List Your FAV FIVE: Rolling Stones Songs

FAV FIVE Series

Songs • Albums • Singer-songwriters • Rock 'n' Roll Bands • Guitar Players 
Beatles Songs • Bob Dylan Songs • Rolling Stones Songs • Neil Young Songs

Let's keep the ball rolling with the FAV FIVE Series by moving from the recent readership participation of creating a group Beatles playlist, and last week, The Bob Dylan playlist. 

This week, your assignment should you choose to accept it- 
LIST Your FAV FIVE: Rolling Stones Songs. 

You will make your list in the Comments section at the end of the blog post below. 

So to begin, let's start at the end. The big idea is for all of us to create a Monday Monday Music™ Readers: The Rolling Stones Songs Playlist.

I'll start the playlist with my favorite five Rolling Stones songs and then, as readers leave me their five in the Comments section below, we will grow the playlist together. Note- I'm sure we will have duplicates which is great, but I will only include a song once in the YouTube playlist as I receive the lists.

Songs must be original Rolling Stone compositions recorded by the band themselves. So, no covers from other artists doing Stones songs, which is another whole blog in itself that I will do someday. 

So here's my five (at this moment) to kick this thing off.

1. Ruby Tuesday
2. Gimme Shelter
3. Get Off Of My Cloud
4. Paint It Black
5. Let's Spend The Night Together

Now if you want a little help in making your list, here's a great resource.

• The Rolling Stones Songs List A-Z

Also, here's the same little tutorial I made for The Beatles list.

1. Scroll down to the bottom of the blog to the Comment section. Number and name your songs 1-5.
2. Comment as: If you're logged into your computer, tablet or smartphone with a Gmail (Google) account, pick the first selection. I would recommend using the Chrome browser.
   Or, pick Name/URL, write your name and leave URL blank,
   Or, if you pick Anonymous, just write your first and last name in the Comments box itself.
   
3. Hit the Publish button, and I'll list your five songs in the post here (if you provided your first and last name), and then I will mix your list in the Youtube playlist.
4. One last thing, if someone else has picked one of your favorite 5 already, still include it in your list. It may reveal a clear winner that in the end needs to sit at the top of the playlist.

Thanks in advance for playing along and come back later in the week to listen to OUR growing playlist!

• 
  Here is the YouTube Music app which is great for listening to my playlist on your phone. Click on the text link below. 
  https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE7OYmYUxGQf0HXvFmX0k3DKYfjWSz_Tw&feature=share

List Your FAV FIVE: Bob Dylan Songs

FAV FIVE Series

Songs • Albums • Singer-songwriters • Rock 'n' Roll Bands • Guitar Players 
Beatles Songs • Bob Dylan Songs • Rolling Stones Songs • Neil Young Songs

Let's continue the FAV FIVE Series by moving from the recent readership participation of creating a group Beatles playlist. 

This week, your assignment should you choose to accept it- 
LIST Your FAV FIVE: Bob Dylan Songs. 

You will make your list in the Comments section at the end of the blog post below. 

So to begin, let's start at the end. The big idea is for all of us to create a Monday Monday Music™ Readers: Bob Dylan Songs Playlist.

I'll start the playlist with my favorite five Dylan songs and then, as readers leave me their five in the Comments section below, we will grow the playlist together. Note- I'm sure we will have duplicates which is great, but I will only include a song once in the YouTube playlist as I receive the lists.

Songs must be originals recorded by Bob himself, that can include any collaborations like his work with the Traveling Wilburys. So, no covers from other artists doing Dylan songs, which is another whole blog in itself that I will do someday. 

So here's my five to kick this thing off.

1. Like a Rolling Stone
2. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
3. It's All over Now, Baby Blue
4. Don't Think Twice
5. With God On Our Side

Now if you want a little help in making your list, here's a great resource.

• Bob Dylan Song List A-Z

Also, here's the same little tutorial I made for The Beatles list.

1. Scroll down to the bottom of the blog to the Comment section. Number and name you Bob Dylan songs 1-5.
2. Comment as: If you're logged into your computer, tablet or smartphone with a Gmail (Google) account, pick the first selection. I would recommend using the Chrome browser.
   Or, pick Name/URL, write your name and leave URL blank,
   Or, if you pick Anonymous, just write your first and last name in the Comments box itself.
   
3. Hit the Publish button, and I'll list your five songs in the post here (if you provided your first and last name), and then I will mix your list in the Youtube playlist.
4. One last thing, if someone else has picked one of your favorite 5 already, still include it in your list. It may reveal a clear winner that in the end needs to sit at the top of the playlist.

Thanks in advance for playing along and come back later in the week to listen to OUR growing playlist!

• 
  Here is the YouTube Music app which is great for listening to my playlist on your phone. Click on the text link below. 
  https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE7OYmYUxGQdsFQ0iAFOZkfRS9Ha9KnD2&feature=share

Fifty Years of Music • March, 1972

Fifty years ago this month, I turned seventeen. A year later, I would meet my second girl friend, and as it would turn out many years later, my second wife.

In the spring of 1973 I met a lovely girl who sat behind me in Miss Dunn's English class. She would in fact be that second girlfriend who introduced me to many things, one of which being the very talented and funny, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks band. Striking It Rich was Hicks' third album released in March, 1972 which I wouldn't hear until the summer of '73. When I listened to it this past week, the memory association of music in space and time really came rushing back.  I remember sitting in her family room listening to this album. It was early on in our relationship and I'll never forget the song, I Scare Myself,  which seemed spot on at the time. Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks is a great example of me being a young and stupid teenager getting exposed to different music that I normally would have never listened to. In this case, Hicks' use of country swing mixed with a bit of jazz along with a healthy dose of humor thrown in got me listening to a new band with this very intriguing girl.

Stevie Wonder's Music Of My Mind would do the same thing. This album comes just at the beginning of Stevie's magical run in the 1970's that would make him one of the biggest musical stars of all-time. The elements are all coming together within Music Of My Mind as Wonder starts to reshape R&B, pop, rock 'n' roll and jazz, and roll it all together into Stevie Wonder music. I will also say that Stevie Wonder more than other black artist, (even Smoky and Marvin) got white kids in the 70's buying more than black artist's singles, but now their albums too.

Bare Trees is one of my favorite Fleetwood Mac's albums and is actually the album that got me listening to the band as they began to move further from their Brit Blues roots to rock 'n' roll and then pop with the revamp of the group in 1975. This is the album that I fell in love with Christine McVie's songs as I think she's one of the most underrated composers and singers in rock 'n' roll history. This album also features Danny Kirwan and Bob Welch who really helped define the Fleetwood Mac sound. Many people only know Fleetwood Mac after Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band in 1975, and the older material is often forgotten and received very little air time after the mid-70's.

Two successful rock 'n' roll bands from the 60's that made the transition to stadium 'Rock' in the 1970's were Jethro Tull and Deep Purple. Both released albums in March, 1972 and I will have to say Deep Purple's Machine Head really holds up. 

As 'Metal' developed into a sub-genre in the 1970's, that loud arena sound became associated with lesser talented bands than their Tier 1 predecessors like Deep Purple. Led Zeppelin of course became the premier hard rock band of the 70's but Deep Purple were also a great rock band that didn't quite get its due. Machine Head is a great classic rock album says the guy who didn't listen to a lot of straight-up Marshall amplifier rock music back in the day.

Lastly, I'll mention Delaney & Bonnie's last album together, D&B Together who in real life were just months away from a divorce. As I have gone back and listened to their albums over the past couple of years it strikes me how much Eric Clapton had co-opted their sound in the early 70's and Delaney and Bonnie were pretty much forgotten after this album, while Clapton took that sound to the bank. 

Lay down Sally, enjoy my friends.

• 
  Here is the YouTube Music app which is great for listening to my playlist on your phone. Click on the text link below. 
  https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE7OYmYUxGQcww1ibK2PhrZu1rXN0ASA2&feature=share

#BestSongIHeardToday • Volume 10

 Volume I • II • III • IV  • V • VI • VII • VIII • IX • Team Tortoise Blogs •
Volume 10 • 

The #BestSongIHeardToday series is often centered around hearing great songs while exercising. These posts will tend to drift into health related topics but will always come back to the music that brought you here. This particular series is probably more about a self journal to help me stay on the path of healthy living that includes, listening to old and new tunes. If you're looking for a great mix playlist of 25-30 songs, just click on one of my Volumes above.

Ya Got Trouble. I think this post takes me over the line, the line into being officially old. First off, I think I'm being all hip on social media, being a real "influencer" here, that is until... I actually recommend a product. 

As I role into town here, I'm going to channel my inner Harold Hill and blast forward with a product that I've had some personal experience, as I'm here to tell you, right here in River City, that psyllium husk fiber really beats the band! 

There's nothing like having a personal rotor-rooter cleaning out the pipes for a consistent daily constitution guaranteed to deliver every morning. Now I personally recommend the capsules shown here found in a two-pack at Costco - typically located in the vitamin section just above the Metamucil® powdered drink mix. Now if you have tried the powdered Metamucil® before, you may have been turned off by the thought of drinking this grandpa cocktail every morning. I tried it and couldn't take it after a week.

Metamucil® also makes their psyllium husk fiber in capsule form too in a 300 count bottle, but you can get a 720 count for a better price with the two-pack at Costco ($19.99). If you don't have a Costco card, no worries as you can score natural psyllium husk capsules most anywhere, maybe even at the pool hall. Here's a link at Amazon.

You may ask (or have stopped reading at this point), how many capsules do I take a day? I will say, as in all my health related blogs, "that every body is different," including the standard line, "your mileage may vary." Both the Metamucil and Costco brands suggest 2-5 capsules four times a day. I personally take 6 capsules with breakfast and 6 more capsules at dinner and that works great for me. What you want to do is start small and work up to the total number of capsules that work best for your digestion system. Also the morning capsules go down most easily with a bloody Mary, (just kidding), water or whatever your drink is will easily chase them down. Anyway, my breakfast table now looks I own stock in a variety of pill companies. Hey who's being sold here?

I don't mind the ribbing from y'all on this one, but this is the best solution I've found for a light and easy source of natural fiber without having to eat bread and cereal carbohydrates everyday. So, if you're watching your weight and the carb intake, this may not be such an exclusive older person thang!

••••••••••

There, I'm not such an old fart after all. However, I did trip and fall the other day on my run making the transition from concrete to grass while looking at a young woman. Okay, let me rephrase that. I was running around a bus stop on a sidewalk and moving back over to the grass which I prefer to run on. The young woman heading towards me was also simultaneously moving from the sidewalk to the other side of the parkway grass. We were both practicing the courteous behavior of giving each other space that most of now do as second nature without a thought in the time of the pandemic. Anyway, I'm looking at her (nice shoes) and my leading left foot catches the edge of the grass and sidewalk.

I go down hard on the grass that is actually more dirt than grass. I land on my left shoulder and ribs faster than Muhammed Ali hit Sonny Liston in their 1965 second fight. It literally was like I got hit with the infamous "phantom punch" from Ali. I rolled over on my back to catch my breath and make sure I haven't broken anything beyond my dignity. I then slowly roll over, get to my knees, then stand as the young woman is now just a few feet away. I say to her, "Well this is sure embarrassing." 

She immediately says, "Are you okay? Can I help you? You poor dear."

Actually... she says none of this. She's talking on her phone to someone, sort of looks up from her phone, gives me a half smile, and walks on not even breaking a word from her conversational stride.

I start to walk, making sure the body and mind are still functioning... feeling like Rodney Dangerfield in jogging shorts. Later on in the run, What Goes On comes on my Amazon Music shuffle and I say to self, "There's the lead song for the playlist this week."

Enjoy the playlist this week my friends, and be careful out there.

• 
  I'm starting to use the YouTube Music app which is great for listening to my playlist on your phone. Here is the text link below. 
  https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE7OYmYUxGQdmNJfsa-pPTmdo9YOWGZK9&feature=share