Isn’t it a Pity (1970) – George Harrison

Posted on November 23, 2022 by observationblogger — 30 Comments

Isn’t It a Pity is from George Harrison’s 1970 album All Things Must Pass. It was his first solo album after the break-up of the Beatles. It also featured as a double A side single with My Sweet Lord. The single was phenomenally successful in North America, and around the world. Both songs were listed at number 1 on America’s Billboard chart, for four weeks. Isn’t it a Pity was initially rejected for inclusion on releases by the Beatles in 1966. The title track All Things Must Pass was also overlooked by the Beatles. Isn’t It a Pity has been described as “a poignant reflection on The Beatles‘ coarse ending.

Isn’t it a pity?
Now isn’t it a shame?
How we break each other’s hearts and cause each other pain
How we take each other’s love without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn’t it a pity?

Some things take so long, but how do I explain
When not too many people can see we’re all the same
And because of all their tears
Their eyes can’t hope to see the beauty that surrounds them
Isn’t it a pity?

The track serves as a showcase for Harrison’s slide guitar playing, a technique he introduced with All Things Must Pass. In its long fadeout, the song references the closing refrain of the Beatles’ 1968 hit “Hey Jude“. Other musicians on the recording include Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Gary Wright and the band Badfinger, while the reprise version features Eric Clapton (see the live in Japan version below) on lead guitar.

In his 1980 autobiography, Harrison explained: “‘Isn’t It a Pity’ is about whenever a relationship hits a down point … It was a chance to realise that if I felt somebody had let me down, then there’s a good chance I was letting someone else down.” His lyrics adopt a nonjudgmental tone throughout. According to musicologist and critic Wilfrid Mellers, writing in 1973, “Isn’t It a Pity” blends the three song types embraced by Harrison as a solo artist – love song, rock song and hymn. He viewed it as the “key-song” on Harrison’s post-Beatles debut solo album.

Reference:
1. Isn’t It a Pity – Wikipedia

Tagged with: all things must pass, george harrison, isn't it a pity
Posted in Music

I’ve Got a Plan (1994) – My Friend the Chocolate Cake

Posted on November 22, 2022 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

The songs from the Melbourne ‘gypsy-like romp and ballad’ group ‘My Friend the Chocolate Cake‘ feature prominently at my Music Library Project. Another song I reviewed from them recently – ‘I Guess It Don’t Get Much Better Than This‘ describes today’s song I’ve Got a Plan to a tee. This is one of my favourite Australian songs.

I got a plan
Let’s take off in the blue station wagon
And find the open road to salvation
Away from here

Yeah, I got a plan
Change the patterns that I form a lot
Not try to be something that I’m not
That I’m not

I’ve got another plan – this time it’ll work
Yeah, I’ve got another plan – this time it’ll work
Or I’ll be struck down, struck down

A lot of the Cake’s lyrics (from David Bridie) seem to be about escapism from ‘habitual life’ that society and modern living has forged. I’ve always found their music ‘a key’ of sorts to unlock options about how I might want to live my life more audaciously.

I’ve Got a Plan was the lead single from the Cake’s second album ‘Brood‘. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1995, Brood won the ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album.
Please excuse the poor audio in the video below, but it’s one of the few music-videos they released. You can find the original audio here.

Tagged with: David Bridie, I've got a plan, My Friend the Chocolate Cake
Posted in Music

Chimpanzee, God Save the King & Bale – Gol !!!!!

Posted on November 21, 2022 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Zoo Cam Captures Emotional Reunion of Mother Chimpanzee and Baby
Video article at ABC Australia News

Chimpanzee Mahale gave birth to a baby boy, named Kucheza, at Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, via caesarean last week. But her baby was not breathing well on his own, and the pair were separated, according to the zoo’s post on social media. Two days later, the zoo captured her returning to her enclosure and finding her baby there, swaddled in a blue blanket.

God Save the King Sung Officially For the First Time
Video presentation from The Royal Family Channel

This is my favourite anthem. Forget your Nobel prizes and other awards; to sing this at a World Cup beats them all. Look here at Rooney, Beckham, Gerrard, Rio, Terry and Lampard sing this. Now it’s for the King. God save him!

Bale – Gol Mundial (As Seen by the Public)
Videos in public at Franco Ibarra

World Cup time. Hurrah! XMAS has come early. Today’s Gol by Gareth Bale as seen in the crowds. I worked with people from Wales during the fire season back in Melbourne more than a decade ago. Now they come up to the might of England. God Save Them.. Haha.

Tagged with: cate blanchett, comedy, louis CK, raiders of the lost ark, steven spielberg, TÁR
Posted in Movies and TV, News

It Makes No Difference (1975) – The Band

Posted on November 21, 2022 by observationblogger — 10 Comments

There are no more superlatives left to describe the Band’s performance in their last concert The Last Waltz. You know when you are beholden to the best art when your only feeble reaction is – ‘How on God’s earth did they do that‘? I’m still staggered by this mesmerizing concert and how one of the all-time great American directors Martin Scorsese managed to showcase it in all its glory. We as admirers of great music are truly blessed. Can you imagine for a second, a world which existed if Scorsese had not recorded this? Skip that… I don’t even want to entertain the thought. Rick Danko’s voice here is just ‘Wow’!

It makes no difference where I turn
I can’t get over you and the flame still burns
It makes no difference, night or day
The shadow never seems to fade away

And the sun don’t shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

Now there’s no love
As true as the love
That dies untold
But the clouds never hung so low before

It Makes No Difference is a song written by Robbie Robertson and sung by Rick Danko that was first released by The Band on their 1975 album Northern Lights – Southern Cross. According to Robertson, “I wrote this song specifically for Rick to sing and when we first started discovering the possibilities, it kept expanding to more levels of emotion. What Garth and I could add to finalize the statement of this song was purely instinctual.“
Allmusic critic Rob Bowman claims that it “might be the best romantic ballad ever done by the group.” The Sarasota Herald-Tribune described the song as “poignant” and praised its eloquence as being worthy of a Grammy Award.

Reference:
1. It Makes No Difference – Wikipedia

Tagged with: It Makes No Difference, Northern Lights – Southern Cross, the band, the last waltz
Posted in Music

It’s a Dream (2005) – Neil Young

Posted on November 20, 2022 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

It’s a Dream is the second song to appear here from Neil Young’s 2005 Prairie Wind album. It features in the Heart of Gold documentary directed by Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) about Neil Young’s Prairie Wind concert at the famous Ryman Auditorium also known as Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. This song is simply beautiful, almost transcendental. The lyrics mesh perfectly with Neil’s yearning tone. I couldn’t stop listening to it when it first came out.
‘Bobdylaniscool‘ wrote at Songmeanings: ‘The verses are just snapshots in time, which to the speaker are like dreams… Just as dreams escape us when we awake, so do our memories as we age. And when we die, they no longer have anywhere to stay.‘

In the morning when I wake up and listen to the sound
Of the birds outside on the roof
I try to ignore what the paper says
And I try not to read all the news
And I’ll hold you if you had a bad dream
And I hope it never comes true
‘Cause you and I been through so many things together
And the sun starts climbing the roof…

It’s a dream
Only a dream
And it’s fading now
Fading away
It’s only a dream
Just a memory
Without anywhere to stay

For anyone interested in Country / Americana music I couldn’t recommend Demme’s documentary Heart of Gold more highly. The Prairie Wind concert in the documentary is a great introduction to Neil Young’s music although it’s more a sombre, melancholic and retrospective repertoire of what he does. It is a reflection of Neil’s childhood and his dedication to family. Prairie Wind is the 26th studio album by Young. Young recorded the album in Nashville before undergoing minimally invasive surgery for an aneurysm in the spring of 2005, and some of the songs on the album appear to be informed by Young confronting his own mortality.

The video presented below is from the Prairie Wind concert in Jonathan Demme’s documentary.

Reference:
1. Prairie Wind – Wikipedia

Tagged with: It's a dream, neil young, prairie wind
Posted in Music

It Don’t Matter to Me (1970) – Bread

Posted on November 19, 2022 by observationblogger — 5 Comments

It Don’t Matter To Me was a late inclusion to the Music Library Project. In my last article – Everything I Own another song by the Los Angeles soft rock band Bread, Max at PowerPop told me how much he liked today’s featured track. I had always liked it too. Bread frontman David Gates said of It Don’t Matter To Me: “I wrote that song a year or so before joining Bread, mostly for my personal pleasure. I thought it would be good for the group – it has this unusual bridge that takes off and does some crazy things musically.”

It don’t matter to me
If you really feel that
You need some time to be free
Time to go out searching for yourself
Hoping to find time to go to find

And it don’t matter to me
If you take up with someone
Who’s better than me
Cause your happiness is all I want
For you to find (peace)
Your peace of mind

This version of the song is a re-recorded version of a Gates song from their first album. The song was a Top 10 hit in the U.S. and Canada. The part of the song I really enjoy hearing is the guitar wailing above the string section at 2:10 in the video below. This is the third song to appear here from Bread and the fourth featuring Gates. My favourite by him is Goodbye Girl and I’m a huge fan of the movie as well based on the Neil Simon play.

David Gates was from Tulsa, Oklahoma and knew Leon Russell and both played in bar bands around the Tulsa area. Both Gates and Russell headed for California to check out the music scene there. You can read more about the formation of Bread in the article below.

References:
1. It Don’t Matter to Me – Wikipedia
2. Bread – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Bread, david gates, it don't matter to me
Posted in Music

Billy Elliot (2000) – Stephen Daldry (Friday’s Finest)

Posted on November 18, 2022 by observationblogger — 6 Comments

I had heard about the movie Billy Elliot and its accolades, and I don’t know why it took me so long to see it. It might be that my shallow expectations of a coming-of-age story of a prepubescent teen taking to ballet didn’t really entice me. A few years ago, I stumbled upon it when I was zapping through cable-tv, and the little I saw impressed me. Then I saw Billy Elliot in its entirety and ‘Wow’! I saw it again, this time with my kids and they were glued to the screen; and I thought we might be onto something here. Then we all saw it again two nights ago and were fascinated.

IMDB Storyline:

In County Durham, during the endless, violent 1984 strike against the Margaret Thatcher closure of British coal mines, widower Jackie Elliot Widower (Gary Lewis) and his firstborn, fellow miner Tony (Jamie Draven), take a dim view of 11-year-old second son Billy’s (Jamie Bell) poor record in boxing class, which worsens when they discover he sneakily transferred to the neighboring, otherwise girls-only-attended ballet class. Only one schoolmate, closet-gay Michael Caffrey (Stuart Wells), encourages Billy’s desire, aroused by the teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson (Dame Julie Walters), who judged him talented enough for private lessons, to train and try out for the world-renowned Royal Ballet audition. Only the prospect of a fancy career unimagined in the pauper quarter may twist pa and big brother’s opposition to indispensable support.

When we were watching another movie recently – the Elton John bio-pic Rocketman, my eldest son pointed to the actor playing Bernie Taupin and exclaimed, ‘That’s Billy Elliot! ‘Billy Elliot‘? I responded, ‘No way‘! I thought he was seeing things. It escapes me how he recognised the actor Jamie Bell from Rocketman. Around 2,000 boys were considered for the role of Billy before Bell was chosen for the role. Bell won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his depiction of Billy Elliot.

My son Jesus Mateo also added that he loved the Billy Elliot soundtrack and above all the song London Calling by British punk band – The Clash. It is indeed a great music soundtrack which includes Children of the Revolution, Cosmic Dancer and Get it On. In the scene presented below where Billy is confronted by his disapproving – father (and that’s putting it mildly) contains some of my favourite music from the film as well as Billy Elliot’s (Jamie Bell) superior dancing.
Billy Elliot received positive critical response and commercial success, earning $109.3 million worldwide on a $5 million budget. This is an unusual but superb family movie which I encourage everyone to see. Thank you for reading.

References:
1. Billy Elliot – Wikipedia
2. Billy Elliot – IMDB

Tagged with: Billy Elliot, jamie bell, stephen Daldry
Posted in Movies and TV

Is Your Love in Vain (1978) – Bob Dylan

Posted on November 17, 2022 by observationblogger — 6 Comments

Is Your Love in Vain is another unheralded gem from Dylan’s massive music catalogue. It comes from one of Bob Dylan’s most misunderstood and underrated records – Street Legal. I wrote in the post about the record’s opening track – Changing of the Guards – if I had to choose just one album from Dylan to take with me on a Desert Island, it would be Street Legal. Just an aside, if you listen to the beginning of Is Your Love in Vain it has an uncanny resemblance to a Spanish song, I wrote about called Eres Tu (It’s You). Coincidence or Love and Theft? Anyhows, both are great songs.

Do you love me
Or are you just extending goodwill?
Do you need me half as bad as you say
Or are you just feeling guilt?

I’ve been burned before and I know the score
So you won’t hear me complain
Will I be able to count on you
Or is your love in vain?

Is Your Love in Vain has always been a closet Dylan song that I hold dear, but I have noticed it has its detractors in the fan realm. This song was hammered for its supposed misogyny. Dylan wrote in this: ‘Can you cook and sew, make flowers grow, Do you understand my pain?‘ Like his song Abandoned Love I always felt this song represented more Dylan’s inner turmoil, conflicting emotions and outreaching. It’s as though he hasn’t had time to process his feelings and so it is raw, lucid, and candid and may be construed in a variety of ways.

I perceived Is Your Love in Vain as Dylan desiring to settle down to a normative life with someone who truly loves him and provide him a base of security and routine. Many others have always seen a problem here with this song, and indeed interpreted the whole album Street-Legal as somehow faulty. For that reason, I wrote above, the album to me at least is misunderstood. I’ll leave the last words to the author of Untold Dylan:

Dylan is no longer the bright boy on the block describing the freak show and the strange world around him, as he did in the era of Highway 61 and Blonde on Blonde. Now he’s the man who has been divorced and hurt and left. So, just as we might expect, the music plods along in a classic Dylan style of the descending bass, starting on E flat and travelling down, rising up suddenly to the infamous “cook and sew” line. The melody is far more interesting than in many Dylan songs, and it works perfectly around the lyrics and their meaning.

Reference:
1. Untold Dylan – Bob Dylan.org
2. Street-Legal (Album) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Bob Dylan, Is Your Love in Vain, Street Leggal, untold dylan
Posted in Music

Piano Concerto No 21 In C Major K467 Andante (1785) – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Posted on November 16, 2022 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

It’s staggering what Mozart wrote around this time period, like the Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Abduction from the Seraglio amongst many other great works written about here. Today’s featured piece – Piano Concerto No. 21 was completed just 4 weeks after he completed Piano Concerto No 20 in D Minor. My Grandmother often played the No 20, and I dedicated that post in memory of her. Today’s No 21 is one of Mozart’s most familiar pieces of music although it didn’t feature in the Amadeus soundtrack.

These piano concertos are not just frivolous showpieces; they consistently struck rich melodic veins and formed a classical concerto gospel, which inspired the young Beethoven a great deal.
Orrin Howard wrote:

A sad historical footnote reveals that, while his concerto inspiration hardly ever failed him, his public did. Proof of this deplorable fact is seen in the correlation between his Viennese popularity and each year’s need for new concertos: three in 1782 and 1783, six in 1784, three in 1785 (the year of K. 467), a like number in 1786, and one each in 1788 and 1791.

Thank heaven for the successful years; without them there would unquestionably be fewer Mozart piano concertos. One is given to wondering, however, whether the flighty aristocrats for whom the works were written perceived even faintly the uniqueness of Mozart’s achievement during the time they were making him the fashion of the moment.

More information regarding the structure and specifics of the music can be found in the two references below:

Reference:
1. Piano Concerto No. 21 (Mozart) – Wikipedia
2. Piano Concerto No. 21, K. 467 – theford

Tagged with: Piano Concerto No 21 In C Major K467Andante, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Posted in Music

It’s All in the Way (2002) – My Friend the Chocolate Cake

Posted on November 15, 2022 by observationblogger — 3 Comments

When I lived in Melbourne, I wanted to see Australian Aboriginal singer – songwriter Archie Roach in concert. We secured tickets and learnt that Archie Roach would be joined by David Bridie whose music has featured here often. I hadn’t heard of Bridie until seeing him that night with Archie, but Bridie opened the concert with his song ‘More Heart than Me‘. Upon hearing the distinctive piano introduction and his opening words ‘She comes every morning at least three times‘, I looked at my partner gobsmacked and asked, ‘Who the F&ck is this guy‘!? We were both in music-heaven right there.

It’s all in the way you carry yourself
Ever so slightly you lean to one side
Each moment moves slowly, the colours more defined
And I don’t want it to change
It’s all in the way you glide when you’re walking
Your feet slide in motion, and don’t touch the ground

And it’s all in the way that you’re mine
Yeah, it’s all in the way that you’re mine

People talk of a post-World War II golden age, and I’ll give you just a smidgeon of just how good it got. A few weeks after seeing Bridie and Roach in concert we received in the mail the CD ‘Curious‘ (see image inset top-left) from Bridie and his band ‘My Friend the Chocolate Cake‘ as a thank you gift for seeing him concert. Do you believe that? Well, it’s true. And I still have the CD. I played that thing to death. Do you know why? Not because it was a gift; as lovely as that was to receive, but because it contains some of the best eclectic music I have ever heard. Today’s featured song ‘It’s all in the Way‘ opens the album and like the rest of the music on that record is sublime.

My Mum called me from Australia last night and told me that Archie Roach had passed away and I immediately fell into a deep pit. I’m still trying to stomach that news. He actually passed away a few months ago and I was just learning about it. It should have been front headline news on Australian media. I grew up listening to his records which were produced by David Bridie. After seeing Bridie with Roach in concert I became a bit of a band groupie of the Cake and Bridie and watched them live all over the place and got the pleasure to talk to them on occasion.
So, without further to do, here is My Friend the Chocolate Cake‘s It’s All in the Way.

Tagged with: curious, David Bridie, it's all in the way, My Friend the Chocolate Cake
Posted in Music

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