What are your Youtube favorites?

[Inspectorjoe]

I enjoyed reading the recent thread A little side chat about music. I love music, but unfortunately, have absolutely no talent for playing - none whatsoever. So I listen.

With inspections coming so infrequently, I find myself surfing Youtube more than I should. I can’t remember half of the incredible stuff that I’ve found there: From Chet Atkins, to Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac, to current stuff like the Bastard Fairies.

My latest ‘favorites’ were discovered when I went looking to see if there was anything new by the Bastard Fairies. There was. I found a cool rendition of Melanie’s Brand New Key, where they were backed up by a Hawaiian ukulele group. That got me looking for stuff by Melanie. I found two incredible clips.

The first is this one from 1970. I remember hearing

when I was a kid, but it’s been years since I’ve heard it and didn’t know anything about it, so I went looking. Here’s what Thomas Ryan, American Hit Radio, wrote about the song:

Melanie Safka was one of the more obscure performers to appear at Woodstock and apparently even had some difficulty in getting backstage. To walk onstage alone in front of a city of people who don't know you but are paying rapt attention while you perform can be a harrowing and humbling experience. Melanie, who had shown up unexpectedly at Woodstock and consented to perform, must have felt grateful for the nonjudgmental nature of the assemblage, who were relaxed and responsive despite the torrential downpours that continually plagued them. She came onstage as evening fell, just after a particularly horrendous squall, and watched amazed as the hills slowly lit up with thousands upon thousands of candles. From her vantage point, it must have been one sight to see, particularly from the perspective of an amateur folk artist who happened to be the focal point of their attention.

Moved by the experience, Melanie authored "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" in which she attempted to capture the spirituality and magic of that moment. To convey a sense of the warm crowd, she envisioned hundreds of voices joining her on the chorus. The Edwin Hawkins Singers had recently hit the charts with "Oh Happy Day" so she asked the gospel group if they would be interested in accompanying her. She "auditioned" the song before the congregation, and once they decided that it was sufficiently spiritual in content, they agreed.

Melanie's vocal style combined flaky camaraderie with captivating passion and acted as a catalyst for the Edwin Hawkins Singers, who sing with all the controlled abandon that you would expect from a first-rate gospel group. Controlled abandon is also an apt description for what took place on that wet August weekend in 1969. By capturing the optimistic ideology and the powerful sense of love that was pervasive at Woodstock, Melanie's first hit record became a moving homage to a once-in-a-lifetime event.

What an incredible performance by this 23 year old hippie girl – not to mention that of the Edwin Hawkins Singers! The staid audience, seemingly transported directly from a taping of the Lawrence Welke Show is groovin’ right along to it. If you listen to the clip, I hope you have good speakers and a sub woofer. If so, turn it up!

The second clip is Melanie later in life, probably from a few years ago. I could use all kinds of hackneyed clichés to describe her performance, and they would all be valid. It’s the most moving thing I’ve ever seen on Youtube. I Tried to Die Young

So what are your favorites?

[Jim Katen]

Thanks for the links. I enjoyed them.

If you're into exploring new music, there's nothing quite like Pandora. Check it out at www.pandora.com

It uses the Music Genome Project database to find music that you like. Check it out. If you give feedback on the songs that it chooses, you can develop "stations" that are custom made for your tastes.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[hausdok]

Hi,

A few years ago I found myself strangely drawn to Celtic folk music (with a name like O'Handley, go figure). Anyway, last year I began learning to play the Irish penny whistle and have taken up listening to Joannie Madden a lot. She's got a five woman traditional Celtic music group that is constantly on tour. She's a genius with the flute, penny whisle or low whistle. A couple of particularly moving tunes she plays are "The Hills of New Zealand," a tune she wrote in 45 minutes as a way of thanking a New Zealander that tracked her down after he'd found her camera in New Zealand and returned it to her, and "The South Wind," a traditional Irish tune.

I heard "The Hills of New Zealand" for the first time while listening to Radio Celt one night last June, about an hour after I got word that my father had passed away. All I could think of as I listened to it was how I wished he'd been able to hear it before he passed. He would have loved it.

Joannie Madden's "The Hills of New Zealand"

Joannie Madden's "The South Wind"

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Darren]

Way back in the 70's a British group called Gentle Giant came out with

"Playing The Fool Live".

I can't find anything video from that album but here's a song I did find. Simple R & R

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYOkIbyc ... PL&index=3

[Bob White]

I too am a Gentle Giant fan from way back.

Anything by Steve Miller Band 1970 and earlier is good, too---

(wow, is this a new posting form? I like it.)

[Bill Kibbel]

Anytime I end up at Youtube, I spend hours just watching Frank Zappa playing guitar solos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAmcmdKj ... re=related

[Darren]

I found this over the weekend.

All I can say is WOW!

Plug in the headphones and crank it up!

[Rob Amaral]

Google "Freddie King" and watch the many videos of him live. Freddie was just one awesome performer (singer and player). He is the guy Clapton emulated and you can sort of hear that rambling toughness in Clapton's playing. I saw Freddie King twice in a small venue here in Boston in the late 1970's and he was just simply awesome. The guy was huge and was a great player, singer, smiler.. A lot of kids today have no idea who he was..

[Terence McCann]

Don't go to youtube much but I Tivo VH1 Classic all the time. You know you're getting older when words like "classic" pop up.

I consider myself very fortunate to have grown up when R&B was just starting to blossom. My sister was into the Beatles, my brother was a Stones fan and I dug Clapton in all his different incarnations (plus a whole slew of others to numerous to mention). I will say the best concert I attended was Pink Floyd right after Dark Side of the Moon was released - good stuff.

On a side note, there was a tribute to George Harrison on PBS a while back - I think it was part of "Great Performances" as seen on PBS. If it comes around again don't miss it. As always Clapton does an outstanding job. [:-party]

[Bain]

Freddie King had a sound that was uniquely his own. I've seen him live, and he's one of three players--all of which I've seen in person--who the moment they strike those first notes, you know it's unmistakenly them. And no one else could ever replicate those sweet, singing tones.

The other two players are B. B. King and Eddie VanHalen. I was never crazy about the singers, but Eddie's "brown" tone is unique and has never been duplicated.

I know equipment freaks who spend fortunes, along with gobs of time, trying to capture another player's sound. Thing is, though, it doesn't come from wood, steel, or speaker cones. The tones originate from the players' hands and minds.

Zappa was cool, and did a lot of exploration with modes--which have cool names like Phrygian and Mixolydian. He was brilliant, but I never quite understood what he was trying to say. But maybe that was the point . . .

Mike O., check out Eileen Ivers. She gained notoriety by being part of the Michael Flatley Riverdance Boing Oingo, but don't hold that against her. She's produced some pretty incredible stuff on her own that's veerry cool.

[John Dirks Jr]

Forget your lust for the rich man's gold

All that you need is in your soul,

And you can do this if you try.

All that I want for you my son,

Is to be satisfied.

[Steven Hockstein]

Something different:

There is a whole series of shred videos on You Tube that are hilarious. Check out this Santana "Shred"

Now the proud dad--

Last year my older son and his bandmates ( 15 years old at the time) made a music video from one of the songs on their first record. The second record will be released in the next month. Here is the link to their first You Tube Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oYM3rrM ... re=related

[gtblum]

Well done! What did that cost ya dad?

[hausdok]

Very Kewl, Steven!

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Steven Hockstein]

Well done! What did that cost ya dad?

Luckily it did not cost me anything. They did it at summer camp last year.

The recording sessions and professional mixing for the record were a generous gift from one of the dads of the kids in the band that has a lot more money than me!

[kurt]

Anything by Renee Fleming; I particularly like her interpretations of the Handel Arias as theme music during the holidays.

Or, it's hard to beat Mozarts's The Marriage of Figaro any time of the year.

After that, Captain Beefheart's "I'm Gonna Boggiarize You Baby" is good atmosphere music. "I'm Gonna Lick Your Decals off Baby" is good for that first meeting with your girlfriends mother........

[gtblum]

I can't believe this is on utube. I had front row seats for the Syracuse show in 77. Watch this crazy trick with no harness. Too bad they chopped this up. It was really something to see live.

Add him to the list of great guitar players not well known for that particular talent.

[utube]

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