Who's heard Little Richard sing "Shake a Hand"?

Jimi is one of my musical heroes. His LP "Axis Bold As Love" still sounds beyond the crowd of performers of that time. IMHO. A friend introduced me to one of his cousins many years after Mr Hendrix was gone. That was really enjoyable.

I'm surprised that he reached out to you through country music, very interesting indeed.
Iris DeMent's name has always tickled me, somehow I relate to it. I didn't realize that she was a spiritual musician.

(Sorry, Christianity still holds a lot of torment for me. Too many years as a youngster in the deepest clutches of Catholicism soured me on Christianity. Had you been there I most seriously doubt that you would have any respect for Christianity as well. Sure, Christianity and Catholicism are not the same. But the Catholics surely believe they are. The day after Easter, I should be so ashamed. Not.
Spirituality and Christianity aren't the same thing, but they are very often sandwiched together in our little corner of this best of all possible worlds.)

I've known of Lucinda Williams for a long time and I certainly respect her musicianship. She's more versatile performer than I knew. Thank you for posting the link to her music.

"When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge is one of those songs that are always only an onion skin away from "the Now."
Thanks for posting some of his other work, he is most definitely worth listening to. I like Otis Redding's version of that's "How Strong My Love Is." It's respectfully a bit updated from Percy's version.

Thanks for the Bruce Cockburn's links! "Iris of The World" is very good and politically apt as Bruce often is.
I also only became slightly familiar with Bruce Cockburn's work a few years ago. His song that grabbed me was "If I Had a Rocket Launcher." Not that I sympathize in any possible way to the meaning of that song!

So many people covered "Bird On a Wire" that I only became aware that it was a Leonard Cohen masterpiece many years later. I really enjoyed his last gasp, as it were, with the gravel voice and all. We will miss him for a very long time.

I don't know why, but I'm ambivalent about many of John Prine's songs. I must say that his song that you posted hits the spot pretty well.

I've certainly heard of T-Bone Burnett. The "River of Love" is new to me. It's quite a song! Thank you for posting it. I've always liked Lyle Lovett a lot, "If I Had a Boat" is one of my faves. If you can find Francine Reed singing in Lyle Lovett"s Large Band on Youtube I strongly recommend it. A link to a performance of theirs on a Johnny Carson show is seen on the first page of Francine Reed's entry on Ask.com.

Norah Jones is unbelievably great in my book. Didn't know she had freckles, I'm in love again! Wish I could find the name of her song that talks of sailing in a leaky ship that's falling apart, it's funny as well as good.

I was fortunate and saw Nanci Griffith in person in the Seattle Opera House, at another Bumbershoot. I didn't realize that her voice was so good, having only seen her on Austin City Limits. "Gulf Coast Highway" is a powerfully emotional song, I recall Emmylou saying that she had to pull over and stop driving when she heard it on the radio. Nanci is one of the greats, you have to love her. "It's a Hard Life" is also a great song of her's.

I was lucky enough to see BB King live quite a few times. I saw Fats Domino only once, it was at a Bumbershoot event. Boy, did he have the crowd in his hands! I 'll love the guy forever. Got to see Roy Orbison once, also at the Seattle Center. I took note of the symphonic quality brought to the mix by the two women singing backup. Ah, the Seattle Center, got to see Miles Davis once there as well. Didn't understand that he was a prick and mistreated the women in his life until several until years later. One gifted musician, imho. Sucks when you discover that some great musicians are also bad people. Chuck Berry comes to mind as well. I sure loved "Maybellene," too bad it's so often "always something."

Lou Reed... I'm not a true fan, maybe because I think his purported heroin abuse doesn't ring true like a silver coin. "Walk On The Wild Side" was a radical hit, I must say. Kudos for that one.

Hate to admit that I never listened to "Sweet Honey in the Rock" before the song you provided. It's quite a song and it's as real as it gets. Brings a tear or two to my eye.

That's such a sweet and masterful performance by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, thank you very much for posting it! Seeing him nearly naked with only his ukulele, which he plays like a dream, to "hide" behind, its powerful pure beauty is enough to elicit watery eyes from at least me. I've seen it before, why wasn't I generous enough to post it?

Oh my, I mix up John Prine and John Hiatt. They are both great songwriters and performers. Seems that Bonnie Raite covered John Hiatt's version of "Thing Called Love," I especially like her performance of it. But the original was "What Is This Thing Called Love" by Cole Porter, way back in 1922 I believe.

While I enjoyed some of the time that I was a pot head, long ago, I didn't enjoy the last few years of it. Time wasted, and time long gone. Always something.

Sorry, I never heard anything by or from Jack Tempchin. However, he wrote or co-wrote quite a few of The Eagles' big hits. I'm hot and cold about The Eagles. No doubt that they were a great band and are due much respect. Sometimes I love 'em, sometimes not so much.

Thank goodness for the "Traveling Wilburys." "Handle With Care" is an all time favorite hit of mine, I can't believe that they formed a band in 1988. Time flies so quickly but great music lives on. A thing about music fascinates me. It is here for as long as the artist sings and plays it. Then gone with the wind if it wasn't recorded. It bites that Ray Orbison, George Harrison and Tom Petty are all gone. The way of the world. www.ask.com/youtube?q=traveling+wilburys&v=1o4s1KVJaVA

I've never seen Bob Dylan. From what I gather it's a waste of money to see him live nowadays, it seems to be common wisdom that he doesn't care a bit about how audiences appreciate the show. I can sympathize with his attitude after doing it for sooo long I suppose, but I wouldn't pay for a ticket. Not to mention that live shows used to be cheap way back when. Bands toured to support an LP release. Nowadays the music business is so extra cruel on aspiring performers, I can understand why ticket prices are so high. Those that have "made it" often MUST charge high prices to survive. Not to mention that live shows are now spectacles that cost a lot to put on.

The last live show I'll probably ever see was a few, oops, more like ten years ago. Even though it was covered and pretty comfortable it was an ordeal nonetheless. CSN&Y. They are all old now, funny how that happens.

I was lucky, I saw Janis Joplin at least five times. Complete with Big Brother and The Holding Company, she put 100% of her all into her performances every time. She was something to behold. I think Full Tilt Boogie was her best band, but I only saw her long before them. It was cruel that she died so young. The woman did not have an easy life, I added unnecessarily.

I should accept that the one way journey through the "Iris of The World" is there for all of us, uh, me. There's no escaping it. Maybe music does die when its its time is over. But if it's great it does last. The best(and perhaps the worst) classical music is still with us, even though there are many great composers that we are ignorant of. I sincerely hope that music put on disk by a factory will last if it's buried in a "time capsule" somewhere. Sheet music will always be available in some future "pharaoh's tomb" I hope. It'd be nice if Standard Notation can be deciphered as well. Lots of modern musicians can't read it, but the best ones have huge ears and that's the greatest thing.