Monday's Music Moves me; songs that Start with J

It's Monday, it is time for Monday's Music Moves Me, so lets rock, dance, laugh  and enjoy as I pick some songs that fit today's theme.

Well I am gonna start things out with The Rolling Stones "Jumping Jack Flash"

I went live and vintage on that one.

John Cougar Mellencamp "Jack and Diane"

Paul McCartney and Wings "Jet"

Johnny and June Cash "Jackson"

Dolly Parton "Jolene"

Continuing with classic country Hank Williams with "Jambalaya"

 

"Johnny B Goode" may have eaten Jambalaya, give it a go Chuck Berry...

I'll wrap up with a fun one. Rick Springfield "Jessie's Girl"

Thanks for visiting! I will see you soon.

Battle of the Bands Results: Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck bests Ann Wilson 7 to 2

 Jeff Beck turns 76 this month and with his latest single he was able to defeat the lovely vocals of Ann Wilson. The battle the aging guitar icon won was over the John Lennon tune "Isolation" which ironically did not feature guitar.

Lennon related tunes have resulted in 25 percent of Beck's eight Grammy Awards. Age has been good for winning Grammys as he has won four of those in the last 11 years.

Jeff was joined by Johnny Depp who better known for his acting then his Rock and Roll. Jeff has hinted there might be more music coming from the duo. Johnny Depp has had a group featuring Alice Cooper and Aerosmith's Joe Perry called Hollywood Vampires. He has also recorded with Oasis.

Here is Hollywood Vampires with "The Boogieman Surprise"

Below Johnny plays with Paul McCartney...

Jeff Beck has played with singers such as Rod Stewart "People Get Ready"

Well I have a week to think of a new Battle...

Rocktober Birthday Bob Weir

I'm behind on my Rocktober Festival posts and apparently every three years I post to celebrate Bob Weir's birthday. Here is my post from 2013 and 2016.

At least Bob Weir is diverse enough to write multiple posts about. He believes he has probably played the most gigs of any musician out there. It is hard to argue against his statement. Math would probably back him up and it is hard to think of someone who would be close. A founding member of the Grateful Dead which he joined when he was just 16.


                                                The Grateful Dead "My Brother Esau"

                                                 These folks were treated to a solo performance of "Loose Lucy"

Celebrating his non-Dead music as well "Lucky Enough" with Rat Dog

Here he is with Paul McCartney

                                              "Bombs Away" with his Wolf Brothers

Hope you enjoy and I will see you soon!

Happy Birthday Paul McCartney!

The Beatles had a song that goes "Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm  sixty-Today Paul McCartney wonders if the same is true at 77.  We are celebrating his birthday today.

Fitting I kick it off with The Beatles "Birthday."  Paul has so many songs with The Beatles and beyond.  He was a "Band on the Run" with Wings.

"Who Cares" from his latest solo release...

I've always liked "Maybe, I'm Amazed"

This carpool karaoke is incredible..

I hope he has a few more birthdays!

Monday's Music Moves Me: Unconventional Duets

Welcome to another episode of Monday's Music Moves Me. This a bloghop. If you want to see who else is playing or sign up to join the fun you can visit this site. I hope your minds are open to let your feet dance in this genre bending and swapping event. Today's theme is unconventional duets. The theme was Stacy's idea.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Robert Plant will always be known as the singer from the legendary rock group Led Zeppelin. Alison Krauss is gifted with a beautiful voice whose music falls in somewhere in the contemporary bluegrass, country, category. The two musicians came together for a platinum selling, multi-Grammy Award winning album.

"GONE, GONE, GONE"

U2 AND BB KING

U2, the Irish Rock Band who fills stadiums with their tours, is quite different from blues legend BB King. However, they got together for a few songs and had some success.

"When Love Comes to Town"

Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney

A Beatle and the King of Pop together.

"Say, Say, Say"

Is Paul McCartney and the surviving members of Nirvana more unconventional?

Paul and Nirvana

"Cut Me Some Slack"

Taylor Swift and Def Leppard

Taylor Swift went from a Country Artist to become a Pop Empire. Somewhere along the way she teamed up with these rockers...

"Pour Some Sugar on Me"

I could go on and on but I think I will leave you with these five.

Monday's Music Moves Me: Valentine Edition

Monday is here! Valentine's Day is coming up.



I'm participating in this week's Monday's Music Moves Me blog hop. You can get details here.



Are you ready? Are you in the mood? I'll try to make my picks with something for everybody.

Let me start with Frank Sinatra..."My Funny Valentine"

David Bowie singing "Valentine's Day"...

Paul McCartney "My Valentine"...

To those who aren't a fan of Valentine's Day, well "Love Stinks"

Thank you J. Geils Band for providing the last song. Well I hope you have a great Monday and a wonderful Valentine's Day. 

Monday's Music Moves Me: Songs with Male Names

Last week was so much fun! I'm back for more.



I'm stealing the above switch, because sometimes it is so true. Sometimes you just have to turn the switch on.

Today's theme is songs with male names. I'm not going to try to get them all. I will highlight a few and encourage you to visit the other participants for more.

"Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner" Warren Zevon

"Uncle John's Band" The Grateful Dead. So many from that band to use Tennessee Jed, Casey Jones, St. Stephen to name a few...

"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" Paul McCartney and Wings

Led Zeppelin "Boogie with Stu"

Led Zeppelin "Poor Tom"

Jimi Hendrix "Hey Joe"

Lynyrd Skynyrd "The Ballad of Curtis Loew" 

 

Eight is enough.."Buddy Holly" Weezer

Stay tunes for tomorrow's Battle of the Bands post for more music!

Remembering Michael Jackson on his birthday!

Michael Jackson was the King of Pop. Michael's album "Thriller" has sold more copies than any other album ever. In total his album sales is higher than 400 million. 13 number one hits certainly helped those sales. He won 26 American Music Awards and 13 Grammys. The Grammys also awarded him a Legend Award and Lifetime Achievement Award.

Starting off in The Jackson Five..

His career appeared as easy as ABC. 

It certainly had it's thrills. Here is Michael with "Thriller"...

Throughout his career Michael Jackson supported a lot of charities..

He even collaborated with other legends like Paul McCartney..

Here he is with another hit ":Billie Jean"..

Thanks for visiting as my blog remembers Michael Jackson on what would have been his 57th birthday. Do you have a favorite Michael Jackson  song or memory? Feel free to share in the comments. I will be back soon with a new post.

Happy Birthday Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney turns 73 today so I wish him a Happy Birthday. His fame will always be linked to the super group of his youth the Beatles.  He has had an amazing career with Wings and as a solo artist as well.

I am amazed by his collaborations they are hardly predictable.

Here he performs with Rihanna and Kayne West...

"Say, Say, Say"  with Michael Jackson...

The classic "Ebony and Ivory" with Stevie Wonder..

"My Valentine" featuring jazz artist Diana Krall and guitarist Joe Walsh..

Certainly it would be easy to celebrate his birthday with a bunch of solo hits or a collection spanning his career. However, I thought today the collaborations would be a nice way to celebrate.

Thanks for visiting and I will be back soon!

Happy Birthday Stevie Wonder!

May 13th is Stevie Wonder's birthday. Hard to believe I haven't celebrated his birthday before on the blog. Winning 25 Grammy Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award would suggest Little Stevie Wonder has had a successful career. He has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has received the Medal of Freedom.

A legendary musician and a great person. Of course in this blog we like to celebrate the music.

Here is a song which Stevie Wonder wrote the music (with some other musicians) and Smokey Robinson penned some lyrics..."Tears of a Clown"

Anybody who follows this blog knows Jeff Beck is my favorite guitarist and here he is with Stevie Wonder performing "Superstitious"..

Here is Stevie with Paul McCartney performing "Ebony and Ivory"

One of my favorite songs by Stevie Wonder is "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"

With Stevie Wonder I could post song after song. I could put more collaborations with more artists I like in case Smokey Robinson, Jeff Beck, and Paul McCartney weren't enough. I could just put up his songs and they would be fantastic. To me that is a great artist and I wish him a happy birthday!

R.I.P Bobby Keys

Bobby Keys is best known for his over 44 years of playing saxophone for The Rolling Stones. You have surely heard him play his sax as he played on so many classic rock chestnuts. He played with Joe Cocker, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Chuck Berry, BB King, John Hiatt, Warren Zevon, Eric Clapton and so many more.

A musician I was fortunate enough to see perform live with The Rolling Stones several times. 

Here is a report about his death...

Here he is with The Rolling Stones...

Mixing it up he plays with Ronnie Lane below..

Bobby Keys is a legend who will be missed by the music world!

Turned my Daughter's Birthday Party into an article

Just got back from another road trip. Thought I would share another article I had published during the A to Z challenge. The assignment was to write an article on how to throw a birthday party for a young girl. So, I wrote one called How I Had a Birthday Party for a 7-year-old-girl for under $150. It is a true article and hopefully it offers some helpful advice.



I had written some other helpful Birthday party articles in December of 2007 and January 2008. They were pretty much top ten lists of places to throw a party in Chicago and Dallas. Who knows maybe I will write some more articles on birthdays in the future.

A to Z Challenge: Nirvana

Recently Nirvana was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sadly their lead singer Kurt Cobain killed himself to join "the 27 Club."

Unlike the kid who said "Kurt Cobain made the band" time has certainly been good to fellow Nirvana band mate Dave Grohl who has had tremendous success with The Foo Fighters and recently sames to have a midas touch in Rock.

I do like the way how Nirvana has regrouped recently with singers who are vastly different from Cobain so there is no comparison or competition with the late singer.

Like when they regrouped with Paul McCartney..

No one is going to compare Paul McCartney and Curt Cobain they contrast so much in generation, style, and music. At the Hall of Fame they let the girls sing..

Or Lorde..

Bringing new textures and connecting the band with their former generation and today's generation.
I was always partial to Nirvana being interpreted by other artists like Tori Amos..

but this is in tribute to..

Well I hope you enjoyed your visit come back tomorrow as the challenge continues with an O!

George Harrison's Birthday

I published a similar post last year to celebrate the late George Harrison's 7oth birthday. This year I felt it was appropriate to celebrate him again. 2014 has already seen the Beatles celebrated for their 50th anniversary of their first concert in the USA. George Harrison was a guitarist in the band who like Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon went on to have a notable solo career. I'll try to mix up the videos this year to show something a bit different.

Here is a fan created version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" performed by The Beatles. Last year I posted a video of George playing it solo with some musical all stars.

 

Here is another great Beatle's song that really highlights George called "Here Comes the Sun"

 

 

Here is George playing a solo song from the late 80's "Got My Mind Set On You"

 

 

 

George talks about the Beatles break up

 

 

 

George Harrison maybe gone but he is not forgotten. We celebrate his birthday.

 

Celebrating George Harrison

Perhaps George Harrison's solo career did not match that of his former Beatles band mates John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Maybe George doesn't grab attention like Ringo Starr. None the less, George Harrison did have a solid solo career despite his lack of touring. Harrison was also an important member of the Fab Four. Today marks 12 years since the guitarist passed away.

All things Must Pass including George..

Here is one great rythym guitarist talking about another. Keith Richards on George Harrison..

Hopefully he found "Cloud Nine"

I bet his guitar still "Gently Weeps"

A true song of hope..

We all remember when he was fab...

He is missed. what George songs do you like?

Happy Birthday Paul McCartney!

Paul McCartney  of the Beatles turns 71 today. Amazingly I heard a great guitarist perform a medley of Beatles' tunes last night. Paul has had an incredible career with The Beatles, with Wings, and as a solo artist. In reason years he has even tried to stay current with modern music.

Here Sir Paul performs with Nirvana...

It isn't the first time here Mr. McCartney performs with Michael Jackson...

and who can forget this duet with Stevie Wonder..

Here he is with The Bloody Beetroots...

I'm leaving out friends he has performed with to do covers of old songs. Just for his birthday celebrating Paul McCartney and friends...

Paul McCartney's Birthday

Not plugging anything, not sharing any death notices today. Simply celebrating Paul McCartney. The Beatle legend turns 70 today. Happy Birthday Sir Paul!

Birthday Beatles...

His greeting from Ringo...

My favorite Paul non-Beatle song..

There it is Cheers Paul!

50 years ago...

According to Fender,,,The Beatles made their debut. They played the Cavern Club in London. Yes they are another band that made their start a few years before I was born. However, their music still holds it's own.

I would still go and see Ringo or Paul today. If I had the money. Now if they were charging 1961 prices I think I would be able to scrape it up. One of my biggest thrills when it comes to music is related to the Beatles. I was in Virginia Beach in the Summer of 1999. I was in Virginia Beach to see Jimmy Page and Robert Plant in concert. Anyway, I was in Virginia Beach early and had some time to check out a Beatles museum. Anyway, it was a slow day there and the guy running the place let me pick up and strum a couple of notes on a Fender Strat which was owned by George Harrison. Unfortunately the Beatles museum has gone away. If any one knows please let me know?

Me being so young (okay so middle aged) my Beatles memories are a bit scarce. I did manage to see Ringo Starr a couple of times. His shows are really cool All-Star jams. Seeing Ringo, I was treated to listen to some really cool musicians. Paul McCartney puts on a heck of a show filled with his own hits and plenty of Beatles songs.

I am so glad they came together 50 years ago..