Tag Archives: songwriting

Compared To What?

18 Thursday Oct 2018

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Nellie and Company take a swing at the Eugene McDaniels classic made famous by Les McCann and Eddie Harris

piano & vocals – Nellie McKay; bass – Alexi David; guitar – Cary Park; drums – Kenneth Salters

More Mckay at Nellie McKay

“Autumn Leaves Must Fall…”

05 Friday Oct 2018

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Chad and Jeremy singing “A Summer Song” 40 years after it was first released in 1964.

Thanks to YouTuber Independent Musicians Foundation

Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying

26 Wednesday Sep 2018

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A terrific version of the Gerry and the Pacemakers’ song by the multi-talented Nellie McKay. It’s so good it makes me want to keep playing it over and over.

Thanks to YouTuber eTown

Stay: Maurice Williams And The Zodiacs

27 Monday Aug 2018

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As summer winds down on Monday,  a voice behind you pleads, Stay…just a little bit longer.

Maurice WIlliams, who wrote the song at age fifteen and sings lead on the shortest #1 pop song on record, said in an interview that they deliberately kept the song short so that it would get more radio play. They figured that the DJs would use it as a sign off before a commercial break if it was short enough. They were right.

That’s Henry “Shane” Gaston on the falsetto.

Thanks to YouTuber Ken Schilling

“She’ll Have You Doing Things That Ain’t Right, Son”

09 Monday Jul 2018

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Was there anyone cooler than Louis Jordan? Wild singer, saxophonist, songwriter, and bandleader who also had dance moves of elegance and wit to compare with Fred Astaire. Monday morning, the call goes out to “Caldonia.”

Thanks to YouTuber vintage video clips

‘S Wonderful: Ella Fitzgerald and Sammy Davis, Jr.

25 Monday Jun 2018

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There were giants in those days. Monday morning, the Gershwin brother’s standard, sung by two greats. According to the pre-performance chit-chat, this was the first time the two had sung together.

Thanks to YouTuber rockinhillbillies

525,600 Minutes

12 Tuesday Jun 2018

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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

A World Without Love

11 Monday Jun 2018

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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

 

‘Taint Nobody’s Bizness If I Do: Jimmy Rushing

04 Monday Jun 2018

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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

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

28 Monday May 2018

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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

Rainy Days And Mondays

21 Monday May 2018

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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