Playlist: Listen, my friends! ~ October 2014

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In the words of Moby Grape… listen, my friends! Yes, it’s the (hopefully) monthly playlist presented by George’s Journal just for you good people.

There may be one or two classics to be found here dotted in among different tunes you’re unfamiliar with or have never heard before – or, of course, you may’ve heard them all before. All the same, why not sit back, listen away and enjoy…

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CLICK on the song titles to hear them

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Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren ~ Bangers And Mash (1960)

Jayne Mansfield ~ Suey (1965)¹

The Beach Boys ~ Good Vibrations (1966)²

Moby Grape ~ He (1968)

Joe Cocker ~ Feelin’ Alright (1969)

Barbra Streisand ~ Life On Mars (1974)

Richard Rodney Bennett ~ Overture from Murder On The Orient Express (1974)

John Lennon and Elton John ~ Whatever Gets You Thru The Night (1974)³

Violinksi ~ Clog Dance (1979)

Shuki Levy and Haim Saban ~ Theme from Pole Position (1984)

Robbie Robertson and Gil Evans ~ Main Title from The Color Of Money (1986)

Debbie Harry ~ French Kissin (In The USA) (1986)⁴

Diana Ross ~ If We Hold On Together (1988)⁵

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¹ Digging that ace bass? That may be because it’s from then lowly session musician Jimi Hendrix on guitar – no really. This seemingly highly unlikely pairing of the electric lady and the man behind Electric Ladyland (1968) came about because, at the time, they shared the same manager; Suey is in fact the B-Side of  Mansfield’s single As The Clouds Drift By (1965), recorded at the same session and also featuring Hendrix on guitar

² Featuring footage of California’s finest ever band recording a take of one of the greatest pop/ rock songs ever produced

³ Recorded at an Elton John concert held on November 28 (Thanksgiving Day) 1974 at Madison Square Garden, New York City – Lennon’s appearance and co-performance of the song took place as John agreed to play on the studio cut of the tune but with a caveat; should it reach #1 in the US, Lennon would make a rare public-performance-appearance at said concert. The song, of course, topped the charts and, in addition, the two also performed together the Beatles standards I Saw Her Standing There and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (which John had covered around this time). It’s also said that back-stage at this concert Lennon got back together with wife Yoko Ono after several months apart (his notorious ‘lost weekend’ episode)

⁴ Believe it or not, this sunny-as-a-California-summer-day UK #8 solo hit for Harry was written by Chuck Lorre, whom would later hit pay-dirt as the creator and executive producer of the sitcoms Two And A Half Men (2003-present) and The Big Bang Theory (2007-present)

⁵ As featured in dinosaur-cute-a-thon hit animated movie The Land Before Time (1988)

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