Tag Archives: music

25 Days Of Christmas Music: Day 11

Posted in Christmas, Music by

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

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My tree from 2016.  Charlie Brown is with me every year.

Do you remember the 1988 book “All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum?  Great sentiment about how life really never changes, just our reactions to  it.  Well, Charles M. Schulz taught me about the people I would encounter in my life:  the mean one (Lucy), the smart philosopher (Linus), the everyday, insecure person hoping to get noticed (Charlie Brown), the sloppy one (Pig Pen), the musician (Schroeder), the one who follows the beat of her own drum (Peppermint Patty), the who who is always letting his imagination run away from him (Snoopy) and the ones who always need a little extra help (Woodstock, Sally).

I must admit it took a while for me to understand these personalities represented real life, but I am so happy I grew up with these characters.   To this day they comfort my soul, make my heart happy and make me feel safe.  It does not feel like Christmas to me until I watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and hear the gang sing these two Christmas songs.

peanuts

Courtesy Charles M. Schulz

The Peanuts:  “Christmas Time Is Here”

The Peanuts “Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing”

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, fellow Vixens, happy listening!!!

 

25 Days Of Christmas Songs: Day 10

Posted in Christmas, Music by

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

robin

(Original source unknown.)

I can remember the exact moment when I fell in love with this singer.  I was seven or eight years old, and I was in the back seat of my mom’s car while we were on our way home.  She always had the radio on but suddenly I heard a voice like nothing I had ever heard before.  Now in my young life, I had already heard a lot of great music courtesy of my parent’s records:  Elvis (my mom’s swoon-worthy crush when she was a teenager), Motown (my parents had a K-Tel four album compilation set) Doo-Wop & the Crooners (Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, etc.).

But what I heard on the radio that day was not like anything I had heard before, and more importantly, it hit me in a place so deep inside I did not even know existed.  Being so young, I could not verbalize what I was feeling, but when the song was over I remember the DJ saying something about “soul music”.   I took that literally to mean “music that touches the soul” and figured that is what had just happened to me.  The song was less than three minutes long but in that time it changed my whole life.

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Otis Redding (original source unknown)

The song was “(Sittin’ On The) Dock On The Bay“by Otis Redding, who we lost 50 years ago today when he was just 26 years old.  His career was for only five short years, but his reach has endured the last fifty years because his voice changed the landscape of music as it was.  In the mid 1960’s music was changing and with the death of Sam Cooke (one of Redding’s heroes) in December 1964, soul music was getting lost in a sea that included the Beatles, the British Invasion, Motown, etc.  When Redding’s voice began to be heard through his records and live shows, there was no denying his immense talent.  No one before or since has sung with his gut-wrenching, achingly impassioned vocal.  It quickly & rightfully earned him the title of “King of Soul”.  Redding put Soul Music back on the map, and just as importantly, became the voice of Stax Records.

Incidentally. “Dock of the Bay” was co-written by legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, a member of Stax’s house band, Booker T & The M.G.’s.  “Crop”, as he is affectionately known, had the heartbreaking task of finishing the song after the death of his best friend.  Learn more about that and more about Redding’s career in this fantastic interview by CBS News correspondent & fellow music connoisseur, Anthony Mason.

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Otis Redding at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival-June 1967 (original source unknown)

Even more sad than his loss to the music industry, Redding left behind a young wife and three small children when he died.  All of them have worked incredibly hard to preserve his legacy.  Also, on December 15, Rhino Records is releasing “OTIS REDDING: THE DEFINITIVE STUDIO ALBUM COLLECTION”, a 7-LP set.  More proof that the world still cannot get enough of Otis Redding’s timeless talent.

There is not a song by Redding that I do not like, so I decided to share several of my favorites below.  After you listen to his two Christmas songs, indulge yourself by listening to the rest, including his phenomenal performance at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival from June 1967.  If you have never seen it before, you cannot miss it.  He performed five songs in twenty minutes…..and STOLE the show.

Thank you, Otis Redding.  You are missed every day.

Otis Redding:  “White Christmas”

Otis Redding:  “Merry Christmas Baby”

Otis Redding:  “Try A Little Tenderness”

Otic Redding:  “You Left The Water Running”

Otis Redding:  “A Change Is Gonna Come”

Otis Redding:  “These Arms of Mine”

Otis Redding:  “My Lover’s Prayer”

Otis Redding:  “You Don’t Miss Your Water”

Otis Redding and Carla Thomas:  “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby“***

***(It was hard to beat Sam & Dave’s original passion infused version, but between Redding’s voice & the phenomenal horns added to the fact that this was a male-female duet, this cover is as close to perfection as possible.  Redding & Thomas did several duets together, but this is by far my favorite followed closely by “Tramp“.)

Otis Redding:  Full Monterey International Pop Music Festival Performance (1967)

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, fellow Vixens, happy listening!!!

 

 

 

25 Days Of Christmas Songs: Day 9

Posted in Christmas, Music by

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

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Courtesy of VintageNewsJunkie.com

This song from 1957 has been featured in many different movies, including one of my favorites “Mean Girls”.  What is not to like about this movie?  It is based on a funny book, the screenplay was written by the hilarious Tina Fey, the equally hilarious Amy Poehler is a scream in it and the mean girls get theirs in the end.  Any female who survived junior high loves that part most of all   🙂

But I, like many others, l-o-v-e the Winter Talent Show scene the most.  From Damian’s performance of “Beautiful” while dealing with haters, to the Mathletes rap to the reaction of Cady’s parents to their daughter’s moves, to Poehler thrusting along with the girls while filming their act to this song…what is not to love?   🙂

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Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

The original version is my favorite because of its sing-a-long feel, but there are two others I love, too.  One is an instrumental version by one of my favorite musicians, and the other is by one of the best selling duos of all time.

Bobby Helms:  “Jingle Bell Rock“.

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass:  “Jingle Bell Rock“.

Hall & Oates:  “Jingle Bell Rock“.

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, fellow Vixens, happy listening!!!

25 Days Of Christmas Songs: Day 8

Posted in Christmas, Music by

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

chistmas-music-ornament

(Original source unknown)

Music has been my refuge for as long as I can remember.  It enriches my mind, my heart and my soul.  It pulls me through when I do not think I can take another step.  It inspires me when I am at a loss.  And at Christmas, it sometimes makes me sad.

Yes, the holidays are tough and bittersweet for those of us who have lost loved ones, so we may not feel very festive in every moment throughout the season.  But another reason I sometimes get sad at Christmas is because I hear this song.

We lost the singer 37 years ago today, but I know myself and many others never recovered.  His death ended a beautiful dream that began on February 9, 1964 when he and the rest of his band played on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, changing music and the world for the better.  Any chance the four original Beatles would ever reunite died with this man on December 8, 1980.

Beatles on Ed Sullivan

Ed Sullivan with The Beatles circa 1964 (original source unknown).

There are all the obvious reasons why his death is so sad:  he was only 40 years old, he had two sons, one who was only five at the time, he was enjoying a resurgence in his career after taking five years off to become a house husband & stay at home dad by his own choice, he had a wife he loved and together they were living the dream in NYC.

You may not have liked him or his music, but the one thing about him no one can dispute is that this man’s dream for our world was peace.  He told us so in his bed-ins for peace in the 1960’s and in his song “Give Peace A Chance”.  And just in case we missed it, he shared his dream with us again in the 1970’s in his song “Imagine”.  Almost four decades later and I still cannot reconcile how a man who did so much in the name of peace died in such a horrible violent way.

I am sad that he is not here for his wife, his sons, the music industry, the world and myself.  We all lost so much but no matter how much I grieve this loss, every year when Christmas rolls around and I start hearing this song on the radio, I feel so sick inside I just want to cry.

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The John Lennon Memorial in Central Park (original source unknown).

Artists all over the world have done tributes to him since his death, but my favorite is Ozzy Osbourne’s cover of “How“.  He recorded it seven years ago to honor what would have been this man’s 70th birthday.  Even if you do not like Ozzy, watch the video.  The ending is beautiful.  And so is today’s song, even though it makes me sad.

John Lennon:  “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”

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, fellow Vixens, happy listening!!!

 

25 Days Of Christmas Songs: Day 7

Posted in Christmas, Music by

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

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(Original source unknown).

“Elf” has become one of the most beloved Christmas movies ever since its release in 2003.  One of the most cherished scenes in the film is when Will Ferrell’s Buddy character first arrives in NYC , going around the revolving doors, grabbing the flyers, getting his elf shoes polished and so on.  Do you remember the song that was playing during these scenes?  Think hard…..can you hear it in your head???  It is “Pennies From Heaven” by Italian trumpeter & bandleader, Louis Prima.

That song was originally recorded by Bing Crosby in 1936 for the film of the same name.  Prima recorded his version later that same year.  And that is probably not the only song you know by him.  Remember Brian Seltzer of “The Stray Cats”?  Well, his 1998 song, “Jump, Jive an’ Wail” is a cover of Prima’s 1956 version.   With the new popularity of the song in 1998, The Gap used the original in one of its commercials that year.

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Louis Prima (Getty Images-original source unknown).

And who can forget David Lee Roth’s first solo record, “Just A Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody“?  That was also a Prima cover, which he played in his Vegas shows in the mid 1950’s and it helped to revitalize his career.  It also became his signature tune.  Check out Prima’s version in this fun clip from 1959.  You will notice that while different singers perform these songs in different eras, they are basically the same songs note for note.  Prima’s versions are that good there was no room to improve on them.   But what else should we expect but greatness from an Italian in the arts???   🙂

Now that you know you like Prima’s music, you are going to love today’s Christmas song pick.  Released the same year as “Pennies”, this song became a staple of his Christmas shows because, after all, why shouldn’t Christmas songs swing???   🙂

Louis Prima:  “What Will Santa Claus Say (When He Finds Everybody Swingin’)“

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, fellow Vixens, happy listening!!!

25 Days Of Christmas Songs: Day 6

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Hi, Vixens!!!  Welcome back to the countdown!!!

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Some of my faux trees & a reindeer from my decor.  (Image by me).  

I have been a fan of this woman’s since I was a kid.  After Aretha Franklin, she is my favorite female singer.  From the first time I heard “You’re No Good” I was hooked and never looked back.  After that came album after album of original music and covers of songs written by the likes of Warren Zevon (“Poor Poor Pitiful Me”), Smokey Robinson (“The Tracks of My Tears”), Chuck Berry (“Back In The USA”). Holland-Dozier-Holland (“Heatwave”), Eric Kaz & Libby Titus (“Love Has No Pride“-my absolute favorite version of this song), Phil Everly (“When Will I Be Loved”), Mick Jagger & Keith Richards (“Tumbling Dice”) and many others.

Despite being called “The Queen of Rock”, she has sung practically every type of music imaginable-rock, pop, country (I adore her “Trio” albums with Dolly Parton & Emmylou Harris), jazz, big band/standards (with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra) and Mexican.  She was also in one of my favorite movies ever (“FM”) and on Broadway (in “The Pirates of Penzance”).

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THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, Linda Ronstadt, 1983, (c)Universal.  (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

She retired in 2011 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.  She did not appear at the ceremony due to her announcement a year earlier that she could no longer sing as a result of Parkinson’s Disease.  Such a sad ending to her unbelievably powerful voice, enormous talent and incredibly lustrous career that earned her 11 Grammy Awards, 3 American Music Awards, 2 Academy of Country music Awards and many other accolades.

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Linda Ronstadt circa 1975 (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Before her HOF induction, Rhino Records put together a collection of duets with some of her previous collaborators and influences, many of whom happen to be some of the top female voices in history and several more of my favorites.  Two of the songs are covers from the movie “White Christmas.  I already love her solo version of  “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas“, but now I have added the two movie songs to my list.  One has nothing to do with Christmas, but since it was in the movie, I believe it qualifies for the countdown.

Linda Ronstadt and Rosemary Clooney:  “White Christmas”

Linda Ronstadt and Bette Midler:  “Sisters“.

I do not own the rights to the songs or the pictures of Linda Ronstadt.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you   🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

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

25 Days Of Christmas Songs: Day 5

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Hello, Vixens!!!  Welcome back to the countdown!!!

christmas-candles

(Original source unknown).

Growing up in an Italian family meant certain things were a given:  Pasta and church on Sunday, no meat on Friday and this man’s music for the holidays.

But he did so much more than sing.  He was in the original “Ocean’s 11”, one of my favorite disaster movies (“Airport”) and two of my favorite guilty pleasure shows (“Charlie’s Angels” & “Vegas”).  That is in addition to his many TV specials, celebrity roasts, dozens of movies and numerous albums.

Nicknamed “The King of Cool”, Dino Paul Crocetti was also a member of “The Rat Pack” and one half of the comedy team Martin and Lewis.  He sang a multitude of Christmas songs throughout his career, but this one is my favorite (followed very closely by “It’s A Marshmallow World“).

The Dean Martin Variety Show

Dean Martin circa 1970 (original source unknown).

Dean Martin:  “Let It Snow“.

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, fellow Vixens, happy listening!!!

25 Days Of Christmas Songs: Day 4

Posted in Christmas, Music by

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

robin

(original source unknown)

Once upon a time, there was an era when music was not about reality shows, auto-tune,  lip-syncing or selling a perfume line.  There was a time when music had a conscience.  No, I am not referring to the 1960’s.  I am referring to the 1980’s.

Despite being known as the “Me Decade”, it was also the decade of music trying to save, or at the very least, help the world.  USA For Africa, Live Aid, Farm Aid, the Human Rights Now! Tour in benefit of Amnesty International, Artists United Against Apartheid (Sun City), etc.  Total aside-Who could forget the video for the latter in which Bruce Springsteen is singing arm in arm with David Ruffin & Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations?  SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!  But I digress.

Band Aid 1984

(original source unknown)

The one that started all those relief songs was Band Aid which was formed in 1984 by Irish musician Bob Geldoff of the Boomtown Rats.  Not long after participating in the recording of this song, U2’s Bono went to Ethiopia to see the conditions for himself and has been on a crusade to save the world ever since.  Over 30 years is one heck of a commitment.

Band Aid:  “Do they Know it’s 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, fellow Vixens, happy listening!!!

25 Days Of Christmas Songs: Day 1

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Hello, Vixens!!!  Hope you all enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday.

Now that Turkey Day is behind us and since December begins today, it’s time for me to share some of my favorite Christmas tunes with you.

December

But before we dive in, there is some other music I am loving right now that you might like also.  Some of the songs are new, some are old and some are in between.  I have been discovering new to me music through shows like “Psych” (sooooo looking forward to the  movie on December 7), “Criminal Minds”, “Grey’s Anatomy” and, of course, “This Is Us” (In this week’s episode alone, it featured the naked version of George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” and Cat Stevens “Where Do The Children Play“.  Swoon x 2!!!).

I also really love the soundtrack to “Big Little Lies”.  Yes Reese, Nicole, Shailene & Laura were great, but the actress who played Reese’s youngest daughter-Darby Camp- was unbelievably impressive.  And her character’s intense love of great music -that was me at that age!!!  I was Chloe Mackenzie minus the ear buds.  My favorite song from that series?  Leon Bridges:  “River”

Here are some of my other top picks of late:

Kelly Clarkson’s version of “Love On The Brain” (The original is good, too, with Rihanna  sounding very old school R&B-soul-like).

Gillian Welch:  “I Made A Lover’s Prayer “.

Andrew Bird:  “Three White Horses“.

Foy Vance “Guiding Light” and “Gabriel & The Vagabond“.

Rufus Wainwright:  “Vibrate” (Just his voice as he plays the piano with one hand.  Beautiful.).

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Rufus Wainwright (original source unknown)

I think I have been even more consumed by my love of music these days because it has been such a sad year for the industry with the losses of Chuck Berry, Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, Tom Petty,  Chris Cornell, Glen Campbell (he put Jimmy Webb’s songs on the map), David Cassidy (what girl did not l-o-v-e Keith Partridge) and the man with the first song on our countdown.

He was one of the early musical pioneers who helped create rock & roll by linking it to his jazz meets rhythm & blues background.  The only other Fifties-era rocker that sold more records than he was Elvis Presley.  But coming in second with 65 million records sold was no small feat.  According to his bio on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s website, he “scored more hit records than Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Buddy Holly put together”.  That is part of the reason why he was inducted into the HOF with the rest of the inaugural inductees in 1986.

Unfortunately, the change in the direction of music as a result of the one-two punch of the Beatles arrival in America in 1964 followed by the British Invasion brought this man’s incredible career to a screeching halt.  But even more depressing, we said a final goodbye to Antoine “Fats” Domino, Jr. on October 24 when he passed away at the age of 89.

VARIOUS

Fats Domino (Courtesy of Barry Peake/Rex/Shutterstock-original source unknown)

One of his musical heroes was Charles Brown who wrote and released the original version of this song in 1960.  But no one does it like the Fat Man.

Fats Domino:  “Please Come 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, fellow Vixens, happy listening!!!

 

 

 

 

“Oh My, But That Little Country Boy Could Play…”

Posted in Music by

Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry circa 1955 (original source unknown).

 

This is, indeed, a tremendous loss. As one of the architects of rock and roll, Chuck Berry’s contribution to music, for those who play it, listen to it and love it, will always be immense. The guitar riff that opens “Johnny B. Goode” is perfection defined.  Nearly 20 years after its release, it was included on Voyager 1’s Golden Record.  And in 1985, it took us all “Back To The Future“.

 

Chuck and Bruce

Bruce Springsteen and Chuck Berry performing together at the Concert for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Sept. 1995 (Courtesy Mike Duncan/AP).

 

When the Beatles came to America on February 7, 1964 and performed on “The Ed Sullivan Show” two days later, it changed the world.  When the Beatles performed their first concert in the United States later that same year – in Washington, DC – their opening song was “Roll Over Beethoven” because Chuck Berry changed their world.

Thank you for everything, Chuck. We miss you already.