Passed at the age of 58.
Schneider's probably right to claim that Bertolucci and Brando took advantage of her during the filming of the bloated and tedious Last Tango in Paris. But give Schneider this, she was not only stunningly beautiful but a very brave actor.
I was very sad to hear of Charlie Louvin's passing. Along with his long-deceased brother Ira, Charlie Louvin made some of the greatest country music in its history. The beautiful harmonies make them probably the greatest brother act in American music history. They didn't sell super well at the time, though the song I put here did reach #1. And while they've achieved a cult status since the late 1960s, The Louvin Brothers have hardly reached the iconic level in the minds of more casual fans as Johnny Cash or Hank Williams.
That's too bad because The Louvin Brothers were basically the perfect band. They combined beautiful singing with wonderful songs about love, God, Satan, and murder. This version of "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" is a great introduction. My favorite is "While You're Cheating On Me," which is a wonderful tale of both partners cheating. They are probably most known for the crazy album cover on Satan is Real and their murder ballad, "Knoxville Girl," which is really an old English song transplanted to Tennessee.
Like many murder ballads, "Knoxville Girl" is about a man killing a woman for not marrying him, for cheating, or, as in this case, for the hell of it. I saw Charlie Louvin twice. His voice was gone by the 1990s. In fact, he pretty much disappeared from the music industry for a long time after he decided he couldn't work with his crazy brother in the early 60s (Ira died in 1965) and put out a few fairly successful albums that decade. The first time I saw him was in 1999. He was opening for Chet Atkins, in what was Atkins' last show, in Knoxville, Tennessee. It wasn't supposed to be the end--I had a ticket for the show, but Atkins fell and broke his hip just before it was scheduled. It was rescheduled about 6 months later. Chet could still play, but was in clear decline--he couldn't walk well of course and his guitar cord came unplugged and he didn't know it. Atkins never played live again. But Charlie Louvin was great, despite his less than smooth voice.
And then I saw Charlie in, I think, 2008 in Austin. He played "Knoxville Girl," of course. He had a female fiddle player. And when he sang the line about grabbing the girl by the hair and throwing her in the river, he went over and gently stroked the fiddler's hair. This was the most awesome creepy moment I've ever seen live. Loved it.
I'm thinking of my top 10 country acts of all time. Most are probably fairly obvious. But The Louvin Brothers are very, very high.
1. Merle Haggard
2. Bob Wills
3. Hank Williams
4. Willie Nelson
5. Bill Monroe (though one could separate country and bluegrass of course)
6. The Louvin Brothers
7. George Jones
8. Loretta Lynn
9. Johnny Cash
10. Waylon Jennings
That's how great The Louvin Brothers are. I'll tell any of you hipsters out there that The Louvins were better than Johnny Cash. Moreover, I'll bet Johnny would have agreed with me.
Charlie Louvin, RIP
2009 marks my worst death list performance ever, only 2--Carl Pohlad and Robert McNamara. Any Twins fan can tell you which was more evil.
Ernest Borgnine and Andy Rooney replace them.
So I assume 2010 will be a banner year. Watch out!
1. Al Haig
2. John Wooden
3. Margaret Thatcher
4. Floyd Dominy
5. Fidel Castro
6. Luis Echeverria
7. Ernest Borgnine
8. Andy Rooney
9. Clark Terry
10. Stewart Udall
I haven't been this excited about a punk rock record in a long time. Death were a short lived band from the mid-70s Detroit scene that managed to record 7 tracks in 1975 and self-released a single in 1976 before disappearing. Drag City Records is releasing there entire recorded output in a couple weeks. Their sound is heavily influenced by the MC5 and The Stooges, but unlike those bands, they also have a lot in common with the sound of UK punk bands from 1976 and 1977. I pre-ordered a copy of the LP and it came in the mail today. I've already listened to this 6 or 7 times, it is great stuff that I highly recommend. Listen here, more info and background here and here.
Via Helmut, Kate Cronin-Furman notes that terrorists attack India and it's the biggest news of the week. 400 Nigerians die in violence last week, no one cares. Obviously, the India terrorist attacks were a huge deal, but shouldn't the death of Africans also be important?
Most Americans say no, the death of Africans is meaningless. Maybe if they are cute children dying of famine. Otherwise, no.
Today is December 7, the 66th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
For the first time, I have not heard or read anything about it in the news. Usually there is some kind of survivors' gathering in Hawaii.
But of course if you were 20 years old and survived the attack, you are 86 years old today.
The World War II generation is gone. A good many are still around I guess, but they are fewer by the day. Today's lack of coverage can be seen as a symbolic end to their existence on the planet.
Although the Greatest Generation myth makes me want to vomit, I have to say that this is a sad day that makes one aware of their own mortality, or at least this historian with a serious fear of death, which is not a good characteristic for someone who spends their days dealing with dead people.
