Delbert first hit the stage in 1957 and toured continuously until his last tour in 2018. He is a multi talented musician who can play guitar, harmonica and piano.
For me, it’s hard to put him into one genre of music. He’s probably best known for rock, blues, and country. He’s won four Grammy Awards – in 1992 for Rock Performance by a Duo with Bonnie Raitt; 2002 for Contemporary Blues Album for “Nothing Personal”; 2006 for Best Contemporary Blues Album for “Cost of Living” and in 2020 for Best Traditional Blues Album for Tall, Dark, & Handsome. He has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards as of 2020.
I was having trouble getting the videos to load in my draft, so I hope they show up here. Today I wanted to feature two fantastic cover songs. First, I love his cover of James Brown’s Please, Please, Please:
Next, his cover of Johnny Ace’s Pledging My Love:
He has done so many great songs, but these two are my faves….
We go back to one of my favorite movie soundtracks today for Movie Music Monday.
There were many pop and soul singers who made cameos in The Blues Brothers! They include Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, James Brown, and Ray Charles. It also includes a man who had been making music since the 1930’s! I’m talking, of course, about the legendary Cab Calloway.
Cab was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem. He was an amazing scat singer and led his own band. His career spanned over 65 years!
In the film, Cab plays Curtis, a friend of Jake and Elwood Blues. He lives in the basement of the orphanage that the Blues Brothers were raised in. When they need to raise money for the orphanage, they hold huge concert. It is here that Cab gets to shine on stage.
It was on this day in 1931 that Cab and his band recorded the song that would forever be connected with him – Minnie The Moocher. He performed this song in the Blues Brothers.
From wiki:
The lyrics describe the story of a woman known as “Minnie the Moocher”, a “moocher” being American slang for a person who constantly asks others for money or who takes unfair advantage of generosity. She is described as a performer of the sexually-suggestive Hoochie Coochie dance. The lyrics are heavily laden with drug references, and describe Minnie’s vivid dreams after drug use. The character “Smokey” is described as “cokey”, meaning a user of cocaine; the phrase “kick the gong around” was a slang reference to smoking opium. The song ends with Calloway wailing “Poor Min!” insinuating an untimely end for the protagonist. The “hi-de-ho” scat lyrics came about when Calloway forgot the lyrics to the song one night during a live radio concert.
First, here is the original:
And from the Blues Brothers, featuring Mr. Fabulous, Alan Rubin on Trumpet:
It was 39 years ago today that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class. When you look at the 10 inductees, you cannot help but be impressed. These artists are legends who were a part of the birth of Rock and Roll. The performers category is meant for recording artists and bands that have “influence and significance to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll.” Each of them did just that!
To honor this class of Rock and Roll pioneers, I thought I would feature a favorite song from each of them. Feel free to add your favorites in the comments.
Chuck Berry– No Particular Place To Go
The “Granddaddy of Rock and Roll”
James Brown – Please, Please, Please
“The Godfather of Soul”
Ray Charles – Hallelujah, I Love Her So
“The Genius”
Sam Cooke – Twisting The Night Away
“The King of Soul”
Fats Domino – I’m Walkin’
“The Father of Rock and Roll”
The Everly Brothers – Bye Bye Love
Buddy Holly – Rave On
Jerry Lee Lewis – Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On
“The Killer”
Little Richard – Rip It Up
“The Architect of Rock and Roll” (Also “The Bronze Liberace”)
Elvis Presley – Blue Suede Shoes
“The King of Rock and Roll”
I wish I could find out who the artist is on this amazing caricature! I love this and would love to get a print of it.
The amount of music that these ten performers put out in their lifetime is overwhelming! It is fitting that they make up the first class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.
My wife and I took a trip to Cleveland for our anniversary one year. We visited the Hall of Fame and I was in awe walking amongst the pieces of history. If you have never been there, I highly recommend a visit!
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
A brand new decade has dawned and I will turn 20 in 1990. It was a time of change for me, as well. I had been working at WKSG for a little over 2 years. I truly believed that I’d have that job for years, but had yet to learn how unstable radio jobs were. When I was fired, I called my old boss (now at another station in Detroit) and cried like a baby. He brought me in part time at WMXD.
As I looked through the music from 1990 and 1991, there were many songs that I played while at WMXD. When I started there, the music was a mix of Adult Contemporary and Urban songs. Eventually, they would go all Urban Contemporary and I was let go again.
One of the songs I played, I wrote about recently, but it still makes my list here. If you want to know more about Elton John’s Club at the End of the Street, you can read the earlier post here:
Next on the list is a song that was released on my 20th birthday, May 15, 1990. “Vision Of Love” was Mariah Carey’s first single. The song debuted at #73 in America, but two months later, in August, spent four weeks at the #1 spot. I remember playing this one on WMXD, as well. It was a song that really showcased her outrageous vocal range! The first time I heard her belt out that high note, I couldn’t believe it!
The original demo of the song was described as a 1950’s shuffle, but that didn’t matter. The song was good enough. Songfacts says, The original version was included on Mariah’s demo tape for Columbia. It was one of the songs that caught the ear of Tommy Mottola, her future husband and, more importantly, the head of the label’s parent company, CBS Records. At the time, Mariah was working as a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr, who invited her to a label party in Manhattan where the demo tape made its way into Mottola’s hands. After listening to the tape in his limo on the way home, he went back to the party to track down the singer. Mariah had already left and no one knew who she was. Days later, she found a message on her answering machine inviting her to sign with the label. Mottola then sent her to Los Angeles to re-record “Vision Of Love.”
Let me be honest right here. After her second album, there were not too many songs by Mariah that I cared for. I don’t know this for sure, but I feel the “business” changed her. There were a couple of songs later that were good. I felt, however, her strongest stuff was on those first two albums.
Vision of Love
The Godfather trilogy will always be my number one, but my second favorite trilogy would be Back to the Future. In 1990, Back to the Future Part III was released in theaters. I couldn’t wait to see how it all wrapped up.
ZZ Top released their Recycler album in 1990. The lead single from the album was a song from Back to the Future Part III called Doubleback. The group made a cameo appearance in the movie playing an acoustic version. That version is on the soundtrack of the movie.
Doubleback
But wait, there’s more! Consider this a Double Shot of ZZ Top. From the same album, My Head’s In Mississippi sounded like classic ZZ Top to me. I just loved the shuffle and the vocals. Billy Gibbons said:
“My buddy Walter Baldwin spoke in the most poetic way. Every sentence was a visual awakening. His dad was the editor of the Houston Post. We grew up in a neighborhood where the last thing you would say is, ‘These teenagers know what blues is.’ But our appreciation dragged us in. Years later, we were sitting in a tavern in Memphis called Sleep Out Louie’s — you could see the Mississippi River. Walter said, ‘We didn’t grow up pickin’ cotton. We weren’t field hands in Mississippi. But my head’s there.’ Our platform, in ZZ Top, was we’d be the Salvador Dalí of the Delta. It was a surrealist take. This song was not a big radio hit. But we still play it live, even if it’s just the opening bit.”
In 2008, Gibbons stated, “‘My Head’s in Mississippi,’ which was one of the first completed tracks on the album, is a great example of how we mixed the new with the old. Initially, it was a straight-ahead boogie-woogie. Then Frank stepped in and threw in those highly gated electronic drum fills, which modernized the track.”
My Head’s in Mississippi
I have never owned a pair of parachute pants. They do look comfortable, however, and it looks like you have a lot of freedom in them.
As much as I didn’t really want to include this one, I did play it a lot while DJing. It always got folks out dancing, then again, so did Super Freak by Rick James. Believe it or not, James did NOT give Hammer permission to use the song.
Songfacts explains: Rick James tried to keep rappers from sampling his music, turning down any requests. According to James, his lawyers authorized the “Super Freak” sample without his permission. He heard about it when a friend told him about “U Can’t Touch This” and the song came on the radio they were listening to in the car. James said he was irate, but somewhat appeased when he found out how much money it was making for him. Still, he claimed he wouldn’t have done the deal if he was asked.
James had another beef as well: he wanted to be listed as a songwriter on “U Can’t Touch This.” He sued MC Hammer for credit. The case was settled out of court, with James getting listed as a co-writer on the track along with Hammer and Alonzo Miller. Miller was a disc jockey who wrote some lyrics on “Super Freak.”
He recorded the song at Capitol Records, where Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Dean Martin recorded, The label ran an innovative marketing campaign to promote this song. They mailed out free cassette singles of the track to 100,000 kids. The cassettes came with a letter from Hammer asking them to call MTV and request the video. The ploy worked, and the video became the most-played of 1990 on the network.
U Can’t Touch This
I don’t remember when my ex-girlfriend had sent this song to me. It was probably after we broke up the first time. I say that because I believe that this song is what led us to getting back together eventually. I remember being pretty messed up after the break up. I did end up dating someone else.
I don’t recall how my ex and I began chatting again, but it led to her giving me this song. I really loved and cared about my ex. I broke it off with the gal I had been dating to get back together with my ex. It was really unfair to her, but I was 20, almost 21, and didn’t really know any better.
While we enjoyed some very good times the second time around, it didn’t last. She broke up with me again, which led to me always wondering what I did to cause he to leave. Anyway, I tell you all that to play Cuts Both Ways.
Cuts Both Ways
In 1967, Otis Redding wrote and recorded his version of Hard to Handle. He wrote it with Allen Jones and Al Bell and the track was produced by the legendary Steve Cropper. It was released in 1968 (after his death) as the B-side to his song “Amen.”
The song was first covered in 1968 by Patti Drew. The Black Crowes covered the song on their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker. Two versions of the song exist. First, the original album version and the hit single remixed with an overdubbed brass section. The latter is available on the 30th Anniversary edition of Shake Your Money Maker.
Songfacts says: This was The Black Crowes’ third single, following “Twice As Hard” and “Jealous Again.” It made #45 in the US in December 1990, as the group was rapidly gaining momentum. After “She Talks To Angels” hit #30 in May 1991 – over a year after the album was released – “Hard To Handle” was reissued, this time going to #26 and becoming the highest-charting single for the band on the Hot 100.
This has always been a song that I love to crank up. It’s funky and fun!
Hard To Handle
My next song is another one that I played while at WMXD. I was familiar with James Ingram before I worked there and always liked his voice. I Don’t Have The Heart was his only solo number one song. The song won him a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1991.
The song was written by the duo of Allan Rich and Jud Friedman. It was the first song they wrote together. Speaking about Rich’s lyrics, Friedman told Songwriting Magazine, “Allan says he’s not a poetic lyricist, and he’s not a flowery lyricist. He is very conversational, but in a good way, and that has its own poetry. It’s the poetry of reality and the poetry of life and interactions. And the thing about I Don’t Have The Heart, among many brilliant things about Allan’s idea for the song, is it’s an example of taking a phrase that’s very well known, ‘I don’t have the heart,’ and flipping it. ‘I don’t have the heart to hurt you but I don’t have the heart to love you.’ He used it in two different ways, and that was poetic. We’ve all been there, sometimes wearing one of the shoes and sometimes wearing the other.”
That was the thing that caught me, too. The flip. I love when a lyric does that.
I Don’t Have the Heart
Whitney Houston hadn’t been on the radio since 1988. While she had her fair share of uptempo songs, but I feel like radio played more of her ballads. So the first time I played I’m Your Baby Tonight, I was wowed by it.
According to Songfacts:
By the time Houston released her third album, I’m Your Baby Tonight, she was coming off of a three-year hiatus. Prior to this, she had a record-breaking string of seven consecutive #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. The problem was, her record label felt she was losing touch with her black audience. Houston balked at the claim, telling USA Today, “I don’t sing music thinking this is black, or this is white… I sing songs that everybody’s going to like.”
But producers L.A. Reid and Babyface agreed with the assertion. Reid told Billboard: “We wanted to come up with something that was different than anything Whitney had sung. So we approached it from that angle. We wanted to give her a new direction, and pick up where we felt she was lacking. We felt like she needed more of a black base.”
It definitely was a fresh sound for her, but I don’t know hear it as “more black” or “more white.” To me, it is just a great song!
The Julien Temple-directed music video shows Houston in the guise of different pop culture figures. They include silver screen siren Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, and all three of The Supremes.
I’m Your Baby Tonight
Allow me just one more song from my WMXD days. Let me set this up for you. When I was at WKSG, these two sweet old ladies always called to request songs. They were sisters named Virginia and Dorothy. They always seemed to call toward the end of my overnight shift.
Virginia suffered with respiratory issues, so it took her a bit to say what she wanted. She would get a couple words out and have to take a breath. She had emphysema and really struggled to breathe.
Dorothy, on the other hand, was always on the go. She was always talking about where she was over the weekend. She was always at a party or something, even though she didn’t drive. She took a bus or Your Ride where she needed to go.
When I told them that I was leaving the station, Dorothy gave me her address to keep in touch. When I moved to Ludington, she and Virginia wrote me often. Eventually, communication was over the phone. When I moved back home, we actually ran into each other at a Weight Watchers. meeting.
I was closer to Dorothy, and she would invite me to stop by for coffee. She always had some sort of baked good ready. She was born the same day as Frank Sinatra. She was such a sweet friend. I am sure that I lost touch with her after I married my ex, and was sad to hear that she (and her sister) had passed away.
She once told me that she didn’t like all of the music we played at WMXD. One song she loved was The First Time by Surface. This song went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Whenever I hear it, I think about my friend and am grateful to have known her.
The First Time
Robert Palmer’s Don’t Explain album was very different. It contains 18 tracks and a variety of styles. There is R&B, Rock, Jazz, and more. It also includes some cover songs. I love the track “Top 40” because it swings a bit with a great sax line. It, however, wasn’t released as a single.
The song that is closest to what he had success with in the 80’s is You’re Amazing. I love the guitar line in the song. Billboard said, “Palmer’s reliably strong soul stylings added to headbanger guitar riffs and sweet background harmonies proves to be a quirky, but potent, combination.”
I don’t know that I would call the guitars “headbangers,” but I suppose they are a bit harder than Palmer usually presents. Now, the background harmonies – yeah, I dig those!
You’re Amazing
1990 Bonus Song
I just can’t pass up one song. It is a song that my best friend, Jeff, and I still laugh about. I can’t be sure who heard this first, but I know we laughed about it for years. The idea of taking the voice from a 1970’s instructional dance record and incorporating it into this is brilliant. The Bingo Boys did just that!
It is this vocal part from that record that makes us laugh so much. I cannot even being to picture a couple in their living room trying to learn a dance to that guy! It is so absurd that after a few of his lines, Princessa jumps in to shut him up. “Act like the end of a record and fade out …” is the lyric. I think that’s an awesome line.
The Bingo Boys were a trio from Austria. The song was actually released in the US first. It was released in the UK in 1991. It went to number one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and reached number 25 on the Hot 100.
The song borrows heavily from a number of earlier recordings, including “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” by Chic, “Dance (Disco Heat) by Sylvester, “Kiss” by the Art of Noise and Tom Jones, the popular James Brown “Yeah! Woo!” sample loop, the bassline motif from Mantronix’s single “Got to Have Your Love”, and a synth motif from The Whispers’ “And The Beat Goes On”. See if you can catch them all ….
How To Dance
That’s a wrap on 1990. Next week, we’ll check out 1991. That was the year I turned 21 and moved out for the first time. What kind of surprises will pop up?
Did I miss any big 1990 songs from your list?? Drop them in the comments!
Today is the birthday of one of the “Three Kings of Blues Guitar.” The best known of these three is most likely B.B. King, followed closely by Albert King, and last but not least, the birthday boy, Freddie King. All three Kings – but no relation to each other. Freddie was born today in 1934.
Freddie was not just a great guitarist, he was also a songwriter and singer. His voice has been called “soulful and powerful,” but today I’ll focus on his guitar playing.
He was taught to play by his mother and uncle as child and eventually moved to Chicago. There he formed a band called the Every Hour Blues Boys. He tried many times to get a record deal at Chess Records (the home of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf), but was rejected every time. They told him that he “sounded too much like B.B. King.”
Persistence paid off for him as he finally landed a record deal with Federal Records in 1960. In August of 1960, he recorded his debut single, “Have You Ever Loved a Woman.” At that same session, he recorded an instrumental that has gone on to become a blues “standard,” “Hide Away.”
Hide Away reached number five on the R&B Chart and number 29 on the Pop Chart, an unprecedented accomplishment for a blues instrumental at a time when the genre was still largely unknown to white audiences.
While at Federal Records, Freddie became good friends with Sonny Thompson, a pianist, producer, and A&R man for Cincinnati’s King Records. Federal Records was a subsidiary of King Records. After the success of Hide Away, Thompson and Freddie recorded over 30 instrumentals (including today’s pick). Yes, they recorded vocal tracks throughout this period but often released the tunes as instrumentals on albums.
On the last day of local broadcasting at Honey Radio, my partner Rob Main and I were given 6 hours of the day to play whatever we wanted. We had decided to do have each hour focus on something different. Hour 1 was songs with Male names. Hour 2 was songs with Female names. Hour 3 had songs with body parts in the title. Hour 4 focused on instrumentals. That hour got a ton of requests for more and we did an extra hour of them.
Rob was a guitar player and he was the guy who introduced me to today’s Freddie King song. He had the “Let’s Hide Away and Dance Away” album his favorite cut was called Wash Out. I remember he told me he thought it had an “early Elvis” feel to it. The repeated guitar lick does remind me a bit of Elvis’ Blue Christmas.
He handed the song to me on a cart (what we played songs off of before CDs) and I played it on air without ever hearing it. We both sat with our headphones on listened. When it was done, we cracked the microphone and he asked me if I liked it. I remember telling him that it sounded like I was just listening to a couple guys sitting in a room jamming together. That’s what it felt like to me, improvising the blues.
Freddie was always out on the road. He toured with guys like Sam Cooke, James Brown, and Jackie Wilson. He was on the road almost 300 days out of the year. All the touring caught up with him. In 1976 he began suffering from stomach issues. Painful ulcers and acute pancreatitis led to failing health and he passed away just after Christmas in 1976 at the young age of 42.
In 2012, ZZ Top inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A year later, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 15th on their list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Once again, Dave Ruch from A Sound Day has offered up a gem of a topic for his monthly Turntable Talk feature! This month it is a topic that I have been hoping he’d get around to. Per his instructions:
“This time around, let’s look for THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES ! Pick a great movie soundtrack and talk a bit about it. It can be from a great movie or a dog of one (or anything in between), one made specifically for the film or one assembled from existing tunes as long as it’s one that works for you!“
There are certainly many fantastic soundtracks to choose from. Movies that are known for being a great film and also their great soundtracks include American Graffiti, Smokey and the Bandit, The Wedding Singer, The Sting, and Forrest Gump. Those aren’t even considered “musicals!” When I think about musicals, wow, that list is a long one.
Plenty of movie (and TV) soundtracks can be found in my collection. When I worked in radio, I would often buy soundtracks so I could uses some instrumental tracks as voiceover beds (music that plays underneath your voice as you are doing a bit or talking to a listener). I used a variety of cuts from Napoleon Dynamite, Stripes, The Three Amigos, Dragnet, and movies that were box office bombs! My pick comes from a movie that was far from a bomb. It was one of the biggest films of the 1980’s.
The one soundtrack that has always been a favorite for me (and it doesn’t even contain all the songs featured in the film) is The Blues Brothers. It has some fantastic cuts from Belushi and Aykroyd as well as musical legends like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Cab Calloway.
I had this soundtrack on vinyl and I played the heck out of it. Many of the songs were featured on my “driving mix tapes” when I had my first car! While the album contains 11 great tracks, the film included many other classics that I wound up searching for to add to my collection. The music doesn’t follow their chronological appearance in the film for some reason.
She Caught the Katy
The album opens with this Taj Mahal song. The Blues Brothers version has a lot more sound to it. It is so much fuller with the horns and guitars of the band. It is the song that the starring credits roll under. The opening guitar lick leads to the first big horn stab (and we see Belushi) then you have another horn stab (and we see Aykroyd) and the third big horn stab hits as we see the movie’s title card.
Belushi’s vocal on this is perfect. I like his vocal on this cut more than any other song on the album.
Peter Gunn Theme
This is the first of two TV themes on the album. This instrumental plays as the Blues Brothers are driving back to Elwood’s place. There are some really great shots of the city of Chicago in this scene. As you listen to this one, you can hear the talents of Tom “Bones” Malone, “Blue” Lou Marini, and “Mr. Fabulous” Alan Rubin. If I had a dollar for every time I used this as background music to introduce a wedding party I could fly to Italy!
Gimme Some Lovin’
Best known for being a hit for the Spencer Davis Group (and a young Steve Winwood), the soundtrack features the full song. In the film, the band begins to play this song at Bob’s Country Bunker (a country bar) and the owner shuts the lights off on them. If I had to choose between the two, I’d pick the Spencer Davis version over this one, but it is still a great jam.
Shake a Tail Feather
Originally done by the Five Du-Tones of Chicago in 1963, James and Bobby Purify had a bigger hit with it in 1967. This version tops them because of one man – the great Ray Charles. In the film, he owns a music shop and the band is buying new instruments. Ray is asked about a keyboard and Murphy Dunn tells him that the “action” of the keys is not that great. Ray sits down and says, “I don’t see anything wrong with the action on this piano” and launches into this song.
As Ray plays, a crowd gathers outside the store and dances along with the song doing all the dances mentioned in it (the monkey, the jerk, the boogaloo, etc…). This song is fantastic.
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
The song was written by Solomon Burke and recorded by him in 1964. Wilson Pickett’s 1966 cover is probably the best known version. This song is featured at the Blues Brothers’ big concert toward the end of the film. Over the intro, Elwood (Aykroyd) speaks to the audience and thanks “the members of Illinois law enforcement” who are present and waiting to arrest them. We get to hear a big more of Aykroyd on this track.
The Old Landmark
When you mention the Blues Brothers to someone, they will often quote “We’re on a mission from God.” This song is performed by the Godfather of Soul, James Brown who plays a preacher. Jake and Elwood are attending this church service and it is a pivotal moment in the film (and what sets them off on their “mission from God.”
The Old Landmark is a gospel song written by Dr. William Herbert Brewster Sr. back in 1949. It has been recorded by the Staple Singers, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and many others. James Brown takes this to a whole new level. It’s hard to imagine anyone performing this. He performed/recorded this one live on set.
Think
The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, performs this one as she is telling off her husband Matt “Guitar” Murphy. The song was a hit for Aretha in 1968. For the film, they bump up the tempo and add some dancers. This track is SO good! ”Blue” Lou Marini grabs his sax midway through the number and really jams through the end.
This was one of the harder songs to do in the film. Aretha had recorded the song and found it difficult to lip synch to her vocals as they filmed. It was a scene that needed many takes to do. This version is far superior to her original version.
Theme From Rawhide
The second TV theme on the album takes place in that country bar. After the lights go out they band has to figure out something that the audience will like. They wind up performing this one. Aykroyd’s vocal is just awesome here not to mention the “call and answer” between him and Belushi. Add in a whip and you have a real country hit on your hands!
This scene always makes me laugh because they perform on a stage surrounded by chicken wire. Why? Because the crowd gets so excited they throw beer bottles at them!
Minnie The Moocher
This was a song that Cab Calloway had been singing for decades! He was the “Hi-De-Ho Man.” I just love this version of the song. The rumor is that Cab wanted to do the disco version of the song that he had recorded in the past. They insisted that it needed to be the jazz/big band sound.
The song itself send you right back to the 1940’s. The full sound of the band, the horn section, and the amazing trumpet solos by Alan Rubin. Without a visual, it is still fantastic. Watching it in the film only enhances the experience.
They band is on stage waiting for Jake and Elwood to arrive. The crowd is getting antsy. The band is dressed in street clothes and look sort of shabby. Cab asks if they know the song and the band says they do. He yells, “Hit it!” and the curtain opens. Out struts Cab in a white tuxedo backed by the band, wearing black tuxes and looking sharp. The stage now has an backdrop of famous 40’s places with neon signs and a sweet looking band stand.
As a trumpet player, I can’t NOT mention the spectacular trumpet playing of Alan Rubin on this one!
Cab was a scat singer and his call and answer with the audience is just priceless. I’m not sure how old he was here, but his vocals are right on! He was a legend!
Sweet Home Chicago
This is the longest track on the soundtrack. The original version was done by Robert Johnson in 1936. This is the second song the band plays at their big concert (and the one where they make their escape, hence the long instrumental ending). As they intro it, they dedicate it to the late, great Magic Sam (who was from Chicago) who recorded it in 1967.
This is such a fun song to listen to and to watch in the film. The looks that they give John Candy’s character and the other folks who have been chasing them always make me smile. The song serves as the background music as we transition from night to day and the ultimate finale of the movie.
Jailhouse Rock
Movie Spoiler: The entire Blues Brothers Band gets arrested at the end of the movie. Naturally, the final song of the movie is Jailhouse Rock, originally done by Elvis Presley. Trivia: In the film, the first “prisoner” to jump up on the tables and dance is Joe Walsh!
On the soundtrack, the song is a bit different than in the film. You have a complete cut on the album, while in the movie each band member has a little solo as their name appears in the credits. In the film version you also get a line or two sung by James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and more. It’s a perfect capstone to wrap the soundtrack.
I have played the songs on this album over and over again on vinyl, cassette, on my iPod, and YouTube. It remains one of my favorite soundtracks of all time! What disappoints me is the many songs that were featured in the film that didn’t make the soundtrack. They are worth finding and checking out!
Of course, I can’t tease those without listing them, so here goes:
Somebody Loan Me a Dime – Fenton Robinson (Plays while Jake is escorted from his prison cell)
Shake Your Moneymaker – Elmore James (Plays while Jake and Elwood visit with Curtis at the orphanage)
Soothe Me/Hold On, I’m Comin’ – Sam and Dave (Plays on the 8 track in the Bluesmobile while Jake and Elwood are driving and get pulled over)
I Can’t Turn You Loose – The Blues Brothers – Originally done by Otis Redding (Plays while they drive through the mall and as they take the stage at the Palace Hotel Ballroom concert)
Let the Good Times Roll – Louis Jordan (Plays on the record player in Elwood’s place)
Anema e core (Until) – Ezio Pinza (The piece is playing the apartment that Tom Malone and Lou Marini used to stay – the “Are you the police?” scene)
Quando, Quando, Quando – Murph and the Magictones (Plays in the Holiday Inn scene)
Just the Way You Are – Muzak version of the Billy Joel song. (Plays in the Holiday Inn scene)
Die Romantiker (The waltz that plays at the Chez Paul restaurant)
Boom Boom – John Lee Hooker (Plays as the Blues Brothers are going to meet Matt “Guitar” Murphy)
Mama Lawdy/Boogie Chillen – John Lee Hooker (Plays when Jake calls Maury Sline and on the way to Bob’s Country Bunker)
Your Cheatin’ Heart – Kitty Wells (Plays as the Blues Brothers enter Bob’s Country Bunker)
Stand By Your Man – The Blues Brothers (Plays at Bob’s Country Bunker)
I’m Walkin’ – Fat’s Domino (Plays as Jake and Elwood and the orphans promote the concert)
Ride of the Valkyries – Richard Wagner (Plays as the Nazis are chasing the Blues Brothers toward the end of the movie)
The Girl from Impanema – Muzak version (Plays, naturally, in an elevator as the Blues Brothers go up the 11th floor with the tax money)
The Blues Brothers may or may not have been the first movie of “mine” that I made my wife watch with me. I’m sure that she made me watch one of her tear jerking chick flicks to get back at me afterward. To me, this movie remains a classic. As far as the sequel – not so much. It did have a decent soundtrack, but that is about it.
I have been wanting to write about this album for a long time and am glad that Dave finally gave me a reason to indulge myself with this blog. I am also excited to see what the rest of the bloggers have chosen for their soundtrack.
I’m already looking forward to next month’s topic! Thanks for reading!
This blog is part of the next installment of Dave from A Sound Day’s Turntable Talk. This time around, the subject is “cover songs.” Per our instructions:
This time around, wanting to get your thoughts on Cover Songs…what makes a really good one, maybe what your favorite bold one is. Do you like ones really faithful to the original, or ones that spin it in an altogether direction? Or conversely, what one is atrocious to you & why.
By ‘bold’ I mean covers of songs that were already known, and hits. I won’t set any minimum guidelines but as examples, most people never heard The Arrows version of ‘I Love Rock n Roll’ or The Clique’s ‘Superman’ so it was easy for Joan Jett & REM respectively make them their own. But to do a Beatles song, like Joe Cocker did only a couple of years after the original was released… that took …something.
So what cover songs work great for you?
Cover Songs
If you do a Google search on “cover songs,” there are plenty of links to articles containing lists of “the best” ones. There are also links to video’s that feature countdowns and lists of “best and worst” cover songs. Those lists, no doubt, will include: Twist and Shout by the Beatles, Proud Mary by Ike and Tina Turner, Hurt by Johnny Cash, Last Kiss by Pearl Jam, Mony Mony by Billy Idol, All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix, and many many more!
Many people are unaware that some of their favorite songs are actually cover songs. A lot of the early Rolling Stones and Beatles songs were actually covers of songs they loved by other artists. In a way, a cover song is the ultimate “hat tip” to a band’s early influence.
Personally, I tend to love cover songs. If you were to grab my iPod, that becomes very clear! I recall a time when I was married to my ex-wife and her iPod was dead. She wanted to go walk and asked if she could take mine instead. Upon returning home, she said to me, “How many different versions of a song do you need?!”
Cover Song Example
Dave asked “what makes a good” cover song? He also asked, “Do you like ones really faithful to the original, or ones that spin it in an altogether direction?“
It is difficult for me to say what exactly makes a good cover song because I think it can be one that is faithful to the original, spun in a different direction, or a mixture of both of those elements. Take for example, the Rodgers and Hart song – Blue Moon.
The song was written in 1934. There were recordings made as early as 1935. One of the best known versions is the Doo Wop hit from 1961 by the Marcels. Dean Martin did a stripped down version with piano and drums that was performed as a slow ballad. Frank Sinatra’s version was more “swingy”. Sam Cooke’s “bounced” and in 1997 a swing band called the Jive Aces covered it as a bouncy boogie woogie sounding cover. Every single version I mentioned, I like for different reasons.
Some of My FavoriteCovers
If I were to make a list of all the cover songs I have on my iPod and feature one a day on my blog, I would have enough songs to write about for about 6 months! Instead, I grabbed a piece of paper and off the top of my head started jotting down the cover songs that came to mind. I gave myself 5 minutes to do this and came up with about 18 songs. The reality is that I know that I will complete this blog and after it posts say, “Oh, man! I forgot (insert cover song here)!” That’s ok.
While it may be hard for me to tell you exactly what I love about cover songs, maybe by giving some examples of some of my favorites, the music will answer the question for both of us.
The first three I came up with are all from movie soundtracks. There is no shortage of cover songs in the movies. These covers will often give new life to old songs – examples include Sweet Child of Mine by Sheryl Crow from Big Daddy, Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright from Shrek, Hazy Shade of Winter by the Bangels from Less Than Zero, Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon by Urge Overkill in Pulp Fiction, and, of course, I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston in The Bodygaurd.
Johnny B. Goode – Marty McFly and the Starlighters
From Back to the Future, this is the song Marty McFly plays at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. In the movie, He goes off on a Eddie Van Halen type solo and the entire crowd looks at him stunned. On the soundtrack, however, there is a full version with an additional verse not in the movie. What I love about this version is the stripped down instrumentation, the saxophone and piano, and the whole feel of it. It really sounds like an “early” version of the song. It’s actually quite good.
From the soundtrack of Honeymoon in Vegas, which contains some very good Elvis covers. This one is my favorite. It has the feel of the Elvis version, with a little “boogie woogie” piano feel to it. Simple background vocals enhance the Billy Joel version. One addition I love is the bass drum hit after he sings, “I’m in love ….”
I stumbled on this by accident. This cut was used in the movie Little Big League. I’ve always been a fan of Fats Domino, but this version is just so much better. It has “meat” to it. The driving bass line keeps it moving, the piano is still there, and those saxes in the background – LOVE them. Add the electric guitar and Taj Mahal’s vocal to the mix and it is just perfect! This is one that I find myself listening to at work when I need a “pick up”
Phil Phillips did the original of this, but how can you NOT love this version?! First and foremost, you have Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page as well as Jeff Beck in the group! Add a beautiful string arrangement and background singers to compliment them and you have a top 5 record!
Not many people are aware that this is actually a cover song. It was originally done in 1964 by Gloria Jones. The song was written by Ed Cobb, who was in the Four Preps, and was actually the B-side of a song called My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home. The original had a “Motown” feel to it, while Soft Cell certainly has more of an 80’s feel to it.
This one was written and recorded by the legendary Otis Redding. Otis’ version is already great, but I love this one equally. It certainly has a great feel to it. It doesn’t sound dated at all. It’s funky and a great jam!
The original was done by Johnny Burnette, who was known for rockabilly, in 1960. It’s not that I dislike the original, I just think Ringo’s version is … more fun. For years I thought Paul McCartney was playing Kazoo in this, however, one article says, “Michael Verity has quoted the song’s producer Richard Perry as revealing that it wasn’t actually a kazoo: “In fact, the solo on ‘You’re Sixteen,’ which sounds like a kazoo or something, was Paul singing very spontaneously as we played that track back, so he’s singing the solo on that.” Ringo’s version remains one of the few No. 1 singles to feature a ‘kazoo-sound’ solo. (It sure sounds like a kazoo to me!) I also love the driving piano bassline in his version.
Originally done by the Beatles, this is almost a carbon copy of the Beatles version. I like it because I think Steven Tyler’s vocal perfectly fits the song.
Elvis did his share of covers, and this is one that comes from his Aloha From Hawaii concert special. I have always preferred this version to the James Taylor version. To me, it is more “bluesy.” I love everything about this cut!!
This one was originally done by the Ronettes in 1963 and featured Phil Spector’s “wall of sound.” Andy Kim recorded his version in 1969 and had a top 10 hit with it. It mimics the “wall of sound” but if you listen in headphones, there is a lot of little stuff going on in the background – jingle bells, glockenspiel, castanets, and more. I remember hearing it a lot as a kid.
This remake I stumbled on by watching MTV!! The original was done by Ivory Joe Hunter in 1956. I remember seeing the Title and Artist show up on the bottom left side of the screen when the video started and couldn’t believe that Dean Martin was on MTV. He recorded it for his The Nashville Sessions Album and I love that it stays true to the original, yet is purely Dean.
It better be good if you are covering the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, and this one is! Aretha did the original in 1968 and then covered herself for a version in the Blues Brothers. I don’t remember how I stumbled on Joan Osborne’s version, but it is different enough that I love it. It has such a cocky attitude to it. Dig it –
Originally done by Wilson Pickett, this is one of greatest soul songs of all time! I heard this on the Blues channel on Sirius XM and fell in love with it. I’ve always dug Buddy Guy and while this stays pretty true to the original, it has a sound of its own!
Carl Perkins seemed to have all of his songs covered and many times, his songs became associated with the other artist rather than him. That’s the case with Blue Suede Shoes – it is Elvis. Elvis’ version is so much better than Carl’s in my opinion.
Originally done in 1952 by the late Hank Williams Sr. this takes a whiney and twangy song and cranks it up about 10 notches. We had Crystal in for a show when I worked at the country station and she was fantastic. This was on her debut album. I’m not sure she isn’t a huge star. Her voice is amazing and she is very talented.
Written by and a hit for Don Henley, I have always loved this song. The content of the song is about mass media and how they exploit just about everything. Henley had a top 5 hit with it. I didn’t even know that Lisa Marie Presley had done this song until I heard it on some Pandora playlist. Her vocal is sultry and sells the content lyrically. A great cut!
A cover of James Brown’s classic! James has a hit with this in 1956 and it went top 10 on the R&B charts. I think Delbert McClinton is someone who just doesn’t get enough praise for all he does. He’s a singer songwriter who can play many instruments and has released many albums. This version comes from his Honky Tonk and Blues album, which is a personal favorite.
Jimmy Van Heusen composed this song in 1962 with lyrics by Sammy Cahn. According to Mel Torme’, the song was written for Judy Garland to sing on her TV show. It was written as a parody to her well-known problems. Many people have done versions on the song – Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Eddie Fisher, Julie London, and more. Michael Buble’ used this as the title track for his 2007 album. It get’s me right from the opening “walking” bass lick. Buble’ has made a career out of covering so many songs from the Great American Songbook, as well as many originals. He has a great band backing him and he sings this effortlessly.
I love Bill Withers. he wrote and recorded this for his 1972 Still Bill album. It was a smash and was a number 1 song. I never cared for the cover version. Yes, it stayed very close to the original, but I just never cared for the arrangement at all. It’s almost annoying to me. It is actually playing in my headphones as I am typing this. To me, the whole 80’s synth sounds just sound out of place. Not to mention the whole “We be jammin” part – URGH!! One good thing about this was that it won a Grammy for Bill Withers as the writer for Best R&B song.
So what can we say about cover songs? Are they done as a tribute to the original artist? Are they done because it’s a favorite to perform? Are they done to “improve” on the original? Are they done because an artist feels it should be presented in a different way? Who knows, really!? One could easily ask the same questions about all the crappy movie remakes that have come about.
Some of my favorite concert memories are hearing the singer do a song that is totally unexpected. My favorite memory of the Billy Joel concert I attended wasn’t Piano Man. It was when he talked about loving the Motor City and breaking into his own version of I Heard it Through The Grapevine! Magical!! Aaron Tippin played a county fair for us and one point he threw on a fedora and sang Fly Me To the Moon, which blew my mind! Very cool songs – never released – but covers, nonetheless.
In the end, a good song is a good song. I love listening to a great song done by many other singers. It says something about the song melodically and lyrically. I don’t always love the cover, but that’s ok. It’s fun to hear the artist’s take on it.
I want to thank Dave for allowing me to ramble on and on about this month’s topic. I’ve wanted to feature cover songs on my site, but just couldn’t figure out how to present it. I guess I better stop typing because the more I think about it … the more songs are coming to my head!
I mentioned to my friend Max that I had hoped to post a Christmas song every day from December 1st through Christmas Day. When it comes to holiday tunes, I could probably post a favorite Christmas song for every day of the year …
At any rate, rather than spend the time to do that, I was asked by a friend to pick my Top 10 favorite Christmas Albums. How can I do that? I have so many! I could easily pick my Top 10 Christmas albums for each genre – pop, country, classical, jazz, etc… So here is what I decided to do. I took a piece of paper and jotted down the 10 albums I felt were “must have” albums for me every year. I couldn’t narrow it down to just 10, so I made it 12.
In no particular order, here is the Holiday Dozen I came up with:
Ok, you gotta have Bing! He was often referred to as “The Voice of Christmas,” and for good reason! It was an album that often accompanied us while we opened gifts.
A great album of great songs – Brenda Lee, Bobby Helms, Stevie Wonder, Roy Orbison, The Drifters, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin are all represented in this amazing collection!
When Charles Schulz was asked to write a Christmas Special, he said he would on one condition – it had to include the story of Christ’s birth. When he chose the soundtrack for the special, he wanted something that he felt could relate to everyone – so he picked Jazz. Vince Guaraldi’s songs are synonymous with Christmas for me.
Growing up, I always disliked The Christmas Song. I guess I couldn’t relate to it as a kid. As I grew up, it became more and more meaningful to me. This album is full of many other fantastic cuts that never get played on the radio.
This one represents the “novelty” side of Christmas! Yes, it includes the Chipmunks, but it also includes some classic novelty songs from Allan Sherman, Bob & Doug McKenzie, Cheech & Chong, and Weird Al Yankovic. It is also one of the few places you can find Stan Freberg’s Christmas Dragnet. Oh, yeah, and that dumb Hippopotamus song is on here, too (but I skip that one).
This is one that a friend told me about. The story goes that a couple of members of the Glenn Miller Orchestra were sitting around talking one day. They asked each other what they thought Glenn would be doing if he were still around. One of them said “Probably working on a Christmas album.” The idea was born. They contacted former members of the Glenn Miller Orchestra and they recorded this one. It is truly a great album and tribute to Miller.
Bing Crosby may have been called the “Voice of Christmas,” but Frank Sinatra was THE VOICE. This collection includes one of my favorites: Whatever Happened to Christmas. You also get his amazing version of Have Yourself a Marry Little Christmas and other classics.
Some great songs from Al Martino, Jo Stafford, Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, and other pop singers of the 40’s and 50’s.
I have talked about this one before. It is just an amazing album with something for everyone. I love listening to Doc and the Tonight Show Band jamming on songs like Winter Wonderland, Let It Snow, and my favorite version of Jingle Bells! You’ll also love the Children’s Choir and Bell Choir on other numbers.
Mel, of course, wrote The Christmas Song, and I just love to hear his version of it. Nat King Cole’s version doesn’t include Mel’s extra lyric: “Love and joy come to you, and a Merry Christmas, too. And God bless you and send you a Happy New Year.” Known as “The Velvet Fog,” Mel’s voice is perfect on Christmas Time Is Here, The Christmas Medley, Sleigh Ride, and a Christmas version of The Glow Worm.
I have so many favorite Elvis Christmas songs that aren’t on this album, but I love how they have added the orchestra to his classics on this album. Santa Claus is Back in Town sounds so much fuller with them. I only wish that they had done If Every Day Was Like Christmas for this album.
Before both of his Christmas albums were made available, they took tracks from both his “Winter Romance” album and “The Dean Martin Christmas Album” and combined them for this collection. I have both of those albums now, but for one collection – I pick this one. Marshmallow World is one of my favorite cuts!
As I looked back over the last year’s worth of blogs, I was reminded that I had yet to finish a series I started on my favorite films. The premise of the series is to pick a favorite movie (that you have seen) for every year of your life. This series started with 1970 (the year of my birth) and was broken up by decade. I concluded in November with the years 2000-2009. It’s time to finish up this series….
2010
In 2010, my oldest son would have been 8, and my youngest son was 3. Many of the movies I watched were kid movies. Some of them were good enough to rank as my favorite films.
Among the kid films I watched in 2010 were Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, How to Train Your Dragon, and Toy Story 3. I guess Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 could almost be classified as a kid’s movie, but I know how much adults loved the series, too. As someone who loves time travel movies, I was left a bit disappointed with Hot Tub Time Machine. Date Night with Steve Carell and Tina Fey probably should have been a whole lot funnier, but it wasn’t. Iron Man 2 was a decent sequel. Grown Ups had potential, but was kind of a flop. The King’s Speech was a very good film. I enjoyed it a lot, but the film that stands out as my favorite is Shrek Forever After.
My kids loved the Shrek movies. I did too. Shrek the Third was really the worst of the series. I really hoped that this final film in the series would be good – and it was! The idea of an altered universe was such a great story line. It was fun to see Fiona as this great warrior and Puss In Boots as a chubby cat. It was a fitting wrap up to a fun series. I am hoping that my daughter will want to watch them with me!
2011
2011 brought me to many more kid movies, including Rango, Rio, Kung Fu Panda II, Cars 2, and the terrible revival of The Muppets. The Harry Potter series wrapped with Part 2 of the Deathly Hallows. Crazy, Stupid Love was more serious than I thought, but wasn’t a bad film. I enjoyed Limitless with Bradley Cooper a lot. Sequels included Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Hangover II, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (which was ok), and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (which I really enjoyed. I thought Robert Downey Jr. was good in these, despite the hate many reviews had for him). Cowboys and Aliens was a waste of time. Horrible Bosses was just ok. Bridesmaids was played up as this huge comedy, and while there were some funny parts, I really think this was more of a drama. I didn’t think it was as good as all the hype. My favorite film of 2011 was Puss In Boots.
It was neat to see the origins of this character. I am glad he got his own movie. Antonio Banderas is just perfect as the voice of this character! Just like in the Shrek movies, we also see some of the fairy tale characters. Who knew Humpty Dumpty was such a bad guy!? Loved this film!
2012
2012 brought us The Avengers, The Hunger Games, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The kids and I watched Brave (which was a very good film) and Hotel Transylvania. As a fan of the Three Stooges, I was apprehensive about seeing the 2012 movie. It was not great, but kudos to Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, and Chris Diamantopoulos, who all did great as Larry, Curly, and Moe. Seven Psychopaths was actually a very good movie – Christopher Walken is excellent in it! Anthony Hopkins is very good as Alfred Hitchcock in the biography Hitchcock, but it was another biographical film that gets my vote for favorite – Lincoln.
I know many folks found this film long and boring, but I found it fascinating! I remember the first picture of Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln – wow! It was amazing! They really made him look like him. I read often about Lincoln’s Assassination (and JFK’s, too). His story is so intriguing to me. The supporting cast was just as good.
2013
2013 had me at the movies with my kids for The Croods, Despicable Me 2, Monsters University, Turbo, and Frozen. Sequels included The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and A Good Day to Die Hard. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was less than incredible. We’re The Millers was quite a disappointment. Identity Thief was not as funny as everyone said it was. Simon Pegg was in two films I saw in 2013 – The World’s End and Star Trek: Into Darkness. I enjoyed Gangster Squad, but my favorite film was the biography of Jackie Robinson – 42.
Robinson is played by Chadwick Boseman, who would go on to play James Brown in 2014. As we look back, we know how amazing a player Robinson was, but this film really shows just how difficult it was for him. I really liked this film. Harrison Ford is also good in this movie.
2014
More kid films in 2014 – I watched Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Maleficent, Penguins of Madagascar, and The Lego Movie. I really liked the Lego movie. I found myself laughing out loud a lot. A Million Ways to Die in the West was just ok – Liam Neeson was a good bad guy in it. The Doc Brown cameo is a highlight. The Hobbit trilogy wrapped up with The Battle of the Five Armies. Guardians of the Galaxy was actually better than I thought it would be. Chadwick Boseman nails James Brown in Get On Up! He was perfect! A movie which surprised me was Kingsmen: The Secret Service. I don’t know what I expected it to be, but it was very good. However, for my favorite film, I will pick an oddball comedy – What We Do In The Shadows.
In the documentary style of TV’s The Office, the movie follows some vampire roommates around as the live their lives as vampires in modern times. I really laughed out loud at the wackiness of this movie. It was so good, they have a TV series based on the film.
2015
Kids movies I watched included Minions (a sort of Despicable Me sequel), Goosebumps, and the Peanuts Movie. A kid movie which was so good it almost made my favorite – the Shaun the Sheep Movie. My kids would watch these cartoons on TV and I found myself laughing as hard as they did at them. I bought them all the DVD’s and we’d watch them together. This full length movie was very well done and is one to take the kids to! Great movie!! Mr. Holmes was a very good film which focuses on the aging Sherlock Holmes (played by Ian McKellen). Jurassic World was yet another sequel to the dinosaur series Jurassic Park. Tom Cruise returns in another IMF movie – mission: Impossible Rogue Nation. My pick for favorite – Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The saga continues! It was so good to see Harrison Ford back as Han Solo with Carrie Fisher returning as Leia. There were old favorites and new characters to further the story and we learn all about Han and Leia’s son gone bad. It was better than I anticipated, and at times the action was hard to keep up with, but as a Star Wars fan, it was satisfying.
2016
Kid films from this year that I saw included The Angry Birds Movie (which was not very good), Sing (which was full of some great music), Trolls (which I fell asleep watching), Moana (which was good), and Finding Dory (which was better than I thought it would be). Deadpool was pretty funny – but inappropriate to watch with the kids. Star Trek Beyond was a worthy sequel. The favorite pick, though, takes us back to the galaxy far, far away – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
What makes this such a great film is the fact that it links up the prequel trilogy to the original trilogy. You see these unknown characters in a battle to get the Death Star plans to Princess Leia. It was really an amazing film. Some people had issues with the CGI characters, but I didn’t. I thought it was awesome!
2017
2017 was a year of sequels – Star Wars had The Last Jedi, Guardians of the Galaxy got a second installment, The Kingsmen had The Golden Circle, and Blade Runner took us to 2049. I sat through The Greatest Showman – a musical which was ok, but nothing I would have picked to see by myself. I’ll go back to kids movies for my pick for favorite – The Lego Batman Movie.
Admittedly my favorite character from the 2014 Lego Movie, I was glad to see Batman get his own film. Will Arnett is great as the voice of Batman. I liked this one a lot – and I hope it gets a sequel!
2018
As the decade gets closer to wrapping up, I noticed more movies that I wanted to see and didn’t. In 2018, I wanted to see Stan and Ollie and Solo: A Star Wars Story and never saw either. I guess I need to get to the video store. Movies I did see were Deapool 2, The Hate U Give (a very good film based on the book), and Won’t You Be My Neighbor (A fantastic documentary on Mr. Rogers). Bohemian Rhapsody was just amazing! The comparison between the real Live Aid footage and the film footage was so amazing to watch. It was a very good film, and almost my pick. I had to go with The Incredibles 2 as my choice.
I waited SO long for this sequel. I hoped that it wouldn’t suck and it didn’t. I was glad that it picked up where the first one ended. It focused a bit more on Mrs. Incredible, which was ok because that led to some very funny moments with Mr. Incredible at home with the kids. This could easily be a franchise – it should get more sequels in my opinion.
2019
How sad is it that I only saw one film last year!? Really! ONE movie!!! There were plenty of remakes (all of which I didn’t want to see – Dumbo, Pet Semetary, Aladdin, Lion King)! Sequels I didn’t see – The Lego Movie 2, Toy Story 4, and Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker. I never saw Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Addams Family, Midway, The Joker, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Knives Out, or 1917. One movie I am anxious to see is The Irishman. I read the book and just need three hours to watch it! So what movie did I actually see? Urgh – I am embarrassed to even share it. I wouldn’t call it a favorite. It was ok. It was better than I thought. My kids had to explain half of it to me. But, since it is the only film I saw last year – it has to be the pick, right?? At least until I watch some of the others from 2019…..
The film I saw in 2019 – Pokémon Detective Pikachu.
See the look on his face? That’s how I feel about only seeing THAT movie!! URGH!
I really need to watch others so I can alter this …
Final Thoughts
Despite the way the decade ended … I had fun looking back through all of the various movies I watched over my lifetime. It helped me realize many movies I have always wanted to see and jot them down. It also served as a reminder of all the bad films I have seen – LOL!
I hope you enjoyed this series of blogs. you may now make fun of me about that last one!
For our anniversary, my wife and I wanted to plan a little getaway to celebrate. Neither one of us had too much PTO in our “banks” at work, so we decided on a weekend trip. During the planning the destinations changed frequently. Originally, we had hoped to head back for another trip to Florida, but due to the lack of time available, we decided on something a bit closer to home.
There was talk of going to Nashville and maybe catching a show at the Grand Ole Opry. Then there was talk of Gatlinburg, where my mom so often talked about. I think we even chatted about Pennsylvania, too. Eventually, we decided that Chicago was where we wanted to go, but then realized that it was St. Patrick’s Day weekend, and we figured it might be just a tad crazy (although seeing the river turned green would have been cool.
Cleveland??
To be honest, I am not even sure how we decided on Cleveland, Ohio. I had mentioned that my dad had gone to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and said it was cool. I started to look at things in Cincinnati. There was a lot to do there, but why wasn’t the Hall of Fame coming up in any of my searches? I knew that Cincy was close to Louisville, KY and thought that we could maybe do something there, too. I had gone as far as to drop a radio buddy a note to say we were gonna be down there and asked for good restaurants to eat at … only to then realize the Hall of Fame was in Cleveland!
Now that we had cleared that up, we were set for Cleveland. Now, I will be the first to admit “Cleveland,Ohio” as the answer to “Where did you and your wife spend your first wedding anniversary?” is not at all romantic. Many people laughed when I told them. Here is the thing about my wife and I, the destination really didn’t matter – it was simply the fact that we were going to be together. To me, this is just one of the reasons I love her. We can be content with just having time with each other, no matter where we are, or what we are doing.
We have made it a tradition to go to restaurants that local wherever we go. If we can go there at home, we’ll go there at home! By doing this, we have really been treated to some amazing food. We always try to find a good steak house or something very unique to the city we are in and we have yet to be disappointed.
The Hall of Fame
Personally, I think Sam loves watching me get excited about stuff like this. We both love museums, but I must have been like a little kid on his birthday during this trip! I had, of course, seen pictures of the Hall of Fame, but it was something else to be standing in front of it. The big red block letters that sit upon the sidewalk read “LONG LIVE ROCK”. As I walked up the steps, there are phoney concert speakers erected by the hand rails. The excitement builds as you walk in.
As you enter, you walk into a huge foyer/lobby. The gift shop is to your right, to the left a cafe/coffee shop, and in front of you there is an escalator to take you down to purchase tickets. After buying our tickets, you get ready to enter and above the doors the perfect AC/DC quote to welcome you: “For those about to rock …”
Walking into the main exhibition hall, the first thing I noticed were pictures of John Lennon and Ray Charles on the wall. The first thing I am drawn to is a glass case containing Bill Haley’s guitar. Bill is often credited as being the singer of the first “rock and roll” song – Rock Around the Clock. There is a picture of him playing it in the case as well. I am not sure why I was so taken in by it, but I was.
The next thing we saw was a line of bass guitars that belong to Geddy Lee of Rush. I didn’t count , but there had to be like a dozen of them. The information said that this was only part of his massive collection.
The Roots
One thing I was thrilled to see here was the fact that the “roots” of Rock and Roll were well represented. Rock really evolved from a combination of Gospel, R&B, Bluegrass, Country, Folk, and Blues music. Each of those genres was represented here. Among my favorite things I saw: a suite belonging to Hank Williams Sr.; Louis Jordan’s music folder with his music and cue sheets; stuff from Muddy Waters, BB King, and Mahalia Jackson; Ray Charles sunglasses; Carl Perkins Guitar; salutes to Johnny Otis, Big Joe Turner, and Sam Cooke and so much more. The roots of rock were so well represented. Without these people and the genres of music, there would be no rock and roll.
Elvis
There is a pretty cool section devoted to Elvis, who was one of the first 10 artists inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Hall has a standing agreement with Graceland in Memphis (which is a museum in itself) and they send memorabilia to them often, so the exhibit changes often. There was a very cool motorcycle that was custom-built for Elvis. His gold sequins suit is there, and a jukebox which was given to him as a gift from RCA Records – it contains only Elvis records. Also on display was a double Gibson guitar which he played in his film Spinout.
The Summer of Love
With the 50th anniversary of the “Summer of Love”, there were some very cool things here. I saw groovy outfits from the Mama’s and the Papa’s, clothing from Jimi Hendrix, and the HUGE mixing board that was used to record some of Jimi’s music.
On thing I really liked to see was the various things that song lyrics were written on. There were quite a few original pieces of paper where the beginnings of songs were scribbled. There were also plenty of hotel pads of paper with lyrics on them. Loved seeing where changes were made to lyrics.
Cities and Sounds
I loved that there was a section of the hall that saluted cities and sounds. There was a section devoted to Memphis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and Liverpool, Seattle, and of course, Detroit.
In the Memphis section, there were plenty of neat things from Sun Records. Johnny Cash, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison all recorded there. To stand in front of Roy Orbison’s glasses and guitar was pretty awesome. My earliest musical memories are of my dad playing Roy’s music for me.
A nice tribute to Motown is here with stuff from Barry Gordy, The Supremes (you can see some of their dresses), Smokey Robinson, and the Temptations are all here. They were playing the episode of To Tell The Truth with Barry Gordy as we walked through this section.
The Beatles and the Rolling Stones each have a nice section at the Hall. I thought Mick Jagger of the Stones was taller, but standing by some of his outfits, he’s shorter than I thought. There is the Asher family piano that Paul McCartney donated, some of John Lennon’s outfits, and the handwritten lyrics to “In My Life”. A very cool documentary was playing in their section as well.
I jumped ahead a bit because the next section was London and Liverpool. There were some very neat things from the Yardbirds, Peter and Gordon, Herman’s Hermits and the Zombies too. All in all a nice salute to the British Invasion.
San Fran featured stuff from The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin, while LA featured stuff from The Eagles, Jackson Brown, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. One cool thing here was a duffle bag full of hotel keys. I don’t recall, but I think it said it belonged to one of the Eagles. They basically kept the hotel key (and keychain) from every place they stayed while on tour. The bag was stuffed full of some very cool looking keychains!
This section also had tributes to grunge music, punk music and a section called “Rave On” which focused on the “pioneers” of rock. Those pioneers included Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly. Soul Music was also spotlighted here with some awesome suits from James Brown, stuff from Aretha Franklin, pieces of the wreckage from Otis Redding’s plane crash, and Sam and Dave. Featured in the soul section were two amazing things – guitars from Donald “Duck” Dunn and Steve “The Colonel” Cropper. They played on almost every Atlantic and Stax record. They were members of Booker T and the MG’s, and also played with the Blues Brothers. Very cool to see!!!
Don’t worry metal heads, there was a section for Heavy Metal too. Oh, and a section for Rap, as well.
Protests
When Rock and Roll started to make waves, it wasn’t too popular with folks. We tend to forget the hatred toward the genre, but they had plenty of newscasts about burning records, and protests that happened. It was weird to watch the hatred toward the Beatles and read hate mail to the Rolling Stones. Other artists that were discussed in this section were Frank Zappa and ELO.
On the Radio
As a radio guy, it was cool to be able to walk up to an interactive touch screen and select a region of the US and then listen to old airchecks of DJ’s from different eras. Naturally, I had to listen to some of the Detroit personalities: Dick Purtain, Robin Seymour, and The Electrifying Mojo! There were plenty of familiar names from all over the states and it was nice to get to listen to their stuff too.
The Power of Rock
On the third level, there was a wall with each “class” inducted into the Hall of Fame by year. You could also go to a touch screen and search by class, by year, or by artist, and listen to their music. SO many great songs!!!
The Power of Rock is a short film by Jonathan Demme which features many performances from past Hall of Fame inductions. So many stars and so many great songs were in this film. The theater had a light show and great sound for the film and it was almost like you were watching a concert live. The film ends with Prince’s guitar solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps – WOW! Forgot how amazing that was! They also had some of the great quotes on the walls of the hallway that you left the theater by. Prince’s outfit from that show and other outfits were there as well.
Rock on TV
It was also very cool to see some of the TV show memorabilia on this level. You could go and record something about your favorite singer or album in special booths. It was pretty cool to stand in front of Dick Clark’s American Bandstand podium! His microphone was in a glass case with other things like the set design for the Beatles appearance on Ed Sullivan. They had TV cameras there, Don Cornelius’ suit from Soul Train, outfits from the Jackson Five and Sonny & Cher and the coat worn by Davy Jones of the Monkees that he wore on The Brady Bunch. There was also some cool musically related stuff from Saturday Night Live, and from various music videos we all watched on MTV. It was neat to see Paul Shaffer’s keyboard that he played for so many years on the Late Show with David Letterman.
On the Radio – LIVE
One thing I didn’t realize was that Sirius XM broadcasts their “Classic Vinyl” station out of the Hall of Fame. Rachel Steele was on air when we went through. There is a glass window that allows you to look into the studio and watch them broadcast. I actually felt bad for her. One thing radio people like is the fact that they can go in to work without really worrying about what to wear, because….who is going to see you!? Whoever is on the air here, really has to “doll up” every day.
Over all, I loved every second of my visit here! Any music lover would enjoy themselves!! If you have never been …. you have to!
Christmas in March
The final stop on the trip was The Christmas Story House. It is the house featured in the holiday classic. They renamed the street “Cleveland Street” in honor of the movie. The Leg Lamp proudly sits in the front window and the Bumpass House is next door.
This is such an inexpensive treat! The house looks a little different on the inside, but they have restored much of it to be exactly like it looks in the film, which took a bit because there were a few owners since the movie.
We were allowed to take as many pictures as we liked. There was a guide who took us through the house and told some stories. You can see the bathroom where Ralphie solves Little Orphan Annie’s secret message, you can see the many plugs the tree was plugged into, pick up the phone that Mrs. Parker calls Flick’s mom on, see the boy’s room, and see the damper in the kitchen that billows black smoke because of the “clinker” furnace.
From the backyard you can see the steel mill (still in operation), which helped Jean Sheppard (the author) pick that particular house for the film. Across the street is a museum with the actual Red Rider BB gun used in the film, outfits from the cast, Darren McGavin’s plaster life mask (used for make up and such), plenty of behind the scenes pictures, and the Old Man’s car. The gift shop is full of great items and yes, you can purchase a pink bunny suit or a leg lamp (in various sizes).
Sam told me she’d buy me a bunny suit, but only if I wore it every Christmas! Incidentally, if you have the $$, you can spend the night in the house or next door at the Bumpass house.
The trip was short, but full of good memories. I love that we were able to do it and I love that we got to spend time with each other. It was the perfect anniversary trip.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 