Althouse: "The Wanderer..."

August 30, 2014

"The Wanderer..."

"... sings the blues."

14 comments:

Ipso Fatso said...: There are 2 groups of people who have no match when it comes to producing singers: Italian Americans and Blacks. Dion is and was, an incredible singer and represents a long line of Americans of Italian decent who could sing there assess off. It is amusing to me how many of the "bands" I heard as a kid in the 60s who had Italian lead singers even heavy metal bands. As for Blacks, well Wilson Picket, Solomon Burke, Joe Tex, Otis Redding, and on and on.; 8/30/14, 1:09 PM
FullMoon said...: There are two groups of people who produce the best and brightest in every field; men and women.; 8/30/14, 1:40 PM
FullMoon said...: .....and, stay away from runaround sue, Sue goes out with all the guys.

Donna the prima donna had roving eyes....

And Ruby,
This girl don't love me but I love 'er just the same

For a talanted, good looking guy, Dion sure had bad luck with women.

Maybe He coulda benefited using Meades technique; 8/30/14, 1:46 PM
m stone said...: If Meade and Ann make the 50 years of marriage that Dion and Susan Butterfield have, that will be an achievement.

A speckled life, Dion's. And don't forget Abraham, Martin, and John, among his top recordings.; 8/30/14, 1:59 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: That's some pretty sad-ass blues.; 8/30/14, 2:03 PM
Carol said...: That's Dion??? Just another old dried up boomer?...lol.

He is good, though, better than I remembered. Too bad he arose during such a dismal period in pop music. He would have thrived longer in the Zep/Clapton era.; 8/30/14, 2:41 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Dion is great. I saw him in a small venue here in Madison some time around 1990. It was the most entertaining concert I ever attended. He had new material and did his old songs, and he talked between songs, telling his stories like a gifted comedian.

"The Wanderer," I learned, was a sequel to "Runaround Sue." "Sue" was more about his real life, but after that hit, doing a song about a runaround guy was good. It was an answer song, like when Lesley Gore did "Judy's Turn to Cry."; 8/30/14, 3:02 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "That's Dion??? Just another old dried up boomer?…lol."

Born in 1939, he's not a Boomer. Others born in his year: Neil Sedaka, Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye, Grace Slick, Ginger Baker, Judy Collins.

"Because he balked at paying the $35 it would have cost him, Dion, who was 19, declined an invitation to fly on the chartered plane that went down on February 3, 1959, killing fellow musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. 'the Big Bopper' Richardson."

"He is good, though, better than I remembered. Too bad he arose during such a dismal period in pop music. He would have thrived longer in the Zep/Clapton era."

I don't know why you say that. He fit perfectly into the period that took us from Doo Wop to the Beatles era.; 8/30/14, 3:17 PM
John henry said...: Dion, Waylon, How many other great stars were not on that plane?

John Henry; 8/30/14, 5:13 PM
sane_voter said...: Here is a wiki article about the infamous plane crash
The Day the Music Died; 8/30/14, 7:19 PM
Bob R said...: "I don't know why you say that. He fit perfectly into the period that took us from Doo Wop to the Beatles era. "

But that period ('59-'61) was a dismal period (at least from a white US perspective.) The music "died," right? Fabian and Pat Boone were topping the charts. Yes, Dion was a glimmer, but a faint one. Motown existed, but got no airplay. (How many people heard of Motown tunes though Beatles covers? Early Motown was bigger in the UK than the US.) Dion was good, but a couple of very good songs can't rescue three years of pop music.

Then in '62 Beach Boys came with the rest of the Wall of Sound. In '64 the Beatles arrived and the deluge began.; 8/30/14, 8:03 PM
David said...: Cool. Better than ever.; 8/30/14, 8:25 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: "There are 2 groups of people who have no match when it comes to producing singers: Italian Americans and Blacks."

You mean breeding but feel racist saying it, so your point is ruined.

Jews produce the best singers, of any and all groups trying to sing or trying to produce singers.

Joel Stein would agree, and he wrote about it intelligently without being an anti-Semite. Look it up.; 8/31/14, 12:52 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: NotquiteunBuckley said...
Jews produce the best singers, of any and all groups trying to sing or trying to produce singers

With Bob Dylan on their team they have a lot ground to make up just to get back to the starting line.; 8/31/14, 10:46 AM