| Happy birthday Bob Seger (born: May 6, 1945) – (read more)
Mediocrity’s easy, the good things take time, the great need commitment. — — |
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| Today: Otis Blackwell passed away in 2002 – 11 years ago (read more)
I used to go down every year for the remembrance of Elvis’ birthday. Memphis State College invited me to sit in the auditorium and speak to the people for one of those Elvis days. — |
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| Jimmie Dale Gilmore (born May 6, 1945) is a country singer, songwriter, actor, recording artist and producer, currently living in Austin, Texas. Gilmore is a native of the Texas Panhandle, having been born in Amarillo, Texas, and raised in Lubbock, Texas. His earliest musical influence was Hank Williams and the honky tonk brand of country music that his father played. In the 1950s, he was exposed to the emerging rock and roll of other Texans such as Roy Orbison and Lubbock native Buddy Holly, as well as to Johnny Cash. He was profoundly influenced in the 1960s by the likes of The Beatles and Bob Dylan and the folk music and blues revival in that decade.With Joe Ely and Butch Hancock, Gilmore founded The Flatlanders |
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| Marie Magdalene “Marlene” Dietrich (27 December 1901 – 6 May 1992) was a German actress and singer. |  |
Spotify Playlist – May 6 |
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Bob Dylan & The Band: Hazel @ Winterland, San Francisco, 25 November 1976 (Video)
Bob Dylan played 6 songs @ the Last Waltz concert.
This brilliant version of Hazel was not officially released until 2002 on: The Last Waltz (4CD Box set)
Winterland
San Francisco, California
25 November 1976
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Musicians:
- Bob Dylan (guitar & vocal)
- Robbie Robertson (guitar)
- Garth Hudson (synthesizer)
- Richard Manual (keyboards)
- Rick Danko (bass)
- Levon Helm (drums)
Continue reading Bob Dylan & The Band: Hazel @ Winterland, San Francisco, 25 November 1976 (Video)
The Saddest Songs in History: Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson Alexandra Leaving
The Saddest Songs in History: Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson Alexandra Leaving
Leonard Cohen is a first class melancholic and he has quite a lot of songs that could fit in the “sad song” category. I’ve chosen a lament of lost love, actually it’s about lost love twice(!). It is even harder the second time, because he had given up on that whole “love stuff”. And when I say love, I include lust and desire of course. Sharon Robins is credited as co-writer on this song and her contribution must not be understated.
In concerts, Cohen speaks the opening words of a poem-song he wrote three decades ago, inspired by another poem published in 1911. He reads some lines from his own text and then says, “Sharon Robinson, ‘Alexandra Leaving’.” (I have never heard a live version where Cohen sings the song himself, if it exists I would be very thankful to get a link in the commentaries.)
Back to the songs meaning.
Alexandra Leaving on Spotify:
It sounds like the protagonist in the song didn’t plan to love/make love again, but it happened. Now he has to face the devastating loss all over again.
Continue reading The Saddest Songs in History: Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson Alexandra Leaving
May 5 in music history
| Blind Willie McTell (May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) (read more)
And I know no one can sing the blues — |
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| Bob Dylan recorded the released version of “Blind Willie McTell” @ Studio A, Power Station, New York City, New York – 5 May 1983. – “Blind Willie McTell” is a song by Bob Dylan, titled after the blues singer Blind Willie McTell. It was recorded in 1983 but left off Dylan’s album Infidels and officially released in 1991 on the The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991. |
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| Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally by her stage name as Tammy Wynette, (May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the Country music’s best-known artists and biggest-selling female singers. She was an icon to country music. |  |
| Marshall Garnett Grant (May 5, 1928 – August 7, 2011) was the upright bassist and electric bassist of singer Johnny Cash’s original backing duo, the Tennessee Two, in which Grant and electric guitarist Luther Perkins played. The group became known as The Tennessee Three in 1960, with the addition of drummer W. S. Holland. Grant also served as road manager for Cash and his touring show company. |  |
| Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (born 5 May 1988), better known simply as Adele, is an English singer-songwriter, musician and multi-instrumentalist. Adele was offered a recording contract from XL Recordings after a friend posted her demo on Myspace in 2006. The next year she received the Brit Awards “Critics’ Choice” award and won the BBC Sound of 2008. Her debut album, 19, was released in 2008 to much commercial and critical success. It certified four times platinum in the UK, and double platinum in the US. Her career in the US was boosted by a Saturday Night Live appearance in late 2008. At the 2009 Grammy Awards, Adele received the awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. |  |
Spotify Playlist – |
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May 4 in music history
| Happy birthday Randy Travis (born May 4, 1959) – read more
Like the Beatles in rock, Randy Travis marks a generational shift in country music. When his Storms of Life came out in 1986, country music was still wallowing in the post-urban cowboy recession, chasing elusive crossover dreams. Travis brought the music back to its basics, sounding like nothing so much as a perfect blend of George Jones and Merle Haggard. |
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| Bob Dylan recorded “Every Grain of Sand” in 1981: * Bob Dylan’s best songs – Every Grain of Sand #11 – & held his last recording sessions for “Slow Train Coming” in 1979: * Bob Dylan – 5th and last Slow Train Coming Recording Session – 4 May 1979 |
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| Paul Butterfield (17 December 1942 – 4 May 1987) was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival. He died of drug-related heart failure. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. |  |
| Michael Ryan Pritchard (born May 4, 1972) is an American musician, best known as the bassist, backing vocalist and co-founder of the American rock band Green Day. While at school, he would play “air-bass.” While pretending to pluck the strings, he made the noise, “dirnt, dirnt, dirnt”. As a result, his schoolmates began to call him “Mike Dirnt“. |  |
| Dick Dale (born Richard Anthony Monsour on May 4, 1937) is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier. |  |
| Soozie Tyrell, (born May 4, 1957), formerly known as Soozie Kirschner, is an American violinist and vocalist, most known for her work with Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band. |  |
Spotify Playlist – May 4 |
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