December 29, 2016

Debbie Reynolds - Tribute - R.I.P.

                                                                  Tammy


                                                Far Beyond The Stars                                                   


                                                                Dominique

                                                    A Home In The Meadows


December 28, 2016

Great Talent

 Lets jump to the 21st century for a treat. I thought the piano was going to start smoking. This guy is good! Enjoy!

Luca Sestak is a worldwide, award winning Boogie/Jazz pianist. He started playing piano when he was eight. A true talent, a real prodigy. His parents gave him piano lessons in classical music. Luca was bored and quit. Then Luca heard Boogie piano music, and he loved it. Luca started video recording himself playing Boogie piano music, and posting his videos on YouTube when he was only 13. In a short time he was a YouTube sensation and now considered one of the best. Here is a sample of Luca Sestak's Boogie piano. It's called, "Joogie Wazz."


That was so good I added another number by this talented man. This one is called "Boogie Woogie Stomp." I wonder if that refers to his legs constantly moving?



December 21, 2016

Carol of the Bells

"Carol of the Bells" (also known as the "Ukrainian Bell Carol") is a choral miniature work originally composed by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych. Throughout the composition, Leontovych used a four note motif as an ostinato which was taken from an ancient pagan Ukrainian New Year's chant known in Ukrainian as "Shchedryk" [the Generous One]. The composer created the piece as an assignment for a harmony course he was taking by correspondence in the use of an ostinato. The original work was intended to be sung a cappella by mixed choir. Two other variants of the composition; one for woman's choir and another for children's choir with piano accompaniment were also created by the composer.
The "Carol of the Bells" was premiered in December 1916 by a choral group made up of students at Kiev University. It was introduced to Western audiences by the Ukrainian National Chorus during its concert tour of Europe and the Americas, where it premiered in the United States on October 5, 1921 at Carnegie Hall.

December 20, 2016

When A Child Is Born


"When A Child Is Born" is a popular Christmas song. The original melody was "Soleado", a tune from 1974 by Ciro Dammicco (alias Zacar), composer for Italy's Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble, and Dario Baldan Bembo. The tune was based on Damicco's earlier tune "Le rose blu" published in 1972. The English language lyrics were written a few years later by Fred Jay (who wrote many hits for Boney M such as Rasputin and Ma Baker). They do not make specific mention of Christmas but the importance they attach to looking forward to the birth of one particular child somewhere, anywhere, suggests a reference to the birth of Jesus Christ, and the citing of "a tiny star" that "lights up way up high" may allude to the Star of Bethlehem. Fred Jay's lyrics have been sung by many artists, most successfully by Johnny Mathis in 1976.

The Grinch

This song become a Christmas favorite in 1966 as the title song from "How The Grinch Stole Christmas." A TV special, which is now a Christmas tradition. The lyrics were written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, the music was composed by Albert Hague, and the song was performed by Thurl Ravenscroft. The song's lyrics describe the Grinch as being foul, bad-mannered and sinister using increasingly creative put-downs, metaphors and synonyms, beginning with the opening line "you're a mean one, Mr. Grinch". It reminded me of my evil troll Dervish, so I had to include this song.


7 O'clock News/Silent Night



                                                Simon and Garfunkel 1966.
                                                A Christmas carol for their time.
                                                Sounds like our time also.

December 19, 2016

Let It Snow

"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", also known as "Let It Snow", is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945. It was written in Hollywood, California during a heat wave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions. Although the song's lyrics make no mention of Christmas, it is played on radio stations during the Christmas season and is often covered by various artists on Christmas-themed albums.
This version was recorded by Dean Martin in1959 on his album "A Winter Romance." It is by far the most popular recording of this song. 

December 18, 2016

Silent Night

"Silent Night" (German: Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011. The song has been recorded by a large number of singers from every music genre. The version sung by Bing Crosby is the third best-selling single of all-time.

December 17, 2016

Commercial Christmas




A couple of very popular commercial Christmas songs. First, is the great Jimmy Durante singing "Frosty the Snowman" from the 1969 animated cartoon.
Second is the popular Gene Autry singing, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Recorded in 1949 it became the second largest selling single, selling 25 million copies.

December 14, 2016

Do You Here What I Here?

The most popular and famous recording was this version by Bing Crosby released in October of 1963. It was an immediate holiday hit and will be for decades, maybe centuries to come.

"Do You Hear What I Hear?" is a song written in October 1962, with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne Baker. The pair, married at the time, wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Regney had been invited by a record producer to write a Christmas song, but he was hesitant due to the commercialism of the Christmas holiday. It has sold tens of millions of copies and has been covered by hundreds of artists.
 

December 11, 2016

O Holy Night

"O Holy Night" (French: Cantique de Noël) is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by a wine merchant and poet, Placide Cappeau (1808–1877).
The modern day version are not the words of the original poem, but the meaning remains the same. It is the story of the night of the birth of Christ. Purely a religious song. Many great singers have sung a version of this song. It is one of the most popular Christmas songs of the last 150 years. One of the first versions recorded was by Caruso in 1916, which you can still hear. The most popular version is this 1960 recording by Nat King Cole.

December 10, 2016

Happy Christmas - War Is Over

"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas song with lyrics by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. The lyrics are set to the traditional English ballad "Skewball". Lenon borrowed many of the words from many other songs. So slight that it never ran into copyright problems. Basically a protest song against the Vietnam war, it has now become a Christmas classic.

The Crybaby Democrats Are Caving In Already

Senate Democrats Give Up On Coal Miner Health Benefits, Averting Government Shutdown (UPDATE)

Sen. Joe Manchin said he hopes to enlist President-elect Donald Trump’s help for the miners.

12/09/2016 06:38 pm ET | Updated 10 hours ago

December 9, 2016

Trump Is Hitler

The liberal haters are still at it. Trump is Hitler! Trump is Hitler! Trump is Hitler!
Their lack of history is astounding. Their passion for hate is unbounded. It's funny how the most hateful of all are the same that attack this blog and stole my posts. RN, Dervish, Dog, Shaw, and and the rest of their hate filled crowd.
No discussion by them of what strategies might be used to stop Trumps decisions and legislation, or what their priorities are as to where to even start. They are having to much fun screaming hate to actually do anything about the Hitler they fear so badly.
I'm not going to spend the next four years simply screaming Trump is Hitler, nor am I going to even listen to their hate. I'm sure these idiot liberals will vote for Trump's disasters, just as they voted for Bush's lies, wars, and killing innocent people. All it will take is another attack against America and they will all line up to support whatever illegal, unconstitutional act of violence and killing Trumps wants to do. And I can just hear another round of calling people traitors for not supporting whatever violence Trump wants to inflict on innocent people. They will be duped just as the German people were in the 1930's.
Good luck to the haters. They will just tear this country further apart and make worse what they claim they don't want. They had plenty of practice calling Bush Hitler as they went along with his killing. Acting against their own self interest seems to be an American behavior now made an American tradition.

December 6, 2016

White Christmas

"White Christmas" a secular song written by the Jewish-American songwriter Irving Berlin. First publicly performed by Bing Crosby on Christmas Day in 1941 on his NBC radio show, The Kraft Music Hall. The song won The Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1942, performed in the movie "Holiday Inn." That was a duet version with Martha Mears.
The song still holds the record for the best selling single of all time, selling more than 100 million copies. The song was a perfect fit for Crosby's voice. Crosby recorded the song many times. This is his most famous version recorded in 1947.



December 4, 2016

Religion and the Holiday Season

I do not believe in a god, I believe in science. Having said that, it's indisputable that religion is the motivation behind some of the best art and music humans have ever produced. That's not proof of a supreme being, just the passion of those who believe in an invisible being in the sky. Religion produces more evil hypocrites than politics, and is the cause for most of the wars and killing in human history.

I believe in living by the "Golden Rule" which has nothing to do with believing in religion, or some invisible god. Simply good advice on how to treat our fellow human beings.

I don't question the motivation behind the product of artists, or musicians, I just appreciate the final product. If their motivation is religious, that doesn't detract (for me) from the quality of the final product. And because I find that final product of the highest quality, that doesn't mean I believe in their motivation that produced that product. I have no clue of the religious beliefs of the artists I highlight, and I could care less. So I will be highlighting religious music during the Holidays, or at anytime. 

December 2, 2016

They Are Still Crying

The liberals, especially the liberal bloggers, are still crying. It's been weeks since the election, yet, the crying gets worse. From cries of a rigged election, Trump being an illegitimate president elect, recounts in multiple States, and of course claiming Trump is Hitler. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad and a waste of time. They are exactly what they claim Trump would be, if he lost the election. They sure know how to bitch and cry. They sure know how to spread their hate.
Claiming Trump is Hitler is the worse insult to those who died, or survived the Holocaust and the other millions who died because of Hitler.
To bad they don't know what to do besides cry and hate. Let's hope Mr. Schumer knows how to do more than cry and hate. Lets hope Mr. Schumer is smarter than Reid, or Pelosi. I don't think so, because the Democrats just put Pelosi back in leadership.
Recounts won't work crybabies. Calling Trump Hitler won't work crybabies. Lessons you should have learned from Bush II, but hate rules your thinking, not logic, or how to actually stop Trump legislation. Stopping Trump isn't about making your hate public. It didn't stop Bush, in fact, you idiot liberals (Hillary Clinton) went along with and voted for the Bush agenda of lies and killing innocent victims and you still called Bush Hitler. .