birthday Archives - Page 47 of 49

Paul McCartney is 70: 12 songs

When I first heard this song about John Lennon, I thought it was too cloying. Moreover, I thought Lennon would think so too.

The thing about Paul McCartney that I appreciate is that, these days, he’s still trying. Oh sure, he’s doing legacy stuff such as reissues of some of his old albums, including recently, Ram. But he’s showing up on the TV show 30 Rock and touring in Latin America, even reimagining old songs. He keeps putting out new music at a reasonable pace, even if that last album had a bunch of old songs; the less familiar I was with a song, the more I liked it. He has played for his queen and will perform at the London Olympics opening ceremonies.

Here’s my Top 12 Macca songs, with links, at least this week. I could have picked a dozen more. I’ve stayed away from live songs, and re-recordings of Beatles songs.

12. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five – the last song on the extraordinary Band on the Run album.

11. Let Me Roll It – another song from Band on the Run. I especially like the guitar line and the somewhat disconnected vocal.

10. My Valentine – a sweet song for his bride Nancy from the mostly cover album Kisses on the Bottom. Apparently, Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp used incorrect sign language in the promo.

9. Oo You – from that first McCartney solo album. Love the quality of the vocal, and the fact that it’s all Paul.

8. Jenny Wren from the 2005 album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. It does remind me of the Beatles song Blackbird a bit, but it is lovely. Here’s a shorter version.

7. Every Night – again, from the first album.

6. Here Today – from Tug of War. When I first heard this song about John Lennon, I thought it was too cloying. Moreover, I thought Lennon would think so too. But after seeing Macca perform it in a live concert (on TV), I changed my mind.

5. Band On The Run. The title cut, of course.

4. What’s That You’re Doing? The OTHER Stevie Wonder collaboration from the Tug of War album. By this point, Stevie was doing MOR stuff such as I Called to Say I Love You, so I was happy that he and Paul got a bit funky. And I’m always a sucker for a Beatles reprise.

3. My Brave Face – from the Flowers in the Dirt album. As I recall reading, Elvis Costello gave Macca permission to play Beatle Paul bass lines.

2. Jet – from Band on the Run. Again.

1. Maybe I’m Amazed – from McCartney. I remember hearing that Paul was going to be on The Ed Sullivan Show, and then being sorely disappointed that his “appearance” was actually this video. The strength of the song, though, won me over.

I have about half of Paul’s solo output, but I ended up gravitating to two or three albums for these cuts.
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Apparently, Macca saved Mark Ronson from drowning, when Ronson was a kid.

A live webcam trained on the crosswalk on Abbey Road in London where a certain Beatles cover photo was shot.

Morgan Freeman is 75

The last two movies I’ve seen of Morgan Freeman’s were Invictus, in which he played Nelson Mandela quite convincingly, and the kid-friendly Dolphin Tale. Such range.

I was already in college, but I really enjoyed watching the Electric Company. And one of my favorite actors was this guy who played a number of characters, but especially Easy Reader. Little did I know that being stuck on children’s television was literally driving Morgan Freeman to drink.

I saw Brubaker (1980) and the TV movies The Marva Collins Story (1981) and the Atlanta Child Murders (1985). I don’t think I really knew that he was MORGAN FREEMAN, though, until I saw a trio of 1989 films, all in the theater: Lean on Me, where he played principal Joe Clark who shook up an inner city school district; Driving Miss Daisy, where he was a chauffeur to a white woman while attempting to demand his dignity; and Glory, in which he helped lead the Civil War’s first all-black volunteer unit, while dealing with prejudice. All strong performances, though I didn’t love Miss Daisy, for whatever reason.

I barely remember Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) at all, but was totally captivated by Unforgiven (1992) and the Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Freeman’s performances in them. Since then, I’ve seen Amistad (1997) – good; Deep Impact (1998), as the ineffectual President – eh; and Brice Almighty as God (2003) – enjoyable. I think his voiceover work on March of the Penguins (2005) helped make it the hit it became. There are plenty more I will want to see (Million Dollar Baby, the Batman pictures).

He was also noteworthy for his views about Black History Month. He said: “How are we going to get rid of racism? Stop talking about it!” I wish that were true. I don’t think we know HOW to talk about it without the knives being drawn. And I found his comments somewhat peculiar given the fact that he participated in a DNA study of his racial breakdown.

ABC News, at the time of his 2008 car accident, noted the “dark cloud” over the cast of The Dark Knight: besides Freeman’s incident, the accusation of assault against Christian Bale, and, of course, the death of Heath Ledger. Not sure I believe in that stuff.

The last two movies I’ve seen of his were Invictus, in which he played Nelson Mandela quite convincingly, and the kid-friendly Dolphin Tale.

Such range. A very fine actor, who turns 75 today.

Aretha, QoS, is 70

RESPECT by QoS is one of the five greatest cover songs EVER.

When Aretha Franklin burst onto the music scene in 1967, I suspect many people thought she was an overnight success. In fact, she had been signed by Columbia Records back in 1961, but because of the songs she was given to sing (“Rock-a-bye My Baby With A Dixie Melody”?), the producers she had, and/or the label’s promotion, she was unable to break through.

It wasn’t until she moved over to Atlantic Records, and recorded with the Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section, that her true gift came to fruition. And when her period at Atlantic came to an end, changing over to Arista Records in the early 1980s, had a few more hits.

Most of my favorites are from the Atlantic period, though one was from the Columbia era, and one was something else altogether. Links to each song.

12. Spanish Harlem (#2 in 1971) – this is such a great reworking. And I love the word “BLLACK.”

11. You’re All I Need To Get By (#19 in 1971). The RESPECT reprise is great. (Couldn’t find a studio version; this is LIVE from 1978.)

10. Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves (#18 in 1985). With the Eurythmics. Love Annie Lennox and Aretha sharing phrases.

9. I Say a Little Prayer (#10 in 1968). Reworks the Bacharach-David tune to something playfully funky.

8. Eleanor Rigby (#17 in 1969). The first great thing – she tells it in the first person: “I’m Eleanor Rigby.” Secondly, the phraseology is SO not dependent on the original.

7. Rock Steady (#9 in 1971). Love the organ intro. “What it is, what it is, what it is.”

6. Chain Of Fools (#2 in 1968). The bridge is my favorite section.

5. Ain’t No Way (#16 in 1968). Heartfelt ballad with a lovely solo soprano by Cissy Houston, Whitney’s mom.

4. (Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone (#5 in 1968). When I used to listen to AM radio in the day, the DJs would often talk over the musical intro, which irritated me greatly. No talking over THIS intro, which was one chord.

3. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (#8 in 1967). The second appearance of this song in this blog in less than two months – previously in my Carole King post.

2. Sweet Bitter Love (1966). This title cut of a Columbia album was written by Van McCoy, who was better known for The Hustle a decade later. I first heard this song on a Columbia compilation album, Our Best To You: Today’s Great Hits… Today’s Great Stars, and loved it instantly. In the right (wrong?) frame of mind, it’ll make me cry.

1. Respect (#1 in 1967). Otis Redding, the original writer/performer of this song, famously said that Aretha “done stole [that song] from me,” making it her own. It became an anthem. One of the five greatest cover versions EVER.

Carole King is 70

Carole King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a composer of a slew of hit songs, many with her then-husband, Gerry Goffin. King, who inspired Neil Sedaka’s Oh, Carol, also put out an album, 1971’s Tapestry, that was in virtually every dorm room when I went to college. It held the “No.1 spot for 15 consecutive weeks, remained on the charts for nearly six years, sold 10 million copies in the United States, and 25 million worldwide. The album garnered four Grammy Awards including Album of the Year…”

Carole King made “three appearances as guest star on the TV series Gilmore Girls as Sophie, the owner of the Stars Hollow music store. King’s song ‘Where You Lead (I Will Follow)’ was also the theme song of the series, in a version sung with her daughter Louise” Goffin.

Thought I’d pick a dozen of her songs, my favorite interpretations thereof, with links to each.

12. Jazzman – Lisa Simpson with Bleeding Gums Murphy. Yes, it’s from the cartoon The Simpsons, early on.
11. Every Breath I Take – Gene Pitney. I think it was Fred Hembeck who turned me on to Pitney. Only got to #42 in 1961.
10. Chains – The Beatles. Covering a girl group called The Cookies, from their first album.
9. The Loco-motion – Little Eva. Goffin and King’s babysitter, who was, unfortunately, the inspiration for my LEAST favorite Goffin-King song, He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss). Loco-Motion would go US Top 3 twice more, by Grand Funk Railroad (1974, #1) and Kylie Minogue (1988, #3)
8. One Fine Day – The Chiffons. #5 in 1963.
7. I’m Into Something Good – Herman’s Hermits. If I believed in guilty pleasures, one would be Herman’s Hermits. I got their first greatest hits album when I failed to return the response card from the Capitol Record Club. And I’m glad I did. #13 in 1964.
6. Up On The Roof – The Drifters. Also covered by Laura Nyro (1970), James Taylor (1979, #28), and a number of others, but I love the 1962 model, which went to #5.
5. You’ve Got A Friend – James Taylor, a post-Goffin tune, with King on backing vocals and piano, went to #1 in 1971. Taylor and King have toured a great deal together in recent years.
4. Pleasant Valley Sunday – The Monkees. How could I not love this song? “Mr. Green, he’s so serene, he’s got a TV in every room.” #3 in 1967.
3. Don’t Bring Me Down – The Animals. Great raw sound one doesn’t associate with a King song. Got to #12 in 1965.
2. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman – Aretha Franklin. Hmm, this went only to #8 in 1967. It’s such an anthem, co-written by Jerry Wexler.
1. Will You Love Me Tomorrow – Carole King, with the Mitchell-Taylor Boy and Girl Chorus. This was a number #1 hit for the Shirelles in 1960, King’s first big hit as a songwriter, but I’ve always been partial to King’s version on Tapestry.

Happy birthday, Carole!

Betty White is turning 90

In her opening SNL monologue, Betty White thanked Facebook and joked that she ‘didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time.’

I think it’s most unfortunate that actress Betty White has seemed to have become suddenly cool in the last couple of years. I’ve long thought she always was.

After her radio career, she was one of the first women nominated for an Emmy award back in 1951, and she was a pioneer as a performer/producer of the TV show Life With Elizabeth in 1952-1955. Her massive number of credits included sitcoms, variety shows, TV host of a couple parades for decades, and a number of game shows, including Password, where she met her husband, the host Allen Ludden, who died in 1981. She won a daytime Emmy as host of her own game show, Just Men! in 1987.

She’s best known for two TV roles. The first was as the sweet-seeming barracuda “Happy Homemaker” Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, for which she was nominated thrice as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning twice. The other was Golden Girls, where she played the “terminally naive” Rose Nylund, for which she was nominated seven times as Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, winning once.

She’s worked regularly since then, on talk shows, game shows (including the fifth iteration of Password, hosted by Regis Philbin, where she was sharp as ever), and as a recurring character, an addled homicidal woman on Boston Legal.

From Wikipedia: “White appeared alongside Abe Vigoda in an advertisement for Snickers during the 2010 Super Bowl XLIV. The ad won the top spot on the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter… A grassroots campaign on Facebook called ‘Betty White to Host SNL (Please)’ began in January 2010. The group was approaching 500,000 members when NBC confirmed on March 11, 2010 that White would in fact host Saturday Night Live on May 8. The appearance made her, at age 88, the oldest person to host the show… In her opening monologue, White thanked Facebook and joked that she ‘didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time.’ The appearance earned her a 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series, her seventh Emmy win overall.”

And now she’s in another series, Hot in Cleveland, where she’ll appear opposite one-time TV flame, Ed Asner, next season. Meanwhile, tonight there will be a 90th Birthday Extravaganza tonight on NBC-TV.

She’s also been a big animal rights advocate, admitting on more than one occasion, including in her 2011 book If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t), which I read, that she prefers the company of animals to people. She was thrilled to become an honorary forest ranger in November 2010.

I’ve been a big fan of Betty White as long as I can remember. She’ll be 90 tomorrow, and I wish her well.