Monthly Archives: February 2021

Let’s Take A Moment Day 329

Posted in Music by

Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Feb 2021 Blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

I find it profoundly sad that some people only see Winnie The Pooh as a Disney character. As charming as he is in that world, he was even more special in his original existence in author A.A. Milne’s poems & stories. The bear he wrote about was based on a stuffed one owned by his son, Christopher Robin Milne. In an early story Milne explains that his son’s bear, originally named Edward Bear, was renamed Winnie after the female black bear Winnipeg, who lived at the London Zoo from 1915 until she died in 1934.

A Canadian band that formed in the mid 1960’s named themselves in honor of Milne’s subject’s original name. And if it were not for today’s song, I would probably not know who they were. But this song left an impression to this day, nearly 50 years after its release.

“Now the time is here
I don’t know where you are
So I’ll write you one more song
But it’s the last time that I’ll ever try“.

Ed Bear

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Edward Bear: “Last Song” (1972, written by Larry Evoy).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 328

Posted in Music by

Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Feb 2021 Blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

On February 1, 1964 today’s song hits #1 on the U.S, charts where it will stay for seven weeks.

On February 7, 1964, The Beatles arrive in America at Kennedy Airport in New York. The British Invasion officially begins.

“You know it’s up to you,
I think it’s only fair,
Pride can hurt you, too,
Apologize to her”.

Feb 7

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Beatles: “She Loves You” (1963, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 327

Posted in Music by

Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Feb 2021 Blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

The Spinners were a Motown act in the 1960’s but had no success with the label. In 1972, they signed with Atlantic Records and everything changed, Today’s song is my favorite by this group.

“Each night I pray there will never come a day
When you up and take your love away
Say you feel the same way too and I wonder what
It is I feel for you“.

Spinners

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Spinners: “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love” (1972, written by Melvin and Mervin Steals, a/k/a Mystro and Lyric).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 326

Posted in Music by

Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Feb 2021 Blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

In 2007 I was deeply obsessed with the TV show “Lost”. In a particularly fun episode during season 3 (#10, “Tricia Tanaka Is Dead”), Hurley discovered (with Vincent’s help) an old vehicle lying on its side buried in a remote part of the jungle. When he & a couple of the other guys flipped it on to its wheels, it was easy to see it was a circa 1970’s VW van, similar to the one Kevin Costner drove in “Field Of Dreams”. Hurley was convinced he could get the van started with some help. So he climbed into the driver’s seat, Charlie rode shotgun and Sawyer & Jin gave the vehicle a push. Miraculously it shifted into first gear much to the delight of all four men. And when the van started, an 8-track in the dash radio started playing today’s song. If there was any doubt as to what decade the vehicle originated from, that perfect bit of nostalgia was the only clue you needed.

The show took it one step further by playing a gorgeous symphonic version of that track as the men returned to camp. The song was by the band Three Dog Night who were all over the radio in the 1970’s with songs like “Joy To The World”, “One”, “Just An Old Fashioned Love Song” & “Black & White”, to name a few. I cannot say they were one of my favorite groups, but their songs were different enough to pique my interest. What made their sound unique were the three lead singers: Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron & Cory Wells. The one song by them that I adore was sung by Wells, who was born 80 years ago today on February 5, 1941. And when it started playing in that van during that “Lost” episode, it was a fabulous salute to a great decade & a great song.

“Wash away my sorrow
Wash away my shame
With the rain in Shambala“.

Lost van scene

3 dog night

Top: A few snapshots from the “Lost” episode with the van: Charlie & Hurley (top), The four men driving around in the van (middle) & Sawyer, Jin (purple shirt) and Vincent the Lab running towards the working van. Bottom (L-R): Chuck Negron, Danny Hutton and Cory Wells of Three Dog Night circa 1972. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

Three Dog Night: “Shambala” (1973, written by Daniel Moore).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 325

Posted in Music by

Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Feb 2021 Blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

Beware of “Rumours”, unless they are the Fleetwood Mac kind. Then you cannot lose.

Celebrating 44 years of one of the best-selling albums of all time, released on February 4, 1977.

“It’s only me, who wants to
Wrap around your dreams and
Have you any dreams you’d like to sell
Dreams of loneliness“.

“Like a heartbeat, drives you mad
In the stillness of remembering what you had
And what you lost
And what you had“.

Rumours

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Fleetwood Mac: “Dreams” (1977, written by Stevie Nicks).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 324

Posted in Music by

Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Feb 2021 Blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

February is short but incredibly rich with music history. But the month that gave us the arrival of The Beatles in the U.S. is the same month that five years earlier produced one of the worst tragedies in American music. On February 3, 1959 a plane crash in Iowa ended the lives of Buddy Holly, 21; Jiles Perry (J.P.) Richardson, a/k/a “The Big Bopper”, 28 and Ritchie Valens, 17. The cause of the crash remains undetermined to this day and also killed the pilot, Roger Peterson.

After six decades, countless documentaries, movies, books and plays celebrating the lives of each musician’s contribution to music & their enduring legacy, there is nothing I can add here that will offer a different insight to these talented three men. And in some ways no one has since Don McLean’s 1971 masterpiece, “American Pie” where he immortalized the devastating event as “The Day the Music Died”. For a refresher on the lives of two of the three artists I recommend two bio-pics: 1978’s “The Buddy Holly Story” & 1987’s “La Bamba”. Or just YouTube the music & historical footage. It is worth it to see all three men as they should be remembered when often times it is how they died which remains most notable.

There are many songs to choose from to mark this sad anniversary. This year I chose one by the youngest singer on the plane, Valens. His career was still so new he only released singles while he was alive. The first one was “Come On, Let’s Go”, then “Donna” (about his high school girlfriend) and then today’s song. I still find it astounding yet completely wonderful that in 1958 when rock & roll was still very much in its infancy, a reworked Mexican folk song about a dance sung in Spanish by a relatively unknown teenage performer became a hit. We can never underestimate the power of music.

“Yo no soy marinero
Yo no soy marinero, soy capitan
Soy capitan, soy capitan
Bamba, bamba
Bamba, bamba
Bamba, bamba, bamba“.

Translation:

“I’m not a sailor
I’m not a sailor, I’m a captain
I’m a captain, I’m a captain
Bamba, bamba
bamba, bamba
 bamba, bamba, bamba“.

Feb 3 1959

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens & J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

Ritchie Valens: “La Bamba” (1958, written by Ritchie Valens based on a traditional Mexican folk song).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 323

Posted in Music by

Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Feb 2021 Blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

I have always loved songs with horns in them and no one featured them quite the way the band Chicago did. From their debut album in 1969 through all the ones which followed in the 1970’s, their distinctive sound set them apart from the usual radio fare. That is until their first #1 hit in 1976, “If You Leave Me Now”. The softer more AM radio sound prompted the hit songwriter, bassist Peter Cetera, to push the band away from their FM oriented music.

One of the group members most disturbed by this change was co-founder & guitarist Terry Kath. He was called a better guitarist than Jimi Hendrix by Hendrix himself when Chicago opened for him at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in the late 1960’s. And Kath’s deep baritone voice, which was often compared to Ray Charles, was behind some of the band’s most recognizable songs including “Colour My World”, “I’m A Man”, “Wishing You Were Here” and today’s track. Kath wanted to stay true to the groups rock & jazz infused style rather than veer off into pop music.

Like many musicians of the decade, Kath struggled with drug & alcohol abuse. That combined with his love of firearms created the perfect storm of a tragic situation when Kath accidently shot himself to death on January 23, 1978. The loss obviously stunned the band who seriously contemplated a break up after the loss. They reconsidered and dedicated the song “Alive Again” to Kath later that year. Ironically though Kath’s death & a new producer led the band into the soft pop sounds they created in the 1980’s.

January 31 marked his 75th birth anniversary and like him I consider Chicago’s rock roots to be their best. Today’s song showcases both Kath’s vocal ability & musicianship skill perfectly and the horns are absolutely resplendent. He was inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2016 with the rest of the band where his only child, Michelle Kath Sinclair, accepted her father’s award. The same year she released the documentary, “The Terry Kath Experience” about his life, influence & legacy.

“Living life is just a game so they say
All the games we used to play fade away
We may now enjoy the dreams we shared so long ago“.

Chicago circa 1975

Terry Kath circa 1972

Top: The band Chicago circa 1975. Terry Kath is on the end far right. Bottom: Kath circa 1972. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

Chicago: “Make Me Smile” (1970, written by James Pankow).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 322

Posted in Music by

Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Feb 2021 Blog

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

On February 1, 1949 the 45 RPM record was introduced by RCA. The round seven inch disc played at a faster speed than its 12 inch 33-1/3 LP counter part that was launched the year before by CBS. The smaller disc format became known as a “single” and provided better sound quality than the LP. The 45’s I owned when I was young were my most treasured possessions & probably qualify as the first official items I collected.

Fast forward to February 1, 1972. Neil Young releases his fourth studio LP, Harvest. It went on to become the best selling one of 1972 and it hit the #1 album spot for two weeks in March 1972. One of those weeks the first single, “Heart Of Gold” featured here on Day 24, also went to the number one spot.

Today’s song was the second single from the album. It hit the Top 40 in the US the same year & like the first one, it featured Linda Ronstadt & James Taylor on backing vocals. He also played the banjo on this track as well. Young was my introduction to acoustic music & to this day I see him as one of the most gifted artists in that regard.

“Love lost such a cost
Give me things that don’t get lost
Like a coin that won’t get tossed
Rolling home to you“.

N Young

Neil Young circa 1970. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Neil Young: “Old Man” (1972, written by Neil Young).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.