'Tain't No Sin - The Black Rider [209]

We’re sort of missing Waits this week, as William Burroughs covers this Edgars/Donaldson song from his childhood. Simon and David return for more discussion with Martin and Sam around authenticity (of voice, of writing, or of instrumental sound), the fusion of Waits and Burroughs’ writing, and the nature of wax art.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
'Tain't No Sin, The Black Rider, Tom Waits (1993)

'Tain't No Sin (To Dance Around in Your Bones), Lee Morse: A Musical Portrait, Lee Morse & Her Blue Grass Boys (1930)

'Tain't No Sin To Dance Around in Your Bones, Single, George Olson & Dick Gardner (1929)

'Tain't No Sin at 1h21m50s from The Black Rider: The Casting of the 12 Magic Bullets (filmed at the Weiner Festwochen, via YouTube), Wilson/Burroughs/Waits (1990)

London Road Trailer, via YouTube, film adaptation of the stage musical by Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork (2015)

Log into the Spotify web player to hear these tracks.

Black Box Theme - The Black Rider [208]

More mental gymnastics from David, Simon, Sam & Martin, as Song by Song grapples with not only defining the Black Box as a song, as well as a theatrical conceit. There’s some in-depth discussion of unusual instruments and their use in musical storytelling/signposting, comparison with other Robert Wilson collaborations, and we work our who that guy from Labyrinth is.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Black Box Theme, The Black Rider, Tom Waits (1993)

Knee Play 1, Einstein On The Beach, Phillip Glass/Christopher Knowles (1975/1979)

Black Box Theme at 1m51s from The Black Rider: The Casting of the 12 Magic Bullets (filmed at the Weiner Festwochen, via YouTube), Wilson/Burroughs/Waits (1990)

Log into the Spotify web player to hear these tracks.

Just The Right Bullets - The Black Rider [207]

Playwright Simon Stephens and Composer David Shrubsole join Martin and Sam to talk about the influence of Kurt Weill, the nature of musical theatre and the origins of the story at the heart of The Black Rider. Looking at Porgy and Bess and the performance of Nina Simone in terms of themes of addiction, we touch on other autobiographical elements of the play, as well as the effect of poetic vs dramatic lyric writing.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Just The Right Bullets, The Black Rider, Tom Waits (1993)

I Loves You Porgy, Little Girl Blue, Nina Simone (1958)

Just The Right Bullets at 40m31sfrom The Black Rider: The Casting of the 12 Magic Bullets (filmed at the Weiner Festwochen, via YouTube), Wilson/Burroughs/Waits (1990)

I Loves You Porgy, Porgy & Bess, Gershwin/Audra McDonald & Norm Lewis, (2012)

There's A Boat That's Leaving Soon For New York, Porgy & Bess, Gershwin/David Alan Grier (2012)

Trailer for The Threepenny Opera (adapted by Simon Stephens, MD David Shrubsole), National Theatre London (2016)

Log into the Spotify web player to hear these tracks.