Piece of My Heart

Come on, come on, come on!

So, this evening I was listening to my favorite radio program.  You guessed it--Nights with Alice Cooper.  He played "Piece of My Heart" as covered by Big Brother & the Holding Company with Janis Joplin on lead vocals.  This is the only version of the song I had heard, but I did a bit of research and found there are many versions.  In fact, the song was written in 1967 and first performed by Erma Franklin (Aretha Franklin's younger sister).  So, the song has been covered in the 60s. 70s, 80s (Sammy Hagar), 90s (Faith Hill), and 2000s (Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge).  It has also been covered by Bonnie Tyler and a host of others, but the performance in this video with Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge is just truly amazing.  In the YouTube notes, someone commented that they felt Janis Joplin was smiling from above when these ladies performed.  It is powerful and passionate.  AMAZING.  Yeah!!!!  "Take another little piece of my heart now baby...break another little piece of my heart now darling..."  I cannot think of any other song that really packs as much punch and delivers the message as well as this one.  I think we've all had our hearts broken, but when you have really had it ripped out and smashed into a million pieces, this sums up the feelings perfectly!  Come on--we've all experienced this, right?  If you haven't, well, this tune paints a perfect picture.  So, listen and enjoy.  This particular performance gives me goosebumps.  It is just awesome.  I would love to hear Heart perform it sometime.  I bet Ann WIlson would change the earth's rotation with her voice on this tune.  Nevertheless, Ms. Etheridge and Ms. Stone really tear this one up.  BRAVA!!!!!

9 to 5

Ahh...finally the work week has come to an end, and it is time to relax. I can't think of a better song to celebrate the week's end than Dolly Parton's "9 to 5," which was released in 1980. This song has always been one of my favorites because it has the best lyrics of any tune I've heard pertaining to working for the man. The movie is also hysterical, and it is at the top of my list of favorite movies as well. If you have not seen this movie, you should! Go rent it or watch it on your computer - it is one of the best comedies in the history of comedic films.

Bring Me Some Water

There are many different genres of music that were popular throughout the 80s.  I mostly listened to rock, R & B, pop, and some rap, and I always felt that country music was not my thing.  I didn't spend much time listening to it, but as I got older, country stations would pop up as I scanned the radio in my car (believe it or not, I still don't have a CD player in my current vehicle).  I'd stop on the occasional country song, mesmerized by the very "human" lyrics.  There was something very sincere and direct in the lyrics, and the instrumental factor was purely instrumental -- no overdose of synthesizers.  There were real musicians playing real stringed instruments, keyboards, and drums.

I'm often blown away by the ease in which country singers perform -- and they seem to really enjoy what they are doing.  That is what it is all about.  Making music should be about enjoying what you are doing and expressing yourself.  Too often, we get caught up in fear as musicians about "messing up."  When I see a great performance with musicians having fun, I really enjoy it, regardless of the genre.  The show "Crossroads" on CMT is an amazing program that "crosses" singers of various genres and has them perform each other's songs.  My all time favorite episode is the one with Dolly Parton and Melissa Etheridge.   When Dolly sings "Bring Me Some Water," the intensity and depth of her performance is made even better by the support of Melissa and the instrumentalists.  Everyone blends so well and gives it their all.  Awesome performance.