Norah Jones & Hank Williams
Following last week's Grammy nominations, the battle for Record of the Year will be between Eminem, Vanessa Carlton, Nelly, Nickelback and Norah Jones. The beautiful Jones is one of the most exciting talents to appear on the scene for years. She has that effortless way with a song that only the greats have. Think Macy Gray, think Nina Simone and their ability to appear to sing two notes at once and you've got Norah Jones. Her voice is amazingly kaleidoscopic, its many colours opening up a world of sensual delights. In a very brave move, she includes a number of songs by her band on Come Away with Me instead of taking the easier option of knocking out jazz-lite numbers. That's confidence with a capital C.
One of the handful of old classics on the album is the Hank Williams song "Cold Cold Heart", and its presence is very welcome as the 50th anniversary of the country music legend's death on New Year's Day passed all too quietly. Dead at 29, his body battered by an unknown assailant and years of alcohol and drug abuse, Williams set the standard for Hendrix, Morrisson, Joplin, Cobain and all the other self-destructive music stars who came after him. Still, in his short time on earth, he penned such masterpieces as "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Move It On Over," and "Hey Good Lookin' ". How he managed to write, sing, perform and record remains a mystery as his music usually took second place to boozing, brawling, women, cars and clothes.
His concerts were legendary. When he was good, he would deliver six encores to mesmerized audiences, but when he was bad he'd stagger on stage, announce that if the audience was there to see Hank Williams, they "done gone seen him" and stagger off again without singing a note. Still, the 100-plus songs he wrote, many of them scribbled in a few minutes in the back of a car, inspired by a bottle of bourbon and a broken heart, are regarded by music critics of all genres as one of the most important bodies of work in American music.
Diarist of the day: Brian Eno, 13 January 1995"Took a long walk this morning — down 7th Avenue to 42nd Street. Such nostalgic air — cool but clear, straight up Manhattan fresh off the Atlantic, having crossed the Sargasso Sea, then accented with all those residual traces of faint fishiness, cinnamon muffins, subway urine, women's perfume, bacon, coffee, newsprint."
