BATTLE OF THE BANDS RESULTS - THREE LITTLE WORDS

Bob Marley Wins

Now that we have those three little words out of the way you don’t have to worry about a thing; everything is right with the world.

You guys really didn’t like little Connie very much. Well actually that’s not quite the truth of the matter. It seemed you all liked her well enough and credited her for having a mighty talent, but when it comes to BOB and Reggae…well ‘nough said.

To so many folks Bob is Reggae. I think it may be that he took a regional music form and helped to make it more mainstream. I love this song and have wanted to use it in a BOTB for quite some time now. What I should have done was to use it at a time when I wasn’t running behind and foggy. Then maybe I would have had the time and presence of mind to find two suitable version to pit against each other and let Bob reign as the one and only original.

Connie is a novelty. She’s cute and is a powerhouse voice, but as many of you said; it almost seems unnatural to hear that voice come from a little girl. I like the idea of a child singing this sweet simple tune, but in the end this one belongs to Bob and he got my vote along with most of yours.

This proved to be a rather poor BATTLE. Great song, IMO, but not much of a BATTLE as Bob ran off with the vote. No surprises there, eh? When I visit the results posts of the other participants I’m quick to say that it’s my opinion that the closer the BATTLE the better it was; in other words, the contestants were evenly matched and fought it out to the finish. That didn’t happen here, so by my own reckoning this wasn’t a very good Battle. Oh Well…you can’t win ‘em all.

The final tally:

                                Bob Marley         16 votes (including mine)

                                Connie Talbot       4 votes

I hope to be back on February 1 with another BATTLE OF THE BANDS that qualifies as an entry in the 'Lost and Found Valentines Edition Bloghop'

Until that time Happy Trails!

BATTLE OF THE BANDS - EGBOK (alright)

Just in case you’re thinking I’m kind of late getting my BATTLE OF THE BANDS post up today; think on this for a minute, I’m also posting my results from the last BOTB (which, BTW, should have been posted on 1/7/16). To say I’m running behind, might be the understatement of 2016, at least so far. Without giving you all the gory details, let’s just say I came home from my Christmas trip sick, really sick. Today is my first day back to work and I’ve spent most of the past week and a half, in bed. I hope I’ve gotten my run with pneumonia out of the way for 2016. We’ll see.

Let’s go with the results from the January 1 post first, shall we? In case you don’t remember that far back I pitted Leon Russell against Jim Morrison and The Doors with the song ‘Woman, Get Out of My Life’. I really, Really, REALLY like both versions and had a hard time deciding which I would vote for, but in the end I’m a die-hard Leon Russell fan. When he starts banging on that piano in that honky-tonk style of his, I’m done for. Leon may not have the sweetest voice, but you all know I’m a sucker for those raspy voiced singers, now, don’t ya?

The final tally was:

                 Leon Russell              14 votes (including mine)

                 Jim/The Doors             9 votes

A fairly close BATTLE, if I do say so myself.

OK, now that we have that out of the way; let’s get on with the BATTLE for today.

My friend Mr. Sheboygan 6 had given me several very good suggestions for BATTLES a few months back and I’ve been working my way through them. Today, I’m writing this from work and I left his list at home, but I do remember that he suggested I use some Reggae. OK, so here’s my very favorite ‘Bob’ tune.‘Three Little Birds’ or EGBOK (Everything gonna be alright/OK)

First let’s hear from the man himself – Mr. Bob Marley

Next up an interesting version I found by Connie Talbot (she’s 8 years old in this video – a winner of Britain's Got Talent, who snagged a recording contract)

Alrighty, you guys know what to do and how to do it. Leave me your vote in the comment section and tell me WHY. When you finish up here, head on over to the home of Mr. BOTB himself, Stephen T. McCarthy where you can find a link to the other participants. Please try to vote at all the BATTLES.

The Good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise…I’ll be back on the 21^st with the results. I promise! Until that time…H-A-P-P-Y T-R-A-I-L-S!

NEW YEAR/NEW BATLES

It’s 1:30 PM MST (I’m still out of town) and I’m sitting here looking out the window at a frozen wasteland. It was -11 degrees when I woke up this morning and the weather report said it felt like -24 degrees. (It kinda felt like hell to me-I hate to be cold.) Currently, the temperature is a whopping 5 degrees. I almost feel like breaking in a chorus of “We’re having a heat wave’; almost, but not quite.

Besides contemplating ‘what was I thinking; coming to this frozen place at this frozen time of year, I have also been contemplating the year that was 2015. My first impression was to make a list of the good and bad that came about in my life during this year that is almost over, but I have decided against that. We all have good and bad happening to us all of the time. The choice is ours, which we make more of. I’m choosing to make more of the good, and hoping to be a tad bit more optimistic in 2016. It’s in my nature to be positive and look for the good in everything, but I’ve found that this past year, I’ve let myself slip into a more negative attitude, and I don’t like it.

Here’s my wish and prayer for any of you who stop by my place on this first day of 2016. May you look for the good in yourself and in others. May you silence the negative voices in your own head (since many of you are writers, I know you have and listen to those voices – ‘way to often’). May you experience good health or a return to good health whichever may apply. May you enjoy prosperity of Spirit. May you have a true desire to be in some type of service to others; be it simple or complex. May you find joy in all that you do; from the simple mundane things, to the most spectacular. May you find and feel genuine love in your life.

Now that I have those words out of my head, let’s get on with BATTLE OF THE BANDS, shall we?

A few months ago I learned that Allen Toussaint had passed away. I immediately thought of his song ‘Woman Get Out of My Life’, not sure why, but maybe it was one of my less ‘positive days’. Anyway, when I checked YouTube I found that this one had been covered by just about EVERYBODY. So, I decided this would make for a great BATTLE, but then…a chicken crossed my path, and I immediately became distracted. I’m like that sometime.

Next we came up to Christmas and I wanted to use traditional Christmas songs (after all, it’s only two BATTLES a year when that seems appropriate to me). Well, it’s the first day of 2016 and time to finally honor Allen and his contribution to music.

I went with two versions that I like. Both have a very distinctive sound to their band. Also, both are live versions and not necessarily a superior quality video, but I think they are on equal footing in that respect.

First, let’s hear from Mr. Leon Russell;

Next, Mr. Jim Morrison and the Doors:

OK, you guys know the routine. Leave me a comment with your vote and the reason for your choice. When you’ve finished up here, head on over to the site of Mr. BOTB himself and see what he has posted for you. Stephen will also provide an up to date link for all of the participants. You can find him HERE. Please try to vote at every site.

I’ll be back on the 7^th with my vote and the final tally. I DO intend to get around to all of the posted BATTLES, but probably won’t really get to start until after January 3^rd, as I’ll be on the road traveling home. Please be patient with me.

So, until the 7^th or I make a comment for you…Happy Trails!