Well, having admitted to my occasional fondness for country music, I feel I had better return to one of my other musical favourites. This one is probably more in keeping with my appearance and everyone’s general perception of the kind of thing you might expect to find in my CD collection.
However, just to add to the confusion, it’s all in German and they all come with typically weird videos.
It’s never straightforward with me is it? Turn it up to 11 and enjoy…
Continuing the musical theme which has taken hold around here, there is one genre of popular music that I didn’t mention in my post the other day. It has many fans all over the world, but is a uniquely US phenomenon. I am, of course, referring to the occasionally cheesy, often maligned, but nevertheless richly varied and sometimes downright fantastic musical style that is Country and Western.
My dad was a huge country fan, so I guess that being exposed to the likes of Don Williams, Tammy Wynette, Billie Jo Spears and countless others during my formative years was bound to have some effect on me. I don’t really have guilty pleasures (I’m just not the type to get all guilt-ridden over simple harmless enjoyment) but if I had to lay claim to one, Country and Western music is probably it.
So, while I’m wearing my heart on my sleeve and risking a little disparagement from those who feel they may have more sophisticated musical tastes, here’s two or three classics to be going on with…
As many of you who know me are probably aware, my musical tastes are pretty wide-ranging and can be a bit eclectic. Alongside heavy rock/heavy metal, electronica, a bit of rap/hip-hop and a love of classical pieces, I’m also rather fond of the British folk scene. Or, indeed, the folk, roots and world music scene in general.
Since I currently seem to be on a bit of a musical sharing adventure at present, here’s today’s offering from Adrian’s music library. Show of Hands have been doing their thing on the English folk circuit for many a year, playing their own original material as well as their own versions of classic folk standards. This is from their album “Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed” (a cracking album all round) and is their wonderful version of Keys of Canterbury.
Some songs only really work when performed by their original artists or in some particular version that becomes the classic one that everyone loves and remembers. Others, however, can take on new leases of life when re-arranged or performed by someone else.
For me, this is a classic example of that phenomenon. An excellent original, with two rather different, but also excellent, interpretations from what you might call opposite ends of the musical spectrum. Enjoy!
Here’s one that did the rounds on Facebook and other social media a while ago. Some of you will have already heard it, some of you may well know of the band already or even be ardent fans. In any case, it’s a song that never fails to put a smile on my face and we could all do with that about now I reckon.
So, without further ado, I give you The Dead South!