What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

GEORGE HARRISON  "let it roll"  cd,  2009

nineteen track solo career spanning compilation.
two live tracks on here being "here comes the sun" and "while my guitar gently weeps".
the rest were pretty much singles and those that weren't probably should have been singles.
good solid collection and a good starting point to enter the world of "the quiet Beatle"
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

[CRAZY-HORSE]

LEONARD COHEN  "old ideas"  cd, 2012

recent purchase
couldn't wait, put it at the top of the pile.
twelfth studio set.
t'was a dark turbulent time for Cohen around this time as he discovered his manager
had run off with his life savings leaving him virtually bankrupt.
mood is dark and sombre,
some sarcasm in the lyrics, religious/biblical references also.
sounds like a man realising his own mortality at age 77.
either way, another very good album from Mr Cohen

my favourite:





I love to speak with Leonard
He’s a sportsman and a shepherd
He’s a lazy bastard
Living in a suit

But he does say what I tell him
Even though it isn’t welcome
He just doesn't have the freedom
To refuse

He will speak these words of wisdom
Like a sage, a man of vision
Though he knows he’s really nothing
But the brief elaboration of a tube

Going home
Without my sorrow
Going home
Sometime tomorrow
Going home
To where it’s better
Than before

Going home
Without my burden
Going home
Behind the curtain
Going home
Without the costume
That I wore

He wants to write a love song
An anthem of forgiving
A manual for living with defeat

A cry above the suffering
A sacrifice recovering
But that isn’t what I need him
To complete

I want to make him certain
That he doesn’t have a burden
That he doesn’t need a vision
That he only has permission
To do my instant bidding
Which is to say what I have told him
To repeat

I'm going home
Without the sorrow
Going home
Sometime tomorrow
Going home
To where it’s better
Than before

Going home
Without my burden
Going home
Behind the curtain
Going home
Without this costume
That I wore

I love to speak with Leonard
He’s a sportsman and a shepherd
He’s a lazy bastard
Living in a suit

[CRAZY-HORSE]

BILLY JOEL "greatest hits volume I & volume II"  cd, 1985

I own the doubly vinyl and the double cd,
I played the cd.
vinyl has 21 tracks, cd has 26.
disk I, which im posting is all his 1970s material, same for the vinyl 1st lp.
love just about every track on this disk.
favourite track on the 1st disk wasn't on the Lp version (posted below).
great artist, great storyteller up there with the best when he is good.

[Ruby]

MARK OBLINGER - High Water Line



This is his debut album, released mid 2019. When I read 'debut' and heard his voice before seeing any pics, the immediate impression was of a much younger man but that said, as things progressed, it became evident that this could only be the work of someone with many years of experience tucked firmly under his belt. It's a lovely, accomplished offering. Well written songs, great production (which is hardly surprising since he's been winning production Grammy Awards for some decades now) and a clean high tenor which belies his years.

My associations were with Graham Nash, Paul Simon, Marc Cohn - that ilk of artist. Went and looked him up and it turns out he's worked as a touring band member of Pure Prairie League as well as with Garth Brooks, Amy Grant, John Oates, Richie Furay and others - he also toured with Firefall for seven years. One of those musicians who put his family first as opposed to the demands of the spotlight and who now, with the benefit of hindsight, and dues well and truly paid, has made a sincere and classy album.

It's not pop and not rock and it's the kind of music I like only when it's done well, i.e. has not descended into too much schmaltz, which it hasn't, IMHO. Always a fine line. 

Some live clips - 

"No Regrets" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7o3jhMLsHc

"Love Is" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X89h2_pDAKQ

"Pressure Makes Diamonds" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbE9XS0ZWIU

The title track ...

[CRAZY-HORSE]

[u][/u]

BILLY JOEL "greatest hits volume I & volume II"  cd, 1985

disk 2
covers the period 78-85,
includes two new songs "youre only human" being the lead off promo single.
like the first disk, could just about pick anything as favourite track.
thought i'd pick one that gets little airplay on radio this time
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

[CRAZY-HORSE]

ROD STEWART  "it had to be you: the great American songbook"  cd, 2002

the first in a series of five likewise albums in which Rod tackles the "standards".
album returned him to the top10 in a lot of countries for the first time in over a decade.
album went multi-platinum in UK, US, CAN and AU selling around 6 million copies worldwide.
jazzy, bluesy crooning from Sir Rodney as he covers the likes of Gershwin, Cole Porter, Frankie Laine
and Nat King Cole to name a few.
nothing I love on here and nothing I dislike
just a consistent album of feel good songs we all know and love.

from the album:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

JULIO IGLESIAS  "1100 Bel Air Place"  cd, 1984

wasn't sure whether this should go in this thread or pop???
his 32nd album, first to be sung in English.
multi platinum in numerous countries, gold status everywhere else by the looks of it.
a string of hits from it also.
duets with Ms Ross, Willie and Beach Boys.
almost half the album was written by Albert Hammond, the rest is a whos-who also.
superb album loving just about every track

[CRAZY-HORSE]

LEONARD COHEN "popular problems "  cd ,  2014:

Leonard's thirteenth album
loving his vocals more the older he got.
seems more Statesman-like.
lyrically, up there with his best.
another very good album from Mr Cohen
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

[CRAZY-HORSE]

ROD STEWART  "Stardust: the great American songbook, volume III"  cd,  2004

third instalment of five covers albums.
top 10 album everywhere, platinum in most places
not as good a selection of material as the first album but still likeable.
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

[CRAZY-HORSE]

JAN GARRETT "don't go back to sleep, cd,  1992

from the box given to me last year.
from Colorado.
debut album.
easy listening, slight soprano vocal at times.
I could be mistaken but a lot of the lyrics sound Christian based??
either way. a pleasant album, nothing to love but more importantly, nothing to dislike.
I LIKE THIS ALBUM