Jimmy LaFave "How It Must Remain"

It’s hard to say goodbye to a friend. Jimmy LaFave is gone, after a difficult bout with cancer. I can’t imagine the pain he has been in, and note that he is not in pain any longer. His walk through these last months was filled with steel and grace. He performed as long as he could. He didn’t want the story out there, though people whispered. That he could keep it as quiet as he did, almost to the end, and that he played shows until he couldn’t, showed us his incredible strength of character.

Jimmy factored heavily into Music Fog’s early days. We filmed him in Memphis and Austin. He brought us to Cherokee Creek Music Festival. We came to WoodyFest in Okemah, Oklahoma at his request. He believed in us, and we believed in him. It is all the more precious to have this film, as he is gone. There were miles and smiles and songs together, but this was one of our most intimate moments. Just Jimmy and Rad on the Music Fog bus, parked backstage during 2010's Cherokee Creek Music Festival in Texas.

Generous, kind, and oh so talented. Jimmy, we will miss you forever.

- Jessie Scott

Darrell Scott "The Day Before Thanksgiving"

Thanksgiving.  The year is in the wind down as of today, though it doesn’t seem possible that 2011 is almost over. Today is a day of introspection and overeating, for counting blessings and consuming calories.  This year, I want to take a moment to give thanks while I question what comes next, personally and for this society and the world. There is so much discord, so much strife. So many hungry, homeless, war torn, out of work, out of money and out of luck. So while I am thankful for what I have, I can’t take for granted the rest. I don’t want to get used to the discord as the new normal. No one says it better than Darrell Scott, Poet Laureate of Americana.  Our condolences go out to Darrell and his family, for the loss of his father, Wayne Scott, a musician and guiding light. Among other projects, Darrell produced Wayne's 2005 album, This Weary Way, and you can read more about it on his site.

Darrell Scott's seventh studio album, Long Ride Home, will be released this coming January.  The new CD pays tribute to the country music of his youth, and many of its songs were written a long time ago; two are from when he was just 16. He is renowned for more than just his prodigious songwriting chops, to wit, for being a member of Robert Plant’s Band of Joy, which solidifies his stature as one of the finest all-around musicians in the world. Not to mention the three Grammy nominations and an Americana Music Association Honor. Today’s offering is the Music Fog recording of “The Day Before Thanksgiving,” originally found on the album A Crooked Road.  For a limited time, you can download a copy of the song on Darrell's site.   And of course, you can see the Music Fog version right here.

- Jessie Scott

John Lennon & Elton John "Whatever Gets You Through the Night"

Photo Credit: Aaron LeeToday marks the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's passing. One can only wonder what continuing contributions he would have made to music, to culture, to society. My friend Lydia Hutchinson from Performing Songwriter Magazine did a story about John's last performance in NY, appearing as a surprise guest of Elton John's during his Thanksgiving night concert of 1974. Elton played piano and sang harmony vocal on the original recording of the song, and bet John it would hit number #1. He got Lennon to promise that he would appear with Elton on stage if that should happen. The tune wound up being John's only solo release to get to the top of the chart.

Among the tributes and remembrances this week to John Lennon was a sobering and somber documentary on CNN called Losing Lennon hosted by John Roberts. Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Time, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post; there is a virtual avalanche of coverage. Whatever John might have done had he had a longer life, he left us with such an amazing musical legacy. He also opened the door to the new era by using the media to advance political and social commentary.

Let us stop for a moment and soak in the exuberance of John Lennon with Elton John and The Muscle Shoals Horns on "What Ever Gets You Through the Night," from Thanksgiving 1974 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

- Jessie Scott