Author Archives: Michele at Lilacs & Rust

Let’s Take A Moment Day 386

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?

May 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 year 1967 is best remembered for the “Summer of Love” when San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district became the focus of the peace & love counterculture of that decade. In music, the year was also the peak of the psychedelic rock era which was not really a sound I identified with. But as with most genres of music, there are exceptions to every rule.

Today’s song was always mesmerizing to me but I considered it to be a rock song more than anything else. It seemed to come in and out of my life quickly when I would catch the end of it on the radio. Then I would make a mental note to add it to my music collection, but somehow the thought would escape me until I heard it again.

Finally the magic of a great period television series that punctuated many of its episodes with the music of the era brought me back to this fabulous track by one of the greatest cover bands of the 1960’s. AMC’s “Mad Men” reintroduced me to so many forgotten musical gems I am forever in its debt. I am deep in the throws of my yearly binge of the show and I just got to season 7. The power & intensity of today’s song closed out the first episode perfectly.

“Set me free why don’t you babe
Get out my life why don’t you babe
‘Cause you don’t really love me
You just keep me hangin’ on“.

vanilla fudge

Vanilla Fudge circa 1967 (L-R): Mark Stein (keyboards & vocals), Carmine Appice (drummer & vocals), Vince Martell (guitar & vocals) and Tim Bogert (bass & vocals). (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Vanilla Fudge: “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” (1967, written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland).

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 385

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?

May 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 April 5, 1988 the remarkable self-titled debut album from Tracy Chapman was released. It sold one million copies in less than a month & produced three singles: today’s song, “Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution” and “Baby Can I Hold You”. Subsequent albums & singles would follow featuring her signature politically driven songs interspersed with her personal reflections on the world around her. But to me no other song has ever compared to the elegant beautiful yet heartbreaking track from the first album which introduced the world to this fantastic singer & songwriter.

“I’d always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans, I ain’t going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving“.

tracy chapman

Tracy Chapman circa 1996. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Tracy Chapman: “Fast Car” (1988, written by Tracy Chapman).

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 384

Posted in Holidays, 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?

Easter

(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.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate. With this holiday arriving a little earlier this year than others, it is coinciding with other events that occurred around this date. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 53 years ago in 1968. Blues great Muddy Waters was born April 4, 1915 and was a huge influence on Eric Clapton. He shared his love of the blues with The Band, especially lead singer & keyboardist Richard Manuel, who was born on April 3, 1943.

Sadly he died by suicide in 1986 leaving Clapton devastated. He wrote today’s song in honor of Manuel the same year & included it on the album, August. But it took on even more power in 1996 when Clapton performed it live with legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti and The East London Gospel Choir. I think it is a beautiful way to officially end this season of Lent.

“When my hands no longer play
My voice is still I fade away
Holy Mother then I’ll be
Lying in safe within your arms“.

Clapton and Pavarotti

Eric Clapton (L) and Luciano Pavarotti in 1996. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Eric Clapton: “Holy Mother” (1986, written by Stephen Bishop and Eric Clapton).

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 383

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?

May 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.

From the minute music became important to me, I was interested in the details. I would read the songwriting credits on the records, the liner notes of every album & magazine interviews with my musical heroes to discover who inspired them while they were growing up. As I got older I realized my heroes had contemporary favorites as well and occasionally they would collaborate with them on recordings or at live shows.

However, it was not until I was listening to Bruce Springsteen’s speech to induct Jackson Browne into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2004 that I realized how much Springsteen, one of music’s most eloquent & revered poets, admired Browne’s song writing skills. Springsteen spoke extensively about the beauty, intensity & sadness of Browne’s lyrics and how one song even moved Springsteen to tears. He listed about half a dozen other songs as examples of Browne’s gift which Springsteen said were the ones he wished he had written. Then he quoted a couple of lines from today’s song which is my absolute favorite track by Browne of all time.

“I’m gonna find myself a girl
Who can show me what laughter means
And we’ll fill in the missing colors
In each other’s paint-by-number dreams“.

Bruce Jackson

J Browne

Top (L-R): Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Brown circa 1987. Bottom: Browne circa 2015. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

Jackson Browne: “The Pretender” (1976, written by Jackson Browne).

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 382

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?

May 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 the late 1960’s a funk & soul band formed in North Carolina. By 1974 they were signed to Herb Alpert’s label, A & M Records. Three years later L.T.D. (Love Togetherness & Devotion) had a top ten record with today’s song. The lead vocalist was Jeffrey Osborne, who left the group in 1980 for a solo career. A few years later he had a hit with “On The Wings Of Love” & was part of the all star chorus for “We Are The World”. But I think his work with L.T.D. was his best.

“When you put your arms around me
I feel so satisfied
I want to love you forever
I just can’t, I can’t decide“.

LTD

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

L.T.D.: “(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again” (1977, written by Len Ron Hanks and Zane Grey).

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 381

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?

May 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 debut album from Bruce Hornsby & The Range turns 35 years old today. The Way It Is was released on April 1, 1986. It helped the group win the Best New Artist Grammy Award in 1987 and it gave them four hit singles: the title song, “On The Western Skyline”, “Every Little Kiss” and today’s song, which hit the #4 spot on the Top 100 chart in 1987. I think it is such a pretty song & it is my favorite track from the album.

“Running down by the lake shore
She did love the sound of a summer storm
It played on the lake like a mandolin
Now it’s washing her away once again“.

Hornsby

The 1986 debut album The Way It Is. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Bruce Hornsby & The Range: “Mandolin Rain” (1986, written by Bruce Hornsby and John Hornsby).

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 380

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?

March 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.

Time for a mid-week Motown break. April 2 will mark the 82nd birth anniversary for the man behind one of the first voices I fell in love with, Marvin Gaye. I still ache from his loss nearly 40 years ago but I continue to be amazed at how vital & progressive his music & lyrics remain. His 1971 seminal album, What’s Going On, touched on the issues we are still struggling with today yet continue to provide so much comfort to those of us who get lost in music to find hope that humanity will someday find a way to peacefully co-exist in the world we all inhabit.

I love all the songs on the album and each track hits a nerve, but today’s pick has hit closest to home for me since I was a kid. At that time I did not understand or was even aware of war, the struggle faced by those who serve & racial inequality. But I was very aware of pollution. I remember hearing so much about it on TV, especially about what aerosol sprays were doing to the ozone layer and how littering was ruining our air & water quality.

One of the most profound memories I have is the commercial of the Native American shedding a tear as he stood near a street where some horrible soul threw garbage right at his feet. And then the ominous voice delivering the stern message: “Some people have a deep abiding respect for the natural beauty that was once this country. And some people don’t. People start pollution. People can stop it”

Isn’t it funny how certain images from our childhood never leave us? And isn’t it a relief to have songs that continue to deliver the messages we still need to hear, especially the music by the magnificent Marvin Gaye?

“Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain’t what they used to be no, no
Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas
Fish full of mercury“.

Marvin gaye

Marvin Gaye’s 1971 groundbreaking album. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Marvin Gaye: “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” (1971, written by Marvin Gaye).

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 379

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?

March 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 1990 “Saturday Night Live” celebrated its 15th year on the air. I had been watching it for at least a decade by then and was amazed I could still be so thoroughly entertained by the cast & their guests week after week. One of my favorite episodes of that anniversary year took place on March 24, 1990. That is when my great musical love Eric Clapton appeared as the special guest for not two but three songs.

He spent the rest of that week in NYC to celebrate his 45th birthday on March 30th. Today he celebrates his 76th and while he may not be in NYC for this one, I am marking the occasion with one of the songs he sang on SNL over 30 years ago. Happy birthday to guitarist extraordinaire, singer, songwriter, icon & legend, Eric Clapton.

“The mountain gets steeper, the hole you dig is gettin’ deeper
You better reach and pull yourself out
No one’s ever gonna love you the way that I love you
I never want to see you doin’ without“.

Clapton

Eric Clapton on “Saturday Night Live” from March 1990. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Eric Clapton: “No Alibis” (1989, written by Jerry Lynn Williams).

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 378

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?

March 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.

Baroque rock had a relatively short window of popularity, lasting only for about 10 years between the mid 1960’s to the early 1970’s. The sound defined rock music with specific orchestral sounds separate from the sole use of strings. Of course it was The Beatles who were thought to start this trend, most notably with the song, “In My Life” .

But in 1966 the genre was specifically attributed to the English group, The Left Banke. The broader sound of their music included the harpsichord in addition to specific brass, woodwind & string arrangements. The group displayed the sound beautifully with their 1966 hit “Walk Away Renee” (Day 143) and today’s song as well.

“I called her yesterday, it should have been tomorrow
I could not keep this joy that was inside,
I beg for her to tell me if she really loved me,
Some where a mountain is moving
Afraid it’s moving without me“.

Left Banke

The Left Banke circa 1965. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Left Banke: “Pretty Ballerina” (1966, written by Michael Brown).

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 377

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?

March 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.

When most people think about Dan Fogelberg, they recall his ballads: “Leader Of The Band”, “Same Old Lang Syne” and “Longer”. I was more of a fan of his edgier side. In 1978 he collaborated with jazz flautist Tim Weisberg on the album, Twin Sons Of Different Mothers. It featured the top 30 hit,  “The Power of Gold” which I really enjoyed. But it was Fogelberg’s 1982 single that really stood out as a favorite for me.

“Oh, Oh, if I had you beside me
Then I just might sleep through the night
Your love is the promise that guides me
All of the days of my life“.

dan f

Dan Fogelberg circa 1980. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Dan Fogelberg: “Missing You” (1982, written by Dan Fogelberg).

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

Stay well.