Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Monday.

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Legendary actor Robert Duvall passed away last month at age 95. Born January 5, 1931 in San Diego, California, his esteemed & remarkable 60 year film career began in 1962 as Boo Radley in “To Kill A Mockingbird”. The screenplay was written by Horton Foote who was also the writer of 1983’s “Tender Mercies”. That film earned Duvall the Best Actor Oscar in 1984 for his the role as country singer Mac Sledge. Duvall received a total of seven Academy Award nominations in his career, three times for Best Actor & four times for Best Supporting Oscar. He also won four Golden Globe awards amongst his many accolades.

In between those two films Duvall rose to prominance for several high profile roles especially as Tom Hagen in “The Godfather” (1972) & “The Godfather Part 2” (1974), Lt. Col. Kilgore in “Apocalypse Now” (1979), Bull Meechum in “The Great Santini” (1979), grieving dad Joe Hillerman in “The Stone Boy” (1984), Gus McCrae in “Lonesome Dove” (1989), Earl in “A Family Thing” (1996), the title character in “The Apostle” (1997), Hub in “Secondhand Lions” (2003), Wayne in “Crazy Heart” (2009) and Joseph Palmer in “The Judge” (2014).

Robert Duvall as Boo Radley in his 1962 film debut, “To Kill a Mockingbird” (with Mary Badham who played Scout). (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Duvall (L) during the filming of “The Godfather” (1972) with Marlon Brando (R). (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore in “Apocalypse Now”, released in August 1979. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Duvall in “The Great Santini”, released in October 1979. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Still from 1983’s “Tender Mercies” (L-R): Tess Harper, Duvall and Allan Hubbard. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Duvall with his Best Actor Oscar at the 1984 Academy Awards. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Jeff Bridges (L) with Duvall (R) in “Crazy Heart” (2009). (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

James Roday’s hilarious alter ego, Shawn Spencer, mentions Duvall by name while talking to a friend in a Psych episode from 2010 (S4 E10). Spencer concedes to jumping to the wrong conclusion about a possible suspect the police were observing.

“It’s funny that Major General Felts turned out to be the good guy in all of this. If I hadn’t seen “The Great Santini” so many times, I probably would have seen that sooner”.

Spencer & his friend then marvel about the actor’s performance: “Duvall. Yeah, Duvall”.

Farewell to an astonishingly gifted actor.

Robert Selden Duvall: January 5, 1931 – February 15, 2026.

Duvall in “The Stone Boy” (1984). (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

When the country rang in the new year 55 years ago, George Harrison’s first solo single was at the top of the charts. The song reached the #1 spot on December 26, 1970 and stayed in that position for four consecutive weeks. That success helped drive his third solo album, All Things Must Pass, to the top of the Billboard 200 chart for seven consecutive weeks beginning on January 2, 1971, less than a month after its release.

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One of my favorite movies, “Nashville”, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025. I fell in love with the way director & producer Robert Altman told the story of two distinctively different families brought together by the union of their children in 1978’s “A Wedding”. He chronicled the every day  intricacies of life including all the ballast it brings through moments which are messy, quirky, warm, fun, sad, tragic and over entirely too fast. So when I found out he made a movie with all that set to a musical substory-and Lily Tomlin in a lead role-I welcomed it. The story features an ensemble cast telling the story of over two dozen people intertwined in each other’s lives, dreams, hopes & expectations over a five day period which changes their trajectory in powerful unexpected ways.

The Criterion Collection called the film “a cinematic tapestry that is equal parts comedy, tragedy, and musical. Many members of the astonishing cast wrote their own songs and performed them live on location, which lends another layer to the film’s quirky authenticity. Altman’s ability to get to the heart of American life via its eccentric byways was never put to better use than in this grand, rollicking triumph, which barrels forward to an unforgettable conclusion”.

One of the tracks I absolutely adore-written & performed by Keith Carradine-won the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 48th Academy Awards in 1976.

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Keith Carradine (L) and Shelley Duvall (R) in “Nashville”. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Robert Duvall (as Mac Sledge): “If You’ll Hold The Ladder (I’ll Climb To The Top)” (1983, written by Sara Busby and Buzz Rabin. Featured in the film, “Tender Mercies”).

George Harrison: “My Sweet Lord” (1970, written by George Harrison).

Keith Carradine: “I’m Easy” (1975, written by Keith Carradine).

Stay safe & well.