Greg Mitchell has authored more than a dozen books (see most of them here) and directed four recent PBS films. Subscribing to this newsletter is still FREE—so if you want to help fund, maybe purchase one of my books, thanks. Or recommend this Substack to a friend!
Jimmy last night….
It’s nice to score points but also vital to gain wins. Last night Miami elected its first Democratic mayor in thirty years, in a landslide. And Democrat Eric Gisler won a GA state house special election, flipping the seat from red to blue even after it was gerrymandered for a GOP win. Just last year, Gisler lost this district by 22 points. The district was Trump +12 in 2024.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett announced yesterday she will be running for U.S. Senate in Texas next year, facing a tough Dem primary first.
Today’s laff from NY Times:
At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Biden-era move to the sans serif typeface “wasteful,” casting the return to Times New Roman as part of a push to stamp out diversity efforts.
Not a Baz Luhrman fan (and gave up on Elvis after he entered the Army), but this might be wild: apparently in doing his recent Elvis bio-pic, Baz discovered missing footage of the man’s first big Vegas residency, so he’s finished a doc using it, coming next year, here is the first trailer just out:
Back in the 1990s, I was a big fan of the country/rock/Americana band The Mavericks when they first emerged, and especially lead singer, the Cuban-American from Florida, Raul Malo. He might have had the best male voice in music back then. The group went on to record many albums, scored a few hits, and Raul came out with several solo lps, hailed for expanding boundaries. Also known as a great and fun performer and a good guy.
He went public with his cancer diagnosis some time ago. Just this past weekend a tribute benefit concert was held at the Ryman in Nashville, but Raul only made it to Monday, and the age of 60. I was amazed to see my Facebook feed flooded with tributes from musicians and friends yesterday, really just as many as I observed after Steve Cropper’s passing last week. Here’s an NPR obit. Now a few tunes.
From the Mavericks’ debut, one of my favorite songs from that year, “What a Crying Shame.”
Another early one, “What a Thrill.”
Raul was known as one of the few singers who could execute a credible Orbison, as here on “Crying.”
From Tunes to Toons
Luckovich:
Brodner:
Matson:
Bill Day:
Royards:
A prescient blast from the past….David Horsey….in 2016 after Trump won his first term:
Photo Finish
From my camera to you, today: “At the Tokyo Temple.”
Raul Malo basically created the Americana format with his amazing melding of country, blues, tejano and Cuban rhythms into a stew that said it's okay to toss every form of musical expression into one genre. Great example? - his Tiny Desk Concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Rh-CzEo24...and what a showman! I had a chance to interview him during the pandemic and he was just as warm and giving as any artist I have ever spoken to in my 52 years of doing this radio thing. Losing him at 60 is tragic...RIP Raul.
So sad to hear of Mr. Malo’s passing. I was lucky enough to see him perform live in 2024 just as he was announcing his fight with cancer. I was hoping he would beat the odds and continue to bring his beautiful music into the world. As I say way too frequently, Fuck cancer!!