It’s said that the title comes from the way 60′s movies have a green tint to them but all I can say is this song has one of the catchiest hooks of anything I’ve heard lately. The song is from Mr Big‘s 1991 album Lean Into It, which also had the hit single To Be With You. Paul Gilbert’s opening guitar work is superb and the vocals are tight, even in the live version linked below. Take a listen and add to your mobile device for listening when you need a quick happy song.
Aug
09
Posted by : | On : August 9, 2011
There is something about this song that I can’t put my finger on but it’s also one of my favorites (read about two others here & here). The chorus is catchy and the mix is very well done. Sister Hazel has been around since 1993 and hails from Gainesville, FL. Champagne High is off of their 2000 album Fortress and received good airplay on adult contemporary stations around the US.
Check out their official video.
Aug
08
Posted by : | On : August 8, 2011
I think Del Amitri‘s ‘Roll To Me’ might be the perfect 2 1/2 minute pop song. Great harmony, groove and the ultimate sing-a-long chorus. Can’t remember where I heard this first but pretty sure it was on FM100 back in the middle 90′s.
Take a listen (the video is grainy but the audio is clear).
Jul
28
Posted by : | On : July 28, 2011
Most people who know me well know that I love music, I always have and hope always will. Music has the unique ability to transport you to a different time and place along with instantly bringing back memories. So what better series of posts related to memories than a few posts on my favorite songs. These are not in any particular order, just as they come to me.
The first entry? Days Gone Down by Gerry Rafferty.
I do not remember when I first heard this song but it must have been about 8-9 years ago. It’s from his 1979 “Night Owl” album which also included Get It Right The Next Time and Take The Money And Run. The song begins with a simple acoustic piano and the chorus is sung from the outset. Once the rest of the band joins in the song takes on a well crafted groove. Each time I listen I hear a little something extra.
While being best known for Baker Street, and Stuck In The Middle With You during his earlier stint in Stealers Wheel, his albums never seem to disappoint. Gerry’s smart lyrics are a constant on his albums including his last release Life Goes On in late 2009. Check out the lush Don’t Speak Of My Heart, an instant classic. Sadly he passed away January 4, 2011 in Gloucestershire, England.
His music is timeless with a hint of English sensibilities. If you get the chance take a listen to any of his releases, I’m sure you’ll find a future favorite in there somewhere.
Check out the official video for Days Gone Down.
Jun
05
Posted by : | On : June 5, 2011
Check out this post on the top 5 regrets of the dying. Sorry it sounds so maudlin but I believe the lessons that could be learned are worth the exercise of thinking of our mortality. I’ve often heard that we should live so that we would be proud of our obituary. This post helps put things in the perspective of the dying.
disclaimer: I don’t know much about the Inspiration and Chai blog so I’m not endorsing it, just think this article is worth it.
May
21
Posted by : | On : May 21, 2011
A few things that caught my attention this week:
Amazon’s Cloud Player – put your music in the cloud and listen via your Android device or any browser.
Found a super cool website this week, Inventables.com has every odd and nerdy item you can think of. Great resource for those science projects that stand out. And don’t forget ThinkGeek, another site for items you can’t just get anywhere.
Remember the band Whitesnake? They’ve got a new album out. Wondering if we should still call them albums…
Heard a great interview on the BBC with Barbara Bodine, America’s past Ambassador to Yemen and spent much of her career in the Arabian Peninsula. She was a major player in the investigations of the USS Cole bombing and 9/11.
The Memphis Grizzlies sure made us proud this season. Cannot wait for next year.
–Don’t forget to click on the orange RSS feed icon above to subscribe to this blog.
May
19
Posted by : | On : May 19, 2011
If you’ve lived in Memphis for a while you will probably remember the Jade East murders which occurred on October 20, 1987. Jade East was a restaurant on Austin Peay next to the Post Office just north of Yale Road. Three men entered in broad daylight and killed 3 family members who owned and operated the restaurant along with a small jewelry business.
My first real job, if you don’t count being an usher at the Memphian, was working at Security (later Sunbelt) Couriers in downtown. A couple of nights a week I would drive to Grenada MS and back. It was an enjoyable and quiet trip and looking back on it I think I liked the solitude of the drive the most.
One of those nights as I returned home I noticed a car outside the house next door (see other Old Neighborhood posts for more stories) which was odd because there really wasn’t enough room to park in front without being in the intersection. Since the house was so close to our driveway it was easy to notice the person lying in bed with a bandage around his leg that was obviously bleeding. Not hearing about the murders at that time I didn’t think anything about it, remember it was a strange house. My girlfriend at the time called me and as we talked she told me about the robbery and shooting. The police at that time had no idea who had committed the crime and details were scarce. Not putting two and two together I went to bed.
The next morning as we were talking about the previous days events I thought that someone might need to check out that house. One of the guys knew someone on the police force and relayed the story to him. They went by the house later that day and by that time everyone was gone. It turns out they left shortly after I arrived home using the car that was parked outside.
All three were eventually captured and I believe the guy that lived next door was killed in jail. I couldn’t find anything on this tragedy because the CA archives only go back to 1990, I did find this petition by one of the defendants which outlines the events of the day along with his alleged grounds for a reversal of the life sentence. It was denied.
May
17
Posted by : | On : May 17, 2011
We’ve all heard the old adage “Time flies when you’re having fun” or “Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted” (John Lennon). Funny, but it seems annual events come around quicker these days. My family and I enjoy the Germantown Charity Horse Show each June. It seems we have just finished emptying the cooler and cleaning the mud and dirt off our boots from the last show. Birthdays, and not just my own, seem to creep up quicker than before. My son will be 18 this year but it seems he was just starting school a few short years ago. The youngest grandson will be one this Sunday, hard to fathom it’s been 12 months since that long beautiful Saturday morning.
I’m not complaining since every one of these events is special to me but it does sadden me a little to think that time is going by so fast. It’s as if we’re kids caught up in a quickly fading summer day, we just don’t want the sun to set and be forced to go indoors. I can’t speak for everyone but it seems to affect me at a deeper level each year.
On the upside age has mellowed me just a tad. I’ve heard that as you get older you either become more or less patient. For me (at least so far – fingers crossed) I’ve become more patient.
So what about you? Time going by quickly or just about right?
May
10
Posted by : | On : May 10, 2011
Mississippi River May 9, 2011
I took a drive downtown yesterday to see the river and what it’s doing to the Western edge of the city. This photo was taken near the Visitor’s Center near the bottom of Jefferson Ave at Riverside Dr.
If you were to head South from this point you would have been stopped by barricades at Union Ave which stretch past Beale. Between those two points the water was past the street and edging towards the little berm of land between the street and the railroad/trolley tracks. It was past that point as you get closer to Beale.
The Riverboats were docked just off of Riverside. It’s usually a lengthy sloped walk to the boarding gangplanks from the street but they were close enough that you could take 7-8 steps and be on board.
They say the river is supposed to crest today at over 48 feet. The last time it was close to this was back in 1937. That flood killed 500 people and covered 20 million acres of land. I heard today that is almost the size of the state of Virginia.
The picture above is looking West towards the Mud Island Amphitheater. It’s hard to see in the photo but there is a wall just behind the stage that is about three and a half feet tall. The water was about 1/2 foot below that wall, once it goes over it will flood the stage and seating area.
More photos can be found on the CNN site here.
May
09
Posted by : | On : May 9, 2011
Our house was a duplex that my folks owned and we had only a few different people live there over the years. My cousin Karen and her family lived there for a while and I actually moved back to the side of the house for a brief time as I got older. The family that lived there the longest was The Beaudoins. They consisted of Kenneth and his mother, who’s name escapes me. I just called her Ms Beaudoin. Kenneth was a somewhat famous poet and the founder of the Poetry Society of Tennessee. He was the creator of the ‘eye poem’ which is the practice of using words and images cut out of magazines and pasted together in a collage poem.
He was eccentric before I knew what that term meant. They had pieces of wood with hundreds of arrowheads attached to them displayed over every inch of their walls. He was a prolific writer and in 1976 was named Poet Laureate of the River. His work was widely published in England, Wales, France, West Germany, Greece, Italy, India, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia. He dedicated at least one book to me when I was 13 or 14, I believe the title was Moon on Jefferson Street but I have long since misplaced it.
He ran an art gallery in Greenwich Village in the 40′s and worked for the Memphis Police Department in the Criminal Intelligence Division from 1950 until 1980. Both the University of Syracuse and University of Memphis house collections of his papers and manuscripts.
He passed away on March 19, 1995 of complications from diabetes, he was 81.
The next time your child does one of those projects for school that includes magazine cutouts glued to poster board, say a small thank you to Mr Beaudoin.