Saturday, April 28, 2012

Wuthering Heights

Not is it the only novel of Emily Brontë, it's also a chilling song written by Kate Bush which appears on her 1978 debut album, The Kick Inside. It was also her first single. Classical singer Hayley Westenra covered it in 2003. 





Versions I'm NOT going to seek out!!:)
 British punk rock band China Drum also made a cover of the song in 1995. Josh Pyke has done a cover for No Man's Woman. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain have released a swing version of the song. The musical trio The Puppini Sisters have a close harmony version of the song on their debut album Betcha Bottom Dollar.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

"Nature Boy" by eden ahbez, The first beatnik

"Nature Boy" is a song by eden ahbez, published in 1947. The song tells a fantasy of a "strange enchanted boy... who wandered very far" only to learn that "the greatest thing... was just to love and be loved in return". Nat King Cole's 1948 recording of the song was a major hit.

The first two measures of the song's melody parallel the melody of the second movement in Antonín Dvořák's Piano Quintet No. 2 in A, Op. 81 (1887). It is unknown if ahbez was familiar with Dvořák's piece, or if he arrived at the same melodic idea independently.

The song is based on a 1940s Los Angeles-based group called "Nature Boys," a subculture of proto-hippies of which ahbez was a member.




Sunday, February 26, 2012

RIP Billy Strange

Another Wrecking Crew member gone........





Great version of Morricone's iconic theme.





Sunday, February 12, 2012

Portrait of a Count- Stan Kenton featuring Conte Condoli

Kenton's 1953 album " New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm" was not only Stan's return to a more accessible style, but also had work by some of the best of the new "California sound" that would continue on into the 60s on many pop/rock hits. I'm talking about Bill Homan, Gerry Muligan, Maynard Furguson, and the soloist on this song, Conte Candoli.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Warning- Aynsley Dunbar


Today is Aynsley Dunbar's birthday (10 Jan 46).  He has worked with some of the top names in rock, including Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, Michael Schenker, UFO, and Journey.
  He also wrote and recorded my favorite Black Sabbath song in 1967, 3 years before they did it.





Here's Geezer & Ozzie's version:

Sunday, December 11, 2011

The Paisley Window Pane & more- Wendy and Bonnie

Many thanks to Mordi at the Blow Up Doll music blog for turning me onto this duo.




from Wikipedia:
Wendy and Bonnie Flower were an American singing sister duo, who recorded the album, Genesis, in 1969 for Skye Records.
The album was produced by Gary McFarland. At the time, McFarland was part owner of the Skye label, along with Latin percussionist Cal Tjader (who was Wendy and Bonnie's godfather) and jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó.
Wendy and Bonnie grew up in Millbrae, California, in the San Francisco Bay suburbs. Their parents, Art and Jeane Flower, were professional musicians. In 1967, Wendy played and recorded with an early San Francisco psychedelic band called Crystal Fountain; Bonnie later joined the band as drummer. The following year, Tjader heard some of the Flower sisters' acoustic home demos and arranged a recording session with Skye. The sisters, who were teens at the time the album was recorded, composed all the songs. McFarland served as arranger on the sessions, crafting a post-psychedelic soft rock sound with Brazilian overtones. Musicians who performed on the album included guitarist Larry Carlton, drummer Jim Keltner, and keyboardist Mike Melvoin.
The Skye label went bankrupt shortly after the album's release. In 1971, while planning for additional recording with the Flower sisters, McFarland was murdered in mysterious circumstances in a New York bar.
In the early 1970s, Wendy and Bonnie provided background vocals on two Cal Tjader albums for Fantasy Records. Thereafter, the sisters pursued separate careers in music and entertainment, but did not record together again.


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