David Lynch launches solo blues album, "Crazy Clown Time" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – David Lynch...bluesman?

The director premiered "Crazy Clown Time" -- his first solo album -- for three dozen guests seated in the Soho House's penthouse theater on Monday night. You can just imagine the early reviews:

"Damn good cacophony!"

"That hum you like is going to come back in style!"

"Fire, rock with me!"

Well, "rocking" isn't really the order of the day, of course, in Lynch's lugubriously dreamy yet dangerous-sounding universe.

Actually, Lynch's description of the album as a "modern blues" record wasn't terribly far off the mark -- if your definition of the blues stretches to include, say, Tom Waits' most experimental recordings.

Lynch made only a brief appearance to introduce the hour-plus album. The rest was left to two leggy models, ushered in through a side door between songs so that one could hold up the track number -- boxing match-style -- while the other would sweetly intone, into a reverb-laden microphone, "The title is, 'The Night Bell With Lightning.'"

The auteur has taken a great interest in music before, from the song he co-wrote for "Eraserhead" in 1977 through a recent album-length collaboration with Danger Mouse. But this is the first time we've heard him croon through an entire album -- excepting one lead vocal here by Karen O.

You won't hear anything too closely resembling his Jimmy Stewart speaking voice: Lynch is usually either singing through electronic enhancements or adopting a high-pitched character voice that sounds like Neil Young on a sick day.

The most comical song -- not to preclude the possibility he might be serious -- is the orally fixated "Strange and Unproductive Thinking," a stream of consciousness about how dental health is connected to our collective mental health, read through a Vocoder-type filter.

Against an electronic beat, Lynch recites a manifesto about "dark and evil forces which would have us living forever in confusion refusing even to acknowledge that we even existed or that there was such a thing as a bad tooth or a toothache.

Bringing our discussion to the reality of practical considerations, it is interesting to note the possibilities of dental hygiene and the remarkable idea of a world free of tooth decay and all other problems associated with the teeth, tongue, or oral cavity." He describes how "once beautiful mental images" and the "primary building blocks of happiness" can be brought down by, you know, plaque.

If anyone was destined to put the dental in transcendental meditation, it's Lynch.

Wordy as that tune is, he gets radically minimalist on other numbers. Take the title track, in which Lynch pitches his voice as high as a boy's while describing a kids' party:

"Suzy, she ripped her shirt off completely/Kimmy jumped all around, so high/Buddy screamed so loud, he spit/We all ran around the back yard/It was crazy clown time/It was real fun," he sings, and it's all innocent fun -- except for the musical bed, laden with disturbing guitar effects that make the party sound like a descent into hell, or Laura Palmer's last bacchanal.

Most often, the album produces slow shuffles that rely on Lynch's tremolo guitar fixation. That musical love once resulted in an actual hit, you'll recall, when the "Wild at Heart" soundtrack launched Chris Isaak's career-making "Wicked Game." On his own distinctly uncommercial musical turf, Lynch loves the uncertainty that whammy bar produces, as if that sweet surf-guitar sound could suddenly veer off into an aural nightmare with just the touch of a pinky.

Typical of the album's vaguely spooky laments is "Speed Roadster," an anthem of obsession. It's not Sting, but you wouldn't expect anything less peculiar when Gordon Cole gets the blues.

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Hotel provides no-frills Miss. blues experience (AP)

By ROGELIO V. SOLIS, Associated Press Rogelio V. Solis, Associated Press – Tue Sep 6, 11:33 am ET

CLARKSDALE, Miss. – It's not the Heartbreak Hotel or the Ritz, and George Washington didn't sleep there.

But The Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale is widely regarded as a history exhibit of blues music.

And, oh yes. Muddy Waters did sleep there and Bessie Smith died there.

Waters and other blues icons roomed at the Riverside from the 1940s to early 1960s as they made their names in clubs throughout the South. For decades before that, the building was a hospital that served black people during segregation, and it was there that Smith died after an auto accident in 1937.

The former G.T. Thomas Hospital re-opened as the Riverside in 1944 and has established a loyal group of fans who love its authenticity as a "bluesman" hotel.

It's a simple place: Rooms have single or double beds and there are bathrooms on each of the two floors, one for women and one for men. But there's no cable TV or Internet access.

"I run a nice, clean and comfortable place," the hotel's owner, 71-year-old Frank "Rat" Ratliff, says matter-of-factly.

Mitch Goldstein, who manages the South African musical group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, extolls the hotel's simple authenticity and says Ratliff definitely underrates the property's appeal.

"It's not just a museum, but it is a place that you can sleep in," said Goldstein, of Cedar Grove, N.J. "Just to know that I spent a night in a room that Muddy Waters slept in is very cool."

The two-story building consists of the original eight-room former hospital and additional rooms built on, for a total of 21 guest rooms.

"In 1943 my mother, Z.L. Ratliff Hill, bought the property and had it expanded," Ratliff recalled. "She drew the plans of how she wanted it."

Ratliff said his mother was a seamstress and arranged to rent the hospital, which was later renovated into the hotel by Thomas, the hospital's namesake. She later purchased the hotel from Thomas' widow in the summer of 1957.

The Ratliffs' living quarters were the former hospital's rooms and offices, but some of those were made into guest rooms, as well. All of the rooms are equipped with dressers and bed frames that have been around since the first day the doors opened as a hotel. Ratliff has also provided some creature comforts like a small refrigerator, microwave and a television.

"If I put new furniture or change the rooms, it would not appear to be the place the musicians stayed," Ratliff said. "That's the way the building was built. It stays like that. If I change it, I might as well close them doors because people want it that way."

Blues fan and part-time musician Michael Waugh, of Lawrenceville, Ga., agrees. He brought his wife and two young children to spend the night there last December.

"I thought it was incredible," Waugh said. "I am a huge fan of the blues and was looking for a blues experience."

The Waughs spent the night in the room used by Waters, and while it took a little time to adjust to the shared bathroom idea, the family took it in stride.

"For me to play my guitar where Muddy Waters played is pretty special. It provides me a bigger connection to the music," said Waugh, who plans to return to the hotel this year, around the Christmas holidays.

It costs between $65 and $70 per room, per night. "This is a family business and I only go up on the fees when the taxes go up," Ratliff said.

He also said the bluesmen who stayed at the hotel had their favorite rooms. And while he has no plans to label the rooms, he tells each guest the history of each room and the history of the musicians who stayed there.

Ratliff said he gives each new guest a tour of the hotel and allows them to pick a room at check-in. "When they return, they just go to their rooms, and if they leave something there, it is still there when they return," he said.

Among the who's who of blues musicians who have spent time at the Riverside are Ike Turner, Robert Nighthawk, Sonny Boy Williamson II and, of course, Muddy Waters, who lived on the property for several years. The Blind Boys of Alabama also stayed there when passing through the state.

"My mother rented by the week and by the night," Ratliff said. "She helped them out when they had no money. She fed them or gave them a place to stay when they was broke. And when they needed someone to co-sign on a loan, my mother did that. They always paid her back."

But even with all that musical talent at the hotel, none of it rubbed off on either him or his mother.

"My mother loved music and tried to play piano. She bought a piano but just pecked on it. She even got me music lessons when I was a kid, but I was not musically inclined," Ratliff said, laughing.

Ratliff, who worked for 23 years for Wonder Bread bakery, fully took over managing the hotel in 1997 when his mother died. He's currently grooming his daughter, Zelina L. Ratliff, 40, to continue the tradition.

Clarksdale Mayor Henry Espy is glad to hear that.

Although the building is rough in appearance, and surrounded by shuttered shotgun houses, it is one of the cornerstones to the town's resurgence, he said.

"When festival times come around, you cannot get into the place," Espy said. "Tourism is now the driving engine for not only Clarksdale but the Delta."

And along that line, the city hopes to redevelop property surrounding the hotel to include a park, walking trails, and even a catfish pond. The city is also seeking a grant to help rebuild the housing adjacent to the hotel.

"But we dare not mess with history. We want to keep it authentic," Espy said. "It is what it is, is how we describe the hotel. So many historic things are gone, and the place has not had a makeover. That would undermine the place, its authenticity.

"People come from all over the world to feel how things were then, to see the river, to see the cotton in the fields and feel the 112 degree heat. They want authenticity," Espy said. "It is what it is."

___

If You Go...

RIVERSIDE HOTEL: 615 Sunflower Ave., Clarksdale, Miss.; 662-624-9163. Rates: $65-$70 room, shared bathrooms.

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David "Honeyboy" Edwards, blues man, dies at 96 (Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Grammy-winning Delta bluesman David "Honeyboy" Edwards, whose emotional singing and eccentric timing thrilled audiences from his native Mississippi to Europe, has died at age 96, his manager said on Tuesday.

Edwards died on Monday from congestive heart failure, said manager Michael Frank, who also played harmonica in Edwards' trio.

"Honeyboy was the quintessential Delta bluesman," Frank said.

Edwards was among the last musicians to know and play with legendary bluesman Robert Johnson, who died in 1938, and his career was intertwined with the likes of Charlie Patton, Big Joe Williams, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Walter, Little Walter and Muddy Waters.

Edwards, who was born in 1915 in Shaw, Mississippi, earned a 2008 Grammy Award for best traditional blues album for "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live In Dallas." He was awarded a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2010.

Edwards usually performed on acoustic guitar, sitting in a chair on stage, although he was in constant movement.

"He was a very emotional and physical player and singer," Frank said. "He used his body in his stage performance for effect.

"He had an eccentric style, with unusual timing. He would make changes unpredictably. That was the Honeyboy test. (Musicians who sat in) found out very quickly you can't just count. He would do some funny turnaround, or funny lick, then look over and just laugh, knowing he was messing with us," Frank said.

Edwards, who fell ill in April, last toured Europe in 2009, performing 10 shows back to back in England, Frank said. On tour, he played in small clubs, theaters, and music festivals.

In 1942, archivist Alan Lomax recorded Edwards in Clarksdale, Mississippi, for the Library of Congress, according to his website. Edwards did not record again commercially until 1951, when he made "Who May Your Regular Be" for Arc Records.

Although known more for rearranging other blues artists' tunes, Edwards wrote several songs including "Long Tall Woman Blues," "Gamblin' Man" and "Just Like Jesse James."

(Reporting by Andrew Stern; Editing by Bill Trott)

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Ryan Gosling takes on comedy to cure the blues (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ryan Gosling claims that after his last film, the moody "Blue Valentine," it took him several months to "acclimate out of the experience" and he paid a visit to the doctor.

"He wrote me a prescription and I looked at it and it said, 'Do a comedy'," the 30-year-old Canadian actor said, adding the story he has been repeating to reporters while promoting his new comedy, "Stupid, Crazy, Love," is absolutely true.

It's hard to tell at times when Gosling is joking, telling such stories while wearing a perpetual, evasive smirk. Yet he is transparently playing for laughs in his first comedic role opposite "The Office" star Steve Carell that has gained strong buzz ahead of its release in the United States on Friday.

The reason for the turnabout for an actor who has so far mostly stayed away from big-budget Hollywood movies after impressing critics with serious indie dramas, was Carell, he said.

"He makes everyone funny. So selfishly I knew that if I was going to ever do a comedy, if I was going to lose my comedic virginity, I wanted to lose it to Steve," a softly-spoken Gosling told Reuters in an interview.

"Crazy, Stupid, Love" shows off Gosling as a suave seducer of women who tries to help the despondent, shabby character played by Carell regain his machismo after separating from his wife, played by Julianne Moore. Also co-starring Emma Stone and Marisa Tomei, the romantic comedy is a big box office summer hope for studio Warner Bros.

Gosling described himself as "nervous" to act in what he sees as his first real comedy, spending much of the film dropping unsubtle lines to women in bars, dressing in designer clothes and even ripping off his shirt to reveal a body so appealing it leaves Stone exclaiming it must have been digitally enhanced.

"It's like a James Cameron program called Avatar and you wear a motion-controlled suit," he joked, explaining his impressive abdomen for the scene. But he did not use a body double. "I had to exercise a lot."

Initially, he said, he wanted to base the role on Mike "The Situation" Sorrento from the TV reality show "Jersey Shore". But producers balked at the idea -- "I thought it would be funny, and they thought it wouldn't be."

He also claims he figured out how to play this character -- and indeed each role he plays -- by working out "the percentage of Bugs Bunny versus Daffy Duck."

He explained: "Like Dean in 'Blue Valentine' was 80 per cent Daffy and 20 per cent Bugs. And with this (role) I finally got to just play Bugs Bunny -- that helped me to think of it in those terms. And Steve was Daffy."

CHOOSING FILMS LIKE DANCING

Cartoon characters aside, Gosling, who is now regarded as one of the top actors of his generation, speaks seriously about why he didn't cash in on his Oscar nomination for "Half Nelson" in 2006 or the popularity of the romantic drama "The Notebook" in 2004 with a big Hollywood movie.

"I felt like I was cashing in, but just not financially. I was able to get more freedom in each next part that I played. So I just kind of gravitated toward that freedom. Money gives you freedom too, it's just what kind of freedom you want."

He did take home a bigger paycheck for "Stupid, Crazy, Love," but "my reasons for wanting to do it were the same. It's like when a song comes on, you want to dance and you don't know why. It just makes you want to dance. That's how I feel and I felt that way about 'Blue' and I felt that way about this."

After starting out at an early age as a dancer on "The Mickey Mouse Club" variety TV show alongside Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake -- Aguilera was then the most impressive, he said -- he landed parts in a number of TV shows, including one with Carell that was canceled.

He went on to observe acting titans such as Denzel Washington in his first small movie part in "Remember The Titans," but says Carell has been one of the best.

That may soon change. He will soon be seen in the George Clooney film, "The Ides of March" among several upcoming titles, but said he doesn't have any serious career plan.

"I just try to take it one step at a time," he said.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Fans, stars tweet the blues over Winehouse death (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Soul singer Amy Winehouse, who died unexpectedly at age 27, received numerous tributes on Saturday from ordinary fans around the world and music luminaries ranging from Tony Bennett to producer Mark Ronson.

The "Rehab" singer whose problems with substance abuse were well-documented, died at her home in London, and while it appears she has lost her battle with drink and drugs, an official cause of death has yet to be determined.

Nevertheless, fans speculated that she became another in a long list of singers, actors and other celebrities whose problems in the public limelight led to their demise -- Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Heath Ledger.

Winehouse was the top trending topic on Twitter where many tweets read like this one from gigglinben: "meh hate waking up to hear #amywinehouse is gone...dreaded it for ages...so young & so much talent sadly gone..hope she finds peace"

CRIerPourMoi posted: "her beautiful voice will be sorely missed. so unfortunate her disease got the best of her. RIP..."

The British singers' talent was discovered when she was 16, and her debut album "Frank" in 2003 earned acclaim. But it was her second CD, 2006's "Back to Black" that made her a star.

The record produced a string of memorable tunes, including "You Know I'm No Good," "Love Is a Losing Game" and "Rehab," which contained the line: "They tried to make me go to rehab. I said 'no, no, no.'" The album reached No. 1 in Britain and earned Winehouse five Grammys, pop music's highest honors.

RONSON CALLS WINEHOUSE "SOULMATE"

Ronson, the "Back to Black" producer, tweeted that Winehouse "was my musical soulmate & like a sister to me. this is one of the saddest days of my life."

Indeed, Twitter was alive with tributes from a who's who of the music world. Rapper and media mogul Diddy said "RIP Amy Winehouse" on the social network website and rocker Pete Wentz sent out "super sad to hear about the news. RIP. never take life for granted."

Some tweets had a harsher tone, such as this from mattissotrendy: "It's sad when anyone dies, but I find it hard to respect a drug addict. No matter how talented they were".

But singer/songwriter and Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas sought to pour cold water on many of the more sarcastic remarks by tweeting, "So many people saying that because it's not a surprise that Amy Winehouse passed, it's not sad. I hope you have more compassion for friends."

Music legend Tony Bennett, who recorded the classic pop standard "Body And Soul" with Winehouse last March, issued a statement calling her "an artist of immense proportions.

"I am deeply saddened to learn of her tragic passing. She was an extraordinary musician with a rare intuition as a vocalist and I am truly devastated that her exceptional talent has come to such an early end," Bennett said.

The U.S.-based Recording Academy, which gives out the Grammys, also issued a statement calling Winehouse "a dynamic performer and musician who seamlessly blended rock, jazz, pop, and soul and created a sound all her own."

(Editing by Eric Walsh)

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Fans, stars tweet the blues over Winehouse death (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Soul singer Amy Winehouse, who died unexpectedly at age 27, received numerous tributes on Saturday from ordinary fans around the world and music luminaries ranging from Tony Bennett to producer Mark Ronson.

The "Rehab" singer whose problems with substance abuse were well-documented, died at her home in London, and while it appears she has lost her battle with drink and drugs, an official cause of death has yet to be determined.

Nevertheless, fans speculated that she became another in a long list of singers, actors and other celebrities whose problems in the public limelight led to their demise -- Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Heath Ledger.

Winehouse was the top trending topic on Twitter where many tweets read like this one from gigglinben: "meh hate waking up to hear #amywinehouse is gone...dreaded it for ages...so young & so much talent sadly gone..hope she finds peace"

CRIerPourMoi posted: "her beautiful voice will be sorely missed. so unfortunate her disease got the best of her. RIP..."

The British singers' talent was discovered when she was 16, and her debut album "Frank" in 2003 earned acclaim. But it was her second CD, 2006's "Back to Black" that made her a star.

The record produced a string of memorable tunes, including "You Know I'm No Good," "Love Is a Losing Game" and "Rehab," which contained the line: "They tried to make me go to rehab. I said 'no, no, no.'" The album reached No. 1 in Britain and earned Winehouse five Grammys, pop music's highest honors.

RONSON CALLS WINEHOUSE "SOULMATE"

Ronson, the "Back to Black" producer, tweeted that Winehouse "was my musical soulmate & like a sister to me. this is one of the saddest days of my life."

Indeed, Twitter was alive with tributes from a who's who of the music world. Rapper and media mogul Diddy said "RIP Amy Winehouse" on the social network website and rocker Pete Wentz sent out "super sad to hear about the news. RIP. never take life for granted."

Some tweets had a harsher tone, such as this from mattissotrendy: "It's sad when anyone dies, but I find it hard to respect a drug addict. No matter how talented they were".

But singer/songwriter and Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas sought to pour cold water on many of the more sarcastic remarks by tweeting, "So many people saying that because it's not a surprise that Amy Winehouse passed, it's not sad. I hope you have more compassion for friends."

Music legend Tony Bennett, who recorded the classic pop standard "Body And Soul" with Winehouse last March, issued a statement calling her "an artist of immense proportions.

"I am deeply saddened to learn of her tragic passing. She was an extraordinary musician with a rare intuition as a vocalist and I am truly devastated that her exceptional talent has come to such an early end," Bennett said.

The U.S.-based Recording Academy, which gives out the Grammys, also issued a statement calling Winehouse "a dynamic performer and musician who seamlessly blended rock, jazz, pop, and soul and created a sound all her own."

(Editing by Eric Walsh)

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Blues singer Etta James in hospital with infection (AP)

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Blues singer Etta James is in a Southern California hospital with a potentially deadly infection.

Her son, Sametto James, tells the Riverside Press-Enterprise that his mother was admitted to an undisclosed hospital earlier this week for treatment of sepsis caused by a urinary tract infection.

Sepsis is a potentially deadly blood poisoning caused by a bacterial infection.

The 73-year-old James lives in Woodcrest and was hospitalized for the same problem early last year. She suffers from dementia, leukemia, kidney problems and other ailments.

James is best known for her version of the song "At Last."

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Buddy Guy celebrated at Blues Music Awards (AP)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Buddy Guy didn't have the blues at the Blues Music Awards.

Guy won five awards at The Blues Foundation's ceremony Thursday in Memphis, Tenn., including B.B. King entertainer of the year.

He also won album of the year and contemporary blues album for "Living Proof," contemporary blues artist and song of the year.

Solomon Burke posthumously won soul blues male artist of the year and soul blues album of the year for "Nothing's Impossible."

Willie "Big Eyes" Smith won best traditional album for "Joined at the Hip," his collaboration with the late Pinetop Perkins.

The late Robin Rogers won contemporary blues female artist, Charlie Musselwhite was named traditional blues male artist, The Derek Trucks Band won band of the year and Matt Hill won best new artist.

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Online:

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_mu/storytext/us_music_blues_awards/41364714/SIG=10mjp73pp/*http://www.blues.org

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