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

From: The Drifters' Greatest Hits ; Year: 1960; Genre: Soul/R&B/Doo-Wop This is another song which I was exposed to the cover prior to hearing the original; in this case it was from a 45 rpm record by Jay and the Americans my Dad owned that he played a lot over the years. Of course, I have been a huge fan of The Drifters, so I ended up liking both, but in different ways. For this version the orchestral grandness and splendor combined with the top-notched vocals by The Drifters, led by the legend Ben E. King just presses all the right buttons for me.   Hear This Magic Moment on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Old Metropolitan Band - Summertime   My song pick 2 years ago today: Toronto - Your Daddy Don't Know   My song pick 3 years ago today: Balance - Ride the Wave   My song pick 4 years ago today: The Allman Brothers Band - Black Hearted Woman My song pick 5 years ago today: Joe Jackson - Breaking Us In Two My song pick 6 years...

From: Save the Last Dance for Me ; Year: 1962; Genre: R&B/Doo-Wop Yesterday I learned of the passing of the legendary singer/songwriter Ben E. King at the age of 76. Of course after hearing of it I absolutely had to pick one of the songs he performed; he was always one I liked a lot. Anyway, this was one of his larger hits when leading The Drifters and almost assuredly one almost everybody knows; it just felt perfect for the day Hear Save the Last Dance for Me on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Stanley Clarke - Hot Fun My song pick two years ago today: Beat Crusaders - Moon on the Water My song pick three years ago today: The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses My song pick four years ago today: Rammstein - Haifisch My song pick five years ago today: Tanya Tucker - What's Your Mama's Name? My song pick six years ago today: Bad Company - Bad Company My song pick seven years ago today: The Highwaymen - The Highwayman

From: Don't Play That Song! ; Year: 1961; Genre: R&B/Soul I'm continuing to pick songs from the year that is the same as my song pick number. This song, which is probably Ben E. King's biggest hit, was also one of the bigger hits in the year 1961. I actually thought for sure that I'd already picked it, but I guess I was wrong. Outside of the powerful lyrics and their excellent delivery the utter simplicity of this song construction led by that simple bass line is probably it's greatest attribute by far. Hear Stand By Me on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jethro Tull - Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow My song pick two years ago today: Nightwish - Wishmaster My song pick three years ago today: The Violent Femmes - Color Me Once My song pick four years ago today: The Who - Eminence Front My song pick five years ago today: John Fogerty - Almost Saturday Night

1119 Ben E. King - Don't Play That Song (You Lied) Had this one running through my mind for a bit this morning; I figured that it would make an excellent song choice for my Sunday pick. Immediately most would recognize that much of this track's sound was borrowed from his hit Stand By Me , which can be found here on YouTube . It also appears on this album as well, however, Stand By Me preceded this album; it was recorded in another session and released as a single before the album's release. From what I understand there was supposedly a song written as an answer to this song by Pat Lundy titled Play it Again , which can be found here on YouTube . Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Three Dog Night - One My song pick two years ago today: Billy Joel - Captain Jack My song pick three years ago today: Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King +

The tune to this song has been going through my head for about a year now. Ben E. King's vocal talent is what really makes this song as amazing as it is in my opinion. Anyway, this is one of the most interesting and deep love songs that I have heard and I am glad that I picked it. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. +