No doubt you're all madly working away at New Year's resolutions, breaking them or simply avoiding them altogether. The obsessive part of my personality says, "woo hoo; what madness can we get up to?", whilst the realist (much less of that I must admit) is telling me to chill and be kind to myself and those around me. I'll do my best.
I've made one decision though and hopefully it benefits all in some small way. You see, H gave me a book entitled, "100 Greatest Albums you should own on vinyl". I've had a bit of a read and there are some worthy additions and some that I find highly questionable. More often than not, however, the article is simply about the album and not why it's supposedly essential on vinyl. I find it hard to reconcile that an album recorded totally on a digital platform would be any better on vinyl than it is on CD. Music recorded on analogue equipment is another story. But, it's a decent list and a lot of the information is interesting. So, for 2019 I'm going to try and listen to all 100 albums at least once and give you a few words on each here at the World Wide Woozle. The book is in chronological order but I'm going to take a more random approach to selecting what to listen to. Well, except for the first one...I thought I'd start at the beginning for that.
Album 1 - Frank Sinatra - In The Wee Small Hours
This one is from 1955 and you get value for money with sixteen tracks. I'm unfamiliar with Sinatra other than hearing a few classics on radio and TV. Recorded in mono, this album is mellow and warm yet dark with most of the songs having lyrics about depression, loneliness and lost opportunities. The instrumentation is sometimes sparse but always tasteful. Frank's voice is smooth, splendid and makes me feel like I'm listening much earlier than the 1950s. There are some tracks that I found quite hard to follow as there is almost a complete lack of a beat but that's the style I guess. If Leonard Cohen could sing like Sinatra he might have made this album.
Frank Sinatra - Mood Indigo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aWMFBbSpMY
In March 1991 I saw Billy Joel play in Sydney on his "Stormfront" tour. I remember becoming a fan of his when the double live cassette "Kohuept" album (live in the USSR) was released. As a result I knew most of the songs played and it was a great show. I'm playing this song because the lyrics reference (I assume) the previous song in this episode.
Billy Joel - Stormfront (live) - https://youtu.be/j1KWxRRSLOg
My Mum gave me a book by Billy Connolly to read. She'd had the joy of receiving three copies for Christmas! It's a light and easy read about the highlights of his life. Sadly, Billy has Parkinson's Disease and it is starting to take its toll. The book is called "Made In Scotland" and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Connolly or in fact, in Scotland in general. I knew he wrote this song but didn't realise that it was one of his earlier compositions.
Billy Connolly - I Wish I Was In Glasgow - https://youtu.be/JgPFEYH9y-Q
Spotify, like Google and Facebook, collects all manner of data about your online activity. Some of it is even put to good use. I enjoyed checking out the list of songs that I'd listened the most to in 2018 as there were some surprises in there. Discounting the million or so times I played a couple of tunes I was trying to learn to play I'm happy to say that my selection remains reasonably eclectic. The Preatures are up there with Judas Priest, Drive-By-Truckers, Deborah Conway and Thunder. Throw in some Rainbow, Extreme, ELO, Isbell, Stryper, Beatles and Giuda and that's a pretty good playlist. I've chosen two from the list to play. First up is Thunder and I've chosen it for the simple reason that it has one of the best recorded electric guitar tones ever (oh, and it's a great song too)...
Thunder - Amy's On The Run - https://youtu.be/zH_yIcEzFOI
Second is The Preatures. For me, they are my favourite band that I got into during 2018. I'm looking forward to them releasing something new and touring again. Mega-thanks to Sarah for talking me into going along to the show.
The Preatures - Mess It Up - https://youtu.be/6GUT1IfUMic
Among those artists we lost in 2018, Dolores O'Riordan from The Cranberries was one of the biggest. I saw a video of Keith Urban paying tribute to her by playing some of this song and was reminded just how powerful music can be.
The Cranberries - Zombie - https://youtu.be/6Ejga4kJUts
I was at a cafe today with Alison and the staff kept pressing "NEXT" on whatever device they were playing their music through. That's just bloody annoying. We'd get the first few bars of a song and then, ping, onto the next track. It's OK at your house, in your car or on your headphones but not when others are listening. Grrrrrr! At least they didn't click past this one...
AC/DC - Back In Black - https://youtu.be/pAgnJDJN4VA
If you believe what you read then "Back In Black" is Angus Young's favourite tune to play. Fingers crossed that the new album, whenever it appears, is a cracker!
That's enough for one week. I'll leave you with a great tune from Otis Clay. You might have heard the Bob Seger or John Farnham version but this one is just fantastic.
Otis Clay - Tryin' To Live My Life Without You - https://youtu.be/wcPe4ale96U
Bye,
Rob
"...don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years" - Wasted Years, Iron Maiden, 1986
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