This classic
civil rights anthem, which wasn’t released as a single until a few weeks after
Cooke’s untimely death in December of 1964, is in the National Recording Registry maintained by the Library of Congress. It’s also been recognized as
one of the greatest songs of all time by NPR and Rolling Stone magazine, and is
in the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Hard to
believe, then, that RCA Victor threw it out there as the B-side of the record (“Shake”
was the A-side), and it only reached a modest #31 on the Hot 100.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Serendipity #25
Unchain My Heart – Ray Charles
Heard 11/10/2014 around noon, at Zoe’s Kitchen
(Kentlands)
Stevie Wonder “Songs in the Key of Life” Tour, Verizon Center, 11/9/2014
The
legendary Stevie Wonder doesn’t tour all that often, and I had never seen him
live, so it was a no-brainer to get tickets for the Washington stop of his
latest tour, which was dedicated to performing the entirety of his Songs in the Key of Life album. The
three seats we wound up getting (Section 211, Row L, 10-12) turned out to be
not bad at all. They were relatively far back (right side facing the stage,
probably at around what would be the far goal line for hockey), but at the end
of a row, with an unobstructed view of the stage and video screen, and in the
last row of the section, so we could stand up at will without having any guilt
feelings about blocking anyone else. Getting in and through security didn’t
take all that long, and even the Metro on the way home was surprisingly
uncrowded, especially since the concert appeared to be sold out.
Needless to
say, the show (which ran close to 3 hours) was fantastic. Wonder started by
joking about “losing his voice” and having to cancel the show, and gave special
thanks to band members Greg Phillinganes and Nathan Watt, both of whom were
also on the original recording. He and his large cast of musicians (including
horns, a string section, and backup singers) launched into “Love’s in Need of
Love Today”, which is the first track of Side 1 of the album. The crew then
moved through Sides 1 and 2 of the first record in the set, winding up with the
first two songs from the 4-track bonus EP, “Saturn” and “Ebony Eyes”. After
intermission, they resumed with the crowd favorite “Isn’t She Lovely”, where
Wonder featured his now grown-up daughter and backup singer Aisha Morris, who inspired
(and appears, as a baby, on the original). After finishing up Side 3 (the first
side of the second full-length record in the set), Wonder wisely chose to do
the two remaining songs from the EP (“All Day Sucker” and the instrumental “Easy
Goin’ Evening”) before moving on to the final side, concluding with the
favorites “As” (which I’m still puzzled was not titled “Always”) and the
driving “Another Star”, which fortunately was long enough to give Wonder time
to introduce all the numerous members of his backup ensemble. After the lengthy
standing ovation had died down, he teased the crowd by playing the first few
bars of “Do I Do” and “Master Blaster” before sending everyone home happy with
a full performance (and crowd singalong) of “Superstition”.
Stevie
alternated between keyboards, standup vocals, and harmonica throughout the
evening, and seemed to be in fine voice throughout, despite his joking around
at the beginning. Highlights included several appearances by special guest
India.Arie (in a variety of colorful outfits), and the one-two punch of his #1
hits “Sir Duke” and “I Wish” near the beginning.
Monday, November 10, 2014
#10 Brian Wilson -- Barenaked Ladies (1997)
Semi-biographical
ode to the troubled musical genius of the Beach Boys – great enough that Brian
Wilson himself started doing a cover version of the song in concert. I don’t
often listen to the Washington rock station (DC 101), but for some reason I had
it on one night in the late 1990s and they played the live version of this from
BNL’s Rock Spectacle album. This is
definitely one of those songs where the live version far exceeds the original
studio recording, so much so that it’s the version that the band included on
their best-of compilation.
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