You could see Free Bird coming from the distance.

First it was hearing the first strums of Stairway to Heaven as my son’s ukulele teacher decided to challenge him with the epic multi-segmented classic. The joy Asher found in playing the song led to him spending more time on his instrument than usual, picking it up any chance that he got to try and work out all the parts. Hearing him play the quiet beginning, singing the soft, Tolkien verses with his young voice was such a sweet sensation…and it got better as he gained confidence, attacking the end with punk-riff gusto as he went falsetto right before the big ending. I hadn’t thought of listening to Stairway in so long, having been overplayed pretty consistently since its release, but I have to say I fell in love with it all over again.

And then Kaya started singing along with Asher…sometimes taking the center stage with Asher following her happily, strumming along. Both of them totally immersed in the song, learning the power of the band Led Zeppelin as they listened to the original recording to understand more deeply the rhythm of the different parts and the cadence in Robert Plant’s voice.

We were in the car on a long drive to Healdsburg and I had had just about enough of Stairway to Heaven…just like I had enough at some point during college so many years ago. So, I thought I would switch it up. I pulled up One More For The Road on Qobuz and suddenly from the speakers a crowd erupted as a southern drawled rockstar asked the legendary question: “What song do you want to hear?” (FRRREEEEEEE BBBBIIIIRRRRRDDDDDDD!). The crowd roars as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Billy Powell starts playing that beautiful, classically infused intro, garnished with those sweet sweet guitar-effected bird calls, before Gary Robert Rossington, the last surviving original member of the band, takes his slide and delivers the iconic melody on his guitar. By the time Ronnie Van Zant started singing “If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me” both Kaya and Asher were looking across the miles of countryside we were passing on the road, completely absorbed in the deep journey of the song. And after all these years, I even got a little teary as I listened.

Free Bird and Stairway To Heaven: there are not many songs like them that define the rock ballads of the 70s. And to be honest, I had shelved them into the overplayed bins of my mind for decades. It took my kid’s incredible Ukulele teacher to bring ‘em on back. I told the kids the tragic story of Lynyrd Skynyrd when they asked if they were still around, and I told them how I sang Skip Spence songs one night in a bar with Robert Plant when they asked if I had ever met any of the musicians. They had so many questions, their minds opened up by the music. Musical stories have framed my entire life, and it is so good to pass them on to my kids as they create their own.

‘People took so many drugs, they forgot they played on it’ – stars on Exile on Main St, the Rolling Stones’ sprawling masterpiece

I always heard that Gram Parsons was so high while hanging at the Exile recordings that he could barely speak….the whole time. However, this article really focuses on current legendary musicians giving their salute to Exile on its 50th year birthday…and there are some great pictures from the sessions as well.

Here are this year’s Pulitzer Prize winners.

There are MANY Pulitzer Prize winners, and they were announced this week. This article is focused on the literary prizes…but the complete list of prizes (including those for journalism) can be discovered on their website via a video announcement. Make sure you skip the 15+ minutes of a static screen to get to the program…featuring two Pulitzer staff members who are startlingly uncharismatic, but at least deliver the info. A poem by winner Diane Seuss is below.

The Race to Save Ukraine’s Sacred Art

Growing up I would read of how various European towns attempted to save their art from Nazi air and ground raids. This is a fascinating story where again incredible, magnificent art is being threatened, this time in the Ukraine, with individuals going to great lengths to save them.

Knoxville child picks longshot Kentucky Derby winner

Like many, I have been transfixed by the recent Kentucky Derby race and the story of winner Rich Strike (if you have not seen the race, it is some of the best two minutes to watch). I love this side story of the kid picking the winner: I might have been that kid—we all could hove—during those days of youth when it seemed right to bet on the horse least likely to win. I just hope he doesn’t start making this a habit. That being said, someone call a bookie: let’s put money on the Orioles to win the world series.

Micky Dolenz On Legacy Of The Monkees And Favorite Live Concert Moments

Nice to check in with Dolenz as he continues on after the death of all of his bandmates: “I’m the last man standing now, you know? And that certainly has had an effect on me to be honest. I think about it almost all of the time - especially when I’m on the road. But, even when I’m not, when I’m back home, it’s strange…”

[I SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN CINEMA. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN PAINT]

BY DIANE SEUSS

I should have been in cinema. I should have been in paint
or founded a band. I am certain of nothing said the tattoo.
Where is home scratched the chickens. I should have met
the Stones when I had the chance. Should have let Keith
turn me inside out. So what if I ended up dead or crazy.
I am big but this feeling is bigger, the silo whispered. I am
a movie screen drawled the pasture. I should have kept
the baby. So what poverty. I could have loved the little
fox-faced punk. I am buxom breathed the prairie. I should
have taken the radical path. I should have gone the cheerleader’s
way. Should have married Chuck before he enlisted. What if
I’m a star said the lamb. A star said the ham. A star said
the duck. A star said the truck. A star said the star. Is this music
about sound and not notes. What if it broadcasts a shimmering.

In September 2017, Danish Siddiqui took this picture of an exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touching the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat. Siddiqui was killed in Afghanistan last year, and won the Pulitzer prize this week.

MAN RAY'S REVOLVING DOORS

5-11 Forever—a fantastic day to listen to The Who’s Sell Out. Great sharing a birthday with you, Mr. Dulli.

The Signal From David Katznelson

Stairways and Freedoms