Friday, July 14, 2017

The truth is plain to see

Carrying on with the Summer of Love reminiscence, here’s a range from that time.

Reminding us that it wasn’t all rock ‘n roll, here’s Nina Simone’s “He Ain’t Comin’ Home No More”, from her High Priestess of Soul album.


The Queen of Soul released perhaps her most iconic song in April of 1967, but it was still going strong that summer, so here it is.


And on the other side of the Atlantic that year, a British band was forming, giving itself a Latin name referring to “beyond these far-off things”, and putting together a sound that drew on Baroque and Classical music traditions, which led to what became known as progressive rock. Procul Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” was their first—and biggest—hit, released in May.


I love the reference to this piece in Alan Parker’s The Commitments, based on Roddy Doyle’s novel. (It’s particularly apt for today’s post, because The Commitments is about the protagonist’s obsession with soul music. The Irish soul band’s renditions of “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and “The Dark End of the Street” are particularly zesty.)


(Sorry about the size; it’s the only clip I can find online.)



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