Morning Open Thread is a daily, copyrighted post from a host of editors and guest writers. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum.
I’ve come to think of this post as one where you come for the music and stay for the conversation—so feel free to drop a note. The diarist gets to sleep in if she so desires and can show up long after the post is published. So you know, it's a feature, not a bug.
Join us, please.
If I’m not up to fill this space with a better good morning than this, let me just say, “y’all play nice.”
❧
Friday’s Lagniappe
This week’s highlight from The Bitter Southerner is one of discovery: a story of a father’s love for the “uncool” music of Carl Perkins and a son’s gradual appreciation for the work of a man idolized by the Beatles, Hendrix, Dylan, Clapton, and the like. “Carl Perkins: Greetings from the Land of Blue Suede Shoes,” by Shawn Pitts.
“A decade ago, Shawn Pitts joined a team doing a ‘cultural-asset inventory’ of McNairy County, Tennessee. Along the way, he discovered unheard recordings made by West Tennessee’s favorite son, the rockabilly great Carl Perkins, made years before he started cutting hits at Sun Records in Memphis. They reveal a young man melding hillbilly music and African American music while Elvis was still a schoolboy. In October, they were released to the world.”
❧
A bit of trivia—her cat’s name was Telemachus and appears only in the final frame of the photographs taken that session. From Rolling Stone’s April 29, 1971 less-than-prescient review:
Carole King’s second album, Tapestry, has fulfilled the promise of her first and confirmed the fact that she is one of the most creative figures in all of pop music. It is an album of surpassing personal-intimacy and musical accomplishment and a work infused with a sense of artistic purpose. It is also easy to listen to and easy to enjoy.
❧
☕️
Grab your coffee or tea and join us, please.
What's on your mind this morning?