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Showing posts with the label Blues

Opening With A Flourish

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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 ...

Who's That Girl?

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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...