Poetry Forum

John, I suspect you will like this thread. Like you, I spend a lot of time on YouTube, and it is astonishing how much good music I missed when I was young. Not just songs, but performers. I did have one of Jennifer Warnes' albums when I was young, but never bought more (probably because of the cost). Here is Warnes doing a Cohen song, and doing it magnificently:

Hmm! i don't know Jennifer Warnes at all - not even the name, almost - but that is a perfectly good and professional rendering of a good song. Thanks for sharing.

Since you like Joni Mitchell, I'll post my fave of hers. Well, hard to do, but I'll settle for this one:

"People's Parties" is a great song, and one of my favorites too. She gets really honest in that song.

Another song in which she got really honest was "Cactus Tree". That was on her first album, but it sounds like she could have written it five years later. She had noticed that a coterie of men were coming to all her concerts, and she put that together with the fact that every man she met seemed to fall in love with her, and "Cactus Tree" resulted.

Here is a song that I adore, sung by the woman who sang it best:



I wasn't much aware of Judd before I heard this. Linda Ronstadt did a bang-up job of that song, but not on her studio album. Rather, it was a performance on a TV show when she was a little older. So sad that she has Parkinson's now and can't sing. The end of life is cruel.

Here's the only Judds song I really know:



That is sad about Linda Ronstadt and Parkinson's. Poor lady. My brother likes her a lot - I like different Drum and Poor Poor pitiful Me (which i prefer to the Warren Zevon version, I think it's more interesting sung by a woman).

Oh - i'm traveling inAsia now so may be intermittent in posting and commenting.

Cheers,
John

If that's Naomi and Wynonna together, it must have been a long time ago. I assume Wynonna is in the aqua blouse, but she doesn't look like Wynonna to me. The truth be told, I only know Wynonna from the song I posted above. I love that song, so I've been listening to different "covers" of it, and she came up. But now I'm listening to more of her music. That song is a Bacharach song and has been covered by dozens of artists.

Burt Bacharach wrote some good songs. Here's another:



Oh - in the Judd cover, that looks like Burt on piano.
I don’t know Cactus Tree.

Oh, I've listened to Dionne sing that song many times.

Here is Cactus Tree. This was one of the first songs Joni wrote in which she started to delve into her issues in a very personal way. She is the woman in the song.

Aha! Not an album I've ever seen, to my knowledge. That is a nice and very Joni Mitchell song, I'll have to check out the album. I grew up from early childhood with Ladies of the Cnayon.

Cheers,
John

That's her first album, the one that David Crosby produced. Her early music is on that album. Many of the songs sound contrived, but usually still beautiful (couldn't she write anything that wasn't beautiful?), but she hadn't started writing her most personal music yet. Cactus Tree was the first very personal and introspective song. There are many songs you will like.

Do you know that I sat ten feet away from Joni in NYC while she gave a concert in a small venue? (I was in the first row, and I could almost touch the stage.) I was so new to her music that I didn't recognize any of the songs, and I don't remember which songs she sang. I just remember a lovely-looking young woman singing lovely stuff.

Here is another song from that album:

Ah, David Crosby! Very nice. To me, Joni Mitchell is one of the true greats. I've been ten feet away from - is it Paul Weir? - of the Grateful Dead at a beach concert in the YUcatan. My brother had to tell me who it was. Other than that, Iv'e just seen folks in concert same as anyone.

Thanks for introducing me to this album, it is very Joni Mitchelly! The Voyage of the Dawntreader is the name of a book in the Narnia series.

Cheers,
John

Just to keep this thread going, I'm going to post other songs I'm listening to.

Thank God for YouTube. So much great music was created during my life, and I listened to only a tenth of it, if that.

Linda Ronstadt:

My brother yesterday remarked on her good taste. Here's the original, by the guy who wrote it:



Cheers,
John

Wow, that was a blast from the past. In many ways, Smokey's rendition is more expressive and emotional, and you reminded me that the back-up vocals were missing from Ronstandt's version. Also, I didn't know they had skateboards back in ... the 1960's? Thanks for posting that.

Everyone should feel free to post their favorite songs on this thread. I'll post something new soon.

Hi Caleb,

Yes, that's the Miracles on backup harmony, and the year is about 1966. Great stuff!

Ronstadt had a great voice and a lot of admirers, it's ncie to have both versions.

Cheers,
John

Here is my favorite rendition of Pie Jesu.

Wow, two great voices. The daughter's is especially Lovely IMO.

Thanks for posting.

Cheers,
John

I find the mother's voice more soothing. To see a mother-daughter in this joint effort warms my heart. In my family, we just fought constantly.

They seem very happy together at the mic. It is nice. Actually, we've posted two mother-daughter duets in this thread, though I prefer this one.

Cheers,
John

Here is another favorite song of mine: Crazy on You, by Heart. This band showed us that women can rock with the best of them.

Good song and Heart deserve more credit IMO. Barracuda is another good song.

Cheers,
John

I heard this song when I was young but never saw the video. It's quite amazing.

Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. Wow.

It's a good song. My brother is a bigger fan of both of their music than I am, it's not really my scene.

Here's something I find more soulful:

Yes, that's a great song. Black people have naturally resonant voices, and I like any song about being older. But right now I'm getting into Peter Gabriel. I think there's greater emotional depth in Gabriel's music than in your standard Motown hit. I'll be posting another of his songs soon.

He's now a bald 74-year-old. It's just awful what time does to us.

Tommy Smothers died recently, and before he did he said, "I don't get this 'end of life' thing." I don't get it either. It took old age to loosen my creativity, but I'll be dead in a decade. I understand how Biden must feel, becoming president not long before he croaks.

I tend to prefer black voices to white ones, by a fair margin, and harmony speaks to me. My fave Peter Gabriel song is I think Biko. I do wonder whether black Americans tend to be readier to express emotion than white Americans culturally, and this makes for truer singing.

True about aging. It seems abrupt and unfair. But there we go.

Cheers,
John

And this ...



And I suppose I should put in this one I was mentioning: