All posts by Hallgeir

Great albums, Music Calendar, Paul Simon

Today: Paul Simon released the album Paul Simon in 1972

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PaulSimon-Front

Paul Simon is the second studio album by Paul Simon as a solo artist. It was released  14th of January 1972, nearly two years after he split up with longtime musical partner Art Garfunkel. The album represented the definitive announcement of the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel. Originally released on Columbia Records, it was then issued under the Warner Bros. label and is now back with Columbia through Sony. It was ranked No. 266 on the list of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.  It is packed with classic songs.

 “…It was miles removed from the big, stately ballad style of Bridge Over Troubled Water and signaled that Simon was a versatile songwriter as well as an expressive singer with a much broader range of musical interests than he had previously demonstrated. You didn’t miss Art Garfunkel on Paul Simon, not only because Simon didn’t write Garfunkel-like showcases for himself, but because the songs he did write showed off his own, more varied musical strengths.”
– William Ruhlmann (allmusic)

Paul Simon – Me and Julio down by the schoolyard (live, 1992):

Paul Simon – Paul Simon (album, 1972):

– Hallgeir

Bruce Springsteen, Music Calendar

Today: The late great Clarence Clemons was born in 1942

Clemons

“Clarence was big, and he made me feel, and think, and love, and dream big. How big was the Big Man?  Too fucking big to die.  And that’s just the facts.  You can put it on his grave stone, you can tattoo it over your heart.”

– Bruce Springsteen

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Classic Concert, Concert films, Johnny Cash, Live

Classic concert: Johnny Cash live at Manhattan Centre 1994

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JC_1994

Today we have dug up a real gem! The man in black, Johnny Cash, in top form and in a recording with very fine sound and picture.

The show was recorded live at the Manhattan Center (now Hammerstein Ballroom), in New York City, on June 9th 1994.  It has a total running time of 46 minutes, and I would rate the quality at least a 9 out of 10. The concert was filmed for the TV-channel VH1 it is in black & white. It was taped right after his comeback with Rick Rubin. There are dozens of clips on YouTube from the show/tv program, but to really get the feeling of the concert,  it’s necessary to experience it all in one sitting (well, that’s my view).

Track listing is as follows:
Folsom Prison Blues
Sunday Morning Coming Down
Ring Of Fire
I Walk The Line (with a really cool intro)
Delia
The Beast In Me
Drive On
The Man Who Couldn’t Cry
Number 13
Tennessee Stud
Big River
Ghost Rider In The Sky
Orange Blossom Special
Let The Train Blow The Whistle

– Hallgeir

video of the day

Video of the day: Austin Lucas – Alone in Memphis

Austin Lucas

It is Elvis’s birthday and we love Austin Lucas so it is very fitting that today’s video is the official video for the fantastic song Alone in Memphis. Brought to you via CMT.COM.

“Honestly, it just seemed so perfect to be telling a story about Memphis and to include Elvis. He’s so intrinsically wrapped into the fabric of that city’s mythology and the collective consciousness of the world. I felt as though it could make everything that much more tangible and relatable for the listener.”
– Austin Lucas to CMT

Enjoy, and happy birthday Elvis (wherever you may be)!

Alone in Memphis (Official Video)

– Hallgeir

David Bowie, Music Calendar

Today: David Bowie is 67 Happy Birthday


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“I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”
– David Bowie

David Robert Jones (born 8 January 1947), known by his stage name David Bowie, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator. He is known for his distinctive voice as well as the intellectual depth and considerable eclecticism of his work.

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“I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human. I felt very puny as a human. I thought, “Fuck that. I want to be a superhuman.” 
― David Bowie

Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in July 1969, when his song “Space Oddity” reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart. After a three-year period of experimentation he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single “Starman” and the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie’s impact at that time, as described by biographer David Buckley, “challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day” and “created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture.”

Ziggy Stardust:

The relatively short-lived Ziggy persona proved merely one facet of a career marked by continual reinvention, musical innovation and striking visual presentation.

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