The Blog By Numbers (An Occasional Series): Special "Mariah Carey-Free" Pre-Holiday Edition

[In which we catch up with a bunch of brief and/or dumb stuff that I've been meaning to post about for a while, but hadn't gotten around to for whatever reasons.]

1. Duets -- I've Had a Few

So as you may have heard, John Fogerty has a new album due first thing next year -- Wrote a Song for Everyone -- which, like that Dolly Parton thing I mentioned here last week, is your basic I Sang With a Celebrity concept record. As a teaser, here's John, with Keith Urban, doing perhaps my fave Fogerty song ever.

My verdict = nice, but not transplendent.

I should add that there's a version of "Born on the Bayou" with the mega-loathsome Kid Rock on the album, but don't worry -- I'm not gonna inflict that one on you.

2. Hey, I'd Go See Those Folks in Concert!

The one on the left is the cutest, doncha think?

3. Today's Moment of Cahiers du Cinema

My younger brother recommends a video version of what sounds like an interesting 2023 indie film.

THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY (2022, 85 mins.) is a blend of fiction narrative and documentary and, for that reason alone, it's recommended to movie lovers at Power Pop. 20-something Tana, played by Lily Gladstone, drives alone to South Dakota, to visit her soon-to-be married cousin. There, she reconnects with her native American Indian roots and then decides to find the sacred spot in Texas where her recently deceased grandmother posed for a photograph that she has held onto since her grandmother's death.

Available on DVD, from Music Box Films, with extras, including a Q & A with director Morissa Maltz. You can stream it at Amazon over HERE. -- Drew Simels

Thanks Drew -- could be a hot one!

4. Lady Sings the Blues

This is real.

Words fail me.

5. The Song She Was Born to Sing

Miley Cyrus, from the 2018 country Elton John tribute album Restoration, which I was totally unaware of till a few weeks ago.

Pretty hilarious, no? I should add that the whole album is great fun, and that the Emmylou Harris/Rosanne Cash duet on "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" is a thing of major beauty.