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

From: Brain Salad Surgery ; Year: 1973; Genre: Progressive Rock Benny the Bouncer is one of "the other," more brief tracks on this extended, epic-laden album. It is driven by Keith Emerson's honky tonk ragtime-inspired piano playing that gets more and more complex as the song goes on. The overall arrangement and vocal delivery remind me a lot of late 1980s Savatage; their Streets: A Rock Opera specifically.   Hear Benny the Bouncer on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Neil Young and Promise of the Real - Already Great     My song pick 2 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Ladies   My song pick 3 years ago today: Ozric Tentacles - Weirditude   My song pick 4 years ago today: Mott the Hoople - (Do You Remember) The Saturday Gigs   My song pick 5 years ago today: Luther - Everybody Rejoice   My song pick 6 years ago today: Wishbone Ash - Vas Dis   My song pick 7 years ago today: Journey - Spaceman My song pick 8 ye...

From: Tarkus ; Year: 1971; Genre: Progressive Rock Got in the mood for something from EL&P this morning. This is, strangely enough, a short and sweet piece from the band. I love the way they added their arrangements around the ragtime piano; old-timey meets loud prog rock band. Hear Jeremy Bender on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Peter, Paul & Mary - I Dig Rock And Roll Music My song pick two years ago today: Ozzy Osbourne - So Tired My song pick three years ago today: Mastodon - Iron Tusk My song pick four years ago today: Rammstein - Rammlied My song pick five years ago today: Zombie Nation - Kernkraft 400 My song pick six years ago today: Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - Ko-Ko My song pick seven years ago today: Rush - Bastille Day My song pick eight years ago today: The Steve Miller Band - Brave New World My song pick nine years ago today: C.W. McCall - Convoy

From: The Entertainer: The Very Best of Scott Joplin ; Year: 2009, (1902); Genre: Ragtime/Pop Okay, here's another one of Scott Joplin's more recognized compositions, which probably is the most popular of his songs today; I can all but guarantee you've heard it at some point. This one, of course, was published at the height of the popularity of ragtime in the year 1902, which is also the pick number today. What has led to this song's popularity in more recent times was its use in the Paul Newman and Robert Redford film The Sting ; subsequently it has been used quite a bit in popular culture. Hear The Entertainer on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Maktub - So Tired My song pick two years ago today: Dizzy Gillespie - Manteca My song pick three years ago today: Iron Maiden - Sun and Steel My song pick four years ago today: Deep Purple - Knocking At Your Back Door My song pick five years ago today: Slade - Cum On Feel The Noize

From: The Entertainer: The Very Best of Scott Joplin ; Year: 2009, (1899); Genre: Ragtime/Pop Here's another song where the composition date coincides with my song pick number. Around the turn of the last century the musical form/genre which is ragtime was extremely popular, and Scott Joplin is considered the greatest composer of the genre. To easily think of ragtime, it's the music that often times played behind old black and white silent films; it was the kind of music that was popular at the time those kind of films were being produced. While many might view ragtime as antiquated and "old timey" it's very a very important genre, which led to the development of other genres, chiefly jazz. Anyway, this is one of Scott Joplin's more famous of his compositions and has been covered and recorded more times than I dare to count. Here is a recording of Scott Joplin playing Maple Leaf Rag on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jethro Tull - Pla...

773 ( John Denver - Blues My Naughty ) Quite a while ago I learned of the existence of the rare album John Denver Sings , but I was unable to find a copy; however recently I finally was able to find the songs. This album actually has quite a bit of musical history to it even though it is unknown to most who are not avid John Denver fans. John Denver Sings is actually his first solo album, which was recorded in 1966; three years prior to the official debut solo album: Rhymes and Reasons in 1969. Apparently this album came into existence because of his live shows when people started to ask for some recorded material. He self-produced this album and gave the copies to friends and some fans out of his own pocket; you have to remember back in '66 there was really no other way to record unless you used a commercial studio. Mostly, the album consists of covers from different artists, except for one glaring song in particular; that song was titled Babe I Hate To Go . From ...