Tag Archives: music

25 Days Of Christmas Music 2018: Day 7

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Hi, Everybody!!!  Welcome back to the countdown.

day 7

Found on Pinterest/House Beautiful Magazine’s page.

Today’s song was written by Gene Redd & blues singer Charles Brown in 1960.  Brown recorded the original version the same year and it has since been covered by the likes of the Eagles, Willie Nelson, Martina McBride and Kelly Clarkson, to name a few.  The original is my favorite followed very closely by the 1993 version by a soul and R&B powerhouse who began as a solo performer in the 1960’s, then joined a group with his brothers in the 1970’s before hitting the top of the charts with a couple of duets with Linda Ronstadt in 1989 & 1990, including the #1 Billboard Adult Contemporary smash “Don’t Know Much”.

charles brown              aaron

Charles Brown (circa 1960’s)                                Aaron Neville (circa 1990’s)

Aaron Neville:  “Please Come Home For Christmas” (1993).

Charles Brown:  “Please Come Home For Christmas” (1960).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

25 Days Of Christmas Music 2018: Day 6

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Hi, Everybody!!!  Welcome back to the countdown.

Can we take a minute to adore this DIY upcycle I found on Pinterest?  Is this not the cutest???!!!  I have several old spice tins (I may even have the cinnamon one featured below) but I never even thought of doing something this seasonal and creative with them and old bottle brush trees.  I am completely in love with this idea!!!

christmas day 6

Found on Pinterest (original source unknown). 

Now for today’s song.  It is another Christmas standard initially made famous by Bing Crosby in the 1940’s.   The woman who recorded the version featured today released hers in 2013 and it has a really nice Herb Alpert-esque trumpet arrangement going on throughout it.  Add the singer’s interpretation of this classic with her soulful powerful voice and you have a new reason to love this song all over again.

day 6

Kelly Clarkson:  “I’ll Be Home For Christmas“.

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

25 Days of Christmas Music 2018: Day 5

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Hi, Everybody!!!  Welcome back to the countdown.

Christmas day 5

Found on Pinterest (original source unknown).

I love duets.  Always have.  There is something so special about two voices coming together.  They can be from opposite ends of the spectrum, like in the case of Bing Crosby & David Bowie on “The Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth”  or two women from two different eras like Linda Ronstadt and Bette Midler on “Sisters“ or male/female like today’s song pick.  He’s a crooner who sings with big band sounds and she is a country superstar who writes (or co-writes) most of her own songs.   The musical arrangement for this duet is based on the Drifters version (which was featured in “Home Alone”) but also features some powerful horns which puts it on a level all its own.  It’s hard to believe that an Irving Berlin song from 1941 which is one of the most recorded songs in history can still be given a different spin after all these years.

Buble

Michael Buble & Shania Twain:  “White Christmas“.

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

25 Days Of Christmas Music 2018: Day 4

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Hi, Everybody!!!  Welcome back to the countdown.

rustic holiday sleigh

Found on Pinterest (original source unknown). 

Today’s song was written as an instrumental 70 years ago by American composer Leroy Anderson.  Lyricist Mitchell Parish added the words two years later.  That same year, the Andrew Sisters recorded the song.  I really enjoy their version-the three part harmony, the sound effects and the addition of male background singers at the choruses.  The Ronettes also recorded a great version of this holiday tune in 1963, but my favorite one is by the First Lady of Song.   In her lifetime she recorded over 200 albums, sold over 40 million records, won 13 Grammy Awards and played at Carnegie Hall a total of 26 times.  She was also awarded the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  The lady could sing and swing.   And everything in between.

Ella

Courtesy of the Ella Fitzgerald website.  

Ella Fitzgerald:  “Sleigh Ride“.

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

25 Days Of Christmas Music 2018: Day 3

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Hello, Everybody!!!  Welcome back to the countdown.

christmas day 3.jpg

Found on Pinterest (original source unknown).

Another day.  Another song.  Another legend.

Picture it:  Sunday, February 9, 1964.  Four lads from Liverpool were introduced to America thanks to their earth shattering performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”  This man was the final piece of the Beatles puzzle.  The last one to join, but the one who set the foundation of the group with every beat of his drums.  As great as the other three were, would “Yellow Submarine” or “With A Little Help From My Friends” have sounded the same if they were sung by John, Paul or George?  No.  Sir Richard Starkey made them all his own.  He began as a poor boy, too, who eventually played his drums for a king.  Just like the little boy in today’s song.

Ringo

Ringo Starr (original source unknown).

Ringo Starr:  “The Little Drummer Boy“.

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

25 Days Of Christmas Music 2018: Day 2

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Hi, Everybody!!!  Welcome back to the countdown.

pinterest day 2

Found on Pinterest (original source unknown). 

We started this year’s holiday music celebration with one of the greatest performers the world has ever seen, and today we continue with another legend.  Heck, this man is a national treasure.

Any song he recorded throughout his career became his own thanks to his soulful, bluesy, jazzy interpretations combined with his virtuoso piano playing and distinctive voice, which usually invited the listener to join in with him.  He did it with “America The Beautiful”, “I Can’t Stop Loving You”, “You Don’t Know Me” and dozens of others.  The movie based on his life gave us a no holds barred look at how hard he had to fight to overcome poverty, tragedy, blindness, racism and drug addiction while remaining a master musician and singer.  He has covered so many Christmas classics, but for those of you who cannot get enough of the scene where Clark Griswold is stuck in the attic wearing a woman’s coat, head wrap & gloves watching old family movies in “Christmas Vacation”, then this is probably your favorite holiday song by “The Genius” himself.

ray charles

Ray Charles:  “That Spirit Of Christmas”

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasies & A Song

Posted in Music by

It still isn’t feeling much like spring yet, despite the fact that last week’s storm gave us only about two inches of snow.  And estate sales have been few and far between thanks to the weather and the upcoming Easter holiday.  I needed a break from the ballast of everyday living, so I did the only thing I could do-I went for a ride to listen to some music.  It’s like a mini-vacation for my soul.

My mind goes to so many different places as I drive, and one of the things I kept thinking about was how many artists I have been lucky enough to see in my life, but especially in the last several years because I could capture a moment of the show with my cell phone.

The quality is not the best on some of these shots, but here are several of the people I have been fortunate to see live.

Chris Isaak:

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Marc Cohn:

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Stevie Nicks (in her different looks):

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Todd Rundgren:

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The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin (who celebrated her 76th birthday yesterday):

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Yusuf Islam (f/k/a Cat Stevens):

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Sir Ringo Starr:

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And The Boss, of course:

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I do not have any shows to go to yet for 2018, but with the arrival of spring and the upcoming summer, I am sure it is just a matter of time before a few I want to attend are announced.  Then I will be able to add to this picture collection.

What concerts are you hoping to attend this year?

For this week’s song, I reached back to a band that released their ground-breaking self-titled debut record, “Boston”, in 1976.  Two years later, the group released “Don’t Look Back” and it is the title song that I played over and over during last week’s car ride.   Between Tom Scholz empowering lyrics and Brad Delp’s soaring vocals, it’s hard to feel anything but unshackled and free of the past with words like these:

“A new day is breakin’
It’s been too long since I felt this way
I don’t mind where I get taken
The road is callin’
Today is the day”

“It’s a bright horizon and I’m awakin’ now
Oh I see myself in a brand new way
The sun is shinin’
The clouds are breakin’
‘Cause I can’t lose now, there’s no game to play“

I do not own the rights to the song.  I am just sharing something that I love with you  🙂

Until next time, happy digging!!!

A Vintage Find & A Song

Posted in Music, Vintage Finds by

Happy Monday!!!

Are all of you staying warm in this deep freeze that is supposed to end this week?  By Friday in my part of New England, it is supposed to be near 50 degrees.  Right now, it is 13 degrees.  Wild, right?

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I came across a winter picture from my house in NY.  I always loved how my maple tree’s branches glistened after a storm.  But I do not miss shoveling snow!!!    🙂

Very quickly, did anyone catch the Golden Globes last night?  Shout out to “This Is Us” winner Sterling K. Brown!!!  So great to see legends like Shirley MacLaine & Carol Burnett there, too.  And so glad there were big wins for “Big Little Lies”, “Lady Bird” & “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”.  I saw all three and they were fabulous!!!  Plus, it is really nice to finally hear the conversations about valuing women with equal pay and zero tolerance for harassment.

Now that you have graciously allowed me my soap box moment, let me share with you my first vintage find from my first estate sale of 2018 (yes, I ventured out in this arctic freeze to dig, LOL!!!)

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Pretty, right?  I do not have any blue dishes as I try to stay with plain ones or white ones with light pink patterns, but I just fell in love with the soft color and the delicate design.  The edge of the dishes and the cup handles are lined with silver.  I think it will be gorgeous on a fresh spring table.  I really love them and I am so happy I found a complete service for four.

Since it is Monday, it is time for music.  The song I have chosen for this week’s inspiration is a hauntingly beautiful ballad written by the man who also penned “American Pie”.  The first time I heard today’s song, it immediately reminded me of one of my favorite Robert Frost poems, “The Road Not Taken”.  I always felt an incredible ache every time I got to to the last stanza of the poem because I believed the author felt regret with the choice he made.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

But then I read the poem to a sage friend of mine who thought the author was actually happy with the road he took.  Suddenly I realized how myopic my thinking was.  Of course there are two sides to the poem.  There is to everything.  You just have to choose to see them.

I do not think I am alone in feeling like at one time or another, I may have gone in the wrong direction than where life intended to take me.  But I have come to believe that in the end every road I have taken is my intended journey through life, so…….

“There’s no need for turning back
‘Cause all roads lead to where I stand.
And I believe I’ll walk them all
No matter what I may have planned“.

Don McLean:  “Crossroads“.

Until next time, happy digging!!!

 

A Word & A Song

Posted in Music, Uncategorized by

Hello & happy 2018!!!

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Original source unknown

I do love the start of a new year-empty page, blank canvas and the rest of those similar metaphors.  I feel energized to tackle the items I did not take care of last month due to my end-of- the-year inevitable slowdown so I could divert my energy to all things holiday.  But yesterday I started  making my to-do lists again and I am eagerly looking forward to crossing off my completed tasks.

What I do not do, however, is make resolutions.  I learned a long time ago that word just sets me up for failure and I had enough of that when I tried to learn geometry in high school.  I do better by breaking the year up into four quarters and make a couple of goals to finish by the end of each one.  They range from choosing a vacation spot and putting a budget in place for it to listing some unwanted items on ebay to trying a DIY project or new recipe.

I am aware of the recent trend to pick a word to live by in the new year.  Way too much of a commitment for me, but if I use the same principal as above and choose a word for each quarter, then I will have four words for the year which is a lot more doable for me.

Grace

Original source unknown

My word for the first quarter of 2018 is grace.  I consider myself a kind and empathetic person so I usually have no problem showing it to others.  Of course, giving it to someone who intentionally hurts me is much harder to do, so I need to work on that.  But where I fail over and over again is honoring myself with the same favor.  I am so critical, so neglectful, so inpatient and so hard on my psyche that I need to just find a way to finally silence those disparaging, mean and useless voices.  I tell other people this but I need to remind myself as well that I am more than enough and that everything will be OK.

To help with this, I am using positive reinforcement.  I am going to give myself a song each week with a great message to remind me to show myself that grace.  Since I love music so very much, I feel like this is a total win-win.  This idea came to me two weeks ago when I was sitting in the Walter Kerr Theater for the Boss’s Broadway show.  As usual, his words hit that part of my soul that brings it peace.  That whispers to my heart that as long as I hear his voice, I am home.  And I belong.  In the same world that includes him.  And my heart is full again and ready to inhale and keep moving forward.  So when he got to this verse, I quietly sang right along with him:

“Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted.”

Bruce Springsteen:  “The Promised Land“.

What do you do to motivate you?

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you   🙂

Until next time, happy digging!!!

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25 Days Of Christmas Music: Day 25

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Merry Christmas, Vixens!!!  Buon Natale to my fellow Italians!!!  Welcome back to the countdown.

joy-to-the-world-lightbox

 

(Original source unknown)

Let me begin by thanking all of you for your support not only over this last month, but throughout the year.  Having the chance to do what I love is a blessing in more ways than one.  This outlet centers me and keeps me focused on what is important when the ballast of every day living threatens to take over more often than it should.  I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday & a Happy (& Blessed) New Year.

I will leave you with the final song of the Christmas music countdown along with a bonus song to begin 2018 as I take a break to recharge my batteries and relax for the last week of the year.

For the final Christmas song, I chose one by a singer who defines the Christmas season with his classic version of “The Christmas Song“.  With today’s pick, he sings a song celebrating the arrival of earth’s King.  In par with yesterday’s song, this tune celebrates the religious holiday as it is based on two Bible passages:  Genesis 3:17-18 and Psalm 98, 96:11-12.

nat king cole

Nat King Cole (original source unknown)

Nat King Cole:  “Joy To The World“

For the new year, my hope and wish is the same every year.  Maybe one day, peace will be a reality.  Here’s to 2018!!!

kenny-loggins-richard-marx

Richard Marx (L) & Kenny Loggins (R) (original source unknown)

Richard Marx & Kenny Loggins:  “Let There Be Peace On Earth”

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you   🙂

Until next time, fellow Vixens, happy listening!!!

peace

(original source unknown)