I'll be heading out the door in a few minutes for my Dad and my traditional Father's Day outing to watch baseball under the guitar shaped scoreboard at Greer Stadium. But since I did a post for Mother's Day, it's only fair that I do one for Father's Day as well. And honestly, this is the first and only song that I thought of for it.
This song from Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Carousel" was one of Frank Sinatra's livelong favorites, and he lamented that more perormers didn't have the "guts" to do it. He recorded it four times over the course of his career, and it was a staple of his concerts from the mid-1980s on. This version is from 1963, arranged by Nelson Riddle. It's often cited as his definitive take, evidenced by the fact that it was the last of his studio recordings of the song. You can't improve on perfection.
Frank Sinatra - "Soliloquy" (mp3) from The Concert Sinatra
Hope you and your papa san (and/or kid of you're of the paternal variety) had a great Father's Day!
As much as I'm liking my new job, one of the things I am very much not enjoying is dealing with rush hour traffic again. The commute to my previous job took me in the opposite direction of everyone else both to and from work. Coupled with the fact that I didn't go in until nine, my drive was relatively painless. Now I'm heading into and out of downtown Nashville at the same time everyone else is, and there is no way to describe it other than "sucks."The last two days haven't been quite so bad though. It's always nice to hear one of your favorite songs on the radio. It's even better when hearing one of them lifts you out of a descent into road rage. Yesterday afternoon my sonic treat was...The Wedding Present - "Dare" (mp3) from SeamonstersAnd this morning, I pulled into the parking garage to the strains of...Love And Rockets - "Kundalini Express" (mp3) from ExpressSo thanks to the wonderful DJs at WRVU for making my rush hour a little less sucky the past two days.
Yesterday news outlets were falling all over themselves mentioning that it was the 40th anniversary of the release of the Beatles psychedelic masterpiece Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. If you were listening to the BBC, that would be accurate. But here in America, the album didn't come out until June 2, 1967. So all those cheesy intros about how "it was 40 years ago today" were (slightly) inaccurate.The album is often cited as the band's magnum opus, but most Fab Four officianados would argue that came a year earlier with Revolver. Regardless of nitpicking, it is an amazing artistic accomplishment, and without a doubt marked the high water point of the band's studio experimentation. But perhaps the most extraordinary thing is that a work of its magnitude was released less than six months after recording had begun (December 6, 1966), and even more amazingly less than six weeks after recording was finished (April 21, 1967). In an age where artists take years to record an album and then record companies spend up to a year developing marketing plans, that kind of productivity is simply remarkable.The Beatles marked the occasion yesterday with the launch of a microsite celebrating the album. The highlights include a photo gallery from the making of the album cover, and a slideshow of photos of the recording of the album narrated by John, Paul, George, Ringo and producer George Martin.I'll celebrate its anniversary with a couple of live covers...Paul McCartney - "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" (mp3)Recorded November 23, 1989 in Los Angeles. From Tripping The Live FantasticElton John & John Lennon - "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" (mp3)Recorded November 28, 1974 at Madison Square Garden, New York. From the Lennon box set.Sting - "A Day In The Life" (mp3)Recorded July 25, 1993 at Villa Manin, Cudriopo, Italy. From the Demolition Man EP.
