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This is my favorite of all of the Van Morrison tunes I have heard to date. “Van The Man” is as soulful as they come.
This super-soulful version of “Moondance“ appeared on the second LP of his vocal solo career, also entitled “Moondance.” This album peaked the Billboard Album Chart at #29.
The “Moondance” single, composed by songwriter, musician and singer Van himself, was not released until 1977 and only charted #92 Pop. Go figure! But the tune gets frequent air play on adult contemporary radio to this day -- so it is now a beloved classic!
Born George Ivan Morrison in Belfast, Ireland there will certainly more more of Van to come on this blog in the near and distant future.
In the meantime please enjoy this 1980 live performance of “Moondance.”
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I loved Peggy Lee singing her signature cover song “Fever” in the Fifties (another of my Barbie doll’s favorites to sing in a night club -- LOL) and her her songs from Disney’s 1955 American film “Lady & The Tramp” Soundtrack!
But her only Grammy win was The Grammy for the 1969 Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female that went to “Is That All There Is.” The arrangement makes me think of the musical “Cabaret”!
This Lieber and Stoller penned classic charted #1 Adult Contemporary and #11 on the Billboard T op 100. This was Peggy’s (born Norma Deloris Egstrom) last number one hit.
Is That All There Is (partial)
And here are two of my faves from “Lady & The Tramp.” Actually I have never seen the movie all of the way through or if I did as a child I don’t recall the plot. I only remember these awesome songs! What about you? Do you recall the plot?
He’s A Tramp -- This should have been a number one pop hit IMHO. Yo go girl
Song writer, singer and session musician Joe Souter, known professionally as Joe South, had written and played on many hits for other artists — but his composition “Games People Play” was his first chart topping hit at #12 on the Billboard Top 100: plus it won him not one but two Grammys as songwriter!
The 1969 Grammy for Song of the Year went to “Games People Play” written by Joe South.
The 1969 Grammy for Best Contemporary Song went to “Games People Play written by Joe South
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Last but not least the 1969 Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental Performance went to “Games People Play” performed by King Curtis. Curtis, Born Curtis Ousley, was both a renowned soloist and session musician on his tenor sax.
So there you have it — one awesome song and three Grammy wins!
Trivia: South was inspired to write this award winning song by Dr. Eric Berne’s 19 book “Games People Play:
The psychology of human relationships”
More Trivia: King Curtis and Duane Allman were both session players and great friends. They played together often and both Curtis and Allman are playing in the GPP track above.
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] The 5th Dimension – California Soul (1969 Charted #49 R&B & #25 Pop) Recorded in 1968 for their “Stone Soul Picnic” album on Buddah records, “California Soul” was the third hit single released from the LP after “Stoned Soul Picnic” and “Sweet Blindness”. This classic set charted #10 [...]
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/3246822_tykke/Hold%20It%20Right%20There.mp3] Ramsey Lewis Trio – Hold It Right There [1966] As promised this song was the third R&B Grammy given out in 1966. “Hold It Right There”, as recorded by The Ramsey Lewis Trio, won in the newly created category Best Rhythm and Blues Group, Vocal or Instrumental 1966 This was the second Grammy [...]
[audio http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/999164_jahum/15.RamseyLewis-TheInCrowd.mp3] The Ramsey Lewis Trio – The In Crowd (1965) Written by Billy Page, this instrumental cover of Dobie Gray’s original, actually out-charted it by reaching #5 in the U.S. The original only went to #13. In fact The Ramsey Lewis Trio’s cover version won Ramsey his first of three Grammys — taking home [...]
But her only Grammy win was The Grammy for the 1969 Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female that went to “Is That All There Is.” The arrangement makes me think of the musical “Cabaret”!
