Margo Price has released a 9-track EP entitled Days of Unrest, featuring five timely covers of protest songs as well as three original instrumentals as well as Price’s song “Can’t Stand Still.” The protest songs include the Mexican folk song “De Colores,” Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm,” Blaze Foley’s “Oval Room,” and Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos).” On the Guthrie song, Joan Baez joins Price and the Memphis Mariachi.

We previously have written about how Guthrie was inspired to write “Deportee” by a 1948 plane crash that killed 28 undocumented immigrants. In the case of the album, Price sings “Deportee” as part of a statement about our current times and treatment of immigrants in the U.S. These are songs have meant a lot to her for a long time (such as playing “Deportee” at Farm Aid 40), as her embrace of protest music is not something new for Price.

Margo Price recently explained to Salon about her choice to include “Deportee,” a song she has been singing for some time, on Days of Unrest: “[I]t needs to be sung and we cannot look away from what is happening right now. We cannot act like this is normal. I mean, I think a lot of people think that I’m radical because I’m talking about this stuff. But I think 20-30 years from now, we’re going to say, ‘Why are more people not concerned about the way that folks are being treated right now. It’s inhumane.”

Check out Price’s cover of “Deportee” with Joan Baez in the official lyric video, which includes current events.

Part of the proceeds from sales of Days of Unrest will go to The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, which helps immigrants facing detention and deportation. The members of Memphis Mariachi are José Patiño, Eniel Pineda, Alejandro Quijano, Martín Granados, José Pérez, and Juan Viamontes.

Days of Unrest is available at Amazon and other locations. Leave your two cents in the comments.

The post Margo Price Meets the Moment Through Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee” (With Help From Joan Baez and Memphis Mariachi) appeared first on chimesfreedom.

Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of the adoption and signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026. But for those of us old enough to remember the United States celebration of the 200th anniversary in 1976, the current semiquincentennial celebration seems to pale in comparison to the 1976 Bicentennial.

In 1976, you could not escape hearing about the Bicentennial. In 2026, most of what we hear about the 250th celebration seems related to controversy and cancellations rather than celebrations. There are books about the American Bicentennial celebration on Amazon (and that is not counting things like Bicentennial cookbooks published in many communities in 1976). I don’t think there are many, if any, 250th celebration cookbooks, and it is hard to imagine a very long book for future generations to read about our current efforts to celebrate.

Why Did the Bicentennial Feel Different From America’s 250th Birthday?

What happened to our celebration? There are a number of reasons one may point to for the disappointment with the current anniversary, including the divisions on social media and other forms of entertainment that all make it more difficult for uniting Americans around anything. Maybe we lost something about our connections to our communities that fifty years ago did much of the 1976 planning. Also, it is easier to say “Bicentennial” than “Semiquincentennial,” so how do you celebrate something you can’t remember the name of?

Some argue that the government failed to plan properly. Or maybe the current White House resident hijacked the holiday to make it more about himself, making the Semiquincentennial partisan versus the more (but not completely) bipartisan Bicentennial.

So, instead of celebrating, for many, the this year’s anniversary is more for acknowledging the faults of the country and thinking of ways to heal. For many, they will have their barbeques and fireworks, but it will be just like any other Fourth of July.

Maybe 200 seems like a more important number than 250, or maybe people do not feel like celebrating. Yet,in 1976 we also also faced inflation, gas shortages, political scandals, and other issues but still found a way to reflect and party.

Maybe, a failure of commercialism is partly to blame. Whether good or bad, fewer media sources and less product access allowed companies in 1976 to create more focused marketing around the Bicentennial that continuously reminded us of the celebration. All of your favorite products, including soda and beer, included special versions labeled for the Bicentennial.

In our house, we bought Bicentennial medallions off television, giving them as gifts. I also remember drinking a lot of 7-Up to collect the Bicentennial cans, collecting a can representing each of the fifty states. When you stacked up the fifty cans they revealed an image of Uncle Sam.

Yes, today, you may buy 250 shirts and hats on Amazon or at your local store. I bought a shirt at Lowes. But anyone can make a shirt and sell it online these days. For better or worse, there is no official merchandise that any of us would recognize, in contrast to the well-recognized licensed Bicentennial symbol.

The Uniting Thread of the Bicentennial Minute

Finally, today’s more fractured entertainment universe means we do not have the daily reminders of the anniversary we had in 1976. In the mid-1970s, for more than a year, we watched the Bicentennial Minutes, remembered by most Baby Boomers and members of Generation Jones (like me). Every night on TV there was a favorite actor or personality who would tell us an important event that happened 200 years ago that night.

As July 4 and the Declaration signing approached, each episode reminded us of the approaching holiday. With no Netflix, no cell phones, no streaming options, and mostly just network TV, the Bicentennial Minutes were a communal event.

The Bicentennial Minutes ran for more than two years, beginning on July 4, 1974 and running through December 31, 1976. The last episode featured President Gerald R. Ford.

During that time, as a kid, I took out my blue tape recorder every night (audio only, we did not have VCRs in those days), waiting between CBS shows for a few minutes before 9pm. As the Bicentennial Minute started, I pushed the Record/Play button to record the audio off of the TV. We did not have the Internet so it was the only way to preserve the important history lessons we received every night on TV.

Here is actor Darren McGavin on April 2, 1976.

I don’t recall how many I recorded on my blue tape recorder. And I don’t know how often I ever listened to the audio cassette. I do not even remember what happened to those cassette tapes.

But creating the recordings seemed important to do at the time. It was an American thing to do.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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On July 1, 1955, Jackie Keith Whitley — who would become known as the country music singer-songwriter named Keith Whitley — was born in Ashland, Kentucky. Whitley died at the age of 33 on May 9, 1989, reportedly from alcohol poisoning. But in his short life he left behind a lot of great songs such as his 1988 country hit recording of “When You Say Nothing at All.” One of my favorite Whitley songs, though, only survived as a demo and was first released after Whitley’s death in 1990 on Greatest Hits, “Tell Lorrie I Love Her.”

The Lorrie in “Tell Lorrie I Love Her” was Whitley’s wife, country singer Lorrie Morgan, who had struggled to help Whitley battle his alcoholism before being left a widow. The song is a strong statement of love with the singer recounting the ways he would try to tell his love about his feelings even in the face of death, whether in the desert or lost on the ocean.

Reportedly, he recorded the demo in his living room around two years before he died.

Jesse Whitley’s Performance of His Dad’s Song

Morgan and Whitley had been married in 1986, about two and a half years before his death. Whitley adopted Lorrie’s daughter, and the couple had their own child, Jesse Keith Whitley in June 1987.

Several years ago, Jesse brought his mom on stage to sing his father’s song. In the video below, you can see how moved Morgan was to hear her husband’s song from her son.

Relation to “Tell Laura I Love Her”?

The title of “Tell Lorrie I Love Her” reminds one of the 1960s hit song, “Tell Laura I Love Her,” which was written by Heff Barry and Ben Raleigh and became a hit in 1960 for Ray Peterson in the U.S. and for Ricky Valence in the U.K. Like “Tell Lorrie I Love Her,” the song is about someone facing death trying to get a message to his love.

Yet, where the “Lorrie” song imagines possible tragic scenarios, the “Laura” song is a specific story, recounting a teenager who wants to earn money for a wedding ring so he enters a stock car race, where he is killed. I do not know the extent that “Tell Laura I Love Her” inspired Whitley, but in some ways his song is the adult counterpart.

There are not many professional covers of Whitley’s “Tell Lorrie I Love Her,” perhaps because the song was so personal between two singers. But if you go on YouTube, you will find numerous amateur covers of the song. Apparently the song that Whitley never professionally recorded still resonates with fans. Rolling Stone lists it as one of Whitley’s ten greatest love songs.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

Buy from Amazon

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On June 18, 2026, U2 performed “City of Blinding Lights” at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. The song has long been a favorite of President Obama, who used the song as his entrance theme when he announced his candidacy for the presidency in 2007, before his acceptace speech at the 2008 Democtratic Convention, and at other events. The performance at the center this week put a bow on the history of the song and its connection to the Obamas, including a subtle rebuttal of a recent hateful comment at a Trump White House event.

U2 released the song from How to Dismantale An Atomic Bomb as a single in 2005. But Bono and the band had been working on the song since 1997. Eventually, part of the inspiration for the song came when U2 was playing in the United States following the September 11 attacks in 2001. Perhaps because of the long writing process, though, one may take different things out of the song, such as the inspiration found by former President Obama.

I’ve seen you walk unafraid;
I’ve seen you in the clothes you made;
Can you see the beauty inside of me?
What happened to the beauty I had inside of me?

And I miss you when you’re not around;
I’m getting ready to leave the ground.

Oh, you look so beautiful tonight,
In the city of blinding lights.

Time, time, time, time, time;
Won’t leave me as I am;
But time won’t take the boy out of this man.

The U2 performance this week at the Obama Prsidential Center added a new layer to the song. As the song ended, Bono added lines acknowledging the presence of four former presidents as well as a faith in democracy. In closing, without mentioning the current president — or the recent event held at the White House where one of the president’s guests insulted the former first lady — Bono rebutted the hate with a lovely tribute to Michelle Obama, ending with the chorus of the Beatle’s “Michelle” (with Barack Obama mouthing the words too).

“In the company of Jackknife Lee, 46, 42 and 43. Civility. Hold tight to Democracy, community. Isn’t she lovely, 44 and the family. . . . Michelle My Belle.”

It was a stark reminder of what civility and love looks like.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Although Bobby Darin is most well-known for his hits like “Splish Splash, “Mac the Knife,” and “Beyond the Sea,” in the 1960s he turned toward folk music, writing and recording some wonderful music often overlooked today. His turn toward political and folk music was not a marketing ploy, but a sincere artistic direction by a talented man genuinely concerned about the way the nation was heading.

Although Darin was recording some folk music by the mid 1960s, his music became more political after the death of his friend Bobby Kennedy. After Kennedy’s assassination in June 1968, Darin retreated to Big Sur, living in seclusion in a trailer near the beach, writing songs about subjects like Vietnam, poverty, and Civil Rights. Soon, he started his own record label to promote folk and protest music.

Meaning of “Simple Song of Freedon”

In 1969, Darin, having already taken a turn toward folk music on his previous two albums, wrote one of his most popular political songs, “Simple Song of Freedom.” The song protested the Vietnam War by asking people to join together and announce that “we the people . . . don’t want a war.”

Now no doubt some folks enjoy doing battle;
Like presidents, prime ministers and kings;
So let’s all build them shelves where they can fight among themselves,
And leave the people be who love to sing.

Come and sing the simple song of freedom;
Sing it like you’ve never sung before;
Let it fill the air, tell the people everywhere,
We the people here don’t want a war.

The song appealed to the common people who did not want to be led into battle. He asked us to ask questions about what our leaders told us: “Seven hundred million are you list’nin’?/ Most of what you read is made of lies.” (Note that some listings apparently mishear the line as “seven hundred million men are enlisted”).

The song also refers to someone many young listeners may not recognize:

Brother Solzhenitsyn are you busy?
If not, won’t you drop this friend a line?
Tell me if the man who is plowin’ up your land
Has got the war machine upon his mind.

“Brother Solzhenitsyn” refers to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who was a famous Soviet novelist and dissident prosecuted in the Soviet Union. Darin appeals to a brother across the Cold War, highlighting that the average Russian no more wanted war than the average American.

Versions by Darin and Hardin

Tim Hardin first had a hit with the song. But Darin soon began performing “Simple Song of Freedom” live and released his own version in 1971. Hardin’s success with Darin’s song was an interesting turn of events, since Bobby Darin had been the first one to score a hit with Hardin’s “If I Were a Carpenter” in 1966.

During his folk period, Darin stopped wearing his toupee and grew long sideburns and a mustache. As discussed previously, in 1969, he walked off a national TV show when the producers would not let him sing one of his protest songs unchanged.

But his protest music was not profitable, and many in his audience wanted the old swinging singles, not the folk singer. Darin soon had to sell his record company, songs, and publishing company.

Darin’s Return to Popular Performances

A guy has to make a living. So, Darin returned to show business and began performing more of his old hits and less protest music, donning his toupee again, using a full band instead of just a guitar. He also begin appearing on and hosting television variety shows.

But Bobby Darin stayed true to himself through it all, as he was deep down a great entertainer. And he never gave up on trying to reach people with the message of “Simple Song of Freedom.”

As portrayed in the film Beyond the Sea about Bobby Darin’s life, the song is presented as a turning point in Darin’s career. Darin, played by Kevin Spacey, wants to make a difference despite advice from those in the business. He eventually discovers a way to make his political statement to his audiences by presenting the song as a big stage act instead of an acoustic folk song. In the movie, Spacey performed the vocals of all of Darin’s songs.

The video below features one of these later performances of “Simple Song of Freedon.” Darin performs the song with more than a guitar, donning a tuxedo.

But he is still asking his audience to join in telling our leaders that we don’t want a war.

A little more than two years after releasing his recording of “Simple Song of Freedom,” Darin died on December 19, 1973 at the age of 37 while recovering from open-heart surgery.

Darin had had rheumatic fever as a young child that had weakened his heart.

Bobby Darin knew most of his life he likely would not live to old age and that every day was a gift to make and create what you can. Thus, he lived with a passion for life and tried to make an impact on the world, which of course he did throughout his life.

Read more about Bobby Darin in the book “Bobby Darin: Roman Candle.” Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Stephen Colbert closed out his final episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert with a couple of musical performances that made a perfect send off. The final song, of course, was the Beatles classic “Hello Goodbye,” led by Paul McCartney. It was a wonderful uplifting ending, saying goodbye to us while reminding us it was not the end. The Beatles song finale was even more touching with the recognition that Paul McCartney was turning out the lights on the show in the Ed Sullivan Theater, a place where the Beatles captured America so many years ago. But what was that acoustic song before “Hello Goodbye”?

This final segment began with Colbert wandering around before sitting and starting to sing, “Everybody’s talking like they can’t sit down / And looking like they can’t stand up.” And then for the next line, the camera moved to the songwriter of that song,”Jump Up,” Elvis Costello. Then, the song continued with Jon Batiste in a touching inclusion of the former Late Show band leader, and then Louis Cato, the current Late Night band leader.

In my music collection, I have “Jump Up” as a bonus acoustic demo song on my special CD edition of Elvis Costello’s 1977 debut album My Aim is True. Of all the songs in the world, why did Colbert choose an obscure bonus track from the 1970s as the penultimate song for his show?

Colbert has been a fan of the song “Jump Up” for a long time, so, as you can see from the look on his face, it was a joy for him to sing a favorite song with the songwriter. And it must have been cool to then “close” the show with the song and “goodnight,” and then go into the encore where the four “Jump Up” singers joined Paul McCartney for “Hello Goodbye.”

Why “Jump Up”?

But why did Colbert choose the obscure Elvis Costello song, as he loves other songs too? The likely reason for Colbert’s fondness for “Jump Up,” and the reason it worked so well in closing the show, arguably cancelled by CBS at least partly for its criticisms of a thin-skinned Donald Trump, is its satirical take on untrustworhty politicians.

Candidate talkin` on the radio from the “Cheaters Jamboree”;
It must be their latest fool;
`Cause it`s a two-horse race and he changed his bets,
Like it was just another brand of cigarettes.

Way back in 2012, Colbert explained his love of “Jump Up” in this interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air: “I love the song because it’s sort of a satirical song. It’s got a parodic nature to it, or not a parodic nature, but it’s really, it’s got sort of a political, satirical song. And I’ve never discussed this song with Elvis, so I might get a message from Elvis Costello after this interview with you, saying, ‘You know nothing of my work. What are you talking about?’ But I’ve always thought of it as a – it’s sort of like a – it’s a person who is talking about insignificance in the name of power or of something that they want, and also talking about the hypocrisy of politicians.”

Colbert further explained how the song captures a young man on a street corner, looking to get noticed, who has no power. And maybe he felt a little like that with his show’s cancellation. But the song, in Costello’s skillful writing, has a power behind it with its uplifting melody, jokingly making fun of those in power. And isn’t that what The Late Show was always about since the first episode with David Letterman?

For those of us who grew up watching The Late Show since David Letterman started the show, through Colbert’s ongoing journey from The Colbert Report to The Late Show, it was a touching send off, looking back and looking forward.

And the look of joy on Colbert’s face as he sang “Jump Up” with Costello, Batiste, and Cato, I’m sure, far surpassed any joy left in the hearts of the politicians in Washington or the people running CBS.

Hello Goodbye indeed.

Jump up–hold on tight,
Can`t trust the promise or a guarantee;
`Cause the man `round the curve says that he`s never heard,
Of you or me.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

The post Why Did Stephen Colbert Sing “Jump Up” With Elvis Costello on the Final “Late Show”? appeared first on chimesfreedom.

With the price of gasoline surging recently, it is a good time for the rare song that praises the choice of a fuel-efficient car. Perhaps there is no better song referencing the topic than Justin Townes Earle‘s song about the singer’s love for a woman driving a “Champagne Corolla.” In the song, the singer notes how the woman must have a good head on her shoulders because, “She can run all week on just one tank.”

“Champagne Corolla” appeared as the lead track on Justin Townes Earle’s 2017 album, Kids in the Street. At the time, Allmusic praised “Champagne Corolla” as a “stompin’ exercise in New Orleans-influenced R&B.” The song also appeared on the posthumous 2024 All In: Unreleased & Rarities (The New West Years) in a version Earle had performed on his father Steve Earle’s Satellite radio show (see below). Steve Earle also recorded a nice version of his son’s song on his 2021 album made in tribute to Justin Townes Earle, J.T.

I don’t care what no man say,
She can run all week on just one tank;
Goes to show you,
Maybe baby got a head on her shoulders, yeah;
And she sure looks sweet driving by in that champagne Corolla.

I know every man think that he need some high tone woman,
Something built for speed;
But you can’t trust a rich girl,
No farther than you can throw her;
Need a middle class queen riding by in a champagne Corolla.

As for the car, Toyota has been making Corollas since 1966. As the singer in the song implies, the Corolla is seen as a practical compact car known for its fuel efficiency.

In the video below, Justin Townes Earle, who passed away on August 20, 2020, performs “Champagne Corolla” in May 2017 on Steve Earle’s Hardcore Troubadour Radio show on SiriusXM.

Until there is a great song about an electric car, is “Champagne Corolla” the champagne of songs mentioning fuel efficiency? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Country legend David Allan Coe passed away on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. While articles about his life focus on certain songs he wrote, like “Take This Job and Shove It,” and on certain singles, like “Tennessee Whiskey,” “Longhaired Redneck,” and “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” the man’s vast catalog cannot be summed up by a few songs. And while there will be the usual labels for the Ohio-born Coe, like “Outlaw,” he had a long and complex career full of highs and lows.

And where does one start with David Allan Coe? There were some troubled times, including stints in prison and bankruptcy. But for fans, one has to start with the music. There’s forty-two studio albums, as well as some controversial X-rated independent ones. Among his catalog is some amazing work.

And one way to start is to go back near the beginning. Some of his great songs and recordings came out during the early 1970s before finding wider success and before the rise of Outlaw country. He released his debut album Penitentiary Blues in 1970, including songs he had written in prison.

But before he had much success he worked as a staff songwriter for Window Music publishing, writing songs and creating demos for other artists. In 2005, many of these demos were finally released on For the Soul and for the Mind: Demos of ’71-’74 . Although none of the songs eventually became a hit, as Allmusic notes, they are further evidence that David Allan Coe was a poet.

One of those demos was a song called “Don’t You Cry.” And it seems like a fitting way to say goodbye for now.

Don’t you cry, children;
Don’t you cry
I’ll see you in the sweet bye and bye.

I’ve been staring at tomorrow,
knowing it might never come;
I’ve been talking about salvation,
Thinking I might get me some.

It’s so hard to beat the devil,
When he don’t play by the rules;
And I know that the Savior
Has a special place for fools.

What is your favorite David Allan Coe song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Oklahoma singer-songwriter John Fullbright has an amazing voice that backs up his fantastic songs. While his albums have received some acclaim, he is one of those artists who does not get the national recognition he deserves.

I first discovered his YouTube cover of a Steve Earle song, and I have been following his career, waiting for his next album. I strongly recommend his album Songs as one of the great Americana albums of the last few decades.

While he does not release albums frequently enough to make me happy, he remains active performing around Oklahoma and elsewhere while also helping other artists. B

Fortunately, the camera was rolling during one of his recent performances at the Summer Breeze concert series in Oklahoma on June 29, 2025. Check it out.

Don’t let Fullbright’s everyman appearance fool you. The band rocks and plays blues, but the highlight for me is when Fullbright stands on the stage solo starting around the 47 minute mark, after which he does some songs solo while playing the piano. In these moving songs about love, heartbreak, death, and God, his ragged voice and the emotion conveys a deep power that touches one’s heart directly.

For some bonus John Fullbright, check out him covering two Elvis Presley songs, “Never Been to Spain / Saved.”

What is your favorite John Fullbright song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

The post John Fullbright at Summer Breeze (Concert of the Day) appeared first on chimesfreedom.

In January 1974, the band Redbone released the single “Come and Get Your Love.” The catchy song, which appeared on the 1973 album Wovoka, rose to number 5 on the Billboard chart by April of that year. Many of those who only heard the song on the radio, though, did not realize the song was making history as the first song by an all-Native and Mexican-American band to have a top 10 hit on the chart.

The man singing lead on the song, Lolly Vegas, also wrote the song and played the guitar and electric sitar on the track. Other members of the band included Tony Bellamy, Peter DePoe and Pat Vegas (Lolly’s brother, who, according to his biography, co-wrote “Come and Get Your Love”).

While their hit song was not a political song, the band recognized the impact of their heritage. On the same album, they included the song “We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee,” which became a hit in the Europe even as the record company refused to release it as a single in the U.S.

The record company and the band instead released “Come and Get Your Love” as the single. Pat Vegas once explained the song is about more than romantic love: “It’s love all around, in every facet and every part of your being, you know? And that’s the message: What’s the matter with your mind and your sign? Come and get your love. In other words, where you come from and who you are doesn’t matter as much as what you believe, and what you feel.”

If you were around in the 1970s, you knew the song from the radio and from it repeatedly playing in your head. More modern listeners may know the song from its many appearances in movies and TV shows, including Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), and F is for Family (Netflix).

But back on February 22, 1974, Redbone performed “Come and Get Your Love” on NBC’s The Midnight Special. They introduced the song with a traditional Native American dance.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Anna Tivel, a singer-songwriter from Portland, Oregon, has been recording and performing for more than a decade. Her seventh album Animal Poem was released in August 2025, and has been described as deep “with wisdom into the experience of existence, forgiveness, love for humanity, nature, and reconciliation with mortality.”

On the album, Tivel hoped to capture the spirit of people sitting on a porch playing songs for each other. And she accomplished that goal.

She explained, “Everyone in the studio made it feel so open, made it easy to forget technology and permanence and just play, messy and alive. It’s this vital mess that moves me when I listen now – ghost notes in the high register of the piano, melodic guitar and bass lines briefly interwoven, earthy cymbals breathing, my dog barking. . . . Most of what you hear is just people sitting together in a small room, listening and talking with tenderness and abandon.”

I love the album’s title track, where Tivel spins a number of lessons together into a tribute to living, presented as a poem that one may hear as a bedtime story.

Courage is a tired mom, milk crate and a cardboard sign,
Trying to find a story for her daughter;
This is how the world exists, let me spin it for you kid,
In a way that’s easier to swallow.

Everyone is in a play, characters in constant pain,
Reaching for a way to taste some beauty;
You can be someone who loves, or you can be somebody else;
That’s all there is, you breathe, then you’re not breathing.

Check out “Animal Poem” by Anna Tivel.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Sturgill Simpson, who with his previous album started recording as Johnny Blue Skies is releasing a new album backed by the Dark Clouds called Mutiny After Midnight later this month. He announced that the album would only be released on physical media, but, perhaps because there was an early leak, he posted the album’s music on YouTube early for fans to enjoy. Alas, though, the streaming version was only available temporarily (so no longer posted here). Despite the confusing drama around the release, fans still rejoiced.

The album’s cover features a sword in a disco ball with dripping blood, hinting this music is for dancing, influenced by disco. The title track title is a nod toward a certain president’s hat while signaling that the music is about havin fun, “Make America Fuk Again.” While it may seem like Simpson has diverted drastically from his country roots, the album still features his strong songwriting and Simpson has always defied categorization. On first listen the album also seems to be capturing the joy from his recent tours heavily influenced by jam bands.

Simpson is releasing the album Mutiny After Midnight on physical media on March 13, 2026. Buy it, play it loud, and get up and dance.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

The post Johnny Blue Skies aka Sturgill Simpson Temporarily Drops New Album: “Mutiny After Midnight” appeared first on chimesfreedom.

If you watched TV in the 1960s and 1970s, odds are that you recognize the face and voice of Allan Melvin but may not know the name of the actor. Melvin — who was born on February 18, 1923 in Kansas City, Missouri — made many appearances on popular shows and voiced cartoons for several decades.  Among many roles, Melvin had recurring appearances on some of the most popular TV shows of the era, including The Andy Griffith Show, The Brady Bunch, All in the Family, and Gomer Pyle, USMC.  On top of that, he also had one of the most memorable recurring roles in a TV commercial.

Many viewers will see his face and immediately remember him as Sam Franklin, aka Alice’s boyfriend “Sam the Butcher” on The Brady Bunch. Yet, he only appeared on eight episodes of the show between 1969 and 1974.

As what many might call a “character actor,” Melvin was a great one and seemed to have been in constant demand. I became inspired to write this post after watching several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. He also appeared in eight episodes of that classic show, but in those shows from 1962 to 1967, Melvin appeared as a different character each time, ranging from a convict to a bully to a hotel detective to a recruiting sergeant. It seems the producers loved his work and kept bringing him back, ignoring how it might seem confusing to viewers that the same man was someone different even during the same season.

Melvin had recurring roles in other classic shows. In Gomer Pyle, USMC, an Andy Griffith Show spinoff, producers kept him as the same character. Perhaps because of his great work as a sergeant on an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, he played Sgt. Barney Hackett in sixteen episodes of Gomer Pyle, USMC in 1965-1969.

Additionally, he played a recurring role in All in the Family as Archie’s friend and neighbor Barney Hefner. Yet, he had also started out on that show with one appearance playing a sergeant.

After the sergeant appearance, Melvin appeared as Barney Hefner in twenty-four episodes of All in the Family from 1972 to 1979, continuing to play the character in the spin-off show Archie Bunker’s Place in numerous episodes from 1979-1983.

Melvin earned his big break in TV with the role of Corporal Steve Henshaw on the The Phil Silvers Show, often credited as “Allen” Melvin. He appeared as Henshaw regularly throughout its run from 1955-1959. Perhaps that early role helped set the stage for his many military parts in his career.

While he had recurring appearances in those shows, he also acted in many other memorable TV shows. For example, he appeared on Mod Squad (1969), Green Acres (1970), Mayberry R.F.D (1970), Love, American Style (1969-1971), The Brian Keith Show (1972), and Kung Fu (1975).

When he was not appearing in TV shows, he was doing significant voice work. He was the voice of Drooper in The Banana Splits Adventure Hour from 1968-1969. His voice appeared in Pufnstuff (1970), Wait Till Your Father Comes Home (1972-1973), Yogi’s Gang (1973), The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty (1975), and Flash Gordon (1979-1982). In the 1980s, his professional work slowed down, but he continued to do significant voice work, including The Jetsons (1985-1987).

Finally, you may also remember Melvin from his TV commercial work. In that arena, he may be best known as playing Al the Plumber for fifteen years promoting Liquid Plumr.

Melvin died of cancer on January 17, 2008. His television work left an amazing legacy. He is buried in Westwood Memorial Cemetery just a few yards from Carroll O’Connor, who played Archie Bunker on All in the Family and Archie Bunker’s Place.

Even if Melvin was always behind more famous actors and viewers did not know his name, they knew his face, his voice, and his talent. Although he never had a definitive leading role, his broad range of work in recurring roles on many landmark TV series brought him many fans and friends.

What is your favorite Allan Melvin role? Leave your two cents in the comments.

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

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We have posted a lot about country singer-songwriter Marty Brown over the years. We have noted that he has passed down his talents which he inherited from his parents to his children. In addition to Brown’s daughter Emma Grace Brown who has a great singing voice, his son Marty Brown Jr. released an excellent album with his band Maceo that we reviewed. And now, Marty’s son Christian Brown recently auditioned on American Idol.

Marty appeared on the episode with Christian, who sang one of our favorite Marty Brown songs, “Wildest Dreams.” As Christian explained, the song ,which appeared on the father’s debut album High and Dry in 1991, is about a parent’s love for their children. Still, it was a bold song choice, as judges usually prefer well-known popular songs. But Christian showed his authenticity in selecting a song written and recorded by his father decades ago.

Though maybe the song choice was not too much of a risk as it is a great song (not to mention he likely sang other songs not shown on the TV broadcast). Either way, it was worth it many viewers to hear the song for the first time while seeing Marty so proud of his son. The father’s pride choked me up a bit.

Did the judges vote to advance Christian to the next round? Check out the video below.

Update: For those of you wondering why you haven’t seen Christian Brown on later episodes of American Idol, Marty explained on his Facebook page that Christian had to withdraw from the competition. Christian Brown’s baby son had to undergo surgery, so his father decided to withdraw from the competition and its demanding schedule so he could be with his son while he recovers. We wish Christian’s son a speedy recovery and look forward to music from Christian in the near future.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

The post Marty Brown’s Son Christian Brown Auditions on “American Idol” appeared first on chimesfreedom.

Like many Americans, Bruce Springsteen has been watching recent events and the deaths in Minnesota while people in Minneapolis continue to protest President Trump’s influx of ICE officers. In response, Springsteen very quickly wrote and recorded a song about the protests and the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Along with the song, Springsteen released the following statement:

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free, Bruce Springsteen

Of course, it is difficult to write a protest song so quickly and folks may debate whether they like the song as a song. And it is sure to draw the ire of Trump supporters. But either way one must hand it to an artist who recognizes their position and ability to put themselves out there for the less fortunate in spite of knowing many listeners will criticize him for taking a stand.

Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice,
Singing through the bloody mist;
We’ll take our stand for this land,
And the stranger in our midst;
Here in our home they killed and roamed,
In the winter of ’26;
We’ll remember the names of those who died,
On the streets of Minneapolis.

Update: Below is the official video for “Streets of Minneapolis,” directed by Thom Zimny.

Springsteen is not the only songwriter paying attention to the events in Minneapolis. Billy Bragg also wrote a protest song called, “City of Heroes.“

Springsteen has often spoken out regarding Donald Trump. And “Streets of Minneapolis” is not Springsteen’s first statement on the ICE protests in Minnesota. Earlier in January at a concert, Springsteen dedicated a performance of “The Promised Land” to Renee Good, calling on ICE to leave Minneapolis: “If you believe you don’t deserve to be murdered for exercising your American right to protest; then send a message to this president.”

Leave your two cents in the comments.

The post Bruce Springsteen Releases New Protest Song About ICE Protests: “Streets of Minneapolis” appeared first on chimesfreedom.