Fall Seven Times; STAND UP EIGHT!

Happy Friday, friends. 

What a glorious day we have today.  There is little doubt as to why this time of year is the favorite season of so many.  Vibrant fall colors, cool evening air perfect for a bonfire and your favorite music playing in the background.

I have chosen a song for you that I'm pretty certain that you remember from the 1960's,  BUT this version is going to have a little surprise for you. I'm even going to tell you the name of today's choice.

'Don't Worry Baby' written by The Beach Boys is the subject of today's post.

A little trivia for you:

 Don’t Worry Baby" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian, produced by Wilson and first recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys. The band's version, a tender ballad with falsetto lead vocal by Wilson, was first released on their 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2. It was also released as the B-side of The Beach Boys' first US number-one, "I Get Around", also reaching number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its own right.

The song "Don't Worry Baby" is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list. It is ranked as the 176th greatest song of all time in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and Pitchfork Media placed it at number 14 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".

The song, as originally performed by the Beach Boys, is sung from the point of view of a teenager who reluctantly agrees to a challenge to race a rival after rashly bragging about his car, and is reassured by his girlfriend's plea to take her love with him when he races.
David Howard wrote that "Don't Worry Baby" was a "subtle harbinger for the growing dichotomy within the California Sound. While 'I Get Around' symbolized the sunshine ideal in all its carefree splendor, 'Don't Worry Baby' suggested something entirely more pensive and even slightly dark underneath its pristine facade."

This song was recorded January 7, 1964.  Take 12 was the one used as the master recording.  Brian Wilson cited the song as his attempt to capture the essence of his all-time favorite record, "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes. Wilson estimates he has listened to the song "more than 1,000 times."

So, what's the surprise, you ask??  The version in today's blog is actually performed by BILLY JOEL, and is amazing!  I actually like it better than the Beach Boys version.  I know, blasphemy, right? 

 

Take a listen and see what you think.  (Indulge me, please, as Billy Joel dedicates the song to his daughter in the very beginning of the video or just grab the scroll bar at the bottom and scroll right past that part).

Until next time, be kind to each other.

Peace.


Kimmie

There is no path to happiness; Happiness is the path.

Hello, my friends of great music.

I have been listening to some great music since my last post and I keep coming back to this tune.

This song was recorded in 1967 by The Turtles, their most successful year. It reached number 3 on the US charts in late spring and actually out-charted "Happy Together" overseas, reaching #4 in the UK.

The Turtles are an American rock band led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The band had several Top 40 hits beginning with their cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" in 1965. They scored their biggest and best-known hit in 1967 with the song "Happy Together".

The band broke up in 1970. Kaylan and Volman later found long-lasting success as session musicians, billed as the comedic vocal duo Flo & Eddie. In 2010, a reconstituted version of the band, the Turtles Featuring Flo & Eddie, began performing live shows again.

The Turtles have created a 'Happy Together' Tour that I had the pleasure of seeing live a few years ago, and I have to say, they sound great!  Everybody was singing and dancing in the aisles.

So, have you figured out today's song?

I present to you, for your listening pleasure, the one, the only Turtles performing 'You Know She'd Rather Be With Me.'

I really wish that today's music was more like these songs.  You can't help but feel good when you hear this!

     

 

  1967 - a very good year

 

Until next time, be kind to each other.

Peace.

Kimmie

 

Old Hippies Never Die....They Just Sing

Happy, Happy Friday, friends.

So, I got up this morning, with this fantastic song in my head and I just KNOW it was a message from the cosmos that I was to share it with you.  I know you will know every single word and every single La-tee-dah in it.  

This is Van Morrison's 'Brown-Eyed Girl'.  First of all, I didn't know that Van Morrison was from Northern Ireland.

In March, 1967, over a two day period and TWENTY TWO takes, Morrison was finally happy enough with the recording to release it.  The song's original title was 'Brown-Skinned Girl' because he thought the song had a kind of Calypso beat to it.  He changed the name 'accidentally', according to him.  Who knows?  Maybe he did.

Some of the radio stations thought the lyrics were too risque (makin' love in the green grass) and  Morrison changed the lyrics to accommodate the radio stations.  However, the ORIGINAL version still can be found easily enough.  Personally, I happen to like the original version...gives me a better picture of what he is trying to say.

'Brown-Eyed Girl' was ranked in November, 2004, as number 110 of the top 500 songs of ALL TIME, and in 2007, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Not too shabby, huh?

So, here it is.    Sing. Dance.  Grab your loved one and ENJOY.

So until next time be kind to each other.

Kimmie

Poverty with Dignity is Better than Wealth Based on Shame

Hello, my friends.

I was traveling in my car with my Sirius Radio on (as always....I don't go anywhere without my music) and this tune came on a couple times within a couple days.  I took that as a cosmic sign that this was to be my next selection for you.  :-)   Besides this is ANOTHER great tune that I associate great times and great memories.

So, where were YOU in 1974?

This song is by The Doobie Brothers and was recorded in 1974.  Michael McDonald didn't join the group until 1976 so it's not him that you hear singing the lead vocals.  Who knew?   All this time, I thought it was him.  AND here's another factoid, the title of this song is actually a small town in Texas, population 1,719.

S0, do you know what today's song is?  If you guessed "China Grove', you are correct.

Crank it up so 'You can hear the music at night'.  :-)

(Check out the groovy hair on the guys.  Love it!)

     


Enjoy.

Namaste.

Kimmie 

CHERISH YESTERDAY, DREAM TOMORROW, AND LIVE TODAY

Good day, my friends.

I have found ANOTHER (there seems to be an endless supply) fantastic song that is sure to take you back to some great memories, great times, in your life. 

This is a song that was written and performed by Jackson Browne in 1977.

It was written while he was driving to the studio each day to make The Pretender, according to Rolling Stone magazine: "I was always driving around with no gas in the car," Browne is quoted. "I just never bothered to fill up the tank because — how far was it anyway? Just a few blocks."

The song may be meant to describe the rigors of a musician's day-to-day life on the road, and its effect on his life as a whole, in connection with the themes of much of the album, but the lyric is more generally applicable, as well:

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels —

Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields.

In '65 I was seventeen and running up 101

I don't know where I'm running now, I'm just running on ...

The lyric's ages and years match up with Browne's:

In '69 I was twenty-one and I called the road my own

I don't know when that road turned onto the road I'm on.

Rolling Stone writer Paul Nelson saw "Running on Empty" as embodying a "tenacious, win/lose duality" and being "what daydreamers have nightmares about":

You know I don't even know what I'm hoping to find ...

Running into the sun, but I'm running behind.

I'm sure you figured it out.  Today's offering is 'Running on Empty' by none other than Jackson Browne, one of my all time favorite artists.  Now, this video has the lyrics included so......you know what to do.   Enjoy!

                  

Until next time, live in peace.

Kimmie 

I Want to be a Sunflower; So Even on the Darkest Days, I will Stand Tall and Find the Sunlight

Namaste, friends.

I'm bringing you today a song that takes me wayyyy back (well, maybe not so wayy back) but back to high school.  Lots of good memories, lots of great music.  I don't know about you but I just can't get into today's music.  I suppose it has a lot to do with the music with which we associate great times of our life. I remember my mother-in-law one time saying that her favorite music was 'big band music'.  I was like, 'Whhaaat?'  But now I get it.  That was time in her life that she has great memories from.

So, today, I'm bringing you 'Doctor, My Eyes' by Jackson Browne.  It was written and performed by Jackson Browne in 1972, on his debut album Jackson Browne.  The song made it to number 8 on Top 100 Billboard for 1972 and became a concert mainstay for Browne.

Here's an interesting fact:  David Crosby and Graham Nash sang backup vocals.  Not too bad, huh?

Glenn Frey (of The Eagles fame) would tell the story of listening to Jackson working on the song for months at a time in his apartment.  You see, Frey had an apartment next door and could hear him through the walls at work every single morning for..months.  I find it intriguing how so many young artists paths crossed as they found their way to stardom.

Browne was holding a concert relatively close to where I live and I had heard he was introducing some 'new' music he had written.  Maybe I'm stuck in a rut, but I want to hear classic Jackson Browne! 

Hope you enjoy 'Doctor My Eyes' by Jackson Browne.

   

                                

Peace and all good things.

Kimmie

Holding onto Anger is Like Drinking Poison and Expecting the Other Person to Die.....

Howdy, fellow lovers of music. I have just returned from a little vacation and am now renewed, re-energized (is that a word??), and ready to devote more time to this blog.

If you've been paying attention, (and I'm sure you have), the heading of each post has an inspirational quote for you to think about. Some, more than others, may 'speak' to you, and that's my hope.

So, all that aside...there is another fantastic song that I've selected for you that 'speaks to me'. AND I know when the title is revealed, you are going to be very surprised, as I was. I thought it was just a great song from the early 70's. (Who knew?) This is actually a popular and well-known Christian hymn first published in 1931. It has words by English author Eleanor Farjeon and is set to a traditional Scottish Gaelic tune known as "Bunessan" (it shares this tune with the 19th century Christmas Carol "Child in the Manger"[1]). It is often sung in children's services.

This song was recorded in 1971 by Cat Stevens, who wrongfully is often credited for writing the lyrics. The song was recorded by numerous other artists such as Neil Diamond, Art Garfunkle, and Kenny Rogers to name a few, but none were as successful as Cat Steven's version.

Here is 'Morning Has Broken'.

 (PS I'm learning to play this on my mountain dulcimer. Beautiful tones!) So, sit back and enjoy!


             


Namaste, my friends.