Emmylou Harris - "She Sure Do Dilute the Ugly Around Here"

Born April 2, 1947, Emmylou Harris turns a beautiful 63 years old today.

Ahhhhhh, the original Grievous Angel herself. I tell ya boys, if they all held up like this after 60 years, they'd be worth the trouble. A gorgeous woman with an angelic voice and sensibilities about music that will make a grown man cry.

The quote in the title of this post "She sure do dilute the ugly up here, don't she." is lifted from the "Together at the Bluebird Cafe" album, when Townes van Zant, Guy Clark and Steve Earle were playing together and Emmylou joined them onstage to provide some harmonies, it's how Earle introduced her. Even on the audio we all nodded and agreed.

But, it's that voice that really sends vibrations down your spine and the way she uses that voice.

It's like a sign from God or the Flying Spaghetti Monster or whomever resides up above, letting us know they love us. It's as good as it's gonna get down here folks.

This post isn't going to give you a lot of insight into the life and career of Emmylou. I'm in a bit of a scramble here today as my external hard drive seems to be calling in a sick day. 500 gigabytes of my stuff (music, pictures, comics, oldtime radio) all has taken a leave of absence.

If ever there was a need for this fantastic woman's voice to soothe my jangled nerves, it's today.

Thank goodness for YouTube...here's some Emmylou:

Thanks Emmylou, for always salving our souls and making the whole world look and sound a little better every day! Happy birthday!

Guy Clark - Songwriter - Craftsman

Guy Clark was born this day in 1941, he is 68 years old today...and sounding better with every passing year.

Guy loves words. Guy loves wood. His words sound like fine wood that he's carves and moulded and shaped.

One of my "Holy Trinity" of songwriters (along with John Prine and Billy Joe Shaver...Todd Snider is D'Artagnon) Guy is considered a true craftsman on songwriting among song writers.



His wife Susanna once described the kinds of songs Guy writes as the stuff that gets spread around and gains new fans with one "You gotta hear this" to another. Guy's songs are personal to his fans. He wrote 'em for us.





Guy at one time or another worked building guitars in Long Beach, California and building boats along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana and still works on guitars and does carpentry "for fun". He once wrote a song in praise of the carpenter and woodworking, with a great line "Don't the Lord love a 2 X 4".



His records sound like wood too. acoustic, warm, inviting. You can almost smell the oak and mahogany.

Guy's got a new record coming out this month...I can hardly wait. They don't come fast and furious to this man. Usually 3-4 years between new releases, he says "I wait until I have 13 good songs...then I make a record.".





He doesn't just "have" or end up with new songs...he forms and lathes and sands them like a fine wood carving. Then when their suitably crafted enough to come into the house, they're finally born.

Ready for some "you gotta hear this" and to be passed around by some new folks.

Thanks Guy!