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CREDIT

Oh man....I wish I could express to you how much I love this song AND the video. They are both the epitome of the 1980's. It's called "Credit". Even the opening riff on the bass is a picture of the 80's and I LOVE it. Then the horns jump in with a POW!


If you aren't familiar with Tower of Power, here's a link to their website:

http://www.towerofpower.com/the-band/

Fast forward to 2011 - people can hardly GET credit, let alone USE it to buy useless things to impress other people with! But the 80's were a time of excess. One of my favorite shots in the video is of Lee, joyfully sitting on a motorcycle (apparently, he bought it with his good credit).  He looks so foxy (another word from the past) with his 'stash, shades and MULLET!!  I just love it.  ah...the 80's.

I tried several times to imbed the video here...and I can't seem to do it! The best I can offer is to click on this link:    http://new.music.yahoo.com/tower-of-power/videos/view/credit--2148349

Enjoy!

Ball and Chain

Ah....the old "Ball and Chain".   NO!! - that's not what Lee calls me....at least not in front of me. (ha ha).

Lee recorded Ball and Chain with Tower of Power sometime in the 80's (I'll have to get that exact date from Lee). This video is from a live performance the band did on the Letterman Show during that time. Lee has recently re-joined the band and is having SO much fun playing the music of Tower of Power. I'm not sure they will resurrect Ball and Chain, but I'm hoping they'll put Monster On A Leash back in the lineup - oooh that's a good one too!

Enjoy~

Perry...

In the late 1980's, I had the amazing opportunity to be a backround singer for Perry Como. I worked with him for several years before he passed on and those were concerts and road trips I'll never forget. He was the same person onstage as he was off. He was calm, unassuming, connected to the audience. He still considered himself a barber and a lucky "crooner". He adored Bing Crosby and the clip I'm including here is from a concert we did with the Boston Pops, John Williams conducting. The great Nick Perito was Perry's personal conductor - I am honored to have worked with him as well.

The girls I worked with were the cream of the crop - and at various points in the show, we had 6 part harmony which was thrilling because everyone sang on pitch! (I'm the one on the far right in the burgundy dress).

I hope you enjoy the beauty and simplicity of Perry's singing. He is a classic and will always live on because of the wonderful recordings we have of his voice.

Reflections on "Reflections"

I was visiting the Smithsonian about 10 years ago (I'm not good at remembering exact dates) and came upon a Duke Ellington display. There were all kinds of wonderful photos and memorablia to look at and there was a Duke recording playing over and over. It was haunting.....and I loved it. There was a bench to sit on and I sat there for probably a 1/2 hour listening to this song, over and over. It made me weep. It was just piano - no lyrics. I knew I would never forget that melody.
Several years later I was listening to a cd by the amazing Tierney Sutton and she began the song with an a capella, "oooooh".....and with the first few notes, I knew it was Dukes song! I had only heard it at the Smithsonian and I had no idea what the name of it was.....and there was Tierney....singing it. The name of the song is, "Reflections". Next to "I Wanna Be Loved" by Shirley Horn, this recording is one of my all-time favorites.  To hear the lyrics with Duke's
melody practically made me lose my mind. I haven't been able to find who wrote those lyrics....when I do, I will update this post.
For now.....all I can say is do yourself a favor and get Tierney's CD. It's called "Something Cool".
Here's a link from YouTube with Duke playing....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eaTmoPmJPU

Speaking of music...

Since this blog is called, Treble Clef Chef, I thought it was time to write about music. I've been asked many times, "What is your favorite song"? and until I heard the song I'm going to tell you about, I didn't think it was possible to answer that question. There are so many genres of music that I like and that make me happy, although I can't sing all genres. But this song....(I'm listening to it right now and getting very distracted) to me, is the epitome of the best combination of lyrics, singer, arrangement, ability - the whole package.

The song is "I Wanna Be Loved". It's an old song, recorded by the Andrews Sisters in the 40's, and I'm sure other people too, but I don't know of any others. I have listened to the Shirley Horn recording countless times. It moves me every time. The rhythm almost has a bit of a purposeful lag at the end of each bar, but yet it is perfectly in time. Such beautiful fluidity between the musicians. Shirley's phrasing tells the story - a particular pet peeve of mine with other singers. Well, I should say, modern singers. That may be why I'm attracted to the music of the 1940's - the songs were simple but told a story and singers like Frank Sinatra and Elle Fitzgerald were the stellar singer/phraseologists (is that a made-up word?) of their time.

Here's the link (because I still don't know how to add these things directly into my posts!) for Shirley Horn's "I Wanna Be Loved".   Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBNjWrd1Nk