We spend most of our waking hours discussing, reading about and discovering/re-discovering music. This blog is our humble attempt to share what we know, and more importantly, love.
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.
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.
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 ...
Comments
Post a Comment
Please let us know how we did. And share your experiences, favorites...pretty much anything about music.