18 Friday Oct 2019
Posted in Life, Music, Performance
Tags
performance, song, music, guitar, blues, Beverly Watkins, Back in Business
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Beverly Watkins died last week at the age of 80. I wasn’t aware of her before, but a friend told me about her. Watkins played with James Brown, Ray Charles, and B.B. King. As you can see from the clip, she was quite a blues guitar player and singer.
Thanks to YouTuber TEXANOBLUES, and Marilyn Vogt-Downey for the suggestion.
15 Tuesday Oct 2019
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Photography
(Click to enlarge)
85th Street
Bensonhurst
Brooklyn, New York
14 Monday Oct 2019
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Motown, music, Ooh Baby Baby, performance, pop, Smokey Robinson, song, songwriting, soul
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Monday morning, loosen your tie with the man, besides Berry Gordy, most responsible for the success of Motown, the brilliant singer and songwriter Smokey Robinson.
Gotta love the swivel 1.0 choreography for the Miracles, too.
Thanks to Youtuber QuentinCoxBOI
09 Wednesday Oct 2019
Tags
Cobras vs. Panthers, comedy, musical, musical theater, parody, performance, Saturday Night Live, sketch, SNL, songwriting, West Side Story, Will Ferrell, writing
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A delicious parody of West Side Story with Will Ferrell and his SNL compatriots.
Thanks to YouTuber
07 Monday Oct 2019
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
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Maybe the best twelve minutes of this Monday: Bob Dylan’s epic “Sad-Eyed Lady of The Lowlands,” which back in the day took up an entire side of Blonde on Blonde.
More at Bob Dylan
05 Saturday Oct 2019
Tags
chords, guitar, Leonard Cohen, music, poetry, Prince of Asturias, song, speech, writing
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Leonard Cohen tells the story of his guitar chords.
Thanks to YouTuber Allan Showalter
04 Friday Oct 2019
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Edgar Allan Poe, folk, guitar, music, performance, Phil Ochs, poem, poetry, song, songwriting, The Bells
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Phil used to open all his concerts with this rousing musical adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe poem.
Thanks to YouTuber Thamali Peiris
30 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in Music, Performance, Theatre, Writing
Tags
broadway, Leonard Bernstein, music, performance, Quintet, song, songwriting, Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story
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Monday morning, The Jets, The Sharks, Tony, Maria, and Anita get ready for the big night. Lucky them to have the Bernstein/Sondheim music to prepare to. Still the best score from an American musical in my opinion.
Thanks to YouTuber John Long
27 Friday Sep 2019
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Carson McKee, folk, guitar, James Taylor, Josh Turner, music, song, songwriting, Sweet Baby James
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Josh Turner and Carson McKee with another “as good as” cover.
More Josh Turner at Josh Turner Guitar
23 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
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Monday morning, Dire Straits. Mark Knopfler on guitar with one of the classics of 70s rock.
Thanks to YouTuber olaboga13
20 Friday Sep 2019
Posted in Music, Performance, Theatre, Writing
Tags
Babe In Arms, Brian d'Arcy James, Broadway musical, Lorenz Hart, lyrics, music, performance, Richard Rodgers, Rodgers and Hart, song, songwriting, Susan Egan, Where or When
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I like the songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein very much, but it’s the Richard Rodgers songs written with Lorenz Hart that I appreciate the most.
Hart’s lyrics were always several notches more interesting than those of the usual love song; he was always exploring a different side of love in each song.
“Where or When” is one of my favorites with its evocative lyrics. Brian d’Arcy James and Susan Egan do the honors.
Thanks to YouTuber fschnell
16 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
folk, Judy Collins, Leonard Cohen, music, poem, poetry, song, songwriting, Suzanne, writing
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Monday morning, there are heroes in the seaweed.
When Judy Collins starts singing her verse, it just wrecks me. Shivers.
Thanks to YouTuberBeta Hi-Fi Archive
13 Friday Sep 2019
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
All The Things You Are, Jerome Kern, Michael Jackson, music, Oscar Hammerstein, performance, song, songwriting
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A surprisingly engaging version of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein perennial by a 14-year-old Michael Jackson
More at Michael Jackson
09 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
blues, Janis Joplin, Lorenz Hart, music, performance, Richard Rodgers, Rodgers and Hart, song, songwriting
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Monday morning, a blues.
When an artist has so much raw talent sometimes the skill and hard work are overlooked. Recently I watched the American Masters documentary about Janis Joplin and it really brought home just how intentional her work was. She knew exactly what she was doing and her idols were Nina Simone and the other great blues singers.
Her version of the great Rodgers and Hart song takes it into a different stratosphere.
Thanks to YouTuber TheJairo1710
04 Wednesday Sep 2019
Posted in Comedy, Music, Performance, Writing
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One of the most insane song stunts ever. Condolences to Bernie Taupin and Elton John.
Thanks to YouTuber The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (www.FuzzyMemories.TV)
02 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in Music, Performance
Tags
banjo, Carson McKee, country, folk, Heart of the Country, Josh Turner, music, Paul McCartney, performance, Ram, song
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Josh Turner and friends cover the Paul McCartney ditty from the Ram album. I really enjoyed the extended banjo, fiddle, bass, and drum chorus at the end. And how the heck does Josh do that video editing, keeping all the audio in synch?
More Josh Turner at Josh Turner Guitar
30 Friday Aug 2019
Posted in Music, Performance
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Nino Rota’s haunting melodies from The Godfather beautifully arranged.
Thanks to YouTuber DR Koncerthuset
27 Tuesday Aug 2019
Posted in Books, Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Arts Express, Billie Holiday, Billie Holiday: The Last Interview, God Bless The Child, interview, jazz, Khanya Mtshali, Lady Day, Lady Sings The Blues, music, performance, radio, singer, song, Strange Fruit
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This new compilation of interviews with Billie Holiday has an introduction by journalist and writer Khanya Mtshali. Listen to my conversation with Ms. Mtshali, as broadcast today on Arts Express radio on WBAI 99.5FM NYC, as she explains why Billie Holiday was not the person you thought she was.
26 Monday Aug 2019
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Ashokan, Mike Miranda, music, performance, Ruth Unger, song, songwriting, Summer Hoot, The Mammals
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Monday morning, driving back down the Thruway with memories of the Ashokan Summer Hoot in our ears, Mike Miranda and Ruthy Unger with a barnraiser.
More at Humble Abode Music
24 Saturday Aug 2019
Posted in Life, Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
I'm A Loser, John Lennon, music, performance, pop, rock, song, The Beatles
22 Thursday Aug 2019
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Art Garfunkel, guitar, Josh Turner, music, Paul Simon, perfect, performance, Simon and Garfunkel, song, songwriting
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It’s not enough that Josh Turner plays perfect guitar and the best Paul Simon covers you’ll ever hear, but the freakin’ guy actually does the Artie Garfunkel part for “Only Living Boy In New York” as well. Just amazing.
The reverb is courtesy of a tunnel in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. And stay tuned for the announcement after the song. Wish I could hop on a plane.
More at Josh Turner Guitar
19 Monday Aug 2019
Posted in Life, Music, Performance
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It’s Monday morning, summer of 1961, Evergreen Avenue in Bradley Beach, New Jersey to be exact, and the kid across the street has hauled out his record player to the front porch and is playing Curtis Lee’s “Pretty Little Angel Eyes,” over and over, far into the night, the fireflies flashing in syncopated time, stopped only by the sound of the approaching ice cream truck …
Thanks to YouTuber brianfromLI
12 Monday Aug 2019
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Cole Porter, It's De-lovely, jazz, Mel Torme, music, performance, song, songwriting
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Monday morning Mel Torme, and it’s just as fresh as a newly picked raspberry.
Thanks to YouTuber TheRecordChanger
09 Friday Aug 2019
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
dawn, Frankie Valli, lyrics, music, performance, pop, song, songwriting, The Four Seasons
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Gotta love the tight harmonies and the drums, especially on the final tags.
Thanks to YouTuber Hailey Blogs And More
05 Monday Aug 2019
Posted in Music, Performance, Writing
Tags
Blue Moon, doo-wop, Lorenz Hart, performance, Reina del Cid, Richard Rodgers, Rodgers and Hart, song, The Marcels, Toni Lindgren
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Reina del Cid and Toni Lindgren wax astronomical this Monday morning with a tip of the hat to the Marcel’s great Doo-Wop arrangement of the Rodgers and Hart standard.
More at Reina del Cid
