a coherent collection of random statements regarding God, words and tunes

Yo, Babies!

     I'm not even sure where this is going yet. All I know is, well, why should byrnes have all the good blogs?

     Anyway, as mentioned above, this will be a place for various organically connected thoughts (and I say "organically" because they probably won't be connected any other way ) on God, words and tunes — probably mostly the latter, but since it will involve using words and a lot of the music leads either indirectly or directly back to God, well, so there.

     A few quick words on myself: I'm an almost-lifelong resident of New Jersey, save for the last five months where we uprooted and started a new life out here in northern Colorado. I'm an editor and writer these days, and have been on other days too, ranging from a bunch of local northern Jersey papers to a weekly book-trade magazine to a non-profit (dis-)organization celebrating the joys of a certain board game/sport that I can't even bring myself to speak the name of anymore; to, most recently prior to this, um, servicing the legal profession via certain also-to-be-unnamed reference products. There were also those stints in between as teacher of the delinquent (the district called them handicapped, but that was just to get the extra funds — trust me, delinquent is more accurate), stock boy at Sears, data analyst for a shoe retailer, etc. Interesting times.

     It's also worth mentioning that the name of this blog comes from the journal of Christian literature I published for five years (the name of which I  ripped off from Bruce Cockburn, who in turn got it from Blind Willie Johnson. So there.), prior to becoming part of a church plant where I obtained and applied my ministerial licence some five years later. And now I actually work for a Christian publisher — my two worlds finally together, and supporting my family in my process. Go figure. That 2 1/2-mile commute with the Rocky Mountains staring you dead in the face ain't bad either. 

     So, that's some facts about me, even if it doesn't especially tell you who I am. I figure that'll emerge in time.

     And like I said, I suspect most of the discussion here will involve music, but we'll see about that too. My two favorite music blogs are already in the Links section to your left. I can only hope to be as inspiring as either once in a while. And since we're starting near the end of the year, an Album of the Year post will no doubt show up in a month or so. Besides, I just picked up the Kate Bush album yesterday so I might yet change my mind, but so far, and far and away it'd have to be S... a secret.

     So let me start very generically yet thoroughly. Maybe I'll do also do a Top-10 Albums of All Time thing some time. But so you know the real range of music here and don't pigeon-hole me or nothin', let me end this first post with a list of the CDs in my "barn." It's a dorky little thing my wife Marion bought me, but it's nice size for the CDs that I put above all others (I'll say 50-60, prior to typing). So, to give you an idea what I like, the "barn" is as follows:

Arrested Development — 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life of...
Beach Boys  — Pet Sounds
(Beach Boys)  — Making God Smile:An Artists' Tribute to the Songs of Beach Boy Brian Wilson (Lost Dogs, Phil Keaggy, Aaron Sprinkle, Rick Altizer, et al.)
The Beatles — Revolver
Be Bop Deluxe — Raiding the Divine Archive (The Best of)
Big Star — Sister Lovers
Beck  — Odelay & Sea Change
Tim Byrnes  — 1900/Debut CD
The Clash — Sandinista!
Slaid Cleaves — No Angel Knows & Broke Down
John Coltrane — A Love Supreme
Bruce Cockburn — Circles in the Stream
Crowded House — Recurring Dream:The Very Best of...
Daniel Amos — Motorcycle & Mr. Buechner's Dream
Nick Drake — Way to Blue: An Introduction to...
Bob Dylan — Blonde on Blonde
Steve Earle — Jerusalem
Eddie from Ohio — Looking Out the Fishbowl
Peter Gabriel — Peter Gabriel (the third one — w/ "Biko")
Genesis — The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Mark Heard — High Noon
(Mark Heard) — Strong Hand of Love: A Tribute to... (Tonio K., Michael Been, Bruce Cockburn, VoL, etc.)
Robyn Hitchcock  — Perspex Island
Phil Keaggy — What a Day & Crimson and Blue
The Kinks — ...are the Village Green Preservation Society
Mike Knott — "A Lot of Knott" (a bunch of solo/LSU stuff) & Life of David
John Lennon — Plastic Ono Band (a "where were you 25 years ago..." may be in the works too....)
Lost Dogs — Scenic Routes, Little Red Riding Hood & The Best of....
Van Morrison — Astral Weeks
Mott the Hoople — Brain Capers
The Move — Shazam!
Rich Mullins — A Liturgy, a Legacy and a Ragamuffin Band
Phish — Billy Breathes
Public Image Ltd. — Second Edition
Michael Roe — The Boat Ashore
7 & 7 Is (Mike Roe & Mark Harmon) — Fun with Sound
77s — Late & A Golden Field of Radioactive Crows (aka The Funky Crow Thang)
Patti Smith — Gone Again & Trampin'
Jill Sobule — Happy Town & Pink Pearl
Miranda Stone — 7 Deadly Sins
Igor Stravinsky — The Rite of Spring
Matthew Sweet — Altered Beast
Swirling Eddies — Outdoor Elvis & Zoom Daddy
Television — Marquee Moon & Adventure
Tension Envelopes — In Yo' Face & Show Place, December 2, 1984
Uncle Tupelo — 89/93: An Anthology
The Velvet Underground — The Velvet Underground (the 3rd one, not "& Nico")
Vigilantes of Love — Slow Dark Train
The Waterboys — Fisherman's Blues

     The 10 that would be left standing might surprise you. But again, that's for another time. I've blathered enough.

     Anyway, if I know you and you found this: Yo, baby!

     And if y'r just a poor unfortunate who stumbled here: Yo, baby!

     Talk to all of you again in the not-so-distant future....

carl

Posted by: burninglight at 21:42 | link | comments (6)

Comments:

#1  23 November 2005 - 18:33

 

Welcome to the fold, my son. Can't wait to read more inspirational inspirations from the 'pen' of my old friend. Love the list. Hey, you've got 'Shazam'?!!! Man, I found a vinyl copy at a local (Pueblo) record store, but they wanted like $50 for it. I found and downloaded 'Cheery Blossom Clinic Revisited' from Kaazaa a few years ago, but lost the flie in the divorce. Guess what I want a copy of for Xmas??

timbyrnes

#2  23 November 2005 - 18:34

 

ps: love the template.

timbyrnes

#3  23 November 2005 - 19:31

 

"Hey, you've got 'Shazam'?!!! Man, I found a vinyl copy at a local (Pueblo) record store, but they wanted like $50 for it. I found and downloaded 'Cheery Blossom Clinic Revisited' from Kaazaa a few years ago, but lost the flie in the divorce. Guess what I want a copy of for Xmas??"

Come and GET it.... :P

Yeah, thought you WOULD love the template. Hey, we ARE writing from Colorado, after all....

Anonymous

#4  23 November 2005 - 19:33

 

Hey! How'd I wind up an unlogged visitor on my own blog???

:PPPP

burninglight

#5  28 November 2005 - 16:03

 

Cause ya didn't log on, Captain!

timbyrnes

#6  28 November 2005 - 18:01

 

It was a bit more complicated than that, but that's the TECHNICAL explanation, yes... :D

burninglight

Comments: