Favorite Songs

Linda Ronstadt had such a lovely voice and very sadly she lost her ability to sing after she contracted Parkinson’s.  A movie titled “Linda Ronstadt – The Sound of My Voice” chronicles her career. Linda sang all sorts of music during her career, starting with “Different Drummer” with the Stone Ponies. “Willin’”, written by Lowell…

Two versions of this great oldie by two of the very best vocal quartets EVER. Both groups featured great, creative arrangements and their close harmonies are hard to duplicate.  The 4 Coins recorded the first well known version in 1957, and the Four Freshman released another version in 1962.  The song was featured in the…

So, I’m sure many of you have heard the studio version of this song before…it’s a good song. BUT, when this particular version began to play, I could tell that things were very different. First of all it is a live recording made in April of 1966 at the Whiskey a Go Go on Sunset…

I’ve come to respect Lionel Ritchie’s talents over the years. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen enough of him on “American Idol” to come to understand that he really is a very talented artist who has worked very hard on his craft to get to where he is today. I’ve always love the opening “rap” on…

Many years ago there was a raging debate about who conceived and played the unique bass guitar riff that iis scattered through the song “I Was Made To Love Her”. At that time a very famous bass player who was known as one of the geniuses behind the group of studio musicians on the west…

This is a Joni Mitchell song the Tom Rush came upon and recorded fairly early in his career. The song was a big hit in folk and pop circles (get it?) and established Tom as a nationally known folk singer. In 1968, the album “The Circle Game” was on the Billboard Top 200 charts for…

What a great, and unique song this is. The drummer is featured just as importantly as the singer himself, Roy “The Boy” Orbison. As a matter of fact by the end of the song all sorts of musicians are adding their talents to the ever growing “wall of sound” that is emerging. At the start…

I love this song. Not only a fun story, but the lyrics are flying by at what I consider to be breakneck speed. The turn around at the end of the song if fun too. This is one of Garth Berooks MANY #1 country hits. Oh, and Garth’s wife, Trisha Yearwood,  provides harmony vocals.  According to…

I clearly remember hearing this song for the first time. Yes, it’s a soulful slow love song and yes, lead singer Philip Bailey’s voice is great.  But it isn’t until the very end of this 8 minute live recording that one learns exactly what a remarkable singer Philip  Bailey is. Alto sax player Don Myrick…

A nice slow doo-wop ballad from 1957…”I Won’t be The Fool Anymore”. Originally named “The Hearts” the group had to change their name when they learned there was already a group of the same name in the area of Jamiaca, Queens in New York. Thus they became “The Heartbeats. In the mid fifties James “Shep”…

This song is from the late 1980’s, and is a softer kind of funk groove. I would ride the Red Line to Washington Street station to get to my job at the Shawmut Bank data center at 1 Federal St. I had a Walkman and a large collection of cassette tapes that I would listen…

This song has a wonderful, but quite involved back story. The VERY short version is that Dionne Warwick released this song in early 1964 and it shot to #1 in the U.S.  In February of 1964, Beatles producer George Martin recorded a somewhat unknown Cilla Black singing the song. The song moved quickly up the…

Great song!! Starts out with the electric piano and then builds with added drums and bass and from there turns into a 5 minute opus. Every musician gets to showcase their licks, and Stevie plays several different keyboards during the song. The song moves from section to section subtley and smoothly. It takes a long…

Back to the 60’s for this bubble-gummy song by one time wonders, The McCoys. This is yet one more song about the challenges of love between people who live on different sides of the track. (e.g. Johnnie River’s “Poor Side of Town”). The song is not deep or illuminating, but then it isn’t meant to…

I have always loved oldies and the street corner & garage groups that sang the first “doo-wop” songs in Philadelphia, New York City, and various towns in New Jersey. Many of us know the classic doo-wop songs like “Come and Go with Me” by the Del Vikings and “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” by…

This is a great South African gospel song. I LOVE the harmonies and the voices of African gospel, and this song has it all. It if from an album/CD titled “The Best of South African Choral & Gospel Choirs”

This song always sort of catches me by surprise because I don’t know exactly how it got into my music library and I really don’t know who Shelby Lynne is. She has a lovely voice and the song is beautiful in its own right. A favorite for sure.

Ah…summer of 1972! One year out of B.U and the proud co-owner of a sub and pizza place right smack dab in the center of Henniker, N.H.; home of New England College and the ONLY Henniker on earth.I LOVE Tower of Power…wonderful funky guitar riffs, great horn section, and gifted soul composers Emilio Castillo and…