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treah wrote:-This Is Somewhere/Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
-Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007/Eric Clapton/DVD
-Several Bruce Hornsby Live releases (of course!)
Jackie
My nephew got the Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD. OMG, what amazing performances!!! For any of you who haven’t seen this…. DO!!!!!
Our dear friend from the South Side of The Sky wrote:[list:d91db]I think a Storytellers is long overdue[/list:u:d91db]
Don’t you know it, man. A Storytellers episde with Bruce would be a perfect fit for his affable way of telling stories both inside and outside of a song, and he’s had great stories to regale us with going all the way back to his early “while the band was jamming” raps with The Range when they played Down The Road Tonight. Come to think of it, a lot of the recordings I have of solo BH solo gigs are very much like Storytellers episodes. Who do we call to get him signed up? His adoring public demands it, even if we would fall just short of the now-legendary and soon-to-be-fabled trouser elephant method of getting his attention as a means of prodding him toward this. How ’bout them Mets?Rich
“If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.” – G.W. Bush, 12/19/2000
David (droppeddminer) wrote:I have quit West Yarmouth, Massachusetts, in favor of Orlando, Florida, a good move in most respects but according to Alyssa’s way cool map, it puts me all alone in this big ol’ red state…I don’t think Florida is really all that red a state. All that needs to be done to see the state as it really is would be to get rid of the shrubbery that seems to be blocking the view.
Rich
zncstr wrote:Victor wrote:Wow. More “Pastures.” Who knew?
What are the qualities that make it so popular?its a lyrically and musically a 10 all around…
sweet Jerry tones intertwining with Bruce’s sparkly display of prestidigitation and Molo taking it to another plane…it just doesnt get any betterIf you’ve been to Williamsburg and did a night on the town in the hysteric, uh, er, historic, area, you’ll know exactly what I’m referring to. If you haven’t, you should….
The first time I heard Pastures Of Plenty, my first thought was that Bruce must’ve written this after an evening out at Gambols at Chowning’s Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg. I could very easily see this song being done by one of the 18th-century-style balladeers (between a few of the bawdier numbers, of course) while sitting down and killing a few tankards with friends old and new.
I wonder if Bruce has ever told any specific stories about the origins and/or inspirations for this song.
Rich
OK, yet another of those moments hit, and so it’s time to keep y’all well-rounded by keeping this amazingly off-topic topic going….
Remember back in the 80s, when there was this silly dispute about whether or not Ray Parker, Jr. plagiarized Huey Lewis’s I Need A New Drug when he wrote and recorded the theme song from the Ghostbusters movie? I never did hear how that came out. However, I decided today that, while the song may have been ripped off from another, it wasn’t from the Lewis tune. Follow me here (even if you really don’t give a rip)….
I was listening to some old LPs and 45s, trying to compile a collection of old soul and funk songs for my nephew. He’s into that stuff these days, having recently discovered George Clinton and Funkadelic, and I am a very undulgent uncle with losts of old records. I came across a very cool old chestnut that I decided to include in the collection. I haven’t heard this song in about 20 years, when I heard the tune in another Dan Aykroyd movie, Spies Like Us. After listening to this tune, and considering the Aykroyd conneciton (he loved that old Stax soul, so much so that he and John Belushi even hired the bulk of Booker T & The MGs to be the Blues Brothers Band), I had the “aha!” revelation that this may indeed be the tune that was copied for Ghostbusters. What song is that? Why, Soul Finger, by The Bar-Kays. What a cool record, and a wonderful and quite forgotten band. Listen to it some time (you can hear it, if nowhere else, on free.napster.com), and tell me if you can’t hum along the Ghostbusters tune and make it fit. Heck, the “Ghostbusters!” answer to the “who ya gonna call?” line even fits when the background singers are shouting “soul finger!”
Now, to get this back on-topic… I think it would be cool if Bruce and Noisemakers would slip that tune in during the middle of one of their many “tour around the world” jams.
Now, I suggest you all go out and listen to some of that great and seemingly forgotten music. Check out The Staples Singers on the recordings of the WattStax benefit concert (they to the place up with their rendition of Respect Yourself), or some of Isaac Hayes’ classic raps (like on his version of By The Time I Get To Phoenix), or spend a few hours digging on Etta James (dont miss Tell Mama!) or Aretha Franklin. It’s great stuff and makes ya feel good.
Rich
“Ask him his dream. What does it mean? He don’t know” – C. Mayfield
David Day wrote:I’ll try to pick it out for you. Just let me know.An offer to pick something out AND a smile? There ya go, Dave. Good ol’ fashioned Southern entertainment — pickin’ and grinnin’
Rich
“Thank God and Greyhound she’s gone.” – R. Clark
Thanks, Bryan. It is a very cool thing you have done for us. I d/l’d the whole thing without a hitch back on Friday, and have been enjoying it ever since.
Rich
“Don’t download this song. Even Lars Ulrich knows it’s wrong.” – A. Yankovic
Victor wrote:Rich,Just wanted to add that I have many of these moments, and though I can’t really point to any, “Better Days” is as good an example as any!
Vic
VIc,
We’d love examples
When you have one of those moments, be sure to let us know Rich
Victor wrote:OK, cooleveningdancer, here was my first impression of “The Chill”:I thought the lyrics described a spouse arriving home to find a husband or wife in the midst of an affair:
“I’ve seen the signs and heard the rumors.” “I know I’ve had my fill, been run through the mill. Try to smile, but I feel it still.”
That person perhaps sees a strange car in the driveway and movement inside the house, then is filled with a cold rage:
“Imagination hold on tight. I’m sure there’s someone in there. I saw those curtains move there.” “Look at me with my eyes all a glistening.”
The spouse may be so upset that it brings tear, standing outside and feeling “The Chill.”
There you go; that’s what I thought! Feedback?
My first impression of that song was that it was about a little kid who got freaked out after hearing ghost stories and saw poltergeists in everything, including the breeze blowing a curtain, and thus, “the chill” being that instant feeling of fear that goes down your spine at the moment of first freak out.
Now, I think it might be another of Bruce’s “hometown story” tunes about the folks that ply their trade at the CI, uh, Armed Forces Experimental base at Camp Peary. Of course, that could just be my odd way of looking at things. After all, I tried to connect the primary subject of “Passing Through” to the cold-war-era spies in Ultravox’s “Mister X.” Maybe I played “Find The Spy In The Airport” too much as a kid.
Rich
“Would you gentlemen like a Pepsi?” – B.B.King
“What Little Richard song was the title of a Jayne Mansfield film?” – D. AykroydDavid Day (whilst doing the backstroke and sipping a mojito through a snorkel) wrote:Plenty of water still at Day’s End. Come on down sometimes!Due to a mishap in the airport at Orlando, I was actually near your stomping grounds a few weeks ago. I remember seeing a pic of a very drained-looking Lake Lanier on the front of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
To make a short story long, I mad a valiant stab for the Indulgent Husband of the Year Award by taking my wife to Disney in Orlando as a birthday present so that she could go to ABC Super Soap Weekend. We had a wonderful flight on AirTran from Newport News to Orlando, and we were happily booked for the non-stop return trip. However, airport security in Orlando was not having one of their better days on our way back, and we got delayed such that we arrived at our flight’s gate just as they were closing the door. There were 3 of us: my wife, myself, and a priest heading to New York. My first thought was, “wow, there has to be a bar joke in this somewhere…. hmm…. a married couple and a priest walk up to the ticket counter….” While we started out the window at our plane with our empty seats pulling away and taking off, AirTran booked us on the next flight that made a connection to Newport News – featuring a plane change and a 4 hour layover in Atlanta. So, Lisa and I spent 4 insanely boring hours hanging out by the AirTran gates on concourse D, and saw what appeared to be a gorgeous sunset through a tinted glass window.
At least Bruce wasn’t waiting for a flight at the same time. After about 2 hours of hanging around, I might have been bored enough to have gone over and introduced myself by using the earlier-mentioned trouser elephant method.
Common Rich
“Get up for the down stroke” – G. Clinton
I’ll bet Bruce and band could even make the transition between “Big Stick” and Ian Dury’s “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” and back work.
A fun “cover” medley would be to do a quick run of a bunch of “Superman” songs out there. I can’t imagine any other active artist who would either have the chutzpah to try or be able to pull off mixing songs like Five For Fighting’s “Superman’s (It’s Not Easy)”, The Kinks’ “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman”, Crash Test Dummies’ “Superman’s Song”, Spin Doctor’s “Jimmy Olsen’s Blues”, REM’s “I Am Superman”, Bush’s “Superman”, and any of the myriad other Superman-related songs that have been recorded. That would be kinda cool in a goofy sorta way,
Rich
“It may sound absurd, but don’t be naive. Even heroes have the right to bleed.” – J. Ondrasik
The Only Person Near Lake Lanier that Still Has Enough Water To Flush His John wrote:I wonder if that is proper English or even the “Queen’s English”?
Is that a double prepostion or a double adverb? 😆 I forget!
Mayby some of you literary experts would know like Vic, LolaPulsa, MVP or Rich! 😆 Is that proper English? :Last time I checked, the Queen’s English, unless, of course, you’re talking about Beatrix, who’s Dutch. Now, if you’re saying that that Queen and all that are English are somehow synonymous, then you’re off on an entirely different tangent.
Then you get into the realm of words that have multiple definitions, depending on usage. For example, as a noun, “pony” means a mid-sized member of the equine family. When used as a verb and in conjunction with the word “up”, that same word means to proffer forth monies of one sort or another. On the other hand, “Cowboy Up” is a really stupid phrase that wasn’t good enough to help the Red Sox beat the Yankees.
Then, there are words that can be used in multiple ways with the same word that take on different meanings depending on the order or context that they are used. In some cases, all one need do is to swap the first letter of each of the intertwined words (or a word synonymous with one or more of them), and your meanings are entirely different.
For example, the difference between a preacher’s wife and a lady in a bathtub can be gleaned when one considers that the preacher’s wife might have hope for her soul. Similarly, the difference between a group of creative midgets and a women’s track team could be found in the description of the midgets as a bunch of cunning runts. But alas, these pearls of wisdom are nothing new – they can be found scrawled in men’s rooms across the United States, usually next to or near doggerel like “Jesus Saves” followed in a different colored ink with “and Gretzky taps in the rebound.”
Less complex, and going back to the original tangent, which was temporarily superceded by the tangential tangent, is the relationship between the words “finger” and “prick.” When separated by the word “your”, one ordering of the words is acceptable in polite company, and the other isn’t.
I hope this clarified things. If not….. I might blame it on having purchased a large cup of Pumpkin Spice Latte before I went down to see the tree lighting and fireworks in downtown Hampton this evening – or possibly the several shots of Canadian Mist that I poured into the latte before I drank it. Happy Holidays (expecially if you’re Bill O’Riley, and he’ll know why!)
– Rich
“God save the Queen. We mean it man, we love our Queen. God saves” – P. Cook, S. Jones, G. Matlock and J.Rotten
“… and Gretzky taps in the rebound” – AnoymousDavid Day wrote:Maybe, just maybe, you need some “Stacked Mary Possum” to fill in the gap! 😆
Check it out! Listen to it! Now, don’t you feel somewhat better? 😆
I really gosta know! 😆
Well, sir… I tried. I took your prescription for some “Stacked Mary Possum” and tried to get it filled. Unfortunately, I saved money and signed up with the HMO instead of the PPO, and they don’t cover that. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Rich
“We’ve had it hard, we’ve had it cold, we’ve had it rough. It never changed a thing between the two of us” – B. White
Victor wrote:How about you, Rich???
Evil, evil, evil…. limiting it to 10 was a bear. 20 would’ve been easier, but still would’ve had tons of omissions of the many songs that go up and down the list on a daily basis. So, today’s top 10 would be:
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Across The River
The Red Plains
The Road Not Taken
Fortunate Son
Passing Through
Down The Road Tonight
Candy Mountain Run
The Chill
This Too Shall Pass
Fire On The CrossWho knows what tomorrow shall bring
Rich (by name only)
“Your father was an extraordinary man, but you don’t seem to have inherited many of his mannerisms” – P. McCartney
I got my copy of Goin’ Home yesterday. My wife got it for me as a birthday present. Like any tribute CD, there are some great versions and some not-so-great versions. There’s no question from the first note that Don’t Blame It On Me is a Bruce work. It’s that signature piano sound, I guess. I thought Bruce did a good job on that track, although it wasn’t one of his best efforts. It’s an excellent rendition, but it sounds like he kinda mailed it in just to fulfill whatever obligation he had made. My favorites (for now) are the Dr. John version of Don’t Leave Me This Way, Randy Newman’s Blue Monday, and Norah Jones very sensuous rendition of My Blue Heaven. Elton John should never have recorded his version of Blueberry Hill. It just sounds silly. I’d probably put Bruce’s contribution, the McCartney/Toussaint I Want To Walk You Home, Bonnie Raitt’s I’m In Love Again and a couple of others in the second tier on this disc. Part of the problem might be that the dropoff between the classics and the fillers/b-sides in Fats Domino’s body of work comes early and quickly. All that said, this is a listen that is worth the money, and the money goes to a good place — buy it
Rich
David Day wrote:It brings back a lot of memories!
Anybody else feel the same?
:Fun tune. When Harbor Lights was out for a while, I started to get a little tired of it. It seemed like it was the only tune he’d play anywhere. It’s recovered since then, and it can conjure up pictures of playground basketball games every time. The funky beat is very infectious.
Rich
“Can you give me sanctuary? I must find a place to hide, a place for me to hide.
Can you find me soft asylum? I can’t make it anymore. The man is at the door.” – J. MorrisonDavid Day wrote:Sort of reminds me of a Ross Perot chart! 😆 😆 😆 (You were in diapers then! 😆 )
I remember Ross Perot and his ears, uh, I mean charts. My wife and I were doing some work with the Clinton campaign back then. Thanks, Ross. You did us all a public service.
Rich
“We’ve got this moment now to live, then it’s all just dust and dark.” – B. Springsteen
Now we just need to convince Bruce that it really was a very cool album that wears quite well over the years. Check tou this chart… I did an unscientific survey of the BruceBase to see how often BSF songs were played in shows, and it looks like he’s pretty much distanced himself from the album as early as a year after it came out. I charted total shows and times each song was played in each year from 2002 (release year) to 2007 (now date). “So Out”, which we seem to agree on being a very cool song, has only been played ONCE ever, and that was last August, in Charlotte. Maybe we need to request more BSF songs so he can see how much it is liked (at least among us). The chart is below.
Rich
[attachment=0:5c6bb]BSF-Chart.jpg[/attachment:5c6bb]
David Day wrote:Can you do the take off on “Circus”?
Be honest! 😆I have a great idea! 💡 On the next “Ceasar Salad”, or whatever it will be called, do it!
Will you step up to the plate and accept the challenge?
: I think you can do it! I am honest enough to admit my limitations. A long time ago, I made my peace with the fact that my right hand is far better than my left hand, and that I might never achieve “two hand independence.” However, for the sake of the challenge, I might try to find some way to slip something along those lines (a.k.a. throw you a bone, feeble as it may be) into my arrangement of The Chill. It’s still taking shape, so there’s lots of room for doinking around with it.
Rich
“… excepting one note, pure and easy, playing so free, like a breath rippling by.” – P. Townshend
David Day wrote:What’s the “heads up” for? “Circus on the Moon” “daily dose” or the fact you don’t even want to hear me attempt it? 😆Yes 😆
Rich
“The ghouls all came from their humble abodes to get a jolt from my electrodes” – B. Pickett
David Day wrote:Let me know what you think!
I pulled out BSF a few weeks ago (just after I told Si I was gonna take a crack at The Chill for the next tribute collection) and was amazed at how fresh the sound is. WHen it first came out, I think we were all expecting a “Brucie” album and might have lost sight of how cool it is all on its’ own. I agree with David… if you haven’t given this disc a spin lately, do. Taken as what it is, and not what it was expected to be, this is a really excellent, creative, and well produced album – and an enjoyable listen.
Rich
“I had a honey and I bet a grand… when just in the nick of time I looked at his hand” – P. McCartney
Dave Rich wrote:well, we do two of his songs so I think it’d be cool if he did one of mine
and then
Miss Virginia Former wrote:Okay, Rich wins the “Coolest Request Award”. Now, how are we going to make it happen???
I’m hoping she meant “Mr. Rich,” as I’m inclined to agree with him wholeheartedly! After we finish up with the 3rd BH tribute album, our next project should be original compositions that we think we sound even cooler if Bruce played them.
…and then we should cajole him (in the fun and loving spirit that such things are offered up) into mixing in a couple of them in a show and/or at least attempting his versions of our versions of his songs. I think it’d be a trip to hear TWII in 5 time, or as a bluesy slide guitar tune, or a totally freaky rendition of Passing Through.
Rich
{i}”Weave your web of rhyme upon this summer night” – N. Diamond[/i]
si_twining wrote:Inspired, sir. I had forgotten that wonder ful song, and it would make sense, since he’s played other of his tunes.
I wrote:“Hit me slowly, hit me quick. Hit me! Hit me!” – I. DuryCome to think of it, I think the band would have a blast if they decided to throw in a little “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” in the middle of some jam!
Rich
I wrote:Here’s an odd little trivia question that helps fill in yet another line in the “6 Degrees” game if you were trying to connect Bruce Hornsby with The Beatles…. What was the hit record that was recorded on Apple Records (owned by The Beatles) which featured a fairly prominent piano part and solo played by guest-artist Leon Russell? It was a studio recording, so you can’t throw in the Bangladesh concert recordings! For those of you who were regular listeners to top 40 radio in the early ’70s, you’ve probably heard this piano part thousands of times and might not have ever thought it was Leon Russell (of course, who knew it was him on The Monster Mash?). OK… start them guesses…Well, we had one guess. Pretty good guess, too. However, the answer is… “Day After Day” by Badfinger. George Harrison produced the track while he was putting the Bangladesh concert together, and even played slide guitar on that recording. Since Leon was one of his buds, he roped him into playing piano on that song.
Rich
