I’ve written a lot of articles on weightier topics recently, so I thought I’d return to a lighter vibe and feature five songs that have come up in the last week.
Queen – Let Me Live
My Dad is a huge Queen fan. We were round at theirs for dinner and he had the album ‘Made in Heaven’ on. This album was released in 1995 after Freddie Mercury’s death, and was made while he was suffering quite badly. They allegedly had to do vocal takes on days when he was feeling more physically capable.
When I heard this again, I got strong vibes of Michael Jackson’s ‘Man in the Mirror’, mainly from the choir in the backing. What do you think?
Jussi Bjorling – Una Furtiva Lagrima
I’ve got another article here about the development of voices over the last century or so, and this is the song that I use. However when I revisited these tracks again recently, I was struck by how incredible this forefather of voice sounded. Jussi Bjorling has a much ‘smaller’ voice (still enormous!) compared to modern opera singers, but the clarity and lack of manipulation in his sound was truly beautiful.
Bad Company – Can’t Get Enough
A singer I really rate is Ellis Hall (who someone was kind enough to put me in touch with, and I got to speak with via Facebook!). I recently saw he did a cover of Bad Company’s song ‘Can’t Get Enough’, and I greatly enjoyed the original – I hope you do too!
John Mayer – Who Did You Think I Was
While driving back from my parents we put on John Mayer’s ‘Where the light is’ album. If you’ve never heard this album, you’re missing out. John Mayer tends to reinvigorate his style every 4-5 years, and at the time of the concert of this album he had been through 3-4 different styles. So in this concert, he ended up compartmentalising the event into 3-4 different parts with different band line-ups to give the songs their best outing.
This particular song is from his blues trio phase (with drummer Steve Jordan and bassist Pino Palladino), and is an awesome performance.
King’s College Choir – I Was Glad
This last song was a recommend from a client who had been listening to it at an event at Southwell Minster. Before bed last night I put it on, and thoroughly appreciated the richness of the arrangement. I hope you do too.