The Song For Today, Jimmie Oliver [bill gates best books TXT] 📗

AUGUST 7TH
My Brother Jake by Free (1971)
available on the album The Best Of Free: All Right Now
Andy Fraser, the bass guitarist of Free, was born on this date in 1952. Even as a teenager, Fraser and his group were thrilling the world with 'All Right Now' and 'My Brother Jake'. I have a slight preference for the latter hit single. The tragic Paul Kossoff provides a superb guitar input while lead vocalist Paul Rodgers belts out a sensitive song, trying to reach out to Jake. Free subsequently split and then quickly re-formed, but like Cream before them, there was too many 'issues' that would prevent this acclaimed combo from enjoying the longevity achieved by the Rolling Stones and the Who. I always liked Chris Blackwell's story about when he expressed his reservations about the band's name, a defiant Andy Fraser retorted that if he wanted to sign them to Island Records, then their name would stay 'Free'.
{Also on this day, comedian Oliver Hardy dies in 1957, aged 65}

AUGUST 8TH
The Unforgettable Fire by U2 (1984)
available on the album The Best Of 1980-1990
'The Edge', alternatively known as Dave Evans, was born in Barking, east London, on this day in 1961, before his family relocated to the Emerald Isle. In my humble opinion, although 'The Joshua Tree' is the superior album, 'The Unforgettable Fire' possesses an ace up its sleeve in the shape of the title track. Here The Edge excels himself with a song that demonstrated U2's transition from raw, uncomplicated rock songs towards a completely different plateau of poignant tunes that resided on the right side of the thin dividing line between pretentiousness and critically acclaimed art. Although this UK Top Ten hit single continues to live in the shadow of 'Pride In The Name Of Love', I regard it as one of the highlights of the much-maligned 'eighties.
{Also on this date, the 'Great Train Robbery' occurs in 1963 in Buckinghamshire}

AUGUST 9TH
You're My Best Friend by Queen (1975)
from the album A Night At The Opera
Queen had the ability and commercial good sense to compose rock music that was accessible to a wide audience, without being pigeon-holed amongst the 'heavy metal' genre. Building upon the success of such thrilling hits as 'Killer Queen' and 'Seven Seas Of Rhye', the quartet took a giant leap forward with their 'A Night At The Opera' project. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker, the album's contents are dwarfed by the presence of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' which refused to budge from the top of the British singles chart for a staggering nine weeks. The long player possesses other fine material, such as Brian May's rendition of the British national anthem, as well as the jolly 'Seaside Rendezvous' and the beautiful 'Love Of My Life'. However, I am especially keen on the album's other hit single, 'You're My Best Friend'. It exemplifies Queen's rock and pop crossover, and this John Deacon composition is one of those romantic songs that isn't merely syrupy nonsense. The music on this item represents Queen at their very best. On this date in 1986 Queen topped the bill at Knebworth's music festival where their performance in front of about 120,000 people would be their last outing with Freddie Mercury.
{Also on this day, Gerald Ford replaces Richard Nixon as the US President in 1974}

AUGUST 10TH
Living In The Past by Jethro Tull (1969)
available on the album Living In The Past
Jethro Tull made their own unique contribution to the world of popular music with a couple of fascinating hits at the end of the 1960s. 'Sweet Dream' is both amusing and listenable, whilst 'Living In The Past' is simply one of the most under-rated singles in living memory. This Top Three smash was an antidote to all the bad vibes and gathering storm that saw the hippie idealism of 'love' and 'peace' quickly turn sour, as street demonstrations and political violence blighted the end of the decade. I do so love the lines in which Ian Anderson states: "Once I used to join in/ Every girl and boy was my friend/ Now there's revolution/ But they don't know what they're fighting." Ian Anderson, the song's co-writer (with manager Terry Ellis), and frontman extraordinaire, was born on this date in 1947 in Fife, in Scotland.
{Also on this date, in 1961 Britain applies to join the European Economic Community}

AUGUST 11TH
No Quarter by Led Zeppelin (1973)
from the album Houses Of The Holy
British rock's finest foursome made a triumphant return to the stage in Britain when they convened at the Knebworth music festival on this day in 1979, for their first live appearance in their native land for four years. Unfortunately, their two performances would also be their last British outings due to the death of John Bonham thirteen months later. Back in 1973, after four almost flawless albums, cracks started to appear on the band's patchy 'Houses Of The Holy' project. The proceedings are only rescued by two stunning tracks, 'The Rain Song' and 'No Quarter'. The latter is one of the group's finest efforts. It is a slow, menacing number, and the word awesome springs to mind.
{Also on this day, race riots start in the Watts area of Los Angeles in 1965}

AUGUST 12TH
Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? by Culture Club (1982)
from the album Kissing To Be Clever
If at first you don't succeed, then try and try again. This well-known piece of advice is a summation of Culture Club's early attempts to break into the pop charts. Eventually, after a couple of failed efforts, the group struck gold with a song that was originally intended as album filler material. In the event, 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?', a reggae tune, stormed to the top of the British hit parade with the help of a video that included a spoof of the black and white minstrel show. This song of persecution struck a chord with record buyers, as Boy George became the UK's favourite homosexual. Until George fell foul of drugs abuse, he and his band could do no wrong for a couple of years. One of the group, Roy Hay (the guitarist), was born this day in 1961 in Southend.
{Also on this date, in 1969 the riotous 'battle of the Bogside' begins in Derry}

AUGUST 13TH
A Good Heart by Feargal Sharkey (1985)
from the album Feargal Sharkey
Derry City's most celebrated male vocalist Feargal Sharkey was born on this date in 1958. He originally found fame with his local punk band, The Undertones, who made forays into the singles chart in Britain with the likes of 'Here Comes The Summer', 'My Perfect Cousin', and the over-rated 'Teenage Kicks'. Several years later, Sharkey scored a surprise UK Number One with an uncharacteristic pop song, 'A Good Heart', in the autumn of 1985. This Maria Mckee composition was a far cry from The Undertones and 'Jimmy Jimmy', but it was a well-deserved chart-topper.
{Also on this day, the border between east and west Berlin is closed in 1961}

AUGUST 14TH
Everybody's Been Burned by The Byrds (1967)
from the album Younger Than Yesterday
Today is the anniversary of the birth in 1941 of David Crosby. Crosby made significant contributions to the Byrds, before a clash of personalities with Jim McGuinn necessitated his departure. Before he joined forces with Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young, Crosby wrote such very different tracks as 'I See You' and 'What's Happening?!?!' from the 'Fifth Dimension' project. He then improved upon these two items with a couple of marvellous offerings for the 'Younger Than Yesterday' long player. 'Mind Gardens' was a quaint-sounding, folk tune with superb lyrics, but there are few album tracks from the 1960s (or indeed any decade) that can compare with the majestic 'Everybody's Been Burned'. This melancholy recording has a jaw-dropping quality that has to be heard to be believed. Do yourselves a favour and experience this outstanding recording.
{Also on this date, the outlaw known as 'Carlos The Jackal' is arrested in 1994}

AUGUST 15TH
Everybody Gets To Go To The Moon by The Three Degrees (1971)
available on the album The Three Degrees Live
Songwriter Jimmy Webb was born on this date in 1953. One of his many compositions surfaced on the magnificent movie, 'The French Connection', when the Three Degrees excelled at 'Everybody Gets To Go To The Moon'. Regrettably, this brilliant cameo performance at the Copacabana night club in New York (whilst Popeye Doyle was spying on a bunch of potential drug dealers) was never released as a single, but before long the fab three would be delighting audiences far and wide with such hits as 'When Will I See You Again'. However, the impressive 'Everybody Gets To Go To The Moon' was a fine foretaste of what was in store. It's an epic song in a truly epic film.
{Also on this day, a bomb in Omagh causes the deaths of 29 people in 1998}

AUGUST 16TH
An American Trilogy by Elvis Presley (1972)
available on the album Hitstory
To borrow from Don MacLean's 'American Pie', this date in 1977 was another day when the music died, when Elvis Aaron Presley, the undisputed king of rock 'n' roll, was found dead on his bathroom floor aged forty-two, after years of excess and a diet of burgers and pills. Many purists like to suggest that Elvis ceased to function after he joined the US army, and that his finest recordings were confined to his stint with Sun Records. I beg to differ. 'An American Trilogy' simply takes the breath away. Comprising three American standards ('Dixieland', 'The Battle Hymn Of The Republic', and 'All My Trials'), this medley has been labelled as a ballad. Again, I dispute this. For me, it is the ultimate soul song. I am perplexed at how those dreadful tunes in which the singer bewails "I'm lonely without you baby" are described as soul songs. Instead, Elvis digs deep and from the depths of his soul, he delivers this heart-rending classic. 'An American Trilogy' is knee-deep in emotion, both sad and uplifting. It is frankly a track that should be amongst everybody's desert island discs.
{Also on this date, in 1960 Cyprus achieves independence from the UK}

AUGUST 17TH
There, There, My Dear by Dexy's Midnight Runners (1980)
from the album Searching For The Young Soul