Today’s Monday Matinee offering is a documentary that highlights the amazing career of Steve Winwood. Steve’s success includes stints in historic groups such as The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, and Blind Faith (to name a few) and an amazing solo career that continues through today. The documentary is named English Soul, highlighting the soulful quality of Steve’s voice. I think you will really enjoy this one…..thanks to the BBC for putting it together!
I am way behind on my Forty Years Ago Today posts. Although February 1973 was not a stellar month for album releases, there were several that I thought we should discuss. So here we go…….
Blue Oyster Cult – Tyranny and Mutation
This was the second album from BOC and, if anything, it was even stranger than their first one. The song I have for you today sounds like the Beach Boys on speed, if the Beach Boys ever decided to sing about Necromancy. I know that sounds strange but guess what…….it is strange….and I absolutely loved it then and now. Let’s listen….
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Alice Cooper – Billion Dollar Babies
Billion Dollar Babies was Alice’s sixth and most successful album, making it to the top of the album charts and producing a number of hit singles. Here is my favorite song of all time about politics. It was one of the hits from this album. Good stuff…..
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Traffic – Shootout At The Fantasy Factory
For something completely different from the two albums above, we have Traffic’s seventh album. To be honest it was a little bit of a let down after their previous masterpiece, The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys, but it still had some great songs. The title song was my favorite, let’s listen……
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Better things were coming for 1973 albums….and they were coming soon! Stay tuned ….. next week we will talk about the release of one of the best selling albums of ALL time.
Today I feel empty.
Too many things to do, too many people to keep happy, and no time for me or the things that I want to do. Fortunately for me I have lots of songs about being empty and today is the day of the week when I share those songs with you…..my loyal readers/listeners.
Let’s kick things off with my favorite Empty song of all time, and the one that best captures my feelings this evening, Running On Empty by Jackson Browne. This is a great live performance from his 1977 tour. I was lucky enough to see him twice on this tour, once in Birmingham and once in Nashville.
Empty – Ray LaMontagne (I love the lyrics to this song!)
I never learned to count my blessings,
I choose instead to dwell in my disasters.
I walk on down the hill,
through grass, grown tall and brown
and still its hard somehow to let go of my pain.
On past the busted back of that old and rusted Cadillac
that sinks into this field, collecting rain.
Will I always feel this way?
So empty, so estranged.
Big Empty – Stone Temple Pilots
Empty Pages – Traffic
Often lost and forgotten The vagueness and the mud I've been thinking I'm working too hard But I've got something to show Staring at empty pages Centered 'round the same old plot Staring at empty pages Flowing along the ages
The Emptyness – Hall and Oates
If I can get over my emptyness, I have some great stuff I need to finish and post for you. I am working on:
I hope everyone has a great weekend.
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 