18 Monday Jun 2018
Posted in Music, Performance
***
Monday morning, you hit the jackpot: Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, and Sarah Vaughn. As far as I know, this 1979 television special, All-Star Salute To Pearl Bailey, is the only time they had all sung together publicly.
The medley includes:
Stompin at the Savoy
Perdido
Don’t Mean a Thing
Cherokee
Sweet Georgia Brown
Thanks to YouTuber newstart2009
12 Tuesday Jun 2018
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Theatre, Writing
Tags
525600 minutes, Jonathan Larson, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, music, performance, Rent, Seasons of Love, song, songwriting, theater, theatre, Tony Awards, writing
***
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students sing “Seasons of Love” from the play Rent.
It gave me the chills watching it.
Thanks to YouTuber CBS
11 Monday Jun 2018
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
A World Without Love, MonaLisa Twins, music, Paul McCartney, performance, Peter and Gordon, song, songwriting
***
Monday morning, Peter and Gordon’s 1964 terms of endearment are seconded by the Austrian MonaLisa Twins.
The song was written by Paul McCartney, who was dating Jane Asher, Peter’s sister.
More MonaLisa Twins at MonaLisa Twins
04 Monday Jun 2018
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
'Taint Nobody's Business If I do, Ain't Nobdy's Business If I DO, Jimmy Rushing, music, performance, song, songwriting
***
Monday morning, Jimmy Rushing’s upbeat version of a song more usually associated with Bessie Smith, Jimmie Witherspoon, and Billie Holiday.
Thanks to YouTuber K Lou
28 Monday May 2018
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
***
Monday morning, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart’s band, Eurythmics, with their world-beating song. According to Ever-Reliable Wikipedia, Lennox claimed “The lyrics reflected the unhappy time after the break up of [their former band] The Tourists…’Sweet dreams are made of this’ is basically me saying: ‘Look at the state of us. How can it get worse? I was feeling very vulnerable. The song was an expression of how I felt: hopeless and nihilistic.’ Stewart however thought the lyrics too depressing, and added the ‘hold your head up, moving on’ line to make it more uplifting.
“Lennox also said that people had misinterpreted lines like ‘Some of them want to use you … some of them want to be abused’ to be about sex or S&M when that was not the intent.”
Thanks to YouTuber Adriano Celentano
21 Monday May 2018
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
***
In 1972, while visiting California, a friend of a friend got me into an A&M recording session. The singer in the studio was Paul Williams who was primarily known at the time as a songwriter for other singers, notably The Carpenters. They had just had a big hit with one of his songs, so Williams decided to record an album of his own version of his songs. This was the song he was working on the day I visited. It’s a perfect Monday song.
Thanks to YouTuber marvin santiago
18 Friday May 2018
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
***
Who cares what the heck the abstruse lyrics mean. It’s still profound. And a happy light fandango to you, too.
Thanks to YouTuber FLY Records
15 Tuesday May 2018
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
antiwar, Bob Dylan, Masters of War, music, protest, song, songwriting
14 Monday May 2018
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Beatles, I'll Be Back, MonaLisa Twins, music, performance, song, songwriting
***
Monday morning, The Austrian MonaLisa Twins again with a very good cover of The Beatles’ “I’ll Be Back.”
I always liked this song because it seemed to be structured differently from a lot of the pop songs of the time. There was a haunting quality to it as well. I never had enough musical knowledge to understand what was really going on, but these paragraphs from Wikipedia made it clear:
“Unusually for a pop song it oscillates between major and minor keys; it appears to have two different bridges and lacks a chorus. The fade-out ending also arrives unexpectedly, being a half stanza premature.[3]
The metric structure also is unusual. The verse is in 6-measure phrases in 4/4 time. The first and third bridges have a four-measure phrase in 4/4 followed by a phrase with 2 measures of 4/4 and one of 2/4; the second bridge has a 4-measure phrase followed by 5 measures of 4/4 and one of 2/4.”
More MonaLisa Twins at MonaLisa Twins
10 Thursday May 2018
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
music, performance, song, songwriting, Tell Her No, The Zombies
***
One more great Brit Invasion band, The Zombies, that had a few hits and then basically disappeared by 1968.
Excellent sound on this mix from YouTuber lypilapa
07 Monday May 2018
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Bus Stop, MonaLisa Twins, music, song, songwriting, The Hollies
***
Monday morning, The MonaLisa Twins meet cute under an umbrella, covering the Hollies’ “Bus Stop.”
More MonaLisa Twins at MonaLisa Twins
03 Thursday May 2018
Tags
comedy, music, performance, Roy Zimmerman, satire, song, songwriting, To Be A Liberal
***
Roy Zimmerman agonizes humorously over being a member of his particular species.
More Roy at RoyZimmerman
30 Monday Apr 2018
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Good Vibrations, music, performance, pop, rock, song, songwriting, The Beach Boys, theremin
***
Monday morning, the theremin calls, and you’re swept into one of the most innovative and influential popular rock songs of the 60s.
Carl Wilson on lead vocals. The song was produced by the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson from countless short pieces of tape, and many session musicians were used as well.
There’s an excellent description of the song’s history, as well as a musical deconstruction, and how the song changed the history of the pop single, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Vibrations
Thanks to YouTuber tabouriefilms
27 Friday Apr 2018
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
***
“I don’t want to be the last man standing—on second thought, maybe I do.”
Willie Nelson considers the alternatives.
Thanks to YouTuber WillieNelsonVEVO
23 Monday Apr 2018
Tags
con man, Meredith Willson, performance, Robert Preston, song, songwriting, The Music Man, theater, theatre, Trouble
***
Monday, Professor Harold Hill, as incarnated by the unmatchable Robert Preston, both creates and solves a pressing need, in the manner of flim-flam men and politicians everywhere.
“River City ain’t in no trouble…”
“Then we’re going to have to create some—we must create a desperate need in your town.”
Thanks to YouTuber BravoDivine
20 Friday Apr 2018
Posted in Music, Performance
***
The awesome Mavis Staples and The Band as captured by Martin Scorsese.
Thanks to YouTuber Zvankli Militorovic
16 Monday Apr 2018
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
***
Monday, I had Friday on my mind.
The Australian Easybeats’, with their hit 1966 pop song that had something extra-Kinksish about it.
Got to love the energetic joyous performances.
Thanks to YouTuber рлин Вълчев
12 Thursday Apr 2018
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
***
Willie Nelson, with his beloved guitar, Trigger; Emmylou Harris assisting on vocals; and Willie’s sister, Bobbi, on keyboard. The poignant lyrics are by Mr. Nelson.
More Willie Nelson at WillieNelsonVEVO
09 Monday Apr 2018
Posted in Life, Music, Performance
Monday morning, something’s happening here and you don’t know what it is.
This live performance of “Ballad of A Thin Man” features an amazing Dylan guitar solo, which more than makes up for his leaving out the last three verses.
Thanks to YouTuber Tom Wheeler
05 Thursday Apr 2018
Posted in Comedy, Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
comedy, music, performance, politics, Roy Zimmerman, satire, socialist, song
***
Roy Zimmerman accuses his audience of all kinds of nasty things…every last one of you!
More Roy at RoyZimmerman
02 Monday Apr 2018
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
music, Rick Danko, song, songwriting, The Band, When You Awake
…you will remember everything
…which would be a welcome change this Monday morning.
Rick Danko on lead vocals and The Band.
Thanks to YouTuber MelkortheMorgoth
30 Friday Mar 2018
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
26 Monday Mar 2018
Posted in Music, Performance
***
Monday morning because you can’t stop dancing, the Blue Magoos.
Thanks to YouTuber MUNROWS RETRO
22 Thursday Mar 2018
Posted in Music, Performance
19 Monday Mar 2018
Posted in Music, Performance
***
Monday morning, breakfast is served.
Who knew that lead singer Larry Henley of this 1964 hit was, as one YouTuber commented, a white Bill Clinton lookalike?
They never had another big hit, but as the Beatles became more and more popular, they adopted Beatles-style haircuts in an effort to hold onto fame.
It didn’t work.
Thanks to YouTuber Carl’s Old Record Club
