Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” was a #3 hit in 1970.
The rhythm track on “Spirit in the Sky” has always reminded me of a 1968 record. Being a tribute to Mississippi Delta Blues, Canned Heat’s “On the Road Again” was a surprise #16 hit.
Category: Music
Bass Head
Paul McCartney’s iconic 1961 Höfner bass guitar was pinched over fifty years ago. It has finally been returned to its rightful owner.
The Muggles
Beatles mugs, a Christmas present from my big sister.
When she was here in August to help me during a very tough week of cancer treatment, she was amazed to see this photo that I came across purely by chance online. My sister confirmed that it does indeed show her at the legendary Beatles concert at Shea Stadium in 1965.
Singing Boston’s Praises
When I saw The Who at Fenway Park five years ago, Roger Daltry thanked Massachusetts General Hospital and a Boston doctor for restoring his singing voice.
Dr. Steven Zeitells had developed groundbreaking restorative laryngeal techniques, and operated on Roger just before our 2010 Super Bowl appearance. He was here in the audience tonight, somewhere, and without question would have been pleased by this stadium-full of happy fans. “He saved my voice.”
https://www.thewho.com/backstage-blog/moving-on-tour-fenway-park-boston-ma-september-13-2019/
Julie Andrews famously, and tragically, lost her singing voice in 1997 from a botched vocal cord procedure at New York’s Mount Sinai Medical Center. Julie later came to Boston and met with the same specialist that Roger Daltry saw.
https://www.massgeneral.org/surgery/voice-center/about
Julie’s familiarity with Boston goes back a long time. Fifty-three years ago, she made this reference to Filene’s Basement that was lost on Dick Cavett.
The Other Beatle George
On my TiVo is Soundbreaking, a documentary about recorded music that was shown on PBS in 2016. The producers of the series put out this nice tribute to George Martin upon his passing that year.
Silky Smooth Sound
Speaking of Andrew Sandoval, on “Come to the Sunshine” he played this song, produced by Shel Talmy. I liked it so much I bought Wild Silk’s compilation CD.