What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

Bless This House

Mahalia Jackson

1963 Columbia Records

 

[Dennie]

Some Days Are Diamonds

John Denver

1981 RCA Records

An Interesting and Different Side Of The "Colorado Kid", April 27, 2002
By Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Some Days Are Diamonds (Audio CD)

I have always enjoyed this album because it shows a bit different side of John Denver's most considerable talents. Unlike most of his other albums, most of the songs included here are written by others, so he is left to interpret other's lyrics, which he does memorably here. Of course, I do admit that I would find a version of him singing just about anything pleasureable listening, it is no exaggeration to say that he brings a very unique style to each of these songs, some of which he made famous. Of course, this title cut was a hit for John, as was "Till You Opened My Eyes". But my own personal favorite here is "The Boy From The Country" written by Mchael Martin Murphey (of "Wildfire" fame)and performed perfectly by John. The lyrics illustrate what a difference in consciousness is involved in living in concert with thenatural world, and in recognizing the wisdom of the natural world. Listen to the song and I think you will begin to understand. Like the boy from the country, John was often misunderstood, and it is too bad we never appreciated what a diamond we had in hand while he was with us. At least his music remains. This is a great album. Enjoy!

Side one

"Some Days Are Diamonds (Some Days Are Stone)" (Dick Feller)
"Gravel On The Ground" (Debbie Hupp, Bob Morrison)
"San Francisco Mabel Joy" (Mickey Newbury)
"Sleepin' Alone" (John Denver)
"Easy, on Easy Street" (Johnny Slate, Larry Keith)

Side two

"The Cowboy & The Lady" (Bobby Goldsboro)
"Country Love" (John Denver)
"Till You Opened My Eyes" (Alan Rush, Randy Cullers, Dennis Linde)
"Wild Flowers In A Mason Jar (The Farm)" (Dennis Linde)
"Boy From The Country" (Michael Martin Murphey, Owen Castleman)

A great album sleeve, for a Bonus Picture.....

 

[Dennie]

For Him Who Has Ears To Hear

Keith Green

1977 Sparrow Records

Listen To This Album! It Will Change You!!!, June 8, 2008
By Roni (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)
This review is from: For Him Who Has Ears to Hear (Audio CD)

For Him Who Has Ears to Hear was Keith Green's first of many Gospel albums.

Essentially, Keith was a preacher and he preached the Word through his music. However, Keith was no ordinary preacher. Through songs like:

1. You Put This Love In My Heart
2. I Can't Believe It!
3. Because Of You
4. When I Hear The Praises Start
5. He'll Take Care Of The Rest
6. Your Love Broke Through
7. No One Believes In Me Anymore
8. Song To My Parents
9. Trials Turned To Gold
10. Easter Song

Keith Green conveyed God's love to us and in turn, showed us his love to God. Keith talked about hope, about patience, about leaving our cares up to God.

"For Him Who Has Ears" is Keith Green's first testitismony to the world about God.

It was the first of Keith's album that led me to journey with him and even after his death, I am still using Keith's music to continue with my journey with God.

Get it!
Listen to it!
It will change you.
It changed me.

 

[Dennie]

25 Favorite Cowboy Songs

The Sons of the Pioneers

1956 RCA Records

The Sons of the Pioneers is an American cowboy singing group founded in 1933 by Leonard Slye (better known by his later screen name, Roy Rogers), with Tim Spencer and Bob Nolan. They were joined by Hugh Farr (fiddle/bass vocals) in 1934, Karl Farr (guitar) in 1935, and Lloyd Perryman (vocals) in 1936.

When Rogers began his film career, the group took on Pat Brady (string bass), who brought with him his flair for comedy (Brady later starred as Rogers' sidekick in his popular 1951 television program). The group remained popular into the 1960s. In 2003, the Sons of the Pioneers was among the winners of the Golden Boot Award, along with actors Chris Alcaide, Kelo Henderson, Tommy Lee Jones, and Kris Kristofferson.

Though all of the original members are deceased, the group continues. Group "trail boss," Dale Warren (a member since 1952, replacing Ken Curtis), died in August of 2008, ending a 56-year stint with the group. The group still performs regularly at concerts in Branson, Missouri and other locations, as of 2010, led by current "trail boss" Luther Nallie (who joined 42 years ago). Current members are Luther Nallie, Gary LeMaster, Ken Lattimore, Randy Rudd, Ricky Boen and Mark Abbott.

SONS OF THE PIONEERS 25 Favorite Cowboy Songs (1956)

1. Tumbling Tumbleweeds
2. Press Along To The Big Corral
3. Wind
4. Bunkhouse Bugle Boy
5. Home On The Range
6. La Borachita
7. Timber Trail
8. Happy Cowboy
9. Cowboy Lament
10. Pajarillo Barrenquero
11. So Long To The Red River Valley
12. Come And Get It
13. Cool Water
14. Curly Joe From Idaho
15. Cowboy's Dream
16. Along The Santa Fe Trail
17. The Last Round-up
18. Farr Away Stomp
19. Red River Valley
20. Carry Me Back To The Lone Prairie
21. Sweet Betsy From Pike
22. Slow Moving Cattle
23. Texas Stomp
24. Yellow Rose Of Texas
25. The Everlasting Hills Of Oklahoma

 

[Dennie]

The Essential Bob Dylan -- 2 CD Set

Bob Dylan

2000 Columbia Records

Disc one

"Blowin' in the Wind"
"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"
"The Times They Are a-Changin'"
"It Ain't Me, Babe"
"Maggie's Farm"
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"
"Mr. Tambourine Man"
"Subterranean Homesick Blues"
"Like a Rolling Stone"
"Positively 4th Street"
"Just Like a Woman"
"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
"Visions of Johanna"
"All Along The Watchtower"
"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"

Disc two

"Lay, Lady, Lay"
"If Not for You"
"I Shall Be Released"
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
"Forever Young"
"Tangled Up in Blue"
"Shelter from the Storm"
"Hurricane"
"Gotta Serve Somebody"
"Jokerman"
"Blind Willie McTell"
"Silvio"
"Ring Them Bells"
"Not Dark Yet"
"Things Have Changed"

 

[Dennie]

Heart -- CD :music-rockout:

Heart

1985 Capitol Records

Amazon.com

The adage goes that a band has its entire career to create its first album, and the Wilson sisters, Ann and Nancy, never seemed able to top Dreamboat Annie, certainly one of rock's all-time strongest debut LPs. In fact, by the time they recorded this eponymous effort after switching labels, the industry had pretty much written them off as has-beens. Strangely, the 1985 release became one of the biggest hits of their career, scoring five hit songs. Of course, this was also where the band succumbed to outside tunesmiths and synthesizer-heavy MOR power ballads. Producer Ron Nevision even has Ann at times trying to emulate Madonna. Not a new direction but, frankly, a new band. --Bill Holdship

"If Looks Could Kill" (Jack Conrad, Beau Garrett) – 3:42
"What About Love" (Brian Allen, Sheron Alton, Jim Vallance) – 3:41
"Never" (Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Greg Bloch, Holly Knight) – 4:07
"These Dreams" (Martin Page, Bernie Taupin) – 4:15
"The Wolf" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson, Howard Leese, Mark Andes, Denny Carmassi, Sue Ennis) – 4:03
"All Eyes" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson, Bloch, Knight) – 3:55
"Nobody Home" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson, Ennis) – 4:07
"Nothin' at All" (Mark Mueller) – 4:13
"What He Don't Know" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson, Ennis) – 3:41
"Shell Shock" (A. Wilson, N. Wilson, Leese, Andes, Carmassi, Ennis) – 3:42

 

[Dennie]

There is nothing to see here!


Please, just move along...... :angry-tappingfoot:


:chores-mop:


Really...... Nothing!!



Dennie

 

[Dennie]

Rattle and Hum -- CD

U2

1988 Island Records

Amazon.com

The ill will that initially greeted Rattle and Hum--the follow-up to the band's massively successful Joshua Tree album--was due in large part to the bloated and self-important feature film that accompanied it, which showed the band as being simultaneously naive and pretentious as it "discovered" America. But as the film mercifully slips from memory, the music has remained, from the furious swirl of "Desire" and a clutch of live hits to insightful musical nods to heroes such as Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and Billie Holiday. Songs like "When Love Comes to Town," a supercharged blues duet with B.B. King, suggests the quartet knew more about America from listening to its music than Phil Joanou's unintentional mockumentary suggested. --Daniel Durchholz


1. "Helter Skelter" (live at Denver, Colorado) John Lennon/Paul McCartney U2 3:07
2. "Van Diemen's Land" The Edge (words), U2 (music) U2 3:06
3. "Desire" Bono (words), U2 (music) U2 2:58
4. "Hawkmoon 269" Bono (words), U2 (music) U2 6:22
5. "All Along the Watchtower" (live from "Save the Yuppie Free Concert", San Francisco) Bob Dylan U2 4:24
6. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (live at Madison Square Garden, New York) Bono (words), U2 (music) U2 with The New Voices of Freedom 5:53
7. "Freedom for My People" Sterling Magee, Bobb Robinson and Macie Mabins Sterling Magee and Adam Gussow 0:38
8. "Silver and Gold" (live from Denver, Colorado) Bono (words), U2 (music) U2 5:50
9. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (live from Denver, Colorado) Bono (words), U2 (music) U2 4:27
10. "Angel of Harlem" Bono (words), U2 (music) U2 3:49
11. "Love Rescue Me" Bono and Bob Dylan (words), U2 (music) U2 with Bob Dylan 6:23
12. "When Love Comes to Town" Bono (words), U2 (music) U2 with B. B. King 4:14
13. "Heartland" Bono (words), U2 (music) U2 5:02
14. "God Part II" Bono (words), U2 (music) U2 3:15
15. "The Star Spangled Banner" John Stafford Smith Jimi Hendrix 0:43
16. "Bullet the Blue Sky" (live at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona) Bono (words), U2 (music) U2 5:37
17. "All I Want Is You" Bono (words), U2 (music) U2 6:30
Total length:
72:27

 

[Dennie]

Speak of The Devil -- HDCD

Chris Isaak

1998 Reprise Records

Amazon.com

Chris Isaak rocks? Indeed. Granted, the crooner's latest is no noisy, post-grunge Nirvana (though the chord progression of the opener, "Please," recalls Kurt Cobain's "Heart-Shaped Box"), but Devil does find Isaak loosening up. His gut-busting vocals on the free-for-all title track are as near to reckless as we're ever going to hear him. He's also toughening up, growling around his lower register in the death-inflected "Black Flowers." The backing band Silvertone kicks up its heels as well, most infectiously on the gleefully two-steppin' "I'm Not Sleepy." Of course, Isaak's signature shivery, quivering, and wistful ballads remain. And the singer still has a winning way with an unshakable melody. Armed with guitarist Hershel Yatovitz's poignant picking, only Isaak could turn a tired platitude like "Don't Get So Down on Yourself" into a true tearjerker. --Sue VanHecke

All tracks composed by Chris Isaak; except where indicated

"Please" – 3:34
"Flying" – 3:08
"Walk Slow" – 3:01
"Breaking Apart" (Chris Isaak/Diane Warren) – 3:45
"This Time" – 3:12
"Speak of the Devil" – 3:30
"Like the Way She Moves" – 2:49
"Wanderin'" – 2:42
"Don't Get So Down on Yourself" – 3:11
"Black Flowers" – 2:43
"I'm Not Sleepy" – 2:36
"7 Lonely Nights" – 2:09
"Talkin' 'bout a Home" – 4:44
"Super Magic 2000" – 3:45

 

[Dennie]

Midnight Without You -- CD

Chris Botti

1997 Verve Forecast

COOL, SMOOTH & SENSUOUS, February 19, 2001
By BEZEREL L. QUINTO (makati, philippines) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Midnight Without You (Audio CD)

I first saw Chris Botti in Sting's "Brand New Day Tour-Live At The Universal Amphitheater" DVD. He substituted the role which used to be played by Branford Marsalis, only this time in his cool, smooth & sensuous trumpet. I used to favor the saxophone as the better horn instrument as compared to the trumpet but Chris Botti made me appreciate the trumpet by the way he plays. "Midnight..." is my second Chris Botti CD (the first one being "Slowing Down The World". He has never failed me thus far.

1. "The Steps of Positano" 3:40
2. "Midnight Without You" (Botti, Paul Buchanan, Paul Joseph Moore) 4:28
3. "Regroovable" 4:49
4. "Never Gone" 4:18
5. "The Way Home" 4:52
6. "When Rain Falls" 4:25
7. "Until Now" 3:57
8. "Mr. Wah" 4:57
9. "Forgiven" (Botti, Moore) 5:08
10. "Alone in the City" 6:19

 

[Dennie]

This is my last one for the evening....

Euge Groove -- CD

Euge Groove

2000 Warner Bros. Records

Not up and coming/Euge Groove Has Arrived, May 7, 2001
By Michael Romeo (Palmer, Alaska United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Euge Groove (Audio CD)

The explosion you hear on smooth jazz stations is that of the finest CD this year Euge Groove. From front to back this is smooth jazz in the classic form. Do you love a sweet saprano sax and a hard driving tenor sax. Sprinkle in wonderful recurring melodies, funky driving rhythms, R&B, a little scat and great vocals and you have a possible Oais Award for best album for Steve Grove. The cut you probably heard on the jazz stations is the first cut on this musical journey track #1 Romeo & Juliet. However, when you go further on this cd you start to appreciate its diversity. Track # 2 Sneek a Peak, gives you just a beautiful soulful sound of Grooves Tenor sax work from his playing with TOP. Track # 3 Vinyl, hits you with the funky and yet sultry, Grooves soprano sax. Track #4 Give in to Me, launches us into the soulful vocals of JC Chasez from the boy band NSYNC. The match is just perfect between the vocals and sax of Grove and Chasez,in addition to the terrific backround harmoney. I can go on and on about how great this debut work is. But you need to definitly add this to your collection. Then kick back with your lover with a glass of wine or your faviorte smoke and appreciate, Groove and Track # 6 TENDERHEARTED LOVER. She will love you for it................

TRACK LISTING

Romeo and Juliet
Sneak A Peek
Vinyl
Give In To Me
Another Sad Love Song
Tenderhearted Lover
Truly Emotional
Lay It Down
Summer Stroll
Last Song

 

[Dennie]

Old Places Old Faces -- CD

Joe Sample

1996 Warner Bros. Records

Joe Sample.The former Crusader acquits himself admirably on these ten original compositions. Much of OLD PLACES finds Sample settling comfortably into the niche he knows best: laid-back, West Coast groove-jazz. Sample is such a master of the style, though, that the tunes never sound tired or stale. He has the uncommon ability to suggest kinetic energy without relinquishing his easy, in-the-pocket feel.Sample's accomplices in rhythm, bassist Jay Arden and drummer Ralph Penland, are with him every step of the way, providing graceful, muted colors to complement his warm melody lines. Percussionist Lenny Castro and tenor sax legend Charles Lloyd provide some contrast, contributing a few waves to the otherwise calm waters. Sample is a gifted melodist, capable of conjuring a variety of musical images. This is especially apparent in "Miles Of Blue (Blue Miles)," his evocation of the seminal trumpeter's cool period. Throughout OLD PLACES, Sample lets his eloquent musicality do the talking.

Track Listing
1. Free Yourself
2. Black and White (As Simple As)
3. Clifton's Gold
4. Old Places Old Faces
5. Tones for Ben
6. Hippies on a Corner
7. Souly Creole
8. First Love
9. Miles of Blue (Blue Miles)
10. Angels on My Mind

 

[Dennie]

Cool -- CD

George Duke

2000 Warner Bros. Records

Cool is George Duke's sixth release for the Warner Brothers Jazz recording label and features 13 songs clad in situations actually encountered and lived by this giant of jazz, R&B, and pop. The Duke lifestyle makes a dramatic appearance through his richly textured vocal remembrances of his childhood on "Marin City" and spoken introductions that reflect the inner and ancestral sources that feed his soul and music on "Ancient Source." Duke displays the joyous, upbeat side of his musical personality on "If You Will," with the great Flora Purim in a lively samba with excellent piano styling and background vocals that include his son, Rashid Duke. The nucleus of this masterpiece is "The Times We've Known," a song Duke discovered when asked to do a tribute to Charles Aznavour. It is a beautiful, heartfelt experience featuring a gospel choir that heightens what Duke feels and says in a rousing finale. Cool is a CD filled with a diverse range of musical styles and expressions, and whether he is the lead vocalist, keyboardist, or providing background vocals, the master is the architect of funk, pop, Latin, gospel, blues, and R&B passion on this excellent musical mission. As composer, arranger, and musical director, George Duke maintains and elevates the styles and spirit of the House of Duke and works in brilliant collaboration with a support team of consummate artists like Leon "Ndugu" Chanceler, Philip Bailey, Tony Maiden, Chanté Moore, Paul Jackson, Jr., and the Perry Sisters: Lori, Sharon, Darlene, and Carolyn. So cool! ~ Paula Edelstein

Track Listing
1. Marin City
2. Wake Up, Smell the Coffee
3. She's Amazing
4. If You Will
5. Never Be Another - (featuring Anointed)
6. Ancient Source - (African Languages)
7. Only You Understand
8. If He Ain't Right (Then He's Mr. Wrong)
9. Sexy Cool
10. All About You
11. Whatever It Takes
12. Times We've Known, The
13. At a Glance

 

[PaulyT]

Good stuff, this! Thanks. :music-listening:

 

[heeman]

Good stuff, this! Thanks. :music-listening:

If I was a betting man.................I would say that you would like this one also!

 

[Randy]

:laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: Whatever Joe Bonamossa video Pauly has posted in the last 5 minutes. I can't seem to find time to get to anything else. :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

 

[PaulyT]

Hey, at least it's time well spent!

 

[Dennie]

Dylan & The Dead

Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead

1989 Columbia Records

Amazon.com

For a man openly hostile to tie-dyed nostalgia, Bob Dylan's 1987 summer tour with the Grateful Dead was a confounding event indeed. The result on this concert recording is Dylan warbling across the usual Dead groove: neither rock nor roll. No new compositions emerged from the summit, so their repertoire is limited to an unsurprising list of chestnuts ("All Along the Watchtower," "Knocking on Heaven's Door," etc.). Their meandering version of Dylan's "I Want You" would be a vicious parody of the original if it weren't so sadly true. And if these were the stadium tour's best performances, pity anyone who actually sat through one of these concerts with a clear head. --Steve Appleford

All songs by Bob Dylan except as noted.

"Slow Train" – 4:54
"I Want You" – 3:59
"Gotta Serve Somebody" – 5:42
"Queen Jane Approximately" – 6:30
"Joey" (Dylan, Levy) – 9:10
"All Along the Watchtower" – 6:17
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" – 6:35

 

[Dennie]

John Wesley Harding

Bob Dylan

1967 Columbia Records

Amazon.com essential recording

Bob Dylan's remarkable first album after his debilitating 1966 motorcycle accident isn't as urgent as the ambitious folk and rock songs he wrote earlier in the decade. Even considering the rocking "All Along the Watchtower" (covered famously by Jimi Hendrix), the album's overall feeling is soft and laid-back, all gently strummed guitars, perfectly timed harmonicas, and some of Dylan's best pure singing to date. The 1968 release sounds as if the songwriter and his three sidemen set up a few tape recorders in a bedroom and began playing as soon as they woke up in the morning. They open with the title track (a folk fable), move into the piano-driven "Dear Landlord," and close with the sweet love song "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight." --Steve Knopper

"John Wesley Harding" – 2:58
"As I Went Out One Morning" – 2:49
"I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" – 3:53
"All Along the Watchtower" – 2:31
"The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" – 5:35
"Drifter's Escape" – 2:52
"Dear Landlord" – 3:16
"I Am a Lonesome Hobo" – 3:19
"I Pity the Poor Immigrant" – 4:12
"The Wicked Messenger" – 2:02
"Down Along the Cove" – 2:23
"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" – 2:34

 

[Dennie]

The Basement Tapes

Bob Dylan & The Band

1975 Columbia Records

Amazon.com essential recording

The Basement Tapes can be heard as a manifesto for the '90s' underlying Americana agenda or as the greatest album never intended for commercial release. Homegrown 1967 recordings taped in the Band's fabled Big Pink hermitage in Saugerties, New York, many of the 24 songs resonated across American and English rock and folk long before their belated 1975 release through studio interpretations by the Byrds, Fairport Convention, Manfred Mann, Peter, Paul & Mary, and numerous other acolytes, as well as through myriad unauthorized bootlegs. Good as the covers were, Dylan and the Band rolled their own with an extraordinary coherence that sounds only more authentic in these rough-hewn, intimate, always musical performances, which dovetail with Dylan's stark John Wesley Harding and the Band's stunning debut, Music from Big Pink as well as the presciently lo-fi The Band. At a time when most rock culture was entranced with its post-atomic origins, these songs sounded timeless, plunging into pre-industrial folk, turn of the (20th) century barrelhouse and blues, and crackling, vintage rock & roll excursions with offhand verve and a thrilling disregard for what was hip. Time has only reinforced their visionary power. --Sam Sutherland

Bob Dylan – acoustic guitar, piano, vocals; Robbie Robertson – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, vocals; Richard Manuel – piano, drums, harmonica, vocals; Rick Danko – electric bass, mandolin, vocals; Garth Hudson – organ, clavinet, accordion, tenor sax, piano; Levon Helm – drums, mandolin, electric bass, vocals.[64]

All songs by Bob Dylan, except where noted.

Side one

"Odds and Ends" – 1:47
"Orange Juice Blues (Blues for Breakfast)" (Richard Manuel) – 3:39
"Million Dollar Bash" – 2:32
"Yazoo Street Scandal" (Robbie Robertson) – 3:29
"Goin' to Acapulco" – 5:27
"Katie's Been Gone" (Manuel, Robertson) – 2:46

Side two

"Lo and Behold" – 2:46
"Bessie Smith" (Rick Danko, Robertson) – 4:18
"Clothes Line Saga" – 2:58
"Apple Suckling Tree" – 2:48
"Please Mrs. Henry" – 2:33
"Tears of Rage" (Dylan, Manuel) – 4:15

Side three

"Too Much of Nothing" – 3:04
"Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread" – 2:15
"Ain't No More Cane" (Traditional) – 3:58
"Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)" – 2:04
"Ruben Remus" (Manuel, Robertson) – 3:16
"Tiny Montgomery" – 2:47

Side four

"You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" – 2:42
"Don't Ya Tell Henry" – 3:13
"Nothing Was Delivered" – 4:23
"Open the Door, Homer" – 2:49
"Long Distance Operator" – 3:39
"This Wheel's on Fire" (Danko, Dylan) – 3:52

Cover art
The cover photograph for the 1975 album was taken by designer and photographer Reid Miles in the basement of a Los Angeles YMCA. It poses Dylan and the Band alongside characters suggested by the songs: a woman in a Mrs. Henry T-shirt, an Eskimo, a circus strongman and a dwarf. Robertson wears a blue Mao-style suit; Manuel wears a U.S. Air Force uniform.[65] Musicians David Blue and Neil Young are also present in the photo.