Two for the Show
Posted at 5:12 AM on March 25, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(48 Comments)
Our Radio Heartland Duo-fest is this Saturday night at the Fitzgerald Theater. Savoca & Heitzman, Storyhill and Lou & Peter Berryman will give us a glimpse of the versatility , the economy and the power of two.
Since the beginning, the duet has been a basic human configuration.
And since humans are inherently musical, it was not long before we formed the first two-person band.
As a fundamental musical unit, the pair offers somewhat less strength than a full orchestra. But a good duo has at least twice the oomph of your typical solo act - and the overall effect of a well-matched twosome can be more than double.
Think of Ike & Tina without Tina, or The Sonny Bono Comedy Hour, and you'll see what I mean. One more can be a whole lot more. One less? Disaster.
Would 1950's era teens have gone wild for The Everly Brother?
I don't think so. Sometimes you just need two.
And it transcends music. No matter the endeavor, there's a weird alchemy at work when you hit on the right combination. Think of all the examples in entertainment, commerce and culture where individual brilliance is ampersand-enhanced. We could make an impressive list.
To great names like Ike & Tina, Phil & Don, Sonny & Cher, Adam & Eve, one could add Leiber & Stoller, Proctor & Gamble, Jefferson & Adams, Click & Clack ... the roll of honor goes on and on.
How far "on" does it go? That's up to you & your friends!
Comments (48)
thanks for putting on this concert, dale. i'm looking forward to hearing the beautiful harmonies of chris and johnny. :)
Dale and Jim Ed - the greatest duo
wish i could come down to the concert saturday night - hope all the TC folks show up in support of Dale and Mike. (another great duo!)
good morning All
Alba & Dream.
Not musical, but I'm spending a lot of time during all this dreary weather fantasizing about spending time on a farm this summer, standing under the hot sun, herding the goats (do you herd goats?), getting dirty gardening and having a great fresh produce meal at the end of the day. Of course, this is a terrific fantasy, since I'm a city gal and don't actually know anyone on a farm!
Have a great day Heartlanders.
My daughter and I will be there - we make a pretty respectable duo, out in public anyway. Anyone want to meet in the lobby?
Barb - Here's a little story with a favorable goat implication:
Yesterday, the first-graders made their own bar graphs. After deciding on and drawing their categories, they polled one another, then colored in the results. One student asked me to choose my favorite of her farm animals. When I saw that she’d drawn a goat, I immediately picked it. Her enthusiastic response was, “Goodie - you’re my first goat! Now you get a hug, Mrs. B!” So cute! This is the same child who told me the underwear joke- [What’re you eating under there?] About every other week she tries to spring it on me again, hoping I’ll have forgotten it. I keep telling her not to give up. Sooner or later, it’s bound to happen!
Dale, could you play, Swingin’ On A Star, this morning... or maybe an underwear number?
here's a fun exercise for the brain that some of you older heartlanders might enjoy:)
Hope I set this up right.
Second try...
Fun brain exercise.
Simon & Garfunkel!
Good morning, all. Have a great Wednesday.
p.s. (if we are on the subject of "towns", could we hear iris sing "our town", please?)
Dale & Mike!
Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli
Thad Jone & Mel Lewis
Jim Hall & Bill Evans
Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers
Rogers & Hammerstein
Tuck & Patti
I & Thou
Mom & Dad
Malia & Sasha
Hepburn & Tracey
Park & Ride
Eat & Run...
Sherrilee, i venture that thru RH you know plenty of farmers!
most goats will not be herded. in one of my goat books i read that, when choosing a dog to work with goats, one must not look for a subtle, sophisticated herd dog that simply crouches or uses its eyes to send the goats to the desired place. one should get a dog that has no pride - is willing to jump up and down and bark in order to attain the goal.
we don't have dogs. my goats go where i go. if one is eating an apple tree i've learned that i should NOT go to the tree (then i'll have five goats eating the tree). i need to walk in the opposite direction and they'll follow. when i want them to come into the barn i have to go in first. well, that doesn't always work. sometimes they run in one door and out the other - that's a favorite thing -
Donna - thanks for the good goat story - that little girl sounds like a future goat owner (a tad stubborn, likes goats, has a sense of humor)
time to feed and water.....
thanks so much "you guys"
Ian & Sylvia
Jan & Dean
Peter & Gordon
Ray & Glover
Ham & Eggs (haven't had breakfast yet, got distracted)
Thanks Dale - no goat after all, but there should be! I'll ask my students to help write a new verse.
Hall & Oates
Laverne & Shirley
Mack & Myer
There are a lot of famous comedy duos, Bob and Ray, The Smother Brothers and many others. Of course, we all remember many skits by Dale and Jim Ed.
Flatt & Scruggs
Waylon & Willie
Chad & Jeremy
Macaroni & Cheese
Peanut Butter & Jelly (still hungry)
Donna, that brain exercise took me 5 times to get it right...no one ever accused me of being quick. It was great fun, even so.
Barb in Blackhoof, I have a Dutch Sheep Herding dog "Schapendoes" who is just the right goat herder...as described. I got him as a rescue dog when he was four, never been on a farm. the first time he saw my little herd of 4 goats (2 adult wethers with horns) he circled them and had them in a tight little group. Good instincts. The next time he made the mistake of trying to herd from inside their barn and got caught between the wall and a goat. From then on he only herded them when they were outside of their pasture.
Otherwise, it is best to act as a "king billy" and lead them and they follow like you do... (perhaps that should be "queen nanny"?
Can't think of any duos that haven't already been mentioned. Wait...Martin & Lewis or was it Lewis & Martin? Got time to play Ian & Sylvia? thanks for the brain twists this morning.
A goat is animal that just wants to play
They climb and they jump around all day
They’re smart and they’re stubborn and they have a beard
They’re many colors and their eyes look weird
So if you are playful and like oats
You might grow up to be a goat
Off topic- I was going thru my Rise Up Singing book last night and came across this Berryman song for the first time -- and now this morning I hear it for the first time. Very strange coincidence!
Dale- Am feeling the need for some Moxy Fruvous. Can you help with that? Thanks!
Good Morning!
One of my favorite jazz recordings of all time is called Flutes & Reeds, Shorty George being my favorite tune should this album be in the RH record library.
One can't forget my least favorite dish from my childhood, Peas & Carrots@.
We are thinking of making an appearance on Saturday and meeting in the lobby would be fun. We went to Alaska last summer and met a blogger we have been reading for a while and had some great bike riding as a result. It will be a very entertaining weekend starting with the Randy Sabien concert on Friday in Mahtomedi.
Wonderful Wednesday everyone!
John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Ira & George Gershwin
Rudolf Nureyev & Margot Fonteyn
Alfred Lunt & Lynn Fontanne
Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward
Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein
Cephas & Wiggins
Hubert Sumlin & Pinetop Perkins
Barb in Blackhoof...EXCELLENT lyrics! Of course...goats and oats.
Mares eat oats and does eat oats. A kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?
Off to my barn to feed the mares oats.
Neal & Leandra
Pete & Arlo
Kermit & Miss Piggy
Loggins & Messina
Bert & Ernie
Me & My shadow (strolling down the avenue)
speaking of the Everly Brothers, Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum cover "So sad to let good love go bad" and do a great job.
I'm going with The White Stripes.....
Rowan & Martin (from “Laugh In”).
Thanks for playing “Falling Slowly” from the wonderful movie “Once.”
Thanks, Dale & Mike, for this community of spirited, clever folks.
Captain & Tennille
Thelma & Louise
Laurel & Hardy
Butch & Sundance
Newman & Redford
Thanks for the Moxy Fruvous -- this is what I love about MPR -- Tuvan throat singers & Canadian buskers & alt country in the same programming!
And on a local note, I never head north on 35w without Feydor and Eberhart's "Going up North". They capture the feeling exactly. And, yes, I do want to grow old in Ely.
(Dale -- is it a bit like herding goats, trying to guide this Trial Balloon Blog with a topic? :)
More goat lyrics, from "The Goat" on Burl Ives' "Animal Fair" album:
There a similar song "Bill Grogan's Goat"..
I had a goat, his name was Jim.
I bought him for his precious skin.
That goat got loose 'bout half past nine
And ate a red shirt fright off the line.
I grabbed that goat by the wool of the back
and tied him to a railroad track.
He bucked and bawled with might and main
As round the curve came a passenger train.
He bucked and bawled with might and main
Coughed up that shirt and flagged the train.
Barb -- thanks for the goat-herding lesson. I clearly have a lot to learn! And you're right, through this blog community I do have lots of farm contacts, probably why I'm day-dreaming about farms and goats and produce!
Donna - thanks for the exercise. I hesitate to think what doing well or doing poorly really means, but it was fun.
Barb - your writing ability blows me away. You're an English major, right?
Has anyone else lost all audio? If I go to the media player and click the play button I get the underwriter ad but then nothing???
Yes, I've lost audio, too (listening on my computer at work). It quit just after Dale signed off at 9:00 a.m., and I thought it was my computer.
Yes, RadioHeartland streaming seems to not be working. Classical, News, and Current seem to be working at the moment. I tried with my iPod touch app as well as from my computer.
Me too, and it's just RH -- I can get Kerry Miller just fine on the computer.
I am sorry that everyone is having trouble streaming, but I am glad to hear it because I was afraid that my workplace cut me off from RH and that would make my job unbearable.
Adam and Eve playing the saxaphone and the mandolin made me laugh out loud in my cube!
Apples & Oranges
Minneapolis & St. Paul
Weinies & Beans
Beanies & Weens
Bubble & Squeak
Tom & Jerry
Linus & Lucy
Pomp & Circumstance
P's & Q's
Thunder & Lightening
Romeo & Juliet
Huntley & Brinkley
and one of my personal favorites: Knit & Purl
Glad to hear it wasn't just my super slow pc here at work... but after clicking on the various buttons for about 10 minutes, I'm back up and running!
Kris in Northfield, what is this "Going Up North" by Feydor and Eberhart you speak of? I tried to Google it and got nothing. Is it a CD?
Hey Heartlanders,
Our Windows stream is back up and running. Thanks to all for letting us know!
More ampersands:
Barnum & Bailey
Amos & Andy
Hi & Lois
Also, on a horticultural note more appropriate for Monday’s gardening chat, I enthusiastically recommend cucumber seeds from Northrup King (NK Lawn & Garden). Their name is: Poinsett 76—uninspiring, but their flesh is crisp with a delicate flavor; skin is slim, seeds small. I learned about them from Marie, the most admired gardener in our neighborhood. NK seeds are easy to find at hardware stores & elsewhere.
Timmy and Lassie
Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop
B.B. King and Lucille
Donna - no - no self-respecting English Major would lower herself to my level of writing :-)
Barbara in Robbinsdale - wow, what a great song! shows how smart goats are!
Cynthia in Mahtowa - i love that song Maresy Dotes....
and yes, i have the same thoughts about poor Dale trying to keep us on topic - sorry.
but so fun - what a group!
Sigfried & Roy
Penn & Teller
Itchy & Scratchy
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
Heckle & Jeckle
Sturm & Drang
Turner & Hooch
Milo & Otis
Mantle & Maris
Beavis & Butthead
Calvin & Hobbes
Delany & Bonnie
Mcartney & Wonder
England Dan & John Ford Coley
Will & Grace
Mickey & Minnie
Bill & Hillary
Mary & Joseph
Bert & Ernie
Mario & Luigi
Will & Jada
Beyonce & Jay Z
Batman & Robin
Ren & Stimpy
Yoko Ono & John Lennon
Yay, RH is back! I had to listen to a (favorite) CD for awhile and found it so boring compared to the RH variety.
I don't think I've seen this duo listed yet:
Roy Rogers & Dale Evans
Bend & Snap
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