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 song of the day is “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” by the Springfields. Released in late summer of 1962, this harmony-laden track peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Springfields were a folk trio from the UK consisting of Tim Feild, Dion O’Brien, and Mary Catherine O’Brien. The O’Brien siblings changed their names to Tom Springfield…
In honor of her passing, today’s songs of the day are all by the artist known as Melanie (real name: Melanie Safka). She passed on January 23. Melanie was born on February 3, 1947, in Queens, New York City. She was regarded as a “beatnik” in high school and ran away to California. (She later returned home to her family…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Love at the Five and Dime,” written and originally performed by songstress Nanci Griffith but made a bona fide hit by Kathy Mattea. Ms. Mattea’s version was released as a single in April of 1986 and made it all the way to #3 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. As I’ve written before,…
Yesterday’s classic song of the day (“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes“) was written about Judy Collins, so it’s fitting that today’s classic song of the day was made famous by Ms. Collins. The song is “Both Sides Now” and it was a #8 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart) for Ms. Collins in 1968.…
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,”…