Category: Music History

Song of the Day – Remembering Peter Appleyard

Peter Appleyard with Dick Hyman , 2007 Toronto...
Peter Appleyard with Dick Hyman , 2007 Toronto Jazz Festival (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

British born, but Canadian jazz composer and percussionist Peter Appleyard passed away on July 18, 2013.He was 84.  Born in England, he moved to Bermuda in 1949 , eventually landing in Toronto a few years later.  In the 1950’s and 60’s , he was a staple on CBC radio, performing live on various shows.  In the 1970’s he began touring and playing with the Benny Goodman sextet.  As time went on, his reputation grew as a world class vibraphonist.  He played with such greats as Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, while always maintaining his base in Toronto. Among his many awards were a Juno and the Order of Canada.  Terrific player. I have posted here a couple of tunes, the first a recent live performance of “It don’t Mean A Thing” and an older clip of “Tangerine”.  Both of them have many great artists along with him.

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Remembering Reg Presley

With a Girl like You
With a Girl like You (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reg Presley passed away on February 4, 2013.  Reg was an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer for 19560’s band The Troggs.  They has several hits back in the day, but the one he will be most remembered for will be “Wild Thing“.  The band also had a major hit with “With A Girl Like You”.  Both are linked  below.  He was also an author, writing “Wild Things They Don’t Tell Us”, a book about lost civilizations etc. Another piece of my youth has left us.

And a bonus, the answer to who originally did Wet Wet Wet’s 1994 hit “Love Is All Around”.

Song Of The Day – The Monkees – “Goin’ Down”

The Best of The Monkees
The Best of The Monkees (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It has been a tough week.  Been to busy to sit at the keyboard, with more hecticness to come. Blogging will be slow until next week.  Having said that, we did find time to finish off Breaking Bad to current.  Heard this song on the credits(great show for music) and had to smile.  I mean, The Monkees!!.  Still, a great song, good enough to make song of the day.

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Song Of The Day – David Byrne – This Must Be The Place

English: David Byrne playing at Austin City Li...
English: David Byrne playing at Austin City Limits 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I heard this on Later with Jools Holland the a while back.  I needed to put this up.  First, I know it is the Talking Heads who did this, but hey, it is David Byrne.  Second, it proves he is still around, at least in 2004 and third, what a great song.

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Remembering Jimmy Jones

01 - Jimmy Jones
01 – Jimmy Jones (Photo credit: Bradford Timeline)

 

Singer Songwriter Jimmy Jones died on August 2, 2012.  He was 75.  He was a Sam Cooke style singer, with a great falsetto.  He is best known for his huge hit from 1960 “Handy Man“, which reached number 2  in 1960.  His other hit was Good Timin’, which rose to number 3, also in 1960.  After these 2 successes, he continued to record and write.  His influence has been noted by such people as Del Shannon.

 

Handy Man

 

 

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Good Timin

 

 

Canada’s Best Music – 5 Songs At A Time – Part 28

Heavy on the classic stuff again.  Canada did have a thriving cottage industry in music during the 70’s and 80’s.  There is also another trivia answer in here somewhere.

1. Five Man Electrical Band

“I’m a Stranger Here”

Five Man Electrical Band
Five Man Electrical Band (Photo credit: tab2space)

Another song from the group that brought us “Signs”.

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2. Idle Eyes

“Tokyo Rose”

Another 80’s group that enjoyed moderate success in Canada, especially with this tune.  They won a Juno for most promising new group in 1985.

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3. Indio

“Big Hard Sun”

[there’s a big] a big hard sun
[there’s a big] a big hard sun (Photo credit: [noone])
The trivia question.  Eddie Vedder covered this tune from Canadian singer-songwriter Indio.  Indio (Gordon Peterson) released 1 album in his career titled “Big Harvest” in 1989.  This was a hit in Canada and became worldwide after Eddie covered it.

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4. Crash Vegas

Pocahontas

Red Earth (Crash Vegas album)
Red Earth (Crash Vegas album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kind of a depressing song from a very good band.  This song was released in 1994.

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5. Ron Hynes

“Sonny’s Dream“

Ron Hynes at the Rose
Ron Hynes at the Rose (Photo credit: Kent Barrett)

Canadian folk singer Ron Hynes hit gold in 1976 with the Sonny’s Dream.  The song has become a standard and has been recorded by a multitude of artists around the world,  The version here is a live duet with Alan Doyle of the group Great Big Sea.

Song Of The Day – Donald Byrd – Falling Like Dominoes

Cover of "Places & Spaces"
Cover of Places & Spaces

 

I heard this song in a tapas bar in Barcelona and it blew us away.  The song is off a Donald Byrd album, “Places and Spaces” and was released in 1975.  Donald was born in 1932 and has recorded since the 1950’s.  An accomplished trumpet player, he has over 46 albums to his credit and many more as a sideman to such artists as Kenny Clarke, Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane.  We need more players like this to be in the forefront of music.  Makes a lot of today’s talent look imbecilic, doesn’t it.

 

Falling Like Dominoes

 

 

Remembering Faruq Z. Bey

Alto saxophone
Alto saxophone (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

June 1 saw the passing of American jazz saxophonist, Faruq Z. Bey . He was best known for his time with Griot Galaxy, a free jazz band from the 1970’s and 80’s.  In the mid 80’s, he was forced to leave the band after a bike accident that left him in a coma for some time.  He returned to playing in the mid 90’s.  I have posted a couple of videos here in tribute to this outstanding musician.  The first is with his band “The Northwood Improvisers”.  The second is with the Griot Galaxy.  Love Jazz.

 

Mystery of Love

 

 

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Androgyny

 

 

Remembering Doc Watson

 

English: From Flickr: Doc Watson, 86 years old...
English: From Flickr: Doc Watson, 86 years old, plays to the crowd at another fantastic Sugar Grove Music Fest. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

May 29 was a very sad day for me.  Doc Watson passed away.  What a player!!  Nothing to say, just listen.

 

Deep River Blues

 

 

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Windy and Warm

 

 

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Sitting On Top Of The World

 

 

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What a talent, and a connection to the old blues and folk singers of the 20’s, 30’s and beyond.  Greatly missed.

 

Remembering Toni Arden

Big band singer Toni Arden passed away on May 29.  She was 88.  Toni’s real name was Antoinette Ardizzone.  She started recording in the 1940’s with a lot of bands, including Frankie Laine.  Her only major hit was Padre in 1958, which was also her only million seller.  The song I have chosen is a good showpiece for her voice and is typical of the early 50’s.  Good song.  Hope you enjoy.

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