Too much music, too little time! :D

Hi everyone, well I’ve finally realized why I’m having so much trouble posting only one link at a time: I keep checking YouTube suggestions! Maybe one day, I will... :D I had good intentions today, but at least, I’m keeping it down to only 2 links. I had a successful trip to the second hand audio-visual store yesterday and picked up a $3 CD I might have skipped over another day. It was a coincidence that I’d come across the title “Angel eyes” a few days earlier and I remembered loving this song by Canadian blues guitarist Jeff Healey:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5ZsR382Cwk

Often times, it’s easier to experiment when it doesn’t cost a lot so I bought his 1988 debut album “See the light”, which I quite enjoyed. For those who don’t know, “See the light” was an ironic title since Jeff was blind at a very early age from retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer. He passed away sadly shortly before his 42^nd birthday and the release of his album “Mess of blues” in 2008. Now the reason I couldn’t post only one link is this little gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdLCJvoLYe0

I’m sorry I don’t know the name of this song, but with Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Healey playing, is that really important? :D According to Wikipedia,Stevie Ray was one of the first to discover Jeff and I assume he was instrumental in getting him signed to Arista. In any case, I’m certainly no blues expert, but I know enough to realize that was a privileged moment, hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi all, only one link today. I just happened to hear my ultimate favourite Ray Charles song last night and wanted to share. Let me digress for a minute though. I remember the very first time I heard “Georgia on my mind” by Ray Charles. When I heard he was our Michael’s greatest vocal influence, I had to look him up. I bought “The genius hits the road” LP at a bargain in my favourite used record store. I remember it was the dead of winter but fairly bright outside. I put the needle on the record and felt the warmth emanate from the speakers and there it was: that special phrasing Michael was talking about.  I don’t know why I remember it so vividly... I guess that was my defining moment on my Ray Charles discovery. Now, as much as I love the original version of “Georgia on my mind”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRgWBN8yt_E

...my absolute favorite song from Ray Charles is “That lucky old sun”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C0ca55mgFM

Okay, 2 links, sorry... J The reason why TLOS is my favourite is simply because I’ve listened to it with the head-phones on. After much comparison, I decided to buy  a wonderful Ray Charles box set in late 2003 called: “Genius of soul: 50th anniversary collection” and I recieved it, get this: on our Michael’s birthday in 2004! :D I thought that was a good sign... I caught a great deal on it too: $50 for 4 CD’s, which tripled in price after Ray’s passing only 3 1/2 months later. Anyway, I was listening to the 2nd CD one day and that song stopped me in my tracks and I felt like time stood still as I was listening to it. It commands your attention from the first chord and I don’t know how poor Ray felt as he was singing it, but he felt it in every syllable, as if he wrote it himself. I looked it up and it was composed in 1949 and was one of the most successful collaborations by Beasley Smith with lyrics by Haven Gillespie, who also wrote “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and "You Go to My Head" that our Michael sang. In any case, again, a perfect example of rendering the intent of the songwriter. That’s it for now. Thank you for reading and do hope you enjoy the song, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi everyone, this being the beginning of a brand new year, I thought I'd refresh this page. I've just added the embed code of my favorite song in the whole world and my favorite version of it to my initial post. It's the live version of "When I'm back on my feet again" excerpt from "This is Michael Bolton". Also, I've added the link to my youngest son's Soundcloud page. He explained to me that he recorded his acoustic guitar playing and a fuzzy electric guitar solo through his Ipod, edited it with the Garage Band app and uploaded it there. The instrumental piece named "Solstice" is his own composition: my son! :D I also have it on my profile page, hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading and happy new year to all, sincerely, Sylvie <3 

Hi everyone, today, the simple mention of Donny Hathaway’s name in an article, seemingly out of place,  prompted me to do a little research. I still don’t know why he was mentioned in the article, but enjoyed the research. I knew he had passed away decades ago, but didn’t know the circumstances or much of his too short life. I had doddled on YouTube before and picked up a few very nice songs, but none like today’s. Here is a gorgeous song that could very well be on the “Mandela” movie soundtrack, Donny Hathaway “Someday we’ll all be free”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv1B0ejhFVE

Now I knew his name was always linked with Roberta Flack and found out they went to University together. They recorded 2 albums together, both in 1972 and shortly before his death. From their ’72 duet album, Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flac “You’ve got a friend”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRDYYFyAYVg

A fabulous soulful version of that song, if I might add. Donny apparently wrote the original version of the well-known Christmas classic “This Christmas”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkqjjYP53vQ

It’s a beautiful soulful version and right this minute, my new favourite Al Greenish rendition! :D All right, brace yourselves my friends, here comes one of the most original and soulfullicious renditions of another classic, Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack “You’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0m812CC4kg

Lord have mercy, if they’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’, I don’t know that anyone ever had it! Lol I have to find that album! Okay, that’s it for now, hope you enjoy this at least half as much as I did and that’s a mighty sweet way to have a break in your day. Take care and thanks for reading, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi peops, I accidentally deleted this entry from last week, but since it was a good one, I thought it was worth reconstructing. Okay so, my exposure to current pop music being limited to about 2 hours a day in the morning, I managed to miss discovering this group. Recently, I heard this song in a commercial and liked it enough to research it. It has this restless energy that reminds me of the old 80’s punk, in this song anyway, so here it is, the Black Keys with “Lonely boy”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_426RiwST8

I’ve chosen to define bands with this kind of energy as: “the scruffies”. Lol Their music is structured and interesting, but still reckless and releasing at the same time. So here’s the band that helped me define the “scruffies” label, the Fratellis with “For the girl”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdRsi8x4hAk

Now these are definitely scruffy, the White Stripes “fell in love with a girl”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTH71AAxXmM

I can’t say I love everything they do but I love this one. Here’s another song I’ve discovered around the same time, the Hives “Hate to say I told you so”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErXwyqQ7w8E

Now the following are a bit more polished, but with a similar energy. I couldn’t decide which was my favorite, so I bring you 2. Here are Neon Trees with “Animal”: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM7Hlg75Mlo

…and “Everybody talks”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5G9tIe84lE

I think I heard both these songs in commercials. These advertizers know what they’re doing! Whether it sells said item, not sure, but it brings attention! Okay, I’ve already told you I enjoy Green Day, well, here’s an extension of my appreciation, Foxboro Hottubs “Ruby room”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVOQkBzST2g

I’ve mentioned before that it was only for the vibe and not necessarily the lyrics. Okay well, in closing, if all these choices tuckered you out, in the spirit of post party/post-Christmas, here’s what I call a “khhhhlassic” of the genre, the Ramones with “I wanna be sedated”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-EKcjpEIGo

lol My daughter told me she enjoyed that one. It’s fun when your kids bring you what they think they’ve discovered and it’s now again cool. All right, that’s it for now. I’m working on new discoveries I’ve encountered over the holidays and should be able to share them shortly. Until then, be good, take care of yourselves and next time, don’t paaty so haad… ;D Thanks for reading, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi all, I was listening to Christmas music yesterday and a nice variety at that: Clay Aikin, Beach Boys, Tony Bennett,Cajun instrumental,Phil Spector, Nat King Cole and our Michael, both albums too... :D I was just marvelling at how gorgeous the “This is the time” CD is, whatever time of year... :D Anyway, for once, I was sitting down listening to the Nat King Cole CD and discovered this beauty:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbedF8XswNQ

It’s “Away in a manger” sung by Nat King Cole and both male and female choir, completely acapella. Both set of voices have their own role and I found myself for a minute comparing the male choir to the Straight No Chaser sound and thought that was cool. :D There are a few acapella songs on the album simply called “The Christmas song”. Nat’s version is probably my favourite of “The Christmas song” aside from our Michael’s. So I thought: why not share a few more of my absolute faves? So here we go. Just remember: these are all excluding our Michael’s perfect versions. :D

Let’s start with Tony Bennett’s “Santa Claus is coming to town”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc3UBLaODQA

Tony Bennett is the only guy I know who can sing “rooty toot toot” and still sound cool! Lol Okay, another one of my favourites, Boys II Men “Silent night”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYufHY6j-SU

This one is acapella, of course. I once asked my daughter what she thought of a cute little group who were impersonating Boys II Men and she replied: “They don’t give you goosebumps on the arms” so I think that sums it up. :D Another favorite “Silent night” is Mahalia Jackson’s, which is truly a religious experience…  Now here’s one I love simply because it’s cute, Ray Charles with “Rudolph, the red-nozed reindeer”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-3INb4E26k

I think it’s in the delivery, because he sounds like he’s telling a story. :D All right, we all have our own taste and the previous choices are just faves of mine, but in my opinion, THIS, is the ultimate “Mary did you know” by Mr Michael Crawford:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABl3Ah9zBcI

...until our own Michael records it, this one is IT, no contest! Mr Crawford blends power, control and infinite delicacy in one package, which makes it just perfect. Okay next, there are oodles of versions of this next one and I frankly have many favourites of this one. It’s “The 12 days of Xmas”, sung here by John Denver & the Muppets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDBMzGq1vhs

Yes I know, the Muppets again, but it’s a classic and especially with the original voices of Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Funny enough I quite enjoy variations of all sorts of that one: I also have a special place for the Frank Sinatra and family version, though I also enjoy the Twisted Sister version called “Heavy metal Xmas” and even a version called “12 pains of Christmas” that I heard on the radio years ago. ;P Oh but I guess before I get warned by the CRTC for not including enough Canadian contents,here’s the Bob & Doug McKenzie version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DTwLqR071M

So don’t come and bug me eh, you hosers! Lol Okay, back to our program, here’s one that became a modern classic, Wham! With “Last Christmas”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI

Who would have thought a sweet heartbreak song could be a good Xmas song? I’ve heard this by a lot of people and somehow, I haven’t heard a version I didn’t like. One last cute one, “You’re a mean one, Mr Grinch”, original version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35WgpMq6e3o

I’ve heard this by Sixpence None The Richer and more recently by Ce-Lo Green and like them all. Okay, now here’s one that’s been my favourite for a long time, Stevie Wonder’s “Someday at Christmas”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ1-duv_zNk

It’s part of another fave album: the lyrics are wonderful and hopeful, just as holiday music should be, it was different enough to hold my attention as a child and of course, Stevie’s voice, God bless him. Several other renditions are just as sweet, but I’m partial to the Remy Zero one myself. All right, another ultimate song rendition,  U2’s “(Christmas) Baby  please come home”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiSPNaQNGOY

I love the original by Darlene Love, but U2’s version somehow moves me. To wrap it up nicely with a ribbon and bow, first a song that has strung us all up (see what I did there) with emotions since we first heard it as kids, the immortal “Happy Xmas” by John Lennon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN4Uu0OlmTg

I have yet to hear a version I enjoy as much. The finishing touch on this holiday present, a small indulgence that’s not a classic yet, simply because just hearing the first few notes floods me with special family memories, “Believe” by Josh Groban:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT-sC33vB5M

It’s off the “Polar Express” soundtrack, but Josh’s “Noel” album is wonderful and highly recommended too. These are only a few picks off my 70 holiday CDs (and counting), but hope you enjoy them. Thank you for reading and merry Christmas and happy holidays to all, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi everyone, just one link to day. I heard this  on the radio today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz0ze0lcaF8

It’s Harry Belafonte’s rendition of “Unchained melody”. This is one of the best examples of the expression: “Less is more”. This reminds me of what our Michael said about his “Vintage” album, that it’s brilliant in its simplicity. Honestly, this is one of the top 3 best versions I’ve ever heard in my life, enjoy! Thanks for reading, Sylvie <3

Hi everyone, I had planned to post my last comment over a week ago and I realized this morning, right after I’d posted it, that the Jacques Brel song  unknowingly fitted perfectly the spirit of the great man we’ve been remembering today: Nelson Mandela. Now I won’t go into a deep study of this very special man, but I will simply echo the words of the afternoon radio host of my CBC channel and say that Mr Mandela’s contribution to the world was immeasurable, may God bless and rest his soul. I’ll take the opportunity to share, from the “Mandela” movie soundtrack, U2’s “Ordinary love”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC3ahd6Di3M

Thank you for reading, hugs to all, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Hi everyone, today, I’m using the excuse that it’s the 5 month mark since I’ve discovered  Mr Jacques Brel, (yes him again) to share another library find.  Within 5 months, I feel I’ve managed to cram decades of discovery and a world of appreciation. I took advantage of my last chance of enjoying the “Comme quand on était beau” DVD box set before I had to return it to the library, took a break from housework and just sat to listen. He was singing “Fils de...”, in a recording session:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SykHMEQN2Q

It just occurred to me how lovingly he sings this beautiful song and I got teary-eyed, on a song I’ve heard dozens of times by now... The song is about all “sons” being equal, whether rich or poor etc. Incidentally, it’s a terrific box set,  I particularly enjoy the interviews and yes, I've ordered it. In one of the interviews, Mr Brel shares how he writes a song like “Jef”, and he describes the character as a profiler would, simply for his own benefit, as if to convince himself that guy is real and to deliver the song with conviction... I must say that truly moved me...  My youngest son asked me recently what was it about Jacques Brel...  I told him it was first, his sense of humor, then his candour with emotions while singing. Plus his songwriting is so vivid that to me, it’s still very much timeless and alive. I heard singer Georges Brassens say in an interview that Brel was more alive than ever after he’d passed away and I think it’s fitting. Now as I was searching for the above link, I found this guy. Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “Fils de...”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMWnLXfi9o4

Old BlueEyes recorded this in 1970 apparently and he makes it sound pretty good, but the theme and the lyrics are completely different. Though he won’t be reading this, I’m dedicating the Jacques Brel version to my eldest son today, God bless him. Thank you for reading, sincerely, Sylvie <3