Music Blogs (1,258)

Many among you open the Music section on CS from time to time. You may come across quite a few songs and artists you never heard of or else some of your favorites of decades ago. Anyway, if you like a song, you can click the like button... and additionally the music is added to your profile. (You can also add the music to your profile without adding a 'like', but why would you?).

Thinking of adding any favorite music, which you could find on YouTube? Then you can share this with CS members by adding music of your own. It will appear on the music main page, where it gradually moves down as new contributions are being posted.

Something more happens: you now figure in the list of music posters. Just click the button 'Posters' on top, which is by default sorted by last on-line date ... and there you are. You also find the number of music items underneath your picture. That number combines your own contributions and the number of songs you have 'liked'. (My own contributions account for nearly half the music song count you may find for me).

Note: the 'liking feature' applies to the CS music, to the books and to the movie sections. 'Liking' blogs does not add them to your profile, nor does 'liking' video sequences.

In the early days, singer and front man for Van Halen David Lee Roth took them to the top of fame. Unfortunately his crazy personality and ego was more than the band could take and he had a falling out with the group. Auditions for many, but he was replaced by singer & guitarist Sammy Hagar who was already successful with the rock band Montrose and started a solo career.

Everyone has their favorites and while David had the energy and stage presence, Sammy came into the group and added a flavor of a more refined voice and songs.
I was fortunate to see Van Halen live, probably16 or 17 years ago with Sammy up front.

If there's a vote of who was the overall best, I'd have to say Sammy is the one!

When It's Love...

There are dozens and dozens of popular songs that for whatever reason, I don't really care for. A Horse With No Name is one of them.
Written by Dewey Bunnell, performed by America and released on their self titled album in 1972.
A little sleep inducing, but it's actually a good song.

I've been working with a contractor and his clients for a few weeks now. Tweaking the layout of a remodeling job. Originally, it was a kitchen. Then they added the master bath, display, laundry and window seats for 2 bedrooms.
I waited for my finishing department to make a stain sample a week ago and it was rejected by the clients based on the grain of the wood. We selected a different cut of wood and requested another color sample be made. I asked for that to be ready last Friday and was told Monday.

The project is about 40 miles from my house and I rescheduled the meeting for Monday, late afternoon. The problem was the finishing department didn't get the sample for me. I made it to my appointment, went over all the details, sizes and prices... except I didn't have a wood stain sample for them to approve.
Yeah, it's not a good thing for a salesman to close a deal when the key to the deciding factor is missing. I couldn't get the deposit without final approval of the color. This means another trip... when the freaking sample is ready.

I offered excuses but the contractor is holding the deposit check until the clients are happy with the color. So, I left empty handed. But... they want to add wall units in two rooms. I tool measurements and details and will have a price for additional work from the clients/contractor.

Kinda annoyed, on the way back home, I tuned to a blues station on satellite radio to hear guitarist Joe Bonamassa hosting a show about some female blues legends.
It's been 55 years since I first started learning music, guitar in general. Quit and started back a few times along the way. While rock music is my main focus, I find myself leaning toward British blues rock that was created by guys in England listening to old records of Black American blues artists. It's Blues with a British twist. A favorite group was FREE who had billing as a blues band.

Back to the radio show, Joe played songs by Jessie Mae Hemphill, an artist who's name I didn't recognize. One of the first things I did when I arrived home was to do some YouTube research on Jessie. Her style is about as raw as blues gets...



"You know I love you but you treat me so low-down..."

Simple, but I'll have to wait for the weekend to 'ear out' the song and learn the parts.
That's my Blues impairment for the week.

Last year, I bought tickets for a concert that I have always wanted to go to, but I could never afford it. Now that I am working, I can afford it. What did I go to see?

Michael Bublé.

I went with my mother, who is a big fan of his as well. We had the cheapest tickets, which was on the second-to-last row in the arena, but I didn't care. As long as I was in the arena and could see what happened, I was happy.

The show itself was great. Bublé is a huge entertainer, which made the experience that much better!

10/10!

I'm not too crazy about music from the 70's, but this one from 1973 I like. I heard it over the last few years from a local sports radio show guy in Cincinnati who had made it his theme song playing at the start of his show, but never knew the name of the song, or the singer who did it until tonight. Here's the first one.

In music news, Stevie Nicks has teamed up with with Billy Joel for a nine date concert tour. They kicked it off in Los Angeles last night (Friday March 10) to a packed crowd of 70,000.
The event is called: Two Icons Tour.

They each performed their own set list, but had two duets together last night.
Nicks, gave tribute to her late bandmate Christine McVie and Top Petty, who recorded Stop Draggin' My Heart Around many years ago.





Story link with links to Instagram:

Sharing a beautiful song on a beautiful Saturday.

This blog is not about politics. I've been formulating the idea for this blog in my mind for months. No big hurry, but two things happened this week to move it up on my list. My Rihanna blog with FF's comment about Tina Turner and Satellite Radio channel surfing that landed me on a soul station.

Somewhere in the early 1960's my dad bought a reel-to-reel tape recorder. My (older) brother borrowed 45rpm records from friends and made a 'party mix' of songs. Depending on the speed, that could run non-stop for an hour or more.

What did he record? A little of this and a little of that. Some surfing music, rock & roll, Rhythm & blues and soul music. To us, music was music... well, with the exception of Country Music. I could listen to Roy Clark, but it tapered off sharply after that.

There were a dozen guitar players in my neighborhood, a few drummers, one guy playing bass guitar, one guy playing saxophone and one guy playing accordion.
I teamed up with a duo guitarist & drummer who played on Miami Beach hotels poolside. Americans called it 'pass the hat' and the British called it busking. Either way, the music was free and we accepted donations.

To get the gig with these guys, I had to play keyboards, so my parents bought a small portable organ by the Italian company Farfisa. I quickly memorized a bunch of songs and we were playing a few hotels every morning in the summer. Too young to drive, we always had a parent schlep us and our gear to the gigs as well as acting manager/agent to see we had plenty of bookings with the entertainment directors of the hotels.

We played music the tourists wanted to hear and that often got us special events when they had the pool open at night for a BBQ or party. We were available for birthday parties, school dances, teen hop at the bowling alley and the best paying gigs... fraternity parties at the local college!

Dance music was most of our repertoire, but college kids loved Soul Music and so it was. We also did songs by The Young Rascals and on request... The Supremes song You Keep Me Hanging On was on our list.

This brings up the part of Black female singers. A generation later, I watched a documentary about Whitney Houston where she mentioned her musical beginning was singing Gospel. Look around and nearly EVERY Black female singer got their start doing gospel. Can you name 20? I probably could.

My musical taste runs fickle and I have my favorites regardless of their success. Maybe it was the songs they were singing as many sounded like fingernails across a chalkboard.

White girls were everywhere but singers like Karen Carpenter bored me to tears. Remember Leslie Gore and I'll Cry if I want to ... Waaah. I cried because that song was played 32 million times.

I wasn't 100% on Black female singers either. What I disliked most were the wailers... Great voice, but they were over-the-top and I'd turn the volume down. Aretha, Patti LaBelle, Tina make it to that list.

Patti's duet with Michael McDonald (On My Own) was 'almost' a masterpiece, until she starts that wailin' shit (on live performances) and I have to turn it down. I think you get my point.

This week, I did hear a great song by a great singer Gladys Night and I think it's perfect for my blog... The voice of a Black Woman.

The passing of Guitarist Jeff Beck took us by surprise, yet others who lived a life of drugs and alcohol are still with us. Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters slipped away at the age of 50. Certainly the Rolling Stone guitarist Keith Richards at 79 looks like he's been embalmed years ago. Ozzy Osbourne had a few health issues... keep an eye on him.
Last week I was watching a few videos of The Traveling Wilburys, Harrison is gone, Roy Orbison is gone, Tom Petty is gone, Jeff Lynne is pretty healthy, but Bob Dylan at 81 years old could go at any moment.
David Crosby who wasted years of his life addicted to drugs, passed away in January at the age of 81.

I still think of Keith Emerson and Greg Lake... Carl Palmer is still alive and well.

Only their music lives forever...