Said Rufus Wainwright, quoted in "Rufus Wainwright Announces New Album Unfollow the Rules, Shares New Song: Listen/‘Damsel in Distress’ is an homage to Joni Mitchell in some ways, particularly the structure" (Pitchfork).
Here's the song:
I got there via my son John's Facebook post, where someone brings up this post of mine from 2007 — about the time I sat at a table next to Rufus Wainwright in a restaurant in SoHo — and I reread my own old post, which ends:
I think about whether I'm excited to sit for so long so near a person whose music I have so much feeling for. But no, I feel normal, as usual. I remember the time, more than 30 years ago, when I sat in a restaurant at a table next to John Lennon. The feeling was overwhelming. I am so much older now, but is it that I fell in love with Rufus's music as an older person or that I'm sitting near him as an older person? I could find out if some day I'm sitting in a restaurant and, at the next table, it's Ray Davies. Maybe Bob Dylan. But no. I think it's a theory that can only be tested on Ray Davies.Then, at Facebook, I say:
I realize I don't understand that last part... Why can't the theory be tested on Bob Dylan? I'm sure I meant that to be enigmatic at the time, but now I've excluded even myself!
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44 comments:
Rufus Who?
Who Wainwright?
Ugh, I think that song is just horrid. De gustibus non disputandum est.
You were so much older then
You're younger than that now
I like it. Very Joni.
Does Joni Mitchell still have tits? Rufus would notice.
Rufus Who?
Who Wainwright?
He's the son of the guy who did "Dead Skunk".
Rufus Is A Tit Man. Turns out, not so much!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46EbjMkeghE
My husband and I
I will never, ever, be comfortable with that. Why can't we settle on 'spouse'?
I’ve been mad at Joni Mitchell ever since I learned she gave up her kid to pursue her career. I like her music but I’m mad at her.
I once said “Hello” to Maria Muldair at a music festival near San Miguel but she was eating a taco or some such and had mayonnaise running down her chin. That burst bubbles.
I also once stood next to Peter Green in a lobby at a blues concert in Cleveland but was too shy to say anything and stayed tongue tied. Maybe I could have made something from the fact that we’re both Jewish, and he plays the blues among other things and I love the blues among other things. Maybe not.
And another one: I was early to a Blues concert at Toronto’s Harbour Front and was having a lone beer but then who should be sitting not far from me in the same place but the great R. L. Burnside. Again the cat got my tongue.
My losses all the way around.
Her album "Blue" still haunts me..........
Maybe it's because I'm older, but I don't think I could be flabbergasted with encountering a celebrity. They're people like the rest of us, just harder working, talented and lucky.
Of course, living in Hershey, I don't have much opportunity to run into famous people. In fact, I'm probably the most famous living resident, compared to the guy who made the chocolate, and I'm not that well-known except to a small segment of hardcore Sherlockians.
itzik: On my first visit to England, I stopped into one of the pubs in Heathrow to have a quiet pint by myself before I continued on to Manchester.
Who was sitting a couple of tables over but the great Michael Jackson of beer expertise (not shitty pop music) fame? Indeed it was he.
I left him alone since he was just there by himself, having a quiet pint. Some things, we have to respect, especially when we're in England.
This was quite some time ago, when there still was an England.
I met Jon Waters in the men’s bathroom in Atlanta once. Looked over while peeing and there he was. Said hi, I know who you are, he he laughed heartily. Nice guy.
In Hartsfield International. Whoops.
Rufus Wainwright - I've heard of him I guess, but never really listened. Nice voice.
Reminds me of this guy a little bit.
sitting next to John Lennon and being cool about it - Hats off to that.
I'd have passed out. I love the Beatles like a silly school grrrl.
donald said...
I met Jon Waters in the men’s bathroom in Atlanta once. Looked over while peeing and there he was. Said hi, I know who you are, he he laughed heartily. Nice guy.
2/27/20, 6:09 PM
A+ story.
I would say "a homage" with a hard h. We're not in France. Or Quebec.
Because Ray Davies is more like Lennon than Dylan is: rocker, British, maybe sexier?
You people are drinking with the third...
Rufus is great. Haven't bought anything by him in years (I guess he hasn't done anything in years). But listening to this, I definitely heard Joni's music in it. And I'm reminded what a great voice he has and what a good songwriter he is. Better than his dad. I'll definitely pick this up when it comes out.
Never hung out with rock stars, but I used to rub elbows with a number of jazz greats back in the day in Detroit.
I never liked Rufus Wainwright but his mother was great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vK7jitvJXI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB6-sH5jozA
and one about Rufus Wainwright by his mother
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECj_AxGuaPo
Because Dylan is such a big deal that sitting next to him wouldn't be a test, there is only one way you would or could react and feel?
and I'm not that well-known except to a small segment of hardcore Sherlockians.
How do you feel about Nero Wolfe, Bill?
I sat at a table next to Peter Allen ("I Go To Rio") when my then GF had taken me out to dinner for my birthday. His was a very large table filled with what we presumed were cast and dancers from his then-current Broadway show. The wait staff brought out a cake w/ sparklers and they all sang "Happy Birthday." My GF made the not particularly astute observation that it must be his birthday too. A moment later, Mr. Allen approached our table w/ two plates of cake and graciously wished me a happy birthday too. Let's see Bob Dylan try that.
I sat at the same table as Bill Clinton once. But he sat there about a year earlier.
Ray Davies was also bored by politics.
Weird. Just watching "this is us" and they are looking for Joni Mitchell's old house. Some thing a couple of characters did 40 years ago. OK, now I realize this was recorded, maybe last week (we time shift everything a FF through commercials)
Just weird, Joni Mitchell hasn't entered my brain in years, and today, twice from disparate sources.
“Because Dylan is such a big deal that sitting next to him wouldn't be a test, there is only one way you would or could react and feel?”
Good guess!
I can’t think of anything better.
That song is catchy! I remember his parents’ work and he’s an obvious talent (good genes). I’ll admit that I knew of him but hadn’t heard any of his stuff.
Rufus can really sing :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6scVohi0TYI&list=RDLQK4YfiPj1Q&index=6
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Ray Davies and the Kinks were and are spectacular, Joni rather bored me but much appreciated. That paving Paradise is so timeless.
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Quite probably my only claim to fame is that I used to live on Hornsey High street, the street in North London where a restaurant called Le Bistro used to be. Ray Davies ate there occasionally, and because I knew the owner of the Bistro, I did get to sit at the next table to him. The funny thing was, at the time, I had no idea who he was, who the Kinks were, and that just down the road was The Konk, the little recording studio where they made much of their music.
Backstage at a Rolling Stones concert in the seventies. They were tiny men.
A song about Joni Mitchell.
People are still writing songs about Joni Mitchell.
Joni Mitchell wrote songs about my Step-Father.
I got a weird life.
R. L. Burnside
Thanks for the reminder! "Criminal Inside Me" is now playing.
Around the time of Rolling Thunder, Scarlett Rivera performed at The Cafe Extempore in Minneapolis. Bob Dylan entered the small room and sat right in back of me. How do I know that? Because the electic vibe in the room went to "11" and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end when he sat down in back of me. Who else has that power? Plus, I very casually (I think) left my seat, snuck a quick look, and went to a pay phone to call a buddy to get over here quick!
This Joni Mitchell fan only made it to 1:43 and then ditched out. Terrible. The only good parts are the little imitative touches.
My father was a very successful entertainment attorney. Reacting to any celebrity would have been frowned upon since my father and mother never did, and many such luminaries called him by his nick name. I did remember to shake hands twice with a moon astronaut (who made a TV movie). When I was 10 I sat in a room with Hugh Hefner, Steve McQueen, Walter Matthau, James Caan and a few retired Rams all watching a blacked out playoff game at CBS. Matthau had a drink in each hand and told me he was exercising. Steve McQueen looked near death and spent the entire time on the phone, perhaps with bookies. Hugh Hefner brought his own six pack of Pepsi (which he didn’t share), and his teeth looked dark. Caan was very nice to me. I would absolutely react towards meeting Vin Scully, wouldn’t be able to help it.
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