Songbird by Fleetwood Mac, What Am I to You by Norah Jones, Angel from Montgomery by John Prine but sung by Bonnie Raite, In the Arms of an Angel by Sarah McLachlan, I Know you by Heart sund by Eva Cassidy. |
Do you self a favor and buy your father in law "Secret Heart" by Curtis Stigers and give it to him. He will love it, he will scratch his head and say gee I thought they didn't write em like that anymore.Then give him "Standard Time" by Steve Tyrell and he will say how come I've never heard of this guy before. And yes he will love it too. Trust me. The songs are the stuff he used to listen too but updated like Irving Berlin ,Fats Waller, etc etc. |
Don't forget Van Morrison. Too many to mention but you can't go wrong with what ever you choose. Then there's Rubber Soul...
Er..how you define the RnR era? |
Martykl, Do you mean "Beeswing" by Richard Thompson? Great song. If not, add it to the list.
Marvin Gaye -What's going on
Crosby, Stills & Nash -Guinnevere
David Bowie -Letter to Hermione
Santana -Samba Pa Ti
Van Morrison -I'll Be Your Lover Too, Into the Mystic, Hymns to the Silence
Led Zepplin -The rain Song
Richard & Linda Thompson -Dimming of the day
Rolling Stones -Lady Jane, Wild Horses
Big Brother & the Holding Company w/Janis Joplin -Summertime (Gershwin)
Annie Lennox -Cold, The Gift, Why
Al Green -I'm Still in Love With You, Let's Stay Together
Mazzy Star -Fade Into You
Beatles -Because, I will, Julia
Sarah McLachlan -The Path of Thorns (Terms), Drawn To The Rhythm
Bob Dylan -Girl from the North Country (w/ Johnny Cash)
Simon & Garfunkel -America
Nike Drake -Cello Song, Pink Moon, Which Will
Crowded House -Don't Dream It's Over
Dusty Springfield -Son of a Preacher Man
Tom Waits -Ol' 55, I Wish I Was in New Orleans, This One's from the Heart (w/Crystal Gayle)
Yes -Mood for a Day
The Jimi Hendrix Experience -Castles Made of Sand
Elvis Costello, Alison
Bruce Springsteen -Thunder Road, She's the one
Rickie Lee Jones -The Last Chance Texaco, We Belong Together
Cowboy Junkies -Blue Moon Revisited (Hart/Rodgers), Something More Besides You, Crescent Moon
I'm sure I missed a couple hundred or so but there is my take on beautiful songs of The RnR era. Guess this generation or so since doubya, doubya 2 hasn't accomplished much...(just kidding) Happy Listening! |
Thanks for the ideas, everyone.
To clarify:
R'n'R era really means music made by rock musicians. Since the idea is to debunk his notion that rock musicians haven't made any beautiful music, I thought a well selected compilation might broaden my father in law's view of "r'n'r" songwriters while allowing me to get in some contemporary music listening time during the family vacation. Though some responses went a different way (my original post was worded more generally), I'll look forward to exploring some of those suggestions for my own benefit.
Beeswing did refer to the Richard Thompson song. If my FIL is ok with RT's voice, I'm betting he'll like the song. |
Fleetwood Mac- Landslide
Bruce Springsteen- Two Faces Have I
U2- One
Weezer- Island in the Sun
Dave Mason- Sad and Deep as You
Elvis Costello- Every Day I Write the Book
Graham Nash- Simple Man
Neil Young- Harvest Moon
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Beatles Here Comes The Sun |
Just to name a few:
"White Bird" by It's a Beautiful Day
"Yesterday" by the Beatles
"Darling Be Home Soon" by The Lovin' Spoonful
"Candles in the Rain" by Melanie
"Dust in the Wind" by Kansas
"Love Alive" by Heart
"Free Man in Paris" by Joni Mitchell
"Winter" by Tori Amos |
I would not call it the "most beautiful song of the RnR era" but the running list ought to include "Killing Me Softly" by Roberta Flack. |
Springsteen: Sandy (4th of July, Asbury Park), Across the Border*
Beach Boys: Warmth of the Sun, Don't Worry Baby
C,S,N: Lady of the Island |
Several songs from Neil Young's 'Decade', Leonard Cohen: "to the end of love", S&G: "Kathy's song", Van Morrison: "Madame George". |
Yea, Springsteen's Sandy is a good one. How about the Stone's "Wild Horses" from Sticky Fingers. It would seem in your situation nearly the perfect dicotomy: good music being created by the Rolling Stones (whom I recall parents thinking were among the root of all evil impacting the young - remember Kristofferson even wrote a song about it, "Blame It On The Stones"?). |
Van Morrison, Across The Bridge Where Angels Dwell or Vanlose Stairway, Beautiful Vision
Jackson Browne, For Everyman, Late For The Sky (title tracks), Daddy's Tune
Niel Young, A Man Needs A Maid, Harvest Moon, Only Love Can Break Your Heart
King Crimson, I Talk To The Wind
Crosby, Stills & Nash etc, Guennivere, Suite:Judy Blue Eyes, Helplessly Hoping, Cathedral, To The Last Whale, Seen The Changes
America, Three Roses
Badfinger, Baby Blue
Three Dog Night, Pieces Of April
Jim Croce, Operator
The Band, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
BeeGees, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, To Love Somebody
Janis Joplin, Summertime (Big Brother & Holding Co), Me & Bobby McGee
Stephan Bishop, On And On
Kenny Rankin, Silver Morning
Blood Sweat & Tears, God Bless The Child, Sometimes In Winter
Buckingham Nicks, Races Are Run, Frozen Love
Buffalo Springfield, Bluebird
Steven Stills, Johnny's Garden
Byrds, Turn, Turn, Turn
Chicago, Wake Up Sunshine
John Denver, Poems Prayers And Promises
Doobie Bros., South City Midnight Lady
Bob Dylan, You're A Big Girl Now, Simple Twist Of Fate, Shelter From The Storm
Allman Bros., Blue Sky, Melissa
Eagles, Ol 55
ELP, From The Beginning, Still You Turn Me On
Genesis, More Fool Me
Steve Forbert, Tonight I Feel So Far Away From Home, It ISn't Gonna Be That Way
Dan Fogelberg, Netherlands
Heart, Dog & Butterfly
Elton John, Come Down In Time, Love Song, Tiny Dancer, Your Song
Rickie Lee Jones, Company
Hollies, Bus Stop
Jethro Tull, Bouree
Billy Joel, Summer Highland Falls
Led Zep. Going To California
John Lennon, Hold On, Jealous Guy
McCartney, Maybe I'm Amazed
Loggins & Messina, Watching The River Run, Pathway To Glory
Sailin The Wind
Malo, Sauvecito
Joni Mitchell, Song For Sharon, Case Of You, Lesson In Survival
Moody Blues, For My Lady, When You're A Free Man, Nights In White Satin
Nilsson, Everybodys Talkin
Poco, Magnolia
REM, Fall On Me
Gordon Lightfoot, Early Morning Rain, Beautiful, Softly
Roxy Music, Avalon, More Than This
Leon Russell, Lady Blue, This Masquerade, Song For You
Simon & Garfunkel, Scarborough Fair
Rod Stewart, Country Comfort, Gasoline Alley
Robin Trower, Bridge Of Sighs
Joe Walsh, Meadows, Dreams, Days Gone By
Stevie Wonder, Golden Lady, Superwoman, Ribbon In The Sky
...just to name a few. ;-)) HTH. |
Resands - Wow you deserve a commendation. That was amazing. Bouree isn't a song, but the rest of your list looks amazing. Can you burn a copy of those for me? : ) |
Rrsands, I think you missed a couple a three titles.
Just kidding.
Nice job!
Cheers! |
Thanks again, everyone.
The recent post was certainly...comprehensive!
I actually finished 2 cds using many of the recommendations you all so kindly posted. Some people tended to favor beautiful singing, so I did one cd focused this way, while another focused on beautiful songs - often sung by less than beautiful voices. The initial response from my father in law to both cds could probably be best characterized as "grudingly positive".
Thanks again,
Marty. |
Canned Heat... Looking For My Rainbow.
Can't get it out of my head. |
Lots of good calls on this thread.
Sandy by Springsteen...love that song, and I am not a Springsteen mark.
This one is virtually unknown and way out there perhaps and way too late for this thread, but, if you ever do it again, also consider "Never Blame the Rainbows for the Rain" by The Moody Blues.
Did "Across the Universe" and "I Will" by the Beatles get missed?
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I weighed in three years ago on this one. Here's another:
"Angie" The Rolling Stones |
Loving Cup - Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street |
Sometimes we old timers tend to embrace everything from the past as the BEST.But you mention God Only Knows,There was a recording by this name done in 1955 by a R&B group from Philadelphia named the Capri's.If you ever heard it you would agree with your father-in-law.
Have a fun week |
Now for your consideration: There are some awesome songs from the mid-70s singer-songwriters:
"Winterlong" by Neil Young;
"Urge" or "Coyote" by Joni Mitchell;
"Seven Bridges Road" by the Eagles,
"Fountain of Sorrow" by Jackson Browne.
From the 50s, I would nominate also Sam Cooke, especially songs like "Rome Was Not Built in a Day".
"Waterloo Sunset" by the Kinks is an under-rated classic from the 1960s.
Too many classic Motown, Hi and Stax recordings:
Al Green's "Call Me",
Stevie Wonder's "Ribbon in the Sky" and
Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me."
Concur with "Sandy"; hard to imagine that Bruce wrote that at age 22.
I also like "Time after Time" by Cindi and "Alison" by Elvis from the New Wave period. |
You may not have heard these but they are as beautiful as anything ever written in the RnR era-
Grant Lee Buffalo - Honey Don't Think
Jeff Buckley - Lover You Should Have Come Over
Over The Rhine - Latter Days, Snow Angels, or practically everything they've done
Cousteau - She's Not Coming Back
Adam Again - River On Fire
Now that I think about it almost everything everyone has mentioned is pretty amazing. Great thing about music it is powerful in so many forms. |
Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes |
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I could nominate a bunch of Todd Rundgren tunes as most beautiful but I've narrowed it down to two: Bag Lady from the Hermit of Mink Hollow album and Compassion from the Healing album. Beuatiful, haunting melodies and touching lyrics. |
Kris,
I agree with your general sentiment which is why "Hello, It's Me" was the second song I listed in the original post. The guy is just a machine - cranking out amazing songs year after year. Some of his lyrics push it a bit, but the melodies and - especially - harmonies usually stop me in my tracks.
Marty |
Here's another-
Steve Vai- Touching Tongues |
I would add two to those already mentioned:
Stones - Wild Horses
Croce - Time In A Bottle |
Not RnR, I believe, but Roberta Flack's "First Time, Ever I Saw Your Face," is one of the few pop melodies that I store with my Classical titles. |
"true love ways" buddy 50 years gone. pitch ernie |
If it's Buddy, then it's "Everyday" |
Hendrix- Little Wing, Angel
Blind Faith- In the Presence of the Lord
Thin Lizzy- Cowboy Song
Chicago- If You Leave Me Now
Eric Clapton- Wonderful Tonight
Velvet Underground- Pale Blue Eyes |
She's Got Balls, AC/DC. Really. |
Sorry about my last post. I forgot this was for your Father-in-law. (I only read the thread title).
Here's a couple that fit the bill:
Sweet Child-O-Mine and September Rain, G-N-R
Sister Christian and Sing Me Away, NightRanger
Again-My apologies
Steve |
