A Humble Music Blog - LIVENERGI

I'm sure many of you heard this song in it's various forms. The disco version, the opera version etc. But this is the original, the best version of them all (like most originals are). The song is known most for the amazingly beautiful Sax playing of Raphael Ravenscroft. That said, the guitar solo by Hugh Burns and the lovely flute (intro and solo) are deeply haunting too. Check it out, I'm sure you will love it. BAKER STREET Gerry Rafferty Windin' your way down on Baker Street Light in your head and dead on your feet Well another crazy day You'll drink the night away And forget about everything This city desert makes you feel so cold. It's got so many people but it's got no soul And it's taking you so long To find out you were wrong When you thought it had everything You used to think that it was so easy You used to say that it was so easy But you're tryin' You're tryin' now Another year and...

Let’s talk about a very interesting subject, sampling in music. If done well, it can take your song to a whole new level. When we talk about sampling, Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop The Music” (sampled Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”), Kanye West and Jamie Foxx’s “Gold Digger” (sampled Ray Charles’ “I Got A Woman”) and Eminem’s “Stan” (sampling of Dido’s “Thank You”) are some songs that come to mind. But let’s look at some unexpected, yet refreshing examples of sampling. Bone Thugs N Harmony – Wind Blow sampled Fleetwood Mac – The Chain This song features some amazing bass and guitar work. The chorus, as expected from all Fleetwood Mac songs, is filled with excellent harmonies. Bone Thugs N Harmony sampled the chorus and the brilliant bass line of John McVie. They also added an awesome guitar solo in the outro. Check it out. The Rhapsody feat Warren G – Prince Igor sampled Sissel – Prince Igor (Originally by Alexander Borodin) This song take...

Sting's  real name is  Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner . So how did he land up with a name like " Sting "? Well, during the early part of his musical career, he was the bassist for a jazz band called The Phoenix Jazzmen . One of his favourite outfits on stage was a black and yellow sweater with horizontal stripes on it. The other band members thought it made him look like a bee. So the band's frontman, Gordon Solomon , started calling him Sting , and would introduce him on stage as "Sting"... and the name stuck.

Rick Ruben Johnny Cash Nine Inch Nails

Picture this... The year is 1971. The place --- Ascot in England. Early in the morning, a legendary musician sits down at a white grand piano in his bedroom, and pens the lyrics of a new song --- at one go… effortlessly. He then proceeds to compose the melody and completes it in a single sitting. His wife (Yoko) later said that the song was already inside him, just waiting to come out. The legend referred to is the late John Lennon, and the song is, of course, Imagine, arguably the best song ever written by him --- a point personally acknowledged by Lennon himself. However, he never intended it to become an anthem. To him, it was a simple song --- 21 lines written in simple everyday English, expressing a simple idea: that we are one country… one world… one people. The divisions within us are caused by narrow concepts like money, politics and religion. In his imagination, Lennon even had a name for this country — he called it Nutopia. His Dakota residence...

Satchmo. Strange nickname, huh? The origin of this moniker is rather interesting. Like all trumpet players, the legendary Louis Armstrong had developed a large mouth with loose sagging lips. So some of his close buddies used to call him Satchmo --- short for "Satchel Mouth"! Remember that lovely Louis Armstrong song: Hello Dolly? Here's some interesting trivia related to the song. When it was released in 1964, The Beatles had been hogging the No. 1 position on the pop charts for 14 consecutive weeks. Hello Dolly knocked The Beatles off the charts (!!!)... and occupied the No. 1 slot. The song also set another record. At 63, Armstrong became the oldest artiste to occupy the No. 1 spot on the pop charts.

In an earlier post on my personal musical moments, I mentioned the live recording of Belafonte at Carnegie Hall. This triggered a huge response from many Belafonte fans who mentioned that reading the post gave them a chance to walk down Memory Lane after years. Let me share some of my special memories of this wonderful album. The last song of the concert, is Mathilda with which Belafonte brings the curtain (and the house) down. There's one bit, the part where the audience sing-along, doesn't sync with the orchestra...so Belafonte tells the orchestra not to play.  It's hard to pick favourites on this album. Every song is rendered brilliantly. In particular, I love the opening... the low, steady rhythm of the kettle drums... Belafonte comes onstage setting off a ripple of applause... and goes straight in Darling Cora. I also love the Carnegie Hall versions of Mama Look A Boo Boo, Hava Nagilah and Cu Cu Ru Cu Cu Paloma. Another aspect that I marvel a...

Ever so often, the opening notes of a song become its identity. For instance, the opening of Smoke On The Water (Deep Purple). You hear the Da-Da-Da Da-Da-Da-Da Da-Da-Da Da-Da...and you immediately know what the song is. In fact, it couldn't be any other song. Here are some more songs with definitive openers: ::Black Magic Woman (Santana) Santana's scintillating guitar intro backed by the pulsating percussion and bass guitar sets the tone for this brilliant track. ::Locomotive Breath (Jethro Tull) A distinctive yet deceptive beginning... the laid-back piano intro followed by a bluesy guitar piece gives no indication that the track is about to explode into a rocking song with driving drum beats. ::Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond) The organ melody is what makes a difference here, more so because Neil Diamond's songs are predominantly guitar-based. ::Dancing In The Dark (Bruce Springsteen) A lively keyboard-based intro with a ...

Every Pink Floyd fan knows about the acrimonious parting of ways between Roger Waters and David Gilmour... but many don't know the story of this not-so-pleasant meeting... two decades later. The event: Live 8. The facilitator: Bob Geldof. The challenge: Getting Gilmour and Waters together again – even for a one-off appearance. For Pink Floyd fans all over the world, this was a historic event in the making. And here’s how it happened… finally. As was to be expected, Gilmour wasn’t too keen to get together with Waters. In 1993, they had parted ways with a lot of rancour and unpleasantness. And to be fair, it was Waters who had walked out of the band. Also, since Waters was the dominating, overbearing one, it was natural for the relatively more passive Gilmour to avoid any interface with him. Nevertheless, the ever-persuasive Geldof managed to convince the two artistes to meet in a London hotel room. Gilmour remembers reaching after Waters had arrived – he reca...

There is a saying that goes: "Music soothes the savage breast" (wrongly quoted as "beast" by the present generation... has something to do with a rock band with the same name, I believe). Well, believe it or not, other than the known psychological impact that music is known to have, there is a study which indicates that even a profound physiological impact is actually possible. The study carried out by a Finnish medical team reveals that listening to music for a couple of hours every day helps patients to recover from stroke more quickly, improves verbal memory, and enhances the overall mood factor of the patients. The most exciting finding is that music might, in some unknown way, be responsible for activating mechanisms within the body that actually repair and renew the neural networks of the brain after a stroke! Remember --- two hours a day… make sure that you get your daily dose!

Cat Stevens For those who haven't heard the story of Cat Stevens' comeback, here it is... in a nutshell. And it sounds like it's straight out of a movie script! Most fans know that somewhere in the early eighties, Stevens fell in love with a Muslim girl and converted to Islam so that he could marry her. He changed his name to Yusuf Islam and gave up music since Western pop was considered un-Islamic. His wife knew what a big star her husband had been and felt a little guilty about the fact that he had sacrificed all that fame and fan adoration...for her love. The couple had a son, and Stevens' wife encouraged the son to take up music... especially, the guitar. Thus, after almost two and a half decades, the guitar was back in Stevens' life. And the inevitable happened. A flood of pent-up songs came gushing out. The result: A new album --- An Other Cup, released in 2006. Fans were delighted to find the old magic of Cat Stevens shining br...

When songwriters write about people, they often base their characters on real people. From The Beatles’ Michelle and Lucy to Paul Anka’s Diana and Eric Clapton’s Layla, a lot of songs about girls are based on real girls. So invariably, when such a song becomes a big hit, people try to guess who the girl is. In this post, let us take a closer look at some of the myths surrounding such songs. Susie Q Many people think this rock track covered brilliantly by Creedence Clearwater Revival is written about or as a tribute to one of the pioneering women artistes in the field of rock: Suzi Quatro (her totally un-rocking real name is Susan Kay Quatrocchio). Wrong! Susie Q was written way back in 1957 by a singer-musician named Dale Hawkins. At that time, Suzi Quatro was just seven years old. Sweet Caroline For years people thought that Caroline was either an imaginary character or someone Neil Diamond knew back in his young days. Then in 2007, whi...

A few years ago I organized a live gig with this duo with whom I have never worked earlier. They were great. The show was great and everyone was happy.  But, on their way out, the artists asked me when they will get paid, in a tone that was, well, not extremely warm. I was a little surprised, but I let that slide and assured them that it will be done in a couple of days.  After exactly forty eight hours, I get a message from them telling me how I did not honor my commitment and how it's not the way to treat an artist. I was taken aback, and honestly, was a little angry too. I wanted to hit back. How could they take such a uncompromising stance when the payment had not been delayed beyond a reasonable time? But instead, I took a deep breath, calmed myself and told them about all the established artists I worked with and how they were welcome to verify my integrity with them. However, I was still curious and asked them the real reason for their complete lack o...