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

7/11 – 13/11/22 – Raiders of the Lost Ark, Billion Dollars & TÁR

Posted on November 14, 2022 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Welcome to Monday’s News on the March – The week that was in my digital world.

Shooting “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (with Steven Spielberg & Douglas Slocombe)
Video documentary at Cinematographers on Cinematography

Raiders is my favourite Adventure movie and this fascinating documentary about its making elevates my admiration of the artistry and creative development in the whole process. This is how movies used to be made. This is an extraordinary account of cinema history.

Someone wrote in the comments:

Every aspect of this film represents a pinnacle for the craft. The writing, the acting, the directing, the costume design, the set design, the soundtrack, the sound effects, the stunts, the effects, the makeup…. And yes the cinematography…. Every aspect of this film is badass. (Watch entire documentary here)

Louis CK Stand up Comedy: If I Had a Billion Dollars
Audio comedy excerpt at Louis CK Dose

You would think the following was untrue, but Louis CK described also what happened to me:

‘My bank called me the other day, saying you don’t have enough money. And I was like, yeh, I know that. I also am of the opinion I don’t have enough money. And she said, you don’t understand, you have insufficient funds…Well yeh, that’s also a very good way of putting it. I think my funds are grossly insufficient. Thank you for calling. I thought it was my problem that I’m F&cking broke. I thought I was the only one who suffered, but apparently the bank has a serious problem with it…and it f&cks them up I’m broke. And she said you can’t have such a low amount of money. We can’t tolerate that….Well then give me some f&cking money…’ (Listen to comedy show extract here)

Cate Blanchett: Becoming a Distinguished Composer in TÁR | Apple Music
Video interview at Apple Music

This video interview is ‘Wokesville‘ amongst elites at the upper echelon even including the interviewer’s ‘I’m so woke – it’s unbelievable’ glasses. But it is Cate, and she talks about her new movie that my friend Reely Bernie reviewed here.
Australian actor Cate Blanchett sits down with Zane Lowe to reflect on her experience embodying renowned composer Lydia Tár in the film TÁR. Though she is not a musician in her real life, Cate Blanchett molds herself to fit into the role of one of the greatest living composer-conductors for the film. Cate explains how she experienced major imposter syndrome while acting as the first-ever female music director of a major German orchestra. She and Zane also discuss more broadly the impact of music and humanity’s relationship with sound. (Watch entire interview here)

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

I Don’t Live Here Anymore (2021) – The War on Drugs

Posted on November 13, 2022 by observationblogger — 6 Comments

Find out by watching the video below why Jeff (Eclectic Music Lover) said ‘The War on Drugs are one of the greatest bands around today. I love their dreamy, expansive sound, and their intelligent songwriting and intricate guitar work are always exceptional‘. I just love this video which contain some of their songs from their latest album I Don’t Live Here Anymore. Today’s title track is the first song on the video below. A special shout-out also to the final song ‘Change‘ which starts at 17:22 in the performance below.

Maia Stern, the video productor at NPR Music wrote on November 1, 2021:
In their Tiny Desk (home) concert, The War On Drugs gather in their packed studio in Burbank, CA to let us in on the fun and intricate inner workings of their craft. After opening the show with “I Don’t Live Here Anymore,” which shares the same title as their new album, frontman Adam Granduciel introduces the band and asks if anybody has a capo. Suddenly a very thoughtfully crafted tiny desk with drumsticks for legs (and topped with a tiny lamp too!) slowly lowers down into the space, delivering said capo. Granduciel smiles, and the group continues with three more tracks from the new record: “I Don’t Wanna Wait,” “Old Skin,” and “Change.”

When I think about the old days, babe
You’re always on my mind
I know it ain’t like I remember
I guess my memories run wild
Like when we went to see Bob Dylan
We danced to “Desolation Row“
But I don’t live here anymore
But I got no place to go

Beating like a heart
I’m gonna walk through every doorway, I can’t stop
I need some time, I need control, I need your love
I wanna find out everything I need to know

I Don’t Live Here Anymore is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band The War on Drugs. The songs were all reimagined, rewritten and/or remixed multiple times over the course of the album’s three-year recording process. I Don’t Live Here Anymore received acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic the album received an average score of 85, based on 25 reviews, indicating “universal acclaim”.

I opened this post with Jeff’s quote about The War on Drugs and I’m going to let him close it out:

‘The War on Drugs are without question one of the finest bands making music today. I first learned about them at the end of 2014 when I saw this album on every year-end list, and their song “Red Eyes” on multiple best songs of 2014 lists. I was instantly blown away by their gorgeous music, and have been a big fan ever since. I think my favorite song of theirs is “Pain” from ‘A Deeper Understanding. I get a big lump in my throat every time I hear it, awestruck that someone is capable of writing such stunning and impactful music.’

Reference:
1. I Don’t Live Here Anymore – Wikipedia

Tagged with: I don't live here anymore, the war on drugs
Posted in Music

Islands in the Stream (Live in Las Vegas 1997) – Bee Gees

Posted on November 12, 2022 by observationblogger — 11 Comments

Bee Gees – Islands In The Stream (Live in Las Vegas, 1997 – One Night Only)

People may be more familiar with the mega-hit version by Dolly Parton and Kenny Roger’s of this song, but I have always had a penchant for this one by the Bee Gees in Las Vegas. They wrote the original song and the harmonies are fantastic. This is one of the most played live concert-dvds in our household. The Bee Gees wrote a lot of songs which became hits for other artists including the following:

“How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” Al Green (1972)
“Grease,” Frankie Valli (1978)
“Emotion,” Samantha Sang (1978)
“Hold On to My Love,” Jimmy Ruffin (1980)
“Woman in Love,” Barbra Streisand (1980)
“Heartbreaker,” Dionne Warwick (1982)
“Chain Reaction” Diana Ross, and
“Islands in the Stream,” Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers (1983)

Baby, when I met you, there was peace unknown
I set out to get you with a fine-tooth comb
I was soft inside
There was something going on

You do something to me that I can’t explain
Hold me closer and I feel no pain
Every beat of my heart
We got something going on

Islands in the Stream is named after an Ernest Hemingway novel and was released in August 1983 as the first single from Kenny Rogers’s album Eyes That See in the Dark. The song was originally written for Diana Ross in an R&B style but later reworked for the duet by Rogers and Parton. The song reached number one on the Billboard chart in the United States (knocking Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” out of No. 1), giving both Rogers and Parton their second pop number-one hit (after Rogers’s “Lady” in 1980 and Parton’s “9 to 5” in 1981).

Reference:
1. Islands in the Stream (song) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: bee gees, dolly parton, islands in the stream, kenny rogers
Posted in Music

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