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Post by razorbacker on Nov 2, 2024 17:16:04 GMT
Billie Holiday is another in a long line of artists that we have listened to around here that had a way to short life. She was just 44 when she died in 1959.
In her final years, she had been swindled out of her earnings and she died with US$0.70 in the bank. The story of her burial plot and how it was managed by her estranged husband, Louis McKay, was documented on NPR in 2012. Her funeral was held on July 21, 1959, at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan. She was buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx. Michael P. Grace ll, a songwriter and theater producer based in Manhattan, paid for the funeral.
I reckon the title of this song says it all: It is known as the "Hungarian Suicide Song". It was written by Hungarian pianist and composer Rezső Seress and published in 1933.
Press reports in the 1930s associated at least 100 suicides, both in Hungary and the United States, with "Gloomy Sunday", but most of the deaths supposedly linked to it are difficult to verify.
On 11 January 1968, about 35 years after writing the song, its composer killed himself.
The original lyrics were titled "Vége a világnak" (The world is ending) and were about despair caused by war, ending in a quiet prayer about people's sins.
The song was first recorded in English by Hal Kemp in 1936, with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis, and was recorded the same year by Paul Robeson, with lyrics by Desmond Carter. It became well known throughout much of the English-speaking world after the release of a version by jazz singer Billie Holiday in 1941.
The BBC banned Billie's version of the song from being broadcast, as being detrimental to wartime morale.
Gloomy Sunday by Billie Holiday |
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Post by razorbacker on Nov 3, 2024 11:41:56 GMT
When we lost Karen Carpenter in 1983, we lost one of our true treasures much too soon, she was just 32. Richard is still with us & he turned 78 just a couple of weeks ago.
During their short time they released 14 studio albums, 2 Christmas albums, 2 live albums, & 49 singles. This song was included on Close to You. It was their 2nd studio album & was released on August 19, 1970. The album hit #2 & has been certified 2 X Platinum in the states & has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
It included their 1st big hit singles. “Close To You” was their 1st #1 hit & topped the charts in multiple countries. ” We’ve Only Just Begun” was the follow up & landed at #2 here, but also hit #1 many other places. They were also the 1st & 2nd certified Gold Singles for the group.
In 2003, the album was ranked No. 175 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The album was nominated for Record of the Year and Album of the Year at the 13th annual Grammy awards (they lost to Bridge Over Trouble Waters by Simon & Garfunkel). But they did win the Grammy's for Best New Artist and for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus that same year.
The album included covers of a lot of songs written Lennon/McCartney, Bacharach/David, & Tim Hardin, but the song linked to here is 1 of the 4 songs Richard Carpenter co – wrote.
Crescent Noon by The Carpenters |
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Post by razorbacker on Nov 3, 2024 18:26:02 GMT
Aretha Franklin was a singer, songwriter and pianist from Memphis. She died on August 16, 2018, aged 76. The cause of death was a malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor.
She won 18 Grammy Awards including the first eight awards given for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, a Grammy Awards Living Legend honor and Lifetime Achievement Award. She was also awarded the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In 1987, she became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her other inductions include the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2012, and posthumously the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2020
She released 38 studio albums & 131 singles, 112 of those singles charted, including 73 Hot 100 entries, 17 top-ten pop singles, 96 R&B entries and 20 number-one R&B singles.
It took quite a while for her to find her audience though. She released multiple singles all through the early 60’s before having her 1st top 10 hit in 1967.
Her albums also stumbled out of the gate. This song was included on I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. It was her 10th studio album & was released on March 10, 1967. It was her 1st R&B/pop album after nine unsuccessful jazz standard albums . The album marked a commercial breakthrough for her, becoming her first top 10 album in the United States, reaching number 2 on the Billboard 200.
Recording was begun at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama & completed in Atlantic Studios in NYC. Jerry Wexler produced it & The Swampers provided the instrumentation. Sam Cooke wrote the song.
Good Times by Aretha Franklin |
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Post by razorbacker on Nov 4, 2024 11:53:28 GMT
Parachute is the 5th studio album by the English rock band Pretty Things, it was released in 1970.
The band finally called it quits in 2020 with Phil May being the only member to have been there for the duration. 2020 was also the year he passed away.
In what was a rotating lineup this was their 1st first album without guitarist Dick Taylor. The band's lineup at this point was Phil May, Wally Waller, John Povey, Vic Unitt, and Skip Alan.
Reviews at the time of release were very positive, with Billboard calling it "another top-flight album" for the band. In Rolling Stone Stephen Holden called it an "obscure underground classic" in his review.
The band had very little chart success anywhere. They had just 2 albums hit the U.S. charts & never got any higher than 104 & they didn’t fare much better anywhere else. This particular album did not chart here & even though it was their biggest album in the UK, it still came in at #43 & was the last time they charted over there, despite releasing 9 more albums over the next 50 years.
Cries from the Midnight Circus by The Pretty Things |
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Post by razorbacker on Nov 4, 2024 18:37:47 GMT
Journeyman is the 11th studio album from Eric Clapton. The album reached #16 on the Top 200 a;bums chart, and it has been certified 2 X Platinum. Clapton has said it is one of his favorite albums.
The song "Bad Love" was released as a single, reaching the No. 1 position on the Album Rock Chart and won a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1990.
The album got fairly decent reviews, but writing in The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave the album a B-minus and wrote of Clapton, "What did you expect him to call it – Hack? Layla and 461 Ocean Boulevard were clearly flukes: he has no record-making knack. So, he farms out the songs, sings them competently enough, and marks them with his guitar.
This song has been recorded many times but the original comes from 1961, when Ray Charles wrote it & was the 1st to record it.
Hard Times by Eric Clapton |
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