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Thursday, March 25, 2010

April showers bring.....a little Spring set of tunes

Almost April showers...and some nice late March sunshine...

Ahhhh, Spring! It's on the way in....glimmers of it showing here in Chicago.  The nights are still cold, but it is getting warmer by the day. On that note...a little departure from the 1964 project. A little set of tunes for Spring....enjoy.

Here's the link:

http://www.4shared.com/file/247825028/265e736d/spring.html


Here's the tunage:


kd lang-I Dream Of Spring
    From the 2008 Watershed CD. "These cold dark places, places I've been..In cold dark places, I dream of spring". OK, so it's a metaphor for bad relationships, but the chorus reminded me of Chicago this morning....brrrrrr.

Rufus Wainwright-April Fools
    I am not a big fan of Rufus....I mean please, "Rufus does Judy at Carnegie Hall"? feh! I'll listen to Judy, thankuverymuch. Pity, because I adored his father's work...Loudon Wainwright III was an amazing songwriter. Well, not surprising, I suppose, because I always been less than of fan of his mother's work, Kate McGarrigle (Anna and Kate McGarrigle).  Well, One of of three ain't bad. This song, however, in spite of a ridiculous video, has been a favourite since its release in 1998.

Lanae' Hale-Spring again
    "Please give me one more chance, And I know I don’t deserve this. But I swear I won’t forget...If you just let it be spring again". Not the biggest fan contemporary Christian songwriters/singers, but, I like her very personal lyrics and her voice.

Kurt Elling-April in Paris
    From the 1997 CD, "The Messenger". IMHO, the Chicago singer is one of the best voices in jazz today. A very funky take on the old standard.

Perez Prado-Cherry Pink and apple blossom white
    Ahhhh, the Cuban born "King of Mambo"......the 1955 cha-cha the held the #1 spot on the US charts for over 10 weeks. When I hear this I visualize Jane Russell dancing to it, in the movie, "Underwater" :D (not the worst visual, to be sure!).

Noah And The Whale-The first days of Spring
    The title cut of the 2009 second CD from London's "Noah and the whale"

The Meters-The flower song
    Choice instrumental from the 1972,  "Cabbage Alley". New Orleans' Meters first release on Reprise Records, after the three best known recordings on Josie records ("The Meters" 1969, "Look-Ka Py Py",1969, and "Struttin'", 1970.

Mady Mesplé/Danielle Millet-flower duet (lakme-Delibes)
    "The Flower Duet" (Viens, Mallika, les lianes en fleurs... Sous le dôme épais), the duet, between  Lakmé and Mallika, from  Delibes’ 1883 Lakmé. This is the Orchestre du Theatre National de L'opera-Comique, recording, with Mady Mesplé, and Danielle Millet.
T.W. Sams-Springtime Blues
    Recorded in the '50s for Johnny Otis' Dig label.

Sugarland-April Showers
    From the 2006 CD, "Enjoy the ride". As always, Jennifer Nettles voice kicks my ass.

June Christy-Spring can really hang you up the most
    From the 1958 LP "The Song is June". A favourite since childhood. I love the strange melancholy of these lyrics....

Charlie Parker-I'll remember April
    From the 1950 Mercury LP "Bird with strings Vol. 2"

Diana Krall-A blossom fell
    "A blossom fell from off a tree, It settled softly on the lips you turn to me. The gypsies say and I know why,  A falling blossom only touches lips that lie".....damn! could I get a bit morose, or what?? this is supposed to be spring!! From the 1996 Cd, "All For You (A Dedication To The Nat King Cole Trio)".

John Pizzarelli-It might as well be Spring
        From the 1996 CD, "After Hours".

Prince-Sometimes it snows in April
    From the 1986 Prince and The Revolution "Parade: Music from the Motion Picture Under the Cherry Moon". "Sometimes it snows in April, Sometimes I feel so bad, so bad Sometimes I wish life was never ending, and all good things, they say, never last"...yup, guess I'm staying on the melancholy Spring thang....lol.

Buddy Collette Quartet-It's April
    1949 recording, by the West Coast sax player and his quartet.

Comedian Harmonists-Veronika, der Lenz ist da
    The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1927 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II. The group consisted of Harry Frommermann , Ari Leschnikoff, Erich Collin , Roman Cycowski , Robert Biberti , and Erwin Bootz. The group's success continued into the early 1930s, but eventually ran into trouble with the Nazi regime: three of the group members - Frommermann, Collin, and Cycowski - were either Jewish or of Jewish descent, and Bootz had married a Jewish woman. The Nazis progressively made the group's professional life more difficult, initially banning pieces by Jewish composers, and finally prohibiting them from performing in public. The group's last concert was in Munich on March 25, 1934. "Veronika, der Lenz ist da" is one of their best known songs, written by Walter Jurmann. It has been covered by countless artists to this day. It's a pretty risque lyric for the time....Spring...sex...love it.

Cassandra Wilson-Aguas De Marco (Waters of March)
    "Águas de Março" is a Brazilian song composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim. In 2001, "Águas de Março" was named as the all-time best Brazilian song in a poll of more than 200 Brazilian journalists, musicians and other artists conducted by Brazil's leading daily newspaper, Folha de São Paulo. This English version was on Cassandra Wilson's 2002 Blue Note CD "Belly of the Sun".

Anita O'Day /Cal Tjader-Spring will be a little late this year
    From the amazing 1962 collaboration between Cal and Anita, "Time for two". Yeah, I KNOW I probably put a massive amount of Anita on my lists of tunes...lol....Oh, well....I guess being as huge a fan of hers as I have been for my entire life, I suppose I can always find a song of hers to fit almost any mood....prolly doesn't hurt that I have pretty much anything she ever recorded....lol. 

Arcadia Peacock Orchestra Of St. Louis-Spring Has Come
    A 1924 recording on Okeh Records.

Jessie Matthews-When You've Got A Little Springtime In Your Heart
    A 1934 recording by the popular British dancer and singer, Jessie Matthews, from the Rodgers and Hart musical, Evergreen.

Janis Joplin-Flower in the sun
    "Once in a green time a flower,  Oh, fell in love with the sun. The passion lasted for an hour...And then she wilted from her loved one" A previously unissued cut, included on the 1999 remaster of "Cheap Thrills", Big Brother & the Holding Company's 1968 major label debut.

Gillian Welch-April The 14th (Part 1)
    From the 2001 release, "Time(The Revelator)".

Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra-April Showers
    An October 27, 1921 recording of "April Showers", by the Whiteman band. This was a popular version, but the song became a massive hit, in 1922, for Al Jolson.

Here it is....a little departure into songs about Spring....kinda low key...but, I'm in that mood, this morning.....enjoy.

Soon to come: Part II of the 1964 list.

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