You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November, 2008.
seems that at the end of the day, they, just like us, are geeky fans of great music too. =)
kim taylor – the cincinnati entertainment awards “singer/songwriter of the year” / ralph stanley – the newest member of the CEA “hall of fame” / karin bergquist – presenter, past CEA “hall of fame” inductee and “2007’s music ambassador to the city” (photo taken w/karin’s i phone, i believe)
i was invited by karin bergquist and linford detweiler of over the rhine to attend the cincinnati entertainment awards last night at the emery theatre in over the rhine. the emery, much like the over the rhine neighborhood seems to be under perpetual renovation. but it was great to see the old place get some much needed love and attention. hopefully, someday soon it will be a fully functioning venue once again (with heat and running water).
the show was a blast, opened by a band assembled to honor the late james brown and king records and led by the legendary bass player, bootsy collins. they were dead on, the singer had brown’s vocals and stage presence nailed, and the 12 pc band with a full horn section and back up singers were amazing. a helluva way to kick off the show. the “headliner” and hall of fame inductee, closing out the evening was the legendary country/bluegrass singer, ralph stanley and the clinch mountain boys.
bootsy and company brought down the house with a stunning tribute to JB to kick the night off and stanley was the absolute personification of professionalism and dignity. at 81 years old and 42 years on the road and just out of the hospital the day before with vocal problems, he and his “clinch mountain boys” gave a courageous and classy performance to close the evening out. he struggled but gave it his best, which was more than good enough for everyone there. it was a honor to see this man perform.
karin and linford both presented and it was a pleasure to watch as karin got to present her friend, kim taylor (or kim-FUCKING!-taylor, as she announced it) the singer/songwriter of the year award. linford said while presenting the electronica/experimental music award to: “chick pimp, coke dealer at a bar” (which i think he just enjoyed saying), “you’ve got to love and be proud to be from a city that puts on a show that opens with a bootsy collins tribute to james brown and closes with ralph stanley…”
despite there being no heat in the theatre, no running water (ie:port a potties in the alley outside) and sound & technical problems galore…ther was a great vibe in the goint and it was a great night (even though you can’t find a damn thing to eat in downtown cincinnati on a sunday night).
performers: Bootsy Collins, Ralph Stanley, Eclipse, The Seedy Seeds, and The Sundresses
the winners:
BEST LIVE ACT
Foxy Shazam
BEST MUSICAL AMBASSADOR
Bootsy Collins
BLUEGRASS
Rumpke Mountain Boys
BLUES
Sonny Moorman Group
COUNTRY
The Turkeys
EXPERIMENTAL/ELECTRONIC
Chick Pimp, Coke Dealer at a Bar
FOLK/AMERICANA
Jake Speed & the Freddies
HARD ROCK/METAL
Foxy Shazam
HIP HOP
Eclipse
INDIE/ALTERNATIVE
The Seedy Seeds
JAZZ
Faux Frenchmen
PUNK/POST PUNK/HARDCORE
Knife the Symphony
R&B/FUNK
Daughters and Sons
ROCK
500 Miles to Memphis
SINGER/SONGWRITER
Kim Taylor
WORLD MUSIC/REGGAE
Super-Massive
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Daniel Martin Moore
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Barkinghaus, The Sundresses
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Seabird
since next week is thanksgiving and i will be out of town, with limited time and internet access, i am going to post next next two weeks of new releases.
enjoy. and a happy thanksgiving to all.
BILL’S PICK OF THE WEEK
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
1. Home
2. My Big Nurse
3. I Feel My Stuff
4. Everything That Happens
5. Life Is Long
6. The River
7. Strange Overtones
8. Wanted For Life
9. One Fine Day
10. Poor Boy
11. The Lighthouse
November 25th
Barry Manilow – The Greatest Songs Of The Eighties
Coldplay – Prosepekt’s March (EP)
Cynic – Traced In Air
David Byrne – Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Deathcab for Cutie – ‘Airplanes’ (Deluxe)
Feist – Reminder (Deluxe)
Good Charlotte – Remixes
Jeremy Camp – Speaking Loud
Kanye West – 808 & Heartbreak
The Killers – Day & Age
Linkin Park – Road To Revolution Live At Milton Keynes (CD/DVD)
Ludacris – Theater of the Mind
Monica Naranjo- Tarantula
Ministry – Wicked Soundtrack
Neil Young – Canterbury House 1968
Paramore – The Final Riot!
Paul Van Dyk – Hands on In Between
REM – Murmur (Deluxe)
Rivers Cuomo – Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
Scott Weiland – Happy In Galoshes
Sheryl Crow – Home For Christmas
Supersuckers – Get It Together
Tom Jones – 24 Hours
Trace Adkins – X (TEN)
White Zombie – Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
December 2nd
Akon – Freedom
Britney Spears – Circus
Carly Simon – Sing Songs for Children
Chico Buarque – Label: Import
Connie Talbot – Connies Christmas Album
Duffy – Rockferry (Deluxe Edition)
Neil Young – Sugar Mountain Live 1968
Panic! At the Disco – Live in Chicago (CD/DVD)
Trevor Tanner- Eaten By The Sea
and remember, whenever possible buy your music directly from the artist(s) or your local independent record store. both could become endangered without your support.
click here for a list of exclusives available @ indie stores and for a listing of stores
Macca confirms ‘Carnival Of Light’ exists
[from NME]
Paul McCartney has confirmed that the mythical Beatles song ‘Carnival Of Light’ exists, and has suggested it may soon see a release.
The experimental 14-minute song was recorded in 1967 for an electronic music festival, but was never released.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, McCartney said: “The time has come for it to get its moment.
“I like it because it’s The Beatles free, going off piste. I said all I want you to do is just wander around all the stuff, bang it, shout, play it, it doesn’t need to make any sense. Hit a drum then wander on to the piano, hit a few notes, just wander around. So that’s what we did and then put a bit of an echo on it. It’s very free.”
According to BBC News, McCartney pushed for the song to be included on The Beatles’ ‘Anthology’ releases in the mid-’90s, but it was vetoed by the rest of the band.
McCartney Seeks Release Of Beatles Jam
November 17, 2008 , 1:00 PM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. [from billboard]
Paul McCartney is itching to release the most experimental track the Beatles ever put to tape — but he’ll need the permission of Ringo Starr and the estates of George Harrison and John Lennon to do it.
McCartney told BBC Radio 4 of “Carnival of Light,” a 14-minute piece recorded in early 1967, “the time has come for it to get its moment” and that it shows the Beatles “going off piste.”
“I said it would be great to put this on because it would show we were working with really avant-garde stuff,” he said of the recording, which has never been bootlegged.
“Carnival of Light” was recorded for the electronic music festival the Million Volt Light and Sound Rave and received its only public play there in early ‘67. McCartney tried to include it on the Beatles’ “Anthology” in the late ’90s but was vetoed by Harrison.
“I said all I want you to do is just wander around all the stuff, bang it, shout, play it, it doesn’t need to make any sense,” McCartney said of the music. “Hit a drum then wander on to the piano, hit a few notes, just wander around. So that’s what we did and then put a bit of an echo on it. It’s very free.”
A handful of Beatles experts have heard the song, the master tape of which McCartney purports to have.
Author Mark Lewisohn says the song features “distorted, hypnotic drum and organ sounds, a distorted lead guitar, the sound of a church organ, various effects (water gargling was one) and, perhaps most intimidating of all, John Lennon and McCartney screaming dementedly and bawling aloud random phrases like ‘Are you alright?’ and ‘Barcelona!’,” while Barry Miles has described it as similar to the Frank Zappa song “The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet.”
more photographs @: john prine/bloomington
In Over the Rhine’s song, “If A song Could Be President,” they gice a shout out to their musical heroes and inspirations, they refer to John Prine as someone who can make you “laugh and cry.” Last night in Bloomington, I saw John Prine and as always, he didn’t short us on highlights, all worthy of a tear or a laugh, or at times, both in the same song.
He performed such stunners as; Paradise (aka Muhlenberg County), All The Best, Lake Marie, That’s the Way That the World Goes ‘Round, Sam Stone and probably his most recognizable song (made famous by Bonnie Raitt) Angel From Montgomery along with other classics from his deep, deep catalog. The only thing missing was two of my favorites; Souvenirs and Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore, but I’m not complaining, we did get the rarely played Blue Umbrella, which was requested (and dedicated to) someone who sent him an e-mail just before he left the hotel. she simply signed it as “Mom from Indiana.” For most of the show he was (as usual) accompanied by guitarist Jason Wilber and bassist Dave Jaques, both were impeccable and neither played an extraneous note. The middle third of the show was a beautiful acoustic solo set.
Most everyone in the IU Auditorium was intimately familiar with the music, it was clearly “his audience,” but it never felt like a “nostalgia” act, his music is timeless; they keep revealing secrets, you hear something new no matter how many times you’ve heard them.
Jeffery Lee Puckett (a Louisville music critic) wrote about Prine: “Prine’s secret has never been complicated. He’s a good listener and a keen observer, but, more important, he can tell a story. His best songs are constructed exquisitely and delivered with absolute certainty; you couldn’t change a line or detail without the rest of the song suffering. When you hear a classic Prine song, you know that you’re hearing the truth. It’s usually a universal truth told through specific stories, as when loneliness, desire and the human need to connect becomes “Donald and Lydia,” and it’s often a truth you feel as much as hear.”
What a show last night. Just amazing. Awesome.
It is just sheer joy to watch this man perform.
setlist:
1. Spanish Pipedream 2. Picture Show 3. Six O’Clock News 4. Far From Me 5. Grandpa Was A Carpenter 6. Fish And Whistle 7. Glory Of True Love 8. All The Best 9. Angel From Montgomery (w/false start) 10. Long Monday (solo) 11. Bottomless Lake (solo) 12. Blue Umbrella (solo) 13. Dear Abby (solo) 14. That’s The Way That The World Goes ‘Round (solo) 15. Sam Stone (starts off solo then band returns) 16. Bear Creek* 17. That’s Alright By Me* 18. She Is My Everything* 19. Ain’t Hurting Nobody* 20. Hello In There* (John flubs the first line) 21. Lake Marie* Encore 22. Storm Windows* 23. Paradise* John Prine: acoustic & electric guitars Jason Wilber: electric guitar, mandolin, harmonica Dave Jacques: electric & double bass *w/Pat McLaughlin on acoustic guitar or mandolin
Jimi Hendrix Drummer Mitch Mitchell Dies
November 12, 2008 , 6:05 PM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell was found dead early this morning (Nov. 12) in a Portland, Ore., hotel room, according to representatives for the Hendrix estate. He was 62.
After completing the Experience Hendrix tour in Portland with one-time bandmate Billy Cox and a host of notable musicians on Nov. 7, Mitchell was spending some down time in the city before returning to his native England. He likely died of natural causes, according to the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s office.
“We’re all devastated to hear of Mitch’s passing,” says Experience Hendrix CEO Janie Hendrix. “He was a wonderful man, a brilliant musician and a true friend. His role in shaping the sound of the Jimi Hendrix Experience cannot be underestimated.”
Mitchell joined the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966, and with late bassist Noel Redding, staffed the formidable rhythm section supporting Hendrix’s era-defining guitar work. He remained with Hendrix through the Experience’s first breakup in mid-1969, playing with him during the artist’s iconic Woodstock performance.
By year’s end, Hendrix had formed Band Of Gypsys with bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles, although that band split in early 1970, giving way to a brief reunion of the original Experience. Hendrix died on Sept. 18, 1970, before his future plans could be made clear.
Afterward, Mitchell helped producer Eddie Kramer assemble the albums “Cry of Love” and “Rainbow Bridge,” featuring unfinished Hendrix material. He played occasional gigs with Terry Reid, Jeff Bruce and Jeff Beck, but he rarely recorded as his career went on.
Mitchell artist got his start in show business as a child actor on the TV series “Jennings At School.” He is survived by his mother, his wife, a daughter and two grandchildren.
MITCH MITCHELL Drum Solo Sweden, January 9, 1969
John Lennon, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell
BILL’S PICK OF THE WEEK
Safe Trip Home
Disc: 1
1. don’t believe in love
2. quiet times
3. never want to say it’s love
4. grafton street
5. it comes and it goes
6. look no further
7. us 2 little gods
8. the day before the day
9. let’s do the things we normally do
10. burnin love
See all 11 tracks on this disc
(Available w/Deluxe Edition) Disc: 2
1. for one day (bonus track)
2. summer (bonus track)
3. northern skies (rollo mix) (bonus track)
4. Making of ‘Safe Trip Home’ (CD enhancement)
* i posted this as my pick of the week on 11.04, apparently i had the release date incorrect.
New Music/CD Releases – November 18, 2008
Belle And Sebastian – The BBC Sessions
Beyonce Knowles – I Am… Sasha Fierce
Black Keys – Live (DVD)
Blake Shelton – Startin’ Fires
Bring Me the Horizon – Suicide Season
David Cook – David Cook
Dead Can Dance – Catalog Reissues
Dido – Safe Trip Home
Femi Kuti – Day By Day
Foo Fighters – Live At Wembly (DVD)
Il Divo – the Promise
Lee Brice – Picture of Me
Mudvayne – The New Game
Nickelback – Dark Horse
Ricardo Arjona – Quinto Piso
Shontelle – Shontelligence
Wu-Tang Clan – The History Of
Zac Brown Band – The Foundation
and remember, whenever possible buy your music directly from the artist(s) or your local independent record store. both could become endangered without your support.
click here for a list of exclusives available @ indie stores and for a listing of stores
well, maybe robert won’t play with jimmy. but apparently ronnie and rod have kissed and made up. they were an amazing band back in their day but, i’m not getting my hopes to high about this reunion. ronnie can still rock it, but rod…well he sucks and has for a long, long time. and those recent attempts at being a torch singer were beyond forgiveness. hell, i woulda bought regis’s album over rod’s.
Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood to reform Faces
Band members announce they are hitting the studio soon
Nov 12, 2008The Faces are set to reunite for rehearsals with a view to a full reformation.
Frontman Rod Stewart told Raysgigs.com that all the original members aside from late bassist Ronnie Lane, who died in 1997, were set to reconvene on Monday (November 17) to run through their old hits.
The singer, who spoke at the Claridges Bar 10th Anniversary Party said the band, which includes current Rolling Stones’ guitarist Ronnie Wood, will use Stewart’s touring bassist to fill in for Lane.
The Faces split up in 1975 after Wood began playing with The Rolling Stones.
———————————————————————–
The Faces Gearing Up For Reunion?
November 12, 2008
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.Could the Faces be rising again after a 30-plus year split?
According to RayGigs.com, original members Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones, along with Stewart touring bassist replacing the late Ronnie Laine, will have a rehearsal next Monday (Nov. 17) “just to check if they can remember the songs.”
If the musicians are pleased with the results, the Faces may return to live duty next year, although a source in the Stewart camp tells Billboard, “nothing is definitive yet.”
There have been a handful of near-Faces reunions since the band split in 1975, including at a 1986 Stewart concert at London’s Wembley Stadium. The surviving members have performed together in various incomplete incarnations in recent years, including Wood and McLagan with Stewart at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in 2004.
“It’d be great to put the band together for charity [or] a one-off event,” Stewart told Billboard in 2006. “Ronnie is always up for it. So’s Ian and Kenney. We’d just need to find ourselves a bass player.”
BILL’S PICK OF THE WEEK
Mudcrutch Live! (EP)
1. The Wrong Thing To Do
2. Bootleg Flyer
3. High School Confidential
4. Crystal River
New Music/CD Releases – November 11, 2008
Barbara Cook – Rainbow Round My Shoulder
David Archuleta – David Archuleta
Butch Walker – Sycamore Meadows
The Bronx – The Bronx III
Deborah Cox – The Promise
Enya – And Winter Came…
Flaming Lips – Xmas on Mars (DVD)
Il Divo – The Promise
Kevin Costner & Modern West – Untold Truths
Live – Live (CD/DVD)
Mudcrutch – Mudcrutch Extended Play Live EP
New Order – Collectors Edition (2 CDs)
Patti LuPone – Patti Lupone at Les Mouches
The Postmarks – By The Numbers
Q-Tip – The Renaissance
Seal – Soul
The Smiths – The Very Best of
T PAIN – Thr33 Ringz
Taylor Swift – Fearless
Tracy Chapman – Our Bright Future
Ween – Cat’s Cradle (1992)
and remember, whenever possible buy your music directly from the artist(s) or your local independent record store. both could become endangered without your support.
click here for a list of exclusives available @ indie stores and for a listing of stores
ben sollee has uploaded a great remix of his “a few honest words” (from the excellent album “learning to bend.” the song effectively turns a song originally of protest into a song of celebration. give it a listen @ ben sollee – myspace
check out more about ben and his music his website: bensollee.com
ben is currently on tour with kim taylor
Nov 6 2008 8:00P – The 5 Spot Atlanta, Georgia
Nov 7 2008 8:00P – Nighlight Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Nov 8 2008 8:00P – Iota Washington, Washington DC
Nov 11 2008 8:00P – The Bell House Brooklyn, New York
Nov 12 2008 8:00P – Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Nov 13 2008 8:00P – Great Scott Boston, Massachusetts
Nov 14 2008 8:00P – World Cafe Live Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nov 15 2008 8:00P – Club Café Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nov 17 2008 8:00P – Schuba’s Chicago, Illinois
Nov 18 2008 8:00P – 400 Club Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nov 21 2008 8:00P – The Helm Gallery Tacoma, Washington
Nov 22 2008 8:00P – Balcony Bar At The Hawthorne Theatre Portland, Oregon
Nov 24 2008 8:00P – Cafe Du Nord San Francisco, California
Nov 25 2008 8:00P – Hotel Cafe Los Angeles, California
Dec 11 2008 9:00P – The Dame Lexington, Kentucky
to celebrate a wonderful and inspiring day in the history of our country, the election of barack obama as the president of the united states, i have decided to skip a music related post and post the text from “president-elect, barack obama’s” (man, that felt good to write) acceptance speech last night instead.
Barack Obama – Grant Park, Chicago – 11.04.2008
OBAMA: Hello, Chicago.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It’s the answer that led those who’ve been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain.
Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he’s fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they’ve achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton … and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years … the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation’s next first lady … Michelle Obama.
Sasha and Malia … I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us …to the new White House.
And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother’s watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you’ve given me. I am grateful to them.
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe … the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best — the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.
To my chief strategist David Axelrod … who’s been a partner with me every step of the way.
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics … you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy … who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.
It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.
This is your victory.
And I know you didn’t do this just to win an election. And I know you didn’t do it for me.
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage or pay their doctors’ bills or save enough for their child’s college education.
There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
I promise you, we as a people will get there.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!
OBAMA: There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let’s remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those — to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
That’s the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we’ve already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
