"I'll come around to see you once in a while or if I need a reason to smile"
Happy February!
"Hello It's Me" was originally recorded in 1968 by Todd Rundgren's band Nazz, and appeared on their self-titled album. That single did not do well, peaking at #66 on the U.S. charts. While the song helped to launch Rundgren's career, the 1971 solo re-recording from his album "Something/Anything?" is the better known version. Released in 1972, it became his only major pop hit, and reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Rundgren expected the album opener "I Saw The Light" to be his big hit, even going as far as to say so in the liner notes rather tongue-in-cheek. However, his re-recording of "Hello It's Me" shot up to the Top 5, eclipsing the Top 15 success of "I Saw The Light." Ironically, both songs displayed his newfound admiration (and subsequent imitation) of Carole King following her Tapestry album.
This song is so great and it always makes me think of That 70's Show when the gang travels out of town to go see Todd Rundgren. It also makes me think of when I would convince my friend Rachel to make me a CD (this was before I had a laptop with a CD burner). I can remember wanting this song on it, along with some Carole King (ironically), That Thing You Do Soundtrack, and some Dragon Force. Quite the mixture! Thanks Rach for making all of those random CD's, even though I KNOW you hated most of my music.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy "Hello It's Me"
Live Version:
I don't know what to say regarding the feathers.... except for YIKES!
In honor of my Dad's 60th birthday, I have decided to go with one of his favorite songs (and mine as well). He LOVES this song and can listen to it over and over again.
I have to thank my Daddy for not only being a fantastic father but for also introducing me to good ol' fashioned rock n' roll. I remember it was his Abbey Road tape that I stole from him which started my infatuation with The Beatles. I was the only 12 year old at my middle school with an actual record player in their room. I also remember "borrowing" his Dark Side of the Moon tape, which opened a lot of musical doors for me. I remember riding in the car with him when I was in late elementary/middle school and every time a good classic rock song would come on, he would ask me the artist (jokingly). I always answered "Pink Floyd" or "Led Zeppelin" (those were the only two bands I knew of but never listened to). Half the time I was right! I love my Daddy! Now-a-days, it seems to be the other way around. I think I have him beat on Classic Rock trivia and who sings what!
Me & My Dad
Anyways, in honor of him I chose the song "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)" by Grand Funk Railroad. It was the last track on the band's Closer to Home album, released in July of 1970. Mark Farner, GFR's lead singer and lead guitarist, wrote the song. The record was a modest hit single when first released, but achieved greater airplay on progressive rock radio stations. It has become a classic rock staple and has appeared on several audience-selected lists as one of the best rock songs of all time.
Unusually for him, Farner wrote the lyric of the song first, with the words coming to him in the middle of the night after saying prayers for inspiration to write something meaningful. The chord changes to "I'm Your Captain" came to him the following morning between sips of coffee, and the following day he took it to the band. They immediately liked it, but after a while had no ending for the second movement. They came upon the idea of using an orchestra, and hired Tommy Baker, an arranger and trumpet player. He suggested they extend the ending so that his orchestral score would have space to develop in, and producer Terry Knight brought in the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra to record it. The band members never heard the full version until Knight played it for them back in hometown Flint, Michigan. Farner nearly cried when he heard it.
Mark Farner
Over the years many interpretations have been posed by listeners of "I'm Your Captain", including the literal one of mutiny on a voyage, but also ones involving drug addiction and ones by those who see resonance in Homer's Odyssey and themes of returning home, such as college students returning from a long semester. Authors have seen the song as an "epic of paranoia and disease" and as a tale of a man who had lost control of his life in a fashion strong enough to invoke childhood nightmares. It has been used as the subtitle for a chapter of a novel dealing with war and addictions. Comparisons have been made to Walt Whitman's poem "O Captain! My Captain!" in its use of the rank to mean Abraham Lincoln. But the most common interpretations and resonances of "I'm Your Captain" revolve around the Vietnam War. VH1's Behind the Music said the song "became a subtle anti-war anthem". Lee Andresen, author of Battle Notes: Music of the Vietnam War, sees it as portraying President Richard Nixon as "captain" of the United States, losing popular support for continuing the war. Farner himself does not explicitly state what the song is about, and indeed prefers that listeners be able to use their own imaginations when listening to song in general.
Their "Dark Side of the Moon" album changed my life. I would consider this album to be one of the best ever recorded. The whole entire album is amazing with one song flowing into the other. It is truly a musical masterpiece!
"Time" is probably my favorite song on the album. It is the fourth track on "Dark Side of the Moon", which was released in March of 1973. It is the only song on the album credited to all four members of the band (Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright). "Time" is noted for its long introductory passage of clocks chiming and alarms ringing. Each clock was recorded separately in an antiques store. This is followed by an eerie two-minute passage dominated by Nick Mason's rototoms and backgrounded by a tocking sound created by Roger Waters picking two muted strings on his bass. With David Gilmour singing lead on the verses and with Richard Wright singing lead vocals on the bridges and with female singers and David Gilmour providing backup vocals, the lyrics of the song deal with Roger Waters's realization that life was not about preparing yourself for what happens next, but about grabbing control of your own destiny.
A guitar solo from Gilmour provides the refrain over the same chord progressions as the verse and chorus. A reprise of the album's earlier "Breathe" brings the song to a closing, before it segues into "The Great Gig in the Sky". When the tom drums were recorded, there were only three available so the band had to tune the drum after each hit to get the right pitch and then mix the hit into the song.
In January 2007, readers of the Guitar World magazine voted Gilmour's guitar solo on the song the 21st greatest guitar solo of all time.
What would a music blog be without mentioning the great Led Zeppelin!!! Zeppelin is probably my second or third favorite band of all-time. They kind of duke it out with the Beach Boys, right behind the Beatles. I even named my car after Led Zeppelin..LOL!
"Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" was released on Led Zeppelin's self titled debut album in January of 1969. The song was written by Anne Bredon (a traditional folk song writer) and was originally recorded by Joan Baez on her 1962 album, Joan Baez in Concert, Part 1. The band was inspired to cover the song after hearing Baez's version. Both guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant were big fans of Baez.
Joan Baez's Recording:
At the 1:43 mark of Led Zeppelin's version of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", it is possible to hear a very faint trace of Plant singing, "I can hear it calling me" just before he sings the same line in full volume. This "ghost" is the vocal bleed from Plant's scratch vocal, and it appears on the drum tracks, which were recorded live with the full band. The band only played this song live at Led Zeppelin concerts on their 1969 concert tours, but Page and Plant brought it back for their 1998 reunion in a 9-minute version.
Zeppelin's Version:
I can remember the very first time I heard this song. It was in my Grandmother's living room in Lancaster, New York December 2002. It was right after Christmas and I got some Christmas money and decided to go buy a few CD's. I remember buying Led Zeppelin's Greatest Hits "The Early Days" and Van Halen's Greatest Hits. This was the time when I had really started to get into Classic Rock and I wanted to explore the genre. I always felt a sense of "warmth" while listening to this sing and I can't really explain it. It's a beautiful, "haunting" song and it's one of my favorite Zeppelin songs of all-time. I am a big Robert Plant fan and I believe he was the best lead singer/ vocalist of all-time and of course no one can touch Jimmy Page. Zeppelin's music actually helped me to discover more about me...as silly as that sounds! I remember driving to high school and listening to them over and over and thinking how no one really understands how great this band really is... for except me.
Live Version...It's pretty amazing:
Anyways, I hope you will enjoy this fabulous song because I know I will!
Released in April of 1967, "Don't Sleep in the Subway" is a song written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent, performed by Petula Clark.
The song was constructed from three different sections of music previously composed by Hatch and changes in musical style from pop to symphonic and then to a Beach Boys-like melody for the chorus. Maybe that's why I love it so much!
In the lyrics the narrator advises her sweetheart against storming out after an argument due to his "foolish pride". If he does, he will "sleep in the subway" or "stand in the pouring rain" merely to prove his point. Although in the UK the term "subway" refers to a pedestrian underpass rather than an underground transit system, Hatch employed the term in the American sense.
The song is kinda ridiculous when you think about someone storming out and sleeping in the subway. Maybe when the song was written you could sleep on the subway but now it's impossible. You would be kicked out and possibly be arrested if you slept in one. It makes me think back to October when Elle Bunny came to visit me in NYC. We got on the subway and this homeless man was laying down and sleeping. The cops got involved and told him to sit up or get off the train. He sat up and as soon as the doors closed and the train left, he laid back down. Elle and I just giggled to ourselves. Then, this other man (seemed homeless, but couldn't really tell) started preaching to the subway car saying that we should pray for this man and that he needed help. Clearly he did, and I did pray for him but it was quite a scene. God, I love and miss New York!
I hope you enjoy this fabulously cheesy 60's pop love song as much as I do...
Today's song is one of my favorite summer songs. I have always considered myself to be more of a winter/ fall girl but over the last few years I really have grown to enjoy the summers more.
"Summer Rain" performed by Johnny Rivers(aka John Henry Ramistella)and written by Jim Hendricks (not to be confused with Jimi Hendrix), was released in 1967 and topped the US charts at #14. Jim began writing for Johnny River's publishing company, and in 1967 he penned his first million seller… "Summer Rain". This started a long friendship between Jim and Johnny and brought continued success with other hit songs like "Muddy River" and "Look To Your Soul".
Jim Hendricks
Everytime I hear this song it makes me think of my grandparents beach house in Crystal Beach, Texas, which was destroyed during Hurricane Ike in 2008. I grew up going to that beach house every summer and I miss it like crazy! My Mimi would always have the "oldies" station on and I can remember hearing this song over and over. I think part of the reason this song stuck out to me was because of the "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" reference. The actual music is so beautiful and I LOVE all of the strings and horns. There's just something about that really sounds like summer rain, without it actually sounding like rain. When I listen to this, I always think of a sweet summer romance and when I was younger, I secretly wished to have a summer "puppy love" romance at Crystal Beach.
This picture was taken inside the beach house during the summer of 2008. This was my last time to visit the house before it was destroyed. I really wish I would have taken the fake plastic owl with me! LOL
Anyways, please enjoy this copy of "Summer Rain"...
Todays song comes to us from Gene Pitney, released October of 1961.
This song, from the film of the same name starring Kirk Douglas, won a Golden Globe Award for best movie song and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. Pitney was the first pop singer to perform at the Oscars ceremony, singing "Town Without Pity" on 9 April 1962. The song lost the Academy Award to "Moon River".
Everytime I hear this song I can't help but think of the dance scene in Look Who's Talking.
I love music of all kinds and I love to share my favorite songs with anyone who will listen! Keep your mind open and enjoy the music. Every song has a meaning and purpose in someone's life. You never know....it might end up a treasure in your collection.
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