tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123318552024-03-19T06:56:22.859-04:00BloggerhythmsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger798125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-41360115176329183712024-03-17T07:09:00.023-04:002024-03-17T13:28:48.231-04:00The Young Dubliners - With All Due Respect, The Irish Sessions (2007)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMokeWUMZn1rts1e0Mk7z2Rbnl1oEntICsgLQ7_XpHCgfCWtIuZXDcIP-gIlnE0D7W2Pw7bKaTu48FU17exSQh4gvCPLEfXzenPDhFlX6WS0WaFdCGZ56VBjMUiMM851GzIbc/s1600-h/irishsessions.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5064817376007868754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMokeWUMZn1rts1e0Mk7z2Rbnl1oEntICsgLQ7_XpHCgfCWtIuZXDcIP-gIlnE0D7W2Pw7bKaTu48FU17exSQh4gvCPLEfXzenPDhFlX6WS0WaFdCGZ56VBjMUiMM851GzIbc/s320/irishsessions.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" width="320" /></a><div>It's St. Patrick's Day and time for this American of Italian heritage to celebrate his love of Celtic-rock. I don't mean U-2. I'm talking about bands that actually
sound like they came from the Emerald Isle. While Bono and his friends embraced their
roots lyrically and politically, there are many other bands playing today who sound way
more Irish than they do. Among them are The Pogues, The Saw Doctors, The Corrs, and the late great Black 47.</div><div><br /></div><div>Irish musicians love to embrace their roots. In 2007, <a href="http://youngdubliners.com/"><b>The Young Dubliners</b></a> - a Los Angeles based rock quintet - recorded an entire album of fired up
arrangements of thirteen traditional Irish folk songs and cover versions of more modern
fare.</div><div><br /></div><div>Among The Young Dubliners excellent choices for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/All-Due-Respect-Irish-Sessions/dp/B000LV6RD2"><b>With All Due Respect, The Irish Sessions</b></a> are a hard rocking take on The Pogues' "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" plus a second Shane McGowan
composed song, "Pair of Brown Eyes." The folk songs include "The Rocky Road To Dublin," written in the 19th century; "Foggy Dew," a political song composed just after the end of World War One; and the traditional "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">I'll Tell Me Ma."</span></div><div><br /></div><div>The album is a joyous romp through music the band truly loves played in the style of an
uproarious Irish pub-rock band. <b>The Irish Sessions</b> is mostly fast and
loud yet it sounds totally Irish because the tin whistles and <b><a href="https://www.uilleannpipe.com/blog/Uilleann%20Pipes%20A%20Guide%20to%20Irish%20Bagpipes" target="_blank">uilleann pipes</a></b>
fit in easily with the usual rock band lineup. Keith Roberts has always led a
hard rocking outfit whose anthemic rock is spiced with just enough punk sensibilities - as their love of McGowan proves - to avoid
sounding too clichéd.</div><div><br /></div><div>This album is one giant party from start to finish. It will make people who
can't dance want to stomp their feet and even make teetotallers want to imbibe
some Guinness. It's been a long time since I've heard a rock album that is
this much fun. It's a must for Celtic-rock fans.</div><div><div><p></p>
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</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-35522086940931343802024-03-13T06:51:00.004-04:002024-03-14T14:59:14.540-04:00R. I. P. Eric Carmen (1949 - 2024)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7luP125TYcXaYUzMzy56eOrhov1XdOYSlEwyDTkq4lyICaFBeviwaDa06BB0fIQUsWngQF-JDsPVahJhp5UrFEcZIuBq5D7EuCEd9C0PPdkYo6kybS69v4YIx1nBquW4bUTVLxHd_myex9g2RaGt1z-CzzEuW8IySucJFKcuo963dvb9h5T1ovQ/s1088/carmen.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="1088" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7luP125TYcXaYUzMzy56eOrhov1XdOYSlEwyDTkq4lyICaFBeviwaDa06BB0fIQUsWngQF-JDsPVahJhp5UrFEcZIuBq5D7EuCEd9C0PPdkYo6kybS69v4YIx1nBquW4bUTVLxHd_myex9g2RaGt1z-CzzEuW8IySucJFKcuo963dvb9h5T1ovQ/s320/carmen.jpg" width="320" /></a>
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I'm a little sad today as I write this because Eric Carmen has passed away at
age 74.
<div><br /></div>
<div>I never followed Carmen's career closely, but I always liked what I heard whether it was with The Raspberries or later as a solo
artist.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Hardcore rock fans of the 1970s looked at Carmen's music as being too mainstream, and
the guys in my dorm made fun of The Raspberries as nothing more than an early Beatles
clone who wore matching suits while playing bubblegum pop.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
But, let me tell you, no bubblegum song I ever heard had a hard rocking intro - and a song title and lyrics - like "Go All The Way." The Raspberries were not
The Ohio Express or The 1910 Fruitgum Company.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
There was nothing highbrow or avant garde about Carmen's music, but he
recorded quality mainstream rock interspersed with a few ballads -
most notably "All By Myself" - and he was a master at writing hooks and
melodies that complemented his huge sounding tenor voice.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
I only own a solo greatest hits CD and The Raspberries last LP,
<b>Starting Over</b>. The latter has a perfect opening track, "Overnight
Sensation (Hit Record)," from 1974 that is a reminder of one of Brian Wilson's
more grandiose and demanding productions. It's my favorite song by the
quartet. Carmen's best solo track is his 1988 single, "Make Me Lose
Control."
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
After 1984, Carmen released only a handful of singles and one album. In the
21st century he toured with Ringo Starr's All-star band. Other than that he
was largely missing in action.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Today, The Raspberries are considered one of rock's great power pop groups
and the classicly trained pianist's solo work continues to resonate with his old fans today.
<p></p>
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</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-72826222911138500182024-03-09T07:48:00.002-05:002024-03-11T17:37:29.105-04:00Ted Russell Kamp - California Son (2024)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0SKxMEjcWveAdlnrvEDpw_IGwm9KxlLL7qxeULNZR0IvXlLDKApz7KrDHqJ9M20dfBlEYVdbYU-HOX05cF6g8tIEfC-E5WSJhqxtJfCi2SI9ec_ROfz3Gxwxz1y0uWccZJTAYrxBwdt4TwXK879IhMFbOHm05XAueEmSa1jT1OR7I_dFNiVE0Ew/s3750/tedkamp-californiason-cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3750" data-original-width="3750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0SKxMEjcWveAdlnrvEDpw_IGwm9KxlLL7qxeULNZR0IvXlLDKApz7KrDHqJ9M20dfBlEYVdbYU-HOX05cF6g8tIEfC-E5WSJhqxtJfCi2SI9ec_ROfz3Gxwxz1y0uWccZJTAYrxBwdt4TwXK879IhMFbOHm05XAueEmSa1jT1OR7I_dFNiVE0Ew/s320/tedkamp-californiason-cover.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
It's safe to assume that more albums and songs have been written about
California than any other state in the union, such is the love many of its
residents have for it.
<div>
<br />
<div>
As far back as 1924 Al Jolson praised the place of sunshine, great beaches,
beautiful mountains and the desert with "California, Here I Come," a song
from <b>Bombo</b>, a Broadway musical he starred in and helped compose.
Later, in the mid-60s, we had The Mamas and the Papas celebrate their
adopted home with "Twelve Thirty" and "California Dreamin'." More recently -
in 2021 - the great Mexican-American rockers, Los Lobos, released
<b><a href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/2021/10/los-lobos-native-sons-2021.html" target="_blank">Native Sons</a></b>, a full length album covering songs originally recorded by local Los
Angeles artists to their ususal positive reviews. There is no need to even
discuss <b><a href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/search/label/Beach%20Boys" target="_blank">The Beach Boys</a> </b>- for a long time the Golden State's number one musical celebrants -
because so much has been written about them on this blog and everywhere else
for decades.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
A full one hundred years after Jolson recorded his voice on an old shellac, 78 RPM disc the loving tributes to California continue. For his fourteenth
album, roots rocker
<b><a href="https://tedrussellkamp.com/" target="_blank">Ted Russell Kamp</a></b>
has released another ode to the land he adopted as his home and
the City of Angels, <b>California Son</b>. The prolific musician has written
and released twelve original tracks that are mostly his love letter to the
state.</div><div><br /></div>
<div>
While Kamp can be considered a modern country star, to my ears he's more of
an Americana rocker. Branding him solely as one or the other is like trying
to fit a square peg into a round hole. Both labels suit him well.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The title track opens Kamp's album by expressing the same sentiments John
Phillips' monumental vocal quartet sang about almost sixty years ago when
they left cold, dark, dirty New York, "<i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;">All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray</span>."</i> "Califonia Son" is also a song about leaving the nation's largest
city and heading west on the open road for what Kamp believes will be a
better life. He sings, "<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><i>I left New York in the rear view/With the open road ahead.</i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Oxygen; font-style: italic;">" </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Musically, t</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">he</span> track features some great bottleneck guitar work.</span></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kamp serves up pure rockers ("Roll Me Till The Sun Comes Up" and "Every
Little Thing"), and </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">"One Word At Time" is a</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Jackson Browne styled, self-refective piece on which Kamp admits
writing songs can be a struggle, but "</span><span><i style="font-family: Oxygen;">It's the life I choose and I'm going to find my way." </i></span></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">Colaborating with the best Americana writers and musicians Los Angeles
has to offer - such as </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/2018/07/jenny-van-west-happiness-to-burn-2018.html" target="_blank">Jenny Van West</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">
and </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/2023/09/robert-rex-waller-jr-see-big-man-cry.html" target="_blank">Robert Rex Waller</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"> - help make this one of Kamp's better records, and that's saying something
because he has a lot to choose from. </span>
</div>
<div>
<p></p>
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</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-41331406714985238422024-03-04T07:00:00.017-05:002024-03-05T13:32:43.456-05:00It's Real Life: An Alternate History Of The Beatles - A Short Story, Radio Play And Full Length Novel By Paul Levinson (2022 and 2024)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJ_fDBFvyJFAPfgjpNV3yhB7PW98_nr5X5SSL-52ZrTp4jmG67jT1_jDUSlsqtNqPdRDl-lJQbrdJGGDy00vDUzyEYmyUhhLeYx9jNC9AsyOFdE1NwXM_4sVBVW5JkdFQZEeI2W2EBaDwznX6yhD8IVyDM1NuA1dA05h8WmBJ1fngdWLreHjc6Q/s1000/CB77576399C509A3EF301EA0BEFD07BA28CC6CEE.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="667" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJ_fDBFvyJFAPfgjpNV3yhB7PW98_nr5X5SSL-52ZrTp4jmG67jT1_jDUSlsqtNqPdRDl-lJQbrdJGGDy00vDUzyEYmyUhhLeYx9jNC9AsyOFdE1NwXM_4sVBVW5JkdFQZEeI2W2EBaDwznX6yhD8IVyDM1NuA1dA05h8WmBJ1fngdWLreHjc6Q/w328-h440/CB77576399C509A3EF301EA0BEFD07BA28CC6CEE.jpg" width="328" /></a>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><i>In a July 2023 blog post I discussed an alternate history of the most
famous rock band of all time.
<b>It's Real Life: An Alternate History Of The Beatles</b> was written in
2022 as a short story and radio play by Professor
<b><a href="http://www.paullevinson.info/" target="_blank">Paul Levinson</a></b>
of Fordham University. Since then, the author has expanded it into a full
length novel that includes his original story as chapter one.</i></span><div><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><span>Below my
original post you'll find a link to a fascinating </span><span style="text-align: justify;"><span>podcast where Levinson discussed his book with NBC's Chuck Todd followed by an</span> intriguing </span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><span>email </span><span>question and answer session that Levinson graciously gave to Bloggerhythms.</span></span></i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">_______________________________________</div><div><br /></div><div>In 2005, novelist, playwright and rock musician, Larry Kirwan - best known as
the leader of New York City's renowned Celtic-rock band,
<b><a href="http://www.black47.com/" target="_blank">Black 47</a></b> - used his vivid imagination to write <b><a href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/2014/02/liverpool-fantasy-larry-kirwans.html" target="_blank">Liverpool Fantasy</a></b>, a novel about what could have happened to each of the four Beatles if they
hadn't hit the big time. As it turns out, it wasn't necessarily fab.<div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
In 2010, I wrote a blog post about the night
<b><a href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/2010/08/the-beatles-live-at-wembley-stadium.html" target="_blank">The Beatles played a reunion concert at Wembley Stadium</a></b>
to celebrate the 70th birthdays of John Lennon and Ringo Starr. Like
Kirwan's excellent piece of fiction, my blog post flew in from another
world because two very sad events of many years ago - the deaths of both
Lennon and George Harrison - have prevented that wonderful evening from
ever taking place.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<div>
There must be something in the atmosphere that makes people think about
the four rock icons differently than how they actually lived their lives
because alternate reality has visited another Beatles fanatic. Paul
Levinson - a communication and media studies professor who is also a
musician, novelist, and songwriter - has published <b>It's Real Life, </b>a truly inspired story involving the band; Fordham University's
legendary New York radio station, WFUV; and the late DJ, <b><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/pete-fornatale-wnew-dj-died-317121/" target="_blank">Pete Fornatale</a></b>.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Levinson published his short story on the web, and it has also been
adapted into an online radio play that is reminiscent of the dramas
people listened to on their AM radios before the days of television.
</div>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The tale begins on July 4, 1996 as Fornatale is nearing the end of his
radio show on WFUV. He's playing a Beatles' song - George Harrison's "All
Things Must Pass" - from their 1974 LP, <b>Band On the Run</b>. He has an
ominous feeling that something isn't right about The Beatles other than
the recent rumours circulating that they're going to break up in the near
future.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
After his show, Fornatale takes a long walk through the maze of tunnels
Fordham built under their campus many years ago to protect students from
the weather. He hopes the walk will remove the dark thoughts gnawing at
his brain.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The tunnel has a lot of doors. Eventually, Fornatale exits through a
different door than he has used in the past and winds up on the opposite
end of campus. There, he boards a train to keep an important business
appointment in midtown Manhattan with the local PBS station who wants him
to host a retrospective on The Beach Boys. After he arrives at Grand
Central Station he finds himself in another world where he talks to a trio
of girl buskers singing Beatles songs.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Fornatale gives the singers "<span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><i>who look like the Bangles but sing like The Beatles</i></span>" a ten dollar bill that has the face of Ronald Reagan on it, and one of
them gives the radio man a look because she knows Alexander Hamilton is on
that <span style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures;">denomination. </span>They ask him when the picture on the bill changed and question its
legitimacy. However, because he also gave them a five dollar bill a few
minutes earlier that they know is real, the young women continue
conversing with him.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The protagonist quickly discovers the girls' knowledge of Beatles history
is far different than the one he knows. Instead of the impending breakup
he is told the Liverpool quartet actually disbanded in 1970 and that
tragedy struck the band in December 1980. Of course, Fornatale is
astonished and quite disturbed at this revelation, so he visits the
reference section at a nearby Barnes and Noble to verify the stunning and
upsetting news he just learned. In the process he also discovered Paul
McCartney's post-Beatles group, Wings, and George Harrison's supergroup,
The Traveling Wilburys.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Fornatale is confused. Did the Big Apple radio icon discover the truth
after he disembarked from the train? Which reality is the correct one?
Does he even get an answer to that question? Does it even matter? To find
out, you'll have to read the complete short story <b><a href="https://vocal.media/fiction/it-s-real-life" target="_blank">here</a></b>
or listen to the radio adaption posted at
<b><a href="https://www.killerwatt.co/2023/03/bobby-roberto-presents-its-real-life.html" target="_blank">Killerwatt</a></b>.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-center;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white;">_______________________________________</span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Here is the addendum to the original post that includes the
interview.</i></b>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
First, listen to Levinson discuss his Beatles' alternative history and
a couple of other "what ifs" on a podcast with with NBC's Chuck Todd.
</p>
<p></p>
<center style="text-align: justify;">
<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="152" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/3Detk2hEHjzb7sWwS1HWO0?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe>
</center>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u>CR</u></i>: <i>Briefly, what is the plot of your novel after the
first chapter?</i></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u>PL</u></i>:</b> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>As Pete Fornatale struggles to understand how to get in and out of
alternate realities, and make sure John Lennon is not killed in any
of them, Fornatale will actually dine with John Lennon and David
Bowie, consult with Leonard Cohen, attend a Beatles concert with
Diana Ross in Central Park in 1996, and work with a variety of real
life characters you may or may not have heard of.</span> </span> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>CR</u>: What was your inspiration for writing It’s Real
Life?</i></b>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>PL</u>:</i></b>
I thought and felt, from the moment I first heard about John Lennon’s
assassination on that horrible night in December 1980, that this
wasn’t the way the universe was meant to be -- that this act had
deformed the cosmos. But it wasn’t until 2019 that I finally began to
write the story, my way of righting the wrong, imagining what the
world might have been like if Lennon had survived. Then I let it
simmer, and put it aside for a while. And I saw Peter Jackson’s
<i>The Beatles: Get Back </i>in December 2021, and I was so moved, I
sat down and finished the short story. It was published the following
month in January 2022. And it got such a good response, made into a
radio play, winning <b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/14197-mary-shelley-award-for-outstanding-fictional-work" target="_blank">The Mary Shelley Award for Outstanding Fiction</a></b>,
being a finalist for the <b><a href="http://www.uchronia.net/sidewise/index.html" target="_blank">Sidewise Award for Alternate History</a></b>, that I
kept coming back to it, began writing some additional chapters,
introducing new characters. And by the Fall of 2023, I had a novel.
</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<i><b><u>CR</u>: Why did you decide to make the setting for the novel
and the original short story Fordham University and their radio
station, WFUV?</b></i>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>PL</u>: </i></b>I grew up in the Bronx, within medium-long walking distance from
Fordham University, so it’s been part of my life for a long time. I
was a devoted listener to Pete Fornatale’s “Mixed Bag” show on WFUV in
the 1960s. I used his book (which he co-wrote with Joshua E. Mills),
<i>Radio in the Television Age</i>, in my first full-time teaching
job, at Fairleigh Dickinson University in the 1980s. I got to know
Pete personally when he came back to WFUV in 2001 -- I had started
teaching at Fordham University just three years earlier in 1998 -- and
he started playing one of my recordings, “Murray the K’s Back in
Town,” in 2010. He died unexpectedly in 2012, and I knew then that I
would put him in a story someday.
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
And then there are the tunnels. WFUV is located in Keating Hall, and
there is some kind of tunnel system that runs beneath that building. I
had already used the tunnels in a story I wrote before “<i>It’s Real
Life”</i> -- <i>“The Last Train to Margaretville”</i> in 2013 -- and as soon as I
began thinking about <i>“It’s Real Life,”</i> I knew those tunnels under
Fordham University would literally be a crucial conduit in the story.
</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>CR</u>: Is there an intended message in the narrative or did
you write the story solely for entertainment purposes?</i></b>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>PL</u>:</i></b>
Both are in the novel. The message is don’t give up on your dreams,
even if your dream is literally to change the world, or in this case,
history. But I hope the reader is also entertained. There is always an
element of fun in alternate history if it’s done right in tracking
how so many little and big things are changed, if you change just one
part of history. And this is especially fun when the changed element
is music.
</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>CR</u>: Are there any plans to expand the original,
short radio play into something longer?</i></b>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>PL</u>:</i></b>
Probably not a longer radio play, but see my answer to the next
question.
</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>CR</u>: Are you interested in adapting the play/novel into a
live stage version or possibly a film?</i></b>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>PL</u>: </i></b>Yes, I have interest in both of those happening, as well as a TV
series, and I have projects in those areas percolating in various
early stages. But I can’t say anything more specific about any of that
until contracts are signed and/or projects are completed. I’ll also
mention something that I have a little more control over: I have a
sequel novel in mind.
</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>CR</u>: What is it about The Beatles that you love?</i></b>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>PL</u>:</i></b>
A combination of songs that uniquely appeal to me, that I loved from
the moment I first heard them, and I love even more today (see my
answer to the next question). And as part of this, I love the way The
Beatles evolved. Lennon’s “It’s Only Love” and “Dr. Robert” and
“Jealous Guy” are very different songs, recorded at different times in
the arc of his life, and they’re all very different and yet with the
same soul shining through.
</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>CR</u>: What are a few of your favorite Fab Four songs and/or solo works
by them?</i></b>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>PL</u>:</i></b>
Impossible for me to list just a few, here’s the best I can do: "Real
Love," "Yes It Is," "It’s Only Love," "Dr. Robert," "And Your Bird Can Sing," "I’m Only Sleeping," "Jealous Guy," "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," "I’m Looking Through You," "Penny Lane," "Helter Skelter," "Heart Like a
Wheel," "Jet," "My Brave Face," "Hope of Deliverance," "I’ve Got a Feeling," "I
Need You," "Taxman," "Here Comes the Sun," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "All Things Must Pass, Goodnight," "Octopus’s Garden"</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>CR</u>: How can readers purchase a copy of your novel and what
formats is the novel available in?</i></b>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u> PL</u>:</i></b>
The novel is available in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover. All three
are available on
<b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVD38ZLQ/ref=nosim/?tag=dexter2a-20" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, and you can order the paperback and hardcover in most bookstores.
</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>CR</u>: What other books have you written and published?</i></b>
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
<b><i><u>PL</u>: </i></b><i><u>Science Fiction</u></i></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><ul><li style="text-align: left;">
The Phil D’Amato series: The Chronology Protection Case, The Copyright
Notice Case, The Silk Code, The Consciousness Plague, The Pixel Eye
</li><li style="text-align: left;">
The Sierra Waters trilogy: The Plot to Save Socrates, Unburning
Alexandria, Chronica
</li><li style="text-align: left;">Borrowed Tides</li><li style="text-align: left;">The Loose Ends Saga</li><li style="text-align: left;">Ian’s Ions and Eons</li><li style="text-align: left;">Marylin and Monet</li><li style="text-align: left;">Robinson Calculator</li></ul><p></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
<i><u>Media Theory</u></i>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><ul><li style="text-align: left;">
The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information
Revolution
</li><li style="text-align: left;">
Digital McLuhan: A Guide to the Information Millennium
</li><li style="text-align: left;">
Cellphone: The Story of the World’s Most Mobile Medium, and How It
Changed Everything
</li><li style="text-align: left;">
Realspace: The Fate of Physical Presence in the Digital Age, On and
Off Planet
</li><li style="text-align: left;">New New Media</li><li style="text-align: left;">McLuhan in an Age of Social Media</li><li style="text-align: left;">Fake News in Real Context</li></ul><p></p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>CR</u>: Tell us about your ventures into recording and
composing?</i></b>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>PL</u>:</i></b>
My first album, <i>Twice Upon A Rhyme</i>, was released in 1972 and
sold a negligible number of copies. It was rediscovered as a “lost
cult classic” in Japan in the mid-1990s, and reissued in Japan and
South Korea in 2008, and in the U.K. in 2010. My next album,
<i>Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time</i>, was released by Old Bear
Records and Light in the Attic Records in 2020 -- right, I waited
almost 50 years to release my second album because I wanted to build
up an audience. But I’m not waiting that long to do my third album --
I’ll be back up in Batavia, New York, at the Old Bear Records studio,
to record my third LP this coming May.
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
I should also mention one single, recorded by my group The Other
Voices (originally called The New Outlook) produced by Ellie Greenwich
and Mike Rashkow for Atlantic Records in 1968. The B-side, "Hung Up On
Love," was written by me (words) and Mikie Harris (music). It's been
getting a lot of streaming in the past few years, especially in
Japan.
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
As for songwriting, I wrote (words and music) or co-wrote (words) all
of the songs on those albums. Also, my song “Unbelievable
(Inconceivable You)” (words and music by me) was recorded by The
Vogues in the 1960s but never released, and my song “Sunshine Mind”
(words and music by me) was recorded by Donna Marie of the Archies in
the 1960s, and it was released, but didn’t sell enough copies to
chart. Who knows, one or both of those songs may show up on my
upcoming album.
</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; margin: 0in; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><span color="black !important" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>CR</u></span><span color="black !important" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">: What do you prefer, writing books or composing and recording
music, and why?</span></i></b><span color="black !important" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span>
</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; margin: 0in; text-align: start;">
<span color="black !important" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>
</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; margin: 0in; text-align: start;">
<span color="black !important" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><u>PL</u>:</i></b><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">
For me, the two - writing books or composing and recording music
- are closer than you might think. They both are different
expressions that come from the same part of my brain.
Writing books, of course, takes much longer than writing a song,
but recording an album can take almost as much time as writing a
book.</span></span></span>
</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; margin: 0in; text-align: start;">
<span color="black !important" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>
</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; margin: 0in; text-align: start;">
<span color="black !important" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I wrote my first short story when I was in first grade, but other
than that, I wrote hundreds of songs before I wrote my first novel
(and before I wrote my first nonfiction book). But once I
started writing lots of articles, stories, and books, in the late
1990s, I wrote ten times as many stories as songs. In the
last few years, though, beginning with <i>Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time</i> in 2020, I write a few songs and a few stories each
year. <i>It's Real Life</i> is the first novel
I've written since <i>Chronica</i> in 2014.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; margin: 0in; text-align: start;">
<span color="black !important" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>
</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; margin: 0in; text-align: start;">
<span color="black !important" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And then there are the performances. Back in the mid-1960s,
I was in two groups, a doo-wop group The Transits, and then a
folk-rock group called The New Outlook (I came up with both
names). We performed in lots of venues in the New York City
area, but that ended in the 1970s. Since the late 1990s,
I’ve been doing lots of readings from my stories and novels,
including via Zoom. I was about to do a few concerts of my
songs from <i>Twice Upon A Rhyme</i> and <i>Welcome Up</i> in 2020, but the pandemic knocked those out. I’m
hoping to do a few performances in 2024, and also expect to do
lots of readings and signings of <i>It’s Real Life</i>.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; margin: 0in; text-align: start;">
<span color="black !important" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>
</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; margin: 0in; text-align: start;">
<span color="black !important" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Which do I prefer? My creations are like my children – I
prefer them both.</span></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>CR</u>: Is there anything you would like to add?</i></b>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><u>PL</u>:</i></b>
I’ll be doing a book launch for It’s Real Life at the world-renown
Player’s Club in New York City on March 27th, 6-9pm. I’ll be doing a
reading and signing. Admission is free, but registration is required.
<b><a href="https://nysgs.org/event-5627922" target="_blank">Details here</a></b>. Would be great to meet any readers of this blog who may be in the
New York area.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-60573663467083376972024-02-27T07:00:00.051-05:002024-03-01T22:13:05.061-05:00The Tonight Show Band With Doc Severinsen (1986)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfF33WvQrXKqJ4ei9skATpKfbiJavSt-4XRSPLt9Q6qjlvGLvxJeLSPqCP1xn6203Es4rnZZGwKXNr72pdXrM2NuCl1kpdOeQSKpZCE4GTJcR9QOV1ibC_sB2xp2aguIS6Wf4G0GLTG8OIGlag4mrjBBqqx9Q7mftzjboKXEP7n3AykU5Ceko3Vw/s500/doc.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfF33WvQrXKqJ4ei9skATpKfbiJavSt-4XRSPLt9Q6qjlvGLvxJeLSPqCP1xn6203Es4rnZZGwKXNr72pdXrM2NuCl1kpdOeQSKpZCE4GTJcR9QOV1ibC_sB2xp2aguIS6Wf4G0GLTG8OIGlag4mrjBBqqx9Q7mftzjboKXEP7n3AykU5Ceko3Vw/w320-h320/doc.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
Doc Severinsen made dozens of albums with various outfits while working for
Johnny Carson and leading The Tonight Show Band from 1967 until Carson retired in 1992, but it took the trumpeter until 1986 to take his TV band into the
studio to record a very good album,
<b>The Tonight Show Band With Doc Severinsen</b>.
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Severinsen led a large, high energy
group of nineteen musicians if you count the boss who was the
primary soloist on nine of the thirteen tracks.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
While Severinsen and his men didn't break any new ground, much of the CD is
loaded with extremely well-played, modern arrangements of old 30s and 40s
big band standards, including instrumental hits of trombonist Tommy Dorsey ("I'm Getting
Sentimental Over You"), clarinetist Artie Shaw ("Begin The Beguine"), and vibraphone player Lionel Hampton
("Flying Home"). The set also includes three Benny Goodman classics, "King Porter
Stomp," "Don't Be That Way," and "One O'Clock Jump" (composed and originally released by Count Basie and his group).</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The rest of the tracks are lesser known, but they're welcome because the swing era chestnuts mentioned above have been rehashed dozens of times over the decades. Most are fast-paced arrangements - like alto sax player John Bainbridge's own "Sax Alley" - making the inclusion of the Gershwin brothers' ballad, "How Long Has
This Been Going On" a nice respite from the jazz.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
At 1:17, the very short "Johnny's Theme (The Tonight Show Theme)"
almost feels like a novelty tune, and listening to it now makes me feel a little nostalgic for the greatest late
night talk show host of all time. It's nicely done - as it should be - because the veteran outfit played it almost every night for decades.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Among the band's best known members were Severinsen's number two man and lead saxophonist, Tommy Newsome, and drummer Ed Shaughnessy who drives the band with his
outstanding back beat.
<p>
</p><center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oVejvm053nw?si=UHtxFKZMIpa0UNII" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<p></p><center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gs_EGuZRQN4?si=2pP42uOUm88ILXlV" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-77954160620186884272024-02-20T07:00:00.041-05:002024-02-20T07:00:00.158-05:00Almost Hits: Spacehog - In The Meantime (1996)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-vRquGgFUDy-swAhj30gm6EoWdDAYYQKtL5LrnErHdeec8mAPtcy3tMDYkhHIdN3aFVq43btTCRiX6fbN1Z1rU05T1NfHdRN48jjIgRTXvQuoe6SsUK0IccjJl45AdcyqyEuf_-agyvqLmSWEtewASAxQqgeb5kaz6gImenklB8j96QgRY7w5mA/s567/in%20the%20meantime.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="567" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-vRquGgFUDy-swAhj30gm6EoWdDAYYQKtL5LrnErHdeec8mAPtcy3tMDYkhHIdN3aFVq43btTCRiX6fbN1Z1rU05T1NfHdRN48jjIgRTXvQuoe6SsUK0IccjJl45AdcyqyEuf_-agyvqLmSWEtewASAxQqgeb5kaz6gImenklB8j96QgRY7w5mA/s320/in%20the%20meantime.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
In 1996, Spacehog, a British one-hit wonder formed in New York City had a
#32 hit with "In The Meantime," their very first single. The track was the
group's commercial peak and they never came close to the top 40 again. It was
also their highest charting single in their native UK.
<div>
<b><br /></b>
</div>
<div>
<b><a href="https://music.amazon.com/albums/B00122YZO2?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_N1N8wnnlQ1CkGG8Wdjcx3iojM" target="_blank">Resident Alien</a></b>, the debut CD "In The Meantime" was pulled from was just
moderately successful too, rising only as high as #49 on the US album chart.
Each of Spacehog's two succeeding albums failed to make the top 100 and by
2002 the band was over except for a shortlived reunion in 2013 that produced a
final album that earned little recognition.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/royston-langdon-of-spacehog" target="_blank"><b>In a</b> <b>2018 interview</b></a> composer and lead singer
<b><a href="https://www.roystonlangdon.com/" target="_blank">Royston Langdon</a></b>
discussed the single's opaque lyrics with <b>Songfacts</b>,<span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">"It's me trying to reach people. It's using some kind of metaphor of a
worldly or inner-worldly search for the end of isolation, and the
acceptance of one's self is in there. At the end of the day it's saying
whatever you gotta do, it's OK, it's alright. And I think that's also me
talking to myself, getting through my wan anxieties and fear of death.
That's what it all comes down to. What's so beautiful about it is that
it continues to connect with people."</span></i></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #202122; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #202122; font-family: inherit;">"In The Meantime"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit;"> used a musical device commonly employed by 90s grunge bands. The quartet's
song has mellow verses mixed with loud,
hard rocking choruses and bridges filled with riffs, hooks and distorted guitars.</span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit;">Musically, the song was created using a sample from an obscure piece of
music, "Telephone and Rubber Band" by another English group with the cool
name of </span><b style="color: #202122; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.penguincafe.com/" target="_blank">Penguin Cafe Orchestra</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit;">.</span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #202122;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #202122;">"In The Meantime"</span><i style="color: #202122; font-family: Oxygen;"> </i><span style="color: #202122;">has been featured on the soundtrack to several TV shows and and in versions of the video games Rock Band and Guitar Hero.</span><span style="color: #202122;"> </span></div><div><div>
<center style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="color: #202122; font-family: inherit;">______________________________________</span>
</center>
<span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><p>
<i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;">Almost Hits is an occasional exploration into songs that failed to
reach the top 20 on the American <span style="color: #202122; font-weight: bolder;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100" style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Billboard Hot 100</a></span><span style="color: #202122;">. </span>Many have become
classics despite what their chart position would indicate.</span></i>
</p></span><span style="color: #202122;"><p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PCsGRCf8T9Y?si=X2HC0YNvzCWmuaq_" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-18468199234478864852024-02-13T10:45:00.009-05:002024-02-13T14:27:29.827-05:00Last Albums: Arthur Alexander - Lonely Just Like Me (1993) <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ys-rqNHQbOiALfsRGro3Css2YwOvIyf6VH1kkzIpg4ub_EUGRHAQ8S-QGAjFdGWSNhyJpB-y_oGNFxD_RIVJctj0E2gZJv2ZGbNBBv_6SZyGQrvezPpkdE5seG5j1RrGUiFy/s1600-h/arthuralexander.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5116169131638627282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ys-rqNHQbOiALfsRGro3Css2YwOvIyf6VH1kkzIpg4ub_EUGRHAQ8S-QGAjFdGWSNhyJpB-y_oGNFxD_RIVJctj0E2gZJv2ZGbNBBv_6SZyGQrvezPpkdE5seG5j1RrGUiFy/s320/arthuralexander.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" width="320" /></a>The R & B world seems to produce all-star level
talent who should be legends but instead perform for many years - often decades - in undeserved obscurity. Many never found an audience even among the
genre's own fans. Such is the case with hard luck Arthur Alexander who died in
1993 before <b>Lonely Just Like Me</b> could make him a star.
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Alexander's resume contained a few minor hit records in the early 60s but he
is mostly known for one song. Beatles fans will surely recognize him as the
composer of "Anna" a song they covered on their very first album,
<b>Please Please Me</b>, all the way back in 1963 before America and their
appearance on <b>The Ed Sullivan Show</b>.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Lesser known is "Soldier Of Love" a Beatles cover that only appears on their <b>Live At The BBC</b> double set. The Rolling Stones released "You Better Move On" as part of their 1964 eponymous EP and "Sally Sue Brown" was reworked by Bob Dylan for his 1988 album,
<b>Down In The Groove</b>. When these icons cover your work respect should be guaranteed.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Even though many highly regarded artists loved his music, after a few minor
chart entries and some bad industry dealings with record companies, Alexander
quit the music business entirely and earned a living driving a bus for a
social services organization. Eventually, musician <b><a href="https://benvaughn.org/">Ben Vaughn</a></b> coaxed him out of
retirement, and the revitalized singer recorded
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Just-Like-Arthur-Alexander/dp/B000005IVF/ref=pd_bbs_6/105-1422730-2278851?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1191338214&sr=8-6">
<b>Lonely Just Like Me</b></a>
in 1993 with Vaughn producing the sessions. Sadly, a heart attack took his life only a few months after it
was released.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Alexander was not your traditional R&B showman. His records weren't barn
burners. He sang in a pleasant, easy, low-key style that reminds one of O.C.
Smith on his 60s hit "Little Green Apples" or Otis Redding in the mellow mood
he showed us on his gargantuan 1967 hit, "Dock Of The Bay." It's easy to believe that Alexander is to rhythm and blues what James Taylor is to rock 'n roll.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Many of Alexander's compositions were quite sad and titles such as "Go Home
Girl," "Every Day I Have To Cry," "Johnny Heartbreak," and the title song are
all prime examples. Two tracks, "Sally Sue Brown" and "Genie In The Jug,"
prove Alexander could get a beat going when he wanted to. All twelve
entries on the original CD were written or co-written by Alexander. When asked
how he wrote such great songs without being a musician he said,
<i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;">"They really find it surprising. All I can tell them is that it's a gift,
it is a gift from God. I hear a melody and lyrics in my head, and once
they get in there they just won't go away."</span></i>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
In 2007 <b>Hacktone Records</b> re-issued the album under the name of
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Just-Like-Me-Chapter/dp/B000SM7QZW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/105-1422730-2278851?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1191338214&sr=8-2"><b>Lonely Just Like Me: The Final Chapter</b></a>
with a lot of bonus material. An entire on air performance and interview with
Terry Gross of NPR's <b>Fresh Air</b> is included along with four demos
Alexander recorded in a Cleveland hotel room. Finally, he added a live version
of "Anna" recorded at The Bottom Line.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
This is music well worth hearing and the view from this pulpit is that soft rock fans will like <B>Lonely Just Like Me</B> just as much as R & B lovers.</div><div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">___________________________________</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Oxygen;">Last Albums discusses music that was recorded as new material and intended to be released to the public as a complete album but not necessarily the last one. Live albums, greatest hits or "best of" collections and compilations do not count, nor do posthumous releases of leftover tracks cobbled together to make a final album.</span></i><span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: left;"> </span></p><p>
</p><center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1K9mhJoEJhI?si=OPN0zh_EF-4r_2z1" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-62667156963692037772024-02-08T11:29:00.004-05:002024-02-11T20:37:19.681-05:00Billy Joel - Turn The Lights Back On (2024)<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jciSGmjBalcuQ5zN4OJWJ8PVDUI4aXcM0hLO-pSjKSWS989BzwEv2faT6mNBdzneKbrMM_S66pNT2hKSP4NodS41LgRU0LVd15tPgIaVv9s1kcqeD2SgxBVgGMfUOTs4kslCDt17zurY_0phFdLDtUJi66v2UveNTZwkOLAdHkSraoUot1J_ag/s440/artwork-440x440.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jciSGmjBalcuQ5zN4OJWJ8PVDUI4aXcM0hLO-pSjKSWS989BzwEv2faT6mNBdzneKbrMM_S66pNT2hKSP4NodS41LgRU0LVd15tPgIaVv9s1kcqeD2SgxBVgGMfUOTs4kslCDt17zurY_0phFdLDtUJi66v2UveNTZwkOLAdHkSraoUot1J_ag/s320/artwork-440x440.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
Billy Joel has been a constant presence on the arena rock scene all during the
21st Century highlighted by his monthly, ten year residency at Manhattan's
Madison Square Garden that is coming to an end in 2024.
<div><br /></div>
<div>
On the other hand, hearing new music from the mega-star has become extremely rare. Joel's last full album of pop-rock music was the mediocre
<b>River Of Dreams</b> in 1993. After that, he composed a dozen, classical piano
pieces for <b>Fantasies & Delusions</b>, a CD featuring solo performances played by Richard Joo that was released in 2001.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Since then, the rocker has only delivered two additional songs: "All My Life" in 2007 -
a love song to his third wife, Katie Lee - and "<b><a href="<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R_qTuJ1UK2w?si=1ys1_AFHBYZPuB5P" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>" target="_blank">Christmas In Fallujah</a></b>" a tune he wrote but never recorded and gave to a young singer-songwriter,
<b><a href="https://www.cassdillonproductions.com/" target="_blank">Cass Dillon</a></b>, to record.</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
After those two efforts Joel released nothing for seventeen years.
Happily, the drought has ended with the song he performed
recently at the 66th Grammy Awards. "Turn The Lights Back On" is available as a <b><a href="https://billyjoel.lnk.to/TurnTheLightsBackOnAW!news240130" target="_blank">download</a></b> on both iTunes and Amazon Music and as a limited edition, 7" inch
single.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>Joel seldom wrote in collaboration with others, but on this tune he did. "Turn The Lights Back On" was cowritten with
<b><a href="https://freddywexler.com/" target="_blank">Freddy Wexler</a></b>, <span style="background-color: white;"><b><a href="https://secondhandsongs.com/artist/6150/all" target="_blank">Wayne Hector</a></b>
and Arthur Bacon. Wexler - who</span> composed for Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, Ariana Grande and others - <span style="background-color: white;">produced the session with Joel.</span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The song is a love ballad, but according to
<b><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/billy-joel-turn-the-lights-back-on-2024-grammys-performance-1234957848/" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a></b> magazine some listeners believe Joel is also singing to his fans.
"</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><i style="font-family: Oxygen;">I’m late, but I’m here right now/And I’m trying to find the magic/That we
lost somehow/Maybe I was blind/But I see you now." </i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> It's a piano heavy arrangement that could easily fit on any of the
Long Island native's popular studio records.</span></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The piano player follows in the recent footsteps of The Beatles - whose last
song, "</span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-beatles-now-and-then-2023.html" target="_blank">Now and Then</a>,</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">" became a hit - and The Rolling Stones, who released a new, full length album, </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Hackney Diamonds</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">, within the last few months. All three artists proved there is still talent burning in some of the old, classic rockers.</span>
<p>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>
</p>
<center>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hexZ5hwia08?si=gG-Y1fdu-BPRy5ke" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></span>
</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-89057553579654435292024-02-03T07:00:00.005-05:002024-02-04T17:24:07.235-05:00People! - I Love You (1968)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDTEFfJmVKc57SWNTrGUmVcN271QVNIYTo1LYDtG6Sk93XalG6EP3CHOAeES0EaqRtpypb8w_outk3Y8bB9N_JH18XRePvwRN0OuwYEwudhbaEDlVUusu8cIXHicF6k2Ww_3Dq06XB7AqXjIMl8JqjOHNrlGGi7g9Fnh0UOAtzKPt8T_XdCojGpQ/s450/people%20lp.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDTEFfJmVKc57SWNTrGUmVcN271QVNIYTo1LYDtG6Sk93XalG6EP3CHOAeES0EaqRtpypb8w_outk3Y8bB9N_JH18XRePvwRN0OuwYEwudhbaEDlVUusu8cIXHicF6k2Ww_3Dq06XB7AqXjIMl8JqjOHNrlGGi7g9Fnh0UOAtzKPt8T_XdCojGpQ/s320/people%20lp.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
Some bands have unusual backstories. People! - yes, the exclamation point is part of
their name - could be the only rock band in history that suffered from serious personnel
issues due to religious differences.
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<b><a href="https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2021/11/people-interview-psychedelic-rock-band-from-san-jose.html" target="_blank">People!</a></b>
were a one-hit wonder from San Jose, CA who had a #14 hit with "I Love You," a
cover of a Zombies song written by the British Invasion band's bass player,
Chris White.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Lead singer Larry Norman - already a devout Christian - joined the psychedelic
rock sextet in time to add his vocals to this fun single released on Capitol Records. It's success allowed People! to record a full album that included a song he brought to the band, "What We Need is a Lot More Jesus and a Lot Less Rock & Roll" written by country
singer Wayne Rainey that was also covered by Linda Ronstadt. The LP was not a hit.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Just as "I Love You" was gaining momentum - a year after the Summer of
Love - most of the group became devotees of Scientology and pressured
Norman to join them. Due to his own deeply held convictions he refused, so
they asked him to leave, believing he no longer fit in. As it turns out, most
of the remaining members still follow Scientology today.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Some readers may recognize Norman's name. After leaving the band he moved on
to religious music and is considered by many to be the founder of the
Christian rock movement although he never achieved much commercial
success in the genre. He acknowledged his music
was<i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">"too secular for the Christians and too Christian for the
secularists."</span></span></i>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Norman died in 2008 at age 60. In its obituary <b><a href="https://www.christianity.com/wiki/people/larry-norman-father-of-christian-rock.html" target="_blank">Christianity.com</a></b>
wrote, "<i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><span style="background-color: white;">It is certainly no overstatement</span> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><span style="background-color: white;">to say Larry Norman is to Christian music what John Lennon is to rock
& roll or Bob Dylan is to folk music.</span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;">"</span></i>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
People! broke up in 1971 after several personnel changes and two more albums
failed to attract any attention. There have been several short-lived reunions
over the years. Norman participated in one shortly before he passed away.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Watch People! lip-synching their song on Dick Clark's American
Bandstand in 1968.
<p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p80BEHcTnxk?si=oo-qVCbIkX829tBp" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-78982794103341691212024-01-29T13:53:00.025-05:002024-01-29T18:03:56.644-05:00Is Creedence Clearwater Revival's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" Cultural Appropriation?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIF_OyL0KmRMqgmGADO_7QL26bzAnPOmBlQFaMWCIHNohw7UtlK5FCbMCntdsMb6sH1R-nCtZ_sBC9XQX7vOeuIp7RSt9oZrJ_U8gnkIYA8knMQWv7hGBJqmdElTwJ3JgA-ElGKOcb3oK2uZnPezDzvwKlDcNfaWvIo148t95E7YdbmjVowGxrg/s630/0888072374355_p0_v1_s1200x630-947300679.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="630" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIF_OyL0KmRMqgmGADO_7QL26bzAnPOmBlQFaMWCIHNohw7UtlK5FCbMCntdsMb6sH1R-nCtZ_sBC9XQX7vOeuIp7RSt9oZrJ_U8gnkIYA8knMQWv7hGBJqmdElTwJ3JgA-ElGKOcb3oK2uZnPezDzvwKlDcNfaWvIo148t95E7YdbmjVowGxrg/w320-h320/0888072374355_p0_v1_s1200x630-947300679.jpg" width="320" /></a>Like a lot of people over the last decade in our perpetually divided nation
it's not always easy for me to discuss controversial topics, especially ones
that shouldn't - in my opinion - be so contentious. It's the reason I avoid
writing about social and political issues. However, today I'm breaking my
self-imposed rule for only the second time in the nineteen year history of
this blog.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the Twenty-first century, most Americans are viewed by each side as either
being too far to the left or too far right, and we often formulate our opinion
of a person's political beliefs based on a single position they hold without
exploring what else he or she may have to say. I'm probably guilty of it
myself.
<p>
As an alternative to <b style="text-align: left;">X/Twitter</b><span style="text-align: left;">, this past July I joined a new online platform born in February 2023.
It's called </span><b style="text-align: left;">Spoutible</b><span style="text-align: left;">
and in a lot of ways it's very different from Elon Musk's misadventure. </span><b style="text-align: left;">Spoutible</b><span style="text-align: left;">
owner, Christopher Bouzy - a very successful African-American entrepreneur
- has created a safe haven where members (spoutees) can post their
opinions (spouts) away from the frequently hateful place Tesla's owner has
allowed </span><b style="text-align: left;">X</b><span style="text-align: left;">
to become. Many spoutees' political beliefs lean heavily to the
left-of-center, but Mr. Bouzy readily allows opposing viewpoints as long
as all parties discuss their differences respectfully.</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="text-align: left;">
My favorite thing about this alternative social media site is that it has
no algorithim. Members create their own by interacting with other members,
spouting, and following people you believe fit your interests and
personality. It works very well. In just a few months I've acquired 1,325
followers compared to <b>X</b> where I've only managed 127
followers since joining it in 2012.
</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="text-align: left;">
Spoutible features a lot of music. It's the primary reason I became a participant, but
recently a member became very disenchanted with someone who posted a video
of Creedence Clearwater Revival's eleven minute version of "I Heard It
Through The Grapevine."</span>
</p>
<span style="text-align: left;">
Even though I couldn't find the original offending post or the apparently less
than polite negative reaction to it, I decided to respond. It took six
spouts threaded together to make my point due to the platform's 300
character limit - compared to <b>X</b>'s 280 - and below I've adapted and
expanded on what I originally wrote to better fit the blog format.
<p>
"Cultural Appropriation" is often defined as a dominant culture taking
something from another culture and then exploiting its use for their own
benefit.
</p>
<p>
I'm not naive enough to believe that the art and culture of oppressed
groups have never been used inappropriately by people who are holding them
down, but to quote John Lennon, "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Oxygen;"><i>Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that
people own it." </i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> While he was refering to the business side of the art form, if
you read his words within the context of the interview he was giving
it's also easy to interpret that Lennon believed it's acceptable for
anyone to enjoy and make use of art created by others if the user's
intentions are good.</span>
</p></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Two Motown composers, Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, wrote "I Heard
It Through The Grapevine." CCR's long version was released on their LP, </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Cosmos Factory</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">, an album that went 4 times platinum, meaning the record sold 4 million
copies. Composers are supposed to receive royalties on every single unit
sold, so along with an album track by Smokey Robinson and hit singles by
Gladys Knight (#2 on the Hot 100) and Marvin Gaye (#1) "Grapevine" should
have helped make the composers rich. If so, Whitfield and Strong greatly
benefited from the CCR arrangement. I fail to see where they were
exploited.</span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p>
There is another side to this issue. What if a recording artist from a
dominant culture refused to perform songs by a minority because they
considered the smaller group's artistic endeavors to be inferior.
Isn't that far worse?
</p>
<p>
Rap/hip-hop aside, my CD/record collection is loaded with R&B,
jazz and blues, much of it by African-Americans. I've always
appreciated what they've contributed to American music. I expect to
love a lot more of their work in the future, and I have a Visa card in
my wallet ready and waiting when I do.
</p>
<p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8DRkmU0e2ek?si=7oMo50SUHSQykbF8" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-86663693863470366892024-01-24T07:37:00.003-05:002024-01-24T22:39:35.070-05:00Brinsley Schwarz - Thinking Back: The Anthology 1970 - 1975 (2023)<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWl_L-5fc5KWk2ZFGKtXGLI5_YgAIzjYoeryevk7d_GYnlk3eHpunukxEaVCHPaf6d68tAPYrN04ggDSAOJO_dqGXfsZo-3qIZ-fvq3rowMfgohalmwJx0WUeP0D9J9yKtooI-6lW639VyGFC9WKW1ETDNO-crMygvuEymDoHVdyo_SNgl6ek-Dw/s511/51H4V+f5c3L.jpg"
style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"
><img
border="0"
data-original-height="511"
data-original-width="511"
height="320"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWl_L-5fc5KWk2ZFGKtXGLI5_YgAIzjYoeryevk7d_GYnlk3eHpunukxEaVCHPaf6d68tAPYrN04ggDSAOJO_dqGXfsZo-3qIZ-fvq3rowMfgohalmwJx0WUeP0D9J9yKtooI-6lW639VyGFC9WKW1ETDNO-crMygvuEymDoHVdyo_SNgl6ek-Dw/s320/51H4V+f5c3L.jpg"
width="320"
/></a>
</div>
<div>
I've written about Brinsley Schwarz before, but in case you're not familiar
with them a little history may help you fully understand the significance of
the recently released box set,
<a
href="https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Back-Anthology-Brinsley-Schwarz/dp/B0CH9RMLG1/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8"
target="_blank"
><b>Thinking Back: The Anthology 1970 - 1975</b></a
>. It contains all sixty-eight tracks from Brinsley Schwarz's seven
studio albums including <b>It's All Over Now </b>that was recorded in the
mid-70s but not released until 1988.
</div>
<div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Pub-rock is frequently mentioned as the precursor to punk, but personally I
don't hear it in the music of Brinsley Schwarz even with the knowledge that
someone possessing a punk sensibility like the young Elvis Costello was
obsessed with the British quintet. The view from here is that garage-rock
and power-pop describe the band's music far more accurately.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The group's lineup for their first two LPs included the guitarist they are named after, <b
><a
href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/2022/12/10-questions-for-brinsley-schwarz.html"
target="_blank"
>Brinsley Schwarz</a
></b
>, and keyboard player Bob Andrews. Billy Rankin played drums - and most
importantly - bassist <b
><a href="https://nicklowe.com/" target="_blank">Nick Lowe</a></b
> was their primary composer. Beginning with their third album, <b
>Silver Pistol</b
>, they were joined by rhythm guitar player, <b
><a href="http://iangomm.com/" target="_blank">Ian Gomm</a></b
>.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
On those early albums - their eponymous debut and their sophomore
LP, <b>Despite It All</b> - the band was searching for a style
that worked for them. They combined a little prog-rock that included
meandering instrumental passages with Southern California harmonies to
little public attention or critical approval. Then, on
<b>Silver Pistol </b>the group found their niche, and for the rest of
their career they became the kind of outfit you couldn't wait to see play in
your local bar on a Saturday night.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Brinsley Schwarz displayed excellent taste in cover versions. Among the
oldies they revived were "Hey Baby, They're Playing Our Song," "I Like It
Like That," "Everybody," and a cover of the Rolling Stones song that gave
the quintet the name of their last album.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Lowe wrote many of the group's original songs, and it's where he debuted
"What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding" - co-written with Gomm
- that later became a very popular song for Costello; "Play That Fast Thing
One More Time," the opening track on Rockpile's classic
<b>Seconds Of Pleasure </b>LP from 1980; and Lowe's only major American hit
single, "Cruel To Be Kind," that made it to #12 on the Hot 100. All of them
are included in this anthology.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The clamshell box set also includes sixty-four bonus tracks. Most of them
are live performances that were never released until now, and the
accompanying booklet - mostly written by Gomm - provides a very nice history
of the band.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Many of the great musicians from the early classic rock era have sadly gone
to the great beyond, but all of the Brinsleys are still with us, albeit
separately. Lowe - of course - became a star. Schwarz and Andrews played
with Graham Parker's Rumour for many years, and Schwarz now works as a solo
act who released
<b
><a
href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/2022/02/brinsley-schwarz-tangled-2021.html"
target="_blank"
>his second critically acclaimed album</a
></b
>
in 2021. Andrews later became a record producer. Gomm had a #18 hit in 1979
with "Hold On," and Rankin drummed with Frankie Miller, Dave Edmunds,
Ducks Deluxe plus a few other outfits before leaving the music business to
pursue other ventures.
<p></p>
<center>
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allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"
allowfullscreen=""
frameborder="0"
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src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/izWe3ipWkYY?si=YetNT89dHqxtCbcs"
title="YouTube video player"
width="560"
></iframe>
</center>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<center>
<iframe
allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"
allowfullscreen=""
frameborder="0"
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src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1J1CfXFlI4c?si=aBx0nsItHZCcIGQ4"
title="YouTube video player"
width="560"
></iframe>
</center>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<center>
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allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"
allowfullscreen=""
frameborder="0"
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title="YouTube video player"
width="560"
></iframe>
</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-81965262755239543512024-01-17T16:07:00.011-05:002024-02-28T16:20:46.560-05:00Muireann Bradley - I Kept These Old Blues (2023)<table
align="center"
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<a
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dgS_g66h2oBTiexIz7qWihmHrziueCzwOl_cLbidxvymxdQclFG1IKf2U5RWINH0VXQ4GNCJOCLYg3obItWeI0XEcXEubEFgpD9XFdzWMIl0xf-LAAqAPla1-KTr9Te50JmpHyU6G06M-4b_pdcb2tNmI9IfKD8uF_pTcLbl69PuHLFfP1coPw/s1080/Muireann.jpg"
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src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dgS_g66h2oBTiexIz7qWihmHrziueCzwOl_cLbidxvymxdQclFG1IKf2U5RWINH0VXQ4GNCJOCLYg3obItWeI0XEcXEubEFgpD9XFdzWMIl0xf-LAAqAPla1-KTr9Te50JmpHyU6G06M-4b_pdcb2tNmI9IfKD8uF_pTcLbl69PuHLFfP1coPw/w320-h320/Muireann.jpg"
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Almost as often as aficionados of classical music do, blues fans are willing to
listen to updated versions of ancient compositions originally written or
recorded by the old masters. Perhaps this is because many of them were produced
on old, scratchy, well-worn, 78 RPM records, so new, clean, high-fidelity
interpretations are welcome.
<div><br /></div>
<div>
One of the young talents resurrecting old blues is newcomer Muireann
(pronounced "<span style="font-family: inherit;">moor</span>-un") Bradley from
County Donegal, Ireland. This talented young lady just turned seventeen and
recently released her twelve song debut album, <b>I Kept These Old Blues</b>,
that was recorded over a three year period with just her voice and her very
accomplished acoustic guitar work.
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The teenager learned to love the blues from her father, John Bradley, who
you could say is besotted with the music of the country-blues artists from
as long as a hundred years ago. Muireann elaborated in her CD's liner
notes,<span style="font-family: Oxygen;"
><i
> <span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.34px;"
>“My father would play this music constantly at home and wherever we
went in the car and talk about it endlessly whether anyone was
listening or not, telling stories about the lives of these musicians
as if they were legend, mythology or the evening news.”</span
></i
></span
>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The seeds for Miss Bradley's album were planted during the Coronavirus
pandemic's lockdown when she was looking for something to occupy her time.
Because she couldn't participate in her beloved contact sports that
supplanted the guitar as her first love she took her six-string playing
seriously again and learned these old songs her father loved. When he
determined Muireann was good enough to show off her talent to the world the
venues featuring live music were locked up tight, so he suggested uploading
her songs to YouTube. She took his advice, and her videos received thousands
of views.
<b><a href="https://www.tompkinssquare.com/" target="_blank"
>Tompkins Square</a
></b
>, a record label in San Francisco that specializes in historical releases
and anthologies of gospel, blues and country sounds discovered her online
and the rest is history.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Musically, Bradley is an excellent guitarist who needs no accompaniment. Her
voice lacks any hint of having been raised on the Emerald Isle and it sounds
like she could have been the daughter of a poor sharecropper who grew up in
the American South. This is meant as a compliment.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Among the featured blues legends are Reverend Gary Davis ("Candyman");
Mississippi John Hurt ("Richland Woman Blues," "Stagolee," and "Frankie");
and Elizabeth Cotten ("Shake Sugaree" and "Freight Train").
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
There are two instrumentals, the traditional and superbly rendered
"Vestapol" and "Buck Dancer's Choice" written by the late Grand Ole Opry
member Sam McGee and arranged by John Fahey.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
No one knows if the young, potentially future star will make another record
or take her beloved jiu jitsu and boxing more seriously than her music. If
she makes another album I'm one fan who will welcome her future artistic
endeavors.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
You can purchase the album on LP, CD, mp3 or cassette on Bradley's
<b
><a
href="https://tompkinssquare.bandcamp.com/album/i-kept-these-old-blues"
target="_blank"
>Bandcamp page</a
></b
>
or at
<b
><a
href="https://www.amazon.com/CDs-Vinyl-Muireann-Bradley/s?rh=n%3A5174%2Cp_32%3AMuireann+Bradley"
target="_blank"
>Amazon</a
></b
>.
<p></p>
<center>
<iframe
seamless=""
src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2981687572/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/"
style="border: 0; height: 472px; width: 400px;"
><a
href="https://tompkinssquare.bandcamp.com/album/i-kept-these-old-blues"
>I Kept These Old Blues by Muireann Bradley</a
></iframe
>
</center>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-84052596976396362322024-01-12T07:29:00.000-05:002024-01-12T07:29:13.578-05:00The Saw Doctors Featuring Petula Clark - Downtown (2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbtVZog5zj-2FQzVNMIVrrxHzwUOAMvQk1Z6tgrvk8NejEf3TXQr1lsgQk1g09taPPrILm5sJQRVmgTvosLgx82pzOEYiXZMpdZJG7-sr9HQ9Cy2oX0nBpYM2Sk8tQAZZRIhmd9dCHRrNHW7uXmGpsrBZFfxNs3ZvpAJRLi4rfUEkvswthxxSpw/s1542/Downtown2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1542" data-original-width="1509" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbtVZog5zj-2FQzVNMIVrrxHzwUOAMvQk1Z6tgrvk8NejEf3TXQr1lsgQk1g09taPPrILm5sJQRVmgTvosLgx82pzOEYiXZMpdZJG7-sr9HQ9Cy2oX0nBpYM2Sk8tQAZZRIhmd9dCHRrNHW7uXmGpsrBZFfxNs3ZvpAJRLi4rfUEkvswthxxSpw/s320/Downtown2.jpg" width="313" /></a>
</div>
<div>
Petula Clark - now ninety-one years old - was already an established star in
the UK when the British Invasion hit America like a tsunami in 1964.
"Downtown" - her debut single on this side of the Atlantic Ocean - hit #1 on the Hot 100 in
January 1965 making Clark the first female, British singer to reach that lofty
position after rock and roll became the dominant pop-music force in the USA.
She was only the second British woman to ever accomplish that feat in history. (Singer
Vera Lynn was the first one to do it in 1952).
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">Clark's original recording was an exuberant mixture of pop-rock, big band
jazz and Broadway that included a muted trumpet solo during the fadeout,
something seldom heard in pop music then or now.</span>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
In 2011, the celebrated Celtic rockers, The Saw Doctors from County Galway,
Republic of Ireland, recorded "Downtown" after witnessing the huge reaction it
received during one of their concert's encores.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Band member Leo Moran told the <b>Worcester Telegraph</b>:<span><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><i style="font-family: Oxygen;">"One night for no particular reason we did 'Downtown' and you could see
people loved it. All ages. You could see it brought joy to people’s
faces." </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">The song went over so well that </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">the </span>veteran band decided to release their own rock version of the tune. It made </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit;">#1 on iTunes Ireland and debuted at #2 on the
Irish singles chart.</span></div>
<div><br /></div><div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit;">The official video for The Saw Doctors' updated version was filmed in
downtown Galway with Clark - looking much younger than her
age at the time this video was made - singing backup on the television sets in a store's window. The video is
as fun as the song. The featured band member is lead singer Davy Carton. It's immediately followed by Clark's original 1965, international chart-topper.</span>
</div>
<div>
<span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ItVEhL-T7qQ?si=KqleYtsjieBRABI7" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</center>
<p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z_m4Qb0iW-o?si=ACMiAKU7tkBA1Vh1" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-43913139091576331362024-01-06T17:19:00.004-05:002024-01-09T09:09:03.616-05:00JD McPherson - Signs & Signifiers (2012)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7d5Wi9IjmvvJ-cu04ji5ka37hSbPgsmbv31qI0ktlyQAiiecr04iwPK9KeUiIblqmM7Btyy494hrMbFZgxtIyDbWb5xOzgtQFRKUA4_IqQ4wNNmQzg7pLPGUR61TCAdSr6MLp/s1600/mcpherson.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7d5Wi9IjmvvJ-cu04ji5ka37hSbPgsmbv31qI0ktlyQAiiecr04iwPK9KeUiIblqmM7Btyy494hrMbFZgxtIyDbWb5xOzgtQFRKUA4_IqQ4wNNmQzg7pLPGUR61TCAdSr6MLp/w320-h320/mcpherson.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
Rocker J. D. McPherson has said that he doesn't like any music after 1958 and he backs
that statement up on his debut album,
<b>Signs & Signifiers</b>,<b> </b>released back in
2012.<b> </b>The singer/guitarist embraces old time rock 'n roll pumped up
by equal amounts of rockabilly and R & B, and he's also a songwriter who can
take credit for co-writing ten of the twelve songs on the album.<div><br /></div><div>While Brian Setzer and some others who have fashioned nice careers mining the
early days of rock often come across as if they're parodying the sub-genre
McPherson's work is as authentic as anything its founding fathers created all
those years ago. His music is edgier than that of his idol, Buddy Holly, and his
singing is just as invigorating as any of the classic shouters of the '50s.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Signs & Signifiers</b> was originally issued in 2010 and re-released two
years later to a much larger audience on Rounder Records. The album's single and
opening track, "North Side Gal," received some nice radio airplay.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since then, McPherson has released three other albums and one EP, the last one
a Christmas record in 2018.</div><div><br /></div><div>On <b>Signs & Signifiers</b> McPherson is helped along
the way by acoustic bassist and producer Jimmy Sutton who is an acclaimed
Chicago musician with an established reputation for getting the most out of
artists who admire the music from rock's formative years. Engineer Alex Hall
- another lover of 50s rock - supplied all of the keyboard and drum work. To
keep it real the trio recorded every track on 1/4 inch analog tape at
Sutton's home studio.</div><div><br /></div><div>McPherson is a former art teacher who earned a masters degree from Tulsa
University in something called open media after his undergrad work in
experimental film was completed at the University of Oklahoma. Despite the
two degrees in visual media his first love has always been music.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can learn more about Mcpherson on his official
<a href="http://www.jdmcpherson.com/"><b>website</b></a>.<div><div><p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aZGn4LncY0g?si=K0S4rxwgTCwQA4Hd" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-46626912654191359692023-12-31T15:41:00.046-05:002024-01-16T19:29:01.304-05:00The 2023 Year-End Review<div class="separator">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdEhyphenhyphenNoAycLWAOlu7yPbWOT60PtkindfJ35Yrjs_-FuNIvlPXFvJFSrBj7U2FB58tJY6ZlyswDmZloJCTD_4DlTG4zdXDZWkJmSwR99Tym5I0rJn5QZNfH5HD7pjqbXE69j0XHDWhZYaAYw-O98uhhWjqxPSJln2YYBauOUI6ds6agKRNTkdH5g/s640/sylvester-7669293_640.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="640" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdEhyphenhyphenNoAycLWAOlu7yPbWOT60PtkindfJ35Yrjs_-FuNIvlPXFvJFSrBj7U2FB58tJY6ZlyswDmZloJCTD_4DlTG4zdXDZWkJmSwR99Tym5I0rJn5QZNfH5HD7pjqbXE69j0XHDWhZYaAYw-O98uhhWjqxPSJln2YYBauOUI6ds6agKRNTkdH5g/w400-h256/sylvester-7669293_640.jpg" width="400" /></a>
</div>
Once again, it's time to ring out the old year and ring in the new one.<div><br /></div><div>It's been several years since I've posted an end-of-year "best of" list. There
are two reasons I no longer do. First, I don't listen to nearly as much new
music as I used to back in the days when this blog almost exclusively featured
current releases. Secondly - and I have no idea why - almost nobody read
them.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, after recently perusing numerous music blogs this week that posted
their annual December retrospectives I've decided to feature a few of them
here for your reading pleasure. A couple of them are published by writers with
national reputations and others are by personal bloggers, like me, who have
smaller readerships.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have a blogroll located on my sidebar that you can access only by clicking on the
three parallel lines located at the top lefthand corner of my homepage. All of
the blogs mentioned in this post can be found there. Whenever bloggers post
something new their articles shoot to the top of the blogroll. If you're site is at least partially music related and you're interested in having yours included please get in touch
with me via my <b><a href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/p/outlook-contact.html" target="_blank">contact page</a></b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here then, in no particular order, are the year-end lists you may find
compelling.<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
Michelle Lindsey - a music blogger from Scotland - publishes
<b>Highway Queens</b>, a site that only discusses women artists,
mostly in country and Americana. Fans of Dolly Parton may enjoy Michelle's
opinion on
<b><a href="https://highwayqueens.com/category/dolly-parton/" target="_blank">every album the Tennessee star ever recorded</a></b> - including the recently released and questionable
<b>Rockstar</b>.<b> </b>Also, take a look at her <b><a href="https://highwayqueens.com/2023/12/30/favourite-albums-of-the-year-2023/" target="_blank">Favourite Albums of the Year 2023</a></b>.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<b>Culture Sonar</b> is a blog featuring new looks at "......<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Oxygen;"><i>the stuff you grew up with - while also trying to look ahead. We’re
aiming for fresh takes on familiar things, and tips on emerging
artists we think you’ll enjoy."</i></span><i style="font-family: Oxygen;"> </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Be sure to read their detailed analysis on the music of the Fab Four in
their series,
<b><a href="https://shop.culturesonar.com/collections/deconstructing-the-beatles" target="_blank">Deconstructing The Beatles</a></b>. Also, check out their list of <b><a href="https://www.culturesonar.com/2023-singer-songwriters-you-need-to-know/" target="_blank">2023 Singer/Songwriters You Need To Know</a></b>. Most are new to me but they also discuss Paul Simon's most recent,
critically acclaimed album.</span>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jeff Gemmill, proprietor of <b><a href="https://oldgreycat.blog/2023/12/29/remember-december-to-the-one-of-fictive-music-aka-these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-posts-2023-edition/" target="_blank">The Old Grey Cat</a></b></span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><https: a="" cat="" grey="" he="" old="" oldgreycat.blog="" remember-december-to-the-one-of-fictive-music-aka-these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-posts-2023-edition="">,</https:></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> highlights his five favorite posts of 2023 from
his own blog. Jeff is
another well-rounded writer with seriously eclectic tastes.</span>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bruce Warren, Program Director of </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://xpn.org/" target="_blank">WXPN</a></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">, the non-commercial FM radio station licensed to the University of
Pennsylvania has a </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://somevelvetblog.substack.com/p/best-of-shmest-of-favorite-music" target="_blank">Substack</a></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">
page listing his favorite records of 2023. It could be the most diverse
list you'll run across this year.</span>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you don't think Bruce Warren's list is eclectic enough for you try
another Substack poster, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who is also a major
player over at
<b><a href="https://www.allmusic.com/" target="_blank">AllMusic</a></b>. Erlewine is offering something a little different than most
year-enders, it's <b><a href="https://sterlewine.substack.com/p/stes-best-reissues-of-2023" target="_blank">STE's Best Reissues of 2023</a></b>. It has a lot of good stuff to read, especially if you're a fan of
Nick Lowe and Brinsley Schwarz.</span>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here, in no particular order, are the twenty-four best music releases
for this year according to <a href="https://daveschneier.wixsite.com/davesmixtape/post/the-best-music-of-2023" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Dave's Mix Tape</a>, </span>another interesting blog.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, it's not too late to get up-to-date on this year's new
Christmas albums and re-issues. As he does every year, my long-time
friend and fellow blogger, Bill - who may love Christmas music more than
I do, if that's possible - offers
<a href="https://billsmusicblog.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-best-christmas-music-of-2023-check.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">his recommendations</a><b> </b>for this year. Perk up your ears and plan ahead for next
year's holiday mirth.</span>
</li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-73017975194978673722023-12-22T07:05:00.004-05:002023-12-23T17:15:36.912-05:00Yogi Yorgesson - I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas (1949)<i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;">This post first appeared here eleven Decembers ago, and since
we're all looking to add a little class to our holidays I'm rerunning it now. Enjoy the humor and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.</span></i>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><i><br /></i></span>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYW1Ae7PGZiHO6o-IUUBcbDFbQ8msfZnciuwaxysXxgzYokE9zKrDdEHeQpeVhYDt84nPVEVm0YYVSqjuq2oZGmT6XUlvV8ZQ90SMpbJLknKLuq0xRPuHmjw9PmZI6gdAK1Tf/s1600/yogiyorgesson.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYW1Ae7PGZiHO6o-IUUBcbDFbQ8msfZnciuwaxysXxgzYokE9zKrDdEHeQpeVhYDt84nPVEVm0YYVSqjuq2oZGmT6XUlvV8ZQ90SMpbJLknKLuq0xRPuHmjw9PmZI6gdAK1Tf/s320/yogiyorgesson.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
Singer-comedian Yogi Yorgesson's real name was Harry Stewart (1908 – 1956).
Yorgesson was simply a persona the latter used to release over forty songs
for Capitol Records beginning in 1949.
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Stewart was originally a radio announcer in the late 1920s in Tacoma,
Washington where he invented an act featuring Yorgesson in the mid-30s.
Stewart later took his shtick to night clubs where the Swedish character
evolved over the years.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally - in 1948 - Stewart became a singer and recorded two songs under the Yorgesson name. When the sides proved
successful Capitol Records picked up his contract and the following year
they released "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas" with "Yingle Bells" as the B
side. The novelty tune became a big seasonal hit. Billed as Yogi
Yorgesson with the Johnny Duffy Trio, the 78 RPM disc sold over one
million copies nationally and became a certified gold record.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Eventually, the song was forgotten until Dr. Demento regularly featured it
on his syndicated 1970s radio show. Since then, it has achieved status as
a real Christmas cult classic.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Almost everyone who hears Yorgesson's most famous song will tell you it's
hysterical. His Swedish accent is obviously fake but good enough for
listeners to get the joke. Both the song and the arrangement with its
cheesy organ lead sound quite dated today but that is part of its charm.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lyrically, "Yust Go Nuts" is as current now as it was back in '49. The
singer spins a yarn about a blockheaded husband who buys a carpet sweeper
for his wife instead of a nightgown as a present because he doesn't know
her size. The second half of the song tells the tale of relatives who
really can't stand each other gathering together only once a year at
Christmas and trying unsuccessfully to co-exist on the big day.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
In addition to Yorgesson, Stewart included other fake ethnic characters in
his repertoire, most notably Harry Kari of Japan and a German named Klaus
Hammerschmidt.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Stewart's career ended in 1956 when he was killed in a car accident.<br />
<br />
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<p></p>
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</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-34508037009504640132023-12-17T13:18:00.001-05:002023-12-17T13:52:39.762-05:00Samara Joy - A Joyful Holiday (2023) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndlF1R9eRgeh0H17iv6hXbNmcPgauedv5tdWFFL63m7uHUzILMTvL8nVN98I1u2Zy3hQTJGI_MeaBZEbWZW5u4iTNiaUgP8wEV3mLUgqBIzACzzZpvzVYDPfJC69ubWx-wtveYfyFPPcn4V-OXE84GrgHOoUCWpjgb3J0gZxJ67_VrYXR82gcuA/s1500/917jjtAPmUL._SL1500_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndlF1R9eRgeh0H17iv6hXbNmcPgauedv5tdWFFL63m7uHUzILMTvL8nVN98I1u2Zy3hQTJGI_MeaBZEbWZW5u4iTNiaUgP8wEV3mLUgqBIzACzzZpvzVYDPfJC69ubWx-wtveYfyFPPcn4V-OXE84GrgHOoUCWpjgb3J0gZxJ67_VrYXR82gcuA/s320/917jjtAPmUL._SL1500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>If you've never heard jazz vocalist <a href="https://www.samarajoy.com/" target="_blank"><b>Samara Joy McLendon</b> </a>sing before you'll swear that the
2023 Grammy winner for Best New Artist is way older than twenty-four years
old because she's a fully mature talent who sounds much older
than her age. To show you how far she has come in such a short time the songstress also won an additional trophy this year for Best Jazz Vocal Album for her
second full length record, <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Linger-Awhile-Samara-Joy/dp/B0B82VTDX5" target="_blank">Linger Awhile</a></b>. <div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Comparisons can be made to the renowned jazz divas of the Great
American Songbook. Joy's voice has the soulfulness of Billie Holiday and the smoothness of Ella Fitzgerald.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Bronx native was raised on gospel music. She sang in church, then
discovered jazz and recorded two albums of pop and jazz standards during the
last two years before her brand new, six-song, Christmas EP, <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Linger-Awhile-Samara-Joy/dp/B0B82VTDX5/ref=pd_bxgy_img_d_sccl_2/133-5806103-3110117?pd_rd_w=cBh7R&content-id=amzn1.sym.839d7715-b862-4989-8f65-c6f9502d15f9&pf_rd_p=839d7715-b862-4989-8f65-c6f9502d15f9&pf_rd_r=0RFCY37CT2RJ9TJ567ND&pd_rd_wg=GUiLR&pd_rd_r=dfc0104f-eea0-464d-8892-5759011315e0&pd_rd_i=B0B82VTDX5&psc=1" target="_blank">A Joyful Holiday</a> </b>was released in October.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
On this fine holiday set, the rising star was assisted by her regular quartet and
her well-known, gospel performing family members: her grandfather, <b><a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/elder-goldwire-mclendon-mn0002882168#biography" target="_blank">Elder Goldwire McLendon</a></b>; her father, Antonio McLendon; an uncle and two cousins.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Joy just doesn't mine the well of tiresome old Christmas standards. She
opens the EP with a seasonal song that Julie London recorded in 1956, "Warm
In December," then moves on to a Motown ballad, "Twinkle Twinkle, Little
Me," that both Stevie Wonder and The Supremes released in the 60s. The
latter features only Joy on vocals and a quite talented pianist, <b><a href="https://www.sullivanfortnermusic.com/" target="_blank">Sullivan Fortner</a></b>.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Next are two perennial pop favorites, "The Christmas Song" and "Have
Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" both done in quiet, laid-back renditions
where the star really gets a chance to show off her abundant talent.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Joy included a gospel version of "O Holy Night" with her family on vocals
and only Fortner's Hammond B-3 as accompaniment. This version is terrific, but you
have to be at least a little partial to the genre to fully appreciate it.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The last track is a live reprise of "The Christmas Song" where Joy shared lead vocals with her father.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<p></p>
<center>
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</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-23413892305260880652023-12-12T07:00:00.051-05:002024-01-05T15:31:07.946-05:00Philip Norman - George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle (2023)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbXGiadit4o_pTKSPORwoUGHEIM1W7qpsADJJr-Hx5Q7GMCpTOlSOYIAGOrbIrN2eF9XVzy5bhSKpSiPW8Rcm2A5efl2Ap7o_C8hHItog1woxqpKONFGbIM8iai-BnI_VKAQ3vl-8Ih8rGvwE-E9KgPNgR7KK_Nl4uX5Nu6Cg2SD69r3w_9tumQ/s500/s-l500.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="403" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbXGiadit4o_pTKSPORwoUGHEIM1W7qpsADJJr-Hx5Q7GMCpTOlSOYIAGOrbIrN2eF9XVzy5bhSKpSiPW8Rcm2A5efl2Ap7o_C8hHItog1woxqpKONFGbIM8iai-BnI_VKAQ3vl-8Ih8rGvwE-E9KgPNgR7KK_Nl4uX5Nu6Cg2SD69r3w_9tumQ/w305-h403/s-l500.jpg" width="305" /></a>
</div>
Until Mark Lewisohn came out with his massive and magnificent tome,
<b><a href="https://www.marklewisohn.net/tune-in/" target="_blank">All The Years: Volume 1 - Tune In</a>, </b>in 2013 Philip Norman released the best Beatles biography,
<b><a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Shout!/Philip-Norman/9780743235655" target="_blank">Shout! The Beatles In Their Generation</a> </b>way back in 1981.
<div>
<br />
<div>
Lewisohn's book is a must read for all Beatle fanatics but Norman is a
Beatles scholar too. In addition to <b>Shout!</b> and his brand new George
Harrison biography he has also written separate books about the lives of
John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Is Ringo Starr next?
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Norman's <b><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/10/28/george-harrison-reluctant-beatle-book/" target="_blank">George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle</a></b> starts off slowly for anyone who has read earlier, more detailed
histories of the world's most famous band. To me, the first half is mostly a
collection of warmed-over facts that are only marginally pointed in
Harrison's direction. If you've never read a Beatles biography before this
book serves as a good introduction to their story, but for a full dose of
Fab Four history you'd be better off reading Lewisohn's book first or
<b>Shout!</b> if you prefer something shorter.
</div>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>The legendary band's break-up enabled
Harrison to lead a more private life, and that is exactly what he wanted. The man was
never an anti-social recluse. He just never sought out the press that
hounded his daily existence for so long.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, Norman spends less time on George's post-Beatles life and career presumably under the assumption that his group's formative years and the crazy decade of superstardom that followed are what readers are mostly interested in even though his later years are far less documented.</div><div><br /></div>
<div>
<b> The Reluctant Beatle</b> covers Harrison's hardscrabble, early life when
he lived in a home with both parents, two brothers, and a sister that did not
include an indoor bathroom. Even though he grew up the poorest of the four future
legends he had the most stable home life. His mother, Louise Harrison, was the
antithesis of John's Aunt Mimi. She actually embraced his Beatledom and
encouraged his career. Louise even helped promote the band when she could.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Post-Beatles, Harrison acquired a varied list of accomplishments including <b>All Things Must Pass</b>; his famous charity event, the <b>Concert For Bangladesh</b>; and organizing The Traveling Wilburys. He became a movie
producer who worked with Monty Python and Madonna. He also loved Formula One and Grand Prix auto racing and actually got behind the wheel of a fast car to drive a few high speed laps.</div><div><br /></div><div>The guitarist's dark side is not glossed over. We learn that despite his
devotion to Hinduism he was a <i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;">"serial philanderer."</span></i> Among
his conquests were Ringo Starr's first wife, Maureen, yet the two ex-Beatles
remained steadfast friends. He meditated but partook in copious amounts of
illicit drugs. He also suffered from bouts of moodiness that appeared to
increase the more he meditated.</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
One of the recurring themes throughout the book is Harrison's relationship
with the other Beatles. During most of their conjoined lives a warm
friendship existed. Like The Three Musketeers, they were <span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><i>"One for all and all for one,"</i></span> but at the same time the youngest of the group often felt he was treated
like a little brother, a seemingly condescending term McCartney actually used to describe their
friendship.</div><div><br /></div><div>It wasn't just his bandmates. Others close to the foursome also gave Harrison less respect than he deserved. Even producer George Martin later admitted that he was rather
<span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><i>"beastly"</i></span> to George.</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
To further prove how underappreciated Harrison was, Frank Sinatra recorded
"Something" in 1970 and often performed it live. He said it was
<span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><i>"the greatest love song of the last fifty years"</i></span> but he mistakenly credited it to Lennon-McCartney. It took Ol' Blue Eyes until 1978 to
rectify his mistake.
</div><div><br /></div><div>Sadly, the book inevitably ends with the rocker's depressing last few years that saw declining health and a sickening, murderous attempt on his life.</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Norman never asked for the cooperation of Harrison's immediate family - his
widow, Olivia, or their son, Dhani - because of a <b><a href="https://pizzaandfairytales.tumblr.com/post/4662158418/philip-normans-obituary-for-george-harrison" target="_blank">scathingly negative obituary</a> </b>he wrote in the <b>Sunday Times</b> of London after the Beatle's passing in
2001 that he willingly discusses at the end of the narrative and that he now very
much regrets. However, many other important figures - including Harrison's
first wife, an unselfishly cooperative Patti Boyd - gave the author their
time.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<b>George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle </b>is a fine book even if it's not the best Beatles
biography ever written - there are numerous typographical errors that editors never corrected - but if you want to dig deeper into the life of the man
who wrote the magnificent "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and other Beatles
classics like "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun" you may want to pick up
Norman's new new book.
<p></p>
<center>
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<p></p>
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</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-18075288658442734122023-12-05T11:50:00.002-05:002023-12-05T17:40:15.368-05:00885 Greatest Songs By Women: #1, Judy Garland - Over The Rainbow (1939)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMa6RPNf8Ce57bPNDEw-z1xbSNA-sw1LFDrSVPDj-cQr0vXoeHH826xTv1dLMTZORmsXCzqTatcDAI-ZsVpI9litfi3hmK09IhN3ZEl0h3kLgpIgxIg7Ir3NQyAyRLXC6mfRnMTQXY02w6o6mIv-LlBDt6WPcyS4_EfwF_O1pabxlYlC2poIeDA/s737/5062d66376886de1e3e4b1cae68526c6--originals-cast-lp-cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMa6RPNf8Ce57bPNDEw-z1xbSNA-sw1LFDrSVPDj-cQr0vXoeHH826xTv1dLMTZORmsXCzqTatcDAI-ZsVpI9litfi3hmK09IhN3ZEl0h3kLgpIgxIg7Ir3NQyAyRLXC6mfRnMTQXY02w6o6mIv-LlBDt6WPcyS4_EfwF_O1pabxlYlC2poIeDA/s320/5062d66376886de1e3e4b1cae68526c6--originals-cast-lp-cover.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
I don't know where to begin. "Over The Rainbow" is my favorite song from
<b>The Wizard Of Oz</b> - my all-time favorite movie - and I <b><i>HATE</i></b> most musicals. As a child I fell in love with the film, the music, even Judy
Garland as Dorothy. Many decades later I feel the same way about this masterwork
of fantasy films.
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Beginning in 1956, and for many years afterward, the 1939 classic was shown on
TV every year with gargantuan ratings, and in this era before home video and
streaming were available I had to watch it on network TV every year.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
I believed that Garland's performance of "Over The Rainbow" was so wonderful
that I never wanted to hear anyone else sing it. Cover versions just never
rang true, and I've often said a law should be passed preventing anyone else
from ever singing it. Immunity will only be given to
<b><a href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/2011/05/forgotten-music-thursday-who-is-israel.html" target="_blank">Israel <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kamakawiwo'ole</span></span></a></b> (better known as Iz) for his Hawaiian folk version performed solo on a
ukulele.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
"Over the Rainbow" was written specifically for the film by renowned American
composer Harold Arlen - who wrote hundreds of songs - and lyricist E. Y.
Harburg. It won an Oscar for Best Original Song.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Just a few minutes into the movie Dorothy becomes quite upset because of an
encounter she and her dog, Toto, had with the mean Almira Gulch portrayed by
<b>Margaret Hamilton</b> who turns into the Wicked Witch Of The West flying on
a broom during the tornado sequence. The teenager wants to leave Kansas with
Toto for someplace more desirable and this longing leads her to sing "Over The
Rainbow," the absolute musical highlight of this or any other film.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Garland recorded a studio version of the song in 1939 that was commercially
released on a 78 RPM record by Decca in 1940, but it's not the version that
appeared in <b>The Wizard Of Oz</b>. The one we all know and love from the
movie was never available in record stores until 1956 when MGM issued the
original soundtrack on a 33 1/3 RPM record, the same year the movie premiered
on CBS television.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Garland and "Over The Rainbow" were inseparable for the rest of her life and
she always tried to perform it as she did in the movie.
<div>
<p></p>
<center>
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</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-70923066470904991732023-11-30T07:16:00.009-05:002023-11-30T07:55:58.724-05:00885 Greatest Songs By Women & Almost Hits: #2, Brandi Carlile - The Story (2007)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4PKjCVMy6-_5sNaTFT_2lTLcpzzWSamK-Kp7bpertTacCQbSxKTHYKTUHH9zScGo56sqpCyjeiXvIyOIU6W7oKZuIAkg-ySbMEL3kWQgpRiwppdCv_BSw9f0ICCV-5TTPm-m/s1600-h/thestory.bmp" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051625176877385682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4PKjCVMy6-_5sNaTFT_2lTLcpzzWSamK-Kp7bpertTacCQbSxKTHYKTUHH9zScGo56sqpCyjeiXvIyOIU6W7oKZuIAkg-ySbMEL3kWQgpRiwppdCv_BSw9f0ICCV-5TTPm-m/w400-h400/thestory.bmp" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" width="400" /></a>We all know that record sales are not calculated the same way they were
thirty years ago when people were still buying physical copies of the
music they loved. Things have changed so much in the modern era of
streaming that it's much harder to gauge the popularity of a track today,
but even with knowing that my favorite song of the 21st Century deserved a
better fate. It's also the most current song to appear on this countdown.<div><br /></div>
<div>
Sadly, Brandi Carlile's best known single, "The Story," is her only one
to ever score a place on Billboard's Hot 100 where it only climbed to
#75. Fortunately, the album of the same name did better. It peaked at
#41 and that was good enough to earn the young singer-songwriter a gold
record.
<div>
<div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Produced by the great T-Bone Burnett, "The Story" - written by
Carlile's close friend and bandmate, bassist Phil Hanseroth -
straddles the boundaries of folk and rock in a way that most
records do not, and that is what helps make it a classic. At
around :55 into the record Carlile's vocals and personality change
completely. The song begins with a sweet voiced folksinger at the
mic and then, switching into true Bessie Smith mode, she becomes a
hard rocking blues belter as the arrangement changes instantly
from soft, acoustic guitar strumming to amps cranked up to ten.
Her voice couldn't be more versatile.
</div>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
"The Story" is a love song that has all of the ingredients an
outstanding one needs: great lyrics and sentiment, as well as
excellent musicianship played with emotion that matches the words.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The song gained a lot of traction by being featured on <b>Grey's
Anatomy</b> in 2007. Carlile also performed it on the late night shows
of Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. It also appeared in a General Motors
TV commercial that ran during the 2008 Summer Olympics.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
There have been several cover versions, most notably by
<b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi_XPQ4tq40" target="_blank">Dolly Parton</a></b>
and LeAnn Rimes.
</div>
<div>
<center>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: inherit;">______________________________________</span>
</center>
<span style="background-color: white;"><p>
<i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;">Almost Hits is an occasional exploration into songs that
failed to reach the top 20 on the American <span style="color: #202122; font-weight: bolder;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Billboard Hot 100</a></span><span style="color: #202122;">. </span>Many have become
classics despite what their chart position would
indicate.</span></i>
</p></span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: bold;">
<p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o8pQLtHTPaI" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-77803190551642071772023-11-24T13:38:00.000-05:002023-11-24T13:38:53.486-05:00885 Greatest Songs By Women: #3, Kim Richey - Every River (1997)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33rjypTV2tLO99zbd6hJd6jT1co0CEyADD_DxAU1kBve9oR_eYbDkRkWsDeMDbwUbnKg_NEXEZ3u_lH7kKhAiD0O1GEZDK2gAuzX4sbM017roWwT98pnXeVfWzHKyTh1-NaAhCV-q6frWCEYN3sphOYV1ZzHG1c4YdmhClBbbFZhZmguiTt3tnQ/s500/kim%20richey.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33rjypTV2tLO99zbd6hJd6jT1co0CEyADD_DxAU1kBve9oR_eYbDkRkWsDeMDbwUbnKg_NEXEZ3u_lH7kKhAiD0O1GEZDK2gAuzX4sbM017roWwT98pnXeVfWzHKyTh1-NaAhCV-q6frWCEYN3sphOYV1ZzHG1c4YdmhClBbbFZhZmguiTt3tnQ/s320/kim%20richey.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Kim Richey has to be the least known of all the great female artists appearing
on this countdown. In case you're not familiar with this fine singer-songwriter, she has a heavenly voice that perfectly suits the songs she
composes. Quite often they're about the sadder
side of love. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Richey is considered a country artist, but because she lacks the sometimes off-putting twangy guitars and southern accent - she's from Ohio - listeners who don't favor country music may find her appealing. Her later efforts have almost no country in them at all.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">On her second and most successful album,
<b>Bitter Sweet</b>,<b> </b>Richey opens<b> </b>with "Every River." <span style="background-color: white;">The rollicking beat and her tight electric band blend well with the lyrics to make a
perfect song. </span>For the uninitiated it's a great introduction to her long career. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">On "Every River" Richey reassures her lover that she'll always be there for
him even if he has doubts after being spurned by a previous partner. <i style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><span style="background-color: white;">When the day comes that I don't love you, </span></span></i><i style="font-family: Oxygen; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;">Every star will fall out of the sky, </span></i><i style="font-family: Oxygen; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;">And every mountain will tumble down, </span></i><i style="font-family: Oxygen; text-align: center;">And every river run dry."</i></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><div style="font-family: Oxygen; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">
<i style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></i>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This cowrite with Angelo Petraglia and Tom Littlefield - which was never a single - received more
commercial success when it was covered by Brooks and Dunn who took it to #12
on the country charts and #75 on the Hot 100. It was also covered by the
mostly forgotten British Invasion band, The Searchers, and Irish folksinger
Maura O'Connell.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is Richey playing "Every River" live in 2017 with a performance that closely resembles her record.<p>
</p><center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c1y64k-5gOo?si=kdAEZYkF1XpJk4eL" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-70559244956569966422023-11-18T07:00:00.056-05:002023-11-18T10:22:54.675-05:00885 Greatest Songs By Women: #4, Carpenters - Goodbye To Love (1972)<div class="separator">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIzqGlg0mPKWAw8mL3mhPO4kykbQO4c19AUKMUAyEGi70pcWay_K41bpHxJaDSwqEapMOmOP3sVJThGjXKz_IgKNZsjjk2CrcHLA0ld1UWhuEk3j3GY-59CPrz9mgd5Vf7Thzdz9YC6tA6WFnuCkw67_umQucfbxEQqH-4I_uF3jE0MZof9v6bg/s273/Goodbye_to_Love.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="271" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIzqGlg0mPKWAw8mL3mhPO4kykbQO4c19AUKMUAyEGi70pcWay_K41bpHxJaDSwqEapMOmOP3sVJThGjXKz_IgKNZsjjk2CrcHLA0ld1UWhuEk3j3GY-59CPrz9mgd5Vf7Thzdz9YC6tA6WFnuCkw67_umQucfbxEQqH-4I_uF3jE0MZof9v6bg/w318-h320/Goodbye_to_Love.jpg" width="318" /></a>
</div>
It has been written here several times before about the love-hate relationship I
have with the <a href="https://bloggerhythms.blogspot.com/search/label/Carpenters" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Carpenters</a><b></b>, the brother and sister duo who achieved great commercial success in the 1970s. While I recognized the rare beauty of Karen
Carpenter's voice I also lamented the outright dreck the duo often recorded - especially "Sing," a children's song originally featured on <b>Sesame Street</b>.<b> </b>It didn't complement their more sophisticated work at
all - hits such as "Superstar," and album tracks like "A Song
For You," and "This Masquerade," both composed by Leon Russell.<div><br /></div>
<div>
The young siblings greatest moment came when they woke up and realized they
were making music during what would eventually become the first great era of
classic rock. The result was their #7 hit, "Goodbye To Love," released off of
their finest album, <b>A Song For You</b> in 1972.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<div>
According to the DVD documentary, <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Close-You-Remembering-Herb-Alpert/dp/6304861702" target="_blank">Close To You: Remembering The Carpenters</a></b>, their late guitarist, Tony Peluso, said that Richard Carpenter decided to include two
fuzz guitar solos in the song that the sideman believed were influential in the creation
of power ballads. I believe it's a dubious boast - at best. The late Peluso only took a
small amount of credit for playing the notes on the record. He made sure Carpenter
received proper accolades because the older sibling was the one with the great idea.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Richard Carpenter - the duo's arranger and keyboard player - said his inspiration
for the song came to him while watching the movie <b>Rhythm On The River</b> on TV. It's a 1940 Bing Crosby flick in which he played the part of a
composer who wrote a song called "Goodbye To Love." Carpenter said,<i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">"You never hear "Goodbye To Love" in the movie, they just keep referring to
it."</span></span></i><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">He</span><span style="font-family: Oxygen;"> </span>wrote the melody and the
first four lines, then he gave it to lyricist John Bettis to complete.
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Oxygen;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
Carpenter said that Karen and he received hate mail for including electric, rock guitar on a love ballad. Regardless, the song is a work to be
proud of and it forced me to respect them more than I ever did previously until they ruined it all the following year with that stupid
<b>Sesame Street </b>song.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Below is a video featuring "Goodbye To Love" followed by an exert from the DVD
where Carpenter and Peluso discuss its creation.
</div>
<div>
<p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-o32mt_PvmI?si=E8Rqzm2rmUWOzo0x" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</center>
<p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5R3_YBitSZo?si=vzLHkefGvaZI49HH" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-38562389908035836022023-11-12T07:16:00.004-05:002023-11-12T10:21:58.506-05:00885 Greatest Songs by Women: #5, Joan Baez - Simple Twist Of Fate (1975) <p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Eyzr4Xzw1Jqi61W9LIV6K6n4FnfsWPDkJQ7sCLLLnoo6BAqbM2Li98WVopIvHYTV3kBrxTrUSaXO6zUTSinG4SNQTYmhF2HF8Kb0QNtIHbpfjZlV4rVhvvQJMbb9_mcnZIPIDsmyls0GGnFSX6cSYl8Oi3_YT-pfCheBdDqqrK4apmi_41MZOw/s300/Diamonds_&_Rust_(Joan_Baez_album_-_cover_art).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Eyzr4Xzw1Jqi61W9LIV6K6n4FnfsWPDkJQ7sCLLLnoo6BAqbM2Li98WVopIvHYTV3kBrxTrUSaXO6zUTSinG4SNQTYmhF2HF8Kb0QNtIHbpfjZlV4rVhvvQJMbb9_mcnZIPIDsmyls0GGnFSX6cSYl8Oi3_YT-pfCheBdDqqrK4apmi_41MZOw/w320-h320/Diamonds_&_Rust_(Joan_Baez_album_-_cover_art).jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
Joan Baez's cover of Bob Dylan's "Simple Twist Of Fate" was never a single, but
it became one of the better known tracks from her classic
<b>Diamonds & Rust </b>LP.
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The whole album was more commercial than Baez's earlier work, and as a result
it became one of her best selling and best loved releases. It achieved gold
status and rose to #11 on Billboard's chart of the 200 best selling albums.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>It was obvious Baez was trying to
expand her fan base, and more than a few of her earlier devotees were annoyed
she was selling her soul to "the man."
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div><div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In Baez's hands, Dylan's classic tune from <b>Blood On the Tracks</b> is not treated as a folk ballad. Instead, the track possessed many similarities to the 70s, singer-songwriter
sub-genre that was highly popular at the time. Because this up-tempo
version of "Simple Twist Of Fate" was more accessible than Baez's previous
work it received a considerable amount of airplay on adult-rock and
soft-rock FM radio stations, two very important formats in the
1970s.</span>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I always liked Dylan. I stopped gasping at his singing a long time ago. While lyrics are always very important to a song the music always comes first. If I don't like your "sound" I won't ever care what you have to say, so for those of you who can't listen to the songwriting genius from Minnesota because of his highly unusual vocal style Baez provides you with an opportunity to listen to a great song with a great singer taking charge.</span></span>
</div>
<div><br /></div><div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Baez employed a group of all-stars to back her on the album. Jazzmen Larry
Carlton on lead guitar and keyboard player Joe Sample contributed heavily to
its success. The star also used the
<b><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/17/1164142924/jim-gordon-a-famed-session-drummer-who-killed-mother-dies" target="_blank">notorious drummer Jim Gordon</a></b>
who played on the classic double disc,
<b>Layla and Assorted Other Love Songs</b>, by the short-lived but much
heralded blues-rock outfit Derek and The Dominoes that featured both Eric
Clapton and guest Duane Allman.
</span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Most listeners will notice a personality trait Baez rarely exposes in her
music - a sense of humor. The activist's work is often ultra-serious, most
likely due to her complete devotion to many social and political causes, but
on "Simple Twist Of Fate" she performs a remarkably good Dylan impression
that is even more extraordinary because of her beautiful, feminine voice. It
definitely brought a smile to my face.
</span>
<p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hkKC_nFslsQ?si=IMya7FRWmGS8wbcs" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-91828786581908751852023-11-06T07:00:00.020-05:002023-11-06T08:07:22.184-05:00885 Greatest Songs By Women: #6, The Supremes - I Hear A Symphony (1965)<div class="separator"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh94XdgcpfrzevWJ_Skog6oIn7YqQjqSlRMWWXkOSO8NsKLgHHxdQIk2aFCoVCkjcuMUGcOmxzEBtkxSV71g9HK-3z73X3w3JqkpppD_gEiPdGOiUQhJp2ClY1_Tschv07FYRie9XwL4VocB4gz_cXxZ73bsSUv_32bkeIt7TLBcoetVDPM7u1K7w/s1428/symphony.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1428" data-original-width="1428" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh94XdgcpfrzevWJ_Skog6oIn7YqQjqSlRMWWXkOSO8NsKLgHHxdQIk2aFCoVCkjcuMUGcOmxzEBtkxSV71g9HK-3z73X3w3JqkpppD_gEiPdGOiUQhJp2ClY1_Tschv07FYRie9XwL4VocB4gz_cXxZ73bsSUv_32bkeIt7TLBcoetVDPM7u1K7w/s320/symphony.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Along with my life-long obsession with The Beatles and my love of Southern California's Laurel Canyon sound Motown always possessed a big chunk of my heart during their powerhouse years of the 1960s.<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Detroit hit factory's biggest act was The Supremes, and in November 1965
Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard earned the top spot on the
Billboard Hot 100 for the sixth time with "I Hear A Symphony."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On "Symphony" The Funk Brothers and composers Holland-Dozier-Holland took
Motown productions to a whole new level. It's a good thing they did because
Motown President, Berry Gordy, was angry that the trio's previous single,
"Nothing But Heartaches" broke their streak of five consecutive chart
toppers. It failed to reach the top ten, peaking only at #11.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Gordy then issued this directive, "<i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Oxygen;">We will release nothing less than Top Ten product on any artist; and
because the Supremes' world-wide acceptance is greater than the other
artists, on them we will only release number one records."</span></i>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">The 45 RPM disc was unique and had a very cool introduction that no top 40 disc jockey should have ever been allowed to talk over. </span>It was part of a fresher and a more sophisticated arrangement
than Motown hits of the mid-60s normally possessed. It returned the ladies to #1
at a time when their records were beginning to sound the same.</span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;">The single used one of my favorite musical devices. I've always had a
soft spot for songs that begin softly and grow in intensity as they
progress. Classical lovers familiar with Maurice Ravel's Bolero will know
exactly what I mean, so will classic rock fans familiar with "Telegraph Road" by Dire Straits or Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Here the trio sings the hit version of their song followed by a live
1965 performance on the TV show, Hullabaloo.</span>
</div>
<div>
<p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zcylDkRw7dg?si=cyvI15t2z8I56c8a" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</center>
<p></p>
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bpL1TTxffO0?si=D8jHOGzcWOoCgEpf" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12331855.post-60757291630344880382023-11-02T14:07:00.021-04:002023-12-14T16:38:49.086-05:00The Beatles - Now and Then (2023)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvaWnezmFAd5z3fyRNYTRG18thP_FwOX0KX1oeb3P1dnP-46RcqYgOegiiO8ZxtG2DgL-vnXc6aAKy-nMT2rgL6WJq_xR8tke-2F84t6bFNZbBK6xRPpgr2xlFsOG6hWm6XEnGAoAFodLLIqW9uDw3AbksAgNB0MZWPSImVvJdVMBQO99phK3Zw/s1500/910xJcinDlL._SL1500_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvaWnezmFAd5z3fyRNYTRG18thP_FwOX0KX1oeb3P1dnP-46RcqYgOegiiO8ZxtG2DgL-vnXc6aAKy-nMT2rgL6WJq_xR8tke-2F84t6bFNZbBK6xRPpgr2xlFsOG6hWm6XEnGAoAFodLLIqW9uDw3AbksAgNB0MZWPSImVvJdVMBQO99phK3Zw/s320/910xJcinDlL._SL1500_.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
It's ironic that both The Rolling Stones and The Beatles released new music less
than three weeks apart. It's just like the old days.
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The Stones' new one is <b>Hackney Diamonds </b>- a full length album
- while the Fab Four's "Now and Then," is one final song that Paul McCartney
has wanted to complete for decades. It's been forty-four years since John
Lennon put the unfinished tune on a cassette that Yoko Ono gave to the three
surviving Beatles to complete for their anthology series in the mid-nineties.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<b>Anthology One</b> opened with "Free As A Bird," an unfinished Lennon song
that McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr completed with the help of
producer Jeff Lynne. They also turned "Real Love - a second Lennon track -
into a genuine Beatles song for <b>Anthology Two</b>.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
When the three ex-Beatles started working on "Now And Then" it was
supposed to be the opening track of the third compilation, but Harrison didn't
like the song so it was abandoned.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The original, primitive recording contains just Lennon's voice and piano. At the time they couldn't be separated properly to make a crisp, final mix which is
another reason the song remained in the vaults. The cassette
also had an annoying buzz that couldn't be filtered out.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fortunately, new AI
technology has since been developed, and Peter Jackson - the man behind the
<b>Get Back</b> documentary - was finally able to make the tape usable. That allowed Starr and McCartney to enter a studio last year and complete it for
release.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The new single includes electric and acoustic guitar from Harrison. McCartney
added bass, additional piano and some slide guitar as a tribute to Harrison, and
Starr added new drum and percussion parts. Lennon and McCartney share lead
vocals. McCartney and Giles Martin produced a string arrangement that at the very end of the record sounds like it could have been cherrypicked off of either "I am the Walrus" or "Strawberry Fields Forever," and the multi-instrumentalist and drummer augmented the sessions with their backing vocals.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
For those of you who may not think "Now and Then" is a true Beatles production
because of how the song was created, constructed and completed I would have to
argue with you. It's actually more of a Fab Four work than a lot of songs that had The Beatles name attached to them. All four Beatles had a hand
in making this long awaited finale - something that can't be said about
classics such as "Yesterday," "Blackbird," "Julia," and a few other
tunes on <b>Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</b>, <b>The White Album</b> and<b> Abbey Road</b>.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Upon hearing "Now and Then" for the first time it sounded like a slow dirge,
but after three more immediate listens to the cluttered arrangement I quickly realized how The Beatles' uncanny penchant for composing easily hummable melodies was in full bloom and towered over anything else they have ever put into a song.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
I'll let you decide if "Now and Then" was worth the wait. The verdict
here is that while it will never become an immortal Beatles track I'm glad it has finally been made available to the public. It's good enough to be a deep track on one of their albums, and that's good enough for me.
<p></p>
<center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Opxhh9Oh3rg?si=jCFvJIahPhI0T4Gh" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1