For some reason, a second search worked. Her version and Blanche Calloway's version are very different. I've been working on Blanche's but I've had trouble transcribing one or two of the lyrics.

There's no doubt I admire Bessie's sapphire qualities.

Okay, I downloaded both Bessie's and Clarence Williams'. Clarence wrote the tune. But his version leaves out the verse. Although Blanche's has the verse, it's different than the one Bessie uses. Very interesting.

One failing of iTunes that I'd like to see addressed in future is a field for the date the album was published and a field for the date the song was actually recorded. Those dates won't necessarily be the same for reissues. It would help me make playlists by decade if the songs didn't have the date of compilation. (I'd even like another field for the date the song was written/published.)

Today I had to have the "geniuses" at the Apple store erase the harddrive of my iPod. Because I also just transferred my iTunes Library to my new Powerbook that means that all my smart playlists, regular playlists and, almost more importantly, playcounts and ratings are GONE. iPodula Rasa.

It's left me feeling like an amnesia victim. When I looked at my "favorites" smart playlist (only songs played more than 7 times) one last time in the store, "Naomi" by NMH was my most played song at 84. Now it's zero.

I post this here because I thought surely the musicistas would understand my pain.

I am trying to look at it as a fresh start. But, really, I'm bummed.

iPodula Rasa.

::weeps for tina::

"Naomi" by NMH was my most played song at 84. Now it's zero.

Ouch! That ain't right.

Don't they understand that our hard drives are our long-term memory banks?

Luckily, I haven't lost iPod data yet. And since I've only recently gotten one and am still growing into its capability, I don't know that the loss of tags would hit me quite as hard. But I sympathize, tina.

Look what I found while searching for lyrics on the web tonight! A very cool audio blog. Including an MPEG clip of Darlene Love serenading Don Knotts in "The Love God". She archives stuff after a while, so get it while it's hot.

Is it possible to back up iTunes playcounts and so on by copying off the iTunes Music Library file?

::hugs precious smartlists and ratings close::

Is it possible to back up iTunes playcounts and so on by copying off the iTunes Music Library file?

It may be. When I switched my Library from my iMac to my Powerbook, I used the Migration Assistant utility in Tiger. The whole point of that feature is to "seamlessly" copy over preferences and settings from your old Mac to new. So you would think it would have kept my iTunes info is possible, right? But maybe I did something wrong.

Thanks for all the sympathy. I still feel like I am missing an arm.

The Boston Globe's rock critic of 30 years, recently retired. He wrote a piece for the Sunday Globe's Magazine, on some of the highlights of his career. It was a fun read. I thought people might enjoy: [link]

I'm sorry, but I found Steve Morse to be incredibly narrow minded in his musical tastes. He always was way too slow to come around to anything new that sounded different from the classic rock he grew up with.

OK, I just read the article. He writes, re: John Lennon, "I still wonder what rock 'n' roll would be like if he were alive today." Oh, please. I also cried the morning I learned he had died, but Double Fantasy was hardly groundbreaking. He would have continued to write some great songs, but he wouldn't have changed the face of music.

Boy, I'm curmudgeonly today, ain't I?