Music Monday: April 24, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Today’s song is an unmistakeable classic from the 1970’s and one of my all time favorite songs. It features an incredible base line, great lyrics and a fabulous vocal by one of the best blue eyed soul singers out there.  He is also sadly underrated despite being the voice behind groups like Ace, Squeeze and Mike & The Mechanics.  

Singer, songwriter and musician Paul Carrack was born on April 22, 1951 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. According to his website, he started touring as a musician when he was 17. That puts his career at 55 years and counting. He started 2023 with the release of a new album, Don’t Wait Too Long, and is currently gearing up for a European tour which will begin next month.

Carrack is one of the vocalists I have loved forever due to his smooth yet incredibly soulful delivery on nearly every song he sings. He has sung today’s song many times over the last five decades in a number of different ways. Yet to me, nothing beats the original. But the version from his 1995 album, Blue Views, comes very close.

Happy birthday, Paul Carrack.

“You said that you never intended
To break up our scene in this way
But there ain’t any use in pretending
It could happen to us any day“.

Top: Paul Carrack (far left) with Ace circa 1974. Bottom: Carrack circa 2022. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

Ace: “How Long” (1974, written by Paul Carrack).

Paul Carrack: “How Long” (1995, written by Paul Carrack).

Stay safe & well.

Music Monday: April 17, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Tomorrow is Tax Day here in the U.S. And we all know the only way out is through-meaning either to file a return or an extension. So if you feeling trapped by the looming deadline, why not reduce the pressure by listening to some Blues by way of one of the greatest Southern Rock bands in history?

“You got me trapped, Woman
Up on the second floor
If I get by this time
I won’t be trapped no more“.

The Allman Brothers pictured on the cover of their 1971 album, At Fillmore East. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Allman Brothers: “One Way Out” (Recorded live on June 27, 1971 at The Filmore East in New York City. The track appears on the band’s 1972 double album, Eat A Peach. Written by Elmore James, Marshall Sehorn and Sonny Boy Williamson II).

Stay safe & well.

Music Monday: April 10, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Today marks a very dark event in music history. On this day 53 years ago-April 10, 1970-The Beatles broke up. Their popularity detonated like a bomb only six years earlier when they reenvisioned Sunday nights with their first appearance “The Ed Sullivan Show“. The country was still reeling from President John F. Kennedy’s assasination less than three months earlier. The Fab Four propelled not only America but the world forward with their sound, sparking a musical revolution and a British Invasion while redefining music for the rest of our lives.

The turbulence of the 1960’s and the band’s enormous life altering fame turned a group of four young souls into four grown men who got married, became fathers and went searching for more. They experimented with drugs, different cultures and ancient mysticism while longing for peace from the war in Asia and the one in America over civil rights.

Each album by The Beatles was a testament to their experiences, their growth & all that was happening around them. From Rubber Soul to Revolver to Sgt. Peppers to The White Album to Abbey Road to Let It Be, the group was a force that could not be denied. And the most common themes of love and peace in their songs ( “Love Is All You Need“, “Come Together“, “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make“) are even more powerful and sought after now as they were over five decades ago.

Thank you John, Paul, George and Ringo. You gave us so much. But we owe you even more.

“I look at the world
And I notice it’s turning
While my guitar gently weeps

With every mistake
We must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps“.

Beatles 1964

Beatles Hey Jude photo shoot

Top: The Beatles in 1964. Bottom: The Beatles in 1969. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Beatles: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (1968, written by George Harrison).

Stay safe & well.

Music Monday: April 3, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Yesterday marked what would have been Marvin Gaye’s 84th birthday. Motown’s “Prince Of Soul” was born April 2, 1939 in Washington, D.C. His voice was one of the strongest, one of the most recognizeable, one of the most powerful & one of the most beautiful to come out of the Motor City. He was also a musician, a songwriter and a producer.

He started with the Motown label in 1960 and by 1962 he had his first hit, “Stubborn Kind Of Fellow”. He spent the next 20 years of his career at the label, and despite incredible highs with hit songs like “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, duets with Tammi Terrell and seminal albums like “What’s Going On”, Gaye also experienced incredible lows including the end of his first marriage, the death of Terrell and struggles with depression and addiction. He left Motown for CBS Records in 1982.

That same year Gaye enjoyed a career resurgence with the release of Midnight Love. The lead single, “Sexual Healing”, hit #3 by January 1983. It won him the first Grammy Award of his career, Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male (the instrumental version earned him Grammy #2 the same year). But it was what he did next that gave him another career defining moment that is still revered and celebrated 40 years later.

On February 13th, 1983, the NBA’s best gathered at the Los Angeles arena for the 33rd All-Star Game between Eastern and Western Conferences. Gaye was chosen to sing the National Anthem and went on to make history with his suave, soulful and utterly sensational interpretation of the song. The Star Spangled Banner would never sound the same from that point on. It was like watching what Ray Charles did for “America The Beautiful” all over again.

Marvin NBA 1983

Marvin Gaye at the 1983 NBA All Star Game. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I miss this man every single day. I fell in love with his voice before I knew what soul music was but I knew Gaye’s voice was the definition of it, even when I was a young child. He was just that good, just that talented and just that powerful. And every time I hear one of his songs, I remember the first time I heard his voice all over again. But his legacy is best summed up on his website: “His greatness rests in his genius for transforming spiritual energy into songs that both inspire and delight.” Amen.

marvin g

Gaye circa 1982. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Marvin Gaye: “National Anthem” (1983, Live at the NBA All Star Game, lyrics by Francis Scott Key and music by John Stafford Smith).

Marving Gaye: “That’s The Way Love Is” (1969, written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield).

Stay safe & well.

Music Monday: March 27, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The month is a big one for Sir Elton Hercules John. Not only did he just celebrate birthday #76 on March 25, but he is also about to release the 50th anniversary edition of his fifth studio album, Honky Chateau. It was originally introduced in May 1972 and it further established just how prolific John and his unbelievably talented lyricist, Bernie Taupin, were. Fifty years later, no one is surprised that both men are legends and beloved beyond measure thanks to the unbelievably exquisite catalog of songs that have shared with all of us.

I cannot begin to imagine what my life would sound like without their words & music guiding me all these years. And John especially has reinvented himself many times over the past five decades and has become a prominent philantropisit, especially through his AIDS foundation.

John has also beaten addiction, outlived so many of his dearest friends and found two of his greatest loves in life by choosing to become a father with his husband after many years together. John is a survivor and taught us all how to keep going no matter how many times the sun goes down. He is an incredible man & artist and, despite his pending retirement from touring, I do not think he will ever walk away from his piano completely.

Today’s song is one of my favorites and John’s, too, as he mentions in the stunningly beautiful live version I have included here as well. I never thought this song could get any better but @ 2:05 it does with the addition of a spectacular string arrangement added in.

Happy birthday, Elton John. I adore you.

“This Broadway’s got
It’s got a lot of songs to sing
If I knew the tunes I might join in
I’ll go my way alone grow my own
My own seeds shall be sown in New York City“.

Elton John circa 1972 (Photograph from eltonjohn.com).

Elton John: “Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters” (1972, written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin).

Elton John: “Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters” (as performed live at NYC’s Madison Square Garden in 2007).

Stay safe & well.

Music Monday: March 20, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

One of the premier artists who defined a progressive sound in music celebrated eight decades on this planet last week. Sylvester Stewart a/k/a Sly Stone was born 80 years ago on March 15, 1943 in Denton, Texas. He is best known as the frontman, songwriter, producer & musician for Sly & The Family Stone. Their sound was a monumental fusion of funk, rock, soul, gospel & psychedelic music.

Stone formed the band when he was 24 years old in 1967. And in the middle of one of the most racially charged years of that decade, the group’s mere existence cut right through that tension & the looming gender divide by showcasing equality. As the The New York Times noted in 2015, the band “whose inclusion of black and white musicians of both sexes, and its hippie style, made it a living poster for the ideals of the counterculture”.

The group’s debut album, A Whole New Thing, came out in 1967. The title track from their next album, Dance to the Music, put them on the charts in 1968 with their first Top Ten hit. Over the next seven years Stone & his group would enjoy incredible success complete with three number one songs, numerous awards & accolades and sold out concerts. One of their incredible live performances is featured in the 2021 Oscar winning documentary, Summer Of Soul.

I think 80 years of life deserves to be marked with, at the very least, two songs. The first pick was released in 1968, it was the band’s first number #1 song (for four weeks in 1969) and in less than two & a half minutes, it defined equality for one and all. Talk about timeless.

“I am no better and neither are you
We’re all the same whatever we do
You love me you hate me you know me & then
You can’t figure out the bag I’m in“.

Today’s second track is also celebrating a milestone. It was released 50 years ago and peaked at #12 in September 1973. Sadly, it was the last Top 20 hit for this man and his unbelievably talented group. But they went out with the proverbial bang as this song features one of the most fabulous base lines ever recorded.

“And when you see me again
I hope that you have been
The kind of person that
You really are now“.

Top: Sly Stone circa 1968. Bottom: The band circa 1968 (L-R): Rose Stone, Larry Graham, Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, Greg Errico, Jerry Martini (seated) and Cynthia Robinson (Bottom picture credit-Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images. (Top image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Sly & The Family Stone: “Everyday People” (1968, written by Sly Stone).

Sly & The Family Stone: “If You Want Me To Stay” (1973, written by Sly Stone).

Stay safe and well.

Music Monday: March 13, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

James Vernon Taylor turned 75 yesterday. Born March 12, 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts he was one of the first artists signed to The Beatles label, Apple Records. He recorded his self-titled debut album in London in 1968 but it was his second album released in 1970, Sweet Baby James, that would put him on the map. He followed that up with Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, which contained the 1971 #1 hit written by Carol King, “You’ve Got A Friend”.

Five decades later, Taylor remains a beloved upper statesman in music after his reign as one of the first definitive singer-songwriters of the 1970’s. His list of honors and awards are vast and his songs have been beloved by multiple generations and audiences for over 50 years.

Happy birthday, JT.

“Now the first of December was covered with snow
So was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston
Though the Berkshires seemed dreamlike on account of that frostin’
With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go”.

JT 1970

James Taylor circa 1970 (top) and in 2022 (bottom). (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

James Taylor: “Sweet Baby James” (1970, written by James Taylor).

Stay safe and well.

Music Monday: March 6, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

This month marked what would have been the 73rd birthday for a women whose voice was gentle, clear and beautiful. Karen Carpenter was born on March 2, 1950 in New Haven, CT but moved to Downey, CA when she was a teenager . That is where she joined her brother, Richard, in his musical endeavors. That partnership eventually brought the siblings international fame as The Carpenters in the 1970’s for their soft rock, middle of the road sound, led by her smooth rich contralto voice.

Her distinctive range gave her the ability to hit every note gloriously, especially the low ones. She delivered each song perfectly in such an effortless way, which just underscored the true gift she was blessed with. It is hard to believe we have been without it for the last 30 years. She died on February 4, 1983, at the age of 32 as one of the first people to lose the fight against anorexia.

I have writen before that I wish life had given her more happiness than just that iconic voice. A rigorous touring schedule left her little time for much of a personal or social life, while her divorce robbed her of her dreams to be a wife and mother, as she reportedly longed to be. Luckily her successful career came with many of its own rewards and her talent as a female drummer made her a hero & inspiration to little girls everywhere, including me.

“Long ago and oh so far away
I fell in love with you before the second show
Your guitar it sounds so sweet and clear
But you’re not really here it’s just the radio“.

Richard and Karen Ckaren_carpenter3

Left: Richard and Karen circa 1970. Right: The siblings behind their instruments of choice-Karen on the drums and Richard at the piano, circa 1971. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

The Carpenters: “Superstar” (1971, written by Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell).

Stay safe & well.

Music Monday: February 27, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Saturday marked the 80th birth anniversary for George Harrison. The Quiet Beatle was born born February 25, 1943 in the London city he & his fellow Beatles would make famous, Liverpool. He was the first from the group to have a solo #1 song (“My Sweet Lord” in December 1970-January 1971) and the first artist to host a benefit concert to raise money & bring awareness to a cause he believed in (The Concert For Bangladesh held on August 1, 1971). And as if his years with The Beatles and his solo work were not enough, in 1988 he became a Traveling Wilbury with four other musical superstars: Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.

The year 2001 was already horrible due to 9/11, but unimaginably it became even worse two months later when we lost Harrison to cancer at age 58 on November 29, 2001. It was a terrible blow to music and to me personally as George was always my favorite Beatle. His song, “Something”, is my favorite by the band despite the preponderance of Lennon and McCartney tunes.

Today’s track is the one that started my own music collection. It was released 50 years ago in May 1973 and it was the first single-yes, a 45-I ever bought for myself. It was Harrison’s second #1 single, hitting the top spot for one week on June 30, 1973. It also dethroned Paul McCartney & Wings’s song, “My Love” from the #1 spot after four conseciutive weeks.

Happy birthday, George. You are missed. Every. Single. Day.

“Give me hope
Help me cope with this heavy load
Trying to touch and reach you with
Heart and soul“.

Beatles Mag Mystery Tour era

George 1970

Traveling Wilburys

Top: The Beatles circa 1967 (L-R: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon). Middle: Harrison circa 1970. Bottom: The Traveling Wilburys circa 1988 (L-R: Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Harrison and Tom Petty). (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

George Harrison: “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)” (1973, written by George Harrison).

Stay safe & well.

Music Monday: February 20, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.

Bruce quote 2023

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Today marks two milestones for the band, Steely Dan. This is from my 2021 post:

On February 20, 1950 Steely Dan co-founder, guitarist & songwriter Walter Becker was born in Queens, NY. He started the band with keyboardist & songwriter Donald Fagen after the two men met when they were both students at Bard College in Annandale-On-Hudson, NY. On that same date in 1974, the group released their third studio album, Pretzel Logic. Let’s just take a minute to bask in the brilliance of that title, shall we?

“You tell yourself you’re not my kind
But you don’t even know your mind
And you could have a change of heart“.

Walter Becker (L) and Donald Fagen (R) of Steely Dan circa 1974 & the album they released that year. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

Steely Dan: “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” (1974, written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen).

Stay safe & well.