Tell Her She's Beautiful

Here's a song from the early 1970s, written by Harry Nilsson. 

Some of Nilsson's life-time accomplishments were, "The Point", an animated 1/2 hour musical he wrote and directed, his #1 recording of "Without You", and his collection of standards with orchestra conducted by Gordon Jenkins "A Touch of Schmilsson in the Night"   It was Harry who advised the Muppets to "Put de Lime in de Coconut", and it was Harry with John Lennon who got drunk, acted up, and got thrown out of a Frank Sinatra show.  What goes up . . . .

Harry had his sublime moments as well.  He led the residents of an English old-folks home in a raucous and enthusiastic wine-filled chorus of  "I'll tie my tie / till the day I die / and if I have to be fed / I'd rather be dead."   And, there was the following song, nothing quite like it anywhere.  And I notice, my version is the only non-Nilsson version on YouTube.  There ya go -- here, in a rare internet sensation, is Gary Alan Guetzlaff, singing Harry Nilsson's "The Most Beautiful World in the World"



Thanks for listening

I Warned You

So, it's Memorial Day weekend.  The unofficial beginning of Summer.

So, remember.  Just remember - I won't tell you what to remember.  If you don't know, you probably never will.

Here's a song for you, to help you through your "closed" weekend.  It was created in the 1930s.  It was popularized by George Formby, bad, bad boy, who, armed only with his little ukulele single-handedly terrorized conventional British entertainment.  In fact, George was crowned the Clown Prince of the English Music Hall Stage.

Along with George, we laugh at ourselves, and our little hypocrisies and hangups, and who is ever ready for something like that?

So, I'll warn you -- This song is not funny because:

• It's Un - #MeToo
• It's Sexist
• It seems to depict improper Social Distancing

And people with a sense of humor find it funny, and to some people, that's bad.

Sooo.... Do Not under any circumstances click on the following link.

All I've Got to Do is Thank You, Girl

One distinct advantage of having been born so very, very long ago, is that I got to experience the Beatles phenomenon firsthand.  No historian to my knowledge has ever captured the magnitude of these formative years of creativity.  Many tried to copy the Beatles, but every time some other group thought they had captured the "Beatles sound" a new Beatles sound had already emerged.  Each song of the Beatles defined a whole new sub-genre of music.  On first hearing a new Beatles song on the radio, the first reaction was a surprised "Who is that?" And then the recognition would dawn, "Oh, it's The Beatles. They sound so different from their last song."  The harmonic complexity would set each new song apart from the others. There were very few "three-chord thumpers" in the Beatles repertoire.  The complexity of the new harmonies would attract the imitation of orchestras, lounge singers, songwriters, and even bluegrass bands -- forever.

Here's a new insight into a very old (1964) Beatles song:

Chase Those Little Rainbows In My Soul

Here's a song I've always admired.  It was written by Robert Crumb, the underground cartoonist popular in the 60s and 70s.  Robert Crumbs music is always filled with joy.  How can you go wrong with a banjo, mandolin, accordion, Hawaiian guitar and a musical saw?  His first release, with the Keep on Truckin' Orchestra was pressed to vinyl in a 78 rpm recording of River Blues / Wisconsin  Wiggles. By the time it came out, many phonographs no longer supported the 78 rpm speed, so lots of people missed this beautiful recording.  There is another group of LP albums that Robert Crumb recorded in the 1970s with the Cheap Suit Serenaders.  This song was among those, co-written by Mr. Crumb.  For the most part, the group recorded classics from the 1920s and 1930s, for example a heart-rendingly beautiful rendition of "I'll See You In My Dreams" featuring a musical saw.

And so, trying to keep the old Carpal Tunnel at bay, here is the famous laid-off church organist Gary Alan Guetzlaff's version of Chasing Rainbows!

https://youtu.be/4-BxC6o0Lnw