Battle of The Bands - November 1st, 2024

 

Hey, hi! Glad you stopped by ;-)

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 1^st and/or 15^th 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.

I hope your November is off to a good start. My area of Arizona has finally turned down the heat, so we won’t mind turning the oven on in a few short weeks ;-) I wait all year to have turkey on Thanksgiving, though I’m willing to eat Pumpkin pie anytime. As far as music for the occasion, besides Nat King Cole, and any of those old favorites, a song that comes to mind (because we play it every year) is one by Arlo Guthrie about an unforgettable Thanksgiving, which I’ll just leave a link to, since it’s nearly 20 minutes long.  Instead, here are a couple versions of another song written by Steve Goodman (1970) but made famous by Arlo Guthrie in 1972.  You may be surprised (I know I was) by who else covered this song about riding on a train. 

There you have it, folks. Which do you like best?

Be safe if you're traveling, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Autumn skies and Pumpkin pies

 

We’re not exactly graced with all the splendors of seasonal changes in the desert. Few of our leaves change color, opting instead to forsake their posts for bony winter fingers. Luckily, our evening sky is often willing to step up and deck out with spectacular flair. Time to buy a couple of pumpkins!

According to a few of my favorite haunts, today was quite the day in music history. In 1967, Arlo Guthrie released a song that would one day become a Thanksgiving tradition in our house, as each year while the swamp cooler works overtime, the turkeys are fried or roasted or smoked on the patio, the sides take turns in the oven of our crowded kitchen, another leaf is added to the table and set for 8 – 12 while we listen to a full-length version of “Alice’s Restaurant” that finishes just as the biscuits begin to smolder.

During a meeting with the rest of the band on this day in 1969, John Lennon announced he was leaving the Beatles. Meanwhile, one of only a handful of successful “fake” bands, The Archies, began a four-week run at #1 on the US singles chart with “Sugar, Sugar” in addition to becoming one of the longest-running one-hit-wonders after eight weeks at the top of the UK charts. "I'm gonna make your life so sweet,"

On this fateful day in 1973, Jim Croce was on his way to perform a second concert of the day when he tragically perished along with five others in the crash of their chartered plane. His song “Time in a Bottle” made an instant come-back, as his other hits also saturated the airwaves.

Kate Bush hit the ground running in 1980 with her first album, “Never For Ever,” the first album by any female solo artist to enter the UK chart at #1. “Running Up That Hill”

“But now it’s time for me to go; the autumn moon lights my way.” Led Zeppelin

Peaceful autumn, everyone!