Me and Mr. Johnson
At
the beginning of 2004, Clapton set out to record a new album, working with his
long-time collaborator Simon Climie on several
songs that Clapton wrote about love, peace and happiness. However, when it came
time to record in the studio, there were not enough finished songs for an
album, so Clapton suggested the band play some songs composed by Delta blues great Robert Johnson. In just two weeks,
Clapton and his studio band – Andy
Fairweather Low, Billy Preston, Steve Gadd, Doyle Bramhall II, and Nathan East – recorded an
entire album consisting of Johnson cover songs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_and_Mr._Johnson
Clapton
was very pleased with the recordings, as was Warner Bros. Records and Reprise
Records manager Tom Whalley. Clapton eventually finished his original material,
which was released on the album Back Home in 2005.
I first discovered this album when I was a college professor
in China, and used some of the songs as subject material for some of the
classes I taught.
Eric Clapton, naturally, is a very prolific musician.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Clapton
He first started performing in 1962. He worked with a number
of groups over the years, including The Yardbirds, the Bluesbreakers, Cream,
The Dirty Mac, the Plastic Ono band, Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnnie, Derek
and the Dominoes, in addition to his work as a solo artist – and he is still
recording today at the age of 79.
In contrast, Robert Johnson was an American blues musician
and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark
1936 and 1937 recordings has influenced later generations of musicians.
Although his recording career spanned only seven months, he is recognized as a
master of the blues, particularly the Delta
blues style, and as one of the most influential musicians of
the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes
him as perhaps "the first ever rock star".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson
You can listen to the songs on the 2004 album by clicking on
the link posted below:
Eric
Clapton - When You Got A Good Friend
Here’s the lyrics:
https://www.murashev.com/dmdl/lyrics.php?disk=927
Robert Johnson sang the blues in the 1930’s., but another Mr.
Johnson will be singing the blues in the very near futures.
Mike Johnson just got re-elected as the Speaker of the House
by a very slim margin, giving us a glimpse of what the next two years are going
to be like. In the end, 218 Republicans voted for Johnson, and all 215
Democrats voted for Hakeem Jeffries.
Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who voted for Emmer, was the lone
Republican holdout.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/house-speaker-vote-count/
From
fruitless speaker votes to recurring threats of government shutdowns, the 118th
Congress has had its share of challenges. But is it also the least productive
Congress in history?
That’s
what former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile said during a
recent roundtable on ABC’s "This Week."
During
a segment on March
24, former
Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., said a flurry of impeachment efforts had hurt the
current Congress’ credibility. The secretary of state, the defense secretary,
the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, the attorney general, the FBI director, the
homeland security director and the president had all been targets, he said.
Brazile
thanked Buck for his congressional service and said the current Congress is
"the least productive in our lifetime."
Brazile,
who is 64, didn’t define "our lifetime," and the 118th session
of Congress ends in January 2025.
But
the historical data says she has a point.
The
118th Congress "is certainly on track to be the least productive in modern
history," said Matthew Green, a Catholic University of America political scientist.
We
asked Quorum, a public affairs software company, to crunch the official
congressional data for us. It found that through March 26, the 118th Congress
had enacted 42 bills, meaning that identical bills were passed by the House and
Senate and then signed by the president. That was just 0.4% of the 11,877 bills
introduced.
This
is easily the smallest number through that date as far back as the 101st
Congress, which met in 1989 and 1990.
The
closest contender during that period was the 113th Congress, in 2013 and 2014,
which enacted 86 bills — more than twice as many as the current Congress to
date.
What
is quite amazing is that both Joe Biden and Barack Obama got anything passed at
all, in view of the fact that “the other guys” did all why could to prevent
that.
One
structural reason for the 118th Congress’ low legislative output is divided
government. A Democrat holds the presidency, the Republicans hold the House
(narrowly) and the Democrats hold the Senate (also narrowly).
From
1947 to 2015, there were six congresses in which Republicans held one chamber
and Democrats held the other; Georgetown’s Government Affairs Institute found
that these split congresses enacted 27% fewer laws than those with unified
partisan control, regardless of which party controlled the White House.
Like
the current Congress, the previous record-holder for the fewest laws enacted,
the 113th, had a Democratic Senate and a Republican House.
John
Frendreis, a political science professor emeritus at Loyola University Chicago,
added another complicating factor for the 118th Congress: narrow margins. The
Democrats had a 51-49 edge in the Senate, and most Senate legislation needs to
clear a 60-vote procedural hurdle, giving the minority significant leverage.
In
the House, the Republican majority has hovered in the low single digits,
depending on vacancies.
Such
a narrow margin "aggravates the normal tendency of divided government to
make it more difficult to pass legislation," Frendreis said. "Without
some negotiations, most things passed by the House on partisan votes are dead
on arrival in the Senate."
The
GOP’s slender edge in the House enabled a rebellious minority of the party to
oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in October 2023. Besides causing chaos,
this ouster cut into legislative time, forcing three weeks of failed votes to
replace McCarthy.
Here is why Mr. Johnson will be singing the blues in the near
future:
- The U.S.
government's borrowing limit was reimposed this week, putting the nation
days away from going over the debt ceiling.
- The Treasury
Department will be able to use accounting tricks to keep the government
paying its bills until the summer, according to one analysis.
- When the extraordinary measures run out, lawmakers will have to pass a debt ceiling extension or suspend it, or else the government may not be able to pay everyone it owes money to, setting off a financial crisis.
The other problem that Mr. Johnson has is that the GOP has a
very slim margin in the House. In order to pass any legislation at all, he will
need help from the Democrats (again). Any plan that he comes up with is going
to face meddling by both Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
It is not going to be pretty.
Eric Clapton - When You Got A Good Friend
