Latest news with #ballads
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Barns ignoble – Frank McNally on Tom Waits's barn obsession (and why Macbeth is innocent)
When I wrote that the 'Red Barn Murder' of 1827 was still inspiring ballads, books, and screenplays well into the 20th century ( Diary , August 14th), I somehow forgot the most obvious example. My thanks to reader Turlough Montague for reminding me that Tom Waits's 1992 song Murder in the Red Barn, although a treatment of the rural murder mystery in general, is clearly rooted in those original events in early 19th century Suffolk . Waits seems to have moved the scene to 20th century America: 'The woods will never tell what sleeps beneath the trees/Or what's buried neath a rock or hiding in the leaves/'Cause roadkill has its seasons, just like anything/It's possums in the autumn and it's farm cats in the spring.' But amid the many speculations about who might have been responsible for what may or may not have happened, his narrator too considers framing a gypsy, as had happened in Suffolk before they got their man. READ MORE And as it had been in the original case, the scene of the crime becomes almost a character in the song, complicit in evil deeds: 'Cause there's nothing strange about an axe with blood stains in a barn./There's always some killin' you got to do around a farm.' Barns have a dark hold on Waits's imagination. If ever given the chance to write an English Leaving Cert exam paper, I might ask students to compare and contrast the 1992 ballad with his even more sinister Don't Go into that Barn from 20 years later. That too was inspired by real events, this time in the US, as revisited by The New York Times in 2003. The article in question was about a new slavery museum in Natchez, Mississippi. But two centuries earlier, the building had been a tobacco barn owned by a Captain Anderson, who used it to imprison actual slaves. In more recent memory, it loomed like a malign ghost in the local landscape. Hence the recollections of an 84-year-old farmer, who remembered playing around it as a child. 'Dad told us never to go in there,' The New York Times quoted him saying. 'He never did tell us why.' Waits didn't go into the barn either, or its particular history. But the phrase inspired him to a growling masterpiece of mysterious malevolence, topped off with a sinisterly jaunty account of the stops on a trip downriver: '… Henderson to Smithland/Smithland to Memphis/Memphis down to Vicksburg/Vicksburg to Natchez …' Still with barns but on a more uplifting note, John Stevenson has written on foot of the Diary of August 12th , on the Conyghams of Slane Castle, with a story about that family's unusual motto and coat of arms. Back in the 1960s, John won a scholarship to the Atlantic College in Wales, where his fellow students include a Welsh Conygham of Irish parentage. The latter had a ring, inherited from his forefathers, with the unusual motto 'Over Fork Over' and coat of arms, the centrepiece of which was a Y shape. I had seen this at a lunch in Slane Castle after Henry Mount Charles's funeral and, at first, perhaps because of the setting, thought the motto related to dining etiquette: perhaps something they teach you in finishing school about how to place your cutlery to indicate to the butler whether you're still eating. [ Henry Mount Charles obituary: Affable, striking figure who brought rock music to Slane Opens in new window ] In fact, it relates to an event from the family's earlier history in Scotland, when one of them saved the life of a future King Malcolm by hiding him in a barn, under hay, forked on as the pursuers closed in. 'Over Fork Over' may have been an actual exclamation used. It's a nice story anyway. But I'm glad John mentioned it because, as readers will doubtless know, the Thursday just gone marked the 968th anniversary of the death of the real-life Macbeth. Indeed, this week was a double Macbeth milestone, his kingship having lasted 17 years and a day, from August 14th 1040. That last date, you may be thinking – if like me, you were misled by Shakespeare – must have been when he murdered old King Duncan in his bed, having been put up to it by Lady Macbeth, after misleading advice from a Scottish consultancy firm, the Weird Sisters. On the contrary, as I now know having revisited the case, that was all lies, invented by the English (via chronicler Raphael Holinshed), and then repeated unthinkingly by Shakespeare, perhaps to curry favour with King James I, whose ancestors included the real-life Malcolm and Banquo. It turns out that the historical Duncan was a young man who died in battle, that Macbeth succeeded him fairly, and that Lady Macbeth had no invisible blood on her hands to wash off obsessively while sleepwalking. Nor do there appear to have been any weird sisters involved, although the real Macbeth's demise may have been foretold by a fifth century Irish abbot named Berchán. Like all the best prophecies, Berchán's are poetically vague – terms and conditions apply. But unlike Shakespeare, at least he didn't resort to such cheap plot twists as suggesting that a man delivered by Caesarean section was 'not of woman born'.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Connie Francis' dalliance with country music and Nashville remembered after her death at 87
Legendary pop balladeer Connie Francis has died, according to a July 17 Facebook announcement by Ron Roberts, president of her music Label, Concetta Records. She was 87. She was renowned for tear-jerking ballads including "Who's Sorry Now?" and "Don't Break the Heart that Loves You," plus eventual pop standards including "Lipstick on Your Collar," "Stupid Cupid" and "Vacation." No cause of death was listed. Did Connie Francis have Nashville ties? Like many pop stars of that era, her style was favored by then-Decca Records Nashville chief and iconic country music producer Owen Bradley. Therefore, she often recorded at his "Quonset Hut" Studio on Music Row. Specifically, in 1961 and 1964, the eventual seller of more than 200 million records worldwide made significant contributions to the music scene in Music City. In the same week of Aug. 1961, Francis recorded "Connie Francis Sings 'Never on Sunday' (and other title songs from motion pictures)" and "Connie Francis Sings Folk Song Favorites." Three years later, she returned and worked with Hank Williams, Jr. on the album "Connie Francis & Hank Williams, Jr. Sing Great Country Favorites." Why was Connie Francis a fan of working in Music City? Before returning in August, Francis first paired with Bradley in January of 1961. Back then, Bradley was five years into working in Nashville and developing his smoother, pop-aimed and string-laden "Nashville Sound." Songs like 1960's "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" saw Francis sample sounds akin to the emerging Music City innovation. Francis famously commissioned her Brooklyn-based songwriting team, Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller, to write "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," which aimed to mimic the type of country hits that worked for performers such as Patsy Cline and Connie Smith. This led both of those pop hits to the No. 1 position on the Country & Western and all-genre Hot 100 charts, respectively. Months later, Francis found herself at the Quonset Hut surrounded by Nashville session musicians led by arranger and composer Cliff Parman, with backing vocalists Millie Kirkham and The Jordanaires also present. Those recordings resulted in two tracks, "Let The Rest Of The World Go By" and "Someone Else's Boy." Foreign-language versions of those songs became massive hits overseas, especially in Germany. In favor of working with Bradley and crew, Francis spent eight more years returning to Nashville for recordings. Why did Connie Francis pair with Hank Williams, Jr.? A decade after the death of his Country Music Hall of Fame-inducted father, Hank Williams, Jr. debuted as an artist in 1964. His path would intersect with Connie Francis in the same year. Hank Jr.'s calling card back then was directly tied to his iconic father, who unexpectedly died on Jan. 1, 1953. The album "Hank Williams Jr. Sings the Songs of Hank Williams" was a top-20 country charter. It's follow-up, the soundtrack to the MGM-released Hank Williams biopic "Your Cheatin' Heart," was a gold-selling crossover hit. Owen Bradley was behind the boards on May 11-13, 1964, when Francis and Hank Jr. recorded 14 country standards. 12 of those were released as "Connie Francis and Hank Williams Jr. Sing Great Country Favorites." "Connie's very versatile singing brings the skilled nuance of the urban song to bear upon this material. On the other hand, Hank sings in the traditional country fashion," wrote studio drummer Paul Ackerman. "Theirs was a natural collaboration in any sense other than that of corporate logic: Francis was MGM Records' biggest star, Williams, the son of their biggest country money maker, was probably their newest signing. It must have been hoped that glory would be reflected on both sides," added independent European record re-release company Bear Family Records in a press release. Francis' influence impacts Nashville's global expansion Outside of the country world, Francis' Nashville-recorded albums were globally successful. Francis recorded nearly a dozen albums of her takes on global "favorites" between 1960 and 1964, including Jewish, German, Irish and more. Regularly recording in other languages was a skill mimicked by other Nashville favorites including Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee, Pat Boone and Johnny Cash. Eventually, Francis expanded her work to cover songs in 15 languages. Although not always fluent in them, she sang them phonetically. In a 1961 television interview, she stated that she was fluent in Spanish and Italian, but always had a translator nearby to ensure her translated lyrics and, especially, her pronunciation were accurate. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Connie Francis' dalliance with 'Nashville sound' and Hank Williams Jr.
Irish Times
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Connie Francis: Don't Break the Heart that Loves You singer dies aged 87
Connie Francis, who dominated the pop charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s with sobbing ballads like Who's Sorry Now? and Don't Break the Heart that Loves You, as well as up-tempo soft-rock tunes like Stupid Cupid, Lipstick on Your Collar and Vacation, has died aged 87. Her publicist, Ron Roberts, announced her death in a post on Facebook. Petite and pretty, Francis had an easy, fluid vocal style, a powerful set of lungs and a natural way with a wide variety of material: old standards, rock'n'roll, country and western, and popular songs in Italian, Yiddish, Swedish and a dozen other languages. Between 1958 and 1964, when her brand of pop music began to fall out of favour, Francis was the most popular female singer in the United States, selling 40 million records. Her 35 top 40 hits during that period included 16 songs in the top 10, and three number one hits: Everybody's Somebody's Fool, My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own and Don't Break the Heart That Loves You. She was best known for the pulsing, emotional delivery that coaxed every last teardrop from slow ballads like Who's Sorry Now? and made Where the Boys Are a potent anthem of teenage longing. Sighing youngsters thrilled to every throb in My Happiness and Among My Souvenirs. 'What struck me was the purity of the voice, the emotion, the perfect pitch and intonation,' said Neil Sedaka, who wrote Stupid Cupid and Where the Boys Are with Howard Greenfield. 'It was clear, concise, beautiful. When she sang ballads, they just soared.' Her song Pretty Little Baby had a TikTok -fuelled resurgence this year, trending for weeks on the social media app and soaring to top spots in Spotify's Viral 50 global and US lists. Concetta Franconero was born December 12th, 1938, in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in the Ironbound neighbourhood. Her father, the son of Italian immigrants, was a dockworker and a roofer who loved to play the concertina, and he put an accordion in his daughter's hands when she was aged three. Connie Francis at her home in 2025. Photograph: Miami Herald/TNS From that moment, he hovered over her musical development and her career, putting her onstage at local lodges and churches. She made her stage debut aged four, singing Anchors Aweigh and accompanying herself on the accordion at Olympic Park in Irvington, New Jersey. At 11, Francis was a regular on a Marie Moser's Starlets, a local television variety show. After appearing on Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. Mack advised her to lose the accordion, and Godfrey advised her to change her last name to 'Francis'. She then embarked on a four-year run as one of the child entertainers on Startime. As she outgrew the child star category, Francis obtained forged documents and began singing in clubs and lounges. Imitating the vocals styles of stars like Patti Page and Rosemary Clooney, she made demonstration tapes for music publishers who wanted to place their songs with famous singers. – This article originally appeared in the New York Times . 2025 The New York Times Company
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Beloved '90s Singer, 57, Gets 'Glammed Up' For Special Announcement and Looks Breathtaking
Beloved '90s Singer, 57, Gets 'Glammed Up' For Special Announcement and Looks Breathtaking originally appeared on Parade. The '90s were a magical time for entertainment, but it was a particularly special time for female artists. The surge of singer-songwriter women that happened gave us some of the most prolific artists in our lifetime, and a severely underrated one is Sarah McLachlan, "I Will Remember You" artist not only created some of the most gorgeous ballads of the '90s, she orchestrated one of the most memorable all-female festivals, Lilith Fair. Just one month ago, McLachlan announced that new music was on the way and yesterday, she made it even more official with a quick TikTok post. Her glam-team had her glowing as she announced that the new music release tomorrow Jun 26, as well as a new music video (which she hasn't done in years). Fans were thrilled to hear the announcement and were taken back by just how incredible she looks. "So gorgeous!!! Glad to see you back!! Your music is some of my favorite," wrote one fan. "Not only do you have an ethereal voice, but you are even more beautiful than ever," one long-time fan commented. "Thank you for gracing us with your gift." The name of the newest album hasn't been released yet, but it is sure to include her many musical talents from playing the piano to strumming a ukulele and of course her iconic voice. Parade Daily🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 Beloved '90s Singer, 57, Gets 'Glammed Up' For Special Announcement and Looks Breathtaking first appeared on Parade on Jun 25, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
