Apples and Honey for Rosh Hashana

Happy Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashana, to all my fellow Tribesmen out there. Traditionally, Jews serve a plate of apples and honey on Rosh Hashana to help usher in a sweet new year. So in honor of that tradition I offer you up some musical treats for you:

Apples:
"Apple Orchard" by Beach House(mp3)

Honey:
"A Taste Of Honey" by The Beatles (mp3)

Apples and Honey:
"Slow Like Honey" by Fiona Apple (mp3)

One very confused Jew

Happy Birthday Ringo!

I was driving in my fancy rental car from Logan airport to my fancy Hampton Inn hotel room today when they mentioned it was Ringo Starr's 68th birthday. Apparnetly Ringo wanted everyone to wish the world peace and love or something like that on his special day. I flashed the peace sign out of respect and and kept on driving. Then the DJ in honor of Ringo's birthday decided to play a Beatles song. "Oh goodie" I thought. What Ringo song were they going to play? The Ringo play list rattled through my head quite quickly. Maybe "Don't Pass Me By", maybe "When We Was Fab" or even "It Don't Come Easy". Then they played ... "Revolution"... a John Lennon track. Huh? Its Ringo's birthday! At least play a song he sung or rocked the drums out on.

So in honor of the funny man himself here are the top five Beatles tracks featuring the man who coined the phrase "Hard Day's Night", Mr. Ringo Starr:

5) "Octopus's Garden" From Abbey Road - When I was little I remember Mr. Sworko (RIP), my 3rd grade music teacher, having us sing this song in class and because of that it will always hold a spot in my heart. "We would sing around and dance around because we know we can't be found". Played on Episode 16 of All You Need Is Hops: Noah and The Great Flood. A personal favorite of mine (if I'm allowed to have a favorite).

4) "The End" From Abbey Road - As the Beatles career grew Ringo was not allowed to sing as much. However, on one of their later songs Ringo got to really shine with his drumming. A rarity for the Beatles. This track was included as part of the wonderful "Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End" suite featured on Episode 24: The Dark Side of the Woods - another favorite show of mine.

3) "Good Night" From The Beatles (White Album) - It's fitting that on an album that drew from so many different places and styles that a track sung by the man who was the group's backbone was its closer.

2) "Yellow Submarine" From Yellow Submarine - When the Beatles wanted to be a bit silly they called on Ringo. His sense of humor kept them together for years despite the fact they had difficulty working together. "Yellow Submarine" is a perfect example of the bands creativity and sense of humor. In fact it was written specifically for Ringo. When Sir George Martin agreed to work with the Beatles what he was really struck with was their sense of humor not their musical ability. This was fitting given that Martin was a comedy record producer not a music producer. As the band grew and because more focused on music and more serious about political causes it seemed only Ringo kept alive that humorous spirit that made them so appealing in the first place. And that is why this song ranks #2 on the Ringo countdown.

1) "With A Little Help From My Friends" from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - "And I'll try not to sing out of key" sings Ringo in the open verses. A little tongue in cheek given that Ringo is obviously not the world's greatest singer. Too bad this song is better remembered as being the theme song to The Wonder Years. And that isn't supposed to be a slight toJoe Cocker who delivered one of the all time great covers... its just that Ringo's version is so wonderful on its own.

Happy Birthday Ringo!

That's The Way God Planned It

I wanted to play this Billy Preston song on one of my upcoming Hopscasts but I was really worried that it would come off as a bit cheesy. So instead I have decided to post a video of Billy performing the tune below. Now before you listen you have to know a bit of background for you to understand why I wanted to play it.

Billy Preston is a famous organ and piano player who also sings vocals. When he was younger he was considered a prodigy and had a nice career as a musician. However, he really made his name in the late Sixties when he became forever known as “The Fifth Beatle”. During the Abbey Road sessions Preston played keyboards on the famous Beatles song “Get Back”. In fact, he is the only non-Beatle to ever be given a credit on a Beatles song. Even more impressive is that there was actually discussion about him joining the band full time but the band was not really on solid ground at that point.

After the Beatles broke up soon afterwards he went on the have a successful solo career recording both solo albums and with other musicians. Sadly, he passed away in June of due to kidney disease. One of his last appearances was on my favorite music show of all-time, Later…with Jools Holland (which you can see in America on Rave HD) where he performed “That’s the Way God Planned It”. Now I don’t know how sick he was when he filmed this but you can see from his passion that he believed in what he was signing. I love the spirit of the man and the spirit of the song. And because of that I really wanted to play it on the show – however, I wasn’t sure if all of that emotion would come through on the original studio version or without a long introduction explaining why it moved me. Hopefully it does now.

Here is the performance from Later…with Jools Holland in 2005 - that's Jools jamming with him on piano:

BONUS: You can see Billy playing with the Beatles at their final live gig - filmed on top of Abbey Road Studios in 1969:

All You Need This Week...

…is RESURRECTION SONG by BIRDMONSTER in honor of Easter.

Listen to or download it free here

I figured if I did Passover quotes I should do an Easter quote this week. I could have done White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane but that was too obvious. Birdmonster is an awesome new band. Their full-length debut just came out, you can order it from the band at www.birdmonster.com , but you can download their EP featuring Resurrection Song on iTunes. Sure, they have one of the crappiest names ever (still not as bad as Death Cab for Cutie or Dogs Die in Hot Cars) but they rock!

And an added Easter egg hunting bonus:

I am the eggman, they are the eggmen by THE BEATLES from I AM THE WALRUS (of course).