Bloggerhythms

You've probably only heard Israel (a. k. a. Iz) Kamakawiwo'ole's most famous song, "Somewhere over the Rainbow," on TV commercials or in a handful of movies. The tune features Iz's gorgeous vocal accompanied only by his solo ukulele. My love of his version of the classic song is second only to Judy Garland’s original from The Wizard of Oz . Iz recorded the song twice. The longer version combines Garland's classic with Louis Armstrong’s "It's a Wonderful World" and it's the one I prefer. The shorter track features just "Rainbow" without Armstrong’s hit. Recently, the song rode to the top of the charts in Germany even though it was first recorded for his 1993 CD, Facing Future . By selling 1,000,000 copies it is the first album in history by a Hawaiian artist to achieve platinum status. I became fascinated with Hawaiian music during my vacation there two years ago and I listened to more than a little bit of Iz on CDs I f...

The Beatles (a. k. a. The White Album) was supposed to lead off part four of Bloggerhythms series reviewing all of The Beatles’ albums chronologically by era. However, this review grew in length beyond my original intentions, so now it will be handled as a separate posting. The dissension that would eventually tear the group apart began on the very first day of the sessions for this huge double LP. The fighting caused Ringo Starr to temporarily quit the band, forcing Paul McCartney to play drums on "Back in the USSR" and "Dear Prudence." Frequently the quartet didn’t even function as a cohesive unit. They recorded their parts separately or with one member playing all of the instruments on a song themselves. The White Album contains twenty-nine songs and one freaky, annoying sound collage. It is simultaneously The Beatles' best and worst set of music. Many people have said, and George Martin was among them, that there were enough great songs to re...

Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen...

Folk singer and songwriter Dave Shiflett is employed as a critic for Bloomberg News . He also writes for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post . He has published several books including one with Donald Trump, The America We Deserve. Shiflett just completed a novel and is currently looking for an agent but, as is often the case, his new album, From The First Time , has been released to the world on his website without any assistance whatsoever. For music lovers like me that is a good thing. From The First Time is Shiflett's fifth CD. He has released earlier works under his own name and as the leader of two bands, Floor Creak and The Karma Farmers. Shiflett's voice is not powerful but he has a pleasant delivery that fits the songs quite well. The arrangements are driven by acoustic guitars that are often joined by percussionists, violins, mandolins, and any other light accompaniment the situation calls for. He writes tuneful works that should hold your ...

1967 was the year that psychedelia ruled. It's music was very much in tune with the drug and hippie culture of its time. Today, the two Beatles' albums from this period feel like relics from a different age.  That's not to say there aren't any great and timeless songs on these LPs because there are. Read about them below and feel free to agree or disagree. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) In 2007, on the fortieth anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band , Bloggerhythms posted a lengthy reevaluation of this all time classic. In short, the LP many have considered to be not only The Beatles' masterpiece, but also the greatest album of all time, has become a record you love more with your head than with your heart. It is indeed an artistic triumph of production, sophistication, and originality but it lacks excitement because it is short of great songs. However, "A Day In The Life" is outstanding and a fabulous...

Smooth jazz is often boring and redundant. In the worst cases I would even call it modern elevator music, the kind of stuff you hear on the telephone when you're on hold for twenty-five minutes waiting to speak with a customer service rep you swear doesn't exist. Fortunately, the music's stature may be improving due to San Francisco’s Joyce Cooling . She is an anomaly in the world of smooth jazz because her work is quite compelling. The award winning Cooling is not a musician who should be heard only on your speaker phone. Global Cooling , her seventh CD, needs to be experienced on a good set of headphones and it must have a permanent home on your ipod so you can take her jazz with you everywhere you go. In addition to being a fine electric guitarist Cooling is also an appealing vocalist. Her singing adds an extra dimension to five of the eleven tracks on her latest disc but it’s her love of world beats and foreign instruments, more than her axe playing, that make t...

During the 70s Jackson Browne had staked out a great reputation for himself as one of the elite poets of rock. His often introspective (some would say self-absorbed) songwriting enabled him to be elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.  It's one of their selections that I agree with wholeheartedly. Hold Out , Browne's first album of the new decade is considered one of his minor efforts. This disc was his immediate followup to Running On Empty (1977) and it was released around turning points in both the singer-songwriter's personal life and his career. It was an album that discussed his brand new marriage (which unfortunately failed quickly) several years after the suicide of his first wife. This was also the last record with the same band he had used for most of his career. His main sideman, David Lindley, would never again be a permanent member of his group although the two would remain great friends and continue to work together often throughout the yea...

Because I was a huge fan of progressive rock back in the 70s I believed I was among music's most enlightened devotees. My love of prog grew from being a fan of Yes, the sub-genre's most popular and successful band. It all started with a song that, to this day, remains the biggest prog hit single of all time, "Roundabout," from their 1972 album, Fragile . The LP version of the song ran for more than eight minutes and was highlighted by Rick Wakeman’s hard hitting organ solo that he later bettered on "Close to the Edge" from the album of the same name. After Edge Yes still produced quality work, and remained popular for years, even though they never quite reached the heights of those albums again. Their next release, Tales of Topographic Oceans , was a double disc set featuring only one long song on each of its four sides, and with it the outfit's pretentiousness was no longer teetering close to the edge, it fell over of it. My affair with prog-r...