Murray has to drink so much whisky.
Thanks for the judgment on my taste. My view is that as long as someone has taste (good or bad) it's better than having no taste at all.

Third World Ant said...

Aha! Your taste (definitely very good) extends to more than just movies. The one woman I would go down on if she were placed before me, naked and draped in red silk on a bed, would be Scarlett Johannson. I absolutely ADORE her! I too, cannot tell to what extent my appreciation for the movie is really an appreciation of Scarlett in her see-through knickers in the first scene of the film... mmmmm.... Scarlett...

ATW said...

fit of boredom kicked in and had a go at updating the profile. was quite fun to do more seriously than the time when I set up the blog.

scarlett's tops 100% agreed but the current headlines like:Young starlet Scarlett Johansson tops FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World"put me off a bit because I never wanted to think of myself in the fhm league. OK it only put me off such a tiny bit it wouldn't register and hell there's nought wrong with being redblooded is there?

Third World Ant said...

I'm also vaguely disappointed by this, but the love of Scarlett will live beyond the momentary "it girl" status she has acquired.

Just checked your updated profile - it's creepy how many of the movies/books you listed are: a)on my list b) on my list of things to read/watch c)extremely enjoyable, but not quite my list material... though we do differ markedly on the music side!

ATW said...

creepy bits of synchronised taste aside, the music thing intrigues me. There's just too much choice on the music side. While I'll listen to, and probably enjoy, just about anything I've found myself focussing more & more on on artists with some sort of narrative/ folksy / blues derivative. Perhaps it's just an unwillingness to be dragged into the 21st century? That said a bit of trip-hop fusion, drum 'n bass etc never hurt anyone. Anyone's welcome to start my education here - Where to start though -Lamb, Portishead, Tricky? Suggestions welcome.