You've Been Served: Old Blind Dogs and "The Branle"

Old Blind Dogs bring us today's tune, called The Branle. Old Blind Dogs are a Scottish band which plays traditional Scottish and Celtic music with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern music. They are known for performing songs unique to northeast Scotland and singing in the unique Doric dialect of the Aberdeen area. The Branle can be found on their 1999 album The World's Room, and on their 2007 album Four on the Floor (as Branle). The title of the tune refers to a dance of French origin that was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Blind_Dogs

Party Down: Old Blind Dogs and "A Wild Rumpus"

Today's partying tune is by Old Blind Dogs who sing about A Wild Rumpus. Old Blind Dogs are a Scottish band which plays traditional Scottish and Celtic music with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern music. They are known for performing songs unique to northeast Scotland and singing in the unique Doric dialect of the Aberdeen area. A Wild Rumpus can be found on their 2003 album The Gab O May, and on their 2006 live album Play Live.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Blind_Dogs

A Little Psychotherapy Needed: Old Blind Dogs and "Edward"

Today's song gets to some dysfunctional family dynamics in a murder ballad called Edward by the Old Blind Dogs. Old Blind Dogs were formed in 1990 when the three founding members met on a "buskers holiday" in the Scottish Highlands. The band was originally distinctive as it represented the music and traditions of Northeastern Scotland and sang in the dialect of Aberdeen and the region. The band focuses on traditional Scottish and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern rhythms. Edward can be found (as Edward) on their 1999 CD The World's Room, and as Young Edward on their 2005 CD Old Blind Dogs Play Live.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Blind_Dogs

Still Drinking: Old Blind Dogs and "Come A' Ye Kincardine Lads"

Today's random tune is by Old Blind Dogs, who perform Come A' Ye Kincardine Lads. Old Blind Dogs were formed in 1990 when the three founding members met on a "buskers holiday" in the Scottish Highlands. The band was originally distinctive as it represented the music and traditions of Northeastern Scotland and sang in the dialect of Aberdeen and the region. The band focuses on traditional Scottish and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern rhythms. Come A' Ye Kincardine Lads can be found on their 2006 album Fit?, and in a live version on their 2005 CD Play Live as Kincardine Lads. The song is a call for the lads to join in some whiskey drinking at Sandy's illegal still.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Blind_Dogs

A Dying Soldier's Lament: Old Blind Dogs and "The Battle of Waterloo"

Old Blind Dogs performs our random tune for today, called The Battle of Waterloo. Old Blind Dogs were formed in 1990 when the three founding members met on a "buskers holiday" in the Scottish Highlands. The band was originally distinctive as it represented the music and traditions of Northeastern Scotland and sang in the dialect of Aberdeen and the region. The band focuses on traditional Scottish and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern rhythms. The Battle of Waterloo can be found on their 1999 album The World's Room, and in a live version on their 2005 CD Play Live. The song is the dying lament of a soldier at the Battle of Waterloo. The name Boney in the song refers to Napoleon Bonaparte.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Blind_Dogs

Fool Me Once: Old Blind Dogs and "The Wisest Fool"

Today's random song is called The Wisest Fool and is performed by the Old Blind Dogs. Old Blind Dogs were formed in 1990 when the three founding members met on a "buskers holiday" in the Scottish Highlands. The band was originally distinctive as it represented the music and traditions of Northeastern Scotland and sang in the dialect of Aberdeen and the region. The band focuses on traditional Scottish and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern rhythms. The Wisest Fool can be found on their 2006 CD The Gab o Mey, and in this live version on their 2005 CD Old Blind Dogs Play Live. The song is about James VI of Scotland, later to become James I of England.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Father Dearest: Old Blind Dogs and "Young Edward"

Daddy issues figure prominently in today's song, a murder ballad called Young Edward by the Old Blind Dogs. Old Blind Dogs were formed in 1990 when the three founding members met on a "buskers holiday" in the Scottish Highlands. The band was originally distinctive as it represented the music and traditions of Northeastern Scotland and sang in the dialect of Aberdeen and the region. The band focuses on traditional Scottish and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern rhythms. Young Edward can be found (as Edward) on their 1999 CD The World's Room, and in this live version (as Young Edward) as heard on their 2005 CD Old Blind Dogs Play Live.

This is Why I Need a Raise: Old Blind Dogs and "To the Beggin' I Will Go"

On this sad anniversary, today's song is by Old Blind Dogs called To the Beggin' I Will Go. Old Blind Dogs were formed in 1990 when the three founding members met on a "buskers holiday" in the Scottish Highlands. The band was originally distinctive as it represented the music and traditions of Northeastern Scotland and sang in the dialect of Aberdeen and the region. The band focuses on traditional Scottish and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern rhythms. To the Beggin' I Will Go can be found on their 1999 CD The World's Room.

Kill Your Daddy: Old Blind Dogs and "Young Edward"

Father's Day was just a few days ago, so if you're now thinking of offing your daddy, Old Blind Dogs have a caution for you in today's song, the murder ballad Young Edward. Old Blind Dogs were formed in 1990 when the three founding members met on a "buskers holiday" in the Scottish Highlands. The band was originally distinctive as it represented the music and traditions of Northeastern Scotland and sang in the dialect of Aberdeen and the region. The band focuses on traditional Scottish and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern rhythms. Young Edward can be found (as Edward) on their 1999 CD The World's Room, and in this live version (as Young Edward) as heard on their 2005 CD Old Blind Dogs Play Live.

Where the Wild Things Are: Old Blind Dogs and "A Wild Rumpus"

Old Blind Dogs provides the tune 'o the day with A Wild Rumpus. Old Blind Dogs are a Scottish band which plays traditional Scottish and Celtic music with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern music. They are known for performing songs unique to northeast Scotland and singing in the unique Doric dialect of the Aberdeen area. "A Wild Rumpus" can be found on their 2003 album The Gab O May, and on their 2006 live album Play Live.

Du Jour: Old Blind Dogs and "Soup of the Day"

Old Blind Dogs, performers of our random song Soup of the Day, are a Scottish band which plays traditional Scottish and Celtic music with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern music. They are known for performing songs unique to northeast Scotland and singing in the unique Doric dialect of the Aberdeen area. Soup of the Day can be found on the Old Blind Dogs 1999 album The World's Room.

Ramblin' and Sellin': Old Blind Dogs and "Tramps and Hawkers"

The word tramp has a pretty negative connotation. Most recently, tramp seems to refer to a worman with a dubious reputation, as in "she's such a tramp, she'd give it up to anybody." A tattoo on the small of a female's back is often called a "tramp stamp." But as it is used in this song by Old Blind Dogs, tramp has a little less of a dubious reputation. The word tramp was often used to indicate someone, usually itinerant and perhaps homeless or jobless, who traveled around from place to place and comes from the same word that connotes walking with heavy footsteps. In fact, in the United Kingdom, tramps of yore were often called "gentlemen of the road." In that way they might be akin to hobos, who traveled the rails for much the same reason. Charlie Chaplin portrayed a beloved "little tramp" in the movies as he went from place to place and fell into adventures. Perhaps the fact that these people, like homeless of today, could range from harmless to dangerous made the word much more pejorative. However, where it went from describing essentially homeless and jobless traveling men to promiscuous women, particularly in North America, I haven't been able to find. My supposition is that tramps hung around seedy places, and women who did so also became known as tramps but with a more sexual connotation to the term.

A hawker, on the other hand, might refer to a couple of things. A hawker could be a person who keeps and flies hawks. I think that is unlikely given this song's subject matter. Therefore, the hawkers in this song I believe refer to traveling salespeople, also known as peddlars. Again, there is a bit of the pejorative in this term, as many of us don't want to be accosted by a hawker. The common perception is that they sell cheap goods and do so with a bit of dishonesty as they try to take your money. While they used to be common in the United States, especially during difficult economic times, they are found fairly commonly in the developing world shouting out on street corners and confronting the unwary tourist. And they can be very good at persuasion - when I was in Turkey it was amazing how fast a rug "hawker" could maneuver a tourist into the back of a rug store and trap him or her there while rolling out rugs, talking the whole time, all while serving tea. Hawkers are experts at playing on people's fear of disappointing others, and often get a sale with a sad look and a story of how their kids will starve if their intended target starts to turn away.

So there you have it. Tramps and Hawkers is by Old Blind Dogs, a Scottish group that plays traditional Scottish music but is also influenced by jazz, reggae, rock, blues and Middle Eastern music. Old Blind Dogs were notable because they were the only group representing traditional music from northeast Scotland and would sing in the Aberdeen region's distinctive "Doric" dialect. However, the departure of longtime member Jim Malcolm has led to the band exploring a wider range of influences. The band started in 1990 after three founding members came together on a "busker's holiday" and decided to start playing together after that. Only one original member, Johnnie Hardy, remains. The band has won numerous awards and has toured extensively throughout Europe and North America. The version we have of Tramps and Hawkers is from their Play Live album (2005) but I couldn't find that version online so this is the studio version from their album Fit? (2011) which was a finalist for UK Celtic Album of the Year.

Where's Your Daddy? Old Blind Dogs and "Young Edward"

Randomness is strange thing, especially when it doesn't seem so random. In my previous post, I made mention of murder ballads. Today I did my random selection of a song for the day, which is kind of an elaborate process. I use a random string generator to come up with a random letter of the alphabet. With that letter, I go to my iTunes and I count the number of songs I have that begin with that letter. Let's say "E" has 252 songs. I then generate a random number between 1 and 252, and whatever that number is (let's say 136), I count from the first song in the "E" list to song number 136. If the song isn't a world song, I pick the world song nearest to it. It's a pretty random process. But when I mention murder ballads the day before, and a murder ballad comes up as the next day's song...I'm versed in statistics and probability as a political scientist but say what you want, the randomness argument seems weird. Did I influence events by thinking about murder ballads? I don't know.

What is a murder ballad? Murder ballads are traditional songs that describe the event of a murder. In particular, they often have a lead-up, a reveal, and the aftermath. Some are told from the point of view of the murderer. For example, one that Americans may know is the traditional ballad Banks of the Ohio, where a young man describes how he has taken his true love for a walk on the banks of the river, murders her for refusing his marriage offer, and then is taken away by the sheriff the next day as he laments killing his one true love. Or, Americans might remember Tom Dooley, sung by the Kingston Trio, about a man sentenced to hang for the murder of a young woman. Others tell the tale from the victim's point of view. The genre started in England, Scotland and Scandinavia, and later American versions of the same ballads started popping up, for example the American-Appalachian murder ballad Knoxville Girl came from the Irish Wexford Girl, which in turn came from the English Oxford Girl. New murder ballads are still being written and can be performed by almost anybody. Two of my favorite murder ballads are new - Lyle Lovett's LA County is a murder ballad about a man jilted by his lover and the horrific consequences when he shows up to her wedding. On the world scene, The Chieftains did a murder ballad on their holiday album The Bells of Dublin, with Elvis Costello singing the lyrics, called The St. Stephen's Day Murders in which a pair of sisters named Dawn and Eve Christmas do in their entire family with poison on the day after Christmas. Humans have always been both revolted and fascinated with murder, its motives and its consequences, and I like to think that the traditional ballads were both the soap operas and the moral lessons of their day, s sort of Grimm's Fairy Tales for adults to warn us of our baser natures and of the toll it takes on us and the wider world when we give in to those hatreds and jealousies.

So the murder ballad you are being presented with today is Young Edward by Old Blind Dogs. The ballad begins with a mother questioning her son. Why do you have blood on your sword, she asks? He goes through a whole set of excuses before finally revealing the bloody truth. The great thing about this ballad is that there isn't one revelation, but two! The mother questions her son closely about what he will do now, and at the end asks what will happen to her, to which Edward replies... Oh, but listen to the song and read the lyrics that are on the YouTube if you click the About link.

Old Blind Dogs were formed in 1990 when the three founding members met on a "buskers holiday" in the Scottish Highlands. The band was originally distinctive as it represented the music and traditions of Northeastern Scotland and sang in the dialect of Aberdeen and the region. The band focuses on traditional Scottish and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern rhythms. Young Edward can be found (as Edward) on their 1999 CD The World's Room, and a live version (as Young Edward) can be heard on their 2005 CD Old Blind Dogs Play Live.