Monday's Music Moves Me: Songs about Heaven or Hell

Save the last dance for me! Monday's Music Moves Me theme is songs about Heaven or Hell.  If I am going to Heaven then I don't mind being early if I am going to Hell well the devil can wait.

                                                       "Hell in a Bucket"  Grateful Dead

The Cure "Just Like Heaven"

AC/DC "Highway to Hell"

Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"

Bob Dylan "Knockin'  on Heaven's Door"

Pink Floyd "Run like Hell"

I hope you enjoyed!

Monday's Music Moves Me: How Music Educates Us

I open this week's Monday's Music Moves Me with Pink Floyds "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2."  This week's theme being How Music Educates Us as March is Music in Our Schools Month.

"We don't need no education

We don't need no thought control

No dark sarcasm in the classroom

Hey Teachers leave them kids alone"

We do need education, Perhaps we don't need thought control, dark sarcasm, and some teachers do need to leave those kids alone. Music teaches discipline, provides a creative outlet, and provides another way students can find self confidence. It can be woven into other studies math, science, and theater. However if we aren't careful we are going to lose music in our schools(and other arts).

Over the weekend I saw two musicals performed by two different high schools. I was pleasantly surprised by the talent. One of the musicals was Godspell, Here is a clip from Ramsey High School in Purchase, New York.

Yes music in schools brings culture to the community.

Some kids are full of musical talent like "Taz"

"My Revival"

Look him up, I have seen him live and the kid has talent

Brandon "Taz" Neiderauer.

Music can inspire! So let's keep it in the schools.

Monday's Music Moves Me: Songs with Male Names Part 2

Last week's theme was so much fun I decided to do it again. 

The music is on, I have 20 songs this go around.

Falco "Rock Me Amadeus"

                                                  The Who "Tommy Can You Hear Me?"
                                                     

Billy Joel "The Ballad of Billy the Kid"

Taylor Swift "Tim McGraw"

Elvis Costello with "Oliver's Army"

"Quinn the Eskimo" Bob Dylan

Doobie Brothers "Jesus is Just Alright"

"Careful with that Axe, Eugene"

Pink Floyd 

Waylon Jennings "Good Time Carlie Has the Blues"

Johnny Cash "A Boy Named Sue"

Grateful Dead "St. Stephen"

The Beatles "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill"

"Vincent" by Don McLean

"Louie, Louie" by the Kingsman

                                                "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" R.E,M

                                                   Townes Van Zandt "Poncho and Lefty"

                                                             Dave Matthews "Jimi Thing"

Black Oak Arkansas "Jim Dandy"

                                                     Joni Mitchell "Michael from the Mountains"

"Jack Straw" from The Grateful Dead

                                             

Furthur Calls it Quits

Furthur covering The Clash with "Train in Vain"

From the groups website:

 "Thanks for making the Furthur community a great place to hang out, and for coming out to the shows. We'll all be keeping very busy over the foreseeable future, and it's time to let Furthur take a bow" 

Source linked here.

Below is a HQ video of the group covering a Grateful Dead song "Jack Straw" of course Furthur includes both Bob Weir and Phil Lesh from The Grateful Dead.

Some might be saddened that the group is calling it quits but many Deadheads are being very optimistic about what might come next. Since the Grateful Dead will be marking their 50th Anniversary soon. Below the group performs "Alligator:

Here the band performs Pink Floyd's "Time"

Fitting to close with "Time" since the group is calling it time to quit. Thanks for the songs, and thanks for  keeping the spirit of the Grateful Dead I look forward to what comes next! 

Battle of the Bands Number 7: Hey Joe

I'm back for my seventh installment of Battle of the Bands. Here is how it works:

Listen to the song clips in the blog post. In the comment section vote for the one you like the best. Feel free to explain why you voted the way you did. The battles take place on the first and 15th and winners will be announced on the 7th and 21st. I will normally post the winner in the comments. Of course have fun and enjoy!

If you are still looking for more musical fun after you vote, you can check out these sites for more battles:

Far Away Series

Your Daily Dose

DiscConnected

Tossing It Out

STMcC Presents "Battle of the Bands"

A Writer's Life in Progress

Curious as a Cathy

The Creative Outlet of StratPlayer

The Sound of One Hand Typing

Alex J. Cavanaugh

This rounds song:

Who knows where this song originally claim. Most agree Billy Roberts penned the song so for a point a reference I will use his version.

So many versions to choose for in a battle of bands..

First Challenger

Seal is such an incredible vocalist and David Gilmour is a guitar great. Enjoy their version..

Second Challenger

The late great Roy Buchanan..

Both versions probably draw more from the Jimi Hendrix version than Billy Roberts or any of the earlier versions. Buchanan is perhaps a more undiscovered guitarist. I was going to use underrated guitarist but everyone I know who knows of him raves about him.

Anyway these are my picks for this competition. Vote in the comments!  Feel free to share your favorite versions as well since this song has been done once or twice!

A to Z: Storm Thorgerson R.I.P

Today my blog honors a man who passed away last week. He was a man who worked in the music business but was not a musician but an artist. Storm Thorgerson is probably a name you don't recognize. However, you probably have his work in your home n your CD or vinyl collection. Even some of you who are totally electronic might have his work on a T-shirt. 

Thorgerson passed away last Thursday. He designed album covers for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Styx, The Cranberries, and Phish. It is Pink Floyd who is most famous. 

You have probably seen this one..

he did this one as well...

and this one..

I think a lot of people wish he was still here. Here is Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"...

I'll be back tomorrow with a new post.

A to Z: Waters, Roger Waters

A quick post today. Most people have heard of Pink Floyd and a lot know Roger Waters as a vocalist, bassist, co-founder of the band.He has also released some solo efforts which have featured such guitarists as Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck.

I am going to post some tunes you might have missed...

Here is Roger Waters with Eric Clapton "Go Fishing" ..fishing something I need to do but that's another post.

Here is Roger Waters and Jeff Beck with "What God Wants"

Just for fun since I like Bob Marley..

Anyway just a few more A to Z posts left...

Which Ones Pink

Well, I write about music as well as sports and business. ou may have head Roger Waters, the bassist and lyricist of Pink Floyd is planning to tour and perform Pink Floyd's  The Wall. There have been rumors of  a Pink Floyd reunion ever since the Live 8 reunion. Funny, how a super group regroups for a one off show and everyone expects a reunion tour. Well, it is fans wishfull thinking I suppose...

Anyway I investigated the rumors and here is what I found out!

Funny, I have seen David Gilmour's version of Pink Floyd and I have seen Roger Waters in concert. Pink Floyd was the stadium sensation, awesome light show. Roger Waters smaller arena, same vein but different. When I saw Waters he surrounded himself with great musicians.

Pink Floyd's Wright Dies

Richard Wright is another "Diamond to Shine On" as the music world lost another keyboardist. Richard Wright was a founding member and keyboardist for Pink Floyd. He also had a solo career and had appeared on some sessions. Recently on David Gilmour's solo album. (Maybe I date myself here by calling them albums, I suppose some people refer to them as discs or cds now days.)

It's a shame we will never hear Nick Mason, David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Richard Wright together again, except on the air ways of a radio, stereo, or MP3 players. No reunion tour and no new music. His battle with cancer now complete at age of 65. He joins an all-star jam session up in Rock and Roll heaven. Where he will be reunited with Syd Barrett. Where they both can shine on. As a music fan Richard Wright will be missed, but his legacy will remain in the catalog of songs by Pink Floyd.

40 Years David Gilmour Replaces Syd Barrett in Pink Floyd

I heard on radio station 94.7 The Globe, on this date in 1968 David Gilmour permanently replaced Syd Barrett in Pink Floyd. I couldn't find anything on the web to support this. I did find January and March mentioned. However, it did feel like a great topic to ramble on.

Maybe it was best for Syd Barrett to leave the band. Some reports I have read suggest he wasn't the recluse he has painted out to be and in his later years lived a more normal life. Perhaps the rock and roll live of the late sixties wasn't for him. Sure the youth, the drugs, his mental state probably played to his demise as a guitarist.

What if he would have stayed on with Pink Floyd? How different would they have been? Barrett was a songwriter and contributor in the beginning, then the songwriting fell on Roger Waters. Would there have been more conflicts in Pink Floyd? Would Floyd have broken up sooner? Know one really knows.

We do know he influenced "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" and influenced the characters in "The Wall."