Happy 40th Anniversary, Abbey Road!
The famous photo that graced the cover of the Beatles’ Abbey Road, the last album recorded together, shows the Fab Four walking purposefully across the zebra-striped asphalt. It remains one of music’s best-known album covers, often imitated and parodied. Many music fans name this album as their favorite Beatles record and/or favorite album of all-time.
Here’s the track list:
Side One
Come Together
Something
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
Oh! Darling
Octopus’s Garden
I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
Side Two
Here Comes the Sun
Because
The Medley: “You Never Give Me Your Money,” “Sun King,” “Mean Mr. Mustard,” “Polythene Pam,” “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,” “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End”
“Her Majesty”
Here Comes the Rain, Again!
Here in NYC, it’s been raining, and raining. So, in honor of all the water that keeps falling from the sky, let’s enjoy some “rain” songs.
“Here Comes The Rain Again” – Eurythmics
“Rain King” – Counting Crows
“Rain” The Beatles
“It’s Raining Again” – Supertramp
“The Rain Song” – Led Zeppelin
“Rhythm of the Falling Rain” – The Cascades
“Purple Rain” – Prince
“Blame It On The Rain” – Milli Vanilli
“A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” – Bob Dylan
“Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
And my favorite rain song: “November Rain” – Guns N’ Roses
On the sunny side, we have Blind Melon singing “No Rain” and George Harrison telling us it’s alright with “Here Comes The Sun.”
In Tribute: George Harrison
Today, Feb. 25, 2009, would’ve been George Harrison’s 66th birthday. He was the lead guitarist of The Beatles and crafted some of the group’s songs, including While My Guitar Gently Weeps, the love song Something, the psychedelic Blue Jay Way, Within You Without You (no other Beatle performs on this song; George plays the sitar), and the gem Here’s Comes The Sun.
His solo work showed off his song writing skills and his stellar guitar talent. His triple album masterpiece All Things Must Pass includes such hits as My Sweet Lord, If Not For You, What Is Life, Isn’t It A Pity, and the title track.
Other notable songs from his solo catalog include All Those Years Ago (dedicated to Lennon after his murder), Give Me Love, When We Was Fab, I Got My Mind Set On You.
His posthumously-released album Brainwashed and his work as part of the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys are highly recommended as well.
Happy Birthday, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison was born on this day in 1936, in Vernon, Texas. For his sixth birthday, Roy asked for a harmonica, but his father Orbie Lee gave him a guitar. And the rest is history.
The main thing that contributed to Roy’s success, aside from his tenor voice, was that his songs were completely original in structure, sound, and style. He was an innovator. Roy was a pioneer in rock and roll, and his career spanned more than four decades. He got his start in Memphis at Sun Records, with the other music pioneers: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.
His hits include Only the Lonely, Crying, Blue Angel, Running Scared, Dream Baby, In Dreams, Blue Bayou, You Got It, and his biggest hit Oh Pretty Woman.
Late in his career, he joined Bob Dylan, George Harrison (Beatles), Jeff Lynne (ELO), and Tom Petty to form the supergroup Traveling Wilburys. Their hits include Last Night, Handle With Care, Tweeter and The Monkey Man, Heading For The Light, and End of the Line.
Roy died at the age of 52 in Dec. 1988. The Traveling Wilburys won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Group in 1990. For more on the Traveling Wilburys click here.
Let’s watch some of his performances.
We’ll start with a 1960 performance of Only The Lonely.
Roy on The Johnny Cash Show in 1969 singing Crying
Crying (with kd lang)
His last hit, You Got It.
For a complete biography, visit : www.royorbison.citymusicnetworks.com
The Mystix: Blue Morning CD Review
The Mystix serve up a delectable mix of blues, R&B, country, and rock with Blue Morning. These musicians are at their finest, and have crafted an album full of soul that could easily become a new favorite of any music lover.
Jo Lily – the band’s front man – plays acoustic and slide guitar, and sings with the raspy voice of Tom Waits, Dr, John, and Bob Dylan. Bobby Keyes, who has recorded with greats like Jerry Lee Lewis and Ben E. King, plays guitar and his excellent skill dazzles. He can switch from funky blues style to rock riffs effortlessly. Bassist Marty Ballou and drummers, Marty Richards and Dennis McDermott, round out the Boston-based group. Keyes and Lily co-produced the CD.
While all ten songs on Blue Morning are good, some standout a little extra. A Change in Jane is a ballad that would fit nicely on one of Dylan’s later albums or pass for one of Van Morrison’s movie songs. It’s strong on images, and because it’s a short song, it leaves you wanting more. The spirited rhythms on the aptly named New Orleans set the scene for a rollicking street party in The Big Easy. New Orleans is the liveliest song on Blue Morning. Another lively tune is The Mystix’s cover of Rattled. And while the Traveling Wilburys: Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison are and were the masters, The Mystix’s version just might beat the original.
The title track slows things down a bit. It’s a heartbreak song that offers the hope that there’s always a new day, offering a new start. Which Side of Heartache is a weepy country tune and is reminiscent of The Tennessee Waltz. Hi-Line closes Blue Morning. It conjures up the image of an empty bar when the last shot of whiskey has been served and the final song is coming to an end.
The Mystix’s Blue Morning is a solid album that mixes genres seamlessly. It’s got something for everyone. Blue Morning is an excellent example of how good songwriting and instrumentation can create a perfect listening experience.
Sir Paul
James Paul McCartney was born on June 18, 1942 in Liverpool, England, and was the bass player for the Beatles. He founded the group with John Lennon, forming the most successful songwriting partnership in musical history.
The Beatles were among the few artists that were the best at what they did as well as the most popular. The group was imaginative and experimental and fascinated the world. Their reign as rock icons remains unequaled to this day, decades after their 1970 breakup.
They were a self-contained rock band in that the group, headed by Lennon and McCartney, wrote and performed its own material. As composers, their craft and melodic inventiveness were key to the evolution of rock. As singers, McCartney and Lennon were among the best vocalists in rock. Their harmonies were intricate and the arrangements were multi-layered. As a group, John, Paul, George, and Ringo were refreshing. friendly, and photogenic.
It could have been a clash of the founders’ egos that caused the breakup. And perhaps the creativity of all the members needed to go in different directions, as their solo work does vary in style. Or maybe their popularity, talent, and egos were too great, that combustion was unavoidable. The Yoko Ono intrusion is very likely as well. But, it seems that George Harrison said it best: “All things must pass.”
Paul McCartney released his first solo album, McCartney, just two week before the release of Let It Be. It was followed by his public announcement that the Beatles were going their separate ways. McCartney formed the band Wings his late wife, Linda Eastman McCartney soon after the Beatles’ breakup. From the time he ventured on his very successful solo career to releasing his 34th album Memory Almost Full in 2007, he has proven to be music’s greatest songwriter. He manages to create compositions that could easily be two or three songs in one; Band on the Run and Live and Let Die are prime examples. His presence has been constant for nearly five decades.
He’s worked on film scores, classical music, and electronic music. He paints and writes poetry. He has taken on many charitable projects and causes. McCartney holds the record as the most successful musician and composer in music history. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1965, and became Sir Paul McCartney in 1997.
His standout solo albums include Band On The Run, Wings At The Speed Of Sound, Venus And Mars, Tug Of War, and Flowers in The Dirt.
To this day, Silly Love Songs from Wings At The Speed Of Sound is one of my favorite songs. And here it is: Silly Love Songs.
Click on the songs below for their videos:
George: The Quiet Beatle
George Harrison, born February 25, 1943, was the youngest of The Beatles and the composer of the group’s Here Comes The Sun, Something, While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Blue Jay Way, among others.
His first solo album, the majestic All Things Must Pass – a triple LP – was made up mostly of songs he had written during his time with The Beatles. It was remastered and expanded in 2001, making it even easier to appreciate the talent of Harrison. My Sweet Lord, What is Life, Isn’t It a Pity, If Not For You and the title track are his greatest songs and all appear on this highly recommended album.
George died of cancer on November 29, 2001, but spent most of his life trying to reach spiritual fulfillment and writing songs with deeply personal sentiments.
Click here for a tribute to George Harrison with All Things Must Pass as the backdrop.
For George’s acoustic version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, click here.
John, Paul, George & Ringo
In honor of the upcoming December 8th anniversary of John Lennon’s passing, the next few posts will be Beatles-related. I’ll be remembering the Fab Four – the group that changed the look and sound of music forever.
To start things off, click here for an introduction to the Beatles prior to the Ed Sullivan Show.
And here, on their first visit to America and The Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles sing I Want To Hold Your Hand.
Vote for your favorite Beatle below:
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