The Battle of The
Bands (BOTB) is your basic Which-do-you-like-best contest, where the one
that gets the most votes wins. All you have to do is show up (the 1st
and/or 15th of every month), give a listen and cast your vote in the
comment section. Votes will be tallied and the winner revealed on or about 8
days later.
Hi again, everyone!
Move over, Werthers; there’s a new treat in town! According
to emcee McC, who passed the suggestion on from his Brother the Judge, Al
Bondigas, Mango Ginger Chews are the snacks to chow – and it’s healthy for you
too!
It took a while for the song “Summer Rain” to quit strolling
around in my mind! Now that I’m over the initial shock of last month’s Johnny
Rivers blowout battle against The Motels, I’ve decided to see how well he’ll do
in a Memphis-themed contest.
Did anyone know there’s a Memphis in Egypt? Something new
every day. Memphis, TN., is also a five-time winner of the nation’s cleanest
city award.
First up is actually a cover (of a Chuck Berry) song that,
charting at #2 in America, spawned a live album called “Johnny Rivers at the
Whiskey a Go Go,” with “Memphis” as a single that effectively launched his
career.
Marc Cohn wrote this next one himself after an unremarkable
visit to Graceland. A weathered sign along Highway 61 that read “Hollywood” led
him to a small diner/music joint called “The Hollywood Café,” where a lady
played piano in a corner and sang songs in a smoked-honey voice that brought him to the
heart of what he'd been walking around looking for.
There you have it, folks! Which do you like best? And how
come? Let me know in the comment section below. Oh! And, before you go, hop
around and see the rest of today’s battles (participating sites are located in the top
right sidebar of this page)
I’m likely on the
road as you read this, but no worries. My destination is only half a day away,
so I’ll check back in real soon!
I remember when "Walking in Memphis" was big on the radio. Nice song. I can relate to the Graceland story. Usually I'm just passing through Memphis or staying on the outskirts. I've enjoyed my visits, but I wouldn't want to live there.
ReplyDeleteMarc does a nice job, but still Johnny Rivers has such a great legacy with so many great songs. His version of "Memphis" is a true classic.
I'm voting Johnny Rivers.
Lee
I guess I'd go to Graceland if I thought it was haunted ;-) I've yet to get to Memphis, but I still might.
DeleteFirst vote for the reigning favorite Johnny Rivers!
I all for Johnny Rivers. Love that song
ReplyDeleteHe does do the song justice, doesn't he? Another vote for Johnny Rivers - thank you, Birgit!
DeleteWell dang. I like them both for a variety of different reasons. As Marc hasn't any votes at this time, I will give my vote to him.
ReplyDeleteExcellent battle!
I like your reasoning, Mary ;-) A vote for Marc Cohn.
DeleteMango Ginger chews sound good! Found some at Amazon. I knew there was a Memphis in Egypt, but that's because I'm an ancient history nerd. ☺
ReplyDeleteInteresting info about the songs and I like them both, but Johnny Rivers is the one for me. Lots of memories there. Excellent battle, diedre!
I saw the chews on Amazon too. I figured you might know about Memphis in Egypt ;-) Ran across that tidbit while checking on Memphis highlights. I know what you mean about memories...did you know music can trigger vivid memories in those who suffer from dementia?
DeleteAnother vote for the reigning favorite - Johnny Rivers!
Diedre,
ReplyDeleteI had to smile with your intro for this month's battle showdown suggestion. First up, I had no clue there's a Memphis in Egypt. I know many of our cities are named from European towns. Can one derive from this that maybe Egyptians settled into west Tennessee?
Alrighty now to your two Memphis themed song picks. This is a tough. I like both songs but in the end I think I prefer "Walking in Memphis" smidgen better. Therefore give my vote to song pick number 2. ;) Now, I gotta go visit Graceland!
Have a bandtastic week and Happy Independence Day, my friend!
I Was Made For Lovin' You BOTB Showdown
Could be, I suppose. But there's no mention of a "road of Ram-headed Sphinxes" any where in Tennessee ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnother vote for Marc Cohn - and a sigh of relief - ha!
Thank you, dear Cathy.
Hi, Hello and Howdy, dIEDRE ~
ReplyDeleteWhoa! This is a really E-Ticket BOTB theme you came up with here! In my opinion, this is your best Battle yet (although my Magic 8-Ball says there will be more great ones in your future: "It is decidedly so" ~Magic 8-Ball). I especially love a terrific "themed" Battle, and this is as good as it gets!
>>... Did anyone know there’s a Memphis in Egypt?
Yip! I get that one.
Also, I knew that (according to at least one translation of The Bible) there was a Phoenix in Crete (Greece) :
And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there.
~ Acts 27:12 (New King James Version)
I have never been to Memphis, but I have been to Nashville, and I think they're actually the same place merely separated by 212 miles.
>>... a live album called “Johnny Rivers at the Whiskey a Go Go”
And I never saw Johnny Rivers, but I have been to the Whiskey-A-Go-Go and saw The Police perform there in 1978.
At first, when I saw you were using Johnny Rivers again, I cringed, thinking that you were begging for another blowout. (Is this lady having trouble learning from previous mismatches?!! Is she a crypto-masochist?) I listened to 'Memphis, Tennessee' by Johnny - it's a song I know very well - and let's face it, *everything* Rivers did was really, really good!
The name Marc Cohn meant nut'n to me, but the moment I saw the song title - 'Walking In Memphis' - I thought: Ooh! Gr-r-reat song! (to steal from Tony the Tiger). And good thing, too! Because it would require a great song to beat any recording by Johnny Rivers. I haven't heard 'Walking In Memphis' for well over a decade, but it was every bit as gr-r-reat as I remembered it.
I'm "boting" for my man, MARC.
(I hate to vote against Mr. Rivers, but in this case it has to be done.)
I asked the Judge, Al Bondigas, which song he preferred. He had *NEVER* heard 'Walking In Memphis' before but, like me, he knew and really dug Johnny's 'Memphis, Tennessee'.
However, after listening twice, the Judge's rulin' also went to MARC COHN.
Chalk up twain for Cohn!!
Also, the Judge says that Mango Ginger Chews are "SO-ooo last month!" He has since moved on to Blood Orange Ginger Chews and Peanut Butter Ginger Chews.
>>>... "I guess I'd go to Graceland if I thought it was haunted"
I think I already shared this with you previously, but in case my memory is faulty (there's a first time for everything)... Have you read the story about the "haunted" building I worked in for 14 years?
>>... did you know music can trigger vivid memories in those who suffer from dementia?
I did not know that. But it's a wonderful bit of information which doesn't really surprise me a whole lot. Music is magical and goes well beyond words. Music is of the Spirit / Soul.
~ D-FensDogG
And a breathless "Hello" to you, Mc McC!
DeleteI bet you thought I fell off the edge of the earth. No such luck, my friend ;-) But it was tough getting home thanks to road closures due to likely human-caused forest fires. See? This is why we can't have anything nice.
Now then, my best battle yet, huh? Why, thank you, sir.
And thank you - and Judge Al, so much for your votes!
You hung out with ghosts for 14 years? I seem to remember a little about that. Probably when I talked about the hotel I worked at. I'd love to refresh my memory if you'll provide the link or directions.
Ew, Blood Orange sounds perfectly ghastly (Sorry, Judge) but I'll take peanut butter any time ;-)
Again, I apologize for being so late with this, my favorite so far, battle ;-) I'll have it up by tomorrow,
Howdy, dIEDRE ~
ReplyDelete>>... I bet you thought I fell off the edge of the earth
You really should get out more often.
Despite what 66-IQ dope-smokers still think, there is NO "edge" to the Earth. It's actually fairly round. ;^D
[Link> BLACK CATS, BAD ODORS & THINGS THAT SPEAK SPANISH IN THE NIGHT
In October of 2009, when I wrote and published that blog bit, I was *still* working as a security guard in that building, so I was very careful not to disclose too much information that would give away the location and get me fired. At that time, the building was Cigna Healthcare's headquarters for the state of Arizona.
Cigna has long since moved to a new location in Phoenix, and I moved out of Arizona in 2015. So, today, I'm not concerned about telling "...the rest of the story" (as Paul Harvey would say).
The building is located in Phoenix at 11001 N. Black Canyon Highway, right next to the east side of I-17 and about a block or two north of W. Peoria Ave. I have no idea what corporation occupies that building today, but unquestionably that was the most "haunted" building I have ever been in.
Truthfully, I don't believe "haunted" is actually the correct word. I'm quite sure that what roamed around in and just outside of that building were demons, not "ghosts". In fact, I'm not even sure that ghosts, as we think of them (i.e., spirits of dead people), even exist. Maybe yes, maybe no. But "demonology" could actually account for all "ghostly" appearances, and how could we possibly know whether an apparition was a "ghost" or a demon impersonating the spirit of a departed person? I've given it a lot of thought over many decades and concluded that there is no possible way of knowing whether a disembodied spirit is a former human being or a demon impersonating one.
My bottom line is this: Play it safe, rather than take chances and perhaps find oneself toying with demons.
~ D-FensDogG
Fascinating! I too, believe there's a difference between demons and ghosts - ghosts being the kind of spirit I'd want to run into in a haunted building.
DeleteI used to think that demons were what blackened the hearts of once good people. Now I know that some are born that way. I worry that they've found a powerful playground in the sordid realms of AI.
More later, maybe. I'm chasing sun today ;-)