Jeff Melnick
@melnickjeffrey1.bsky.social
See link below for Manson book!
American Studies, UMass Boston
Current Project- “Boston Sounds, 1974-1999” @fsu_UMB
🇵🇸
Books on Black-Jewish relations (Right to Sing the Blues and Leo Frank), 9/11 and Manson.
skyhorsepublishing.com/9781628728941/…
American Studies, UMass Boston
Current Project- “Boston Sounds, 1974-1999” @fsu_UMB
🇵🇸
Books on Black-Jewish relations (Right to Sing the Blues and Leo Frank), 9/11 and Manson.
skyhorsepublishing.com/9781628728941/…
Pinned
Jeff Melnick
@melnickjeffrey1.bsky.social
· Nov 12
Start with the debut record by my daughter’s bf Alfredo Colon (Blood Burden). Great alto player and bandleader
This post might be the start of my podcast Dig the Record, where I pull a record from my shelves and then do some archeology—some personal stories connected to the music, some scholarly tales, plenty of gossip.
Delighted to (re)discover that I bought Horses at Freemarket Book & Records in Ithaca. True story: many years later I came to know the guy who ran the place back then—he did some Yiddish translating of Abraham Cahan text I needed for my Leo Frank book research
November 26, 2025 at 1:21 AM
This post might be the start of my podcast Dig the Record, where I pull a record from my shelves and then do some archeology—some personal stories connected to the music, some scholarly tales, plenty of gossip.
Just a reminder—especially for you young folks—that going into the holiday you want to have your most reliable comfort song fired up and ready so that when Uncle QAnon starts to drive you around the bend you can hide in the bathroom and put your earbuds in for a bit…
November 26, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Just a reminder—especially for you young folks—that going into the holiday you want to have your most reliable comfort song fired up and ready so that when Uncle QAnon starts to drive you around the bend you can hide in the bathroom and put your earbuds in for a bit…
Reposted by Jeff Melnick
The last time I saw Patti was with my mom and we both cried multiple times and held each other. It was the best.
November 26, 2025 at 12:17 AM
The last time I saw Patti was with my mom and we both cried multiple times and held each other. It was the best.
Delighted to (re)discover that I bought Horses at Freemarket Book & Records in Ithaca. True story: many years later I came to know the guy who ran the place back then—he did some Yiddish translating of Abraham Cahan text I needed for my Leo Frank book research
November 26, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Delighted to (re)discover that I bought Horses at Freemarket Book & Records in Ithaca. True story: many years later I came to know the guy who ran the place back then—he did some Yiddish translating of Abraham Cahan text I needed for my Leo Frank book research
One last post about the Patti Smith show last night: it was just such a thrill to be in such a female-centered music space. Patti herself, of course, but also the crowd—amazing age-range of women reciting every word along with her, hands clasped over their hearts.
November 26, 2025 at 12:15 AM
One last post about the Patti Smith show last night: it was just such a thrill to be in such a female-centered music space. Patti herself, of course, but also the crowd—amazing age-range of women reciting every word along with her, hands clasped over their hearts.
Patti Smith’s politics have always been a bit vague and um…poetic for me, but tonite she spoke and sang of children in Gaza and Congo and Somalia in direct and unvarnished terms and I really love her for that.
November 25, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Patti Smith’s politics have always been a bit vague and um…poetic for me, but tonite she spoke and sang of children in Gaza and Congo and Somalia in direct and unvarnished terms and I really love her for that.
It’s not just that a lot of people I know were also at the Patti Smith show tonite, but a lot of people I really really like.
November 25, 2025 at 4:52 AM
It’s not just that a lot of people I know were also at the Patti Smith show tonite, but a lot of people I really really like.
Reposted by Jeff Melnick
Just left this show and it was everything I didn’t even know I needed
November 25, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Just left this show and it was everything I didn’t even know I needed
Among a gazillion other things, I love how Patti Smith’s Jersey sometimes came out onstage: the word might be spelled “more” but we say “maw”
November 25, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Among a gazillion other things, I love how Patti Smith’s Jersey sometimes came out onstage: the word might be spelled “more” but we say “maw”
Listen! I believe everything we dream can come to pass through our union
November 25, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Listen! I believe everything we dream can come to pass through our union
What this woman is, is a very good witch
November 25, 2025 at 3:42 AM
What this woman is, is a very good witch
I am a man of a certain age, a rock and roll fan from New Jersey, and I am on my way to see Patti Smith for the first time in my life.
I cannot explain this, only embrace the mystery
I cannot explain this, only embrace the mystery
November 24, 2025 at 11:17 PM
I am a man of a certain age, a rock and roll fan from New Jersey, and I am on my way to see Patti Smith for the first time in my life.
I cannot explain this, only embrace the mystery
I cannot explain this, only embrace the mystery
Jimmy Cliff’s death reminds me sharply of the utter centrality of public libraries to my mind and heart: I definitely checked out The Harder They Come soundtrack from my suburban NJ library when I was still in high school because I had read about it somewhere. And off I went from there!
Oh no, Jimmy Cliff crossed the final river, comforting myself with this epic live version.
youtu.be/6utjK46tZPU
youtu.be/6utjK46tZPU
Jimmy Cliff - Many rivers to cross - Live stéréo 1970
YouTube video by Lamalopépit de Bruno Carlier
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Jimmy Cliff’s death reminds me sharply of the utter centrality of public libraries to my mind and heart: I definitely checked out The Harder They Come soundtrack from my suburban NJ library when I was still in high school because I had read about it somewhere. And off I went from there!
Oh no, Jimmy Cliff crossed the final river, comforting myself with this epic live version.
youtu.be/6utjK46tZPU
youtu.be/6utjK46tZPU
Jimmy Cliff - Many rivers to cross - Live stéréo 1970
YouTube video by Lamalopépit de Bruno Carlier
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Oh no, Jimmy Cliff crossed the final river, comforting myself with this epic live version.
youtu.be/6utjK46tZPU
youtu.be/6utjK46tZPU
When I was a kid I literally heard relatives say that Arabs don’t value human life the same way Jews do and it literally turns out to be true
"When I’m trying to make arguments in favor for Israel, I realize I’m talking through a wall of dead children”
Rather than banning cell phones to avoid this wouldn't a better solution be to stop making walls of dead children?
Rather than banning cell phones to avoid this wouldn't a better solution be to stop making walls of dead children?
November 24, 2025 at 3:58 AM
When I was a kid I literally heard relatives say that Arabs don’t value human life the same way Jews do and it literally turns out to be true
My plane just landed and my brain immediately said “love that dirty water” and, people, it has been too long that I have lived here in exile
November 24, 2025 at 1:15 AM
My plane just landed and my brain immediately said “love that dirty water” and, people, it has been too long that I have lived here in exile
The requisite “I am mad to have to leave here” shot
November 23, 2025 at 9:04 PM
The requisite “I am mad to have to leave here” shot
I recall how one musician I interviewed told me he finally had to move out of Boston because every year the college students would return and stay the same age. While he didn’t.
At the American Studies Association conference and…yeah.
It being in San Juan takes the edge off
At the American Studies Association conference and…yeah.
It being in San Juan takes the edge off
November 22, 2025 at 5:41 PM
I recall how one musician I interviewed told me he finally had to move out of Boston because every year the college students would return and stay the same age. While he didn’t.
At the American Studies Association conference and…yeah.
It being in San Juan takes the edge off
At the American Studies Association conference and…yeah.
It being in San Juan takes the edge off
John Prine - Summer's End Official Video
YouTube video by John Prine
youtu.be
November 20, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Quick note: no idea what she said to her colleagues but she said this to me when we were watching out respective kids at a playground
Whenever I read about Jill Lepore, I always think about @melnickjeffrey1.bsky.social's story about how she kept referring to her tenure-track position at Boston University as her "starter job" to her colleagues.
Harvard's prosecutorial culture was "miserable," says Jill Lepore. Even so, she stayed, but has since come to regret her silence. https://chroni.cl/4ihof9O
November 20, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Quick note: no idea what she said to her colleagues but she said this to me when we were watching out respective kids at a playground
Mama, I made it to the big screen, just like you always said I would
November 20, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Mama, I made it to the big screen, just like you always said I would
My weird and possibly delusional take is that I think we’ll win because we love more
November 19, 2025 at 4:08 AM
My weird and possibly delusional take is that I think we’ll win because we love more
Sometimes I just let my mind fix on the great (forgotten) Ruth Chew, author of a bunch of early reader fantasy chapter books in the 1970s which were premised on the (true) notion that Brooklyn’s Prospect Park is a magical place
November 19, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Sometimes I just let my mind fix on the great (forgotten) Ruth Chew, author of a bunch of early reader fantasy chapter books in the 1970s which were premised on the (true) notion that Brooklyn’s Prospect Park is a magical place
I love how the young people say that they are “manifesting” this or that because (if I understand correctly?) they just mean they are imagining that a better world is possible.
Which is always true.
Which is always true.
November 19, 2025 at 2:56 AM
I love how the young people say that they are “manifesting” this or that because (if I understand correctly?) they just mean they are imagining that a better world is possible.
Which is always true.
Which is always true.
Reposted by Jeff Melnick
I’ma add your kids into that protective order. Read The Monkey’s Paw in 6th grade and ever since supernatural bargains freak me out.
November 19, 2025 at 2:50 AM
I’ma add your kids into that protective order. Read The Monkey’s Paw in 6th grade and ever since supernatural bargains freak me out.