Sting and Paul Simon Kick Off “On Stage Together” Tour
Paul Simon and Sting Kick Off World Tour Last night Sting and Paul Simon.. or is it Paul Simon and Sting kicked off their tour at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. No, we don’t have all the details yet but I know many are wondering about the setlist so here it is… Check back for additional details and hopefully more videos. Sting and Paul Simon, February 8th, 2014 Brand New day The Boy in the Bubble Fields of Gold Every Little Thing she does is Magic Englishman in New York Hung my Head Driven to Tears Love is the Seventh Wave Mother and Child Reunion Crazy Love Vol. II Dazzling Blue 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover Me...
David Essex ‘Rock On’
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Rock On” by David Essex It was the era of T. Rex’s Electric Warrior, David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and Lou Reed’s Transformer. Glam rock was all the rage as were Roxy Music, Mott The Hoople and The New York Dolls. And there was also a new brand of power pop taking the charts by storm at the same time with hits like “Little Willie” by Sweet, “Go All The Way” by Raspberries and later “Saturday Night” by Bay City Rollers. Enter David Essex…British actor and future glam rock pinup star. Essex had an acting career appearing in the musical Godspell in 1971 and later in the film That’ll Be The Day...
Paul Simon ‘The Rhythm Of The Saints’
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Thelma” by Paul Simon It boggles the mind how a song this good could have been left in the can, but that was indeed the fate of the Paul Simon outtake “Thelma,” which was originally intended for his 1990 album The Rhythm Of The Saints. (The song would surface three years later on the Paul Simon 1964 – 1993 box set.) By 1988, Simon had to begin thinking about the near impossible task of creating a follow up record to his 1986 Grammy-winning smash hit album Graceland. But how do you follow up a record as dominant and successful as Graceland? For Simon, it meant fashioning a record along the same...
Tom Jones ‘Spirit in the Room’
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Just Dropped In” by Tom Jones Tom Jones just released his 40th album this week called Spirit In The Room. It was released last May in England and has finally gained a release stateside. It is also the second “mortality” album he’s released in a row. The “mortality album” occurs when a rapidly aging heritage artist is matched with a hip (younger) producer, who in this case is Ethan Johns. (Johns was also at the helm for his last “mortality album” Praise And Blame.) The producer acts as a mentor to the artist and who curates the record by choosing the songs that not only will give the artist credibility with...
Tom & Jerry (aka Simon & Garfunkel) “Dancin’ Wild”
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Dancin’ Wild” by Tom & Jerry Before “The Boy In The Bubble” and “Graceland”…before “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” and “Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard”…and before “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Sound Of Silence,” there was “Hey Schoolgirl” and a multitude of early recordings by the likes of Tom & Jerry, Jerry Landis, Tommy Graph, Artie Garr, True Taylor, The Mystics and Tico And The Triumphs. No matter what name they recorded under they were still two teenagers named Art and Paul, and when their voices blended, they were undeniably Simon & Garfunkel. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were childhood friends who grew up living three blocks...
Paul Simon Sings ‘The Sound of Silence’ at Victoria Soto’s Funeral
Victoria Soto is a hero. She died protecting her students from the gunman last Friday in Newtown, Ct. Her family was also friends with singer/songwriter Paul Simon. Paul helped honor Ms. Soto this week by playing a rendition of the classic Simon and Garfunkel song “The Sound of Silence.” He was not introduced, there was no applause just “hushed silence” when he was finished the song that was described in a report as being her favorite. The funeral was held December 19th at the Lordship Community Church in Stratford, Ct. Paul Simon knows the Soto family via his sister-in-law. Ms. Soto’s sister spoke at the service saying: “Somebody wrote me a letter about the recent tragedy that I would like...
Paul Simon “Hearts and Bones”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#750) is Paul Simon, Hearts and Bones. Hearts and Bones could be considered the “Lost Paul Simon Album.” It wasn’t Simon and Garfunkel. It wasn’t Still Crazy, It wasn’t Graceland. It was between all those classics and never received it’s proper due. Well not until now. I myself hadn’t even played this for quite sometime. Recently I was on facebook and saw a video by Al Di Meola. In the thread beneath it, there was a comment that mentioned how Di Meola had “the most pick control” of anyone he could think of. Then I thought, “Al Di Meola and pick control, hmmm” .. I could only think of one solo. ...
Jerry Douglas “Traveler”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#726 in the Series) is Jerry Douglas, Traveler I’m guessing that some of you may have never heard of Jerry Douglas, but as a music lover he has been a part of your acoustic life for more than a decade. As THE premier slide dobro player in the business today and a genre spanning artist, he seamlessly flows between Pop, Country, Folk, Bluegrass, and Indie Rock without ever breaking a sweat. Jerry Douglas is to the dobro what Zamfir is to the pan flute. Supporting the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, and even more contemporary artists including his new BFF’s Mumford and Sons, he has lent his...
Pat Metheny “What’s It All About”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#409 in the Series) Is Pat Metheny, What’s It All About. What a surprise it was this week when this little nugget showed up. I didn’t know it was coming but I must say that I’m awfully glad it’s here. It’s always a good day when Pat Metheny released new material. Those days now number in the 40s. (How time flies) This one however is a little different. This album, What’s It All About is an album of cover tunes. Yeah, I know that’s become something quite popular, but not by a jazz guitarist doing songs from the late 60s and early 70s. Besides Pat’s wonderful playing, there’s a few things that I...
Paul Simon “Graceland”
Today’s Cool Album oF the Day (#329 in the Series, and #5 in the Whale Wednesday Series) is Paul Simon, Graceland. I think by now this album has suffered from, what I call, “title fatigue.” Your first reaction might be, meh. I want you to think back to 1986 when this was just released. Think about how different sounding it was. This album was quite the departure for Paul Simon. He brought in Joseph Shamabala and guitarist Ray Phiri plus Ladysmith Black Mambazo to completely change his sound. His use of African rhythms and harmonies were such a surprise. And it worked! To the tune of Grammy Award for Album and Record of the year it worked! There was...
