One of Woodstock's Stars: Melanie Safka

I was introduced to Melanie when I was about 15 years old. I bought a cd of Gospel classics, and "Lay Down" was the first song on it. I immediately fell in love with it.

Melanie and the Edwin Hawkins Singers - Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)

While I listened to this cd a lot during my teens, I kind of forgot about Melanie in the years since. That was until yesterday. I was watching Dutch television (De Wereld Draait Door Recordings) and saw Racoon, one of Holland's best artists, covering one of Melanie's old time favorites "Brand New Key". This song was her first (and only) number one hit in the US, and it sold millions of copies worldwide. In 1971 when "Brand New Key" was released it was actually censored by some radio stations as they thought she made sexual references in the song's lyrics. Melanie herself, however, claimed it was just about "freedom and roller-skates".

Racoon - Brand New Key 

Melanie - Brand New Key 

While Melanie was just an up and coming star in 1969, she was able to play at the legendary Woodstock Festival of 1969, with such great names as Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, CCR and the Grateful Dead. The festival helped launch her career and in the years after she managed to sell some 80 million records worldwide, and is still performing today. "Beautiful People" and "Birthday of the Sun" were among the songs she sang at Woodstock. Unfortunately I couldn't find the Woodstock version of "Beautiful People", but below is her version of "Birthday of the Sun", sung at Woodstock. 

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Melanie - Birthday of the Sun

10 Reasons Why I Love Dolly Parton

1. "Coat of Many Colors" is one of a few songs which always makes me stop what I'm doing and listen to the lyrics. 
2. She is one of the best at singing harmonies, and she's done it with some of the greatest musicians (just listen to  "Trio" and "Trio II" with Linda Rondstad and Emmylou Harris and "Honky Tonk Angels" with Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn). 
3. She's not just a real artist in that she can entertain crowds, but she's also a great singer, songwriter, and plays numerous instruments.  You don't see that combination in just one person very often in the music business.  
4. She wrote the song that accompanied me throughout my teen years: "I Will Always Love You", which has been covered by many artists since (Whitney Houston,  Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, and Jennifer Hudson among others. Elvis Presley actually wanted to cover the song, but Parton didn't allow it as she had to sign over half of the publishing rights to him). 
5. She's very funny and doesn't take herself too seriously. "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap" is one of her favorite lines. 
6. She doesn't stick with any particular style of music, but dares to delve into others genres too. So far she has sung country, bluegrass, disco, pop, folk and gospel music.  
7. She has been recording since 1959 when she was only 13 years old, but teenagers today still know her name and her music. 
8. She is one of the remaining living legends, and I had a chance to see her in concert back in 2007. 
9. She sang "Coat of Many Colors", "The Sweetest Thing" and "Here You Come Again", three of my favorite songs by her. Listen to them through the links above that will lead you to Spotify, or below on YouTube. Hope you like them as much as I do. 
10. Because she always puts a smile on my face. 

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Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colors

Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Linda Rondstad - The Sweetest Thing

Dolly Parton - Here You Come Again 

One of the Most Covered Songs in History

A few years ago the British newspaper The Indepedent published a list of the ten most covered songs in history:

1. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
2.Yesterday - The Beatles
3. Cry me a River -  Julie Londen
4. And I Love Her - The Beatles
5. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
6. Imagine - John Lennon
7. Summertime - Abbie Mitchell
8. Blackbird - The Beatles
9. Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland
10. The Look of Love - Dusty Springfield

This blog post is about number 7 on this list: "Summertime". I have to admit I've never heard of Abbie Mitchell's version of "Summertime", nor had I ever heard of Abbie Mitchell before. But her rendition of the song is how Gershwin originally intented it to be, and it is indeed beautiful. In 1933 Gerswin wrote the opera Porgy and Bess and included the lullaby "Summertime". The character Clara sings this song at the start, and its melody can be heard several times throughout the opera. In 1935, when Porgy and Bess was first performed on stage, Abbie Mitchell played Clara's part. Mitchell recorded the first version of "Summertime", and 38,324 recordings of the song were made after Mitchell's version.

In 1936, Billie Holiday's cover of "Summertime" was the first that entered the American music charts. About two decades later, Ella Fitzgerald and Lois Armstrong also recorded an excellent rendition of the song. Their version became that popular, that most people actually think that Fitzgerald and Armstrong were the first who recorded this song.

Ella Fitzgerald and Lois Armstrong - "Summertime"

Since "Summertime" was recorded many times and by so many different people, it was done in an enormous variety of styles. Janis Joplin's version of the song is one of my favorites. She is one of few people who were able to add an extra dimension to an already beautiful song.

Janis Joplin - "Summertime"

I won't bother you here with all the 38,325 recorded covers of this song, but if you're interested check this website which lists them all. Miles Davis, Sam Cooke, Billy Stewart and Scarlett Johansson were among the many to record "Summertime"

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The Evolution of Rock Music (and My Favorite Rock Song)

A while ago, I've read an article on the evolution of Rock music. As you may already know rock music originated from 1950's Rock & Roll, which in its turn was created through Country music and Rhythm and Blues. As you may also know, lots of different other types of music have influenced Rock; Jazz, Blues, Classical, Folk, etc. etc. The article I've read included an overview of all the different types of Rock music.  As can be seen, many different musical genres have come to life through Rock music. I have put the different genres in a mindmap  to show out of which particular musical style they were created. (Click on the image to make it larger).

Of course, this is not a complete overview and probably many other sub-genres of Rock music are still missing on this list. Moreover, musical genres have often been influenced by several other styles and not just by one, as the above figure suggests. Nevertheless, I think it shows very well  the enormous diversity of Rock music.

Personally, I am more into mainstraim Rock styles. I like Classical Rock, Baroque Pop, Metal, Indie Rock, Grunge, Britpop, but most of all just plain old fashioned Rock music. My all time favorite (Heavy Metal) Rock song is "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath. It is actually Black Sabbath's only top ten hit, and was written in just a few minutes as they needed another song to fill the album.

Black Sabbath - "Paranoid"

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Johnny Cash's Inspiration

I won't have to tell anyone how great a musician Johnny Cash was. He was the King of Rock and Roll, of Country, Folk and of Rock. What many people don't know, is that his wife June Carter Cash was also a very talented musician. She grew up in the famous Carter Family, pioneers of American Country music. Her mother Maybelle Carter recorded one of the first very popular country recordings with her brother in law A.P. Carter and his wife Sara. 

A.P. Carter travelled the US to find old folk songs, and recorded them with Sarah and Maybelle. They eventually recorded some 300 songs together between 1927 and 1941. He usually "forgot" to tell that these were not his own songs and was lucky to not be sued by anyone for plagiarism. Together they recorded several country traditionals: "Can the Circle be Unbroken", "Wildwood Flower", "Keep on the Sunny Side", and my favorite "Foggy Mountain Top". Maybelle Carter became known for her own guitar playing style. As she grew up not being able to play music with anyone, she decided to play both the rhythm and the melody on her guitar; it became widely known as "the Carter scratch".

 Maybelle Carter on Guitar, sitting next to Sarah and A.P. Carter

Mother Maybelle Carter gave birth to three daughters and thought them much of her musical knowledge. Soon June, Anita, and Helen were playing at the Grand Ole Opry, when a young Johnny Cash listened to them on the radio. June, while not the best singer of the three, was a great entertainer and a very good musician. She played several instruments and wrote some great hit records. "Ring of Fire" was actually written by June and made famous by Johnny Cash. Originally, however, "Ring of Fire" was written for her sister Anita. June also recorded several songs with her husband. "Jackson" was probably their most famous hit together.

Another one of my favorite recordings is the one below with Johnny Cash, the Carter sisters and Maybelle Carter. Here they are singing the Gospel song "Were You There". It was recorded during Johnny Cash's drug use period in 1960. From left to right you will see Helen, Anita, June and Maybelle Carter. Notice Anita Carter's beautiful voice. She actually did a real good duet with Hank Williams when she was still very young.

The Johnny Cash Show aired from 1969 to 1971. In it Johnny Cash sang with some of the greatest stars of the time (Linda Rondstadt, Joni Mitchell, Roy Orbinson) and of course with his own wife June. The following song was also recorded at the Johnny Cash Show. It really shows June's enormous musical talent and it's my favorite song by June Carter: "Tall Lover Man". 

June Carter - "Tall Lover Man"

 

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A Few Very Suprising Duets

I like to hear duets by singers who are known in completely different genres. This blog post is about those duets. I discovered them by spending endless hours on You Tube. The first one was recorded at Tom Jones' own tv show "This Is Tom Jones". The show ran from 1969 to 1971 and included many big names in music history (Dusty Springfield, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tony Benett and Ray Charles, to name but a few). In the third and final season of the show Ella Fitzgerald sang a great (and quite surprising) duet with Tom Jones. Here is "Sunny".

Tom Jones & Ella Fitzgerald - "Sunny"

The following song was recorded at the Transatlantic Sessions. This is a BBC music special in which Irish, British and American (usually folk) singers get together and make great music. The first session was recorded in the early 1990's and there have been 5 sessions since. It is really worth watching, especially if you like folk music. In this song you will see Iris DeMent, Michelle Wright, and the Irish singer Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh sing the traditional country song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken".

Iris DeMent, Michelle Wright & Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh - "Will the Circle Be Unbroken"

I have already expressed my love for Alison Krauss in this blog. To show her diversity and to show that she is not just a real good country and bluegrass singer, I will show this duet with Led Zeppelin's lead singer Robert Plant. They actually recorded an entire CD together in 2007 called "Raising Sands". This song is the first one on this CD, and I personally think it is also the best one. Here they are at Jools Holland singing "Rich Woman". 

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - "Rich Woman"

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Guess who??

This musical sensation was not only influenced by Blues legends such as Muddy Water, John Lee Hooker and Robert Johnson but also got a lot of inspiration from the 1960's folk music scene in which she gew up. 

She is the daughter of a famous musical star (Oklahoma!) and an accomplished pianist and singer. She grew up in Los Angeles, and studied Social Relations and African Studies at Harvard and Radcliff. 

She has sung with numerous famous singers: Pete Seegers, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss, Norah Jones, Brian Adams and many many others. 

Her musical talent won her 9 grammy awards and commercial success from the 1970's onwards. She is now inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

While she never had a number 1 position in the American music charts, she did sing a few very popular songs: "Thing Called Love", "I Can't Make You Love Me", "You", and my favorite version of John Prine's song "Angel From Montgomery". 

Here she is, in 1974, singing the song that touches my heart everytime I hear it. 

"Angel From Montgommery"