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

From: Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls ; Year: 1969; Genre: Hard Rock/Psychedelic Rock I guess since today is Halloween I should probably get with the program and pick something appropriate. Coven is one of the earliest bands to embrace the dark, "satanic" lyrics and imagery that would define much of the hard rock/metal genres ever since; still it is rather interesting to think that their most noted and biggest hit song was One Tin Soldier , which was quite different from their style. Anyway, Black Sabbath is the first track from their debut album and actually was released a year prior to the debut album and song of the same title by the band Black Sabbath . As always, for me, Jinx Dawson's powerful vocals are the main draw, but the music is also quite good to boot.   Hear Black Sabbath on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Muse - You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween   My song pick 2 years ago today: Black Sabbath - When Death Calls ...

From: Coven ; Year: 1972; Genre: Rock/Pop/Folk Rock Kind of interesting how certain songs always seem to keep relevant even after many years; this is definitely one of them. Even though in my lifetime I cannot remember a time without some war going on somewhere in the world, I've always wished that people could live their lives as they see fit in peace, but I doubt that's ever going to happen.... Anyway, I happened to have this rather poignant song come on while I was driving yesterday; I thought I would pick another from Coven, but I was surprised that I had not chosen this one yet. Every now and then Coven's popular cover of One Tin Soldier , (which was originally from the Canadian band The Original Caste ), seems to enter the public conscious so to speak, although it seemingly has not in some time. It was part of the soundtrack to the Tom Laughlin film Billy Jack and served as its theme, which was sung by Coven's lead singer Jinx Dawson. The entire band would record...

From: Blood on the Snow ; Year: 1974; Genre: Hard Rock/Progressive Rock The other day I was thinking about this often overlooked proto metal band that get's labeled for their movie tie-in hit One Tin Soldier ; while a good song in an of itself, it's not fair to judge the band by their biggest hit. Anyway, this is quite a neat and dynamic song with Jinx Dawson's light and beautiful vocals being framed by a more melodic verse sections that contrast with a heavier chorus with the male vocals. And of course the guitar solo is a great piece to behold too; all around a great track from a great, unappreciated band. Hear Lost Without a Trace on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Fairport Convention - Autopsy My song pick two years ago today: The Police - Every Breath You Take My song pick three years ago today: Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone My song pick four years ago today: The Moontrekkers - Night of the Vampire My song pick five years ago today: Maddy Pri...

1489 Coven - Wicked Woman From: Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls , Year: 1969 Genre: Metal/Psychedelic Rock It's hard to believe that this is the same band that recorded the famous pop protest song: One Tin Soldier , which can be found here on YouTube . They were actually one of the earlier Metal bands to use dark imagery and subject matter in their music for shock value. In fact, from what I've read about it this album, which was their debut, brought about enough controversy that it was removed from store shelves; it actually made it a collectors item. Anyway, the first time I heard this song I was blown away by Jinx Dawson's powerful vocals and Jim Donlinger's blazing guitar. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Pink Floyd - In the Flesh? My song pick two years ago today: Joachim Witt and Peter Heppner - Die Flut My song pick three years ago today: Jim Croce - You Don't Mess Around With Jim My song pick four years ago to...