Luke Hill
masscommons.bsky.social
Luke Hill
@masscommons.bsky.social
Posting about: books, food, history, music, politics, religion, sports…and anything else that comes to mind.

https://masscommons.wordpress.com/
Morning Song - Easin' In by Edwin Starr

"...it's important to pace yourself."
#thanksgiving

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/26/m...
Morning Song – Easin’ In
If your Thanksgiving celebration is a multi-day affair, it’s important to pace yourself. Wednesday is for, as Edwin Starr teaches, “Easin’ In”.
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Morning Song - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher by Jimmy Cliff

"...than I've ever been lifted before."
#RIP

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/25/m...
Morning Song – (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher
The great Jimmy Cliff died yesterday. Here at this little blog we’re smiling as we imagine him dueting with Jackie Wilson on “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher”, an…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Morning Song - Viola Fanfare by @rhiannongiddens.bsky.social
ft. Edna Pierce @cincysymphony.bsky.social

"Like all good #fanfares, it thrills the soul—summoning pride, determination, exultation, and gratitude."

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/24/m...
Morning Song – Viola Fanfare
Yeah, I didn’t know there was such a thing as a viola fanfare, either. But, given that there is, I’m not surprised it’s written by the remarkable Rhiannon Giddens; nor, as it turn…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Morning Song - Nearer My God in G by Jimmy Knepper

"You will, in fact, feel nearer to God (or whatever name you use for the ineffable divine) after listening to Knepper & company turn the old hymn inside out & every which way but loose."

Enjoy.
#jazz

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/22/m...
Morning Song – Nearer My God In G
Happy birthday to the great bebop trombonist Jimmy Knepper, born 98 years ago today. Here at this little blog we’re celebrating the occasion with his 1979 recording of “Nearer My God In…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Morning Song - Go 'Way from My Window by Barbara Danes

“Go on your way, be happy,
Go on your way and rest;
But please remember honey,
I really did love you best….”

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/m...
Morning Song – Go ‘Way From My Window
The genius of blues/jazz/folk singer Barbara Dane’s slinky, sultry, and resolute 1960 recording of John Jacob Niles’ “Go ‘Way From My Window” is that by the end of the…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Morning Song - Like by @joanarmatrading.bsky.social

"Keep it secret for as long as we can,
Don't boast about our love for a while,
Camouflage our feelings with a smile...."

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/20/m...
Morning Song – Like
It’s hard to think of another songwriter over the past 50 years who’s produced as consistently excellent a catalog of songs about the mysteries of the human heart as the magnificent Joa…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Morning Song - He's a Jelly Roll Baker by Lonnie Johnson

"She said, 'Who taught you how to bake good jelly roll?'
I said, 'Nobody miss, it's just a gift from my soul....'"
#blues

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/m...
Morning Song – He’s A Jelly Roll Baker
You might want to listen to Lonnie Johnson’s sly, lascivious “He’s A Jelly Roll Baker” several times to decide for yourself whether it’s his singing or his guitar-play…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Morning Song - The Boy from New York City by The Ad-Libs

"He's the most/from coast to coast...."

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/m...
Morning Song – The Boy From New York City
A number of groups have covered “The Boy From New York City”, but here at this little blog none of them have replaced The Ad-Libs’ original 1964 recording in our hearts. From the …
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:55 AM
"What we did from the start in terms of having those open communications channels was the critical piece...."
#marriage & #money

Matt Koppenheffer on #MoneyUnplugged podcast with @chrishillalx.bsky.social

www.moneyunpluggedpodcast.com/episodes
EPISODES — Money Unplugged Podcast
www.moneyunpluggedpodcast.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Morning Song - Just a Little Talk with Jesus by the Rev. Cleavant Derricks

"I once was lost in sin but Jesus took me in,
And then a little light from heaven filled my soul."
#gospel #spiritual

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/16/m...
Morning Song – Just A Little Talk With Jesus
Astride the Tennessee River and almost exactly equidistant from Nashville, Knoxville, Birmingham, and Atlanta, Chattanooga has long been a crossroads where the Upper and Deep South meet. That made …
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:34 PM
"I have this incredible work ethic...because I realized at 18 that I was going to inherit *nothing*--other than maybe a lot of debt--and I was going to be completely on my own."

John Rotonti on #MoneyUnplugged podcast with @chrishillalx.bsky.social

www.moneyunpluggedpodcast.com/episodes
EPISODES — Money Unplugged Podcast
www.moneyunpluggedpodcast.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Good reporting and analysis here from @heidischlumpf.bsky.social. What still feels lacking to me is an emphasis on Catholic doctrine, not just emotions. The Church's teaching has a LOT to say about what justice requires when it comes to respecting immigrants' human rights. I want them to teach it.
The USCCB released a statement in support of immigrants—but its failure to mention Trump and ICE undermines its welcome message.

Analysis from @heidischlumpf.bsky.social:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/bishops-stat...
November 14, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Morning Song - Ladies' Night by Kool & the Gang

“If you hear any noise/It ain’t the boys….”
#FunkyFriday

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/14/m...
Morning Song – Ladies’ Night
As sociologist Lisa Wade noted, without the apostrophe in Kool & The Gang’s big 1979 hit, “Ladies’ Night”, it’s “…a night of ladies, not a night for la…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Morning Song - Catch These Fists by Wet Leg

“Can you catch a medicine ball?
Can you catch yourself when you fall?
You should be careful, do you catch my drift?
‘Cause what I really want to know is can you….”

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/12/m...
Morning Song – Catch These Fists
If I had to guess, it’s not just 20-somethings who made Wet Leg’s relentless new single, “Catch These Fists”, their biggest hit to date in the US. It’s also a generati…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Morning Song - Shotgun by Junior Walker & the All Stars

"Sixty years later, it still crackles like a live wire."

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/m...
Morning Song – Shotgun
Teenagers in the early 1960s went through dance crazes—The Twist, The Shimmy, The Mashed Potato, The Swim, The Jerk, The Watusi, The Frug—the way some folks today go through diet and fi…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Morning Song - Funky Junk by Jimmy McGriff

"...not a bad note to be found..."
#FunkyFriday

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/m...
Morning Song – Funky Junk
There’s not a bad note to be found on Jimmy McGriff’s 1970 deep cut, “Funky Junk”, which, when you look at the credits, isn’t in the least bit surprising. Blue Mitchel…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:03 PM
#Boston is not a Matt Damon/Ben Affleck Movie

"what’s perhaps most promising about the savvy, ambitious & accomplished women of color from the 2017 Boston city council is how *good* they seem to be at the business of #politics."
h/t: Joan Vennochi

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/06/b...
Boston Is Not A Matt Damon/Ben Affleck Movie
The only interesting thing about Boston’s municipal election results is that they weren’t close at all. Mayor MIchelle Wu’s re-election was a foregone conclusion ever since billio…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Morning Song - @amtrak.com #Blues by Alberta Hunter

"Lord, he's ornery & he's selfish,
He's the type of man that just don't care;
He'd pawn the holy bible,
Just to get his Amtrak railroad fare...."

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/05/m...
Morning Song – Amtrak Blues
If the 85 year-old Alberta Hunter could have afforded to see a psychiatrist in her younger days, maybe she wouldn’t be “…so confused and worried/I can hardly carry on…&#8221…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Document the Atrocities!

“Documentation is a form of #justice.... As any archivist will tell you, if there is one thing the #CatholicChurch is nearly always good at, it’s record-keeping.” @susanbreynolds.bsky.social
@commonweal.bsky.social

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/04/d...
Document The Atrocities: A New/Old Role For The US Catholic Church
(Image: Vicki Bell, spreadsheet created by the Santiago Vicaria de la Solidaridad) It’s been a century since the US Catholic Church had to defend its people against systematic attacks by the …
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Morning Song - The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades by Timbuk 3

"Things are going great,
And they're only getting better...."

masscommons.wordpress.com/2025/11/04/m...
Morning Song – The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades
On the list of 1980s hit songs badly misunderstood by almost everybody, Timbuk 3’s debut single (first song/first side/first album) and biggest hit “The Future’s So Bright, I Gott…
masscommons.wordpress.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:56 PM