All posts by Hallgeir

June 22 in music history

Kris Kristofferson is 78, Happy Birthday! (read more)

American country music singer, songwriter and musician as well as a film actor. He is known for such hits as “Me and Bobby McGee”, “For the Good Times”, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”, and “Help Me Make It Through the Night”. Kristofferson is the sole writer of most of his songs, and he has collaborated with various other figures of the Nashville scene such as Shel Silverstein. In 1985, Kristofferson joined fellow country artists Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash in forming the country music supergroup “The Highwaymen”. In 2004 Kristofferson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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A Ghost Is Born is the fifth studio album by Chicago-based alternative rock band Wilco. Released on June 22, 2004, it features singer Jeff Tweedy on lead guitar more than any previous Wilco album. The band streamed the album online for free, and offered a five song EP to purchasers. wilco - album-a-ghost-is-born
Blue (1971) is the fourth album of Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Exploring the various facets of relationships from infatuation on “A Case of You” to insecurity on “This Flight Tonight”, the songs feature simple accompaniments on piano, guitar, and Appalachian dulcimer. Blue was a critical and commercial success, reaching #15 on the Billboard 200 and #3 in the UK Albums Chart. The single “Carey” reached #93 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In January 2000, the New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented “turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music”. It was released June 22 in 1971 Joni_Mitchell-Blue
Cynthia Ann Stephanie “Cyndi” Lauper (born June 22, 1953)  American singer-songwriter, actress whose career has spanned over four decades. Her debut solo album She’s So Unusual (1983) was an instant commercial success. The album was the first debut female album to chart four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100—”Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “Time After Time,” “She Bop,” and “All Through the Night,” earning Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Grammy Awards in 1985. Cyndi_Lauper
Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop star, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, his career has produced a diverse range of recordings, both as a solo artist and as a member of the band Utopia. He has also been prolific as a producer and engineer on the recorded work of other musicians. 220px-Todd_Rundgren_at_Revolution_Live_(cropped)

Spotify Playlist – June 22:

June 21 in music history

Today: Ray Davies is 70 – Happy Birthday! (read more)

Ray Davies’s (born 21 June 1944)influence on british music is large and important. It really became visible during the brit-pop period, but I can hear his way of talking about the english way of live in today’s pop and rap/hip-hop also. They might not know why they do it the way the do, but we do, it is the way Ray Davies taught them through his songs.

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John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1917 – June 21, 2001) was a highly influential American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. Hooker was born in Mississippi, he was the son of a sharecropper, and rose to prominence performing his own interpretation of what was originally a unique style of country blues. He developed a ‘talking blues‘ style that became his trademark. Though similar to the early Delta blues, his music was metrically free. John Lee Hooker could be said to embody his own genre of the blues, often incorporating the boogie-woogie piano style and a driving rhythm into his blues guitar playing and singing. His best known songs include Boogie Chillen’ (1948), I’m in the Mood (1951), and Boom Boom(1962)—the first two reaching #1 on the Billboard R&B chart.  John-Lee-Hooker-sp08
Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has marked over 25 years as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band as well as a former member of Crazy Horse and Grin. nils lofgren

Spotify Playlist – June 21:

The Beatles 40 best songs: at 22 “Dear Prudence”

dear-prudence

“Dear Prudence” is a song written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released by the Beatles as the second track on their 1968 double-disc album entitled The Beatles, commonly known as The White Album. The subject of the song is Prudence Farrow, actress Mia Farrow’s sister, who was present when the Beatles went to India to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

John Lennon was asked to “contact her and make sure she came out more often to socialize”. As a result, Lennon wrote the song “Dear Prudence”. In the song Lennon asks Farrow to “open up your eyes” and “see the sunny skies” reminding her that she is “part of everything”. The song was said to be “a simple plea to a friend to ‘snap out of it'”. Lennon said later that “She’d been locked in for three weeks and was trying to reach God quicker than anyone else”.

Dear Prudence is me. Written in India. A song about Mia Farrow’s sister, who seemed to go slightly barmy, meditating too long, and couldn’t come out of the little hut that we were livin’ in. They selected me and George to try and bring her out because she would trust us. If she’d been in the West, they would have put her away.
– John Lennon

Continue reading The Beatles 40 best songs: at 22 “Dear Prudence”

The great Horace Silver died last night he will be missed

Horace_Silver

Jazz is not background music. You must concentrate upon it in order to get the most of it. You must absorb most of it. The harmonies within the music can relax, soothe, relax, and uplift the mind when you concentrate upon and absorb it. Jazz music stimulates the minds and uplifts the souls of those who play it was well as of those who listen to immerse themselves in it. As the mind is stimulated and the soul uplifted, this is eventually reflected in the body.
~Horace Silver

“We all have to open our minds, stretch forth, take chances and venture out musically to try and arrive at something new and different.”
~Horace Silver

Horace Silver died of natural causes in New Rochelle, New York, on June 18, 2014. He was 85

Song For My Father – Live – Denmark TV 1968:

Continue reading The great Horace Silver died last night he will be missed

Video of the day: Elvis 68 comeback special


Elvis NBC 1968

Elvis, starring Elvis Presley, is United States television special that aired on December 3, 1968 on the NBC television network. The special is commonly referred to as the ’68 Comeback Special, because of subsequent developments in Presley’s career, but the soundtrack album was released simply as NBC-TV Special.

Presley’s informal jamming in front of a small audience in the ’68 Comeback Special is regarded as a forerunner of the so-called “Unplugged” concept, later popularized by MTV.

Classic TV moment and a testament to Elvis’s greatness!

Continue reading Video of the day: Elvis 68 comeback special