Boxing Day 8.30pm on SBS The Night James Brown Saved Boston
As it Happened - April 5 1968, the morning after the assassination of Martin Luther King, America's inner cities began to implode. In Boston there was a fragile peace. A concerned Mayor of Boston decided to cancel a long-scheduled James Brown concert, but after warnings had a change of heart, asking: "Is there something James Brown can do to help?" When the mayor came on stage and urged attendees to honour Dr. King peacefully fans rushed to the stage. It was James Brown who called off the security and managed to talk everyone back into their seats. The Night James Brown Saved Boston tells the story of that amazing night - rarely seen footage of the Godfather of Soul's concert plus personal reminiscences from those in attendance

Sunday 28th Dec. 1020 on ABC2 I've been meaning to get a copy of this, but now I don't have to:
Festival: Folk Music At Newport 1963 - 1966
Murray Lerner's film Festival! is a cinematic synthesis of four Newport Folk Festivals from 1963-1966. Featuring Bob Dylan's notorious first 'electric' live performances; and other greats including Joan Baez and Johnny Cash.

A couple of reissues/compilations etc that need mentioning:

Tell Tale Signs Bob Dylan NATCH
Veteran's Day: The Anthology Tom Russell (link is to his blog which you should read)
Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6 Various Artists
This specific song isn't on there but same ballpark.

UPDATE: Here is the 8tracks. Songs from the below and above lists plus a couple of ring-ins from 2008 albums not here. As always, listen at the site or below. Enjoy.

More or less. In some kind of vagueish order for the first quarter then much of a muchness after. I'll do a relevant 8tracks for it too. Large Hearted Boy has the definitive list of end of year lists.

The Good Life -- Justin Townes Earle
Rattlin' Bones -- Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
Gurrumul -- Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
Virtual Landslide -- Pete Molinari (will talk about later)
Just a Little Lovin' -- Shelby Lynne
One Kind Favour -- BB King
Little Honey -- Lucinda Williams
Crossing the Field -- Jenny Scheinman
Trouble in Mind -- Hayes Carll
Harps and Angels -- Randy Newman
Waylon Forever -- Waylon Jennings (last recordings, classic songs, produced by son Shooter)
Same Old Man -- John Hiatt
Venus on Earth -- Dengue Fever (Cambodian-Californian psychadelic south east Asian surf rock)
All is Yes -- The Blessing
Como Now: The Voices of Panola County, MS -- Various (acapella gospel from the Daptone label)
Backwoods Barbie -- Dolly Parton
Recovery -- Loudon Wainwright III
Honky Tonks and Cheap Hotels -- Whitey Morgan and the 78s (outlaw country)
The C.P.T Theorem -- Greydon Square
Recapturing the Banjo -- Otis Taylor
Modern Hymns -- Darrell Scott
Seeing Things -- Jakob Dylan (it grew on me very slowly)
Honey Songs -- Jim Lauderdale
Akh Issudar -- Terakaft (Tourareg "desert rock")
Umalali -- The Garifuna Women's Collective (Afro-Belizean)
Mother Earth! Father Sky! -- Huun-Huur-Tu (alt.tuvan Like many people I find the whole throat singing thing pretty fascinating without actually wanting to listen to it while nursing a Strongbow out on the balcony at a summer's dusk. This one I would. Very jaunty! Turkic bluegrass! And they have a girl singer who breaks up the throaty stuff.)

Additional list: some more 2008 jazz I liked in addition to the Jenny Scheinman and The Blessing above.
Treat Me Gently -- Dale Barlow, George Coleman, Mark Fitzgibbon, Sam Anning This is Australian. John Shand just happened to review it in the Herald last week, and it just happened to be on eMusic and it just happened to have seven tracks and I just happened to have seven credits left so I got it. And I liked it a lot.
De Cuba y de Panamá -- Billy Cobham and Asere
The Coalition of the Willing -- Bobby Previte
Roll With It -- Corey Christiansen

"If only one could be sure that every 50 years a voice and a soul like Odetta's would come along, the centuries would pass so quickly and painlessly we would hardly recognise time"
- Maya Angelou

Really, where on earth would you even start? Odetta constantly surprised me, I'd turn up a new record and it'd be something I'd never heard before -- not just the individual songs, but she must have covered just about every musical style in the American vernacular book.