Singer-songwriter Mac Davis Dead at 78 — Source: soundslikenashville.com
Archive for the ‘Music’ Category
Another One Bites The Dust Leave a comment
A lot of people who love music are mounding the death of Mac Davis,
“I Am Woman” — Helen Reddy 3 comments
Helen Reddy (October 25, 1941/September 29, 2020)
Australian-born singer Helen Reddy, whose hit “I Am Woman”
became a feminist anthem in the 1970’s,
died in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon.
She was 78 years old.
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I Shall Search My Soul Leave a comment
VAN MORRISON, 1972 – Another outtake from the Saint Dominic’s Preview
album cover session. Source: http://www.michaelmagic.com/
Van Morrison’s “Listen to the Lion” captures his unique style taking you
from a smooth, soulful sound to suddenly lifting you above the moment,
then softly bringing you back down.
The images in the video are very impressive.
— kenne
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An Affirmation Of Life — Fifty Years Out 2 comments
Van Morrison — Source: Ryan H. Walsh
“Into the Mystic” in Van Morrison’s 1970 Moondance Album
We were borne before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won
As we sailed into the mystic
Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic
And when that foghorn blows
I will be coming home
And when the foghorn blows
I want to hear it
I don’t have to fear it and I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And magnificently we will flow into the mystic
When that fog horn blows
You know I will be coming home
And when that fog horn whistle blows
I got to hear it
I don’t have to fear it and I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will flow into the mystic
Come on, girl
Too late to stop now
“Into the Mystic” — the words and melody ethereally flowing together as one —
is about a spiritual quest. But over the years the song has become much more —
an affirmation of life for me, and I would like to think for my generation,
as well, should we choose to embrace its sentiments, an anthem of lives
lived as we float down that stream, merrily or otherwise, after leaving
this mortal coil. I am honored that my path intersected with friends departed,
and I am a better person because it did. The fog horn has blown for them
and they will be coming home.
It is indeed too late to stop now.
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‘Where Have The Sparrows Gone?’ Leave a comment
Album Cover of Emily Barker’s Latest CD.
“Over the last few decades, the Sparrow has gone from being one of the world’s most common and widespread birds to being Red Listed as a species of high conservation concern,” Emily reflects. “When writing the song, my thoughts returned to the sparrows outside my window – how sad it would be to look out and not see and hear their vibrant movement and chatter. I hope that day never comes.” Read more . . .
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COVID-19 Is Killing Live Music Venues 2 comments
Until COVID-19, gentrification was the big enemy of live music venues.
Now many these of these venues have closed forever because of the pandemic.
Maybe it’s time to bring back the old fashion bandstand in public parks.
People getting together to experience live music is a necessary
part of developing and maintaining a sense of community.
— kenne
Blue Door Texas Ice House On A Sunday Afternoon In East Texas (10/26/01) — Photo-Essay by kenne
Gene Kelton at the Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Sunday at The Blue Door
Blue Door Texas Ice House
Gene Kelton at the Blue Door
Dancing to the Music of Gene Kelton and the Die Hards
(Gentrification Killed the Blue Door Years Ago.)
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Texas Johnny Brown at The Shakespeare Pub 2 comments
Texas Johnny Brown at The Shakespeare Pub In Houston (11/15/09) Photo-Artistry by kenne
“We used to have guitars sessions,
guitar battles on Sunday out there at Club Matinee.
And there’d be about four or five of us there,
and man, guitars would be ringing like everything!
It was wild!”
— Texas Johnny Brown (Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues)
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Conroe’s Corner Pub 2 comments
Sonny Boy Terry and Michael Durbin In Conroe’s Corner Pub (04/14/07) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
“The more one loves music,
the less music one loves.”
— Really?!!
I was going through some of my brother’s notes on music this morning and came upon the Roger Sessions statement, “The more one loves music, the less music one loves.” From my own personal experience, there is music I may not have liked but learned to love it.
So, I decided to research the context of what Sessions was saying.
“. . . this initial stage in listening to music is an entirely direct one; the listener brings to the music whatever he can bring, with no other preoccupation than that of hearing. This is, of course, what is to be desired; it is the condition of his really hearing. He will hear the music only to the extent that he identifies himself with it, establishing a fresh and essentially naive contact with it, without preconceived ideas and without strained effort.
. . . the listener’s reaction is immediate and seems, in a sense, identical with the act of hearing. Undoubtedly this is what many listeners expect. And yet, on occasion, one may listen to music attentively, without any conscious response to it until afterward; one’s very attention may be so absorbed that a vivid sense of the sound is retained, but a sense of communications experienced only later. It is this sense of communication to which I refer under the term ‘enjoyment’; obviously, one may not and often does not, in any real sense, ‘enjoy’ what is being communities. There is certainly some music that we never ‘enjoy’; experience inevitably fosters discrimination, and there is certainly some truth even in the frequent, seemingly paradoxical statement that ‘the more one loves music, the less music one loves.’ This statement is true in a sense if we understand it as applying to the experience of an individual, and not a general rule. But if our relation to the music is a healthy one — that is to say, a direct and simple one — our primary and quite spontaneous effort will to deny it.”
The more you learn about something you like, the more you will love it.
— kenne
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Johnny Mandel, Dead at 94 2 comments
Johnny Mandel — Source: Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett posted on Twitter Yesterday:
If Johnny Mandel had just composed “The Shadow of Your Smile” – one of the most beautiful songs I have been honored to record – it would have been enough to earn his standing as one of the finest composers of our time.
. . . and let’s not forget the arrangement Mandel did for Natalie Cole in the song “Unforgettable!”
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Jonn Del Toro Richardson at the Corner Pub (11/03/07) 1 comment
Jonn Del Toro Richardson at the Corner Pub in Conroe Texas (11/03/07) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Jonn played lead guitar for Diunna Greenleaf for several years before going out on his own. The following video combines two clips, one in a club setting, another in a festival setting in which Jonn and Bob Corritore jam with Diunna.
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Blues Project Revisited Leave a comment
Ken & Mary’s Blues Project with Ashton Savoy & The Moe Hansum Band (10/18/02) — Image by kenne
Kenneth and Mary Harris produced house concerts for family and friends
for over two decades in the piney woods of East Texas —
“House concerts are our life
House concerts are our everything
House concerts give us joy
House concerts keep us happy
House concerts keep us dancing.”
— kenne
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Houston Blues Legends 3 comments
Pee Wee Stephens, Pete Mayes, Grady Gaines, Calvin Owens, Joe “Guitar” Hughes,
and I don’t know the gentleman playing bass on the stage at Billy Blues (1999)
— Image by kenne
During our time living in the Houston area, Joy and I were very much into live music, especially the blues. Although there are still plenty of blues venues, many have passed with time. One such place was Billy Blues, on Richmond Avenue on Houston’s trendy westside. Regional and nationally known blues musicians played there for about seven years. Known for its 63-foot-tall saxophone made of Volkswagen Beetle parts and beer kegs, the venue never seemed to capture the same blues feeling of clubs in Houston’s working-class 3rd and 5th Ward communities. “I love the blues. It’s a feeling,” Martha Turner said to Roger Wood in his book Down In Houston: Bayou City Blues. “You got to feel a song, you know. When a person comes into a club to see you, they enjoy your expression, not so much as what you’re singing. They watch your face.”
“You watch this person sing a song,
and it’s almost like you’re doing it yourself.
Know what I’m talking about?
You enjoy that blues.
The Blues is something you can identify with.”
(Martha Turner)
During these trying times, what better way of coming together than with The Blues, and Buddy Guy reminds us,
“. . . you treat everybody just the way you want them to treat you.”
— kenne
Lyrics
I've been around a while I know wrong from right And since a long time ago Things been always black and white Just like you can't judge a book by the cover We all gotta be careful How we treat one another I say Skin deep, skin deep Underneath we all look same Skin deep, skin deep Underneath, don't we all look the same? A man in Louisiana He never called me by my name He said "boy do this and boy do that" But I never once complained I knew he had a good heart But he just didn't understand That I needed to be treated Just like any other man Skin deep, skin deep Underneath, don't we all look the same? Skin deep, skin deep Underneath we all look the same I sat my little child down When he was old enough to know I said "I fear in this big wide world You're gonna meet all kinda folks" I said "Son it all comes down to just one simple rule That you treat everybody just the way You want them to treat you" Skin deep, skin deep Underneath, don't we all look the same? Skin deep, skin deep Underneath we all look the same Skin deep, skin deep Underneath, don't we all look the same? Yeah Skin deep, skin deep Underneath we just all look the same (the same, yeah) Skin deep (treat everybody), skin deep Skin deep, skin deep All look, all look the same Skin deep, skin deep Don't we all look the same?
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Looking Back — Sonny-Boy Terry and Joe ‘Guitar’ Hughes Leave a comment
Sonny-Boy Terry and Joe ‘Guitar’ Hughes at Houston’s ‘Big Easy‘ (02/23/03) — Image by kenne
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Rainbow Connection 2 comments
Rainbow In The Catalina Foothills — Image by kenne
I still believe that someday we’ll find the Rainbow Connection.
Rainbow Connection
Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows
And what’s on the other side
Rainbows are visions
They’re only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we’ve been told and some chose to
Believe it
But I know they’re wrong wait and see
Songs about rainbows
And what’s on the other side
Rainbows are visions
They’re only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we’ve been told and some chose to
Believe it
But I know they’re wrong wait and see
Someday we’ll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me
Who said that every wish
Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it
And look what it’s done so far
What’s so amazing
That keeps us star gazing
What so we think we might see
Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it
And look what it’s done so far
What’s so amazing
That keeps us star gazing
What so we think we might see
Someday we’ll find it
That Rainbow Connection
The lovers the dreamers and me
That Rainbow Connection
The lovers the dreamers and me
Have you been fast asleep
And have you heard voices,
I’ve heard them calling my name,
Is this the sweet sound that calls
The young sailors,
The voice might be one and the same.
I’ve heard it too many times to ignore it
It’s something that i’m supposed to be,
And have you heard voices,
I’ve heard them calling my name,
Is this the sweet sound that calls
The young sailors,
The voice might be one and the same.
I’ve heard it too many times to ignore it
It’s something that i’m supposed to be,
Someday we’ll find it
The rainbow connection…
The lovers, the dreamers and me
La lala la lala la la la lala la la la
The rainbow connection…
The lovers, the dreamers and me
La lala la lala la la la lala la la la
— Kenny Ascher / Paul Hamilton Williams
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Ken & Mary’s Blues Project — A Flashback Leave a comment
Ken & Mary’s Blues Project (11/16/09) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
