Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
27 Mar 2012 1 Comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: al jorn, al jorn alonso, estampie
Estampie: “Al Jorn-Alonso” (2007)
Estampie is a German band specializing in medieval music. “Al Jorn” is from 2007’s Signum album, which depicts musically the Europe of the Middle Ages: darkly apocolyptic and threatening, but also beautiful, mystical and stirring. The arrangements prominently feature harps, flutes and bagpipes. Think Loreena Mckennitt meets Canterbury Tales. With hobbits. In Latin.
27 Mar 2012 1 Comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: memories, pure prairie league
Pure Prairie League: “Memories” (1975)
Pure Prairie League had more than its share of roster changes over the band’s lifespan. Original lead vocalist Craig Fuller, who sang on their most enduring hit, “Amie”, had to leave the band to serve a sentence for draft evasion (he was later given a full pardon by President Gerald Ford).
“Memories” is from their next album, 1975’s Two Lane Highway, and features vocalist Larry Goshorn, who left in 1978 to form a band called the Goshorn Brothers (hmm, wonder how that turned out?) Also leaving in ’78 was George Powell, the last of the original members, who quit the band to run his pig farm in Ohio. (And the next time you catch yourself daydreaming about how glamorous life in a hit-making band would be, just remember one guy gave it up to be a pig farmer.)
A later incarnation of the band included future country star Vince Gill, who sang on several hits including “Let Me Love You Tonight”.
“Memories” features a beautiful, understated arrangement of piano, acoustic and steel guitars, mandolin and harmony vocals, typifying the 70’s country rock sound.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/01/26/songs-you-may-have-missed-305/
24 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: david ryan harris, six feet off the ground
David Ryan Harris: “Six Feet Off the Ground” (1997)
Los Angeles singer-songwriter’s punchy three-and-a-half minute nugget about love overturning cynicism. As if.
24 Mar 2012 2 Comments
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: how could i let you get away, spinners
Spinners: “How Could I Let You Get Away” (1972)
The Spinners’ first million-selling single, the now-classic “I’ll Be Around”, was originally the B-side to “How Could I Let You Get Away” until “I’ll Be Around” began getting so much radio airplay itself that the record was flipped and this gorgeous R&B ballad became a footnote in pop history.
The album that spawned both songs, 1972’s self-titled Spinners LP, was bursting with hit singles: in addition to #3 pop hit “I’ll Be Around” it included “Could it Be I’m Falling in Love” (#4), “One of a Kind (Love Affair)” (#11) and “Ghetto Child” (#29). “How Could I Let You Get Away” made it to #77 itself, but is seldom heard now. It would probably be a lot more familiar had it not been pressed with an all-time great song on its flipside.
“How could I Let You Get Away” was actually brought to the office door of producer Thom Bell by a woman named Yvette Davis, who told Bell, “I have some songs. I don’t have no husband. I don’t have no boyfriend. I hardly have a house. All I’ve got are some songs.”
Bell invited her in and she sang her songs without accompaniment. Bell liked “How Could I Let You Get Away” and worked up an arrangement for it.
Rolling Stone called the song “a graceful meditation on loss, growing up and the sense of the past-in-the-present”.
24 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: essex green, penny & jack
The Essex Green: “Penny & Jack” (2006)
Indie pop (whatever that is) band from Brooklyn, who might call to mind contemporaries like Camera Obscura or New Pornographers. But the cleanly arranged, Fender Rhodes-centered folk-pop sound also has a late 60’s/early 70’s feel. Emphasizing melody and harmony, Essex Green make an irresistible brand of pop.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2020/02/22/recommended-albums-77/
22 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: feels like heaven, fiction factory
Fiction Factory: “(Feels Like) Heaven” (1984)
“(Feels like) Heaven” was Scottish band Fiction Factory’s classic contribution to 80’s new wave, but it never actually charted in America–which is why you may have missed it. It was Top 10 in England, however, and was featured in a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups TV commercial. The band never followed up with another hit and became one of the many new wave one-hit (or no-hit) wonders.
I’ve always thought it was just bad business to start a song title with parenthetical words…wonder if that’s part of the reason this song wasn’t more successful.
Every Moment Has A Song 