Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Today’s classic rain-themed song of the day is “Don’t Let the Rain Come Down” from the Serendipity Singers. The song released in February of 1964, reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. “Don’t Let the Rain Come Down” is a traditional tune based on the English nursery rhyme, “There Was a Crooked Man.”…
Today’s classic song of the day is a gentle lament from folksinger/songwriter Tom Paxton, “The Last Thing on My Mind”. He first recorded the song for his 1964 album, Ramblin’ Boy, and it later became a top ten country hit for the duo of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton. “The Last Thing on My Mind” is one of Tom Paxton’s…
Today’s classic song of the day was never released as a single, but it should have been. The song is “Heart Like a Wheel” and it was written by Canadian singer/songwriter Anna McGarrigle, recorded by both Anna and her sister Kate and by big-time American singer Linda Ronstadt. “Heart Like a Wheel” is a beautiful song about how wonderful and…
“But I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.” That’s one of the best lyrics ever written and a wonderful philosophical rumination of how our views on things change as we age and gain more experience. The line is from the song “My Back Pages,” which Bob Dylan wrote in 1964. Dylan wrote “My Back Pages” in…
In honor of Peter Yarrow’s passing, today’s classic song of the day is one of his most popular compositions, “Puff, the Magic Dragon.” Peter, Paul and Mary released “Puff” as a single in January of 1963 and it went to #2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on Billboard’s Middle-Road Singles chart.…
Today’s classic song of the day is more obscure than most, and I expect that many readers of this blog won’t know it. But if you do, you probably love it. The tune is “Hammond Song” by the Roches. The Roches were a new-folk group of three sisters (Maggie, Terre, and Suzzy) out of New Jersey who hit the scene…
This week’s last socially relevant song of the day is “Too Many Martyrs (The Ballad of Medgar Evers)” by the late, great folksinger, Phil Ochs. It’s a tribute to and a lament for the life and death of Medgar Evers. Medgar Evers was a Civil Rights activist in Mississippi during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Evers was an Army…
Today’s socially relevant song of the day is “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield. Yes, that’s the actual title, although some might know it better as the “Stop! Hey What’s That Sound” song. Most folks view “For What It’s Worth” as a protest song and it kind of is—just not in the way you might think. Stephen Stills wrote…
Today’s classic socially conscious song of the day is “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song).” It’s a progressive song, a protest song, a song arguing for justice, equality, and the power of the people. “If I Had a Hammer” was written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays of the folk group the Weavers back in 1949 and was…