I’ll Be Back–Again

***

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

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

 

Bus Stop

***

Monday morning, The MonaLisa Twins meet cute under an umbrella, covering the Hollies’ “Bus Stop.”

More MonaLisa Twins at MonaLisa Twins

“To Be A Liberal”

***

Roy Zimmerman agonizes humorously over being a member of his particular species.

More Roy at RoyZimmerman

Good Vibrations

***

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

Last Man Standing: Willie Nelson

 

***

“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

Ya Got 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

The Weight

***

The awesome Mavis Staples and The Band as captured by Martin Scorsese.

Thanks to YouTuber  Zvankli Militorovic

“Even My Old Man Looks…Good”

***

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

I Never Cared For You

 

***

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

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

Hang on Sloopy

***

Thanks to YouTuber TransatlanticMoments

Monday morning The McCoys urge Sloopy to hang on.

The woman in the video is Liz Brewer who was once married to the lead singer of the McCoys, Rick Derringer.**

Who was Sloopy? So far I’ve tracked down four stories:

  1. One of the credited co-writers claims that he wrote the song while in Cuba, and any attractive woman there would be called a Sloopy.
  2. Sloopy was the nickname of jazz singer Dorothy Sloop who was a girlfriend of one of the writers.
  3. Jean Sloop was the name of an Ohio waitress who claims to be the inspiration.
  4. A businessman in St. Louis claimed that when he was just a kid in high school he wrote the song and sold it on the cheap to the credited writers. Rick Derringer seems to most believe this story—but he still doesn’t know why the high school kid used the name Sloopy.

**Update: It may be that Liz Brewer had nothing to do with the video; here’s another claimant for the dancer:

Hard Work

***

The alarm clock rings Monday, and you’re ready to tote that barge, lift that bale.  John Handy’s 1976 surprise hit jazz recording in its original longer album version.

  • John Handy – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, vocals
  • Hotep Cecil Barnard – keyboards
  • Mike Hoffmann – guitar
  • Chuck Rainey – electric bass
  • James Gadson – drums
  • Eddie “Bongo” Brown – congas, percussion

Thanks to YouTuber Marc Leroy

If I Fell

***

Gotta love Lisa’s cello part and Mona’s harmony on this McCartney-Lennon cover.

More MonaLisa Twins at MonaLisa Twins

A Response

***

Singer/songwriter Roy Zimmerman‘s response to the State of the Union address (NSFW).

More Roy at RoyZimmerman

God Only Knows

 

***

Monday morning, giving thanks: Brian Wilson’s beautiful song.

Covered by the Austrian MonaLisa Twins, who really are; with Dad, Rudolph Wagner, on bass.

More MonaLisa Twins at MonaLisa Twins

 

“Everybody Is Everybody Else”

 

***

More than the great subway settings and the heartfelt sentiments, this Roy Zimmerman tune is probably the only song you’ll hear today that uses the word Weltschmerz. (For those like me, who had to look it up, ever-reliable Wikipedia tells us that Weltschmerz means “world-weariness, the kind of feeling experienced by someone who believes that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind.)

More Roy at RoyZimmerman

Life After Love?

***

Okay, Monday morning, granted that maybe you have the Bob Mackie gowns hanging in your wardrobe, like Cher; and granted that maybe you have the glam wigs sitting on your dresser, like Cher; and granted, too, that maybe you even have the adoring audience, like Cher; but what you don’t have, Buddy, that Cher has, is the set of freakin’ dancers, bouncing insanely above you, suspended on bungee cords.

Cher with the first ever auto-tuned hit.

Thanks to YouTuber CherLiveInConcert

Complicated, Deep, and Sentimental

***

Taylor Swift…uh, Taylor Ferrera with a brilliant meta-song about writing the perfect teen tune.

Ever since I discovered her  wicked Walmart song on YouTube, I’ve been listening to everything I can find of the talented and satirical Ms. Ferrera.

More Taylor at TaylorFerrera

The Last Drop: La Santa Cecilia

***

Monday morning and you don’t even realize it yet, down to the last drop of the last bottle. Marisoul of La Santa Cecilia and Eugenia Leon sing “En El Ultimo Trago”:

Drink with me this bottle
and with the last drop we will go away.
I want to see what means your oblivion,
please don’t cover my eyes with your hands
 *
Tonight I’m not going to beg you,
tonight you will tell me the truth.
How hard it is having to forget you
without feeling that you don’t love me anymore.
 *
The time hasn’t taught me anything,
I always make the same mistakes,
I drink again and again with strangers
and mourn because of the same sorrows.
 *
Drink with me this bottle
and with the last drop you will kiss me.
Let’s hope there would be no witnesses
in case you were feeling embarrassed.
 *
If one day unintentionally we stumble,
neither duck, nor don’t tell me straight.
We will simply shake hands
and after that people will murmur.
 *
The time hasn’t taught me anything,
I always make the same mistakes,
I drink again and again with strangers
and mourn because of the same sorrows.
 *
Drink with me this beloved bottle
and with the last drop we will go away.
 *
 *
More La Santa Cecilia here: ICE, El Hielo: La Santa Cecilia

“You Are The Angel Glow…”

***

The 17-year-old Judy Garland with All The Things You Are, a lovely rendition.

More Judy Garland at Judy Garland

The Future Is Now

***

Here at Shalblog Industries®, we generally strive to keep an upbeat tone. However, every once in a while we indulge in a darker mood. But not to worry, soon it will be a whole brand new year, and the little midget from Annie will be belting out “Tomorrow” yet again.

Leonard Cohen, with a song more prescient than even he could know, back in 1992 when he wrote “The Future.”

Thanks to YouTuber a1000kissesdeep

“Businesses Are People Too”

***

In this holiday season, singer-songwriter Taylor Ferrera’s rollicking ditty reminds us of a much overlooked oppressed minority group.

More Taylor at TaylorFerrera

Tree Huggers

***

Monday morning, there by the Dryad opening up presents under the tree, the classic Dar Williams comic miniature, “The Christians and The Pagans.”

Thanks to YouTuber  sethpdmusic

The Duck Song

***

Don’t knock it. It’s got 289,000,000+ YouTube views.

Got any grapes?

Thanks to YouTuber forrestfire101