Music A to Z: C is for…

---

This is a blog hop… get your “C” on and join us!

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

Use the letter C in any way that you’d like — in a theme (C is for calm, for example), artists or groups whose names begin with C, bands or performers that you saw in Chicago… whatever you’d like! Choose 5 songs that fit your “theme” and join in the blog hop!

---

“C” is for cool. And Clapton. There’s no one cooler than Clapton, is there?

He’s not a showman. He just steps out onto the stage and plays his guitar. In concert he doesn’t say much, at least not much that I’ve ever understood. He just steps out onto the stage, puts his cigarette into the top fret of his guitar, and plays. That’s it. He just plays. He makes the difficult look simple. It’s all about the music. I’ve always been particularly fond of this one:

Running on Faith
Pay careful attention to Clapton’s fingers! If you have a child with long fingers, please give them a guitar ASAP!

---

Harry Chapin played the guitar, too. Harry’s coolness, though, and the particular magic that he wrought, was less about the music and more about the story. This selection about a dry cleaner from Ohio who loved — and lived — to sing opera, is one of his lesser-known songs. Encouraged by his friends, Mr. Tanner spends his life savings to finance an operatic performance in New York City. Mr. Tanner, as it turns out, wasn’t quite ready for the big time. Following his critically panned public operatic debut, he returns to Ohio — where he never sings again (not publicly, anyway). It’s a heartbreaking tale told, as only Harry could tell it, with with and wit, wisdom, and, as always, empathy.

Mr. Tanner
Don’t we all have something that makes us “whole”?

---

The blues are inherently cool. Clapton’s roots are in the blues. So are Van Morrison’s. Everyone knows Moondance and Brown-Eyed Girl, but I love this one. This one’s great. It combines that bluesy, breezy style with Irish folk music and a good, old-fashioned church chorale.

Hymns To the Silence

---

Folk, Blues, Rock — Bonnie Raitt is one of those rare performers who can make all of those genres work. For my money, this is the best combination of all three. It knocks your socks off live. Really, it really does!

Angel From Montgomery
Check out her “back-up” singers (Bryan Adams, Jackson Browne, and Kim Wilson) and, oh yeah, some guy named Bruce Hornsby on accordian!

---

The Rat Pack made cool “cool”. Maybe it was the hats, the sunglasses, and the martinis. Who knows? Growing up in New Jersey I was forced to listen to more Sinatra than any child ever should be. Consequently, I’m not a big fan. The guy I loved from this era, though — the one I didn’t mind listening to — and the one that I don’t think got nearly the amount of respect and recognition that he deserved was Dean Martin. Maybe that was because of his association with Jerry Lewis or because he recorded “novelty” songs like That’s Amore. He’s probably more well-known today as the Master of Ceremonies of the Celebrity “Roasts” and that’s a shame. Because, oh boy, he sure could sing. Oh, yes. He could. (This one just so happens to be my all-time favorite “standard”!)

You Belong To Me