Gloomy Tunes: Charles Mingus, “Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me”

It’s been thirty-nine years since the great composer/bandleader Charles Mingus died of ALS in Mexico, and his music can still engage and surprise. Take this song, 1961’s “Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me.”

It features Mingus, who was primarily a bassist, on piano, backed by a horn section that includes Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Booker Ervin, and Jimmie Knepper, and the great Dannie Richmond on drums. That’s also him on growling, bearish vocals. With it’s slow-burning swing, and pleading lyrics, it’s  modern-day spiritual, with a sentiment that still has meaning today, even if the players have changed—although it’s hard to imagine JFK and Nikita Khrushchev comparing the sizes of their “nuclear buttons.”

Steven Mirkin

Steven Mirkin’s diverse career has taken him from politics to pop culture to high art, offering him a front row seat to some of the most fascinating events and personalities of our time: writing speeches, fundraising appeals and campaign materials for Ed Koch, John Heinz and independent presidential candidate John B. Anderson; chronicling the punk/new wave scenes in New York and London; interviewing musicians such as Elton John, John Lydon and Buck Owens; profiling modern masters Julian Schnabel, Paul Schrader and Jonathan Safran Foer; and writing for TV shows including 21, The Chamber, Let's Make A Deal, and Rock Star: INXS.