Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Our final classic rain-themed song of the day this week is one of my personal favorites, “Baby the Rain Must Fall” by Glenn Yarbrough. Released in January of 1965, this track went to #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. “Baby the Rain Must Fall” was written by legendary composer Elmer Bernstein (with lyricist…
Today’s classic sad song of the day is a real tear jerker, one of the first important songs from fabled songwriter John Prine. “Hello in There” was track number three on side one of his first solo album, the self-titled 1971 album, John Prine. That album included several songs that both established Mr. Prine’s career and became instant classics that…
Today’s classic sad song of the day is “San Francisco Mabel Joy,” by Mickey Newbury. Like “Tecumseh Valley,” yesterday’s classic song of the day, “San Francisco Mabel Joy” is a folk song that tells a story—a sad story, indeed. “San Francisco Mabel Joy” really isn’t about the character in the title, although she’s in the song. No, this one is…
Today’s classic sad song of the day is “Tecumseh Valley,” a real tear-jerker written by Townes Van Zandt and best remembered as performed by Nanci Griffith. Townes wrote this one in 1968 and first released it on his For the Sake of the Song album. It was always a staple of his live sets but didn’t get widespread airplay at…
Today’s classic song of the day is Joni Mitchell’s “The Circle Game.” This song has touched countless millions of people for more than five decades and continues to touch people today. Joni Mitchell wrote “The Circle Game” in 1966, when she was just 23 years old. She said she wrote it in response to fellow Canadian Neil Young’s “Sugar Mountain,”…
Today’s classic song that mentions Memphis in the lyrics of the day is actually named for a different city, sort of. The song is “City of New Orleans,” written by Steve Goodman and performed in its most well-known version by Arlo Guthrie. The City of New Orleans mentioned in the song isn’t actually the city of New Orleans, its a…
In honor of his passing, today’s classic song of the day is 1970’s “If You Could Read My Mind” by Gordon Lightfoot. This is a wonderful and wonderfully moving tune, brutally honest in its raw emotion, the feeling of its lyrics amplified by its heart-wrenching melody and chord progression. It’s a remarkable piece of music from a remarkable musician. “If…
Your long-lost folkie love song of the day is “Someday Soon.” It was written by legendary folk singer Ian Tyson (of Ian and Sylvia fame) and originally recorded by Ian and his wife Sylvia in 1964. The better-known recording was made by Judy Collins in 1968; that version went to #56 on the Billboard Hot 100 but had a lasting…
Your angelic song of the day is John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery.” He wrote it back in 1970 and it first appeared on his self-titled 1971 debut album. It was immediately hailed as a major work and has since been covered by dozens of artists, from Gretchen Wilson and Emmylou Harris to John Denver and Carly Simon (in a contemporaneously…