night

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Daily FB Recaps

If you want to check for past songs, or you are curious about how screwed up I actually am doing this for myself EVERY day, click the link below: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RuJ8uKWaFivVPzFkGUkkPc1aPqC4k3JApQQfymAwID4/edit?usp=sharing

Monday, July 6, 2020

#1251 – QUE SERA, SERA (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) – Sly & the Family Stone – 7/6/2020



Originally recorded and released by Doris Day for the 1956 Alfred
Hitchcock thriller “The Man Who Knew Too Much”, this version is sung by Rose
& Sly Stone and appears on Sly’s 1973 LP “Fresh”. For those of you too
young to recollect Sly & the Family Stone, this is the last of Sly’s Columbia releases and
includes the ultra-funk fest single IF YOU WANT ME TO STAY.

I thought this a tune suitable for my return not only to FB
but to encapsulate my 3.400 mile road trip during this time of CoVID to help my
Mom & Sister move my Mom from her apartment she has lived in for the past
13 or so years into an assisted living facility in town. Movers (such as they
were) did much of the packing and heavy physical lifting but there was plenty
of emotional cargo to be toted around also.

The song fits my mood. I would love to have more control
over the situation, but at the end of the day Mom is getting older (as are we
all) and I must face that hard truth. There is a line in the song that rings
quite true to me this morning: “Whatever will be, will be / The future’s not
our’s to see / Que sera, sera
”. But as is reflected in our polar modalities Yin
& Yang, for every darkness there is light. As heavy as my heart was saying
goodbye to my Mom at her door last Thursday night, I was buoyed by my younger
family members whose thoughtfulness & kindness reflect the virtues held so
dear by my Mom. I saw her loving spirit in their actions this weekend.

My nephew John touched me with his great care for his Mom
helping her out when I had to leave with some leftover pieces of the move
unfinished. His son Nick, who just graduated Boston University
last month, had his first article published as the cover story in the Boston
Globe. My niece Makenzie drove well out of her way to meet me for a wonderful lunch
and a laughter-filled conversation which felt as if no time had passed since
our last chat years ago.  

Ultimately, I was able to spend 9 days with my Mom and
sister. The move went OK and Mom is safely in a 14-day quarantine at the new
facility. Most of her staff there seem nice, but I have met very few. We are not
allowed in due to the virus and visits will be by appointment only. It will be
quite a change for all of us in the family, but especially my Mom & Sister.
Please keep them both in your thoughts these coming days.

If any family members would like Mom’s new address please let me know
and I will provide it. I do not know if her phone number will stay the same but
will provide that when I find out as well. If any of you are so inclined, if
you dropped her a quick note or card to say Hello and send your love, I am sure
it would help her days in isolation pass more quickly.

Thanks everyone. I missed most of you and hope you are well.

1973 

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

#433 – RIVIERA PARADISE - Stevie Ray Vaughan - 6/24/2020



One of my favorite concert recollections was of SRV sitting
on the edge of the stage, feet dangling on a hot, humid summer New England
evening June 24th, 1989 playing this song as if just for me. I had
thought this tune was the stand out from Stevie’s just released LP “In Step”
and went nuts when he and the band started playing into. However he quickly
transformed the outdoor venue into a small jazz club for a magical 10 minutes
of the song’s duration. To this day, I have not been able to think of that
night whenever I hear it. 

1986

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

#921 – CHIMES – The J. Geils Band – 6/23/2020





The original version of this piece was released on the 1973
masterpiece: “Ladies Invited”. There isn’t a lame tune on the LP but CHIMES was
the standout; a moody and menacing tune that was a departure from the band’s standard
sound. This tune stands apart from the boogies and shuffles while
simultaneously slipping in individual solo licks that all owe heavily to their
blues & R & B influences.

This live version ratchets up the heartbreak to a fever
pitch.

1973/1976

Monday, June 22, 2020

#1129 – THE BOYS OF SUMMER – Don Henley – 6/22/2020





Certain songs always are married to specific moments or
periods of time. For me, this tune evoked the 80’s like nobody’s business – for
better or worse.

1984

Sunday, June 21, 2020

#1077 – MR. TAMBOURINE MAN – The Byrds – 6/21/2020





55 years ago, this song was released and is a tune that can
correctly be included in the patheon of rock & roll groundbreakers. Jim
McGuinn as he was known at the time of the first 2 years worth of Byrds
recordings, Gene Clark, & David Crosby were the three headed monster that
were the Byrds. They cleared the way for an untold amount of singer-songwriters
in the nightclub in Laurel
Canyon
, San Francisco
& Greenwich Village marrying electric instrumentation with folk music’s
sensitive lyricism. Ironically, this tune is not written by any of these
wordsmiths, but by a fella from Minnesota,
Bobby Zimmerman. Incidentally, it is the only Dylan-penned tuned to every reach
#1 on the any Billboard Chart until 2020’s MURDER MOST FOUL.

1965

My Top 2500 (So Far)