We continue our post again with a 60s song. This week's song is a song written by British musician Peter Green, which first appeared as a Fleetwood Mac single in various countries in 1968, subsequently appearing on the 1969 Fleetwood Mac compilation albums English Rose (US) and The Pious Bird of Good Omen (UK), as well as Vintage Years.
However, the song became really famous in 1970 and most people think that this version (the first song below) is the original...
Here is the song for this week;
"Black Magic Woman"
In various interviews, Peter Green has acknowledged that "Black Magic Woman" was influenced by "All Your Love", an Otis Rush song that had been recorded two years earlier by Green's former band, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers (albeit with Eric Clapton, Green's predecessor, on lead guitar).
Although not as popular as Santana's arrangement two years later, "Black Magic Woman" nevertheless became a fairly popular blues rock hit peaking at No. 37 in the UK Singles Chart.
The royalties generated by Santana's cover of this song helped sustain the song's writer, Peter Green, after he left Fleetwood Mac. Green gave most of his money away when he left the band, and would have found himself destitute later in the '70s if he didn't get checks from his old hits.
Here are the 3 versions I picked for you;
Santana - "Black Magic Woman"
Patricia Barber - "Black Magic Woman"
Lila Downs - "Black Magic Woman"
Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).
nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.
It seems that many things are starting to get back to normal but unfortunately I see an easing on the measures and I really hope that this will not cause a comeback of the virus as many scientists suggest. Let's all be prudent and get over with this thing with minimal damage.
As Little Richard once said;
“I am the innovator. I am the originator. I am the emancipator. I am the architect of rock 'n' roll.”
Here is the list for the weekend;
Little Richard - "Good Golly Miss Molly"
Placebo - "Where Is My Mind"
Exotourisme - "Des Ombres"
Zombies - "Time Of The Season"
Shigeru Suzuki - "Lady Pink Panther"
Hope you have a great weekend.
nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.
This week's song is coming from the warm and sunny beaches of Brazil. It is one of the great and fine examples of Bossanova that was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes.
Here is the song for this week;
"The Girl From Ipanema"
The first commercial recording of "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") was in 1962, by Pery Ribeiro. The Stan Getz recording featuring the vocal debut of Astrud Gilberto became an international hit. This version had been shortened from the version on the album Getz/Gilberto (recorded in March 1963, released in March 1964) which had also included the Portuguese lyrics sung by Astrud's then-husband João Gilberto.
Jobim and Moraes were inspired by Helo Pinheiro, a young Brazilian girl who wore a bikini and regularly walked "Like a samba" past the "Veloso" bar that they frequented. In a 2008 feature in The Seattle Times, Pinheiro revealed she would walk by the songwriters on her way to buy cigarettes for her mother. She claims to be the first person on the beach to wear a two-piece bathing suit. We also learn that she had four children, posed for Brazilian Playboy twice (the second time with her daughter), and opened a boutique in Sao Paulo called "Garota de Ipanema" (Girl from Ipanema).
In 2001, the song's copyright owners (heirs of their composer fathers) sued Pinheiro for using the title of the song as the name of her boutique (Garota de Ipanema). In their complaint, they stated that her status as The Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema) did not entitle her to use a name that legally belonged to them. Public support was strongly in favor of Pinheiro. A press release by Jobim and Moraes, the composers, in which they had named Pinheiro as the real Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema) was used as evidence that they had intended to bestow this title on her. The court ruled in favor of Pinheiro.
Ipanema is a fashionable district in Rio de Janeiro. It was a fairly obscure stretch of beach until this song made it famous. The street where the songwriters used to sit and watch the girls go by has been re-named Vinicius de Moraes Street after the lyricist.
When sung by female artists the song has often been rendered as "The Boy from Ipanema", such as by Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and The Supremes, Shirley Bassey and Eartha Kitt. Petula Clark sang it on The Muppet Show. Crystal Waters recorded her version for the various artists Red Hot + Rio compilation and was later included on her greatest hits set. Diana Krall recorded another version on her album Quiet Nights.
Here are the 5 versions I picked for you;
Amy Winehouse - "The Girl From Ipanema"
Diana Krall - "The Girl From Ipanema"
Oscar Peterson Trio - "The Girl From Ipanema"
Cher - "The Girl From Ipanema"
Lio - "The Girl From Ipanema"
Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).
nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.
This week, I am saddened to learn the demises of two great musicians. Florian Schneider, the co-founder of the German electronic band Kraftwerk and Millie Small, Jamaican singer-songwriter passed away during this week. I have included songs from both in order to pay a tribute to these great artists.
As Langston Hughes once wrote;
“Life is for the living. Death is for the dead. Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid.”
Here is the list for the weekend;
Kraftwerk - "The Man Machine" (from Florian's last live performance)
Millie Small - "My Boy Lollipop"
Placebo - "Meds"
Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - "Lift Off "
Will Butler - "Anna"
Hope you have a great weekend.
nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.
This week we lost a great drummer, a true pioneer of Afrobeat sound, Tonny Allen passed away in Paris. Therefore I would like to dedicate this post to him. He was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979. He was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived."
The piece I chose for this week is a musical composition by Bobby Timmons, first recorded by Art Blakey's band on the 1958 album of the same title.
Here is the song for this week;
"Moanin'"
The piece has a call and response melody. One account of its creation was given by Benny Golson, the tenor saxophonist in Blakey's band: Timmons had the opening eight bars, which he often played between tunes, but formed the complete song only after Golson encouraged him to add a bridge. It is played in F minor.
"Moanin'" has been recorded numerous times and has become a jazz standard.
Here are the 3 versions I picked for you;
Tony Allen - "Moanin"
José James - "Moanin"
Sarah Vaughan - "Moanin"
Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).
nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.
