Stick with me, MVY listeners . . .
I was following a Facebook thread last night from a friend whose musical tastes run shockingly similar to mine. The post was based around late 80s/early 90s rap music, starting with The Beastie Boys amazing back-to-back records "Paul's Boutique" and "Check Your Head." Further comments cited De La Soul, Black Sheep, Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy, among others, as producing great albums in that era.
Then the thread host mentioned Public Enemy's "He Got Game" soundtrack, and wham! I was hit with a little bolt of lightning.
I am certain that I have not thought about that song since it played on WABN, some 15 years ago.
How certain am I that it was erased from my memory? When the song came on I thought, "Oh yeah, the song where they sample 'For What It's Worth' a little too heavily." While completely forgetting that STEPHEN STILLS IS IN THIS VIDEO!!! They didn't just sample, Stephen Fucking Stills performed with Public Enemy?!?!
This isn't the kind of thing that slips your mind for a second. Either it's there, or it's not there.
For me, it was definitely not there. Until now.
Hey mvyradio listeners, I know many of your aren't interested in Public Enemy, but you gotta at least skip ahead to 2:20, when Stills shows up.
Hear the song on Youtube.
Showing posts with label stephen stills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stephen stills. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Friday, August 2, 2013
Robert Randolph "Born Again"
I hate to play this game with songs I actually like, but "Let Me Ruin This Song For You."
Jump to the bottom and remind yourself of Stephen Stills' "Love The One You're With." Then listen to the new Robert Randolph song.
Do they actually sound the same at the chorus? Or is it just that the rhythm of Randolph's phrasing is just like Stills' phrasing?
Hear Robert Randolph on Youtube.
Hear Stephen Stills on Youtube.
Jump to the bottom and remind yourself of Stephen Stills' "Love The One You're With." Then listen to the new Robert Randolph song.
Do they actually sound the same at the chorus? Or is it just that the rhythm of Randolph's phrasing is just like Stills' phrasing?
Hear Robert Randolph on Youtube.
Hear Stephen Stills on Youtube.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Treetop Flyers "Things Will Change"
I was talking with Sean, one of the independent record promoters I talk to on a weekly basis, about this song "Things Will Change" by the band Treetop Flyers, but the conversation quickly switched to a lengthy trip down a Stephen Stills road.
The band is named after a Stills song, and Sean mentioned that of the radio folks who knew the Stills song, many of them had said that "Treetop Flyer" was one of the most requested tunes at their station.
"Put me on that list, too."
Not only do we get frequent requests for this song, I can think of a few voices from the request line, who only request "Treetop Flyer."
It seems pretty odd that it's such a favorite. Sean admitted that despite being a huge Stephen Stills fan, he was unfamiliar with the song until Ray Lamontagne name-checked it as the tune that inspired Ray to start singing.
But why is it such a listener/cult favorite?
One thought I put forth was that the album that it comes from is out of print. As I mentioned in a previous post, if you wanted a new copy of the CD, you could find it on Amazon for $100.
But, Good News! There's a new Stephen Still Box Set out. The 4 disc set is about $45 bucks.
But, Bad News! If you just want "Treetop Flyer" you can't have it. Though you can buy most of the songs on "Carry On" as individual tracks on iTunes or Amazon, there are a handful that are listed as "Album Only." Meaning they are only sold as part of the full package.
But I supposed 4 CDs for $45 is better than one CD for $100.
Anyway, back the original point . . . here's a band named after that Stephen Stills song, and they're pretty great sounding. Enjoy!
Hear the song on Youtube.
The band is named after a Stills song, and Sean mentioned that of the radio folks who knew the Stills song, many of them had said that "Treetop Flyer" was one of the most requested tunes at their station.
"Put me on that list, too."
Not only do we get frequent requests for this song, I can think of a few voices from the request line, who only request "Treetop Flyer."
It seems pretty odd that it's such a favorite. Sean admitted that despite being a huge Stephen Stills fan, he was unfamiliar with the song until Ray Lamontagne name-checked it as the tune that inspired Ray to start singing.
But why is it such a listener/cult favorite?
One thought I put forth was that the album that it comes from is out of print. As I mentioned in a previous post, if you wanted a new copy of the CD, you could find it on Amazon for $100.
But, Good News! There's a new Stephen Still Box Set out. The 4 disc set is about $45 bucks.
But, Bad News! If you just want "Treetop Flyer" you can't have it. Though you can buy most of the songs on "Carry On" as individual tracks on iTunes or Amazon, there are a handful that are listed as "Album Only." Meaning they are only sold as part of the full package.
But I supposed 4 CDs for $45 is better than one CD for $100.
Anyway, back the original point . . . here's a band named after that Stephen Stills song, and they're pretty great sounding. Enjoy!
Hear the song on Youtube.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Crosby Still And Nash "Southern Cross"
This week's posts are written by Scott Lajoie, editor of Cape Cod Magazine. In creating a publication that reflects the look and feel of the region, Scott is particularly attuned to the stories, sights and general nostalgia of summer. So I asked him to write about some of the songs that have touched him personally over the years, particularly the ones that connect to iconic memories or feelings of Cape Cod.
Being that we are on a peninsula that juts into the Atlantic Ocean, one can imagine how strong the sailing community is on Cape Cod. Whether you are a regatta racer, or just like to cruise around the bay, Cape Cod is a sailor’s playground. Nothing reminds me of this lifestyle more than Crosby, Stills and Nash’s “Southern Cross.”
The premise is great: Man loses woman. Man hops on a sailboat for a long-distance journey in which he can gather his thoughts. Man finally realizes what went wrong in the relationship. Granted, every time I listen to it, I wonder about some other bit of symbolism in the song. The accompanying music is pretty simple; every novice guitarist learns the chords to impress some “woman/girl” at a campfire. But it nonetheless is one of the most classic riffs of all time.
I always liked the song. But it meant a lot more to me when I actually got to see the Southern Cross while sailing across the Pacific Ocean. Our course was further south, departing Buenos Aries and arriving 35 days later in Wellington, New Zealand (we never came close to the Marquesas). I was a journalist on board a racing yacht in the British Telecom Global Challenge of 2000. There were 18 of us on board, and we raced the boat day and night for over a month. No, we never stopped in Avalon to make calls back home to the family; we were racing. We won that leg in a very exciting finish that came down to less than an hour between us and the second-place boat.
Since I am not a life-long sailor (I had to train for this race), many of those lines made sense a bit more after the Challenge. I not only understood what “sailing a reach” was, we had done it. We did a few “downhill runs.” Sometimes, when you were on a “midnight watch,” you’d find yourself contemplating life, out in the middle of the darkness with thousands of miles of ocean all around you, where at one point, you are closer to space than you are to any continental land. Does such an odyssey provide some answers? It did to Stephen Stills. “When you see the Southern Cross for the first time/You understand now why you came this way/'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small/But it's as big as the promise—the promise of a comin' day.”
By the way, if you are wondering why “Wooden Ships,” another song by Crosby, Stills and Nash, doesn’t make me reminisce about sailing, it is because is not about sailing or boating at all. It is about a nuclear holocaust. And the survivors happen to have fled on “wooden ships.” Not a happy song in the least.
See the video on Youtube.
Being that we are on a peninsula that juts into the Atlantic Ocean, one can imagine how strong the sailing community is on Cape Cod. Whether you are a regatta racer, or just like to cruise around the bay, Cape Cod is a sailor’s playground. Nothing reminds me of this lifestyle more than Crosby, Stills and Nash’s “Southern Cross.”
The premise is great: Man loses woman. Man hops on a sailboat for a long-distance journey in which he can gather his thoughts. Man finally realizes what went wrong in the relationship. Granted, every time I listen to it, I wonder about some other bit of symbolism in the song. The accompanying music is pretty simple; every novice guitarist learns the chords to impress some “woman/girl” at a campfire. But it nonetheless is one of the most classic riffs of all time.
I always liked the song. But it meant a lot more to me when I actually got to see the Southern Cross while sailing across the Pacific Ocean. Our course was further south, departing Buenos Aries and arriving 35 days later in Wellington, New Zealand (we never came close to the Marquesas). I was a journalist on board a racing yacht in the British Telecom Global Challenge of 2000. There were 18 of us on board, and we raced the boat day and night for over a month. No, we never stopped in Avalon to make calls back home to the family; we were racing. We won that leg in a very exciting finish that came down to less than an hour between us and the second-place boat.
Since I am not a life-long sailor (I had to train for this race), many of those lines made sense a bit more after the Challenge. I not only understood what “sailing a reach” was, we had done it. We did a few “downhill runs.” Sometimes, when you were on a “midnight watch,” you’d find yourself contemplating life, out in the middle of the darkness with thousands of miles of ocean all around you, where at one point, you are closer to space than you are to any continental land. Does such an odyssey provide some answers? It did to Stephen Stills. “When you see the Southern Cross for the first time/You understand now why you came this way/'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small/But it's as big as the promise—the promise of a comin' day.”
By the way, if you are wondering why “Wooden Ships,” another song by Crosby, Stills and Nash, doesn’t make me reminisce about sailing, it is because is not about sailing or boating at all. It is about a nuclear holocaust. And the survivors happen to have fled on “wooden ships.” Not a happy song in the least.
See the video on Youtube.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Stephen Stills “Treetop Flyer”
Radio stations always play songs for Christmas and Halloween, but (perhaps in keeping with an all-too-pervasive social attitude) Veterans and Veterans Day can be forgotten.
Of course, songs about Veterans are not as cheery as “Holly Jolly Christmas” or “The Monster Mash.” And it’s not like people are looking for tunes to play while decorating their home for Veterans Day.
But there are a lot of great songs for and about veterans, so let me point you to a couple, in case you wanted to put together a playlist. Maybe even make a compilation for your favorite Vet as a way to say Thanks.
One of the most requested Library (i.e. not new) songs we have at mvyradio, is Stephen Stills “Treetop Flyer,” about a Vietnam Pilot, who still flies dangerous missions, with the skills picked up at war.
Perhaps the best, angriest, starkest Veterans song, was originally recorded as an upbeat, kick-ass anthem, which obscured the despair of the narrator. Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." probably SHOULD have been part of his "Nebraska" album, alongside the story of another veteran, the errant brother in "Highway Patrolman." (Check out a neat graphic essay on the Legacy of "Born In The U.S.A" and listen to the clips below for a live version of the song, who's tone matches the lyrics)
You can click through the player below, for more songs about Veterans and Soldiers. Listen to these songs, and their lyrics, and maybe have a moment of thoughtful reflection today.
See Stephen Stills do "Treetop Flyer" with Neil Young, see Bruce do his tune with bombast and angst.
The original version of "Treetop Flyer" is out of print, but you can get it here if you're feeling flush. If not, you can buy a newly released live version.
Of course, songs about Veterans are not as cheery as “Holly Jolly Christmas” or “The Monster Mash.” And it’s not like people are looking for tunes to play while decorating their home for Veterans Day.
But there are a lot of great songs for and about veterans, so let me point you to a couple, in case you wanted to put together a playlist. Maybe even make a compilation for your favorite Vet as a way to say Thanks.
One of the most requested Library (i.e. not new) songs we have at mvyradio, is Stephen Stills “Treetop Flyer,” about a Vietnam Pilot, who still flies dangerous missions, with the skills picked up at war.
Perhaps the best, angriest, starkest Veterans song, was originally recorded as an upbeat, kick-ass anthem, which obscured the despair of the narrator. Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." probably SHOULD have been part of his "Nebraska" album, alongside the story of another veteran, the errant brother in "Highway Patrolman." (Check out a neat graphic essay on the Legacy of "Born In The U.S.A" and listen to the clips below for a live version of the song, who's tone matches the lyrics)
You can click through the player below, for more songs about Veterans and Soldiers. Listen to these songs, and their lyrics, and maybe have a moment of thoughtful reflection today.
See Stephen Stills do "Treetop Flyer" with Neil Young, see Bruce do his tune with bombast and angst.
The original version of "Treetop Flyer" is out of print, but you can get it here if you're feeling flush. If not, you can buy a newly released live version.
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