"Valley of Tears" - Solomon Burke with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings

This is one of the most beautiful performances of this song you will ever hear. Gospel music is a balm for the pain in life. It gives hope when all seems to be lost. The sorrow turns to hope and joy when set to music. In the world of gospel music, there is Aaron Neville, and then everyone else. The only one, in my opinion, who even comes close, is Solomon Burke. You Tube him sometime and treat yourself to an incredible wealth of music from his 6 decades of recording.

In this beautiful spiritual;  written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings; Solomon Burke teams with the writers to deliver a beautiful performance of a haunting song, while all the while holding out hope that he will overcome his troubles. There is another gospel song by the same name as this one, written by Antoine "Fats" Domino and Dave Bartholomew. It was also recorded by Buddy Holly as well as Solomon Burke. But this is the one that really hits "home" for me.

Lamenting that people “stand in line- just to hear me cry” underscores the sorrow which the singer feels deeply, yet the audiences hunger to see his suffering lifts him up spiritually. He will not go to the valley. Instead, he sings his way through the pain, all the while praying for the deliverance of those who would rather see him suffer, if only to assuage their own pain.

The intersection of Solomon Burke with Gillian Welch gives further credence to our ability to overcome our superficial differences when we concentrate on our mutual emotions and needs. And music is such a great place to begin that journey.

Note: real life partners Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have been quietly influencing American independent music for several decades now. Her singing and writing, along with his deep love of playing guitar, combine together in such a way so as to communicate their love for one another to the audience without ever saying a word to one another. They are among my favorite musical artists. 

Valley of Tears” by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings

I've been riding high, but i don't know why

everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.

It's a sunny day and i'm on my way

but everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.

People stand in line just to hear me cry.

I wanna know the other side

but everyone i choose only brings bad news.

Everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.

People stand in line just to hear me cry.

I wanna know what's on the other side.

I've been riding high, but i don't know why

cause everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.

It's a sunny bright day and i'm on my way

but everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.

The Day the Music Died

Today marks the date on which the plane carrying 3 of America’s greatest pop artists of their time crashed, killing all three on board. We all know the story of how Waylon Jennings was supposed to be on that plane but gave it up at the last minute. Pretty dramatic stuff considering what happened.

Here is a 1972 performance by Don MacLean of his memorable hit recording “Bye Bye Miss American Pie”, which not only chronicles the events of February 3, 1959, but also goes on to make quite a statement about rock and roll, and the direction it was taking, in the early 1970’s. The Beatles were gone, Dylan was hibernating, and disco was about to explode on the scene at the time Mr. MacLean wrote this lament to a by-gone and seemingly dying era.

See how many of the musical artists you can identify in the song. I have always looked upon “the joker, on the sidelines in a cast”, as being Bob Dylan. The princes and queens all represent other musical acts that, though current, were in Mr. MacLean’s opinion, falling short of the original glory of rock and roll. Hence the refrain - “the day the music died.”

Of course, he was wrong. Disco came and went; country swept the nation during the 1980’s, encompassing rock and leaving the genre forever changed; and the current independent music scene all serve to show that music never really dies. It just changes from time to time. But the good stuff, like cream, always rises to the surface and remains. (There’s a joke in that last sentence – see if you can spot it and let me know.)