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Aww…Monday’s Music Moves Me
Aww Mondays
I just washed my hair and I can’t do a thing with it!
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Monday’s Music Moves Me
Today marks my final Monday as guest host and I must say I have truly enjoyed the experience. Thank you to the regular hosts of this meme for inviting me to take part and thanks to all of you who participated in the themed weeks. For my final installment as guest host I thought about presenting more artists from my list of American Idol and The Voice contestants, since I barely scratched the surface last week. However, while browsing through some videos of my one of my favorite genres, The Blues, I decided that I would feature artists that are known for playing the Blues. Virtually all music scholars agree that The Blues originated in America’s Deep South around the 1870’s by African Americans. The Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. Okay, enough of the history of the genre, let’s play some blues. Blues artists have some of the most original monikers in the industry like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Clarence “Pine Top” Smith, Lightin’ Hopkins and my first selection John Lee Hooker.
This first video is a little long and features a young Carlos Santana playing with John Lee.
One way to mention several blues artists at once is to find a video with several of them playing together. This video has Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, Eric Clapton among others. Great music happens when the greats get together.
I don’t think any artist brought the blues into mainstream music like B B King. His musicianship and personality made him America’s Blues Ambassador. He took his guitar, Lucille, and his signature song, “The Thrill is Gone and made them household words.
One video that I came a cross just seemed to embody the essence of the blues, one man, one guitar, alone with his blues.
The blues is alive and well today. Eric Clapton has turned into a great blues guitarist along with Carlos Santana. Stevie Ray Vaughn was taken from us much too soon but musicians like Joe Bonomasa continue the tradition.
Again, I could go on and on with the blues and I will definitely return to this genre in the near future. There are just too many great artists and I haven’t even touched the ladies of the blues in this post. Have a blessed week.
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Wordless Wednesday
Street Art – Bentonville, AR
Top of The Stairs
End of Stair
Aww…Monday’s Music Moves Me
Aww Monday
I Need a Nap
Linking to Sandee at Comedy Plus
Monday’s Music Moves Me
As the honorary guest conductor for the month of July, this is my second opportunity to pick the theme for the week. Many of us watch our favorite vocal competition television shows, American Idol and The Voice. There have been a couple of unsuccessful shows, Duets and one featuring country artist hopefuls, but The Voice and American Idol lead the pack. These shows have their roots in an early television show called Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour from the fifties. Finding new talent has always been a popular concept for television and from 1983-1995 Ed McMahon revived the genre by hosting Star Search.
All of us are familiar with the stars that have come out of American Idol, like Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood etc. The Voice has yet to launch a true superstar but it’s only a matter of time. Therefore, I would like to know who were your favorite contestants, winners or losers. Remember J-Hud finished back in the pack only to become a Grammy and Oscar winner. While some of my favorites at the time have yet to make it big, I enjoyed them during their run through the competition. So here are a few on my list.
The most recent season of The Voice has produced what I think is a classic female vocalist in Maylen Jordan. Her vocals are flawless and her range is in a class occupied by very few singers. She is the complete package and I believe she may be the first Voice winner to really become a household name.
One of my favorite early contestants from American Idol was Taylor Hicks. Taylor had a little bit of Southern Rock, Country, Blues, and Gospel in his voice that appealed to Idol viewers but not to Simon Cowell. Simon’s favorite in season 5 was obviously runner-up Katherine McPhee. I don’t believe that Taylor ever returned to Idol as a guest after his victory and I’m sure that the running feud with Simon had a part to play. Taylor has not enjoyed a super star career but he has been a featured act in one of the Vegas clubs, while Katherine has been an actress featured in several television series.
This year American Idol gave us Laine Hardy. Laine is a radio ready throwback rock and roll heart throb, but runner up Alejandro Aranda is a musical genius, in a class by himself. Alejandro’s voice may not even be his strongest asset. He is a guitar player extraordinaire and his piano skills are only matched by his guitar work. Alejanro is NOT a pop performer and you will probably never hear him on top 40 radio but if you search the Indie/Alternative stations you will likely find his music topping those charts in the near future. Personally, I believe his career will take him to the top as a writer, arranger, and producer in the music industry.
The first duet to make it to The Voice finals was the Swon Brothers from team Blake. They finished third but they have been working hard and have even opened for Carrie Underwood. I think these boys will be country stars. They may not become super stars but they are going to have a great career in country music with their current, relevant new country sound.
I could go on and on with this list, but I will draw this post to a close with another Voice winner and another member of team Blake, Danielle Bradbery. Danielle is a true up and coming country star. She has had an album in the top of the charts and she can sing any type of song from Katy Perry to Faith Hill. Danniel is still in her early 20’s and has a very bright future ahead of her. Have a blessed week.
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Wordless Wednesday
Somewhere Near the Bat Cave
Awe…some Monday’s Music Moves Me
Aww Mondays
Linked to Sandee at Comedy Plus
As you can see, Lucy is not exactly a “Morning Pup”. She sleeps in her kennel at night and gets up with me around 6:30 a.m. I go to the kitchen to fix breakfast and make my first cup of coffee while Lucy relocates to the den and her bed for the first nap of the day. Once I finish breakfast and pour my coffee, I will go to the den, turn on the morning news and sit in the recliner for a while. At that point Lucy leaves this bed and repositions herself in my lap and resumes her nap. Such is a dog’s life.
Monday’s Music Moves Me
It’s another freedom of choice week, so I am going to feature some artists that may have slipped though the cracks of our memory. As a child of the sixties I was fortunate to be exposed to a lot of great music. Each generation has it’s superstars as well as those who seemed to come and go, then are only remembered when their music qualifies to be played on the “Oldies” radio stations. I think one such group was “The Band”. My favorite song from this group was “The Weight”.
Another group that got my attention was Deep Purple and the song, “Smoke on the Water”.
I was fascinated by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Their musicianship was unsurpassed but much of their music never reached the radio play lists because the songs were just too long for air play. For most, their music was hard to define. It was a combination of rock, blues & jazz. The title cut from the Tarkus album is a prime example of their style. Have a blessed week.
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Not So Wordless Wednesday
The past couple of weeks I posted some images I had captured of potted flowers on our patio. I had taken a spray bottle and misted the plants with water and I found the results quite pleasing. Every once in a while an image begs to be manipulated. This is one of those images.
There is no real manipulation here, but a verse of scripture came to mind.
Then the thought came to mind, what if I convert this image to Black & White.
Well that was interesting but maybe we need to add something else. So I took the image into my Nik filter collection for PhotoShop Elements and added a little contrast and a vintage frame for a little drama.
That was fun, but what if I add a little canvas texture and a subtle white vignette to the image.
And that’s what I call “Fun With Filters”. Have a blessed week.
Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me
Monday’s Music Moves Me
Independence Part II
Last week was a free choice week but I couldn’t resist jumping ahead and posting music about this week’s theme, Songs of with an Independent theme, either personal or national. For most of us Independence means freedom and being free to live our own lives. Our first real experience with freedom is when we gain access to a car. Our freedom expands when we move out on our own. Occasionally we find that freedom is a little too expensive so we move back in with our parents for a while. Finally, we take the leap and leave the nest to make our own way in this world. We find out that there really is no such thing as a “Free Ride”.
Last week I focused on the national pride and independence. This week I am just going to put together a collection of songs about being free on some level. Enjoy.
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Wordless Wednesday
Just Add Water II
Awe…some Monday’s Music Moves Me
Aww Monday
My first dog 1954. His name was Muggs and yes he was a Cocker Spaniel.
My current dog Lucy, and yes, she is a Cocker Spaniel.
Monday’s Music Moves Me
A while back our fearless leader, Curious as a Cathy contacted me about co-hosting a month of 4M. I have never hosted nor co-hosted a blog hop, so I am not sure how this is going to go. I consider it an honor to join the others who participate in this endeavor. The best things about this blog hop is that I get to hear music that is new to me and I also get to revisit music from my past that I have forgotten about over the years. So with your patience and understanding, here we go.
This week is supposed to be a freedom of choice week but since Independence day is just around the corner, I am going to get an early start on my Songs of Independence theme. I don’t know about you but I am forever grateful that I was born, raised and live in the USA. When you look at the world around us and consider all of the places where you could have entered this world and all of the trials and tribulations that might have been a part of your everyday life, it is easier to see just how blessed we are to be born and bred U. S. citizens. Few nations offer their citizens the the freedoms and opportunities found in this great country. I am doubly thankful for having been born and raised in the the great state of Oklahoma. Although we now call Arkansas home, Oklahoma will always have my heart. I love the honesty, friendliness, and independent nature of people in this part of the world. I love that I have always lived in smaller cities and communities and that the countryside has always been just a few minutes drive from my residence. We lived in Dallas for a couple of years and while I love the people of Texas, Dallas was just more people that I wanted to deal with on a daily basis. But, like I said, I am forever grateful that I was “Born in the USA”!
I am truly thankful that our country has come to realize the sacrifices that those in the military make in order for the rest of the citizens to enjoy living the American Dream. It hasn’t always been that way. I was drafted into the military in 1966 and deployed to Vietnam in 1967. The Vietnam war caused some of the worst civil unrest in history of this country and a portion of the anger was directed at those soldiers returning home. One needs to keep in mind that a soldier does not pick the cause nor his adversary. He does not select the battle nor debate the validity of the conflict. A soldier goes where he is ordered, engages the enemy of his day and if necessary gives his life for a cause chosen for him by his government. War takes its toll on everyone who serves and it is impossible to explain the personal impact that combat has on those who survive. For those of us fortunate enough to return from the war, we were the Fortunate Sons.
On September 11, 2001 our world was turned upside down when two hijacked airliners were flown into the World Trade Center Towers and killed more Americans than we lost in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus we were thrust into the war on terrorism and it continues to this day. Americans saw live, what an act of terrorism looks like and the brutal reality of war. It left a hole in the ground and another one in the heart of this nation.
Today the war on terrorism continues. But just in case you were wondering, this is what freedom looks and sounds like.
Our nation is divided on a number of issues and the two sides don’t always seem to be truly interested in solving the problems set before them. Still, this is the land of the free and the home of the brave and for all of it’s scars, bumps, bruises, and imperfections, it is still America the Beautiful. Have a blessed week.
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