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Why I Switched from Sirius XM to Pandora for Folk & Country


I recently changed my music source from Sirius XM to Pandora. As an avid fan of Folk and Country Music, it turned out to be a wise decision. Now, I can listen to my favorite recording artists singing songs from the 60’s through the 90’s. And lately, several of those songs are appearing on this blog.

Like the previous song I posted here, “Silver Skies Blue” captured my attention almost immediately. I had never heard it before because, prior to Pandora, I had never listened to Judy Collins’ music the way I do now. In addition to Silver Skies Blue, I’ve posted several of Judy’s cover and original songs including: When I Was a Girl In Colorado, Suzanne, and Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye.

The album “Silver Skies Blue” features songs by Collins and Ari Hest, who also performs with his polished guitar play and powerful, deep voice that complements Judy’s higher one perfectly. The album, released in 2016, earned Collins her first Grammy nomination in 40 years.

Here’s my cover.

Solo Version

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From Covers to Originals: Judy Collins’ Transformation in ‘Spellbound’


At 82 years young, Judy Collins used poetry that she had written and collected over the years to create an album of original songs named Spellbound. She used the isolation of the Covid Pandemic to write and perfect the music.

“Spellbound” broke new ground because it was the first album Judy Collins produced in her six decade career that contained all original songs. This is a remarkable achievement for someone who had made her name mostly by singing and playing cover songs from recording artists she admired.

The first song on “Spellbound” is titled “When I Was a Girl in Colorado.” I’ve changed it to “A Boy In Colorado.” In words and music, the song conveys a picture of the artist when she moved with her family to Denver, Colorado from Seattle, Washington as a young girl in 1949.

The song’s lyrics hearken back to the natural beauty of “rivers dancing on canyon walls,” “blooming paintbrush flowers,” and “bluebirds in the pine trees.” These images reflect Judy’s deep love for the wilderness, which at one point in her early life almost led her to become a park ranger.

Here’s my cover. Drop me a line if you feel moved to do so.

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The Evolution Of A Hit Song In Brief


It started out as a poem. Then it turned into a song. Then it became a background song for the movie “Beaches.” After various song covers at home and abroad, in 1988, Bette Midler made “Wind Beneath My Wings” a #1 hit in the USA. A year later, the song won Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Vocal and Guitar Solo

With Background Instrumentation

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Love’s Joys and Sorrows Explored In Jackson Browne’s “Sky Blue And Black”


“Sky Blue and Black” is an emotional roller coaster, looking back on the joys and sorrows of love and its lasting impact. Jackson Browne wrote the song over a four-year period and released it on his album “I’m Alive” in 1992. The source material comes from Jackson’s relationship with a famous actress. However, Browne never wants his songs to be identified with his specific life events, so he rarely speaks about his real-life relationships, especially in the context of his music.

“It’s a drag to even imagine that people are thinking about [the] relationship instead of their own lives,” Jackson told the Los Angeles Times. “I think if a song is any good, eventually it’ll turn out to be about the life of the listener and not about the life of the writer. Anyway, that’s my hope.”

Enjoy my reconstituted version of “Sky Blue and Black” and the original cover.

With Instrumental Background

Solo Version

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How An 18-Year-Old Songwriter Became A Superstar


Cat Stevens wrote “The First Cut Is The Deepest” when he was eighteen. At the time, he had no intention of becoming a worldwide star performer. He sold the song for thirty pounds to P.P. Arnold, a soul singer who lived near him in London. She released “The First Cut Is The Deepest” on her first album. It reached #18 on the U.K. charts in 1967. Eventually, Rod Stewart and Sheryl Crow covered the song, making it a major hit in America.

Stevens released his version of the song on his debut album, New Masters. Because he never released “The First Cut Is the Deepest” as a single, the album went largely unnoticed.

Despite his shyness, Stevens’ songwriting and singing burst through to make him an international star in the music industry. I’m using Stevens’ version in my cover.

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Honoring Love: A Tribute to ‘I’ll Never Find Another You’


The Seekers are an Australian band formed in 1962. The Folk and Gospel group achieved the zenith of their popularity in the mid ’60’s with several hit songs. Their most memorable chart-topper is a song titled “I’ll Never Find Another You.” It reached #1 on the UK charts in 1965, making the Seekers the only Australian band with a #1 hit song outside of Australia. The song reached #97 in the United States, quite a feat in itself. The group has continued to perform to standing ovations around the world into the 1990’s.

I am dedicating this song to my wife of 37 years, Bonnie Erens-Gittlin. Without exaggeration, every word in the lyrics applies. I am grateful to have spent my adult life with this woman and the beautiful daughter we have raised. Here’s my cover.

Listening to the Heart Brings Peace and Harmony into a Life

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Cat Stevens and Alun Davies: A Musical Journey


In this song, Cat Stevens is singing to a woman he yearns for in a Human form. On another level, he may be singing, aware or unaware, to the Divine Feminine. In either case, the object of Stevens’ love is unattainable in the present. Yet, I believe, the admirer (Stevens) continues to yearn for his beloved in the hope that he will, one day, meet his perfect love, in either or both Human and Divine forms.

There are many interpretations of “How Can I Tell You.” In my view, the song is hopeful rather than despairing. However one interprets “How Can I Tell you,” I feel the song is filled with incredible beauty that cannot help but shine through.

Stevens first met Alun Davies as a backup musician in a recording session. He liked what he heard. After another session, Stevens recognized that Davies was an exceptional talent. In a following private session, Stevens played something like fifty of his original songs for Davies, whereupon Davies decided Cat was also an exceptional talent. He agreed to accompany Stevens on an upcoming tour. After the tour, Davies became Stevens’ permanent 2nd guitar until Stevens stopped playing music with his conversion to Islam in 1977. When Stevens began performing again in 2003, the two artists reunited.

Here is a new version of “How Can I Tell You” with me playing and singing Davies’ now famous second guitar part.

Solo Version

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“Heaven”: The Story Behind The Song


Previous to this writing, I had never heard of Bryan Adams. I am in the minority because Adams has created a number of beautiful, chart-topping hits that most people besides me are familiar with. “Heaven” is another song that came into my mind from someplace I can’t define. When I heard Boyce Avenue’s stirring performance of it, I fell in love with the song immediately. On July 15, 1985, “Heaven” reached #1 on the Billboard Chart. Paradoxically, it was written for a movie that flopped.

Bryan Guy Adams was born in 1959. As a teenager, he played in bands and in local studios.  In 1978, he met drummer and songwriter Jim Vallance, and together they formed a partnership that lasted for decades.  Their early collaboration helped Adams strike a deal with A&M Records for a reported one dollar.  His debut album was released when the folk-rock genre exploded in the early eighties.  The album was good enough to earn Adams a second one with A&M. It helped establish Adams as an artist on the rise.  His third album, 1983’s Cuts Like a Knife, proved to be the singer-songwriter’s breakthrough effort, including three Top 40 hits.

Later that year, while working on his fourth studio album, Reckless, Adams considered including “Heaven” on it, but initially felt it didn’t live up to the quality of the rest of the album. At the last minute, however, Adams changed his mind and added “Heaven” to the Reckless tracklist.

Reckless went on to sell 12 million copies worldwide, becoming the most successful album of Adam’s career. Here’s my cover of “Heaven.” 

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Beauty Can Be Found Everywhere: Even In A Mass Market Song


The Beatles have produced a motherload of work in the thirteen* albums they released. Within their massive discography, there are bound to be songs that the band members liked or disliked in varying degrees. Lennon and McCartney wrote “It’s Only Love” in 1965. The song is about a difficult relationship that is ultimately worth it because, after all, “It’s Only Love,” and that’s the way it often goes.

I was surprised to learn that John Lennon thought the song was “pure rubbish,” meaning that it was only a filler song created to feed the hounds of commerce. Paul McCartney had a more optimistic view: “Sometimes we didn’t fight it if the lyric came out rather bland on some of those filler songs like ‘It’s Only Love.’ If a lyric was really bad, we’d edit it, but we weren’t that fussy about it because it’s only a rock ‘n’ roll song. I mean, this is not literature.”

Most fans, like myself, can relate to the song, finding the lyrics acceptable and the melody beautiful.

Here’s my cover.

*The number of Beatles Albums varies by country from twelve to seventeen. Thirteen Beatles Albums were released in the United States.

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The Hopeful Essence in Cat Stevens’ Lyrics


In this song, (Yusuf) Cat Stevens is singing to a woman he yearns for in a Human form. On another level, he may be singing, aware or unaware, to the Divine Feminine. In either case, the object of Stevens’ love is unattainable in the present. Yet, I believe, that the admirer (Stevens) continues to yearn for his beloved in the hope that he will, one day, meet his perfect love, in either or both Human and Divine forms. There are many interpretations of “How Can I Tell You.” In my view, the song is hopeful rather than despairing.

However one interprets “How Can I Tell you,” I feel that the song is filled with incredible beauty that cannot help but shine through.

And thank you, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), for your always beautiful, wise, and inspiring music.

Here’s my cover.

With Digital Instrumentation Enhancement