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.
Ruby Tuesday
Gimme Shelter
Get Off Of My Cloud
Paint It Black
Let's Spend The Night Together
Now if you want a little help in making your list, here's a great resource.
Also, here's the same little tutorial I made for The Beatles list.
Scroll down to the bottom of the blog to the Comment section.Number and name your songs 1-5.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Like a Rolling Stone
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
It's All over Now, Baby Blue
Don't Think Twice
With God On Our Side
Now if you want a little help in making your list, here's a great resource.
Also, here's the same little tutorial I made for The Beatles list.
Scroll down to the bottom of the blog to the Comment section.Number and name you Bob Dylan songs 1-5.
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.
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.
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!
Over the last couple of years, I've got my readership to participate in LIST Your FAV FIVE: (whatever). This year, I'm going to continue the series starting off 2022 with you simply listing your favorite five Beatle songs in the Comments section at the end of the blog post below.
Why only five? Because my wife gave me a great tip to start this series when she said, "If you want reader participation on anything, limit the lists to five." Sounded like a plan to me.
So to begin, let's start at the end. The big idea is for all of us to create a Monday Monday Music™ Readers: Beatles Songs Playlist.
I'll start the playlist with my favorite five Beatles songs (at the moment) and then, as readers leave me their five in the Comments section below, we will grow the playlist, as a Come Together of Beatles fans.
I was going to explain why I picked each song, then thought well I don't want somebody writing a lengthy comment about how they had their first kiss listening to, Helter Skelter. So here's my FAV FIVE Beatles songs without a back story.
Penny Lane
I Should Have Know Better
Revolution (the single version)
Back in The U.S.S.R.
All You Need Is Love
Now if you want a little help in making your list, here are several list resources.
Here's a little instructional aid for doing the Comments section below.
Number and name you Beatles songs 1-5.
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.
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.
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!
Last year, I got my readership to participate in LIST Your FAV FIVE: Songs, Albums, Singer-songwriters, and Rock 'N' Roll Bands. Over the course of this year, I'm now going to continue the series with a hodge-podge of music lists. This week, we start with guitarists.
So here's how YOU can easily participate in LIST Your FAV FIVE: Guitar Players.
No matter the genre - Rock 'n' Roll, Folk, Country, Bluegrass, Blues, Jazz, Classical, etc., list one guitar player per line on the Google form below.
Then after the name, make a dash (-) and name a favorite song of yours that guitar player performs on. (Example Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze).
You can list up to 5 guitar players and songs, but are only required to list one.* This last point is very important. I want this to be fun, not stressful. If you can name one guitar player and a song they shine on fine, but if you want to do more, all the better.
Now what I'm going to do is make a collective playlist from all the participants lists (with that great guitar). I have already started the FAV FIVE Guitar Players playlist at the end of this post with my five selections and my wife Mary Kit's five selections. I will add your songs to the playlist as soon as I get them. All you have do is fill out the form and hit the SUBMIT button and we are good to go! I will look for submittals to add to the playlist until Sunday night, January 24th.
In creating the evolving playlist this week, I try to do two things: 1) Find a high quality audio YouTube video of a live clip or performance of the guitar player either in their band or solo; 2) If I can't find a quality live performance, I will opt for the artist's original audio track on video from their album.
I will also list your FAV FIVE List just above the playlist.
Another thing. There are no restrictions on the guitar player whether he or she are playing lead or rhythm electric or acoustic guitar. For example- It doesn't matter if you don't know if Keith Richards is playing lead or rhythm in the song (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, you just know he composed that famous intro guitar riff to kick off the song.
Here's a helpful list of great guitar players from Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists. (Guitar World's 100)
Doug's FAV FIVE Guitar Players - and a favorite song
Eric Clapton- Circus
Mark Knopfler - Sultans of Swing
Mike Campbell - Refugee
Leo Kottke - Watermelon
Roger McGuinn - Turn! Turn! Turn!
Mary Kit's FAV FIVE Guitar Players - and a favorite song
Keith Richards - Gimme Shelter
Joe Walsh - Rocky Mountain Way
John Fogerty - Up Around The Bend
Lindsey Buckingham - The Chain
Eddie Van Halen - Panama
Ron Zieman's FAV FIVE Guitar Players - and a favorite song
Eric Clapton - Born Under a Bad Sign
Jimi Hendrix - The Wind Cries Mary
Jeff Beck - Shape of Things
Eddie Van Halen - Unchained
Keith Richards - Honky Tonk Women
Mark Hunter's FAV FIVE Guitar Players - and a favorite song
Tommy Emmanuel - Guitar Boogie
Jimi Hendrix - Voo Doo Child
Eric Clapton - No Alibis
Carlos Santana - Smooth
Billy Strings - Dust in a Baggy
Paul Hobbs' FAV FIVE Guitar Players - and a favorite song
George Harrison - The End ( 2nd solo in each round of 3) McCartney, George Harrison and Lennon perform a rotating sequence of three, two-bar guitar solos. The idea for a guitar instrumental over this section was Harrison's, and Lennon suggested that the three of them each play a section. The solos begin approximately 53 seconds into the song. Geoff Emerick, the Beatles' recording engineer, later recalled: "John, Paul and George looked like they had gone back in time, like they were kids again, playing together for the sheer enjoyment of it. More than anything, they reminded me of gunslingers, with their guitars strapped on, looks of steely-eyed resolve, determined to outdo one another. Yet there was no animosity, no tension at all – you could tell they were simply having fun."Wikipedia
Jimi Hendrix - Old Times Good Times (on Stephen Stills 1)
James Taylor - Secret O’ Life
Steve Howe - Mood For A Day
Phoebe Snow - Let The Good Times Roll
Spencer Stark's FAV FIVE Guitar Players - and a favorite song
Mike McCready - Yellow Ledbetter
Jerry Cantrell - Bleed the Freak
Jimi Hendrix - Red House
Slash - November Rain
Carlos Santana - Corazon Espinado
Elliot Stark's FAV FIVE Guitar Players - and a favorite song (My nine year-old granddaughter)
Angus Young - Thunderstruck
Mike McCready - Red Mosquito
Carlos Santana - Africa Bamba
Jeff Lynne - Mr. Blue Sky
Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do
Bill DeVoe's FAV FIVE Guitar Players - and a favorite song
Stevie Ray Vaughn, B.B. King, Albert King, Paul Butterfield - The Sky Is Crying
Mark Knopfler - Brothers in Arms
Joe Bonamassa - I'll Play The Blues For You
Steve Cropper - Green Onions
Dick Dale - Misirlou
Ken Forman's FAV FIVE Guitar Players - and a favorite song
George Harrison - Here Comes the Sun
Joe Walsh - Funk 49
Neil Young - Down By the River
James Taylor - Me and My Guitar
Todd Snider - Enough
Roger Demchak's FAV FIVE Guitar Players - and a favorite song
Eddie Van Halen - Hot for Teacher
Jimmy Hendrix - Stone Free
Jimmy Page - Since I've been loving you
Eric Clapton - Crossroads
Joe Perry - What it Takes
Number of Times Guitarist Picked
5 - Jimmy Hendrix 4 - Eric Clapton
3 - Eddie Van Halen
3 - Carlos Santana 2 - George Harrison 2 - Mark Knopfler 2 - James Taylor 2 - Joe Walsh 2 - Keith Richards 2 - Mike McCready
Now it's your turn.
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Our Collective FAV FIVE Guitar Players Playlist (all mixed up & growing)
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s from musical styles such as gospel, jump blues, jazz, boogie woogie, rhythm and blues, and country music. While elements of what was to become rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.
In the earliest rock and roll styles, either the piano or saxophone was typically the lead instrument, but these instruments were generally replaced or supplemented by guitar in the middle to late 1950s. The beat is essentially a dance rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, which is almost always provided by a snare drum. Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), a double bass (string bass) or after the mid-1950s an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit. Wikipedia
I start this installment with the question, "Would you consider Simon and Garfunkel a rock band?"
To answer that question for the purposes of this blog, I'm going to say, "Yes and no."
Yes, because the duo embodies the above definitions with their blending of folk and rock 'n' roll genres.
And no, in the sense of rock 'n' roll moving in the mid-1960's to a more electric 'rock' sound.
In the blog today, I want to emphasize bands using electric guitars, electric bass, drums, keyboardsand technology connected to large amplified speakers as the primary instruments used across a group's repertoire. Sure Simon and Garfunkel recorded songs like A Hazy Shade of Winter, but the rock-oriented beat of that song is more the exception than the rule to their catalog of music. Or, in my clumsy way of saying they had 'less rock and more roll' and boy did their music roll. (Note- Simon and Garfunkel were voted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.)
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
Okay, what about individuals like Eric Clapton who was in so many terrific bands across his career, but also did a significant number of 'solo' rock albums. Here I'm going to say, "No" just pick one or more or these bands he was in.
I want this to be a focus on a two or more member rock-oriented ensemble. Okay, what about bands that have a front person identified by name but also have that critical collaborative ensemble that makes them a rock band? Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band quickly come to mind, because all the bandmates in those two bands became famous in their own right over time, so that's a big, "Yes."
My wife Mary Kit is going to bring up Elton John again, so is Elton John a band? I'm going to say, "Yes" because I'll have hell to pay if I said "No," but I'm going to say "yes" because Elton John wasn't ever in another famous band other than his own, and Elton had a life-long collaboration with his bandmates Nigel Olson, Davey Johnston and Dee Murray (RIP) who helped create the rocking Elton John sound. How 'bout Elton John and the Jets? Anyway, I'm not going to veto solo acts from anyone's list like Dylan, Bowie, or Prince, but first think of 'electric-ensemble bands' and their fascinating band names for your favorites list this week.
So hopefully this is all clear as mud and let the proceedings begins.
In this FAV FIVE it started like the previous episodes with a pen and paper brainstorm. This one flowed like a breeze compared to the others as I nailed the first four bands out of my head and into their final ranking order on paper. Now for number five? I said this is going to be easy as I thought of band name after band name feeling a little more doubtful as the list got longer and longer. Who to choose after The Who?
Doug's brainstorm list-
1. The Beatles
2. The Rolling Stones
3. The Who
4. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Now for that last pick.
The Kinks - If I had to pick a #5 this week (1/5/22) it would be these guys.
The Beach Boys
Eagles
Fleetwood Mac
Cream
Traffic
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Creedance Clearwater Revival
The Hollies
The Band
Elton John
David Bowie
Queen
Yes
Electric Light Orchestra
The Moody Blues
The Byrds
Buffalo Springfield
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
The Allman Brothers
The Flying Burrito Brothers
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Led Zeppelin
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
Chicago
Loggins and Messina
Dire Straits
The Bangles
REM
The Black Keys
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
The Jayhawks
Sheryl Crow
Gary Clark Jr.
I could have easily picked the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Byrds, CSNY or Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, but went with Loggins and Messina. Loggins and Messina was my first rock concert (Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo) in 1972 after their Sittin' In album had been released in November, 1971. They opened for The Youngbloods and blew The Youngbloods and gym audience away. (In fairness to The Youngbloods, they were actually breaking up at the time and no telling the behind the scenes circumstances.)
A couple of years later, I saw Loggins and Messina at the UCSB gym in Santa Barbara, and it is still one of the best concerts I have ever attended. I purchased all six of their studio albums from 1971-1976. Are their better bands in my list above, yes but Loggins and Messina has that special time in place element to take my #5 spot, not to mention a hell of an ensemble of supporting bandmates to see live.
"Singer-songwriter" is used to define popular music artists who write and perform their own material, which is often self-accompanied generally on acoustic guitar or piano. Such an artist performs the roles of composer [writes the songs music], lyricist, [writes the songs words] vocalist, sometimes instrumentalist, and often self-manager. According to AllMusic, singer-songwriters' lyrics are often personal but veiled by elaborate metaphors and vague imagery, and their creative concern is to place emphasis on the song rather than their performance of it. Wikipedia
Again, I enlisted my dear friend and singer-songwriter Paul Hobbs to help me navigate the guidelines for this week's challenge, list your five favorite singer-songwriters of all-time. Paul helped me clarify a couple key points to lay down the basics for filling out the Google Form below.
You can only list one person on each line 1-5. By the definition above, the singer-songwriter composes the music, writes the lyrics and performs the song by singing and/or playing an instrument. My wife Mary Kit immediately threw a wrench in the works by saying she was going to write, "Elton John and Bernie Taupin" together on one line. I started to get into the weeds saying, "You know, Bernie first writes the lyrics separately and then Elton writes the music to craft a song around the lyrics, so by definition... Mary Kit cuts me off and says, "If you're going to make this too complicated, nobody is going to fill out your form." I get it. Elton John is 3/4th a singer-songwriter, and a hell of one at that so I tell her, "Just write Elton John on the bloody form."
This list is based on a singer-songwriter's SOLO career. Okay, getting back on the lawnmower and heading to the weeds again- somebody like Tom Petty is a good example where the mower can get hung up. Tom is mainly known for his body of work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and the Traveling Wilburys. If you look at Tom's discography, he has three solo albums. So, if you write Tom Petty in you list of five, you are selecting him based on his solo work NOT his band compositions. Same for Neil Young, John Lennon, Pete Townshend, etc.
As a teaser for next week, we're going to list our FAV FIVE Bands where all the fabulous writing combinations of Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards, Stills/Nash/Crosby, etc. are all contained within by simply naming your favorite bands, albeit the short list. Okay, here's my ranked list of FAV FIVE Singer-songwriters. Boy this was tough as a couple of readers have said in the previous FAV FIVEs, it's something like Sophie's Choice. For me, what it came down to was how many albums/CD's did I own of that artist as a solo singer-songwriter.
Note- Like last week you can see my random brainstorm list at the end of this blog.
Now it's your turn. If for some reason, the Google Form does not appear in your web browser, click on this direct link here - https://forms.gle/JDRCVasREuAtDPadA
Last week's blog, LIST Your FAV FIVE Songswas a lot of fun! I'm so thankful to the people who participated and made Monday Monday Music a little more interactive. For the little music blog that could, I got a larger number of hits than most weeks, as I think that some readers passed along the blog to family and friends who may have cast a silent ballot at home.
The feedback I got from several people was that it was really hard to pick only five songs, and that's why I liked it so much! So if you either electronically responded or silently made your list on a napkin, I thought I'd continue the reader participation theme this week by stepping it up a notch. This week let's all put our heads together and list our five favorite albums of all-time.
As I write this on the weekend before the Monday post, I've started a brainstorm list (on recycled printer paper) of 33 albums and initially only knew one album that would will make the final five. My suggestion- just start looking through your vinyl album/CD collections, or music streaming service favorites. That should get you going.
After studying my list of 33, it came down to:
Which Beatle album(s) to pick;
Which singer-songwriter album(s) to pick;
and most importantly, what albums did I know every song and played them into my heart and soul.
Paul Hobbs texted me last week after participating in the FAV FIVE Songs blog and wrote, "It would be interesting to hear what made one choose a particular song. As music is a time machine, specific incidents and events can certainly play a role in creating a list such as this." I couldn't agree more; and so my third bullet point above and Paul's words lead me to this list of five albums that have stayed with me since "the era" of the 60's and 70's.
The White Album, The Beatles
After the Gold Rush, Neil Young
Who's Next, The Who
Late For The Sky, Jackson Browne
Buffalo Springfield Again, Buffalo Springfield
This week I will forgo why I chose these five albums as your list will also come to me without an explanation to the "time machine, specific incidents and events" that influenced your short list.
What makes your list and my list interesting, is that we may or may not have some background information of 'why' one made a specific album selection, but the mystery and our speculation may be enough to make our music week a little more intriguing. So share this blog with friends and family as it may spark an interesting conversation.
Note- For kicks, you might be interested in 'my weekend brainstorm' of 33 albums and I've included it here at the end of the blog. I made my list within a hour and then put my pen down and did that on purpose because knowing myself, it quickly would grow to fifty, then one-hundred and hey thats' a horse of a different color.
One last thing before I turn you loose to think and create your own list; I want to simply make the distinction between 'best' and 'favorite.' Citizen Kane is often ranked by critics as the best movie of all-time and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is similarly ranked as the best album of all-time. My list could have easily included Sgt. Pepper, but the emotional impact of The White Album for me comes from a place in the time machine that makes it an extra special favorite.
I'll be looking forward to making and posting Your FAV FIVE Albums playlists this week, so come back to see everyone's playlists! (note- I will create the playlists in the order I receive them on my end.)
Doug McIntosh's FAV FIVE Albums
Mary Kit McIntosh's FAV FIVE Albums
Paul Hobbs' FAV FIVE Albums
Ron Ouellette's FAV FIVE Albums
Desperado, Eagles (on Spotify, as the complete studio album is not available on YouTube)
Desperado (pieced together with various studio and live song versions)
Shawna McIntosh's FAV FIVE Albums
Vicki Forman's FAV FIVE Albums
Ken Forman's FAV FIVE Albums
Ron Zieman's FAV FIVE Albums
Are You Experienced • Jimi Hendrix (This link is available on Spotify as there are only a few original studio tracks from the album available on YouTube)
Note - Ron suggested I get this album as I purchased Are Your Experienced and Buffalo Springfield Again at the same time in 1968 as these two albums were the first albums I actually bought with my own money (from my paper route). It's so fitting to find it here as one of Ron's FAV FIVE along with my Buffalo Springfield Again pick above.
