An Ideal day, or weekend, for me would be to have some great music playing, TV off, kids getting along and me- well, keeping busy. Whether it’s cleaning house, playing games or working on the computer; as long as I’m doing something, I find myself to be very happy.
When it comes to music Genre’s; I really don’t have a favorite. I can listen to Jim Croche one minute and then turn around and play some old Judas Priest the next. I love the variety. My kids are the same way. In school; my youngest has a reading class called rock-n-read where the teacher has a million copies for lyrics to songs the kids are familiar with (and some not so familiar). One day, Piper came home from school singing, and signing, It’s a wonderful world. Though I was shocked, I was much more impressed that she could do both. Even more so; that she can read the words for this song- to me. She has also come home in the past, having just learned songs from Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift and others. I can tell you this- it’s very impressive when your child, in first grade, can come home and read a sheet of paper filled with words she/he may have otherwise not known how to pronounce.
I know I’m probably getting a little off track here. Music does that sort of thing to me. Anyways, below are some of the artists I have listened to over the last few weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed each one of them. I hope you’ll enjoy the list of CD’s I’ve included in this review and hope that at least one of the titles below spark your interest to go out and buy it.
CAROL KING & JAMES TAYLOR Live at the Troubadour (Recorded Live at The Troubadour, Los Angeles)
ARP: $19.98 (available for $14.88 or for $7.99 @ Amazon)
Release Date: May 4, 2010
This is for a CD/DVD combo. Music track:
- Blossom
- So Far Away (one of my favorites)
- Machine Gun Kelly
- Carolina In My Mind (another favorite)
- It’s too late
- Smackwater Jack
- Something in the Way She Moves
- Will you love me Tomorrow
- Country Road
- Fire and Rain
- Sweet Baby James
- I feel the Earth Move (love this one- do you remember the song?)
- You’ve got a Friend (yes, yet another favorite)
- Up on the Roof
- You can close your eyes
On May 4th Carole King & James Taylor- Live at the Troubadour CD/DVD recorded live at the infamous Los Angeles Troubadour nightclub. The special 2-disc package (on Hear Music/Concord Records) captured the legendary singer-songwriters’ historic 2007 Troubadour Reunion performance in HD Video and 5.1 Audio. In supporting the release, Carole & James embarked on an extensive tour, offering fans VIP stage seat packages with proceeds going to over 90 charities. They will also perform on The Today Show’s summer concert series on June 18th (mark your calendars).
ABOUT CAROLE KING:
In 1971, King gave us the landmark Tapestry. The album received a Diamond Award from the RIAA for sales of more than 10 million units in the U.S., with more than 25 million units sold worldwide. King was the first woman to win four GRAMMY® Awards in one year (Best Album, Best Song, Best Record, and Best Vocal Performance in 1972) a feat unsurpassed for more than 25 years, and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 1973. In 1987, King and Gerry Goffin were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and honored with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 1988. Goffin and King were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and were honored by The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 2004 with the GRAMMY® Trustees’ Award. To date, more than 400 Carole King compositions have been recorded by more than 1000 artists, resulting in more than 100 hit singles – many reaching #1. She is arguably the most successful and revered female songwriter in pop music history. Carole King has released 25 solo albums, the most recent being The Living Room Tour double-live CD and companion DVD, entitled Welcome to My Living Room on her own Rockingale Records label.
ABOUT JAMES TAYLOR:
Over the course of his career, James Taylor has sold more than 40 million albums, and won more than 40 gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards as well as five GRAMMY® Awards. Taylor’s first Greatest Hits album earned him the RIAA’s elite Diamond Award, given for sales in excess of 10 million units in the United States. In 2000, Taylor was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In February 2006, The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences named Taylor its MUSICARES Person of the Year. Taylor’s CD/DVD One Man Band (2007) was nominated for an Emmy and his 2008 album, Covers, was nominated for two GRAMMY® Awards. He most recently released Other Covers in April 2009.
Check out these sites: www.caroleking.com * www.jamestaylor.com * www.concordmusicgroup.com
Playing For Change Presents…Grandpa Elliott; Sweet Sugar
ARP: $12.98
Release Date: November 3, 2009
Track includes:
- Ain’t Nothing you can do
- this little light of Mind (medley) – the girls and I sing this all the time and we love the way he sings it!
- Sugar is Sweet
- Baby, what you want me to do
- We’re gonna make it
- Share your love with me
- Another Saturday Night
- Fannie Mea (live- featuring the Playing for Change band)
- Please come home for Christmas
Playing for Change Records & Concord Music Group were proud to release Grandpa Elliott’s Debut album Sugar Sweet at traditional retail outlets April 6th. The legendary New Orleans street performer and Playing for Change vocalist also performed at the 2010 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on April 24th. Sugar Sweet was previously available exclusively on Amazon and was produced by Playing for change founder Mark Johnson and Reggie McBride. The Album was recorded in New Orleans with the Playing for Change Band.
Granted; this CD was released last year, but the music, initial story behind Playing for Change and Grandpa Elliott just make for some really enjoyable listening.
ABOUT PLAYING FOR CHANGE:
Grammy-winning producer/engineer/filmmaker Mark Johnson founded Playing For Change on the simple idea that the world can find peace through music. It’s been an incredible year for the project and momentum continues to build as Johnson and the musicians of Playing For Change were named “Persons of the Week” on ABC’s World News Tonight with Charlie Gibson last month and have been profiled many times nationally including NPR’s Morning Edition, CBS News Sunday Morning and PBS’ Bill Moyers Journal just to name a few.
Playing For Change was one of 2009’s most unlikely and startling cultural phenomenon. Hear Music/Concord Music Group’s two-disc CD/DVD Playing For Change – Songs Around the World, released April 28th, stunned the music industry selling over twenty-six thousand copies in it’s first week and landing at #10 on Billboard’s Top 200 Pop chart. This remarkable and unpredicted popular response has been driven by tens of millions of video hits, countless blogs and pure viral communication between fans and followers. The project’s deep emotional resonance, combined with the muscle of the internet and word-of-mouth has struck a profoundly enduring chord world-wide.
Most recently, with the Concord Music Group, Playing For Change announced the launch of a new record label that will support releases from select artists associated with the global music and multi-media collective Playing For Change. The first artist signed to Playing For Change Records/Concord Music Group is Grandpa Elliott.
Check out these sites: www.playingforchange.com * www.facebook.com/playingforchange * www.youtube.com/playingforchange
Melissa Etheridge Fearless Love
ARP: $10.00 (available at Amazon for 9.99)
Release Date: April 27, 2010
Track Includes:
- Fearless Love
- The Wanting of You
- Company
- Miss California
- Drag me Away
- Indiana
- Nervous
- Heaven on Earth
- We are the Ones
- Only Love
- To Be Loved
- Gently We Row
On April 27, 2010 Melissa Etheridge released her new album Fearless Love on Island Records. Produced by John Shanks (Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Bon Jovi) Fearless Love expands on the multiple strengths that have made Etheridge one of the most beloved figures in rock and brings her, and Shanks, together for the second time since Breakdown. The title track and album single, “Fearless Love,” recently hit the top 30 at Hot AC and Top 10 at Triple-A radio and the video is available to stream.
About Melissa Etheridge:
Melissa Etheridge has been a core Island Records artist since the release of her critically-acclaimed eponymous RIAA double-platinum debut album, which led to an invitation to sing on the Grammy Awards broadcast. For several years, Melissa’s popularity built around such memorable songs as “Bring Me Some Water” (from her debut), “No Souvenirs” (from Brave And Crazy) and “Ain’t It Heavy” (from Never Enough), for which she won her first Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal.
Melissa hit her commercial and artistic stride with her fourth album, Yes I Am, featuring the massive hits “I’m the Only One” and “Come to My Window,” a searing song of longing that brought her second Best Female Rock Grammy. The album went six times platinum and spent more than two and a half years on the album chart. Her highest charting album, Your Little Secret (#6 on the Billboard Top 200), included the hit single, “I Want to Come Over.” Her astounding success led Etheridge to receive the Songwriter of the Year honor at the ASCAP Pop Awards.
Check out these sites: www.melissaetheridge.com * www.myspace.com/melissaetheridge.com * www.facebook.com/MelissaEtheridge
Overall; each one of the CD’s above provides easy listening music. I think I’ve listened to each of them about a half a dozen times over the course of the last two weeks and will continue to do so. If I were to recommend just one- I couldn’t. Each of them have their own style, their own effect on my mood and each has a way to keep me motivated throughout the day (personally speaking). Their sounds are beautiful, making it hard to want to listen to anything else (at the moment).
If you get the chance; please take a moment and listen to some of the music samples for the CD’s I think you might enjoy them as much as I have.
Disclosure: I was provided with copies of each Music title above, free, via Special Ops Media, for the purpose of my review. Receiving the products do not influence my thoughts and/or opinions nor were the received as a form of payment. Thank you.
Some really great tunes! I really like Fire and Rain! Great reviw and post.