Jackson Browne: Lives in the Balance

[John Simkin]

Well worth watching:

Jackson Browne: Lives in the Balance

[William Kelly]

Well worth watching:

Jackson Browne: Lives in the Balance

When the Christic Institute had their RICO suit going against the covert CONTRA network, Jackson Brown got some of his musically inclined friends together to perform a benefit concert to raise money for their legal expenses.

I think those who performed included Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Rait, Pete Seeger and other talented artists with a conscience.

Perhaps it will be soon be time to do a similar benefit for COPA and the legal actions being contemplated, - JFK Act Oversight hearings in Congress/JFK Grand Jury, JFK Civil Suit, etc., as once they are in motion they will need strong popular, legal and financial support.

BK

[Pat Speer]

Well worth watching:

Jackson Browne: Lives in the Balance

Thanks, John. I first saw Jackson at an anti-Nuke rally in the early 80's. This was the rally where Patti Davis made a public break from her parents re nuclear energy. I last saw him at a County Fair two or three years ago. County Fairs draw a nostalgic crowd, and it's been a long time since Jackson had anything on the radio. So the crowd was expecting to hear his hits and his oldies. He mostly delivered, but in the middle of the set he threw in a mini-set with an anti-imperialist message, featuring Lives in the Balance. It was the highlight, as far as I was concerned. Not everyone agreed. I remember the row behind us emptying out and complaining that the REO Speedwagon and Styx shows they'd seen recently were sure a whole lot better.

While oldie but moldies like Jackson, Springsteen, Mellencamp, Young and even The Stones have addressed some of today's issues, few of today's stars have said anything. I suspect this is in part in fear of receiving a backlash, a la what happened to the Dixie Chicks and Linda Ronstadt. I think the larger part, however, is that most of today's stars are so contrived and pre-packaged that individual expression never enters their minds.

The power of popular music to bring about social change, however, remains. I suspect this is one of the reasons why the Bush Administration worked so closely with Clear Channel to take over American radio. If it breaks back out, and the power of bands like Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails, Linkin Park, Tool, etc is unleashed on the neocons and the Christian Right, we might see fighting in the streets.

[John Dolva]

http://www.peteseeger.net/

William, that's the kind of broad thinking necessary IMO. The issue can be tackled on many levels.

'Imagine' remains one of Yoko's message to people. Free your mind. Think laterally.

Seeger is one whose history stretches back to the Kennedy years

"In addition to being America's best-loved folksinger and an untiring environmentalist, Pete Seeger is a national treasure. He has been at the forefront of the labor movement, the struggle for Civil Rights, the peace and anti-war movements, and the fight for a clean world. He has been a beacon for hope for millions of people all over the world. Once blacklisted from national television for being unafraid to voice his opinions, he was given the nation's highest artistic honors at the Kennedy Center in December 1994. In January 1996 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Although he left Harvard during his second year, in the spring of 1996 he was awarded the Harvard Arts Medal, presented annually to a Harvard graduate who has made an important contribution to the arts. He won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album of 1996 in February 1997 for his Living Music recording "Pete." At the end of April 1999, he traveled to Cuba to accept the Felix Varela Medal, that nation's highest honor for "his humanistic and artistic work in defense of the environment and against racism." In April 2000, he was named one of America's Living Legends by the Library of Congress."

Ziggy Marley may be another to approach, he lives in the USofA at the moment. Rastas like Bob and the Wailers use phrases like outernational, politricks, IandI instead of we, indicating a sameness or unity. The empathy with the Slaves in Amerikkka, the Buffalo Soldiers, and so on, makes an appeal on Civil Rights issues a potential way to involve many popular performers.

Sting might be interested?

EMINEM?

photo of Seeger in MSC files from the sixties:

http://www.mdah.state.ms.us/arlib/contents...&oid=318744

Edited June 20, 2007 by John Dolva