My problem is that I usually recognize songs but not always the artists. Excepts to that would be Elton John, BeeGees, Barry Manilow and a few others.

Barry was the grand opening act when the Chicago suburb of Rosement first opened its theatre. Went with several friends the next day. Needed binoculars but still enjoyed the 'live' aspect. One thing I like about Barry is how he interacts with his audience. That night, the mentioned the 'elites' from the previous night; then added his pleasure with being with the 'real' people. Got a standing ovation for that one!

On one of our trips to Branson, my ex and I went to hear 'Alabama' (I think that's the right one), which was more his favorite than mine. But I did appreciate the one singer with a very low voice, especially when doing their rendition of the song 'Elvira'. Only other 'country' song I really liked, don't remember singer's name, but he was singing about his relationship with his young son. Talking about a car trip where his son spilled his chicken nuggets and drink in the car. The song continues with him saying that he went into the barn to ask God to 'help me help my stupid self'. Say that line to myself sometimes.

Strangest concert I ever went to was to see John Denver who died shortly after it. The day before a close friend of his, George Burns, passed away and that seemed to shadow him. But it was weird because, while we were waiting for things to start, I noticed 3 or 4 guitars waiting and available for him. Never saw that before. Then he simply walked on stage with no previous announcement to the audience. We realized it was him and started clapping. Very little to no interaction or acknowlegement of the audience, except when we started clapping to 'Rocky Mountain High'.

Paolo Nutini is a young Scottish musician I've been following off and off. This is the song that got me interested in him.

New Shoes by Paolo Nutini

His voice has matured and has become quite amazing. Dig up Iron Sky on Youtube - you won't be disappointed!

I think it was a Gameboomer member called GEO who would post "Music Break" posts. I was able to add some great musicians and songs to the catalogue in my brain! One of the best was a live session of Jeff Beck performing at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London's Soho. I bought the DVD and discovered Imogen Heap and the young bass player, Tal Wilkenfeld.

Imogen Heap Blanket Jeff Beck Live Session

Tal Wilkenfeld Cause We've Ended as Lovers Jeff Beck Live

Tal Wilkenfeld is quite the talented bass player, isn't she? I hadn't head of her.

I think she was only 23 or 24 when she played with Beck on this tour.

That's cute.

Okay, Scream is now on my playlist. Grand funk!

You're getting some cool stuff on your playlist!

Yes. It's about 130 songs long now, which is great for drives to Comox and back.

The trip down memory lane on Spotify is wonderful. I recently remembered the Pretender's Don't Get me Wrong and the Hollies' Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress. Also, Simply Red's versions of If You Don't Know Me By Now[/i] and Holding Back the Years. What a voice Mick Hucknall had back then.:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...49A76BD00B&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

OK, now I have to go dig up my Simply Red CDs!

I have a soft spot for folk music and show tunes because I performed a lot of both once upon a time when I had a voice, but I like a lot more. Everything depends on my mood, and I usually listen to whole albums rather than a mixed playlist. This past week I enjoyed Loreena McKennitt's The Visit, Ladysmith Black Mambazo's African Sun, Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell, Santana's Abraxis, a collection of Pavoroti's arias, the soundtrack from Riven, The Limelighters' Sing Out, Alessia Cara's The Pains of Growing, The Planets by Holst, Pyramid by The Alan Parson's Project, In Gabriel's Garden with Wynton Marsalis & the English Chamber Orchestra, Sandra Boynton's silly Philadelphia Chickens, and Paul McCartney's Ram.

I already had Paolo Nutini in my collection, and I was aware of Jeff Beck playing with a number of talented performers but Imogen Heap and Tal Wilkenfield are new to me: thanks Drac! ...and as a bonus the same youtube page gave me these nuggets from J J Cale with EC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WUeOEkl270 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEtGZyfms7E

Also intrigued by LadyK's selection and pedigree as a performer



I have to confess to not having yet succumbed to spotify (or any other subscription service): I still want to own the recording if it is music that I like, even to the extent of still mainly buying CDs which I then upload for digital listening...

I spent several weeks a couple of years ago, ripping all our old and new CDs to digital files and then uploading to my Western DIgital home server. Now we can listen to our own music anywhere. I even connect the server to Plex Media Server on the TV, so hubby can listen to his country under his headphones while he's reading. I also have a nice portable speaker with very impressive sound and when I connect my server to that speaker can play my music outside on the pool deck!

LadyeKestrel, we used to listen to Loreena McKennitt back in the day. We saw her in concert in Vancouver back in, I guess, the early 90's. Fabulous music.

Lex, I have an album of JJ Cale and Clapton playing together. It's pretty good! The only drawback is that it's copy-protected, so of all my albums, I've never been able to rip a copy for the car. Of course now we don't need to.

Hagatha,
McKennitt has an ethereal voice. I especially love her "Lady of Chalot."

I just spent a nice chunk of time listening to all the music links posted here. Batiste's "Freedom" and Nutini's "New Shoes" made me want to move, and Imogen Heap, who I didn't know at all, is amazing. I also really loved the fun Cale and Clapton had together in those videos.

One type of music I haven't listened to in quite a while is bluegrass. In my late 20s, my ex-husband and I would go to the Englishtown Music Hall out in central NJ to have dinner and listen to some of the liveliest bluegrass bands ever. There is even a NJ public television special about the music hall (circa late 1970s) which is in the Am. Archive of Public Broadcasting and the Library of Congress. I also went to a bluegrass concert in at Lincoln Center, which was spectacular. (I tried to find my program for it because I don't remember the groups or individual names, but I don't have it anymore.)

My Dave loves Bluegrass too. He has several CDs. In digging for my Simply Red CDs, I found all my Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton and ZZ Top CDs!

I am impressed by Drac's range and organisation, but the great thing about the iPod on shuffled songs setting is that it ranges through the entire collection so that all sorts of half-forgotten items will suddenly surface!

Hagatha, is the car no longer part of the equation (hence no need to copy CDs for use in it)? I was reading your other posts about your husband's hip and I saw the video of your lovely previous home - a sad reflection on the ravages of time. I particularly like the tribute album by Clapton and many others notables which followed J J Cale's death - They Call Me The Breeze.

Although Loreena McKennit would not be my normal fare, I am tempted towards what I think may have been her final album Live from the Royal Albert Hall in 2019: as has been said, ethereal. Update: eventually opted for her 2014 album The Journey So Far, with Nights at the Alhambra DVD/CD probably on my wish list...

As for bluegrass, I always think of the soundtrack from O Brother Where Art Thou which introduced me to several wonderful artists.

Lex, my new Accord has a Bluetooth connection so I can just cast music from Spotify on my phone.

I have gotten so many new music suggestions from this thread!

The fact that Loreena McKennit hails from Canada prompts me to comment on how many outstanding musicians that country produces, including one who has not yet had a mention here Bruce Cockburn: I remember reading The Shack some years ago and there was a lot of reference to his music in that which resulted in me buying several of his albums https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02TUsZzF6es&list=PLuDCBN4mO8msiErWtTFnI7phtX1f3C-2P&index=32 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2bW30NJIxw

More recently and still not very well known came The Bros Landreth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e4867byBJc

We used to see Bruce Cockburn play in high school gyms all around North York. He never really made it big, but he's had a steady following. These days he's heavily into environmental issues, but he's always been that way, really.

But yeah, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Sarah Mclaughlin., etc.

Speaking of Sarah, remember this gorgeous song? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLIHnh9dNHQ

Still gives me chills when I hear it.


And now, for something completely different, but apropos of the temperature today and one of my favourite artists of all time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlMWW4R1ZBM

Wonderful! Ella Fitzgerald is one of my favorites. Had such a good time listening to my Simply Red CDs today. Somehow they weren't included in ripping and uploading to my home server. That has now been remedied!

It's impossible to hear Ella sing that song and not feel good.


I have a couple of albums that Joe Bonamassa recorded with Beth Hart. I don;t normally like her music -- she's a little too rough around the edges for me -- but the songs they chose to perform together really bring something out in her voice. These two are amazing:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFH9rkJ3FRU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FUgmPYrzpQ

Your Heart is as Black as Night is a song by Melody Gardot, an absolute gem of an artist. If you haven't heard of her, now's the time. Her music is pretty wide-ranging, but she's almost a throwback:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmc1XN3iVVc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qphknagXqA

I listened to Your Heart is Black as Night and loved it. Definitely need to go find more of this! I've always liked Joe Bonamassa, but had never heard of Beth Hart. I'd also never heard of Melody Gardot. Tasty!

The words to Baby I'm a Fool are so very clever. "Look me in the eye and tell me love is never based upon insanity."

Indeed.

Oh, hey, Lex, I notice you're from the Isle of Man. My husband's mother was Manx. Her surname was Watterson. They used to holiday there visiting relatives when they were growing up. .

Perfect.

So, I have to ask all the music lovers in this thread... are there other weirdos out there like me who constantly have music in their heads? I mean I'll get up in the middle of the night to pee and there is music... sometimes it'll be something I hate! Sometimes it'll be an old Christmas Carol... sometimes it'll be something stupid like, "One-eyed Flying Purple People Eater. Sometimes it'll be a little song from Sunday School when I was like 10. I don't know where it comes from and it is always something totally out of left field. I find it totally weird.

Hi all

Like many, my listening is eclectic and mood dependent day to day but there are some generalisations:

- 80s and 90s are the background to my life and so tend to be the easy go to
- country and classical don't really feature, but I have bits of both on playlists
- jazz does not compute
- I discover many tracks through TV shows
- newer bands still feature, but not to the extent that they used to
- melancholic moody tracks are probably my current high rotation genre
- I am still discovering an enhanced appreciation for older bands (Velvet Underground is a recent example)
- I will go see almost anyone live

What else?

I like melancholy. The Cinematic Orchestra track To Build a Home is a good example.

Cover versions can be enticing. Bands like Postmodern Jukebox and Nouvelle Vague brings a completely different vibe to so many tracks, and I also make playlists of different versions of a single song where the interpretation can make it almost seem like a different song completely (if you go away is probably the best example; I also like while my guitar gently weeps and pale blue eyes).

I feel compelled to mention Muse. Arguably (maybe, perhaps) the best live band in the world, in terms of all those things that a make a live show memorable. Most videos don't do their stage presence justice, but watch the opening 5 minutes or so of their concert at Rome Olympic Stadium to get a reasonable idea.

I will go back over the posts to see what else I can discover