Category Archives: Music

White Christmas

19 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Berlin believed that “White Christmas” was not only the best song he ever composed but quite simply the best song ever.

Although accounts differ, most agree that he wrote the song between 1938 and 1940. It was eventually included in the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, earning the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1943. Bing Crosby debuted the song on Christmas Day 1941, a mere 18 days after the Pearl Harbor attack.

“White Christmas” evokes a melancholy nostalgia for many listeners, bringing back cherished memories of simpler times. Tina Benitez-Ives of American Songwriter writes that the lyrics may have been centered around the death of Berlin’s son, who died on Christmas Day in 1928 at only three weeks old. Every year after the death of his son, Berlin, who was Jewish, and his wife would visit his grave on Christmas, which may have led him to write the more somber holiday song.

Source: American Songwriter. Graphic: White Christmas by Bing Crosby and the London Symphony Orchestra, youtube. White Christmas by Bing Crosby, Decca Records.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

2 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Fifty years ago, Elton John’s double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road spent 10 weeks as the number one album on the Billboard 200, from the week of November 10th through December 29th, 1973. The album is Elton John’s most successful, selling an estimated 31 million copies.

The attached video is from Elton John’s performance at the Glastonbury Festival on the Pyramid Stage, Worthy Farm, Pilton, England. The concert was recorded on 25 June 2023, as part of the Farewell Yellow Brick Road World Tour, which was billed as his final UK show. The tour began in Allentown, Pennsylvania on 8 September 2018, and finished in Stockholm, Sweden on 8 July 2023. It was a five-year tour, grossing almost a billion dollars, the third highest tour to date, eclipsed only by Taylor Swift and Coldplay.

Trivia: The album liner notes feature an illustration of head silhouettes in front of a movie screen, which inspired a similar graphic for the comedic film review TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Source: Billboard. BestSellingAlbums.org. Graphic: Yellow Brick Road Album Cover and the song Saturday Nights Alright for Fighting, DJM Records.

Stax Country:

11 November 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

The words Stax and country, seldom found in the vicinity of each other, come together for an emotional tour de force of soulful ballads, evoking the passions of love, heartache, and life like an old photo album that chronicles a simpler, happier time.

Jared Boyd, writing for Stax, comments that “Stax Country illuminates these varied voices along a Venn diagram of soul and country, underscoring the label’s ambition to break new ground… This compilation is a testament to Stax’s pioneering spirit and support for musical diversity, highlighting an era when soulful storytelling found common ground with country’s honesty and zeal.“

Originally released in 2017, the album was remastered and reissued in October 2024 with sound quality as crisp and clear as a nightingale’s melody waking you on a Saturday morning. Stax excellence shines through in this compilation of lost gems.

Source: Stax. Graphic: Album Cover with Sweet Country Music by Becki Bluefield.

You Still Got Me

4 November 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Beth Hart’s 11th solo studio album, the October 2024 release of ‘You Still Got Me’, follows up her 2022 Led Zeppelin tribute album with 11 original songs spanning the genres of blues, rock, pop, ballads, a touch of jazz, and a delightful tongue-in-cheek country nod to Johnny Cash. All songs are written by her, with a little help from Rune Westberg and Glen Burtnik.

While this may not be her best work—those honors go to her collaborations with the incomparable guitarist Joe Bonamassa—listening to the bluesy evolution of her throaty voice is a joy to be cherished and treasured; an album that captures the pure magic that is Beth Hart.

Source: AllMusic. Rock & Roll Muse with Martine Ehrenclou. Graphic: Album Cover and ‘Wanna Be Big Bad Johnny Cash, Provogue, Mascot, October 2024.

Changes All the Time

21 October 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

James Bay’s fourth studio album, “Changes All the Time” released in October, takes the singer-songwriter back to his roots established with his debut album “Chaos and the Calm”, in 2015. This new album brings him forward with fresh changes highlighting his flexibility as an artist.

James O’Sullivan writing for When the Horn Blows, concludes that with the release of “Changes All the Time,” Bay is “no longer boxed in by the folky, singer-songwriter style of his earlier work, but he’s also not containing himself in the trappings of expectation…Instead, he gets to write for writing’s sake, and the freedom lets the album shine.”

The first track on the album, “Up All Night”, is a happy, foot tapping therapy song that gets you wondering if you should be cheering on the couple or counseling divorce–but you really don’t care; it’s just a great, snappy tune. It features The Lumineers and Noah Kahan who provide harmonies and background vocals.

A marvelous album.

Source: AppleMusic. James Bay by James O’Sullivan, When the Horn Blows 2024.  Graphic: Album Cover copyright Mercury Records.

New Arrangements and Duets

14 October 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Van Morrison, at 79, has released his new album “New Arrangements and Duets”, featuring previously recorded but unreleased music that has been hidden away in his music vault for years. Morrison announced the album on Instagram, saying, “This album represents a small percentage of the huge amount of unreleased material we are hoping to roll out in the near future, rather than letting it gather dust in some archive.”

The album includes big band tracks as a homage to Van Morrison’s father and a selection of duets with the likes of Willie Nelson, Joss Stone, Curtis Stigers, and Kurt Elling.

The attached audio file is a snippet of “What’s Wrong with this Picture” featuring a duet with Willie Nelson, accompanied by Willie’s son, Lukas, on guitar. The song was recorded in 2018 and 2019.

Source: James Daykin, Entertainment Focus. Apple Music. AllMusic. Graphic: New Arrangement and Deuts Album cover, copyright Exile Productions Inc.

Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 2

7 October 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 2. — I Got A Woman

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has recently unveiled his 2024 follow-up, Vol. 2, to the acclaimed 2023 release, “Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 1“.

Conceived at the Muscle Shoals’ Fame Studios, brought to life in L.A., the album offers seven new electric blues tracks, plus one cover, each featuring outstanding hooks, riffs, guitar solos, and lyrics that fans have come to expect from his music.

Just like in Vol.1, the horn section featuring Joe Sublett on sax and Mark Pender on trumpet infuses the band’s sound with a delightful, soulful funky mix. Stax couldn’t have done it better.

Continuing the tradition from Vol.1, which included a cover of Elton John’s rockin’ 1973 hit “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” KWS and the band leap six years beyond “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” to perform ZZ Top’s rollicking “She Loves My Automobile” from their 1979 album “Deguello”. Wonderful.

Trivia: The first hit record from Fame Studios was the 1961 smash “You Better Move On” by Arthur Alexander, which was later covered by the Rolling Stones on their 1964 EP, The Rolling Stones.

Source: Apple Music. AllMusic. Graphic: Kenny Wayne Shepard, Dirt on My Diamonds Vol.2, Official Lyric Video, Provogue and KWS Music, Inc.

Ohio Players

30 September 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Black Keys, with their new 2024 album, Ohio Players, haven’t confused their listeners this much since the critical acclaimed 2014 experimental acid trip, Turn Blue. This current collection of genre twisting songs suggests that the band has gone past peak Black Keys and wants to take their music into a new direction.

Ok, go down a different path but maybe it would be useful to pick one compass point rather than all of them at once. The record flows with currents of Neil Young and Cinnamon Girl, Paul McCartney’s post Beatles touch of sonic wonder, Ennio Morricone backing up Clint Eastwood, rap sexual crudities, and thankfully a bunch of album saving signature Black Keys blues and soul.

A confusing album but throw out the rap and it’s a decent contribution to the band’s oeuvre, not their best effort but enjoyable.

Trivia: The album title, Ohio Players, is a hat tip to Auerbach and Carney’s Ohio roots along with a tribute to one of the best funk-R&B bands from the 70s.

Source: AllMusic. Apple Music. Graphic: The Black Keys – Don’t Let Me Go, from Ohio Players, Easy Eye Sound and Nonesuch.

Misfiring

23 September 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Post Malone, for his 6th studio album, F-Trillion (Long Bed), brought in 15 mostly country artists to help him put together his first all country effort. For the finished product he only needed 6—to act as pallbearers.

Except for the first two tracks, Wrong Ones and Finer Things, his twang belts out sing-songy mono-melodic tunes, more suitable for his past life as a rapper, than asking the likes of Hank Williams, Jr., Dolly Parton, and Tim McGraw to help him transition into mainstream country.

Speaking with Kelleigh Bannen of Apple Music about his latest effort Post Malone says, “I’ve always wanted to make a record like this, but for the longest time it seemed so inaccessible, because I didn’t know how the hell it worked.”  Maybe for his 7th studio album he will have learned how it works.

Source. Apple Music. Graphic: Album Cover for the extended version by Austin Post. Official video track for Finer Things. Second track on the album.

She Sure Could Sing

16 September 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Emmylou Harris’ voice is as soothing as light summer rain dancing softly off the lilies in a Monet Pond. Peace and grace personified.

Most prefer her mostly country 1975 album ‘Pieces of the Sky’, but I find that her 1977 album, ‘Luxury Liner‘, is a more complete representation of her genius as an interpreter of songs across the genres of country, rock, pop, and her masterful blending of all three.

Source: Apple Music. Graphic: Luxury Liner album cover, copyright Reprise Records. Audio: Luxury Liner title track from her 1977 eponymous album.