[Roger Slater]

Two more covers that I really love, then I'll stop for now. Both of these feature virtuosa instrumental performances along with impeccable vocals.

The Loser, a Grateful Dead tune done by The Travelin' McCourys. The chatter is interesting, but you can skip 50 seconds to get to the song. (This is Ronnie McCoury, who follows admirably in his father's footsteps. His father, Del McCoury, is one of the true greats of bluegrass).

With a Little Help from My Friends, the Beatles song, performed by an ensemble of top bluegrass artists (including Ronnie McCourty -- Del is present but doesn't really perform).

[Julie Steiner]

Originally Posted by Roger Slater

Take note not just of her vocals, but the way she handles that guitar octave mandolin (note the eight tuning pegs)

Fixed that for you.

What an eclectic bunch we are. Thanks for all the links to stuff I never would have encountered, otherwise. And reminders of old favorites.

Martin, I love John Rutter. As a performer it's very, very difficult not to laugh at all the audience members lulled nearly to sleep by the peaceful second movement of his Gloria, only to be startled awake by the sudden blasts of brass at the beginning of the third movement. An even better effect than Haydn's Surprise Symphony. Love those 5/4 "amens"!

My favorite bit of his is actually from a piece I've never performed, from his Mass of the Children, written after his son Christopher died. He takes a particularly somber and ominous and anguished Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), then TURNS THE MELODY UPSIDE DOWN and makes it major, as a children's choir starts singing William Blake's "Little Lamb, Who Made Thee?" Amazing mood change!

[Roger Slater]

Thanks, Julie. I did know that, by the way. She plays the guitar, banjo, mandolin, and octave mandolin, and rumor has it she can kazoo with the best of them.

[Allen Tice]

Here’s Gordon Lightfoot on “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by a storm called “the witch of November”. It’s a hyper sad song. (Usual disclaimer about following video feeds). So,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH0K6ojmGZA

[Jayne Osborn]

Eek, what a cheerful little number, Allen!

I don't think we've had any original 60s stuff yet, have we? (I loved Jim's choice of the Beatles medley in post #79)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugDXpdjmpgw

And if this toe-tapping song doesn't cheer you up, NOTHING will!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EipdAjhImrc

Jayne

[Roger Slater]

You might have heard that Arlo Guthrie announced that he would no longer perform, due to health reasons. But let's go back a few years to when Arlo was a baby. His father, Woody Guthrie, wrote the lyrics to a sweet little love song about him, though he never set the lyrics to music. Years later, Del McCoury provided the music and performed it (along with several other Guthrie lyrics left behind). Here it is in a nice video that shows, among other things, the handwritten lyrics that Woody left behind. (Guthrie left behind something like 2000 song lyrics that he never got around to setting to music, and many musicians have provided music for many of them. Del McCoury did a whole album of them, "Del and Woody," that I commend to you).

[James Brancheau]

I always loved that song, Allen. But I'm a Great Lakes kid. Also, I guess it reminds me of my father, though our lake was Erie, which has a reputation of its own. As a kid I was amazed at how fast my dad would identify bad weather on the horizon, pack up, and head in. And by the time we were halfway home, we were flying and landing. (My grandmother lost some relatives out there when she was a kid, and would always say "You're not going out on that bitch again, are you?")

My favorite bit is "fellas, it's too rough to feed ya."

[Martin Elster]

Originally Posted by Julie Steiner

Martin, I love John Rutter. As a performer it's very, very difficult not to laugh at all the audience members lulled nearly to sleep by the peaceful second movement of his Gloria, only to be startled awake by the sudden blasts of brass at the beginning of the third movement. An even better effect than Haydn's Surprise Symphony. Love those 5/4 "amens"!

I know exactly what you mean by the wonderfully surprising start of the third movement. And then the rhythmically jazzy melody that follows. I also love that 5/4 section. I like the way the ending of the third recaps main theme of the first movement. It’s quite exciting. By the way, I prefer the version with organ, brass, and percussion to the orchestral arrangement. It’s great to hear some great music written for brass instruments.

My favorite bit of his is actually from a piece I've never performed, from his Mass of the Children, written after his son Christopher died. He takes a particularly somber and ominous and anguished Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), then TURNS THE MELODY UPSIDE DOWN and makes it major, as a children's choir starts singing William Blake's "Little Lamb, Who Made Thee?" Amazing mood change!

Thanks for the link. It’s a nice setting for the Blake poem. I enjoyed hearing it. And the inversion of the tune and change of key is clever. The Requiem is another of John Rutter’s pieces I’ve played (and I’m sure you’ve sung). The glockenspiel part, as you know, is quite striking in that movement (no pun intended).

[Allen Tice]

James. I agree that you found the best line in that song. Almost all of the music I could post is either sad or way off the thrust of this thread which is supposed to be happy, or dystopian weird, or technical in some way. However, on the theory that one should take people where they’ve never been before, I will add a line dance from Greece, and a magician show.

Greece:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_kele6tedo

Magic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XoCvn4fnXw

[Max Goodman]

One for election eve here in the U.S.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saZExB1BTHY