William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

1636 The Animals - House of the Rising Sun From: The Animals . Year: 1964 Genre: Rock/Blues Rock/Folk Rock Well, between spending some quality time with my 5 year old son and getting some writing done I figured I would make my song pick today and bring my theme week to a close as well. This often-covered traditional song is most likely The Animals' most popular and one of my favourites from the band. Even though they had many other hits to their name, it's still the song you would first think of when you think of the band. I've loved their version since I first heard it long ago; From what I understand they actually got their inspiration from Bob Dylan's version, which was recorded a couple of years earlier. Bob Dylan's version can be found here on YouTube. Watch a music video clip on YouTube. Anyway, if anyone's interested, I guess I should reveal what my theme week was: essentially this theme week had to do with the meter (the beat) of the songs...

1635 Primus - Here Come the Bastards From: Sailing the Seas of Cheese , Year: 1991 Genre: Hard Rock/Alternative Rock/Funk I was thinking about picking another song today, but I remembered that I was in the midst of a theme week. Anyway, this is my sixth pick in my mystery theme week and I knew this one would fit perfectly, plus today feels like a good day for some Primus. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a recent live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Ringo Starr - It Don't Come Easy My song pick two years ago today: Molly Hatchet - Fall of the Peacemakers My song pick three years ago today: Don Mclean - American Pie My song pick four years ago today: Jethro Tull - Later, That Same Evening +

1634 Led Zeppelin - Rock and Roll From: Led Zeppelin IV ( ZoSo ), Year: 1971 Genre: Hard Rock/Rock 'N Roll I'm on to day five of my mystery theme week and for today's pick I felt like listening to some Led Zeppelin. Only in recent years have I been able to truly enjoy much of Led Zeppelin's music; in the past I have felt like they were being forced down my throat, and thus it made me grow to dislike the band more than a bit. However, since I've not listened radio that much anymore I've slowly been getting into the band and their music. One of the most interesting aspects that I've found about them is that they were able to dabble in and across a few Rock genres and not pay the price of doing so like many others have. I mean, hell they were one of the bands that wrote Progressive Hard Rock and it was eaten up and adored to this day by the mainstream and pop culture, which doesn't happen that often if at all. Anyway, even when I didn't really care for...

1633 The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Manic Depression From: Are You Experienced , Year: 1967 Genre: Hard Rock/Psychedelic Rock/Blues Rock I'm on to my fourth pick of my mystery theme week. This is a rather interesting and quite a fun song to play along with. I absolutely love how it was constructed; while on the surface it sounds and feels a bit disjointed, it fits together very nicely to make a truly awesome song. Hear Manic Depression on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jon Oliva's Pain - Through the Eyes of the King My song pick two years ago today: Nora Bayes - The Japanese Sandman My song pick three years ago today: Queen - We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions My song pick four years ago today: The Little River Band - Reminiscing +

1632 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - K.331 - Piano Sonata No. 11 K.331, Year: 1781-3 Genre: Classical Period/classical For the third day of my mystery theme week I felt like picking this one. Most will instantly recognize most of the melodies throughout this famous piece; the melody of the third movement, Rondó Alla Turca: Allegretto, in particular should ring a bell to almost everyone alive or dead. While its an excellent piece of music in so many ways, as with most music from the Classical Period , it has a tendency to fade into the background and easily becomes 'wallpaper music.' Here is the first movement: Andante Grazioso on YouTube. Here is the second movement: Menuetto on YouTube. Here is the third movement: Rondó Alla Turca: Allegretto on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Allman Brothers Band - Little Martha My song pick two years ago today: Steve Vai - #?@! Yourself My song pick three years ago today: The Who - I'm Free My song pick four years ago today:...

1631 Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin - Symphony No.2 in B-Minor Year: 1878 Genre: Romantic Period/classical This is my second pick of my mystery theme week: This is one of my personal favourite pieces from the pen of Alexander Borodin. Out of ' The Five ' he composed a lot of their pieces I like the most; personally Mussorgsky wrote a lot I like as well and at times it's a toss up between the two. Anyway, this in my opinion is a 'musician's piece' of music, however with its beauty and sheer presence it's definitely a listener's song as well; you can easily get engrossed in both the feeling and complexities throughout. I absolutely love to get lost in this amazing piece of music; truly beautiful. Here is the first movement: Allegro on YouTube. Here is the second movement: Scherzo. Prestissimo-Allegretto on YouTube. Here is the third movement: Andante on YouTube. Here is the fourth movement: Finale. Allegro on YouTube. My song pic...

1630 Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos - Media Vita in Morte Sumus From: Chant , Year: 1973 Genre: Gregorian Chant I'm embarking on a theme week, however I thought it would be fun to wait until Saturday's pick to reveal what my theme is; in the mean time anyone is welcome to make guesses as to what it is along the way. Okay, on to today's song pick: I remember back in the '90s this album became quite popular and could be heard all over the place. If memory serves me right, that new found popularity of Chant happened to spawn some parody albums; one in particular, I believe, was called: Grunt . As you can probably guess, it was composed of chants spoken in Pig-Latin . Since it became popular 20 years from the initial recording I wouldn't be too surprised if it makes another resurgence within a few years or so. Anyway, as with most of the tracks on the album, this one makes excellent 'wallpaper music' and is also nice to listen closely to as well....