#AprilAcrossAmerica concludes in #Delaware.

#CabCalloway mixed jazz and vaudeville like no others in the 1930s. A leading exponent of scat singing, inspiration for the current hip-hop scene, and one of the greatest bandleaders of any era. He died in Delaware in 1994.

Here's "The man from Harlem", a tale of a mystery man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5uABQpH12c

And so we finish where we started, with a song about New York. If you have been, thank you for listening.

#AprilAcrossAmerica GA➡️TN

Talking Heads - Cities

Did I forget to mention, forget to mention Memphis?
Home of Elvis and the ancient Greeks

I will find a city
Find myself a city to live in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJMxwBmQWHA

#AprilAcrossAmerica reaches #Maryland.

Yes, it's #ToniBraxton. Signed along with her sisters, Toni went solo in 1993, with three genre-defining R&B albums before the end of the century.

Financial and health concerns have limited Toni's work since, and she's had to slum it on competition shows to make some dough.

From 2020's album "Spell my name", here's "Gotta move on", a stately anthem about getting over a failed relationship.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PREVbXxH3go

#AprilAcrossAmerica 29

Dave Dudley - Through Hell and Half of Georgia

Road signs they all look the same
Until I see those Macon City lights
I been through hell and half of Georgia
But she'll make it worth my while tonight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg-FCj2ARns

#AprilAcrossAmerica meets #Virginia.

#PharellWilliams - close friends get to call him #Pharell, because he's just cooler than hell - was 50% of The Neptunes, leading R&B producers of the early aughts. He's worked with all the 21st century stars, and made an inescapable hit of his own, "Happy".

And he was on the ubiquitous summer hit of 2013, "Get lucky" with #DaftPunk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCHdMIEGaaM

#AprilAcrossAmerica 28 AL➡️FL

Animal Collective - FloriDada

Oh let's go get lost in the image
I made of the everywhere place
I see the lads from Osaka
Dyed in Florida-da
Flori, Flori, Flori, Flori, Florida
Florida-da, Florida-da

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuoIvNFUY7I

#AprilAcrossAmerica reaches #Tennessee.

These days, #BillyRayCyrus is best known as the father of #MileyCyrus. He had a recording career of his own, including this tale of lost possibilities.

Unlike Tiffany's similarly-named song from a few years earlier, "Could've been me" has a measure of spite, dissing the new man in his bride's life.

"Springsteen-esque", said one contemporary review; "at least as good as his big hit", says me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI9tfNx1M1E

#AprilAcrossAmerica 26 MS➡️AL

Curtis Gordon - Mobile, Alabama

If you plan a vacation
You should choose
Mobile Alabama, you'll loose your blues
The sights down there, you'll wanna see
Including the brand new Dauphin Island Beach
Mobile, Mobile Alabama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nr0mXC9HRQ

#AprilAcrossAmerica in #Tennessee

#TinaTurner sang from 1958 until retiring in the early 2000s, She initially worked with real-life husband Ike Turner, but they separated - both domestically and professionally - in 1978.

"Private Dancer" was rejected by Dire Straits, with a solo by Jeff Beck. It perfectly fits Tina's voice, tells a story we can totally believe, and is emblematic of her mid-80s career revival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4QnalIHlVc

#AprilAcrossAmerica 26 LA➡️MS

John Lee Hooker - Tupelo Blues

Way back down in Mississippi
A little country town
I know ya read about it
Cause I'll never forget it
The mighty flood in Tupelo, Mississippi
Been years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yyWvUTsBsE

#AprilAcrossAmerica pushes to #NorthCarolina

#NinaSimone (born Tryon, NC) rose to fame as a singer, songwriter, and pianist. She was an integral part of the #CivilRights movement of the 1960s, which became #BlackPower in '68.

"To be young, gifted and black" was written in memory of playwright Lorraine Hansberry, the first Black woman to have a play performed on Broadway, and friend of Nina's; Lorraine died aged just 35.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2-dK-I0Rec

#AprilAcrossAmerica 25 AR➡️LA

Tom Waits - I Wish I Was In New Orleans

And I can hear the band begin
When the Saints Go Marching In
And by the whiskers on my chin
New Orleans, I'll be there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVUgWZpgojM

#AprilAcrossAmerica 25 AR➡️LA

Tom Waits - I Wish I Was In New Orleans

And I can hear the band begin
When the Saints Go Marching In
And by the whiskers on my chin
New Orleans, I'll be there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVUgWZpgojM

#AprilAcrossAmerica gets up to #SouthCarolina.

Born in Barnwell, #JamesBrown sang in gospel, joined an R&B band. He became the leading light in funk and soul, a pioneer of today's R&B and ubiquitous pop.

Not only could he could move like a machine, James could also bring out emotion in a soulful love song, such as this paean to a missing lover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iXlDeqSTRA

#AprilAcrossAmerica 24 OK➡️AR

Lee Ann Womack - A Little Past Little Rock

Don't know where I'll go
Or what I'll do
I'm a little past Little Rock
But a long way from over you

https://youtu.be/AMnlXCREtcc

Today's edition is to the blessed memory of Emerson Milford Dickson, whose birthday was today.

Emerson was a proud #Georgia man, librarian, queer scholar, and inspiration to many. And a fan of great music: Emerson would surely have made a far more coherent #AprilAcrossAmerica.

Here's Chris's tribute to someone we miss terribly.
https://chris.dreamwidth.org/37535.html

#AprilAcrossAmerica reaches #Georgia, and the #IndigoGirls.

"I spend my time being broken hearted and grieving bound
Yeah I haven't much need to look forward
I just let a one day move into two
I'm losing
Everything except for you"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl5Bfx_jHjE

#AprilAcrossAmerica 23 TX➡️OK

Wade Hayes - Don't Make Me Come to Tulsa

Don't make me come to Tulsa
You know I hate to fly
I ain't been back to Oklahoma, baby
Since you said goodbye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRdqiWcghIY

#AprilAcrossAmerica is in #Alabama.

In 1999, #BBCRadio2 had a poll to find the song of the century. Songwriters voted this the greatest of all songs. It got no votes from the public, just as it's been overlooked by #AprilAcrossAmerica in the other place.

Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish wrote the standard in 1927, the Montgomery son Nat 'King' Cole recorded it thirty years later. It is the perfect combination of voice and lyric.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzPLQpLAxc4

#AprilAcrossAmerica NM➡️TX

The Rev. Horton Heat - Livin' On The Edge (Of Houston)

Yeah, it's cool that you live in a shack
And it's cool that you're hooked on smack
Now you're livin' on the edge, your livin'
Livin' on the edge of Houston

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5myHQ3UlhlA