Enjoyment

The first Rod Stewart album I bought was "Every Picture Tells A Story" and that was so good I wasn't sure about the follow up. I seem to remember the album and lead single "Maggie May" both topped the American and UK charts simultaneously in the days when you had to move product to actually get a chart placing.

The follow up "Never A Dull Moment" was possibly even better with some gorgeous songs and the excellent lead single "You Wear It Well" plus many others including "True Blue", "Lost Paraguayos" and a storming take on Sam Cooke's "Twistin' The Night Away" with a cracking drum break from , I assume , Kenny Jones. The Faces were always around for the early Rod outings.

Rod Stewart is one of the all time finest interpretive singers and he could write a good song himself.

His early albums contain some great songs and covers, check out "Gasoline Alley"

For the creative finale came with "Atlantic Crossing" which was when he hit paydirt, although he has still produced the odd gem. It is quite amusing when no one knows our favourite artists and we complain because they don't get the appropriate recognition, and then when they do it hit the big time we complain that they sold out. Let's face it we all do what suits us best.

So this brief Rod Stewart appreciation is topped by "You Wear It Well" and that's for everyone that does.

#AprilSongs #20 Another Saturday Night

Resuming the #AprilSongs sequence this gorgeous Saturday morning and I and going with "Another Saturday Night" by Sam Cooke, which was also covered by Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam). Both artists produced some essential songs in their bodies of work so it is nice to actually find this link between them.

Sam Cooke was shot dead in 1964 at the age of 33 by Bertha Franklin the manager of the Hacienda Hotel in Los Angeles. He was shot 30 times in wat the court decided was a "justifiable homicide", ir being black in the USA is still a reasonable excuse to shoot someone. There is one take on it here

The song does have some misogynistic lines, with the assumption of male privilege, but it is a fine tune and was a product of it's time but he was responsible for some extremely powerful songs like a "A Change Is Gonna Come" .

Yusuf Islam is still with us and making music that is still worth listening to.

So time for a shower and then despatching an Eric Burdon CD for a Discogs order and maybe a walk into town.

Saturnight

I'm sure the title was used for a Cat Stevens compilation in the dim and distant past, in fact it was a Japanese only live pressing from 1976. Here's the description scraped formAmazon:

"CAT STEVENS Saturnight - Cat Stevens Live In Tokyo (Scarce 1974 Japanese-only limited edition 12-track LP recorded at Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo in June 1974 & housed in a unique numbered sleeve with world tour dates that year printed on the back with an illustrated inner six-page Japanese/lyric insert & obi-strip. "

The title is a contraction of "Another Saturday Night" the song of Sam Cooke's that he covered and had a biggish hit with.

I am enjoying "The Fourteenth Letter" though people are dropping like flies and there seem to be a plethora of subplots to unravel and get tangled in.

I've also finished the last episode of "Timewasters" and hoping that there is a series two in the pipeline.

It's eleven of the clock on Saturday night so Cat Steven's "Another Saturday Night" would be appropriate, although it shares it's title with a great zydeco compilation by Charlie Gillett which I have a copy of on vinyl.

Sleep well.

Give A Long Hug Today #4 - 1960 - Chain Gang

Sometimes things don't happen as fast as we would like. For some people this is an excuse to get angry. As you know I don't do angry. This morning the internet connection has been slow and though it is picking up , means that I have to be aware that all this might disappear in a puff of smoke , well not literally.

That can be true of anything in our lives , which is why , personally , I do tend to wnat things to happen quickly rather than slowly because , tomorrow , next week , next month , next year the opportunity may have slipped from our grasp.

Don't get me wrong , life is great , but I have friends who have difficulties , and things like that can't be put off or left.  Sometimes we feel pressured by modern life , what we need to have , and what we must have. We need a bigger car , bigger house , more money ,more whatever the media tells us , we need to be thinner , fitter , more conformist. Well actually thats just corportations and governments telling us that basically coming down to the worship of money.

What I do is say bugger that, I'm going to care for my friends , spend time with them when I can, MAKE that time , support local businesses ,relax (I'm, in a hotel room with no TV or radio or room telephone) but yes we are in 2015 so I have my internet connected laptop and mobile phone so I can release this on the world which I know 50 of you will read and maybe think about.

My blog has twice been called weird and not making any sense by correspondence ,but that has been applied to me also so it doesn't bother me too much.

Hugs Are Good

I saw an meme on facebook that said a long hug produces amazing benefits rather than the standard three
second, and wile we can all hug the one we are with , go and hug a friend who needs its it will make your day and their day soooooo much better.

On day 4 of my song cycle and from 1960 , my fourth year I have chosen the bitter sweetly beautiful Chain Gang by Sam Cooke for you to enjoy.