Tuesday Afternoon (Vid of the Day)

There’ll be Tuesdays like these (and the rest of each week’s days, too), where there’ll just not be time enough to log in to blog. I simply needed to take care of some way too long neglected biz. Sure, I could now get into the boring particulars, but, who’d ever want to read about a mundane, important to me / trivial to you, non-blogworthy non-event?

However… on to the practicalities…

I would still like to live up to my Vid of the Day presentation schedule. Of course, with a goodly portion of our world now in Wednesday mode, I’m already too late. But, on a technicality, here in America (thanks to Hawaii) it’ll still be Tuesday. for approximately five more hours.

Even better… regardless of when we click our clip’s playback button, we’ll be treated to YouTuber pianist Ben’s fine cover of the Moody Blues aptly titled classic… Tuesday Afternoon.

 

 

 

 

The Story Without End ~ Vid of the Day

It’d be a tough assignment for anyone to cover and outshine singer / songwriter Justin Hayward’s The Story in Your Eyes… unless… of course… you are Justin Hayward. To even categorize this back to the basics, almost entirely unplugged version as “unplugged” could easily be the misnomer of the new millennium. We are talking about a performance supercharged with the inexhaustible energy of the human spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

Seventeen Come Sunday (Sunday Song Series)

Throughout the ages, life enriching, mind expanding, mood elevating orchestral performances have been within earshot of anyone who’ll dare to be musically adventurous… bold enough to “go there”. For all who do (or yearn to) march to the beat of a different drum… awaiting you is our featured Sunday Song Series Week #42 track…

Ralph Vaughan Williams’ English Folk Song Suite I – Seventeen Come Sunday

I know. I know. Some deem classical music to be uncool. Within the first few played notes, they’re apt to cut and run towards the nearest red X’ed circular exit sign. That’s no exaggeration, either. The YouTube view counts on such vlogs oft languish in the “dusty” absolute zero zone.

So… why risk featuring such music in this venue? Because [1] I dig that different drumbeat and [2] when it comes down to lackluster site “hits”… well… hell… I could’ve written “The Book”. If the tracks I do spin and blog about here brand me the musical misfit / literary leper… HEY… it’s no skin off my… uh… nose.

I suppose my “sordid” musical past is “to blame”… i.e., my experiencing nearly an entire lifetime’s worth of classical music. There are countless examples, but, to cite just a few…

As a young’un and tween, playing in “heavy rotation” on my monaural record player was Johann Strauss’ The Blue Danube Waltz, op.314. And no kidding… there were even the 6:30 p.m., M-F airings of NBC-TV’s Huntley / Brinkley Report, which featured… as its closing theme song… a brief segment from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, 2nd Movement… conducted by Arturo Toscanini

As a teenager, there were plenty of Sixties era orchestrally enhanced rockers. Instantly coming to mind is the Beatles’ A Day in the Life. And, as the Moody Blues could readily attest, it is possible to base and build an entire, half century long (and still counting) career upon Classical Music’s rock-solid foundation… starting with their entire album Days of Future Passed.

But that was the past… as for the future…

Our Sunday Song Series will be back seven days from now. Hopefully, you’ll be back, too?

 

ADDENDUM: Those above linked musical selections, if played back in their entirety, will take a bit over one hour. With time constraints being what they are in our lives, why not experience these tracks whilst cooking, dining, tidying up the joint, balancing the ol’ checkbook, studying… or even whilst creating your next blog post? Of course… that would mean missing out on some superb artwork which accompanies the Strauss vlog.

 

 

BlogCast: A.M. Music For All Our Tomorrows

 

If deep within you beats the heart and resides the soul of a poet…

If you harbor a mind which freely embraces trippy imagery…

If your eyes are drawn to worldly and otherworldly scenes…

If your ears are attuned to orchestral/progressive rock fusion at it very finest…

 

Oh… have the Moody Blues, YouTube videographer Nick Mort and I ever got a musical treat for you!

 

While this rather lengthy gem tracks out at just under ten minutes, for those who truly get into entrancing, mesmerizing soundscapes, you’ll soon be wishing our shared experience had lasted much longer.

Of course, such an expansion… by a multiple of four… would be totally within the realm of possibility. All one need do is what I’ve done quite regularly over the course of the past half century… in fact just this past a.m….

Give a listen to the entire Moody Blues CD, LP… or in the case of the linked vid the cassette copy of Days of Future Passed… the band’s debut 1967 album.

True, such a playback will be minus the images, but… I’m certain most of us have experienced many of of Mother Nature’s “OH WOW” moments. So, all we need do is project our fave, personal recollections onto the big screen within the theatre of our minds.

And with that in mind,

The Day Begins / Dawn is a Feeling / Another Morning

By the Moody Blues… accompanied by The London Festival Orchestra

If you LIKE what you heard, click back here for my regular monthly BlogCast scheduled for Sunday, October 1, 2017.

Past programs are archived in my BlogCast and music categories.

 

 

Four-Play (Week #12) A Salute To 71

 

Welcome to my twelfth Internet Blogcast. This week’s program could also be subtitled “Senior Moments”… a nod to the facts that my four featured tracks were transcending the musical charts’ stratosphere during my high school senior year… AND that, at present, I’m considered (by our ageist society) to be a senior citizen.

For you hippies who just happened to be stumbling down life’s highway along with me… oh… say… c1971… this music will stir a few fond where-were-you-when moments… perhaps the lyrics / stringed instruments might even tug a heartstring or two?

For those who are younger (perhaps hippie wannabes?)… be adventurous and give these classics a listen anyway… they really are that good!

Turning now to routine Blogcast housekeeping duties…

Beneath the applicable song titles, below, you’ll find links to three must see / must hear cover versions.

And while we’re on the subject… I’ve gotta give a shout out to the talented YouTube videographers and performers… the sensory stirring sights and sounds you bring to my Blogcast are akin to the cosmic Big Bang redux.

For any of my listeners who may’ve missed previous shows and/or would like to hear encore performances they’re all neatly archived in my music category.

Well, at this point, here’s where I’d usually say…

“Blog response will be akin to Arbitron / Nielsen “radio ratings”… so… if you’ve enjoyed what you’ve heard, click that “Like” Star. Of course, comments are always welcome, too!”

However… since my ratings, to date, do not warrant my continuing, meet me back here… same time… same “station”… for my last Blogcast… you never can tell what you’ll be hearing seven days from now.

Long sigh… that’s about all I’ve got. Since the music speaks for itself… that’s my cue to shut up and deliver the goods…

Who ~ Behind Blue Eyes

Cover Performed by Grace Doty

Moody Blues ~ The Story In Your Eyes

Led Zeppelin ~ Stairway To Heaven

Cover Performed by Jess Greenberg

Cover Performed by Chloé

John Lennon ~ Imagine

 

 

A Womb to the Tomb 21 Verse Salute

 

Chapter One

 

I ~ A child enters the world; mid-spring month of May,

Takes his first breath; on his very first day,

Communication unscripted; just cry to ad-lib,

His whole world revolves; around life in his crib.

 

II ~ Mom, Dad and his Sister; take him for a stroll,

The carriage’s wheels; squeak, wobble and roll,

There’s sunshine, fresh air; lilacs’ fragrant traces,

Leaves of green, clouds of white; smiles on family faces.

 

III ~ He hears others speak; he soon learns to talk,

Watches in awe; as upright, people walk,

Soon crawling on floor; leads to unsteady standing,

Takes first baby steps; his world is expanding.

 

IV ~ Looking down at the ground; can be dreary milieu,

To stand on two feet, expands his worldly view,

His new outlook on life, will enrich, empower,

Sunrays on one’s face; means to outshine and tower.

 

V ~ Each day in, day out; it’s playtime for this child,

With neighborhood pals; imaginations run wild,

With the out-of-doors turf; now under his feet,

He heeds parents’ warnings, “Stay out of the street!”

 

VI ~ He pedals his kiddie car; likewise with his trike,

Both soon abandoned; he learns to ride bike,

Training wheels are soon off; he’s giddy with glee,

Speeds down a hill’s sidewalk; feels totally free!

 

VII ~ One late p.m. summer; setting sun, western haze,

At his back are the sunbeams; cast a sight to amaze,

For this boy, who oft wishes; to be adult tall,

His long shadow appears; he no longer feels small.

 

VIII ~ The downtown four corners; present a new land,

To cross Michigan Ave.; Dad holds onto son’s hand,

Explains what the walk/don’t walk signals all mean,

“Look both ways”, his Dad warns, “Make sure you’ve been seen.”

 

IX ~ His first day at school; that special September,

His teacher shares knowledge; to learn and remember,

He quickly absorbs; all that’s worth knowing,

His mind and world, both; are constantly growing.

 

Chapter Two

 

X ~ For reasons he never; can comprehend fully,

He soon becomes victim; of more than one bully,

Monday through Friday; school grades 4 through 8,

He incurs their taunts, torture; their punches and hate.

 

XI ~ His principal / teacher; tell him not to tattle,

Won’t lift a finger; to end playground battle,

Sure, kid thugs move on; the boy loses them gladly,

Still, things could not have been; timed out more badly.

 

XII ~ That’s when woes worsen; deep sorrow sets in,

What he can’t face; his grotesque teenage skin,

With emotions tanked out; his will to live sinking,

Instead of enlarging; his world is now shrinking.

 

XIII ~ Spends countless “date nights”; in exile in his room,

Alone in life’s limbo; faces darkness and gloom,

This “no-win” confounds; his four walls confine,

His “prison cell” world; measures ten feet by nine.

 

XIV ~ A few kindhearted girls; accept his exterior,

Their warm smiles tend to soothe; his feelings inferior,

But true love’s elusive; stored on the top shelf,

That’s way out of reach; when one can’t love one’s self.

 

XV ~ His cap and gown cap off; grade K through 12 knowledge,

Soon earns his degree, too; at near hometown college,

But when Mom and Dad start; to feel ill, feel old,

He helps out at home; puts his life on hold.

 

Chapter Three

 

XVI ~ For the next thirty years; he works odd jobs, as well,

Labors hard behind gates; which enclose Retail Hell,

Endures the low pay; bosses’ oft nutty notions,

To stay close to home; passes up most promotions.

 

XVII ~ So selfless is he; he had totally neglected,

To network, make friends; to stay well connected,

With Mom, Dad now dead; good life’s beyond hope,

To see his small world; he’d need a microscope.

 

Epilogue

 

XVIII ~ His age and health issues; now breathe down his neck,

Retail’s “lift lead” “stand long”; left his bod a wreck,

At the end of each day; as his mind drifts toward slumber,

Asks, “How soon before God, calls up my number?”

 

XIX~ Wonders, too; when we die; what really remains?

Do our memories; our dreams; outlive our brains?

Will our atoms float lonely; in cold cosmos so vast?

Will they create future life; from our life in the past?

 

XX ~ Having opted out from; the parenthood matter,

His unique double helix; will unwind and scatter,

His blogged sentiments are; his one, last, sure bet,

For it’s been said nothing dies; when it “hits” Internet.

 

XXI ~ When will the “child” exit his world? Hard to say,

But he will take his last breath; his very last day,

Once talked out and cried dry; he’ll get his first gander,

At a world which revolves; around something far grander.