Do you have a song or songs that have "spoken" to you at some point in your life, or seemed to be there again and again at significant moments? I think we probably all do but I'm talking about something at the next level - almost spooky, maybe.
For me one that sticks out is the great "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" by Crosby, Stills and Nash. The first CSN album (pre Young) was released in late 1969, soon after their debut at Woodstock and for a few months late that year and into early 1970 it seemed that song was everywhere you went. I clearly remember visiting my then-girlfriend and now wife Kathy at Muhlenberg College and one warm late fall day it seemed that song was coming out of every open dorm window. Those wonderful, joyful harmonies seemed to follow me for years - when I got into a car hitchhiking to Boston when I was deciding to move there to pursue a music career, there it was. When Kathy and I were driving cross country, there it was late, late at night on the radio as we crossed the vast plains. There were many other times too, right up to almost the present day. Ironically, in spite of seeing many of the great bands of the Sixties at the time, I didn't see CSN until about five years ago - and they didn't do that song! Oh well.
Then there was James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James" - that one was playing in my head as I boarded a bus in Boston to ride all the way to Seattle for a concert tour with Marie Rhines. "The first of December was covered with snow, so was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston." And so it was, even though I was going in the other direction. I played it many times in the years that followed when we were sitting next to the campfire on one of our many camping trips. "And as the moon rises he sits by the fire, thinking about women and glasses of beer..." I wasn't thinking about women (except the one I was with!) but the campfire and beer made it seem like the perfect song.
Another great J. Taylor tune, "You Can Close Your Eyes" was one that I often dedicated to special people in my life when I performed it: my son Matt and daughter Joanna when they were babies, and my dad a few months after he died. That song is special to me.
So how about you? Do you have special songs? If so, I'd love to hear about them and why they are special.
Peace and good music,
Gene
For me one that sticks out is the great "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" by Crosby, Stills and Nash. The first CSN album (pre Young) was released in late 1969, soon after their debut at Woodstock and for a few months late that year and into early 1970 it seemed that song was everywhere you went. I clearly remember visiting my then-girlfriend and now wife Kathy at Muhlenberg College and one warm late fall day it seemed that song was coming out of every open dorm window. Those wonderful, joyful harmonies seemed to follow me for years - when I got into a car hitchhiking to Boston when I was deciding to move there to pursue a music career, there it was. When Kathy and I were driving cross country, there it was late, late at night on the radio as we crossed the vast plains. There were many other times too, right up to almost the present day. Ironically, in spite of seeing many of the great bands of the Sixties at the time, I didn't see CSN until about five years ago - and they didn't do that song! Oh well.
Then there was James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James" - that one was playing in my head as I boarded a bus in Boston to ride all the way to Seattle for a concert tour with Marie Rhines. "The first of December was covered with snow, so was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston." And so it was, even though I was going in the other direction. I played it many times in the years that followed when we were sitting next to the campfire on one of our many camping trips. "And as the moon rises he sits by the fire, thinking about women and glasses of beer..." I wasn't thinking about women (except the one I was with!) but the campfire and beer made it seem like the perfect song.
Another great J. Taylor tune, "You Can Close Your Eyes" was one that I often dedicated to special people in my life when I performed it: my son Matt and daughter Joanna when they were babies, and my dad a few months after he died. That song is special to me.
So how about you? Do you have special songs? If so, I'd love to hear about them and why they are special.
Peace and good music,
Gene
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