Slide on Down with Ry Cooder

Time to feature a little guitar work, specifically a little slide guitar. Today we have a few tastes from The Slide Man...

Mr. Ry Cooder began his career playing with the likes of Taj Mahal, Randy Newman and a band you might have heard of ...The Rolling Stones.  The slide guitar on "Sister Morphine," yeah that's Ry. He has written soundtracks, produced, recorded his own albums and been a studio musician for...well everybody.

His music has transcended all genres. Pulling influences from American roots, soul and gospel...over the years his music has had more global influences. African, Indian and Cuban rhythms can be felt in his music. And throughout, you have the guitar...usually playing slide.

Just some delicious work.

"Crazy About An Automobile" ...like the man says, it's a car song
"Smack Dab in the Middle" ...no slide, just a whole lotta fun
"Jesus on the Mainline" ...now there's some sweet sliding
"Maria Elena" ...stay with this to enjoy the wonderful accordion and trombone
"Just a Little Bit" ...sitting in with some friends

No slip sliding here...just some sweet guitar.

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Please Forgive Me...Just One Song Today

There is no denying Bryan Adams can write/co-write/sing a great love song. And the ballads..."Heaven," "Everything I Do," "Do I Have To Say The Words," all beautiful, each an anthem to love.

Today we are going to taste one in particular, my favorite ballad by Bryan Adams..."Please Forgive Me."

In an interview with Carl Wiser on Songfacts, Adams said this about the song:

"We needed a song for the greatest hits album, which was entitled "So Far So Good." Mutt Lange came up with the idea for the song and we wrote it while working in France in 1993. it was the first time we had recorded with a whole band in the studio, some of the musicians I'd never worked with before like David Paich on piano. Before this band session, we had recorded the album "Waking Up The Neighbours" instrument by instrument. It was good to be back with a band.

Yes it was one of the first songs I agreed to use a modulation in as I never liked modulations in songs unless you were modulating from verse to chorus like I did on "One Night Love Affair." I don't do the modulation in "Please Forgive Me" when I sing it live."

Take a listen and read the lyrics...

"Please Forgive Me", the song starts by looking back...

"It still feels like our first night together

Feels like the first kiss

It's getting better baby

No one can better this

Still holding on

You're still the one

First time our eyes met

Same feeling I get

Only feels much stronger

I want to love you longer

You still turn the fire on"

A strong chorus starting with reassurance and moving into the real guts of the message.

"So if you're feeling lonely, don't

You're the only one I'll ever want

I only want to make it good

So if I love you, a little more than I should

Please forgive me, I know not what I do

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you

Don't deny me, this pain I'm going through

Please forgive me, if I need you like I do

Please believe me, every word I say is true

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you"

Second verse starts with re-enforcing the feelings..

"Still feels like our best times are together

Feels like the first touch

We're still getting closer baby

Can't get close enough

Still holding on

You're still number one"

And here's where it gets real...

"I remember the smell of your skin

I remember everything

I remember all your moves

I remember you yeah

I remember the nights, you know I still do"

I remember the smell of your skin...just the thought of a man thinking back and whispering that line to a woman, well it just knocks my socks off. Seven words with incredible impact.

"So if you're feeling lonely, don't

You're the only one I'll ever want

I only want to make it good

So if I love you a little more than I should

Please forgive me, I know not what I do

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you

Don't deny me, this pain I'm going through

Please forgive me, if I need you like I do

Please believe me, every word I say is true

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you"

Strength...

"The one thing I'm sure of

Is the way we make love

The one thing I depend on

Is for us to stay strong

With every word and every breath I'm praying

That's why I'm saying,

Please forgive me, I know not what I do

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you

Don't deny me, this pain I'm going through

Please forgive me, if I need you like I do

Babe believe it, every word I say is true

Please forgive me, if I can't stop loving you

No, believe me, I don't know what I do

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you"

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you...It's hard to find fault in that line, in that feeling, or in the song. Beautifully written, beautifully sung. 

An Easy Ride Today...Just A Little Traffic

Forty-five years ago today, one of rock's most interesting, talented and influential bands made their first live appearance. On September 24, 1967, Traffic played at the Saville Theatre in London.

Traffic was not one of those 3-minute wonder British bands. Their music was diverse, complicated and full of surprises...both melodically and lyrically. Chris Wood, Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason and Steve Winwood...not a bad lineup, don't you agree? Over the years, the line-up changed, but the core four created a legacy which still stands the test of time.

A few tastes today...a bite from a few different albums.

From their first album Mr. Fantasy, reflecting the sound of the time...heavy organ and of course, some cowbell.... "Coloured Rain." 

Off the 1967 release Traffic... "Pearly Queen"

From John Barleycorn Must Die, "Empty Pages"

Low Spark of High Heeled Boys has so many choices, but love Capaldi doing "Light Up or Leave Me Alone."

Ending it off with a little something from Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory. Never afraid to throw in an instrumental, "Tragic Magic" is mesmerizing.

We've lost both Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood, way too young, Finding joy in their music all these years later gives testimony to their talent and vision.

Savor each little trip, with Traffic...the joy most definitely is in the ride.

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Shemekia Copeland: Rockin' the Blues

While I have featured several blues artists before, most have centered on the songs, guitar work or general sound of the band. Once in a while I like to focus on a vocalist; that's what we're going to do today. A true blues vocalist.

Shemekia Copeland is a second generation blues artist out of New York City. At the age of 8, Shemekia was brought onto the stage of the famed Cotton Club by her father, legendary blues guitarist Johnny Copeland. At 19, her first album Turn Up The Heat was released, and she has never looked back.

She's opened for the Stones, headlined Blues Festivals, shared the stage with everyone from Clapton to Buddy Guy and been certified fabulous from critics all over the world.

She has a great body of work to choose from, but today we will taste a few tracks from her third album, The Soul Truth. Released in 2005, it was produced by Steve Cropper of Stax Records fame. It's so pumped up and full of passion, with the true soul of Memphis blues... totally worth more than a one song sample.


"Who Stole My Radio" ...asking where did the good music go, well it's right here
"Better Not Touch" ...great horns arrangement, such a strong vocal
"All About You" ...feeling the Memphis blues

And just a couple of live tastes, not from The Soul Truth, but worth hearing.

"Beat Up Old Guitar" ...a 2001 sweet biscuit with Arthur Neilson on a not quite beat-up-old guitar
"Dirty Water" ...down and dirty, no doubt, feels so good

Real tasty.

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A Look Back: No Nukes

In 1979 a group of musicians under the acronym MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) organized a monumental concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to support the idea of a nuclear free world. The concert known as No Nukes, was recorded and released the next year as a feature documentary and a live triple album.

The performances from this show are legendary. Springsteen, at this point gaining a reputation for his wild, all-night-long live shows, is finally caught on film. James Taylor singing with then-wife Carly Simon, Bonnie Raitt, The Doobie Brothers, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne, John Hall...the list goes on.

Today, we will take a few samples from that great concert.

James Tayor & Carly Simon "Mockingbird" ...just an incredible and joyful performance
Bruce Springsteen "Thunder Road" ...show a little faith there's magic in the night, you ain't a beauty but hey you're alright. yes indeed.
Doobie Brothers "Taking it to the Streets"... with a little help from their friends
Jackson Browne "Running on Empty"...hard to find a better version
John Hall "Power"...the unofficial anthem, with JT, Doobies, Carly etc.

One of the first, but certainly not last time when musicians came together for a common cause. This one was absolutely magical.

If you need to see more, check out TheMusicMan34 on youtube, his channel has the entire concert split into seven segments.

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