Categories
Audio Chris Connor Dusty Springfield Female Vocalists hit singles Music music videos Peggy Lee photography Singers vocalists

Vocalists of Note: Goddess Division.

I Think It’s Going To Rain Today: Peggy Lee.
Don’t Explain.
All About Ronnie: Chris Connor.
Spring is Here.
.
Dusty Springfield: The Windmills of Your Mind.
Breakfast in Bed.

We have here a modest collection of some of the most brilliant, gifted vocalists ever: Peggy Lee, Chris Connor, Anita O’Day, Lulu, Billie Eilish, and Dusty Springfield.

Addendum: also Marilyn McCoo, Irene Krall, and Dinah Washington. And Edith Piaf.

Categories
composers hit singles Music music videos photography Songwriters

Eve of Destruction.

The extraordinary, powerful, and, upon its 1965 release, highly controversial composition Eve of Destruction is performed live by vocalist Barry McGuire on the Hullabaloo show. McGuire, after being introduced by Jerry Lewis, delivers an emotionally charged rendition that made ripples—more like tsunami—across the US.

Composer P.F. Sloan recalls a few fascinating and unlikely (as in, almost credulity-straining…yet not) details: during the studio recording session, “Barry was reading it for the first time off a piece of paper I had written the lyric on! Okay. McGuire’s record is released but ‘Eve’ is the B-side. Somewhere in the Great Midwest of America a DJ played the wrong side by mistake!”.

Banned and denounced as unpatriotic, Eve only became more and more popular, most likely benefiting from all the wild, incorrect accusations and censure. Its creator and performer were not so fortunate, however; Sloan:  “It ruined Barry’s career as an artist and in a year I would be driven out of the music business too.”.

Categories
hit singles Music music videos One Hit Wonders photography

The One {Approx.} Hit Wonders: 1970s, vol II.

A number of further One {approx.} Hitters from the 1970s. I cannot emphasize enough that some artists represented herein are responsible for more than 1 “hit”, somewhere in the world. Right. So, we’ve got The Blues Image, Ocean, Norman Greenbaum, The Sanford-Townsend Band, Wild Cherry, Flash and the Pan, and Sniff ‘n’ The Tears, this time around. Enjoy.

Categories
hit singles Music music videos One Hit Wonders photography vocalists

The One Hit Wonders: The 70s.

Lee Michaels: Do You Know What I Mean.
Daddy Dewdrop: Chick-a-Boom.
King Harvest: Dancing in the Moonlight.

A soupçon of personal favorites, from a decade rich in great material. In order, we have: Edison Lighthouse, Pilot, Lee Michaels, Zager and Evans, Daddy Dewdrop, The Fortunes, The Ides of March, King Harvest, Hurricane Smith, Clint Holmes, Jigsaw, Walter Egan, John Stewart, Looking Glass, Tee Set, and JD Souther.

Categories
Beatles composers hit singles John Lennon Music music videos Paul McCartney photography

Beatles, The.

Tomorrow Never Knows.
Sexy Sadie {Anthology version}.
She Said, She Said.
And Your Bird Can Sing.
Doctor Robert.
I Want To Tell You
Mother Nature’s Son {Anthology version}.
Hey Jude {Anthology version.}

A sampling of some of the titanic moments created by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. As far as rapid, intense, super-concentrated evolution goes, as well as profound alteration of the musical landscape, The Beatles have only John Coltrane and Beethoven as peers.

Categories
Commercials Humour incredibly strange music Music music videos photography

This Crazy World.

Mrs. Miller: Mary Jane.
Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home.
The Mark of Precision.
Little Rug Bug: Rod Rogers.
John F. Kennedy Was Called Away: Norm Burns.
Leona Anderson: Rats in my Room.

So. We’ve got Andy Devine, John Daker, Hap Palmer, Telly Savalas, Arthur Brown, Mrs. Miller, Industrial musicals, H. R. Pufnstuf {featuring Jack Wild}, Leona Anderson, Charles Bronson, and The Wombles {the creation of pop svengali Mike Batt}.

Addendum: Recently added are immortal performances by James Brown, Eric Violette {Free Credit Report commercial}, and two from Beat of the Traps {Song Poems}.

Added Addenda: The inclusion of Zwol, ME Pearl, Shatner, and the indomitable Bobby Conn. And, of course, Takeo Ischi. Erlend and Steinjo, yo, also.

All of which falls into/under the Certain Kinds of Things rubric.

Categories
Alan Parsons composers Music music videos photography pure pop wonderment vocalists

Pilot: Magic!

The Scottish band Pilot emerged in 1974 with {arguably…} the greatest pop single ever recorded. Written by lead vocalist David Paton, and produced by Alan Parsons {with whom Paton and two other members were to later join forces}, “Magic” became a monster hit for the group. The first and last videos are live; the 2nd is lip-synched, to the studio version of the song, on which Parsons allegedly speeded up David’s vocal track a tad.

Categories
Jazz John Coltrane Music music videos performers photography saxophone Tenor Saxophone

John Coltrane.

Transition.
Spiritual.
Liberia.
Amen.
Compassion. {First Meditations: for quartet}
Mr. P.C.
Equinox.
Bye Bye Blackbird. (Live, 1960, Olympia with Miles Davis)
All Blues. (Live, 1960, Stockholm. w/Miles Davis)
So What. (Stockholm, 1960)
Cosmos: {Live in Seattle, 1965}.
Out of This World. (Live in Seattle)
Your Lady.
Dear Lord.

Saxophonist John Coltrane’s impossibly oracular, incantatory power as an improviser simply cannot be described. He provided one of the high-water marks in music history with his ground-and-everything-else-breaking work in the 1960’s, featuring his immortal quartet {McCoy Tyner, piano; Elvin Jones, drums/percussion; and Jimmy Garrison, bass}.

Categories
Jazz Keyboardists McCoy Tyner Music music videos pianists

McCoy Tyner.

Enlightenment Suite, part 1: Genesis.
Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit.
Wave.
Impressions: Trident version.

The great McCoy Tyner, a phenomenal, electrifying pianist, first came to prominence as the keyboardist for John Coltrane’s quartet, in 1960. He went on to bedazzle countless listeners as a bandleader himself. Born December 11, 1938, Tyner died today, March 6, 2020. He will be mourned by millions.

Categories
hit singles Music music videos Neil Diamond photography singer songwriters Singers vocalists

Neil Diamond.

One of the greatest performers, ever. Period. The mighty Neil Diamond is here featured, with some of his most powerful compositions, delivered live, with superhuman intensity. Iterations of trademark embellishments, the origins of which remain a mystery to this day, abound.