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
“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
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.
“True Colors” is a song with legs. It started out as a song written for a mother in a traditional ballad format. Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly wrote the song in 1986 and offered it to Anne Murray, a popular singer at the time. Murray passed on the song. Cyndi Lauper took it and creatively revamped the format into a stark and breathtaking version.
The song became a hit worldwide because of its universal appeal. The songwriters acknowledge that Lauper was the perfect artist to adapt the song, partly because of her bold style. Released as the title song on Lauper’s 1986 album, “True Colors” is the only original song on the album that the artist did not help to write. The song was a last-minute addition to the album.
In 1998, Phil Collins covered the song on his “Greatest Hits” album. Australian country music star Kasey Chambers covered the song as the theme for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. In 2007, Cindy Lauper launched “The True Colors Tour” to support gay rights and fight hate crimes. In 2016, Justin Timberlake and actress Anna Kendrick used the song in the soundtrack for the movie “Trolls.” Kodak also used the song to advertise its film stock. Like I said: the song has legs.
“True Colors” is one of my all-time favorite songs. I hope you’ll enjoy it too. This new version has a special backup created by my friend, Giovanni Estigui. Here’s my cover.
Have you heard of Steve Gillette? If you were alive in the 1960s and liked folk music, there’s a chance the name rings a bell. Gillette never reached the top of the charts, but he’s a very talented singer/songwriter. Many of his songs have been performed by artists you have heard of, including John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot, Ian and Sylvia, Nanci Griffith, and Linda Ronstadt.
“The Bells in the Evening” appears on Gillette’s debut album, released in 1967. The album, simply titled “Steve Gillette,” stands as one of Steve’s finest recordings. “The Bells” is a bittersweet (actually sweet-bitter) song of love blossoming in the spring and fading away in the fall. I find the melody and lyrics deeply moving. Perhaps you will, too. The song is also replete with imagery. When you listen, what images come to your mind?
I’ve revisited “The Bells of the Evening,” adding a new background track by Giovanni Egusquista. Here’s my cover.
“Bells In The Evening” With Backup Instrumentation
“Bells In The Evening” Solo
A movie studio commissioned a composer to write a song for Kevin Costner’s Film, “Prince of Thieves.” He wrote the music for “Everything I Do.” Bryan Adams, with his producer Mutt Lange, wrote the lyrics, bridge, arrangement, and outro. Adams used a line from the movie for the song title.
The studio did not like the instrumentation in the finished product. They buried it midway in the credits, not anticipating what a huge hit the song would become.
“Everything I Do” is one of the most successful singles of all time, selling over 3 million copies. It was #1 for 16 weeks in England and seven weeks in the United States.
Enjoy my cover with background instrumentation by Giovanni Egusquiza.
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.”
Despite its somewhat foreboding title and subject matter, this Nanci Griffith song is upbeat and fun to play. “I Wish It Would Rain” was released by MCA in 1988 on Nanci’s 6th album titled “Little Love Affairs.” I hope you enjoy listening to the song as much as I enjoy playing it. I’m including a video of Nanci Performing in the late 1980’s. Just look at her beautiful smile. Here’s my cover.
Here’s another song, written by Paul Kennerly and made famous by Emmylou Harris, called “Heaven Only Knows.” The song was released on Emmylou’s 1989 album, “Bluebird.” The song reached #16 on the Hot Country Music Chart.
Since I’m a newcomer to the Country Music Scene, I’d never heard of Paul Kennerly before. He’s an Englishman who has written 30 published Country Music songs. (I guess there are stranger things that abound in our world). I don’t recall Kennerly’s name being mentioned in connection with any of the songs I’ve covered here. Be that as it may, he has written two powerful songs that Emmylou Harris has brought to my attention. I covered the other song, “Born to Run,” in my previous blog.
“Heaven Only Knows,” as performed by Emmylou and her band, features a driving beat, compelling lyrics, and the recording artist’s beautiful, singular voice.
Here’s my cover with digital backup.
AI Image of Paul Kennerly Performing Live
While searching for a video of Bruce Springsteen playing his iconic hit “Born to Run,” I stumbled upon a video of Emmylou Harris singing “Born to Run.” Now, here’s the fascinating surprise: Emmylou is singing an entirely different song written by Paul Kennerly. And this song really rocks. Released in 1982 as the second single from Harris’ album Cimarron, “Born to Run” reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
Emmylou Harris sings like an Angel. She is a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee. I put Emmylou into my Hall of Fame alongside other Angels by the names of Eva Cassidy, Nanci Griffith, Linda Ronstadt, and Kate Wolf.
Here’s my cover of Paul Kennerly’s “Born to Run.”
Heart Banter by David Gittlin 