MUSIC APPRECIATION 2015
JANUARY 2015: THE WEATHER Music about the weather. Of course it was often an expression of feelings. We had 6 records about Rain, 3 about Thunder storms, 2 about Wind (only the weather kind), 1 Fog (naturally on the Tyne) and 2 Snows. After all that we had a Rainbow and “here comes the Sun” and into Summertime, but 2 Sun records were Ain’t No Sunshine and even worse I Wish I never Saw the Sunshine. The conclusion is that there are more songs about miserable weather.
Two consecutive tracks were about the rain in Louisiana – so I guess it rains there. Not all doom and gloom – the Thunder and Lightning Polka was vigorous.
FEBRUARY 2015: NAMES So many possibilities but the group members came up with a good range of music:
Title Artiste Long Tall Sally Little Richard Johnny Cash Is Dead Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Boys Blind Willie McTell Bob Dylan Anna The Beatles Sophia Laura Marling Terry Twinkle Arnold Layne Pink Floyd Me and Bobby McGee Kris Kristofferson.. Norman Sue Thompson Corrine Corrina Rod Stewart Mandy Is Two Billie Holliday William and Davey Kate Rusby Goodnight Irene Leadbelly Becky Walker Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Boys Veronica Elvis Costello Eleanor Rigby The Beatles Angie The Rolling Stones Guinevere Crosby, Stills & Nash Elenore The Turtles Me and Mrs Jones Billy Paul Jim Billie Holliday Lily The Pink Scaffold
MARCH 2015: COLOURS I was interested to see how many of the 25 pieces of music would turn out Blue (or the Blues). Surprisingly only 8. We went through Yellow Dog Blues, Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue (points for a double colour), which may be related to the Brown Eyed Handsome Man, Blue Jean Blues (half point for the same colour twice), a very emphatic Red Red Wine (over to the Wine group for the type of grape that could be?), old classics like Heart of Gold and Little Brown Jug, Evergreen, and our most played track this year - Orange Blossom Special. We finished in glorious style with Nights In White Satin (ignoring the purists who say white is not a colour – what is this, a discussion group?).
Title Artiste The Yellow Dog Blues Bessie Smith Dupkich Murphy The Green Fields Of France Misty Blue Dorothy Moore Brown Eyed Handsome Man Paul McCartney White Sports Car and Pink Carnation Marty Robbins Jack Of The Green Jules Holland and Suggs Orange Blossom Special Charlie Daniels Band True Colours Cindy Lauper Blue Days, Black Nights Buddy Holly Red Red Wine Tony Tribe My Colouring Book Chris Farlowe They're Red Hot Robert Johnson Heart Of Gold Neil Young Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue Crystal Gayle Blue Jeans Blues ZZ Top Little Brown Jug Glenn Miller Orchestra Evergreen Kenny Rodgers Blue Smoke Dolly Parton Silver Machine Hawkwind Bluegrass Medley Glen Campbell Blue Hotel Chris Isaak House Of Blue Light George Thorogood Crossroads Blues Robert Johnson Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress The Hollies Nights In White Satin The Moody Blues
APRIL 2015: JUKE BOX JURY April was a Juke Box Jury session where we all brought in any piece of music and we were all eight also the jury – voting each piece a Hit or a Miss. There were 16 recordings to judge. 13 were deemed Hits (and 3 of those were unanimous), 2 were split votes (4-4) and 1 was a unanimous Miss. Ken managed to be inscrutable enough to vote one of his choices as a Miss while the rest of us thought it a Hit.
The criteria for choosing a Hit or Miss was simply “Did you like it”? Someone suggested the question should be “Would it get in the current charts”? On that basis none of our ancient stuff would have been a Hit – maybe except Girls Aloud, which probably was,10 years ago (perversely that was the one unanimous Miss) Alan only brought it because he liked the bass line (which we all had no difficulty in hearing). It's a format we could use again (I've kept the cards and sound effects).
JUNE 2015: SUMMERTIME 13 of us got through 26 pieces of music on that theme. Generally agreed that there are not as many summertime records as “rainy”. There were a number of versions of “Summertime” around the room but only one came forward for playing. A lot of well-known records from afar apart as Jacques Loussier's Vivaldi Four Seasons (Summer), Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues, Billie Holliday's version of Gershwin's Summertime, Bryan Adam's summer of 69, Loving Spoonful's Summer In The City, and more. As the old classics came out, you could see copies of the same disappearing back into bags.
As always we get less well known tracks which can be more interesting (getting educational) – Paul Simon's Satin Summer Nights (and the history of the song was uncovered), Bruce Springsteen with a more recent Girls In Their Summer Clothes, Runrig's Pride Of The Summer, Brewer & Shipley's Indian Summer, and Kate & Anna McGarrigle's Swimming Song, the lovely voice of Laura Knight on The Last Days Of Summer.
A few teething troubles with the new U3A music centre (some of which was the convenor/DJ playing the wrong side or speed) but that was all educational – for the convenor who brought it all to an end (the meeting, not summer) with The Doors' Summers Almost Gone, and everyone was gone – depressed.
JULY 2015: PRECIOUS STONES We had chosen a theme of Precious stones for our July meeting, thinking that there are loads of records out there to fit the bill, but unfortunately I think we were all thinking of the same ones. The fact that there were only 7 of us compounded the problem as we got round the table more times than we normally do (credit to Brenda and Eric for providing enough records to last the 2 hour session). Despite that, we had a great variety of music.
Statistically, we had 13 Diamonds, 5 Pearls, 2 Rubies, 1 Topaz, 1 Emerald, 1 Diamond & Pearl, and 1 Gold Ring (?).
Musically we covered Folk (Martin Simpson, Joan Baez, Dublin City Ramblers), Country (John Denver, Stonewall Jackson), Blues (Champion Jack Dupree, Muddy Waters), Soul (Elkie Brooks), Rock n Roll (Jerry Lee Lewis, Chris Isaacs, Jet Harris & Tony Meehan, The Stacattos, The Paradors, Swing (Glenn Miller), Rock (Elton John & John Lennon, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Thin Lizzy, ZZ Top, David Bowie) and Reggae (Horace Faith).
Title Artiste Martin Simpson Diamond Joe John Denver Some Days The Diamonds (Some the Coal) Stonewall Jackson I'm Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (Diamonds) Champion Jack Dupree Shake Baby Shake (Diamonds) Elkie Brooks Pearl's The Singer Jerry Lee Lewis Good News Travels Fast (Ruby) Joan Baez Diamonds And Rust Gary Lewis & The Playboys This Diamond Ring Paul Simon Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Feet Muddy Waters Diamonds At Her Feet Horace Faith Black Pearl Bob Dylan Black Diamond Bay The Stacattos Topaz Glenn Miller Orchestra String Of Pearls Dublin City Ramblers Where Is the Ring I Gave To Nancy Spain Elton John & John Lennon Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds Chris Isaak Miss Pearl Thin Lizzy Emerald Rolling Stones Ruby Tuesday Jet Harris & Tony Meehan Diamonds ZZ Top Pearl Necklace David Bowie Diamond Dogs The Paradors Diamonds & Pearls
AUGUST 2015: SAD SONGS Our theme was “Sad Songs”. An interesting mix of well-known and obscure and all sorts of musical styles. We started with Andy Stewart's mawkish 'Road And The Miles To Dundee' (oh, I've got dozens more like that at home). We could only get better from there!
It was hard to say which was the saddest as we appreciated that there were all different sorts of 'sadness' expressed and the subject matters quite varied. Some were quite upbeat musically but still a sad story told (Rod Stewart's 'The Killing Of Sister Georgie', Buddy Holly's 'Raining In My Heart'). We had Blues (Blind Willie Johnson) which is a different 'sad' from Country & Western 'sad' (Johnny Cash - Hurt) and again from Pop sad (Sinead O'Connor – Nothing Compares To U). Eva Cassidy made 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' a very sad song, while Patsy Cline's 'When You Need A Laugh' was about domestic violence. 23 sad songs – we should put out an album.
Title Artiste Andy Stewart The Road And The Miles To Dundee Martin Simpson James Foyers Etta James All I Can Do Is Cry Frank Sinatra One For my Baby (1 More For The Road) Johnny Cash Hurt The Ivy League Funny How Love Can Be Elkie Brooks Don't Cry Out Loud Abba Like An Angel Passing Through My Room Eddie Calvert Oh MY Pappa Peggy Lee The Bluest Kind Of Blue Sinead O'Connor Nothing Compares To U Patsy Cline When You Need A Laugh Chris Thomas King Hard Times Killing Floor Blues Rod Stewart The Killing Of Sister Georgie Buddy Holly Rainin' In My Heart This Mortal Coil Song To The Siren Charlie Gracie 99 Ways To lose The Blues Eva Cassidy Somewhere Over The Rainbow Adele Make You Feel My Love Katie Melua When The Lights Go Down The Ronettes I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine Rory Block T'aint Got The Blues Blind Willie Johnson Dark Was The Night
SEPTEMBER 2015: DAYS OF THE WEEK The theme was “Days of the Week”. My thought going into it was 'Would we get a recording for all seven days? Yes, we did. More Monday and Sundays than others. For any other statistical anorak out there, the count was 7 Sunday, 6 Monday, 4 Tuesday, 1 Wednesday, 1 Thursday, 3 Friday and 2 Saturday.
More importantly, the range of music was great. London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ska, Small Faces, Manfred Mann, Allman Brothers, Fats Domino, Connie Francis, Cajun / Zydeco, Simon & Garfunkel, Melanie, Donovan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Velvet Underground + more.
Chronologically it started Telling Me Never to be Strutting on Just Another, Lazy Sunday. We Stormed through a Blue Monday Monday Morning Feeling. Met Ruby until Tuesday Afternoon was Gone, at about Wednesday Morning 3am. By Jersey Thursday I had the Friday Night Waltz On My Mind, until Almost Another Saturday Night was gone.
If that has confused or intrigued you - the playlist follows:
Title Artiste Stormy Monday Blues Manfred Mann Lazy Sunday Afternoon Small Faces Sunday Morning Velvet Underground Tuesday Afternoon Moody Blues Monday Monday Mamas & Papas Jersey Thursday Donovan Almost Saturday Night John Fogerty Friday Night Jerry Lee Lewis Ruby Tuesday Rolling Stones Stormy Monday Blues Allman Brothers Band Blue Monday Fats Domino Just Another Sunday The Blasters Never On A Sunday Connie Francis Wednesday Morning 3am Simon & Garfunkel Tuesday's Gone Lynyrd Skynyrd Friday Night Waltz John Delafose Monday Morning Feeling Tito Simon Ruby Tuesday Melanie Day In Day Out Diana Krall Another Saturday Night Clint West Tell Me On A Sunday London Philharmonic Orchestra Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon Queen Friday On My Mind Easybeats Struttin' On Sunday Aaron Neville Blue Monday Billy Lee Riley
OCTOBER 2015: FAVOURITE TRACKS Our chosen theme for October was 'Favourite Tracks'. How to definition a fave track was a problem - do you just like it / does it mean something to you / is it your current favourite or your childhood one / etc. We can do 'deep' and 'angst' in this group. As usual, we all had no idea what was coming (apart from our own offerings).
We got through the amazing diversity of artistes (in running order):- Melanie, Carson Robinson, Martin Simpson, Derek & The Dominoes, George Formby, Joyce Grenfell, Miles Davis, Nancy Wilson, Al Green, Jerry Lee Lewis, Murray Perahia, Ten Years After, Sandy Denny, The Beach Boys, Brewer & Shipley, Shostakovitch, the Dubliners, Johnny & The Hurricanes, Chris Farlowe, Led Zeppelin.
NOVEMBER 2015: MUSIC WITH MEANING Our November theme was Music with Meaning. Pieces that meant something to us. As ever we had no idea what recordings everyone else would bring in ….and for added bite, why that tune? A recurring sub-theme appeared to be “my previous marriage” but then there were other records with happy memories attached of “a good time in my life”.
The record titles almost speak for themselves. The music rolled on from 633 Squadron's Title Music - Thorn In My Side (ouch) - Scarborough Fair - Going Mobile - Remember Saturday Night - Ballad Of The Working Man - Don't Know Why - Games People Play – Memories - Rebel Rouser (grrr) - Be My Girl - Sympathy For The Devil - He Thinks He'll Keep Her - Three Coins In The Fountain - You Got It - What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life - You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks - You Don't Know How Glad I Am - Learning To Fly - Lucy In The Sky - The Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba (huh?) - Barcelona - Honky Tonk Train Blues, when we ran out of time.
Title Artiste 633 Squadron The Main Theme Eurythmics Thorn In My Side Laura Wright Scarborough Fair The Who Going Mobile Dr Feelgood Remember Saturday Night Patti O'Doors Ballad Of The Working Man Nora Jones Don't Know Why Joe South Games People Play Sarah Brightman Memories Duane Eddy Rebel Rouser Jim Dale Be My Girl Rolling Stones Sympathy For The Devil Mary Chapin Carpenter He Thinks He'll Keep Her Frank Sinatra Three Coins In The Fountain Roy Orbison You Got It Lianne Carroll What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life Seasick Steve You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks Nancy Wilson You Don't Know (How Glad I Am) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Learning To Fly Beatles Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds Handel The Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballe Barcelona Emerson Lake & Palmer Honky Tonk Train Blues
DECEMBER 2015: JUKE BOX JURY As a bit of seasonal fun, we did a Juke Box Jury. As usual we all brought in records to be played but this time we all voted on each piece as a Hit or a Miss (complete with voting cards and sound effects). There was wailing and gnashing of teeth as the Jury voted Miss to some records.
We had well known tracks (from Buddy Holly Dusty Springfield, Shirley Bassey, The Animals, Khachaturian). We had total obscurities (from Orion, Low, Nashville Cast, Fleet Foxes). Then we had obscure records from well-known artistes and well known songs from obscure artistes.
On top of all that we were battling with which way to vote (while passing round the savouries and cakes). This Music Appreciation is hard work, you know. There were 12 Hits, 6 Misses and 1 score Draw. Towards the end, I suspect, the food was having an effect and tired heads were holding up Hit cards - whatever!