Bill Cushing's Anniversary Poems

About a year ago Leon Redbone and Dr. John, two of Bill Cushing's favorite musicians, died.  For this reason, the image of a yahrzeit candle stuck in my mind when I decided to publish Bill's poems tonight.

THE REDBONE PANTOUM

Leon decked out in black, Ray-Bans perched on

a Syrid nose, his drooping moustache surrounds

the soul patch: a musical sage

peering from beneath that Panama hat.

Leon fretted multi-tonal sounds

from each and every timeless tune

with a voice sometimes smooth, then scat,

while coaxing that acoustic guitar.

Leon, ageless as a harvest moon,

did not die so much as exit the stage,

returning to the Araby bazaar,

and though gone, he continues to shine on.

Bill Cushing

 

So Long, Dr. John

Bid farewell to New Orleans’ favored son:

after more than a six-decade run

infusing sound with flamboyant fun,

we woke up to learn that Dr. John

had folded his sheet music and was gone.

He left us music that was c’est bon

making whoopee with syncopated ease

as hands danced and flirted across keys,

taking us back in time, but now he’s

in the right place at the wrong time.

He could make voodoo blues sublime

like Mardi Gras goes on all the time.

Bill Cushing

Both poems are in Bill's chapbook Music Speaks.  So are some of the other poems you may have read at The Song Is...  You may purchase a signed copy of the chapbook from him for $20 if you email him at piscespoet@yahoo.com.  

Let's add a few songs for you tonight.  I'll start with Leon Redbone.

This performance of "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" is from 1977: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUxbInKev-o

This is Redbone's version of "Shine On Harvest Moon": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGUW0uAwDyw

Here is his "Champagne Charlie": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnNEXcLNUxo

And these are a few songs from Dr. John.

This version of "Right Place, Wrong Time" is from the 2012 Guitar Center's Battle of the Blues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6RtVmc5dSE

This version of "Gris Gris" is from the 1970 Piknik Dutch Festival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfN4Bn7LWxo

I'll finish with his version of "Such a Night" from The Last Waltz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCRrXZP8b0I  

Enjoy, and see you later in the week!