soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2022 - Cat Stevens
- 06/01/22 06:28 PM
Cat Stevens is a name that has seen its share of controversy during a long and successful career. Born Steven Demetre Georgiou he adopted the stage name Cat Stevens in the 1960s. His combination of folk rock along with his story telling style made him popular throughout the early 1970s.
His albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were certified triple platinum in the US. Then in 1972 his album Catch Bull at Four went to No.1 on Billboard Pop Albums and spent weeks at the top of several major charts.
Stevens, born in the U.K., wrote our … (2 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2022 - Louis Armstrong
- 06/01/22 10:59 AM
Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901. He was raised by his mother Mayann in a neighborhood so dangerous it was called “The Battlefield.” He only had a fifth-grade education, because he had to leave school early to go to work. His first job was working for a Jewish family named Karnofsky who helped Armstrong make enough money to purchase his first cornet.
He started out playing the cornet on riverboats in New Orleans and up and down the Mississippi river, eventually moving to Chicago to join a jazz band.
In 1964, Armstrong knocked The Beatles off the … (6 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2022 - Jackson Browne
- 06/01/22 10:42 AM
Singer/Songwriter Jackson Browne has been a popular artist since the 1960s. Starting out as a young song writer he helped pen hits for popular bands like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and The Eagles, who credit him with teaching them the finer points of song writing. It took him a few years to find his sound before recording his own album in 1972. His success continued eventually evolving into his fourth and most successful album, The Pretender.
Growing up in Southern California Browne became known as an activist coming out as a leader in several environmental causes. He configured his own home … (0 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2022 - Mama's & Papa's
- 05/31/22 04:32 PM
Back in the 1960s folk music made its way into the rock charts. The turbulent counterculture produced protest song after protest song and the folk sound fit the bill. Yet not all folk-rock songs were protest songs. Some simply offered a feeling of serenity or lament.
Around 1965 John & Michelle Phillips along with Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty performed and recorded music as The Mamas & The Papas. The Mamas & the Papas released five studio albums and 17 singles over a short four-year span. Six of their songs made the Billboard top 10. and have sold close to 40 million … (10 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2022 - Rod Stewart
- 05/31/22 11:30 AM
My, my, my… When it comes to music, it seems that Rod Stewart has enjoyed more lives than a Siamese cat. Rod started out as a hard rocker in the ‘60 with the band Faces. Today he is best known for being a crooner of old standards. Along the way, he mastered several different sounds. Stewart seemed to prove that he can sing anything. Rock, disco, country, ballads, even Christmas music.
There were a lot of Rod Stewart songs to choose from, but today I chose to highlight "You're in My Heart”. The song released in 1977 was a top ten single … (6 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2022 - Rolling Stones
- 05/31/22 08:02 AM
What makes a song an oldie? Is it just the age or is it because the sound no longer attracts a modern audience? Some bands defy the accepted logic. Their songs regardless of when they were recorded still sound like they could be recorded today and would still be popular.
The Rolling Stones are one of those groups. Some will argue they may be the greatest Rock & Roll band, although we have seen and listened to so many great bands it is difficult to anoint anyone with that honor.
Today’s song is The Rolling Stones performing "Jumpin' Jack Flash". The video recorded … (6 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2022 - Dave Mason
- 05/31/22 07:57 AM
Some performers spend their whole life toiling as members of bands that never quite break into the top of the charts. Then when you see them live in concert you recognize what a great talent they possess. One performer that I enjoy seeing live on stage is Dave Mason.
Mason’s early success was with the rock band Traffic where he was overshadowed by Steve Winwood. He spent years as a session player with every big-name star from Paul McCartney to Michael Jackson. He even enjoyed a brief stint with Fleetwood Mac in the 1990s.
In 1970 he released a solo album that featured … (5 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2022 - Manfred Mann
- 05/31/22 07:43 AM
Every so often a song comes along that doesn’t immediately resonate with the audience. Then another artist hears the song, does a cover of the song, and ends up taking the song up the charts, exceeding the popularity of the original. One early 1970s song that is an example of this phenomenon is Blinded by the Light.
"Blinded by the Light" is a song written and recorded by superstar Bruce Springsteen. The song appeared on his 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. But Springsteen's version was commercially unsuccessful and never appeared on the music charts.
Then, in 1976 Manfred Mann one … (7 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2022 - Beach Boys
- 05/30/22 09:31 AM
I think everyone young and old knows The Beach Boys and their music. A dominant force in the music industry in the 1960s, they popularized the California surfing sound. When the rock sounds transitioned to more hard rock and psychedelic sounds, their record sales waned. Still, The Beach Boys became one of the most popular live acts in the world performing a mix of their old surfing sound songs and newer pop material which pleased mostly their older nostalgic fans.
In 1988, Kokomo was a surprising number one hit on the charts in the U.S., the Beach Boys' first in 22 years. … (6 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2022 - Ringo Starr
- 05/28/22 12:44 PM
Welcome to June 2022 and this year's edition of the Soundtrack of a Lifetime. Each day in June since 2018, I endeavor to post a short article about a song that impacted my life. You will hear 30 songs in 30 days. Each article contains a link to an audio or video version of the song for your enjoyment.
Whenever you are looking for a song to sing along with you cannot go wrong with a song from one of the Beatles. Even after the Beatles broke up in 1970 they went on to successful solo careers recording hit after hit under … (10 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2021 - Eric Clapton
- 06/23/21 04:19 PM
I don’t think you can ever have too many Eric Clapton songs in your Soundtrack. Clapton who is known for his guitar work has always professed to be a blues guitarist, but his greatest success has always been in the Rock & Roll genre.
In 1992 after performing live for a new series called MTV Unplugged, Clapton recorded his album Unplugged which featured a lot of his songs in acoustic version.
One of my favorites is today’s song Tears in Heaven. "Tears in Heaven" is an acoustic ballad about the pain Clapton felt following the death of his four-year-old son, Conor. Conor, who … (2 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2021 - Frank Sinatra
- 06/23/21 04:01 PM
Another big star that needs no introduction is Frank Sinatra. Sinatra was likely the guy that people once thought of when the term superstar first came into play. “Sinatramania” in the 1940s preceded Beatlemania by twenty years.
Sinatra is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide. But he was so much more. An Academy award winning actor he starred in dozens of movies throughout the 1950 and 1960s and eventually his own television show.
He was named one of the Twentieth Century’s Most Influential people by Time magazine. I could go on forever … (10 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2021 - Chuck Berry
- 06/23/21 03:52 PM
Well June of 2021 has come to an end, and so the The Soundtrack of a Lifetime will go back on hiatus for another year. When I started the series back in 2018, the goal was to share some of the songs that I have enjoyed throughout my lifetime. The first song I featured was School Days by Chuck Berry.
Chuck Berry was one of the first and most influential rockers of all time. His distinctive guitar riffs, his on stage dance steps, including his distinctive “duck walk”, that every rocker ever has tried to copy, made him an international star. Berry … (8 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2021 - Natalie / Nat King Cole
- 06/23/21 09:53 AM
I have always been a huge Nat King Cole fan. For my money no one makes singing look so effortless. I was only a child when Nat King Cole was a popular singer with his own television show. I remember my parents watching the show that I didn’t really appreciate at the time. Today's song is an old one. In fact, you must go back to 1951 to find the original recording of Nat King Cole's song, Unforgettable, a classic even today.
Unfortunately, Nat who was a heavy smoker died in 1965 of lung cancer, well before many of the readers of … (11 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2021 - The Allman Brothers
- 06/23/21 09:41 AM
Melissa is a song written by Greg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band. Gregg’s inspiration came from a trip to a grocery store where he encountered a woman with her granddaughter. The child was running all about the store with the older woman calling her name Melissa. Allman who was struggling to come up with a new song took the name Melissa to pen a new song. He went home and grabbed his brother Duane’s guitar and incorporated the name into a song he had been working on. The song didn’t get recorded until 1972.
When Duane died in 1971 in a … (5 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2021 - The Moody Blues
- 06/21/21 11:57 AM
The Moody Blues have always been one of my favorite bands. I saw them in concert multiple times and each time I walked away smiling at their live performances.
Because their music is a bit more complex than most Rock bands they often employed a full orchestra to back them up in concert. The album Days of Future Past was originally recorded back in 1967 but re-recorded as a concept album with the help of The London Festival Orchestra in 1972. The newer version became a landmark that other progressive bands soon aspired to match.
Their most popular song Nights in White Satin … (8 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2021 - John Denver
- 06/19/21 10:57 AM
I have to admit when I was younger, I was not much of a John Denver fan. I preferred the music of other artists. It was not until a few years ago when I saw a documentary film on John Denver that I came to appreciate all that he accomplished as a singer/songwriter and as an actor
Denver produced so many popular songs. Like Country Road, Rocky Mountain High, and today’s selection Annie’s Song.
In the mid-1970s Denver began to speak out about a number of political causes like world hunger, for which he was ultimately awarded the Presidential World Without Hunger Award … (7 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2021 - Ed Sheeran
- 06/18/21 09:43 AM
Most of the songs I have posted up this season have been from the 1960s or 1970s, with good reason. There were a lot of good music produced in those days. Much of it still relevant today. Yet, this Soundtrack does not have to be just oldies. We always find new music and new performers that worm their way into our ears and leave us singing in the shower.
One artist that has caught my eye is a young Englishman named Ed Sheeran. If you like love songs, then Ed Sheeran is someone that you will want to add to your playlists.
Ed … (9 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2021 - The Eagles
- 06/16/21 12:54 PM
I haven’t featured The Eagles on the Soundtrack since 2018 an oversight that I am correcting right now. After all, The Eagles are the largest selling rock band of all time.
A lot of great music has come from this group since their early days when Glenn Frye and Don Henley split off from the Stone Ponies to form their own band. Over the years there have been a few changes to the personnel , but the band has only gotten better with each year.
Today’s song Hotel California has, more than any other song, become their signature sound. For my money, no … (9 comments)
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soundtrack: Soundtrack of a Lifetime - 2021 - The 5th Dimension
- 06/15/21 10:42 AM
What ever happened to the Age of Aquarius? If you ask the astrological experts, they will tell you it is still forthcoming. But in 1967 a Broadway musical named Hair, declared we were at the dawn of the Age of Aquarius.
The song was the opening song for the play and later recorded and released as a single by singing group The 5th Dimension. The 5th Dimensions version topped the charts for six weeks in 1969 and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It is listed as number 66 on Billboards Greatest Songs of All Time.
The expression Age … (9 comments)
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Cat Stevens is a name that has seen its share of controversy during a long and successful career. Born Steven Demetre Georgiou he adopted the stage name Cat Stevens in the 1960s. His combination of folk rock along with his story telling style made him popular throughout the early 1970s.
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