25 Monday May 2020
Posted in Performance, Music
Tags
Bob Dylan, country, folk, I Threw It All Away, Johnny Cash, music, performance, song, television
Monday morning, an amazing clip, a beautiful video of Bob Dylan on the Johnny Cash television show singing “I Threw It All Away” from the album Nashville Skyline.
More at Bob Dylan
18 Monday May 2020
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Allison Young, Autumn in New York, cabaret, guitar, jazz, Josh Turner, music, performance, pop, song, Vernon Duke
Monday morning, Allison Young, a wonderful singer, joins Josh Turner for “Autumn in New York,” in a version you can enjoy in any season.
More at Allison Young
11 Monday May 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tony Yazbeck singing, and dancing on location, the Comden-Green-Bernstein standard from On The Town.
Aside from Yazbeck’s winning performance, if you’re a New Yorker, you’ll have fun identifying the locations.
Thanks to YouTuber On The Town on Broadway
07 Thursday May 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Bernie Taupin, Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, music, performance, pop, rock, song, songwriting
I can’t say I’m a huge Elton John fan, but this is one of my favorite of his–or anybody’s–songs.
Thanks to YouTuber The Dude
04 Monday May 2020
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Monday morning, 60s jazz singer Monica Zetterlund rehearses her signature song in her native Swedish with Bill Evans at the piano. Great to watch her as her doubt and pleasure register so transparently.
More at BillEvansArchive
02 Saturday May 2020
Posted in Music, Performance, Theatre
Tags
Begin the Beguine, Broadway Melody of 1940, dance, Eleanor Powell, film, Fred Astaire, movie, performance, tap
Three minutes of heaven as Eleanor Powell, in heels, gives Fred Astaire a run for his money.
The clip above is from the film Broadway Melody of 1940. Powell was probably Astaire’s most accomplished tap partner. Astaire reportedly claimed he would never work with Powell again because Astaire (himself a notorious perfectionist) never wanted to work as hard again.
Thanks to YouTuber CatCORViN
01 Friday May 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
country, guitar, Josh Turner, Mary Spender, music, performance, song, songwriting
A better than the original cover with Mary Spender and Josh Turner. Extra special with earphones.
More at Mary Spender
27 Monday Apr 2020
Posted in Music, Performance
Tags
Bob Dylan, End Of The Line, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, music, performance, Roy Orbison, song, Tom Petty, Traveling Wilburys
Monday morning some traveling companions, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty as the Traveling Wilburys just making some good music and having a good time.
More at TravelingWilburys
23 Thursday Apr 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Bessie Banks, Go Now, mussic, performance, pop, song, soul
The Moody Blues did a great version of this song as well in 1964, but I prefer this original, with the soulful Bessie Banks, written by her husband Larry Banks.
Thanks to YouTuber Steven Michael Bogarat
20 Monday Apr 2020
Posted in Life, Writing, Performance, Music
Tags
country, music, Only the Lonely, performance, pop, rockabilly, Roy Orbison, song
The list of singers who were influenced by Roy Orbison is long. Some of those artists join him onstage here: Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, and Bonnie Raitt.
More at RoyOrbison
18 Saturday Apr 2020
Posted in Comedy, Life, Music, Performance, Theatre
Tags
The one time Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly danced together on the big screen (except for the That’s Entertainment series) was in the 1946 film The Ziegfield Follies. Just sublime. Take a look at this utterly delightful clip.
Thanks to YouTuber Claq & Co – Tap Dance Specialist
16 Thursday Apr 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
ballad, cabaret, music, Peggy Lee, performance, pop, song, songwriting, There'll Be Another Spring
Peggy Lee makes time-appropriate promises we hope she can keep.
Written by Ms. Lee.
Thanks to YouTuber skorecki7
13 Monday Apr 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
guitar, Here There and Everywhere, Josh Turner, music, performance, song, songwriting, The Beatles
Monday morning, shoes off, no one beats Josh Turner when it comes to arranging Beatles songs on acoustic guitar . Paul McCartney once said it was the one song that John Lennon had ever complimented him on writing.
More at Josh Turner Guitar
10 Friday Apr 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
John Prine died Tuesday from coronavirus at age 73.
He was a heck of a songwriter. Prolific, playful, and heartbreaking.
More at John Prine
06 Monday Apr 2020
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Ella Fitzgerald, How High the Moon, jazz, music, performance, scat, song
Monday morning, moon music from a social distance. Fortunately, Ella will be forever near us.
Thanks to YouTuber Nuova Canaria
04 Saturday Apr 2020
Posted in Music, Performance, Theatre
Tags
dance, Jumpin' Jive, music, NIcholas Brothers, Stormy Weather, tap
Mikhail Baryshnikov called the Nicholas Brothers the greatest dancers he had ever seen in his life. Fred Astaire called the dance number in the clip above the greatest musical dance sequence ever captured on film. Who am I to argue?
Cab Calloway starts off the madness singing “Jumpin Jive” from the film Stormy Weather.
Thanks to YouTuber laughland
02 Thursday Apr 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Del-Satins, Dion, doo-wop, music, rock and roll, Runaround Sue, song, songwriting
By 1961, Dion had ditched the Belmonts, for the somewhat longer-in-the-tooth Del-Satins. Fans may remember that it was in Dion’s number one hit song for that year that Mr. DiMucci delivered to us the explosive, shocking, world-shaking news headline that Runaround Sue, “Goes out with other guys!”
More at Dion
31 Tuesday Mar 2020
Posted in Comedy, Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Alone, Arts Express, coronavirus, limerick, Pacifica, performance, poem, poetry, quarantine, radio, virus, WBAI, writing
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Here’s a little piece I put together that was broadcast today on WBAI radio’s Arts Express program and on Pacifica affiliates across the country. Just a fun segment about the current craziness, along with some appropriate music for the time.
30 Monday Mar 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance
Monday morning, the MonaLisa Twins worry about the last time. Mona on lead, ergo, Lisa on the harmonies.
More at MonaLisa Twins
27 Friday Mar 2020
Posted in Music, Performance
Tags
Bunny Briggs, Buster Brown, dance, dancers, Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde, music, performance, Sandman Sims, tap dance, tap dancing
Feeling tapped out these days? Not Gregory Hines, Bunny Briggs, Jimmy Slyde, Buster Brown, or Sandman Sims, five of the masters of American tap dance. This one is lots of fun.
Thanks to YouTuber Mercedes Barker
25 Wednesday Mar 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Crying, music, performance, pop, Roy Orbison, song, songwriting
And you may notice Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, kd lang, and Bonnie Raitt accompanying.
More at RoyOrbison
23 Monday Mar 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
disco, film, John Travolta, Karen Gorney, music, Night Fever, performance, Saturday Night Fever, song, songwriting, soundtrack, The Bee Gees
Monday morning, you look out the window at the empty streets and think of times when the Night Fever meant something else…
Thanks to YouTuber HD Film Tributes
20 Friday Mar 2020
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Fast Car, folk, music, performance, pop, songwriting, soul, Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman was an unlikely singer/songwriter to chart in the top 10 in 1988, but there was something so pure, authentic, and truthful in her singing that this song resonated with many and, improbably, became a hit.
Thanks to YouTuber Folk & Country on MV
16 Monday Mar 2020
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Linda Ronstadt, Motown, music, performance, pop, Smokey Robinson, song, songwriting, soul
Monday morning, Linda Ronstadt, in the prime of her career, with Tracks of My Tears, yet another great Smokey Robinson penned song.
More at Linda Ronstadt
12 Thursday Mar 2020
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Mary Wells, Motown, music, My Guy, performance, rock, song, soul
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Mary Wells performing her 1964 hit, the first solo female hit for Motown. Smokey Robinson was the writer. She knocked The Beatles out of first place on the May 1964 charts.
Thanks to YouTuber Smurfstools Music Time Machine
