Willie Simpson

Month: October 2011

  • The Byrds, Turn, Turn, Turn

    It’s one of those famous songs where nobody can remember the full title.  Officially its, “Turn, Turn, Turn (to Everything There is a Season.)”  Written by Pete Seeger in the 50s, and cribbed  almost entirely from a Bible verse, “Turn, Turn, Turn,” was one of the Byrds earlier hits coming out in 1965 along with…

  • Harry Belafonte, Jump in the Line

    And we’re back!  I’m now halfway around the world coming to you live from Seoul, South Korea, and I’d thought to celebrate the occausion by posting one of my all time favorite movie music sequences ever!  Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice was one of the most bizarre movies of the 1980s, and all one has to do…

  • John Lennon, Imagine (Live)

    “Imagine” is the sort of song played by rock stars young and old to honor the memory of dearly departed John Lennon.  It’s kind of sad in a way that its turned into a memorial dirge of sorts, obscuring it’s utopian message of peace and harmony due its tragic association with the author’s horrible death. …

  • Ella Fitzgerald, Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)

    You may be wondering why I’m putting up an old Cole Porter pop tune from 1928 up my website.  If you’ve seen Woody Allen’s glorious flick, “Midnight in Paris,” you know why, but if you haven’t, then a bit of explanation is needed.  In the film, a time traveling novelist played by Owen Wilson stumbles…

  • Ben Stiller and Bruce Springsteen, SNL and the Ben Stiller Show

    Saturday Night Live is really hit or miss this days, mostly miss, but sometimes, when they get a guy in there who knows sketch comedy, like Ben Stiller, they can hit a few home runs.  That was case the other night when Ben revived his classic impression of Bruce Springsteen from his cult hit “The…

  • John Lennon, #9 Dream

    I was sneaking under a bus parked over a snowy muddy pit.  I jostled a hinge holding the front of the truck to the freight, and it began to collapse on me.  As it caved in on me, I genuinely thought I was going to die.  This was the phrase that went through my mind,…

  • Greatest Rock Vocalists #1, Little Richard, Good Golly Miss Molly

    Little Richard is the greatest vocalist in rock and roll history.  He is the man that was James Brown’s #1 influence, the man Paul McCartney copied, the man who first employed Jimi Hendrix, and the man that arguably started rock and roll with the second he let out his primal rock and roll roar for…

  • Greatest Rock Vocalists #2, The Beatles, Twist and Shout

    There is no tonal quality more life affirming, more charging, and more powerful than the one found in John Lennon’s voice during his rendition of the Isley Brothers tune, “Twist and Shout.”  It’s the vocal performance that electrified the ears of the world; a singularity of rock and roll perfection, and simply among the greatest…

  • Greatest Rock Vocalists #3, Elvis Presley, Heart Break Hotel, Hound Dog

    Elvis was simply great, like a human tornado of cool, and one of the most original Americans in history.  Was he musically original?  Not exactly, but his instinct for sexing up rock and roll was brilliant.  His originality was mainly found in his person, the archetype of the post World War II teenager; rebellious, greasy…

  • Greatest Rock Vocalists #4, Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody

    Never mind the image of the Muppets and Gonzo up there, that’s just some funny picture I found, this post is dedicated to the golden pipes of the late great Freddie Mercury, the fourth greatest vocalist in rock and roll history.  Possessing the voice of a fallen angel, rocking vociferously as he descends to the…