Sunday, July 5, 2015

A heritage of hate, murder and abuse is nothing to celebrate

Inspired (or rather as a result of) recent events:

'Take Down Your Flag,' by Peter Mulvey

Why the 'Take Down Your Flag' songwriter was willing to be rude after Charleston shooting

Singer Peter Mulvey rallies peers with Confederate flag protest

Sorry for the tardiness in getting to this

Garnet Rogers on the late Bill Morrissey -- it begins with:

BILL MORRISSEY – A TRIBUTE…

"First posted on my Facebook page, July 26, 2011. ...have been thinking, as most of my friends have, about Bill Morrissey, these last few days. I met him in May of '83. My brother Stan and I were playing Payne Hall at Harvard, and Bill was the opener. We had heard of him, being the seasoned New England circuit veterans we were, but knew nothing about his music, or what kind of guy he was. He and his bass player, Grieg, sort of shambled in, and set their cases down and we began the wary business of trying to figure out what kind of nightmarish opener we were being lumbered with this time. We were hitting light speed around then, career wise, it being about a month before Stan's death, and any other act on the bill was seen as either an amateurish intrusion, or, if they were good, someone to be overwhelmed and stomped. Stan in particular, had a very competitive streak, and this little unassuming guy was being touted to us as a "great songwriter" and a potential next big thing. Of all the nerve. We were however, prepared to be friendly within the limits of our band culture which frowned on outsiders, and we broke open a case of beer, and got out the guitars..."

Hit this link for the payoff.