Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Midnight Cowboy Theme” by John Barry Not only is today’s Song Of The Day perhaps one of the greatest movie themes of all time, it is also from one of the greatest films of the 1960s. The 1969 film Midnight Cowboy was based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The movie starred Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight (in his film debut) and was directed by John Schelsiinger. It won three Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. When it was originally released, it was given an X rating, so it also holds the distinction of being the only X-rated film to...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Knocking ‘Round The Zoo” by James Taylor It is indeed an amazing story as to how a recovering from heroin singer songwriter from America came to the attention of The Beatles in 1968, leading to the release of the first album by an American artist to be released on The Beatles’ newly-christened Apple Records. James Taylor came from a wealthy family and grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he learned to play cello and then guitar. The family vacationed in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts during the summers where he first met Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar at the age of 14. Even at their young age, Kootch realized that Taylor’s singing...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Piggies” by Theo Bikel Broadway and film star, folk singer, songwriter, civil rights activist, and back in 1969 Theodore Bikel attempted to add pop star to his list of credentials with the release of one bright and shining album for Reprise Records. As a Broadway star, Theodore Bikel originated the role of Captain Von Trapp in The Sound Of Music on Broadway and he’s portrayed the role of Tevye from Fiddler On The Roof on stage over 2000 times. In film, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in The Defiant Ones (1958) and also acted in The African Queen (1951) and Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Caramels” by Mort Shuman “For those who will listen and not just hear…” That was the intended audience for the album where today’s Song Of The Day comes from, according to its back cover, and they certainly broke the mold after this one was committed to wax. But back in 1969 record labels like Reprise let artists experiment and follow their muse, resulting in one of the most eccentric records ever pressed. Long before Mort Shuman released this kooky and bizarre album, he was Doc Pomus’ songwriting partner in the Brill Building. Together they composed some of the best known songs of the ‘50s and early ‘60s including  “Surrender,” “Viva...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “One Too Many Mornings” by Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash Still a mystery to me why these recordings have never been officially released… The Dylan-Cash Sessions took place in Nashville’s Columbia Studio A on February 17-18, 1969 at the tail end of the Nashville Skyline recording sessions. During the same week that Dylan turned in such indelible recordings as “I Threw It All Away,” “Lay Lady Lay,” “To Be Alone With You” and “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You,” Johnny Cash, who had been recording in an adjoining  studio turned up for some recording fun. What transpired were several days of session in which the two traded songs and...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Only A Lonely Man Would Know” by Marvin Gaye The Marvin Gaye albums What’s Going On, Let’s Get It On and Here, My Dear are considered to be his finest by fans and critics alike, and it would be hard to argue the contrary with what’s in the grooves. But it mystifies me that the critics fail to mention the album M.P.G. in the same breath as the others. M.P.G. came out in April of 1969, and was one of Marvin Gaye’s last records before he took the control of his career away from Motown, and began calling the shots himself. That said, M.P.G. (for Marvin Pentz Gaye, not miles...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” by Cher When one thinks of interpreters of Bob Dylan, the name Cher doesn’t automatically come to mind. But she was, in fact, a huge champion of Dylan’s songs, and his songs fit her voice like a glove. Over the years, Cher has covered such Dylan copyrights as “All I Really Want To Do” (a #15 hit),“Lay Lady Lay” (titled “Lay Baby Lay” on her version), “I Threw It All Away,” “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” “Like A Rolling Stone,” “Masters Of War,” “The Times, They Are A-Changin’” and today’s Song Of The Day, “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You.” Cher...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Reasons For Waiting” by Jethro Tull By the time of their second album, Stand Up, original guitarist Mick Abrahams was out of the band over a dispute over the future direction Tull’s music would take. Abrahams wanted them to remain solidly a blues rock band as they were on their debut album, This Was, while Ian Anderson wanted to branch out, adding acoustic elements to their sound. Replacing Abrahams was new guitarist, Martin Barre, who has been in every other incarnation of Jethro Tull ever since. Stand Up saw the development of the classic Tull sound as we know it today. By adding the influences of classical music via the...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#681 in the Series) is King Crimson, In The Court of the Crimson King My father used to be a member of this old time Italian club when I was a child.  I always thought it was pretty cool. The club was called The Roseland Operetta Club. No, they didn’t sing, or promote Operas by this time but that was indeed how it was formed.  The club had some nice grounds that included picnic areas and some killer bocce courts. The front door was always locked, but all members had the key.  I really thought it was neat how you had to unlock it to get in. Heck, I was just a...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#615 in the Series) is The Guess Who, Canned Wheat How about a little Guess Who for today’s Cool Album of the Day, eh?  It’s actually about time we got to this great Canadian band considering they’re one of the better bands to emerge from the late 1960s. I’ve wanted to do a piece on them for quite some time but I had to go back and give their stuff another listen. I was a fan of theirs when they were current, but most of the time the only album of theirs and I had was The Guest Who, Greatest Hits. You might not be aware but we do not cover greatest...