#winning ways

[eartrumpet]

Summer in The City, by The Lovin’ Spoonful, featuring vocalist/keyboardist/composer/autoharpist/tie-dye-pioneer John Sebastian. The band’s sole ascender to the #1 summit in the U.S. charts, it represents a slight departure from Spoonful’s trademark sound, but it stands as their landmark achievement “because it's loud, and people dance to it, and it's loud", as guitarist Zal Yanovsky said of the immortal Reddy Kilowatt.

Breaking out the ol’ autoharp, Sebastian & crew perform You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice, the band’s 2nd single. Cited as an inspiration to Brian Wilson, specifically in relation to spurring him in the creation of God Only Knows, this is Spoonful at its peak. Below is an even better version, methinks, live on Hullabaloo, 1965. Herman’s Hermits favorite U.S. group, perhaps, they’re introduced by none other than Peter Noone, who also applauds heartily at the song’s end.

And lastly, post-Spoonful-implosion, the braintrust performs Darlin’, Be Home Soon live, 1970, at Tanglewood. Quite memorable. His stage exit is very endearing. It compels me to go “shoot the moon”. “J-Seb” says it’s OK to do so.

[earbassoon]

Mr. David Bowie, who has had to endure countless accusations of being a manticore (fewer than, say, Paul Williams, but still....), nonetheless managed to produce some of the greatest music ever heard. This would include The Man Who Sold The World, here performed live in 1979 with no less than Klaus Nomi. Not a bad combo. From the eponymous album, 1970.

The alleged manticore neither confirms nor denies. Instead, he delivers an iconic performance of Starman in 1972, Top o’ The Pops. Just stand back in wonder. Love the way David puts his arm around guitarist Mick Ronson when the latter approaches the microphone for a jot of collaborative vocalizing. Beautiful.

1972 again rears its visage, as David & Co. do Queen Bitch on Old Grey Whistle Test. Oh God, I could do better than that, as the lyric goes. And.......he could.

1997. Bowie still brilliant. Here he performs Quicksand, from 1971′s Hunky Dory. Wow. The chorus is so impossibly beautiful.....I do love this song. Allusions galore. Even to Zoroastrian-ism. One of his very best. Notice, too, the crowd reaction during the line “I’m living on”. So poignant. I sure wish he still was.

Genius at work.

[eartrumpet]

C’est un miracle! Not one, oh no, but three versions of the great Eric Carmen & Raspberries delivering live versions of their immortal Go All The Way popped up from the ether. The first is, in my opinion, their finest hour. Performed on October 6, 1974, for the Don Kirshner show, Carmen takes a few liberties with the vocal that I’d not previously encountered, which work to perfection. Great vocalists do this sort of thing; Mr. Carmen certainly qualifies. A great performance, and video, all the way round.

Also, a fabulously gritty live performance, from somewhere.

From 1973, and Mr. Kirshner is the éminence grise behind another memorable Raspberries live performance. This rendition is rather transcendent as well. Eric Carmen takes the opportunity to scoff openly at sanctions prohibiting hand-clapping. So cavalier, even insouciant.

The Winning Ways of Eric Carmen on full display.

[eartrumpet]

This life-improving performance by Herman’s Hermits, in addition to its intrinsic Uplift Program-inducing sheer pop wonderment, packs more hand-clapping---and by quite a great margin, at that---into 2 minutes, 27 seconds, or any other length of time, than any other such endeavor undertaken in human history. There is a **lot** of clapping of the hands, by vocalist Peter Noone, by the audience, by the backup singers, by anyone or anything that moves. I am very much in favor. 1966 begat this extremely winning live rendition of their hit, I’m Into Something Good. Noone turned 19 on 5 Nov. And. There’s the clapping.

A Shindig production, circa 1/13/1965, of another fine performance of Something Good by Noone, at this time a shambling, Methusalean figure at 17, and the lads. To be sure, any live performance that one comes across featuring this band, is gold. And, lo & behold, this more than qualifies. A Mood Elevator of the most efficacious variety, and a card-carrying Uplift Program member (yes, videos can, and do, carry cards)(and can qualify for certain memberships) like its preceding brethren (yes, “brethren”; maybe said predecessor contains vast multitudes, in which case {it *is* the case}, a collective noun is called for, y’see), I, for one, flipped upon initial and subsequent viewing. True, there’s not as much hand-clapping, but still it abounds---just not at quite the preposterous degree of the 1966 version. And that’s OK.

[earbassoon]

The Ramones bang out Sheena is a Punk Rocker & The KKK Took My Baby Away, live 1981. These performances aptly demonstrate once again that A: The Ramones rock, and B: Joey is a truly great vocalist. He takes a totally different approach and pulls it off bigtime. Really a quite quirky and winning vocal. Major credit.

Like unto gods.

[earbassoon]

The wondrous Marc Almond and guitarist Neal Whitmore perform Jacques Brel’s classic work of intense drama, Amsterdam, live in 2017. Almond hasn’t lost a thing. His performance is totally committed, passionate, and his voice.....wow. A classic for the ages. A stunner.

Gene Pitney joins forces with Marc in 1989 for the immortal duet Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart. Mr. Pitney, at age 48, more than holds up his end of the bargain, and Marc Almond’s charisma and talent are breathtaking. Winning ways abound. Riveting version of this beautiful song.

What a dynamo, charisma simply seeping through his pores.

[eartrumpet]

A music combo known as The Beatles do some early-ish masterworks. First, You Can’t Do That (my fave pre-Rubber Soul), and John is a god. 1964.

I Feel Fine (also 1964) follows, and the lads manage to pull it off. John’s little facial expression at 1:45 worth the price of admission.

Winning ways.

[nkoyogal-blog]

All you need is God's Presence.

All you need is God’s Presence.

Those that carry the divine Presence of God will always manifest His supernatural power. Because the Power of God is resident in His Presence.

All you need to stay connected to the higher Power and to remain spotless in this adulterous and wicked world is nothing but the absolute, encompassing Presence of God. One thing I admire so much about the men Moses and David in the Bible is their…

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