Music Archives - Page 206 of 238

Ziggy Stardust Birthday

In February 1972, David Bowie first appeared onstage as Ziggy Stardust.

On February 10, 1972, the yet-to-be-superstar David Bowie stepped on the stage of The Toby Jug pub in London making his first appearance as Ziggy Stardust. At the time, Bowie had found some popularity with his song “Space Oddity” in 1969 and other work, but he had been searching for his own style and broader success. Bowie’s album about Ziggy, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, would not come out for six months after Ziggy’s first appearance.

Still, at least some of the sixty patrons of the pub recognized something big was happening. One audience member later recalled: “Bowie had brought theatre to a humble pub gig….I couldn’t blink for fear of missing something—nothing would ever be the same again.”

The alien rock star Ziggy arrived at the right time. The music of the album and Ziggy’s story of a rock star coming to earth and finding his destruction was perfect for the time. Rock music was changing, London was facing economic hard times, and the world was embraced by a Cold War. Bowie’s album went to number 5 on the U.K. Albums Charts (and number 75 in the U.S. n the Billboard 200).

Below is another 1972 performance from a little later in the year on June 21, 1972. The video features video from a Dunstable show synced with audio from another 1972 show. Check it out.

For more about Ziggy Stardust and his impact on society and music, check out this BBC documentary, David Bowie & The Story Of Ziggy Stardust. Among the interesting tidbits in the documentary, the narrator explains how Anthony Newley had an impact on Bowie.

David Bowie Discusses Ziggy Stardust, Animated

Karen O and Willie Nelson Record “Under Pressure” (Pandemic Song of the Day)

Michael Stipe’s Tribute to David Bowie

Isolated Vocals of Bowie and Mercury: “Under Pressure”

Dwight Yoakam on Acting and Music

Singing “Space Oddity” In a Tin Can Far Above the World

New Discovery: Sadie Jemmett “Up on the Heath”

I recently ran across some excellent music by Sadie Jemmett, a British singer-songwriter who claims to be influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. I hear a little Natalie Merchant in there, but I just know I really like her song, “Up On the Heath” and have been listening to it over and over again.

Below is an acoustic version of the song. Check it out.

If you like that one, check out the full band arrangement of the song and the rest of the album, The Blacksmith’s Girl (2011), below. Although she has been writing, performing, and recording with others for about a decade, The Blacksmith’s Girl is her first solo CD. Make sure to listen to “I’m Glad You’re Back.”

Sadie Jemmett – The Blacksmith’s Girl by Sadie Jemmett

Check out an Acoustic Magazine interview and her website for more music and to learn more.

Beatles Arrive in America This Date in 1964

On February 7 in 1964, the Beatles landed at New York’s Kennedy airport, arriving in the United States for the first time and taking the country by storm. Two days later, on February 9, Paul McCartney (21), Ringo Starr (23), John Lennon (23), and George Harrison (20) appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in front of screaming fans.

The four continued on a short American tour before returning to England on February 22. In the next few months, they had several hits in the U.S. and released their film, A Hard Days Night (1964). And then they returned to the U.S. in August to play sold-out arenas.

On their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, during the first half of the show, the Beatles performed “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You,” and “She Loves You.” They returned later in the program to sing “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”

Before the last two songs, Sullivan announced that Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker had sent the group a congratulations telegram.

The video below features the Beatles performing “I Want to Hold Your Hand” at this appearance. So, remember when rock was young while watching The Beatles play during their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show around a half century ago.

What do you think of the performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

Buy from Amazon

The Latest and Last Beatles Song: “Now and Then”

Ringo Starr Records a John Lennon Song (with a little help from Paul McCartney)

New Beatles ‘A Day in the Life’ Video

The Beatles’ “Black Album” from “Boyhood”

All I’ve Got Is a Photograph

Hear the Beatles Sing Without Music on “Abbey Road” Medley

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Super Bowl Songs: The Only Living Boy in New York

Now that we have already discussed this year’s Super Bowl movies and a song for the New England Patriots, it is time to pick a song for the New York Giants. A New York team gives us several options of the many “New York” songs. After I discovered there was not a good video of John Coltraine playing “Giant Steps,” I was leaning toward one of my favorite Bruce Springsteen songs, but then I remembered the beautiful Simon & Garfunkel song, “The Only Living Boy in New York.” Considering that the Giants play their home games in New Jersey, the song also has a connection to that state, having been featured in the movie Garden State (2004), which is set in the “Garden State” of New Jersey.

Although the song may work for the listener in many contexts, such as in that movie, much of the perfection of the song comes from the fact that it had personal meaning for Paul Simon:

“Tom, get your plane right on time;
I know your part will go fine;
Fly down to Mexico.”

Simon and Garfunkel started out in 1957 performing under the name “Tom & Jerry,” so one may see from the opening line that the song is a message to Tom, i.e., Art Garfunkel. In an interview, Simon explained, “That was written about Artie’s going off to make Catch 22 in Mexico.” At the time, Garfunkel had left Simon in New York to act in the movie Catch 22 (1970). One hears Simon’s melancholy at being left behind by his friend and singing partner in the chords of the song.

The song appeared on Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970), the last studio album from the team, and one hears the dissolution of the collaboration and the sadness of a deteriorating friendship that had started in high school. In the original, one hears the sadness in both voices, and you still hear it in Simon’s voice looking back as an older man.

As for this weekend, New York Giant fans hope they will not have sadness in their voices after Sunday’s game.

Post-Super Bowl Update: After the Giants won the game, the song played in the stadium was “Empire State of Mind” by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z. Another good song choice.

What do you think of “The Only Living Boy in New York”? What “New York” song would you pick for this year’s Super Bowl? Leave your two cents in the comments.

The Last Simon & Garfunkel Concert

American Tune

American Tune: We Came on a Ship in a Blood Red Moon

Nina Simone: “To Love Somebody” (Cover of the Day)

Allison Russell: “The Returner” (Song of the Day)

Allison Russell’s “Nightflyer” (Song of the Day)

(Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)

The Day the Music Died & American Pie

Watch a video filled with images explaining possible references in Don McLean’s song “American Pie.”

On this date of February 3 in 1959, a small plane crashed in a cornfield near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing the pilot Roger Peterson along with his famous passengers: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper. The three were on “The Winter Dance Party” tour throughout the Midwest, a tour that also included Dion and a young bass player named Waylon Jennings. The tour traveled by bus, but for the trip to Moorhead, Minnesota, the three performers chartered a plane.

In the future, Chimesfreedom plans to revisit more of the story, but for today check out this cool video that someone put together for Don McLean‘s song, “American Pie.” The song is celebrating its fortieth anniversary, as around this time in 1972 following the song’s release a few months earlier on Nov. 27, 1971, the song had climbed the charts so you could not turn on the radio without hearing “American Pie.”

Through the years, McLean has been notoriously vague about specific meanings of the imagery in the song, but it is widely accepted that the opening and refrain of the song centers on his memories of hearing about the death of the three singers in the plane crash. In his memory, he wondered what would happen to rock and roll after such a great loss, which led to an era of Pat Boone and Fabian songs.

Of course, now we know, unfortunately, that rock an roll has survived many such losses since then, but these were the early days. Anyway, the video does a good job of explaining some of the imagery, and even if it is not 100% correct about the images, it provides an interesting interpretation to much of the song. Check it out.