Ella Fitzgerald, Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)

Posted in Cole Porter, Ella Fitzgerald, Youtube Favs on October 11th, 2011 by Willie

You may be wondering why I’m putting up an old Cole Porter pop tune from 1928 up my website.  If you’ve seen Woody Allen’s glorious flick, “Midnight in Paris,” you know why, but if you haven’t, then a bit of explanation is needed.  In the film, a time traveling novelist played by Owen Wilson stumbles back in time somehow, ends up at a hot 20s jazz party in Paris, and finds Cole Porter himself performing the song in an intimate setting.  Not “intimate” like an orgy, though maybe one broke out later after Owen left, it’s hard to tell.  Anyway, it’s hilarious, but more importantly, the song is simply one of the best ever.  This version from Ella Fitzgerald is my favorite, which says something because this song was performed by everyone from Frank Sinatra and Louie Armstrong to Diana Ross and Joan Jett.  I’ve taken it upon myself to learn this song on guitar this past week, and its damn hard because of all the jazz chords that require real finger gymnastics.  However, with some real determination, and some real creative chord interpretation, I managed to plunk it down pretty well after a few days.  Here is the link I used to learn, and if you want to play along with Ella, put a capo on the 3rd fret.  Trust me, you’ll like this one guitar players….and uh…lovers of music.

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AC/DC Week, Girl's Got Rhythm

Posted in AC/DC, Youtube Favs on July 9th, 2011 by Willie

AC/DC week…why the hell not.  AC/DC is one of my guiltier pleasures.  Adored by a fan base that never understood that they were probably a parody band, AC/DC took rock and roll to a comical level of extremeness.  The Young brothers who founded the band were very talented rock and roll artists, but were also performance artists.  All you have to do is look at Angus’s school boy suit to get the idea.  They sing about Satan, extreme sex, hardcore drinking, and breaking the law, but they do it with tongue firmly in cheek.  Their music is all about boiling rock and roll down to its philosophical essence, sex and drugs, and then juicing it into overdrive.  Musically, its a stripped down, bare bones, and highly electric attack, but very fun.  Lyrically, its confrontational, sophomoric, and dark minded, but very funny.  They created this persona of what a hard rocking band should be singing about and doing, thus influencing the creation of heavy metal, but it was all based on the simple well-worn formula of making sure to have catchy driving songs.  Even though it was all an act, they did really live a crazy life, especially original front man Bon Scott who drank himself to death.  Perhaps he was the spiritual embodiment of the band’s crazy attitude, perhaps he was just a fuck-up, either way, he was quickly replaced by Brian Johnson, who helped take the band to even higher commercial heights in the 1980s.  More on Johnson later.  Right now I have a classic Bon Scott era song, “Girl’s Got Rhythm,” from their 1979 album Highway to Hell.  Like all great AC/DC songs, it rocks your bones and that’s all that matters.

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My Top 100 Youtube Favorites, a Retrospective, Part 4

Posted in Youtube Favs on June 30th, 2011 by Willie

Sex sells!  I want to thank this “Drunken Angel” above and Tal Wilkenfeld from yesterday for drawing a few extra clicks to my humble little site.  Before anyone accuses me of perversion or lechery or something, I’d like to defend myself a bit by saying this is one of the better lists of rock and roll you are gonna find on the internet.  So, in that spirit, lets close it out right now with clips 24-1 and put this beautiful list to bed once and for all.

#24.  Bob Marley, One Love/People Get Ready – It’s Bob’s version of “All You Need is Love,” and its basically just as good.  Whatever melody making power the Beatles had, Bob had too.

#23.  Bob Dylan, The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll – I wish I had more Dylan on my list, but I couldn’t find too many choice clips of him playing my favorite Dylan songs.  This is an exception, one of the greatest Dylan videos you are gonna find on ole youtube. Read more »

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Marvin Gaye, Sexual Healing, 1983 Grammys

Posted in Marvin Gaye, Youtube Favs on June 9th, 2011 by Willie

Part 85 my soul people, back with more Marvin Gaye like I promised.  This time, its a special performance of “Sexual Healing,” sung live at the 1983 Grammys.  This was Marvin’s last worldwide smash hit, eventually peaking at #3 on the Billboard 100 after dominating the R&B charts.  There is a lot of tragedy and joy to be found in the creation of this record.  It’s a reflection of Marvin attempting  to embrace a healthier more peaceful life through sobriety, exercise, and uh..sex.  Sadly, just as he was in the midst of his triumphant comeback, he was gunned down by his father in one of the more bizarre rock and roll assassinations.  It reminds me a lot of John Lennon’s demise after he completed Double Fantasy. It’s really painful to think of the three icons; Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, and Bob Marley, all dying in the early 80s.  They left a tremendous void.  Anyway, this song was almost entirely produced by Marvin himself outside of the rhythm guitars.  It’s a true masterpiece that touched on elements of doo-wop, snythpop, reggae, funk and gospel.  This performance, a lot like the song, is a triumph.  Marvin reminds the music elite that he is an absolute God, taking them to school by defining what pop music is and can be.  RIP Marvin.

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