Song titles A through Z with video

G Genesis

Jorma's acoustic masterpiece


and WSP's great cover

 

H Hoochie

 

I If I were a carpenter-one of the better covers of Tim Hardin's awesome tune.



the Original

 

It's a lovely song-- only, I've always felt, a bit too long, because of its musical repetitiveness. But half, to two-thirds of it, can be a nice mood-lifter. If I'm in a very laid back, patient mood, to listen to something like that-- though, this one has a very different feel-- I would prefer the other classic, "Coming Back To Me," with its dreamy, narcotic sensuality.

Just for a change, let me offer this Balin variation, I just found. While I miss, in this new scoring, the song's signature flute part, this one is still interesting, in its own right, and proceeds a little less lackadaisically, than the original.




Note to all: we're up to "J."

 

MB's greatest song IMHO

 

The last time I saw Balin sing live (with Jefferson Airplane), was back in the 1990s-- the next time I saw them, Marty was unfortunately sick, so not there (a big loss, let me tell you)-- and at that earlier show, each member had one particular song, in which he, or she-- Slick's replacement (good, except no one can match Grace, on "White Rabbit")-- really shone, so as to stand out, from the rest of the band. The song which Balin really crushed, was his big solo hit, "Hearts."

I'm guessing that song is not as much your style, as the songs with more of a 60s or 70s sound. The contrast was kind of funny, to see-- and I think I might have noticed this, even when I'd seen them, back when Grace Slick was still performing with them (probably in the 80s)-- the way that the passing of time had changed them all, in different ways, and made Balin look to be so much more of a "yuppy," than the rest. But I digress.

I couldn't find a live video, in which Marty so powerfully owns this song, the way he did when I saw him, but this video will suffice. It seems appropriate, because of its prison-theme tie, to the Alisha Keyes song, recently posted by Talon.




P.S.-- Balin actually has one video, in which he sings this in Spanish! (and wears a faux tiger fur vest, of course).

 

Here is a pretty good, live version.

Hearts




This one can definitely grow on you, as well, if you give it a chance:




I was going to include another nice Balin song, from when they were the KBC Band,
"Hold Me (Just a Little Tighter, Tonight)," but it seems no one has downloaded that, onto You Tube. Too bad. Good song.

So here are a couple of more versions of "Hearts:"

A bit of crowd noise, in this one--



A good performance but, unfortunately, a few places in the recording, itself, there are some sound issues:

 

JA and JS got lots of airplay in one of the first album oriented rock stations in Cincinnati-WEBN 102.7. Marty Balin was born in Cincinnati, and the guy that they tried to replace him with-Dave Freiberg of QSMS graduated from the same HS I did-albeit the year I was born. The owners of WEBN knew DF from what I recall though the one member of the family that started the station-(a first cousin of DJ Robin Wood and her brother and the nephew of Bo Wood who started the station) is no longer around for me to ask about that-but Balin's stuff got far more promotion than some similar acts due to his and Dave's Cincinnati connections.

 

I found it unexpected, as well, and as any artist (including myself) can tell you, one of the things that separates fine art from its lesser forms of expression and craft is that it can be experienced and interpreted in different ways by different people. I'm not sure that's what Alicia set out to do with this song (amazing to think this was her debut single), as many artists don't set out to do with many of their pieces, but it serendipitously ended up that way, as art often does. Often, those unexpected outcomes are part of the creative process, and part of being a fine artist often involves "going with the flow", so to speak, and letting your art take you in its own direction. I suppose this is where the Ancients came up with the idea of the Muses, and Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of the same thing in his masterpiece "Self-Reliance":

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the Eternal was stirring at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not pinched in a corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but redeemers and benefactors, pious aspirants to be noble clay under the Almighty effort let us advance on Chaos and the Dark...

 

I - Imaginary Day by the Pat Metheny Group





My wife and I caught this live when they were touring the Imaginary Day album and it was a fantastic concert. I think they're the only band I've seen three times (my wife is a huge PMG fan) and we also saw Pat once c. 2008 at the University of Richmond when he was playing and touring with Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez (another great concert):



PS. A friend of mine turned me on to Pat back in the early '80s and that was pretty much my introduction to jazz. I didn't start really getting into jazz until a decade later when I met my lovely wife who is a big fan, and today I'm primarily into the artists and music that came out of what I consider the Golden Era of Jazz, which was during the late 1950s and early 60s.

 

While I'm on the subject of jazz I'll post this song by one of my favorite French exports - sorry I don't have a live video for you:

J - Jordu by Sylvain Luc & friends

 

K Knockin on heaven's doors

 

L Life's a long song

 

M Moonshadow

 

It's about time we got an "N" in here:

#9 Dream

 

Before we move on to "O," I just want to throw in this song, I've always liked, for it's late 1960s/70s feel, even though it was released in 2003. It was listening to this song, which actually had put me in mind, of the song to fill our needed "N" slot. And its got a more motivating rhythm than the Lennon classic, to leave everyone with, as they face the next letter, "O."

 

O - Ocean Size by Jane's Addiction



Skip past Perry's annoying babble at the beginning and start at :41 -

 

P - Planet Caravan by Black Sabbath

Sorry, no live video, but I wanted to play this because it's a song that is somewhat out of character and unexpected from this band. I like Tony Iommi's jazzy guitar work near the end....

 

Q -- Quit playing, games with my heart -- Backstreet Boys

 

R - Raindrops keep falling on my head -- BJ Thomas

 

S Silver blue and Gold

 

T Tomorrow (live)

 

Bobby Caldwell died today. RIP. He won't be forgotten but his music lives on...

I cheated and skipped a couple of letters to honor him. (I hope the O/P forgives me)

One of his very best, "What you wouldn't do for love"

 

U Up in Heaven

 

V Version Pardner