Month: May 2019

Elton John

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Elton John

Elton and Bernie 1968
Rocketman, the story of Elton John is due in theatres May 31

Sir Elton Hercules John CBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, 25 March 1947 in London, England. Surrounded by music at an early age he learned to play on his grandmother’s piano. The young Reginald could play back anything he heard including complex classical compositions. His music career started with his band ‘Bluesology’ but really began gaining traction when he met Bernie Taupin at Liberty Records, writing songs for people like Roger Cook a noted British songwriter and recording artist who co-wrote “Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)” by the Hollies. His first release as Elton John is now a very rare song “I’ve Been Loving You” Written entirely by Elton but he gave Bernie songwriting rights to help him establish his publishing credit. He has gone on to become the fifth best selling artist (albums) of all time with sales exceeding 250 Million. His honours include; an Academy Award, Brit Awards, Grammys, and a Tony Award among others.

Elton John, according to Secondhandsongs.com has had 107 of his original songs recorded and has covered 106 songs. All songs mentioned are written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin unless otherwise noted. Not surprisingly the most covered of his songs is “Your Song” released April 10, 1970 on the eponymous album ‘Elton John’. Covered some 226 times. ‘Three Dog Night” were actually the first to release the song in March of that same year. Other notable versions; from the upcoming movie Taron Egerton,  Ellie Goulding, Lady Gaga the truly remarkable Al Jarreau and Elton John & Taron Egerton (Cannes Film Festival 2019).

Next on the list is “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” (1976). The song hit #1 on the Easy Listening Chart and UK Singles chart and top ten around the world. Covered 106 times including; Suzy Bogguss & Chet Atkins, Joe Cocker, Ray Charles & Elton John and a voice we have all heard, you just didn’t know who it was; one of the most popular international english voicemail voices and voice over artist from the 1990’s and beyond, Marsha Bartenetti.

“Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long Long Time)” has been covered at least 83 times. From the album ‘Honky Château’ (1972) recorded at the Château d’Hérouville. Inspired by the Ray Bradbury short story of the same name, ranked as one of the Rolling Stone Magazines 500 Greatest Songs of all Time. Versions by Kate Bush, Neil Diamond, William Shatner, Little Big Town.

There are five Elton and Bernie songs on the Rolling Stone list; # 136: Your Song, # 242: Rocket Man, # 347 : Candle In The Wind, # 380: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and # 387: Tiny Dancer

Covered about 60 times is “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” it was also recorded at the Château d’Hérouville. This was the title track from the album that was #1 on Billboard for 1973. Billy Joel, Sara Bareilles, Queens of the Stone Age and Hunter Hayes.

If you are wondering about “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” from the movie ‘The Lion King’ written by Elton John and Tim Rice (1994) it was of course first released by Joseph Williams & Sally Dworsky from the movie which makes Elton’s recording the second version. Covered since then over 100 times; first was a dance mix by Harajuku (1995) and this very decent Disney ‘Sing-along’ recording by Andrea Robinson and Arnold McCuller. 

Bonus video clip from 1971 “Tiny Dancer“.

References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page, Secondhandsongs.com, http://www.eltonjohnworld.com/index.php/archives/97-2004-11-november/1253-500greatestsongsofalltime
Images: https://www.eltonjohn.com/

If you like my blog, please consider filling in the follow by email link at the top right hand of the page. Remember to confirm the subscription when you get the first email. Confidentiality is assured unless you are a close friend or family member then all bets are off. While I can compile data from my blog it’s not tracking in terms of anyone’s identity. For past blog posts click on the menu at the top right corner. Pass it along to a friend who might enjoy it as well or post it to your timeline on FB. And many thanks as always for reading my blog!

The Guitar

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The Guitar

A simple enough word ‘guitar’ but that is where the simplicity ends. The instrument is both beautiful and complex and in the hands of the right person it can make a sound unmatched by any other instrument. Just to clarify things I can’t play myself (unlike my two older brothers) and I’m no expert on the topic but I wanted to blog a bit on it regardless. So here, briefly the history of the guitar as I understand it. Firstly a definition from Dr. Michael Kasha who was a Physical Chemist and molecular spectroscopist. Apart from that impressive gig he spent many years researching and designing guitars. From a work done by Paul Guy, he quotes Dr. Kasha as saying a guitar has “a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs, and a flat back, most often with in-curved sides”. According to Guy the first known guitars date back about 4000 years and the oldest representation is a stone carving at Alaca Huyuk in Turkey, of a 3300 year old Hittite “guitar”.

The Torres guitar 1859

Today the modern guitar owes its existence to a Spaniard named Antonio Torres who in the 1850’s designed and built essentially what you see today in most every acoustic guitar.
With the advent of steel strings over the years the designs have included stronger braces such as the X-brace from Christian Fredrich Martin. Later Orville Gibson would add the arch top and oval sound hole. With electrical amplification developed by the 1930’s people like Les Paul, Leo Fender, Paul Bigsby and O.W. Appleton began constructing the solid-body guitar. Again I am no expert on this topic but we can pretty much divide the guitar into two basic modes; acoustic and electric. Each having a number of variations in construction, number of strings and playing styles.

I have mentioned I’m a fan of Acoustic and for that matter Electric Fingerstyle Guitar and have provided some links to some youtube videos. There is a great Canadian artist named Don Ross that I had the opportunity to see recently, though he has a wealth of great original material here is a clip of him covering a song you may be familiar with “Crazy” from Gnarls Barkley. This will give you some idea as to what this style is all about. Here is another clip from Don Ross & Andy McKee who I saw a few years back in Washington D.C. For the most part this is focused as a solo artist genre, however there are many collaborations as well as artists playing in bands around the world. This style, simply put is the plucking of the strings with one’s fingers (or individual finger picks) as opposed to the Flatpicking style of using a guitar pick.

The origins of the style are as old as string instruments themselves as one played using fingers to begin with and today there are dozens of different classifications, both acoustic and electric. So whether it’s the Classical Guitar with artists like John Williams or the Jazz stylings of Django Reinhardt or the electrical Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed the range is vast.

Take this brilliant performing quartet (I saw them in 2017 thanks to my eldest daughter) Barcelona 4 Guitars in the beautiful Basilica of Santa Maria del Pi in Barcelona.

Being the homer I am, apart from Don Ross, Canada is rich with talented fingerstyle players such as the late Lenny Breau, Liona Boyd, Calum Graham, Joni Mitchell, Antoine Dufour, Amy Millan (Broken Social Scene), Terri Clark and a lesson from the legend Randy Bachman with an ode to Merle Travis. His style known as ‘Travis Picking’ is adapted by Mark Knopfler & Chet Atkins, James Taylor , Tommy Emmanuel and many others.

References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

If you like my blog, please consider filling in the follow by email link at the top right hand of the page. Remember to confirm the subscription when you get the first email. Confidentiality is assured unless you are a close friend or family member then all bets are off. While I can compile data from my blog it’s not tracking in terms of anyone’s identity. For past blog posts click on the menu at the top right corner. Pass it along to a friend who might enjoy it as well or post it to your timeline on FB. And many thanks as always for reading my blog!

The Rolling Stones

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The Rolling Stones

When you have released your 26th compilation album ‘Honk‘, you know you’ve been around a long long time. Their 30 studio albums however does not put them anywhere near the top album producers in numbers (Brian Carroll known as ‘Buckethead‘ has released over 300) that said it is the most impressive and unprecedented body of work. As most will know they were formed in 1962 with the basic original lineup of; Brian Jones who was the original bandleader (guitar, harmonica, keyboards), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar, vocals), Bill Wyman (bass), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ian Stewart (piano). Stewart soon left but continued to play under contract for many years. Brian Jones would spiral downward due to addiction and be replaced shortly before his drowning death in 1969. Mick Taylor who replaced Jones would leave after Ronnie Wood joined in 1975. No secret the heart and soul has always been Jagger and Richards.

If we stick to the band proper and not divert to solo and collaborative projects the Stones have had 154 of their original songs covered and they have covered 117 songs. As I’ve referenced them more that once and will continue to do so I will focus on their original songs today, and tackle the songs they have covered on another post.

This first original song may be a surprise to some, not the song itself but the manner in which it came to be. “I Wanna Be Your Man” written predominately by Paul McCartney with John Lennon was first recorded on October 7, 1963. It was released November 1, 1963. The Beatles would record their version October 23 and release it November 22. While the accounts of how this came about vary, it essentially came to be with the two groups meeting together after an awards show. Lennon and McCartney finished the song (they were already working on) right there and then, and gave it to the Stones to record. Released as a single it hit #12 on the UK charts. The Beatles version with lead sung by Ringo Starr was not a single but released on the second UK album ‘With the Beatles’ and the US release of ‘Meet the Beatles’. Safe to say this would be the closest the two bands would ever come.

The most covered song at over 260 versions is “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” which I discussed in ‘The Greatest Songs‘. Their next most covered song is “Paint It, Black” (1966) written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with 182 covers. This song prompted teenagers (like one of my older brothers) around the world  to paint their rooms among other things-black. Covered first in Dec. 1966 by the London (England) rocker Chris Farlowe, the fantastic L.A. garage band The Standells (1966). Echo & The Bunnymen (1988).

No strangers to delving into other genres particularly the blues and country. Included on this next song is fiddling legend Byron Berline and backing vocals from actress Nanette Workman, “Country Honk” written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Now unless you are a serious Stones fan, which I am not, you won’t recognize this song until I call it “Honky Tonk Woman“. In the world of cover songs the former is the original as it was recorded first in March of 1969, although only released in November of that year on the Album ‘Let it Bleed’. “Honky Tonk Women” was out months before as a single, released on July 4th, 1969. This song hit #1 or 2 on just about every chart around the world. Covered about 100 times by Ike & Tina Turner & The Ikettes (1970), Elton John (1971), Hank Williams, Jr. (1987).

Moving down the list the next most covered song is “The Last Time” written by of course Mick and Keith (1965). Another #1 hit in the UK and top ten around the world. The Who recorded this song in 1967 and released it as a single with “Under My Thumb” on the flip side as a fundraising attempt for Mick and Keith. The pair had been arrested on drug possession charges and their buddies tried to raise money to get them out of jail, they were out before the song was actually released but hey it’s the thought that counts! Other covers by the Country Music star Bobby Bare (1978), Lulu (1981), Dwight Yoakam (1997).

“Jumping Jack Flash” was released as a single in May of 1968. A complex, well written and brilliantly played song that was another #1 hit in the UK, #1 on Cash Box in the US and top ten around the world. I have to say not one of my favorite Stones tunes. In 1986 the Whoopi Goldberg film ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ used the name and she had Aretha Franklin do a cover, on which Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood played guitar with Aretha on piano. Covered about 90 times.

This next song “Ruby Tuesday” is however a favorite of mine, originally released as the ‘B’ side to “Let’s Spend the Night Together“. Because the concept of spending the night together was a bit too controversial it was marketed as a double ‘A’ side single in January of 1967. “Ruby Tuesday” was a nice tame song and was therefore getting more airplay and hit #1 in the US and Canada and #3 in the UK and has been covered 82 times, while ‘Night’ has been done 42 times. “Ruby Tuesday” by Melaine (1970), a great cover from Nazareth (1984).

“Sympathy for the Devil” was largely a Mick Jagger song inspired perhaps by his reading of a gift from then girlfriend Marianne Faithfull, a book by the French author Charles Baudelaire. While its the opening track on the Album ‘Beggars Banquet’ (1968) it was not released as single. Another powerful and brilliantly written song, it was the subject of some controversy as the ignorant began to associate the Stones with devil worship, I mean really… Since covered over 80 times and first by a huge star in the UK Sandie Shaw (1969). Guns n’ Roses (1994) for the movie ‘Interview with the Vampire’.

References: https://secondhandsongs.com/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page images: rollingstone.com, billboard.com

If you like my blog, please consider filling in the follow by email link at the top right hand of the page. Remember to confirm the subscription when you get the first email. Confidentiality is assured unless you are a close friend or family member then all bets are off. While I can compile data from my blog it’s not tracking in terms of anyone’s identity. For past blog posts click on the menu at the top right corner. Pass it along to a friend who might enjoy it as well or post it to your timeline on FB. And many thanks as always for reading my blog!

Post #75 One Year of Blogging

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One Year mark for my blog is May 6, 2019

Thank you to my subscribers and everyone else who reads my blog, and an extra thanks to those who share the blog with others whether via posting on your timeline in FB, twitter, email or word of mouth. One year ago I made my first  blog post (thanks Darren) not knowing how it might work out but I’m really enjoying sharing my thoughts on cover songs and artists and find the time it takes (average 14 hrs.) to produce and edit a post well worth it. Optimistically, as time goes on I’ll get a bit better at it as well. Many of you are familiar with some of the material I talk about but hopefully there’s a bit of new stuff in there to keep you reading every week. I also know the diversity of topics might have you skipping the odd post as well.
To the new readers and to those who don’t know me, I have no musical talent myself and I’m just now remembering a phrase I’ve heard “those who can’t do, teach”. Well I’m not qualified on that front either but I do love music and I know how to do a bit of research, so there you have it, I’m a blogger. Once again I owe much credit to Secondhandsongs.com.

Before I continue with another story I’m going to share some statistics on my blog.

To date: # of Blog posts = 75, Blog page views = 6,500+, Subscribers = 20, Total number of Countries reached = 72, List of top viewing countries; Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Israel, France, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. Continents reached = 6. Average number of different countries viewing per week = 12, Average page views per blog = 74. Most popular post-Bruce Springsteen  at 300+ page views.

Photo by Danny Clinch

I’ve settled into a routine of about one post per week and will continue to add special editions from time to time. Given it’s the one year mark I’ll be a bit more self indulgent than usual and share some of my favorite songs (not that I haven’t slipped in quite a few already). I hope you find them of interest too! I can’t tell you why these are among my favorite songs, some I might classify as ‘guilty pleasures’, perhaps you have those too if you made your own list.

In no particular order these are some of my favorite songs and or artists that have not yet been shared in my posts to date.

“Since I Met You Baby” written and performed by Ivory Joe Hunter (1956). Hunter, born and raised in Texas was recorded playing piano at the age of 13 by the ethnomusicologist (seems a retroactive term but it’s fairly accurate) Alan Lomax whom I’ve referenced before. Hunter went from being a radio show host to program manager of station KFDM in Beaumont. He left for LA and gifted with a mellow and golden voice he started singing and soon after formed Pacific Records, releasing solo performances in 1945. ‘Since I Met You’ was recorded with Atlantic Records and produced by Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, it would be his fourth song to reach #1 on the R&B Charts and #12 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1956. He wrote, sang, produced and played an amazing Boogie Woogie Piano. Honoured as a Jazz, R&B and Blues musician and vocalist he finished his career as a Country Singer performing at the Grand Ole Opry. This song has been covered over 60 times; first by Mindy Carson (1956), The Spencer Davis Group (1966), a great cover by Sam Cooke (1961), Freddie Fender recorded a Spanish version in 1975. The song would reach number one in 1969 when covered by the Country Music superstar Sonny James.

“Oh Atlanta” (1995) is a cover by Alison Krauss (whom I have referenced) of a Bad Company song written by Mick Ralphs from the 1979 ‘Desolation Angels’ album. That was enough to get me hooked on the amazing Alison Krauss, who started as a classical violinist at age 5 and became a Bluegrass fiddling superstar. Turns out she sings like an angel and has amassed more Grammy Awards than any other female artist.

Once again I got introduced to an artist through a cover song. “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse was released in 2007 and there are two versions, the first is by Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse. The second is her solo acoustic version and I think the much better of the two. The original is by The Zutons (2006) written by Boyan Chowdhury, Abi Harding, Dave McCabe, Sean Payne and Russell Pritchard. Since Winehouse it’s been covered about 30 times. The Mighty Diamonds (2008).

That last cover reference will serve as a nice segue to “Jammin” written by Bob Marley and performed by Bob Marley & The Wailers from the amazing ‘Exodus’ Album in 1977. This song (eventually) led me to buy the album in the early eighties and discover my favorite Bob Marley song  “Waiting in Vain“. Most famously covered by Annie Lennox in 1995.

As much as I’ve talked about Johnny Cash and revealed my favorite as “Big River“, Cash always deserves another mention. “Get Rhythm” (1956) written by Johnny Cash and performed by ‘Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Two’. I think this song is overlooked, which is easy enough as the Cash repertoire runs deep. It’s just an upbeat ditty that I find can cheer you up on a gloomy day. This song reached #23 on the Billboard Country Chart in the US, but here in Canada we really did ‘get rhythm’ as it went to #1. Covered about 50 times including the great NRBQ (1978), Dr. Feelgood (1986), an awesome video with Ry Cooder (1987) and Martin Delray w/Johnny Cash (1991).

“These Eyes” written by Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings and performed by The Guess Who in 1968. This was a top ten hit in Canada and the US and solidified Cummings as the lead vocalist for the band, a wise choice as I think he has one of the finest voices in rock music. Covers by Jr. Walker & The All Stars (1969), Michael Bolotin (1976) before he changed it to Bolton, Natalie Cole (1981) and Angie Stone (2016).

The Vogues out of Pittsburg (Go Steelers!) had a #4 hit in 1965 with a cover of  “You’re The One“. It was a top 30 hit in the UK for Petula Clark who wrote the tune with her long time lyricist collaborator/manager Tony Hatch.

Leo Kottke grew up in a peripatetic family living in 12 different states before settling in Minnesota. He suffered from severe hearing loss after a childhood incident with a firecracker and later exacerbated (and discharged as a result) by gun fire while in the Military Reserve. Overcoming this obstacle he traveled and busked after leaving College early, ending up back in Minneapolis–Saint Paul. This is the guy that got me hooked on fingerstyle acoustic guitar. A medley from a live performance.

“(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” written by Nick Lowe was first recorded by his then band named after the lead guitarist Brinsley Schwarz (1974). Nick (Nick Lowe and His Sound) would do this in 1978. Covered another 55 times including Nick’s protege Elvis Costello (1979) and I have to say my favorite version. This song was recorded by Curtis Stigers for ‘The Bodyguard’ movie soundtrack. I’ve read in a few articles that state Nick Lowe received well over 1 million dollars from his share of the royalties (because he owned the song rights) as the album sold over 45 million copies to become the best selling movie soundtrack of all time. The Dolly Parton song sung by Whitney Houston (I Will Always Love You) was the leading track, produced by a Canadian music industry icon David Foster.

Dave Edmunds & Nick Lowe

The truth is I could list many dozens of songs I would classify as more treasured than others but for now I leave you with one more…”Have you got any Dave Edmunds?” the phrase was (as it’s worn thin) kind of a running joke with me when visiting friends (Hey Sue ;). I’ve mentioned a few of his songs but here is one of my favorites of  Dave’s original songs, “Queen of Hearts” (1979) written by Hank DeVito who later introduced the song to Juice Newton (1981).

References: https://secondhandsongs.com/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page images:bbc.com, https://www.manitobamusicmuseum.com/theguesswho.htm
jambase.com 

If you like my blog, please consider filling in the follow by email link at the top right hand of the page. Remember to confirm the subscription when you get the first email. Confidentiality is assured unless you are a close friend or family member then all bets are off. While I can compile data from my blog it’s not tracking in terms of anyone’s identity. For past blog posts click on the menu at the top right corner. Pass it along to a friend who might enjoy it as well or post it to your timeline on FB. And many thanks as always for reading my blog!

Crooners

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Crooners

As defined in a google search; croon·er, noun. a singer, typically a male one, who sings sentimental songs in a soft, low voice.

Rudy Vallée

I’ve read most singers we might put into this category don’t or didn’t identify with the classification and even today some feel the term is somewhat pejorative. That said I may actually be able to find one song like “As Time Goes By” and list a cover version from just about every crooner in history, but I won’t do that to you today. However as it happens that song was written by Herman Hupfeld in 1931 and was used in the Broadway musical ‘Everybody’s Welcome’ performed by Frances Williams. First recorded by one of the original crooners Rudy Vallée in July of that same year. If you are a movie buff you will recognize the song from Casablanca (1942), sung by Sam (Dooley Wilson), later released as a record in 1943. Covered over 430 times.

Chronologically here is a list of Crooners from another well researched blog https://jackscohen.wordpress.com/2018/10/11/crooners/.

While not the exclusive domain of the male singer I will follow with the traditional classification and deal predominately with the ‘followers’ of the Al Jolson, Rudy Vallee and Al Bowlly style. Truth be told there are a lot of ‘greats’ but the ultimate king of the crooners is Frank Sinatra. He has performed over 100 original songs that have been covered and over 600 songs that he has covered. I’ve already referenced Frank a dozen times but still it’s tough picking songs as there are so many exceptional ones. As I pointed out in the Paul Anka post, ‘My Way” is technically a cover as the music is from another song, the new lyrics written by Anka were specifically for Sinatra. If I focus on his original songs and look to Secondhandsongs.com the most covered at 286 (vocal and instrumental) versions is “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” (1940) by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra – Vocal refrain by Frank Sinatra. As was the style back then, the Orchestra and Band Leader were the feature, the vocalist chiming in later in the song was secondary. Covered by another crooner, the ‘Velvet Fog’ Mel Tormé (1955), also Cassandra Wilson (1988), Micheller Myrtill & Pintér Tibor (2011) and yes believe it or not Bob Dylan.

The next most covered song at 285 versions is “I Fall in Love Too Easily” (1945) from the movie ‘Anchors Aweigh’, written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne. Covered first by the amazing Chet Baker (1954) check out his biopic Born to be Blue starring Ethan Hawke. The under appreciated Sammy Davis Jr. (1960), Matt Dusk (2013).

One more Frank song, at 272 covers is “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” (1955) written by David Mann and Bob Hilliard. Cover by another fine crooner Andy Williams (1959).

Bing Crosby for some is the the finest of male voices, and hard to argue with such an amazing career. With numbers to rival Sinatra at 94 originals and 542 cover songs. However when it comes to the holidays it’s hard to beat “White Christmas” written by Irving Berlin for the 1942 movie ‘Holiday Inn’ at over 1300 covers and “I’ll be Home for Christmas” (1943) written by Kim Gannon, Walter Kent and Buck Ram with over 800 versions. I defy you to find a more beautiful song than the Cole Porter classic “True Love” from the movie High Society (1956) performed with Grace Kelly. Cover by Elvis (1957).

Here are some more fine voices; Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Rocker turned crooner Bobby Darin and Michael Bublé (sorry Steve!). My apologies if I’ve missed your favorite but there are more cover songs and more posts to come so there is still time!

References: https://secondhandsongs.com/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page images: http://www.rudyvallee.com/bio.html

If you like my blog, please consider filling in the follow by email link at the top right hand of the page. Remember to confirm the subscription when you get the first email. Confidentiality is assured unless you are a close friend or family member then all bets are off. While I can compile data from my blog it’s not tracking in terms of anyone’s identity. For past blog posts click on the menu at the top right corner. Pass it along to a friend who might enjoy it as well or post it to your timeline on FB. And many thanks as always for reading my blog!