ROCKTOBER MusicFest - 5 (Or, My Last Waltz In Rocktober)

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This is my 5th and probably "last" ("waltz") contribution to MMQE's 'ROCKTOBER MusicFest' at 'Jingle Jangle Jungle'. Click HERE for more!
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In Part 4, I wrote this: To me, a good (or great) live album is when many (or most) of the songs performed live are superior to their studio-recorded counterparts. (And I included an example: Van Morrison saving the night by reviving the audience at 'The Last Waltz' with his outstanding rendition of his terrific song 'Caravan'.)
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And this is why I think 'The Last Waltz' by The Band is a great live album. Although, truth be known (as is often the case with many so-called "live" albums), there were some studio overdubs added later. And not only that, but in the film and on the album, there were a couple of performances with guest artists (Emmylou Harris & The Staples Singers) that were filmed on sound stages after the concert and inserted into the movie. If you didn't know better, you would probably think those two segments were actually part of the real final concert on [link> Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976. 
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If you don't already know, THE BAND was a Canadian-American roots rock group including...
Rick Danko (bass guitar, vocals, fiddle),
Garth Hudson (keyboards, accordion, saxophone),
Richard Manuel (keyboards, drums, vocals),
Robbie Robertson (guitar, vocals),
and Levon Helm (drums, vocals, mandolin, guitar).
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To say that, toward the end, there were personality problems within The Band is putting it very lightly:
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Moondog Matinee is the fifth studio album by Canadian/American rock group the Band, released in 1973. It consists entirely of cover material reflecting the group's love of R&B and blues music, with one exception in their interpretation of the theme from the film The Third Man.

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In a 2002 interview, Levon Helm described the reasoning for recording an album of covers: "That was all we could do at the time. We couldn't get along—we all knew that fairness was a bunch of shit. We all knew we were getting screwed, so we couldn't sit down and create no more music. 'Up on Cripple Creek' and all that stuff was over—all that collaboration was over, and that type of song was all we could do."

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Nevertheless - and despite the fact that Levon Helm hated it - I think The Band's last "real" recording, 'The Last Waltz', is an absolute must-own album! In my opinion, if you don't have 'The Last Waltz' in your music collection, your music collection is a poseur!
;^)
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Below, I am going to feature 3 songs (independent videos) from the movie 'The Last Waltz' that I am pretty wild about. And I will follow that up with a playlist for those of you who might want to hear some more of my favorite songs from The Band's last concert.
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First of all, if I had to name just one song by The Band as my very favorite, it would be 'The Weight'. And in 'The Last Waltz', The Band recorded a version with The Staples Singers. Hokey-Smoke! Mavis and Pops Staples added so much to the song in terms of power and style, that THIS is my favorite version of my favorite song by The Band:
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THE WEIGHT - The Band ('The Last Waltz')
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCSzL5-SPHM

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The last guest musician invited onstage that night was the most famous and most highly esteemed - Bob Dylan. I absolutely LOVE Dylan's song 'Forever Young', and Bob & The Band performed what I consider the very best version of it.
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There are two wonderful little moments you need to watch for in this live concert video. The first is immediately after Dylan (in the white hat) sings the first verse of the song and then (@ the 45-second mark) he looks at someone to his left (possibly drummer Levon Helm) and he shrugs and makes some odd expression. That expression ALWAYS makes me chuckle! I'm not sure what he was trying to convey with that shrug and expression, but to me it says: Well, there it is. They can accept it or not. Whatever.
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The second thing I always enjoying watching for in this footage is when Dylan & The Band segue into 'Baby, Let Me Follow You Down'. If you pay close attention, you'll see that toward the end of 'Forever Young', Dylan and guitarist Robbie Robertson exchange a few words. Evidently, Dylan had told Robertson what song he wanted to segue into. But this was all impromptu, so the rest of The Band members did NOT know what was coming next, and they were waitin' 'n' watchin', looking for a clue.
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If you really study the faces of drummer Levon Helm and bassist Rick Danko from 4:25 to 4:33, you can see they are intently watching in order to get an idea what song is coming next. And Danko has this great grin on his face, because he knows that Dylan and Robertson are about to launch into a different song and he's enjoying the mysterious moment of anticipation. And after Dylan and Robertson hit the first four notes of 'Baby, Let Me Follow You Down', Danko has GOT IT(!), and he joyously launches into the rhythm on his bass guitar. This is such a grand moment, where we get to see A-list and E-Ticket musicians spontaneously creating art.
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FOREVER YOUNG / BABY, LET ME FOLLOW YOU DOWN - 
The Band & Bob Dylan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt1DAMecaWA

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Now, in this last video, we have bassist Rick Danko singing the song 'It Makes No Difference' and, frankly, I don't think I should even need to provide commentary for this. If you can't feel the passion and the aching love that he is conveying in this cut-your-heart-out & serve-it-on-a-platter song, then I seriously doubt there's any hope for you at all.
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I love this comment that someone wrote at the YouTube site: "Just when it can't possibly get any better... Garth steps up and sends it!"
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IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE - The Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP7r12Rg490

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If you enjoyed those 3(+1) songs, then I highly recommend you watch / listen to the other 'Last Waltz' songs in the following playlist. My thanks to [link> MARY for inviting me to join her in this year's Rocktober MusicFest. And my thanks also to EVERY ONE OF YOU who took time to listen / comment. I appreciated your involvement and I hope I added something worthwhile to Rocktoberfest.
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'THE LAST WALTZ' (Selections) - THE BAND

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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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ROCKTOBER MusicFest - 4 (Or, Van Morrison Saves The Night!)

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This is my fourth contribution to MMQE's 'ROCKTOBER MusicFest' at 'Jingle Jangle Jungle'. Click HERE for more!
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In my second installment of this series, I stated that I thought Van Morrison's [link> 'It's Too Late To Stop Now' (1974) was unquestionably one of the very greatest live albums ever released. Truthfully, I'm not ordinarily a big fan of live albums and thus I don't have a lot of them in my music collection. ('It's Too Late To Stop Now'; The Band's 'Last Waltz'; Wes Montgomery's 'Smokin' At The Half Note'; 'The Dave Brubeck Quartet At Carnegie Hall'; Louis Prima's 'The Wildest Show At Tahoe'; and two live sets by The Pat Metheny Group.)
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To me, a good (or great) live album is when many (or most) of the songs performed live are superior to their studio-recorded counterparts. And that's why I think 'It's Too Late To Stop Now' is a great live album. The only song on the album that I don't feel was better'n the studio track is 'Listen To The Lion' (but even that one is fairly close). Bassist David Hayes once said: "When I speak to Van about that album, he still talks about it as having marked the peak of his career. He really feels he was on to something very special."
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At the bottom of this blog bit I am going to embed a 5-song playlist from the terrific live album 'It's Too Late To Stop Now'. (Psst! I really love the melancholia that pervades 'Wild Children' and the mention of James Dean's final ride.) But before you listen to those wonderful songs, I want you to see and hear Van Morrison saving the night.
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It was 1976, and The Band was performing their final concert, "The Last Waltz", with a bunch of invited musical guest stars. Levon Helm, The Band's drummer, wrote a very interesting book which I read years ago:
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On pages 264 and 265 of 'This Wheel's On Fire', Levon Helm wrote this:
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By now it was after midnight, and the crowd was subdued. The momentum of the show had been lost halfway through Joni's set [Joni Mitchell]. Richard Manuel turned the piano over to John Simon and began to sing "Tura Lura Lura", the Irish lullaby. Van Morrison (in a maroon suit) made his entrance amid much cheering - this was Van's first appearance onstage in more than two years - and The Last Waltz was suddenly revived with a spectacular version of "Caravan". John Simon conducted The Band and the horns as Van burned through his great song - "Turn it up! Little bit louder! Radio!" - complete with kick-steps across the stage at the end. Van turned the whole thing around, God bless him for being the showman that he is.
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I saw Van Morrison perform live in Los Angeles 3 or 4 different times and what I found was that when Van isn't really in the mood, the shows are pretty standard fare. But when Van IS in the mood, he's a doggone fantastic performer who puts on one of the greatest concerts you're ever likely to see and hear.
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So, let's take a look 'n' listen to Van-The-Man in 1976, when he came out and saved the night after Joni Mitchell put the crowd to sleep. And do as Van commands: "Turn it up! Little bit higher!" :
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'CARAVAN' - Van Morrison (from 'The Last Waltz')

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Alright, now that you are "in the mood" like Van, here is a 5-song playlist from Van's own 1974 live album 'It's Too Late To Stop Now' :
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Van Morrison - 'It's Too Late To Stop Now' (5 songs)


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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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ROCKTOBER MusicFest - 3 (Or, Van Morrison's Imaginary Movie Soundtrack)

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My First Place award-winning entry for a fake pumpkin decorating contest, 2014.

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This is my third contribution to MMQE's 'ROCKTOBER MusicFest' at 'Jingle Jangle Jungle'. Click HERE for more!
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In 1987, Van Morrison released his 17th studio album, 'Poetic Champions Compose'. How many music artists can unleash one of their very greatest albums after having already made 16 of them? Well, Van-The-Man sure did.
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'Poetic Champions Compose' may or may not be Van's greatest studio album, but I think it definitely has to be considered among his Top 5, without a doubt.
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One of my very favorite tracks from the collection is 'Did Ye Get Healed?' (You are required to listen until the Irish woman asks that very same question at the very end of the song! ...Don't make me have to come over there!!)
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DID YE GET HEALED? - Van Morrison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfKRz6_S9fc

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However, as much as I LOVE that song, I did not indicate that it should be used in my one and only attempt to write and sell a movie screenplay. I wrote 'BILLY 'N' BILLIE' in 1989 / 1990. It's a romance story about "Billy" (surname: Withers), a White, alcoholic, wanna-be writer living in Venice Beach, and "Billie" (surname: Clayton), a Black, Venice Beach woman who wants to be a Blues and Jazz singer.
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I actually had a real shot of selling this screenplay! It garnered me a one-on-one interview with [link> Tony Bill, who had a production office in Venice Beach. (Yes! *THAT* TONY BILL! The actor, and the director of the terrific movie 'My Bodyguard'.) But I [damn-near deliberately] sabotaged my chances of selling the movie because... I was young & stupid & idealistic, and I objected to having to personally (with my personality) "sell" the story to Mr. Bill when I felt the story sold itself. So, I shot myself in the foot. Wasn't the first time; wasn't the last time.
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Anyway, that's Bourbon Under The Bridge.
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But in my screenplay, I indicated that 3 (Van Morrison) songs should be used - one at the very beginning; one just past the middle, when Billy and Billie dance together for the first time; and at the very end, while the final credits are rolling on the silver screen.
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Below, I am pasting the pages from my screenplay which indicate where the 3 Van Morrison songs were supposed to be used. The first two songs - 'I Forgot That Love Existed' & 'Someone Like You' - came from Morrison's 1987 album 'Poetic Champions Compose', and the End Credits song, 'Brand New Day', came from Morrison's 1970 album 'Moondance'. And below the screenplay pages, you will find a YouTube playlist including those 3 songs in proper order.
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I ask you to try doing this: Imagine watching the opening credits of a movie on the big silver screen, while seeing the activity described on the written page, and hearing the song 'I Forgot That Love Existed'. I still - STRONGLY! - believe that would have been an unforgettable opening for a Hollyweird movie!
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'Billy 'N' Billie' soundtrack - Van Morrison

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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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ROCKTOBER MusicFest - 2 (Or, VAN MORRISON - Uptempo & Funky)

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This is my second contribution to MMQE's 'ROCKTOBER MusicFest' at 'Jingle Jangle Jungle'. Click HERE for more!
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In my first installment [Here], I yakked about the VAN MORRISON song 'Cleaning Windows'. Well, dogged if I ain't back with more Van-The-Man for ya!
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A lot of Morrison's music has spiritual themes, and a great deal of it slowly rolls itself out, gradually becoming almost a kind of hypnotic "music meditation". However, Van has a great love of early American Folk, Blues, Country and R&B styles and incorporated them into many of his songs.
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Below, I put together a 3-song playlist titled 'VAN MORRISON - Uptempo & Funky'. The first song on the list is Van's cover of the old standard Country Blues song [link> 'MIDNIGHT SPECIAL'. He turns it into a Blues-Rock powerhouse! This was amongst Morrison's earliest recordings, and I think he delivers the ultimate rendition of this great old song. I LOVE the bass playing on this track!
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The second song, 'I'VE BEEN WORKING', comes from Van's first live album 'It's Too Late To Stop Now' (1973). I believe this is unquestionably one of the very greatest live albums ever released, and I also believe this may be the funkiest song I've ever heard; I can't sit still while it plays! I'm wild about the interplay between the musicians - the way they all take turns bursting in and playing off of each other's licks. Bassist David Hayes once said: "When I speak to Van about that album, he still talks about it as having marked the peak of his career. He really feels he was on to something very special."
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And the third and final song of this set is 'IF YOU ONLY KNEW', a cover of a Mose Allison song from Morrison's 1985 album 'A Sense Of Wonder'. In my first blog bit of this MusicFest, I mentioned how much I love the saxophone playing of [link> Pee Wee Ellis. Ellis played with James Brown in the 1960s, and Van knowing a great musician when he hears one, enlisted Pee Wee for recording and touring for over two decades. 'If You Only Knew' contains possibly my very favorite example of Pee Wee's playing, where he takes a kind of scorched-earth policy into the solo and just blows everything away!!
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Here ya go - 3 "Uptempo & Funky" Van Morrison songs - I hope you dig 'em!
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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ROCKTOBER MusicFest - 1 (Or, My First 2019 Contribution to MMQE's Annual Blogfest)

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As I sit here drinking a Tervis Tumbler of Cruzan's 'Black Strap Rum' and listening to one of the all-time, ALL-TIME(!!) greatest "Albums To Drink By" ['El Rayo-X' by David Lindley], I am going to tap out something about a great song by a different artist. This is my first contribution to MMQE's 'ROCKTOBER Blogfest' at 'Jingle Jangle Jungle'. Click HERE for more!
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'BEAUTIFUL VISION' by Van Morrison

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VAN MORRISON released his album 'BEAUTIFUL VISION' in March of 1982. I loved it! Heck, I loved SO MANY Van-The-Man albums and I owned nearly all of them... until the time he released a song praising "lucifer".
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(Yes, *THAT* [] lucifer.)
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And that's when I took a good, long, hard look at the lyrics of Van Morrison songs I'd been listening to for decades and I found a LOT of New Age 'luciferian' stuffs in there. And that's when - like a big, bad, angry dog shaking the dirt off a bone - I began purging away (down to the pure, clean, white bone) my music collection of every Van Morrison album that contained New Age (i.e., 'luciferian') references - many of them being extremely subtle, which only the most informed researchers (like myself) could catch.
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When the purging was done, only 6 albums remained in my collection, and 'Beautiful Vision' wasn't amongst them. [Technically, I should have also tossed into that same dumpster in Phoenix, Arizona, Van's album 'Hymns To The Silence', but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It's a 21-song double album, and some of those songs are big favorites of mine. I couldn't toss out the whole double album because of only 1 offender. So, I just skip that song when it comes up on my CD player.]
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Pro Tip: At the time of the purge, my very favorite album in the whole history of the world (by anyone at any time!) was Van Morrison's 'Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart'. In fact, that was the very first compact disc I ever owned! I told The Countess (before she became "The Countess"), "I will never start replacing my LPs with compact discs until 'Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart' is available on compact disc!" I figured that would NEVER, EVER happen!
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Two hours later, The Countess came back and handed me 'Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart' on compact disc. Ha!-Ha! ...UHP! I'M AN IDIOT!! {*In hindsight, I realize that, from that very moment, she was destined to become my girlfriend.*}
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Sadly, even my 'Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart' CD had to go into that Phoenix dumpster. But I saved the CD's insert as a souvenir of a terrific Countess / Black Cole Kid moment!
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However, I still have Van Morrison's album 'Into The Music', which is now my favorite Morrison album. You should definitely listen to it. Dang! If you don't dig *that* album, there is something seriously sick in yer soul!!
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Alright, back to the subject at hand:
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One song on the 'Beautiful Vision' album (my old copy which is now lying deep down in an Airheadzona dump somewhere) was 'CLEANING WINDOWS'. I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't dig this song! I have even played it for a couple of folks who generally DISLIKE Van's music, and EVEN THEY liked 'Cleaning Windows'. It just might be "the universal song".
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Wackypedia sez:
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The version of "Cleaning Windows" that was released as a single and was included on the 1982 album ['Beautiful Vision'] was recorded at the Record Plant Studios in Sausalito, California on 27 July 1981.
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The biographically based song chronicles a cheerful and nostalgic look back at a carefree time in Morrison's life when he was still a part-time musician, playing saxophone with Clubsound at the weekend. He names his favourite musical artists of the time such as Muddy Waters, Jimmie Rodgers, and Lead Belly, along with author Jack Kerouac and his books 'The Dharma Bums' and 'On the Road', and even Buddhist judge Christmas Humphreys and his "... book on Zen." 
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According to Steve Turner, in 'Cleaning Windows' "Van sketched the details of his life during 1961 and 1962, and captured the balance between his contentment at work and his aspirations to learn more about music. It conveyed the impression that his happiness with the mundane routine of smoking Woodbine cigarettes, eating Paris buns and drinking lemonade was made possible by the promise that at the end of the day he could enter the world of books and records..."
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John Milward wrote in a 1982 Rolling Stone review: "Hung on a metaphor as clear as glass, 'Cleaning Windows' applies one night's notions to a lifetime. It's the LP's musical highlight as well, with a guitar-organ combination reminiscent of The Band, and a jumping sax solo to boot".
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Paul Macinnis with The Guardian wrote: "The message of the song is simple – the window cleaner's happy in his work – and the lyrical vignettes combined with delicate, upbeat R&B (with Mark "That ain't working" Knopfler on guitar) convey that feeling wonderfully."
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In his descriptions of the songs on Beautiful Vision, Erik Hage wrote that this song is an exception as it is "stuffed with images and remembrances ... and is therefore somewhat anomalous to the rest of the record, which took up more esoteric and spiritual matters."
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AllMusic's Bill Janovitz, on the other hand, suggests a spiritual reading of the song, with Morrison's literal image of "cleaning windows" doubling as "a metaphor for Zen-like clarity, seeing the essence of life via the repetition of basic chores."
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"Cleaning Windows" was released as a single in March 1982 but was not promoted as a 45 single by Mercury records and therefore did not chart. Writer Howard A. DeWitt felt that it would have charted "because it generated a response similar to 'Domino' in Van's 1982 concerts". ('Domino' charted at #9 in America in 1970.)
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Morrison chose "Cleaning Windows" to be one of the songs included on The Best of Van Morrison, his first "Best of" album, which was released in 1990.
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I have NO DOUBT that 'Cleaning Windows' would have been a huge Top 40 hit in 1982, if Van's record company had the brains of gnat! Like I said, EVERYONE I've ever played this song for has really liked it - even Van-The-Man haters!
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Van Morrison - vocals
John Allair - organ
Pee Wee Ellis - tenor and baritone saxophones
Mark Isham - trumpet
Mark Knopfler - guitar
Gary Mallaber - drums
Chris Michie - lead guitar
Michele Segan - percussion
Rob Wasserman - bass
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Pee Wee Ellis -- what a BEAST on the saxophone!! Some of my all-time favorite sax solos were played by Pee Wee! Saxophone: On ballads, give me Ben Webster, every single time; but on rockin', squawkin' songs, I choose Pee Wee Ellis, yesterday, today, and tomorrow!!
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CLEANING WINDOWS - Van Morrison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAf0Rjfm5s

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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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BOTB RESULTS: OCT. 1, 2019 (Or, CHUCK JACKSON VERSUS CRAWFORD & McGRIFF)

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STMcC’s Vote On '2019, October 1st: Battle Of The Bands' (BOTB) - Or, Chuck Jackson Versus Hank Crawford & Jimmy McGriff - And The Final Tally:
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'Good Vibrations' illegally parks to go to church.

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First and foremost (as always) my sincere thanks to each and every one of youz who took the trouble 'n' time to come by here to listen, consider, and vote. It was a nice BOTB turnout, and without y'all, there'd be no point in any of this.
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Dang, mang, this was an excellent Battle!! (I susexpected it would be.) The song was 'Any Day Now' by Chuck Jackson (vocal version) and Hank Crawford & Jimmy McGriff (instrumental interpretation) and the Battle took place HERE. After 14 votes were recorded, the score was 7-7. It don't get no better'n dat!
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But then G DogG came in at the 11th hour and 59th second with a bote for Crawford & McGriff, and I sealed the deal with my own (final) bote for the duo.
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Chuck Jackson = 7 votes
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Crawford & McGriff = 9 votes
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To me, the Crawford & McGriff instrumental is extremely exciting, musically masterful, and *EVERYTHING* I look for in a Jazz performance! It's also pretty high up on my list of all-time favorite instrumental Jazz recordings!!
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Our resident psychic, Carnac The Magnificent, said that Chuck Jackson would narrowly win ("by the hair of his chinny-chin-chin"). But, actually, it was Crawford & McGriff who won, in the final seconds, by the hair of their chinny-chin-chins. That makes our psychic's record for accurately predicting BOTB outcomes 1-2 after three Battles. If he doesn't pick up the pace pretty soon, I predict there is careening, out-of-control bus with his name on it in his immediate future. (Which probably makes me a better psychic than Carnac is!)
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Thanks again, All Y'All! I hope to see ya here again on November 1st for my November 1st BOTB contest. (You see how those dates work? Perfectly in-sync! ...And, NO!, NSYNC will *NEVER* appear on this blog in a BOTB contest! Damn it! Even Carnac could accurately predict THAT!)
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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2019, OCT. 1: BATTLE OF THE BANDS (Or, CHUCK JACKSON VS. HANK CRAWFORD & JIMMY McGRIFF)

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Republican Vs. Democrat, Male Vs. Female, War Vs. Peace, Light Vs. Dark, Good Vs. Evil, Man Vs. Machine, Love Vs. Hate, God Vs. Cat, Sun Vs. Moon, Brain Vs. Brawn, Oscar Vs. Grammy, Angel Vs. Demon, Laurel Vs. Hardy, Beer Vs. Wine, TV Vs. Radio, Pitcher Vs. Batter, Paper Vs. Plastic, Reality Vs. Fantasy, Yeshua Vs. Beelzebub, Conservative Vs. Liberal, You Vs. Me, House Vs. Senate, Offense Vs. Defense, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Spy Vs. Spy, Fischer Vs. Spassky, W.C. Fields Vs. Sobriety, Harold Gimpy, Jr. Vs. Sheldon J. Pismire, Rock Vs. Paper Vs. Scissors, Islam Vs. Everything, Singer Vs. Singer, Band Vs. Band...
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BATTLE OF THE BANDS (BOTB)
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Shoop-Shooby -
Shooby-Duh-Dooby-Doop-Dooby-Dooby-Doo-Wah -
Buh-Doo-Wah!
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Yes, it's time once again for Battle Of The Bands (BOTB).
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Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!...
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Howdy, Y'All! We be back.
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"Complicated ligation was the words of the 1861", but 101 years later, in 1962, Burt Bacharach and Bob Hilliard wrote the song "ANY DAY NOW". As I stated [HERE] in a review of the 1990 album 'On The Blue Side' by Hank Crawford & Jimmy McGriff...
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I'm an inveterate whistler. I catch myself unconsciously whistling all the time, and almost always it's either 'Sunshine Of Your Love', 'Keep On Loving You', 'Bumpin' On Sunset', 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen', or 'ANY DAY NOW' from this collection. My gosh, I've been whistling 'Any Day Now' for 14 years!
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I believe the first rendition of this song that I heard was that instrumental by Crawford & McGriff, but Chuck Jackson had a #23 Billboard hit with it in '62. And there are several really good recordings of the song out there by folks such as Elvis Presley, Paul Carrack, Ronnie Milsap and others. I toyed with the idea of using Presley's notable version [HERE] in this Battle, but Elvis was indeed "the king", and using his recording would probably be beggin' for a blowout. (In BOTB, it's a good rule of thumb to largely avoid using certain performers like Elvis, Sinatra, Satchmo, and Nat King Cole... unless one feels like flirting with a blowout or shutout.)
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So, I'm giving you a Jackson (vocal) versus Crawford & McGriff (instrumental) Battle, which might be a real slugfest. Here ya go, my friends!...
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ANY DAY NOW - Chuck Jackson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPgE991VDwM


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This next video is restricted but supposedly will play in Canada. If it doesn't, try clicking HERE and listening. 'Any Day Now' is the first track on that alternate video, and it plays from 00:00 to 07:07.
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ANY DAY NOW - Hank Crawford & Jimmy McGriff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0rvM97Y2vs


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Carnac The Magnificent (1-1): "By the hair of his chinny-chin-chin."
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Question: Will Chuck beat Hank & Jimmy?
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Alright now, “you know the gig”... I welcome you (whether I know "you" or not) to vote for your favorite of these songs in the comment section below. And feel free to tell us WHY you chose one song over the other.
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After voting here, I suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to the blogs of the other 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' participants to see which songs they have chosen and vote there also. Vote your vice...   Vice your voice... 
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Voice Your Vote...
@ TOSSING IT OUT by clicking HERE
@ MIKE'S RAMBLINGS by clicking HERE
@ THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING by clicking HERE
@ JINGLE JANGLE JUNGLE by clicking HERE
@ THE DOGLADY'S DEN by clicking HERE
@ CHERDO ON THE FLIPSIDE by clicking HERE
@ CURIOUS AS A CATHY by clicking HERE
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As I've done in the past, I will continue to return to my 'BOTB' blog bits on the 7th of each month to post my own votes and announce the winners in the comment sections.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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