SOUNDTRACK: SON LITTLE-Tiny Desk Concert #496 (December 18, 2015).
I know of Son Little, although only vaguely. WXPN has played his song “The River” quite a lot, although I don’t think I’ve heard anything else.
For this Tiny Desk Concert, he’s really stripped down–just his acoustic guitar, a percussionist (Jabari Exum playing a djembe with accoutrements) and a backing vocalist, his sister Megan Livingston. His playing is even pretty stripped down–his chords are minimal, almost more like accents for most of the songs (although he does play louder from time to time).
As such, this really celebrates his voice which is strong and almost gospel-like.
He plays three songs. “Lay Down,” is a quiet soulful song with perfectly spare accompaniment. When it ends, everyone seems adorably shy with Little saying, “just mildly awkward enough.”
“Your Love Will Blow Me Away When My Heart Aches” is a bit bigger–Little sings a bit louder and plays louder chords, but it is still quite minimal.
He ends with “The River” which is certainly stripped down from the radio version. It opens with some claps and he encourages everyone to clap along although “If you’re like clap challenged then maybe… don’t–you know who you are.” The song has that bluesy rock feel even in this understated form. And while I like the original better, this is a great version–that quiet clapping and percussion is really nice.
[READ: July 26, 2016] The Complete Peanuts 1981-1982
So far the 1980s see Schulz settling into a few consistent themes in his strips–regular motifs that he mines over and over again. Although it’s interesting to see how they have morphed over the decades.
Patty is constantly falling asleep in school (and getting D minuses), Snoopy continues to write funny/bad jokes and gets rejection letters about his books (this is usually pretty funny but it’s also surprising as Snoopy is usually the “successful” one); Snoopy also plays a lawyer a lot in these strips.
1981 begins where 1980 left off with Patty loving the story of Hans Brinker. 1981 also has a lengthy section about Valentines Day (a subject that gets more emphasis in some years than others), although this year Sally is the major protagonist (and her Sweet Babboo her object). 1982 also has a Valentine’s Day with Sally–she gets her hand stuck in the Valentine’s Day cards box.
Schulz used to do bible instruction which is why he quotes it so much. And he occasionally peppers his strips with religious commentary. There’s a joke about school prayer–Patty has to go up to the board and when her teacher falls ill she shouts “school prayer works, Marcie.” There’s an amusing joke that Snoopy used to teach Sunday School at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm.
Although the running jokes are funny, I love when he gets a new idea. Like the a fun twist on the dog ate my homework joke when Snoopy as the WWI pilot steals Sally’s homework claiming it is the enemy’s secret papers and he eats them.
Sometimes Schulz gives a one-off joke that’s just silly and funny like when Woodstock “poofs” a dandelion and it “poofs” him back. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 