Uncle Bardie’s Spotlight Song: While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Once a week on Friday, Uncle Bardie celebrates the creativity in others by shining a Spotlight on a movie, a song or a creator. This week’s Spotlight Song is George Harrison’s beautiful “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”:

Cirque du soleil’s interpretation.

And here’s Carlos Santana’s lovely rendition:

When someone asks me “Who is your favorite Beatle”, I tell them the Beatles are my favorite Beatle. But deep down I know that is not true. It’s George I saw in concert. It’s George whose albums I bought. It’s George I listened to in The Traveling Wilburys with his buds, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne.

Sure, I listen to John when I want to let my intellectual and political side out. I listen to Paul if I go dancing. I listen to Ringo just for the fun of it. But it’s George that most appeals to me. Especially the post-Beatles George. Among my DVDs, I have the “Concert for George”, performed one year after George’s death by many of his friends including his best bud, Eric Clapton.

“While my Guitar Gently Weeps” is among my all-time Beatles favs. It tops the list that includes “Norwegian Wood”, “Help”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “You’re Gonna Lose that Girl”, “Nowhere Man”, “Michelle”, “Lady Madonna”, “Girl”, “Things We Said Today”, “I Feel Fine”, “Get Back”, “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, “A Day in the Life”, “She’s Leaving Home” and “Fool on the Hill”.

 

Uncle Bardie’s Spotlight Song: Mama, This One’s For You

Once a week on Friday, Uncle Bardie celebrates the creativity in others by shining a Spotlight on a movie, a song or a creator. This week’s Spotlight is for Mother’s Day. It is song, Beth Hart’s “Mama, This One’s For You“.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mothers out there. We love you and thank you for putting so much into making us who we are.

And I have to say that Beth Hart has never sounded better than she does on this one.

Uncle Bardie’s Spotlight Song: Where’s the love?

Once a week on Friday, Uncle Bardie celebrates the creativity in others by shining a Spotlight on a movie, a song or a creator. This week’s Spotlight Song is the Black Eye Peas with “Where’s the love”:

1 John 4:20. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

 

Uncle Bardie’s Spotlight Song: Devastate

Once a week on Friday, Uncle Bardie celebrates the creativity in others by shining a Spotlight on a movie, a song or a creator. This week’s Spotlight is the wonderful Amanda Shires singing “Devastate”.

Man, do I like Amanda Shires. She’s one of the good’uns. It’s late at night when I am turning out this post. I must  have listened to this song a dozen times or more. Great lyrics and great music to go with them. Like many of my favs it’s more than the music and lyrics that get to me. It’s the package. By package, I mean the sound that comes with the song, the singer’s voice, the arrangement, the feeling the performance gives me as I listen.

Amanda Shires, Jason Isbell, John Paul White and Ashley Monroe are the new country. They know what country should sound like. For all the pop country out there, I am here to tell you that real country sounds Hank Williams sad. Because country is above all else the white man’s blues. And when you have the blues, you don’t load up the truck with your dog and your girl friend in jeans and go for a picnic. No sirree. You cry because you are on the bad side of lonely. Loss is the feeling that occupies your heart at just this moment. And you want to listen to someone who understands that emotion. Cause you’re having a fight with that dark side of your personality.

So listen to Amanda Shires. You are hearing the real thing. And here’s hoping she never sells out to pop country.

Alice and the Piano

The piano had been sitting there in the music room for quite some time. It was lonely. She knew it was lonely. There was nothing for Alice to do but provide it with some companionship, to sit down and caress those keys with some Chopin. She loved Chopin. From the first moment she heard the composer, she loved him. His music made her happy. She could be having the worst day of her life. A real down day. Then she hears a Chopin Nocturne and she is floating on air. So Alice sat down and began. She let her finger touch a key lightly and then it was on to another. Soon the keys were singing in such harmony it was almost as if they were playing a symphony. They weren’t. They were just playing a Nocturne.