3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Pretty self-explanatory
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Man out of Time
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3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Post by Man out of Time »

Elvis joins (l-r) Paul Muldoon, Roseanne Cash, Natasha Trethewey, Bill Flanagan and Salman Rushdie to form the Committee for the 2016 PEN Lyrics Awards. Photo from Salman Rushdie's Twitter Account.
PEN Lyrics Awards Committee 2016
PEN Lyrics Awards Committee 2016
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The Awards Ceremony takes place biennially usually around June, when Elvis will be finishing his Detour round Europe. He may have planned the tour dates in order to allow him to fly back to Boston to attend (or even host) the award ceremony.

What chance a posthumous award for David Bowie?

MOOT
Neil.
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, EC on 2016 Committee

Post by Neil. »

MOOT, thanks for the info - and you've inadvertently given us a second news item - that Elvis is now sporting a goatee and a new kind of hat!
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, EC on 2016 Committee

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Elvis was spotted in Chester sporting both so he obviously likes both!
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, EC on 2016 Committee

Post by Neil. »

It's quite a 1960s beat poet look, innit?
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And No Coffee Table
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, EC on 2016 Committee

Post by And No Coffee Table »

I think we missed the announcement in July that this year's recipients will be Tom Waits and John Prine.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... rd-w430317

The awards will be presented September 19 in Boston. Elvis has attended the two previous ceremonies, and there is a break in his tour schedule between September 14 and October 1.
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, EC on 2016 Committee

Post by Man out of Time »

And No Coffee Table wrote:I think we missed the announcement in July that this year's recipients will be Tom Waits and John Prine..
According to the PEN site, there will be a third honoree this year: Kathleen Brennan (wife of Tom Waits).

According to Wikipedia: "Brennan is credited as a co-writer and collaborator on numerous songs and projects written since her marriage to Waits and is credited with introducing him to the music of Captain Beefheart. She is generally regarded as the catalyst for Waits' more experimental sound beginning with the album Swordfishtrombones. Waits has said: "She doesn't like the limelight, but she's an incandescent presence on all songs we work on together."

MOOT
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 in Boston?

Post by johnfoyle »

In a interview today in Taipei Elvis says he's going to be in Los Angeles in three days time to rehearse with the Imposters. So I guess he won't be in Boston on the 19th for the PEN ceremony.
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 in Boston?

Post by History Repeats »

Amy (my wife) and i will be attending and will share what we see.

While it seems logistically difficult, i do think he'll make a huge effort to be there given the honorees being Tom Waits and John Prine. I believe, beyond his respect for them, that he and Tom are friends (based on accounts from others).

Add to that if Roseanne Cash is there...its hard to say "no"

We shall see...
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 in Boston?

Post by johnfoyle »

Someone on facebook saw Elvis today at LAX , going to get a flight. So it looks like he may be on the way to Boston after all.
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 in Boston?

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 in Boston?

Post by verbal gymnastics »

And we've got a forum member there. 8) Have a great night Mr and Mrs History repeats.

I look forward to your review.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 in Boston?

Post by And No Coffee Table »

Twitter:
Music legends at the @PENNewEngland Song Lyrics awards ceremony.

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Where music and writing become one in the same. @pennewengland

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Roseanne Cash and Elvis Costello perform 'Hello in There' to honor the great lyricist @JohnPrineMusic

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.@ElvisCostello and @rosannecash pay tribute to songwriting legend @JohnPrineMusic at PEN Song Lyrics Award.

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.@elviscostello honors Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan with "Take it With Me" @PENNewEngland #songlyricsaward

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History Repeats
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 in Boston?

Post by History Repeats »

Just leaving this terrific event. Elvis did two songs: He played guitar to Roseanne Cash singing John Prine's 'Hello In There'. The guitar work was beautiful. And then EC solo on piano, singing Tom Waits' 'Take it With Me (When I Go)', including a brief spoken intro about meeting Tom Waits in 1978. John Prine used one of Elvis' guitar when performing 'Souvenirs'. Mrs. History hopes to have gotten some good photos, more to come. Special afternoon.
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Post by johnfoyle »

Dennis White , f/book


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Jim Jarmusch & Elvis


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Tom Waits
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/art ... award.html


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(AP Photos/Steven Senne)

19 September 2016

BOSTON (AP) — Luminaries from the film, music and writing worlds honored Tom Waits and folk singer John Prine for their songwriting at the Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Awards on Monday. Waits' wife, Kathleen Brennan, also was honored.

John Mellencamp, Elvis Costello and Roseanne Cash took turns performing renditions of the artists' songs before a crowd of more than 500 people at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

Mellencamp opened the ceremony with an a cappella version of Prine's 1978 song "Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone," which imagines the later years of an Indian child actor from the early 1940s. Mellencamp called the lyrics "sophisticated but simple."

"Who writes songs like that?" he said. "Two people come to mind — God and John Prine."

Irish author Colum McCann, director Jim Jarmusch, country singer Sturgill Simpson and Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band reflected on the artists' accomplishments in remarks that ranged from personal to poetic.

McCann described Waits and Brennan as "patriots of elsewhere" who stay "close to the ground" and "hear things that no one else hears."
"They find out what others have not quite fathomed yet," he said. "They catch the ordinary so that it can be sung extraordinarily in the future."
Waits and Prine each treated the crowd to a song after giving brief remarks.

Prine, whose voice has become deep and raspy following a battle with cancer that required removal of part of his neck, said he was "stunned" by the honor.

Waits reflected on working with Brennan, his longtime musical collaborator, who became the first woman to win the award since it was introduced in 2012.

"It's not always fun writing together," Waits said in a humorous, sometimes rambling speech. "Sometimes the fur flies. It's not an easy enterprise, but it's satisfying."

Brennan, speaking briefly before her husband, said she has a "lay low" personality and isn't always accustomed to the spotlight.
Waits and Prine, now in their late 60s, emerged in the 1970s and have been performing for decades. Waits gained notoriety for his blend of jazz, blues and folk music and his distinctive growl. Prine wrote many songs that have become folk and country standards.

Cash, joined by Costello on acoustic guitar, performed one of those, "Hello in There," about old age and loneliness, from Prine's 1971 debut album.
The Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award is bestowed biennially by the writers' group PEN New England. This year's honorees were chosen by a committee that included U2's Bono, Cash, Costello and Salman Rushdie.

The first awards were given to Chuck Berry and Leonard Cohen in 2012. The 2014 awards went to Kris Kristofferson and Randy Newman.
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Post by History Repeats »

Photos to come

I recorded elvis' Tom Waits' song (take it with me) and need someone to strip off the nonsensical video (as i wasnt videotaping the performance) and work on the audio, which is quite clear due to the quiet crowd.

It also includes his words about Tom and Kathleen as inteo.

Who can do this? Doc...?
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Post by History Repeats »

A few shots from today.
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History Repeats
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

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A couple more
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

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One more
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Post by docinwestchester »

History Repeats wrote:Photos to come

I recorded elvis' Tom Waits' song (take it with me) and need someone to strip off the nonsensical video (as i wasnt videotaping the performance) and work on the audio, which is quite clear due to the quiet crowd.

It also includes his words about Tom and Kathleen as inteo.

Who can do this? Doc...?
Of course. I sent a PM.
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/na ... story.html


John Prine, Tom Waits honored for songwriting at star-studded event at JFK library



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Elvis Costello and Rosanne Cash performing at the PEN New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award ceremony.
KEITH BEDFORD/GLOBE STAFF

Elvis Costello and Rosanne Cash performed at the PEN New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award ceremony.

By Mark Shanahan

GLOBE STAFF SEPTEMBER 20, 2016


A few years ago, the folks at PEN New England created the Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award to celebrate the craft of songwriting. It was an inspired idea.

The inaugural recipients, chosen by a committee whose members know a few things about phrasing, were Chuck Berry and Leonard Cohen, followed by Kris Kristofferson and Randy Newman.


At the JFK Library on Monday, Elvis Costello, who serves on the selection committee that also includes Bono, Rosanne Cash, Peter Wolf, novelist Salman Rushdie, writer Bill Flanagan, and poets Paul Muldoon and Natasha Trethewey, was on hand to introduce this year’s honorees: John Prine and Tom Waits and his wife, Kathleen Brennan.

The beauty of the Song Lyrics Award is that it has nothing at all to do with an artist’s commercial success, but instead with the way they use language to achieve, in song, something very much like literature.

Prine, who emerged from the Chicago folk scene in the early 1970s, has written such sweet, understated gems as “Angel From Montgomery” and “Lake Marie.” Bob Dylan once described Prine’s songbook as “Midwestern mind trips to the nth degree.”

Monday, the 69-year-old Prine, who’s endured two bouts of cancer in recent years, was feted by a few of his famous admirers, including longtime friend John Mellencamp, who stepped to the microphone and spoke/sang a verse from Prine’s “Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone.”


“Now, who writes songs like that? Sophisticated and simple,” said Mellencamp, dressed in jeans, white T-shirt, and a black vest and jacket. “Two people come to mind, God and John Prine.”


Mellencamp became emotional as he admitted he’d lost touch with Prine when he got sick — “John, I’m sorry for not calling you all those years” — but Mellencamp said he relished the opportunity now to celebrate a songwriter he called “a natural-born earth shaker.”


Cash, accompanied by Costello on acoustic guitar, performed one of Prine’s best known and oft-covered songs, “Hello in There,” which brought many in the hushed audience — and Cash herself — to tears. Country star Sturgill Simpson then thanked Prine for his “humanness and realness.”

“You can’t put a price tag on what you’ve given to the world,” Simpson said in a halting voice. “For that I’ll always be grateful. You’ve done more for me than you’ll ever know. I love you, brother.”

Prine seemed tickled by the honor, and reckoned that some of his teachers at Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill., were probably “twirling in their graves.” He then picked up a guitar and played “Souvenirs,” with its chorus: “Memories, they can’t be boughten/They can’t be won at carnivals for free/Well it took me years to get those souvenirs/And I don’t know how they slipped away from me.”


Waits, whose varied discography dates to the ’70s, has been writing songs with his wife for more than 30 years. He acknowledged that it’s not always easy — “sometime the fur flies, the feathers fly” — and their sensibilities can differ.

“She had a lot of questions when we first started writing together,” Waits said in his customary Cookie Monster growl. “Like, ‘Why does that guy have to be missing an eye?’ ”

Irish author Colum McCann paid tribute to the couple’s partnership and what they’ve created.

“They illuminate the landscape and then they plunge it dark again,” McCann said. “The world as we have it is their lucky anthem. They fling it open with their lives and a few strings and a voice that was somehow scratched by heaven.”

Costello, who was an angry young man when he met Waits for the time at the Tropicana Motel in 1978, sat at the piano and played a mesmerizing version of the Waits/Brennan composition “Take It With Me.”

After a few kind words from filmmaker Jim Jarmusch — the director cast Waits in “Down by Law” and “Coffee and Cigarettes” — Waits reluctantly addressed the crowd.

“When I first heard about this, I said, ‘Give them the P.O. Box,’” he said, perhaps only half joking. “That’s what I usually do. But they said, ‘You gotta come down and get it.”

Talking about working with his wife, Waits paused.

“We’re different,” he said. “If two people know all the same things, one of you is unnecessary.”
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Post by docinwestchester »

Audio courtesy of History Repeats:

sulky lad
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Post by sulky lad »

Thanks to both for this unique performance !
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Post by FAVEHOUR »

Thank you. This is one of my favorite songs by anyone.
johnfoyle
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Re: 3rd PEN Song Lyrics Award, Elvis at presentation September 19 2016 in Boston

Post by johnfoyle »

Nice.

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