William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

770 ( Alan Menken and Howard Ashman - Feed Me (Git It) ) (From Little Shop of Horrors) Well, it is late and this song has been running through my mind off and on for a couple of weeks now for a couple of reasons, so what the hell, I like this song and the memories attached so I am adding it to my list. There are a couple of reasons that I am choosing this one: When I was coming home the other night I was following someone in a newer model pickup truck with a DVD playing on one of those little flip-down screens. When we came to a stop light I was able to see that they were watching Little Shop of Horrors . And about a month ago a close friend of mine succumbed to cancer after an arduous battle with the disease. After seeing the film being played I remembered a conversation that I once had with my departed friend. I once noticed that he had personalized license plates that read SEYMOUR, and I asked him about them. He said that he originally wanted OUTHOUSE as his plate, but the stat

769 ( Amon Amarth - The Pursuit of Vikings ) Gearing up for a very busy day and I needed some psyching in music. High volume, thrashing and headbanging music with Viking subject matter; Hell Yeah! Here is the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Effigy My song pick two years ago today: The Steve Miller Band - Threshold/Jet Airliner +

768 ( Rush - One Little Victory ) This is one of Rush's songs that seems to get overlooked more than a bit; it has more of a straight-up Rock feel to it than their normal sound. Neil Peart's drumming shines in this high-energy song, which is normal for anything that he plays on, but he is the main driving force on this track. The song is about the little victories that you can build upon to get you through bad times. In the years prior to this album's release, the band had taken a break and it was not known even if they were still going to continue. This was the song that opens the album and "announced" their return. Here is a much better remixed version of the studio version on YouTube. Here is a fan video with the original studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Fortunate Son My song pick two years ago today: Franz Schubert - Der Erlkönig, Op. 1 "The

767 ( The Beatles - I Me Mine ) I figured that I would end my theme week the way I started it: with a rather nice George Harrison composition. There is so much to listen to in this song, so many layers. It is quite a beautiful track. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Up Around The Bend My song pick two years ago today: Rammstein - Du Riechst So Gut +

766 ( The Beatles - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) ) This was one of the first Beatles' songs that I thought of when I decided on doing a theme week of their music. My favourite part of the song is George Harrison on the sitar; I have always loved the sound of that instrument. A perfect song for this Saturday. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Commotion My song pick two years ago today: Don Henley - Boys of Summer +

765 ( The Beatles - Penny Lane ) Another early morning pick, back pain induced insomnia FTW yet again! Anyway, I figured that I should choose another one of my top favorites in this Beatles week for my list. For me David Mason 's piccolo trumpet in this song has been one of the main draws; Paul McCartney was actually inspired to add the piccolo trumpet to this song after seeing David Mason play the trumpet in a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's 2nd Brandenburg Concerto. Here is a music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Green River My song pick two years ago today: Rush - A Passage To Bangkok +

763-4 ( The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help from My Friends ) Over the last little bit this medley has been played a lot on the radio, and since I am doing a Beatles theme week, it just seems right to choose it today. I have heard recently that someone is re-making the Sgt. Pepper's film, which is probably another reason this one has been getting so much air time lately. Here is a fan video with a studio recording on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Midnight Special My song pick two years ago today: Megadeth - Use The Man +

762 ( The Beatles - Love Me Do ) I am making a quick pick this morning and I figured that I would add one of their earliest hits to my list. This track really gets stuck in your mind quite easily, mostly because of the rhythm in my opinion. A very nice sugary-sweet pop song for this otherwise blasé day. Here is a music video with a studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Mr. Big - Green-Tinted Sixties Mind My song pick two years ago today: ABBA - Our Last Summer +

761 ( The Beatles - Help! ) It is the second day of my Beatles theme week. I guess I will add this one to my list, it is one of my favorites that has more of their earlier pop sound. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Santana - Black Magic Woman My song pick two years ago today: Bon Jovi - Tokyo Road +

760 ( The Beatles - Something ) In the last couple of weeks, since the re-release of their back catalog, it has been impossible to not hear The Beatles' music in almost any form of media. Since all of this new "Beatlemania" is taking place I decided on doing a Beatles theme week. One thing that I have noticed about my own musical tastes is that there really is not a Beatles song from George Harrison's pen that I dislike; this song is one of my favorites that he wrote. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance from The Concert for Bangladesh on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jethro Tull - Singing All Day My song pick two years ago today: Jethro Tull - Heavy Water +

759 ( Chet Atkins & Jerry Reed - Cannonball Rag ) This is one of the better guitar picking songs in existence. This song was originally written by master guitarist and songwriter Merle Travis , who is one of the pioneers of Thumb Style guitar picking. This style of guitar playing is characterized by the playing of a bass line on the guitar's lower strings with the thumb while playing the melody on the higher strings with the fingers. He might not have invented it, but he did definitely make it famous and was an inspiration to many other pickers, Chet Atkins being one of them. Both Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins do an amazing job in their rendition of this one! Here is a studio recording on YouTube. I believe that Jerry is in the left speaker and Chet is in the right. My song pick a year ago today: The Moody Blues - The Voice My song pick two years ago today: W. A. Mozart - The Magic Flute (Queen of the Night Aria) K.620 +

758 ( Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams ) I heard this song on the radio the other day, I intended to pick it that day, but it slipped my mind. I had no particular song in mind for my pick today and I remembered the song, plus I since haven't chosen a Green Day song in a while I figured that I would add it to the list. Probably the somber lyrics and the melancholy sounding music is what I like the most; quite a nice song. In the news, it seems that the feud between YouTube and WMG might be coming to an end! So soon, with luck, be able to add links studio versions of WMG artists as well. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Delgados - All You Need Is Hate My song pick two years ago today: Tesla - Signs +

757 ( Wilson Pickett - In the Midnight Hour ) This one has been running through my mind off and on for the last little bit and it just feels like an excellent Friday pick for me. This is one of my favourite Wilson Pickett tracks; he sings this song with so much soul. There is an interesting piece of musical trivia concerning this song: co-writer of the song, guitarist Steve Cropper, who composed the intro to this song also composed the intro to the Eddie Floyd song Knock on Wood . The interesting part is that the intro to " Knock on Wood " is the same as the intro to " In the Midnight Hour " only played reverse. Hear In the Midnight Hour on YouTube. Here is the 1987 re-recording of the song on YouTube. Here is a television performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Collective Soul - Shine My song pick two years ago today: Skid Row - 18 And Life +

756 ( Amon Amarth feat. Lars Göran Petrov - Guardians of Asgard ) I wanted to pick another European Metal song today; this one comes from the Swedish Death Metal group Amon Amarth from their latest album. As with most of their music, the lyrics and subject matter of this song are based off of Vikings and Norse Mythology. One part of the song that I like in particular was the clean guitar solo, which makes for nice contrasting sound to the thrashing sound of the song. Here is the music video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Bob Welch - Ebony Eyes My song pick two years ago today: Jethro Tull - 17 +

755 ( Finntroll - Trollhammeren ) For some reason I have been listening to a lot of European Metal the last little bit, and I decided on choosing a song from a band I have been listening to. For those do not know about them, Finntroll is a Metal band from Finland. I love how they mix the Progressive Folk with the Black Metal to make a very unique sound. Here is the music video on YouTube. Here is a live performance circa '06 on YouTube. It just does not sound right without Tapio Wilska. My song pick a year ago today: Pink Floyd - Learning to Fly My song pick two years ago today: Fire Bomber (Humming Bird) - Remember 16 +

754 ( Badfinger - Come and Get It ) Ever since I remembered that today is the one year anniversary of the bank panic and financial meltdown, (even though it was really going on quite some time before). Ever since this song started running through my mind; mostly due to the line: "Will you walk away from a fool and his money?" Anyway, this one was written by Paul McCartney and made a hit by Badfinger, who had more than a few hits of their own. I have liked this Beatlesque song ever since I first heard it and would have more than likely have added it to my list eventually anyway. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a television performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends   My song pick two years ago today: Rush - Far Cry +

753 ( Joachim Witt and Peter Heppner - Die Flut ) This one was quite overdue as an addition to my list; I cannot believe that I haven't added this song yet. Anyway, this is a duet featuring German New Wave pioneer Joachim Witt and the vocalist from the Synthpop band Wolfsheim: Peter Heppner. I really like the introspective lyrics and vocals, they are quite beautiful. It is a rather nice song to get lost in thought to. Here is the music video on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jim Croce - You Don't Mess Around With Jim My song pick two years ago today: Canned Heat - On The Road Again +

752 ( The Moody Blues - The Story in Your Eyes ) On the way home tonight this one came on the iPod's playlist; it just seemed like the perfect time to choose the song. Justin Hayward's screaming guitar is one of my favorite parts of this song along with the excellent job of the rhythm section. I love how the upbeat sound of this song counters the rather melancholy lyrics. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance of the song on YouTube. There are quite a few more available as well. My song pick a year ago today: Cheech & Chong feat. Alice Bowie - Earache My Eye My song pick two years ago today: Weather Report - Birdland +

751 ( Three Dog Night - One ) This track was actually a cover of a song, which can be found here on YouTube, written by Harry Nilsson ; it has been covered by quite few other artists as well. Most of Three Dog Night's catalog actually consists of songs written by others. Usually they would make a hit out of the song and would actually bring fame to the author of as well. Three Dog Night injected their own Rock/Funk sound in this song to make it more their own rather than trying to just copy the song itself, but a lot of the original idea is still there. The bass, as with most Three Dog Night songs, is brought way up in the mix; it really thumps quite prominently in this one. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a mimed television performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Billy Joel - Captain Jack My song pick two years ago today: Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King +

750 ( Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Down on the Corner ) I heard this song on the radio this morning; it is always good to hear some CCR sometime during the day. I was sure that I had already chosen it, I took a look at my list and I was surprised that I had not; I am remedying that now. This is one of CCR's most infectious songs, mostly due to the amount of hooks employed in it. Some excellent feel-good music for a busy Friday. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is the Ed Sullivan Show performance of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes To Midnight My song pick two years ago today: Savatage - Believe +

749 ( Jethro Tull - Pussy Willow ) For about the last week or so this song off of Jethro Tull's " The Broadsword and the Beast " album has been running through my mind. In my opinion, this is one of the better narratives that came from Ian's pen. Most of the time he uses metaphor or symbolism to describe in the lyrics; here he mixes physical description and the metaphor-laced lyrics quite well to make an excellent narrative. The song is about a young woman, who is referred to as "Pussy Willow," that leads a drab, unrewarding life but dreams of a much more exciting existence. However, the reality of her tedious life keeps coming back, but it still does not deter her from continuing on dreaming. I love the dynamics in this one; they really do a nice job mixing the electronic synth with the acoustic and rock sounds in this one. Both Martin Barre and David Pegg do an excellent job on this one in particular, they just add so much to this song. He

746-8 ( The Beatles - Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End ) It is late or early depending on how you look at it, cannot sleep and I feel like posting my song for today: 9/9/09. As most everyone probably knows, The Beatles' remastered back catalog of music has been released today. The hype around this release, as well as the release of the Rock Band video game to go along with it, is reaching pretty high levels. I wonder how many times this makes that people have run out to buy and/or re-buy all of these albums again? At some point in the near future they will just re-release the back catalog again in whatever new "Super Duper Audio 2.0 Hi-Fi Ultra Remastered HD Format" and everyone will have to run out and buy and/or re-buy the whole breadbasket again; some genius has an incredible money making machine here. Anyway, I digress. I figured that with all of this hype going around I needed to pick something from their catalog for my list today. Other than Come To

745 ( Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - I Put a Spell on You ) I woke up this morning with this CCR Screamin' Jay Hawkins cover, which can be found here on YouTube, running through my mind; it is a good time to add some more of their music to my list. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Rammstein - Hallelujah My song pick two years ago today: Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Spirits in the Night +

744 ( Santana - Every Step of the Way ) For no particular reason I started listening to Santana this morning and I decided on choosing a track off of the Caravanserai album. The song is a musical roller coaster of sorts; the music from this band just takes you all over the place. This is the last Santana album that keyboardist Gregg Rolie and guitarist Neal Schon played on; Schon went on to the band Azteca and then on to form Journey with his former Santana bandmate. Here is the studio recording on YouTube. Here is a live performance of the song circa '73 on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Megadeth - Washington is Next!   My song pick two years ago today: Rammstein - Stripped +

743 ( Elmore James - The Sky is Crying ) Woke up to beautiful rain coming down this morning and this often-covered 12-bar blues just started running through my mind. This is the original version of this blues and the authorship of the song is attributed to Elmore James as well. There are a lot of covers of this song that come to my mind as well, but there is something about the old blues sound that fit my mood today. I love his slide guitar playing, very beautiful. Here is a recording of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Allman Brothers - Jessica My song pick two years ago today: Megadeth - Foreclosure of a Dream +

742 ( David Bowie - Queen Bitch ) Lately in my spare time I have been playing more Motorstorm: Pacific Rift trying to unlock stuff in the game. Anyway, this song is part of the game's soundtrack and it was quite hilarious that this song happened to be playing while I was attempting to unlock a trophy in the game that had to do with punching other racers off of their vehicles. After this it only seemed right to add this great song to my list for my Saturday pick. Here is the studio recording on YouTube. Here is a performance of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Offspring - Self Esteem My song pick two years ago today: The Allman Brothers - Blue Sky +

741 ( The Spiders - Back ) I was wanting to add a song from The Spiders for a while; well, today lo and behold I found one of their songs on YouTube! This is just an awesome song that I fell in love with the first time I heard it. Easily my favorite aspect of this song is the counter-line performed by the keyboard, which makes for a nice sound. For those that have never heard of them, The Spiders, or as they are called sometimes Los Spiders, are a Mexican Psychedelic Rock band founded in the 1960s. There are few bands that share this common name, which does cause some confusion and problems with searches. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Nena - Mach Die Augen Auf My song pick two years ago today: The Offspring - Feelings +

740 ( The Guess Who - No Time ) This morning while on the road this one came the radio, it is one of my favourite Guess Who tracks; it is an excellent pick for the list today. No Time was originally released on the Canned Wheat album and then was re-recorded/released on the American Woman album a year later. The original version had an into that sounded like an out-of-tune music box and the song itself is more technical musically and a bit more eclectic in its arrangement as well as being at a less than radio friendly 5:10 in length; the second version is the one that you would hear on the radio today. Here is the original studio version off of the Canned Wheat album on YouTube. Here is a fan video with the studio version from the American Woman album on YouTube. Here is a live performance circa '83 on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jerry Reed - Lord, Mr. Ford My song pick two years ago today: Nena - Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann +

739 ( Johann Sebastian Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G-Major, BWV 1048 ) As of yesterday it has been two years since I started my song blog; since I totally spaced it, I will go on ahead and pick an appropriate song a day late. This is actually one of the more popular of the six concertos; once the first couple of bars of music are played you should immediately recognize it. One interesting thing about this concerto in particular is that the second movement consists of only two chords that are played on the harpsichord. Here is an excellent performance of the concerto performed by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Here is the first movement: Allegro on YouTube. Here is the second movement : Adagio on YouTube. Here is the third movement: Allegro on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Buoys - Give Up Your Guns My song pick two years ago today: The Buoys - Timothy +

738 ( The Allman Brothers Band - In Memory of Elizabeth Reed ) I am need of some Allman Brothers music this morning and I remembered this nice Jazz Fusion track from their Idlewild South album. What is so awesome about the earlier Allman Brothers music is the fact that they had not one, but two guitar legends in the group. This instrumental was an excellent vehicle for showcasing both Duane Allman's and Richard "Dickey" Betts' amazing skills on the guitar. Not to say that they are the only highlight; the entire band is simply amazing. Here is a recording of the song on YouTube. Here is the Live at Filmore East Performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: J.S. Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050 My song pick two years ago today: J.S. Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, BWV 1047 +