Music Break

Once again, one of these has become way overdue.  This post's quintet consists of songs that I have recently found on YouTube, even though some are decades old.  First up is the newest number, Simple Man by Eagles bassist Timothy B. Schmit, whose last name does not include a "d".  According to Grateful Web, Fleetwood Mac alumnus Lindsey Buckingham plays lead guitar and Beach Boys alumni Chris Farmer and Matt Jardine contribute harmony vocals.  It appears that Schmit himself plays acoustic guitar.

Another song that I've recently run across is Upside Down, released in 1982 by Dutch singer Vanessa, whose real name is Cornelia (or "Connie" for short) Breukhoven.  Although she is Dutch, the song is in English and French, some of which I can actually understand from what I learned in high school.  On the other hand, just about all the available info about her on the Interwebz is in Dutch, such as her Wiki article.  The video is from an appearance on the TV show TopPop.

In 1967, the Rolling Stones released We Love You, recorded during their sessions for the album Their Satanic Majesties Request, but released as a non-album single with Dandelion as the flip side.  The song was reportedly inspired by the drugs-related arrests of singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards, and by Moroccan music.  Guitarist Brian Jones plays mellotron.  Guest musician Nicky Hopkins plays piano, and John Lennon and Paul McCartney sing the backing vocals, perhaps in reciprocation for Jagger and Richards being among the backing singers on All You Need Is Love.

The third album released by the Bob Seger System, Mongrel, includes Lucifer, which the singer defends himself from being given that particular nickname.  Even so, the video includes, perhaps appropriately, a bunch of dancing devils.

This last one goes out to my fellow keyboard players.  For a joint performance at The Sunflower Jam 2011, Jon Lord of Deep Purple and Rick Wakeman of Yes decided to collaborate on a new piece of music instead of drawing from their respective individual repertoires, which they explain before they start playing.  Lord plays Hammond organ while Wakeman plays synthesizer on the instrumental It's Not As Big As It Was.  According to Lord, the title refers to the music business.