Willie Simpson

Tag: willie simpson

  • John Lennon, Imagine (Live)

    “Imagine” is the sort of song played by rock stars young and old to honor the memory of dearly departed John Lennon.  It’s kind of sad in a way that its turned into a memorial dirge of sorts, obscuring it’s utopian message of peace and harmony due its tragic association with the author’s horrible death. …

  • Ben Stiller and Bruce Springsteen, SNL and the Ben Stiller Show

    Saturday Night Live is really hit or miss this days, mostly miss, but sometimes, when they get a guy in there who knows sketch comedy, like Ben Stiller, they can hit a few home runs.  That was case the other night when Ben revived his classic impression of Bruce Springsteen from his cult hit “The…

  • John Lennon, #9 Dream

    I was sneaking under a bus parked over a snowy muddy pit.  I jostled a hinge holding the front of the truck to the freight, and it began to collapse on me.  As it caved in on me, I genuinely thought I was going to die.  This was the phrase that went through my mind,…

  • Greatest Rock Vocalists #1, Little Richard, Good Golly Miss Molly

    Little Richard is the greatest vocalist in rock and roll history.  He is the man that was James Brown’s #1 influence, the man Paul McCartney copied, the man who first employed Jimi Hendrix, and the man that arguably started rock and roll with the second he let out his primal rock and roll roar for…

  • Greatest Rock Vocalists #2, The Beatles, Twist and Shout

    There is no tonal quality more life affirming, more charging, and more powerful than the one found in John Lennon’s voice during his rendition of the Isley Brothers tune, “Twist and Shout.”  It’s the vocal performance that electrified the ears of the world; a singularity of rock and roll perfection, and simply among the greatest…

  • Greatest Rock Vocalists #3, Elvis Presley, Heart Break Hotel, Hound Dog

    Elvis was simply great, like a human tornado of cool, and one of the most original Americans in history.  Was he musically original?  Not exactly, but his instinct for sexing up rock and roll was brilliant.  His originality was mainly found in his person, the archetype of the post World War II teenager; rebellious, greasy…

  • Greatest Rock Vocalists #5, Janis Joplin, Piece of My Heart, To Love Somebody

    Did you know “Piece of my Heart” was originally recorded by Aretha Franklin’s older sister Erma?  I didn’t even know Erma existed and had a music career.  Thanks Wikipedia.  Well, we all know Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company’s classic version.  The video I have below is the most hard rocking and…

  • Spencer Davis Group, Gimmie Some Lovin', I'm a Man (Live)

    Emerging like the God of blue-eyed soul in the first video below, 16 year Steve Winwood delivers one of the best rock vocal performances of all time in the seminal hit, “Gimmie Some Lovin.’”  In 1965, rock and roll’s first ever teenage prodigy churned out a series of hits with the Spencer Davis Group before…

  • Paul Simon, Kodachrome, Coneheads Highlights!

    I was sitting around in Portland, Maine yesterday with nothing better to do, when on came the “Coneheads” movie.  I haven’t seen in quite sometime, but its one of those movies where you just have to sit through the whole thing.  I was amazed at the parade of 90s comedy superstars appearing in one scene…

  • Dire Straits, Money For Nothing

    Brothers in Arms was one of my favorite albums growing up.  I remember when my dad bought a CD Stereo system in 1989 (a huge awesome piece of audio tech in those days), he bought a boatload of CDs, and this Dire Straits classic was one of them.  It was also right around the time…