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(Billy Boy Arnold - Man with a Harp)

Staying with the spirit of live music this week, but doing it in the studio for a change. Blues giant Billy Boy Arnold doing a live session for John Peel at the BBC on October 5, 1977.

Nice batch of tracks to put you in the mood to unwind from another insane day.

. .and while you're at it . . .pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters . . .thank you,thank you,thank you . . .

Ellie Greenwich, a songwriting giant with a catalog envied and respected by tunesmiths the world over, died this morning at 69 of a heartattack.

Greenwich co-wrote some of the best known songs of the early sixties, including "And Then He Kissed Me", "Da Doo Ron Ron", and of course "Leader of the Pack". The girl-group sound owes at least as much to Greenwich for songs as it does to Phil Spector.

I can't do a post about Ellie Greenwich without including what is in my opinion the silliest cover song ever recorded: Twisted Sister's version of "Leader of the Pack", which is of course sung from the perspective of the leader of the pack, rather than the girl who must leave him. Yes, quite misguided, but a clear illustration of her reach. RIP.

Sensen no Sen: Dennis Prager, Mendacious Hack

Rumproast: The giant teeter-totter of racism.

What About Our Daughters: Action-oriented citizens put up billboards about missing Black women.

Facing South: The politics behind Lindsay Graham's vote for Sotomayor

Jonestown: But hey! If Obama wanted to wipe out seniors, he could find a more cost-effective way than this healthcare reform rigamarole!