Monday, March 7, 2016

BATTLE OF THE BANDS RESULTS and A LOT OF EXTRA YAKKETY YAK








I have a lot to talk about today, so this could be a jam packed blog post, or maybe not. We’ll just have to fasten our seat belts and see what shakes out.

First up on the agenda is my BATTLE OF THE BANDS results. Ladies and gentlemen we’ve had another blow out here a Far Away Series. I just can’t seem to get it right and pick two versions that will leave you guys scratching your heads and splitting yer tickets.

In this last BATTLE most everyone said they liked both versions, but one was seriously liked more than the other. They won by a margin of three to one. In the end I have to agree; although I liked both versions, the percussion driven genius of the Ahmad Jamal version won me over.

The final tally:
                            Ahmad Jamal     18 votes (including mine
                       Keith Jarrett Trio      5 votes

Ahmad took the first 7 votes, and for a day or two I thought, oh no, not another dreaded shut-out. So, I extend a great big thank you to the five courageous souls who voted their conscience and gave Keith those five nods.

Next on the agenda is an award I received last week. I don’t normally go in for this sort of chicanery, and normally I just plain don’t have the time. But, since it was my good ole blog buddy Mr. McCarthy who nominated me for this award, and since he held me in such high regard as to include me with others he’s quite partial too; well, how could I resist.

So No I bring to you…


Here are the rules: 

Once accepted, the award process has five steps:
  1. Link back to the person who nominated you
  2. Answer the questions with words AND music
  3. Pass the award on to 5 bloggers who inspire you with their posts about music
  4. Tag your post with #MWA, for Music&Words Award so that we can all find you down the line
  5. Quote these 5 steps and the award icon in your post. You can display the icon on your sidebar as well. 
I don't know how to do "Tags", so I had to leave that part out. But here's the rest of it...

What does music mean to you?

I started to scratch my head over this one, wanting to say something profound, but the very first thing that came to mind was ‘freedom’. To me music is an expression of the soul. Granted some of it seem to come for a quite tortured soul that exposes more than I want to experience, but for the most part it seems to me to be the most free form of creative expression that can take you to the innermost working of the human heart and or mind.
One piece of music can mean many different things to each of us. In fact I think a single piece of music can mean something different or at least conjure up different feelings and emotions to every single person who listens. Sometimes I listen with my head, but most time I listen with my heart. That’s when the deepest meanings and or feelings seem to penetrate my soul.

What is your first music related memory?

This is a toughie. As far as recorded music goes my first memory is of the cowboy troubadours like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers; they were my musical heroes from about the age of 4 or 5. But other musical memories go back to my mother singing with me little nursery rhymes and children’s songs. I don’t remember my mother as being particularly ‘musical’, but I do remember her as sounding like an angel.

What was the first album you’ve purchased yourself?

This question is even tougher. As a kid I didn’t have a lot of money. My family wasn’t exactly poor, but we got by on a pretty modest income and I didn’t get an allowance or have much spending money. I don’t remember purchasing albums. I do remember getting an early Beatles album as a birthday gift from a friend, and not really having an idea who they were. We didn’t watch much TV either. I also liked the ‘Surf sound’ and had some Jan and Dean and Beachboys albums, but I think those were gifts also.

What was the latest music you purchased? (No online streaming or free downloads, I’m talking about cash here!)

I had to read that over carefully, and as I read it this should be able to include downloads as long as they were ‘purchased’ downloads. In that case the most recent purchase I made was the album ‘Trouble’ Ray Lamontagne.

Which song did you listen to last?

Finally, a question that is easy-peasy. ‘My Funny Valentine’ by Chris Botti of the album ‘a Thousand Kisses Deep’.

Ok, no I have to pass this award on to five bloggers. I’ve been doing BATTLE OF THE BANDS for going on three years now. It has grown to include over fifteen participants. We all try to go around and vote on each other’s BATTLES at the first and fifteenth of each month. I also have some very loyal followers who don’t participate, but come on over to my space, listen to what I post, leave a thoughtful comment and vote. I appreciate these guys to the max, and I really enjoy their participation in their own way. So, I’m going to nominate five of them for this ‘Music and Words Award’.

They are:

     CW Martin of the blog Tilting at Windmills
     Bish Denham of the blog Random Thoughts
     Birgit of the blog BB Creations
     Pat Hatt of the blog It's Rhyme time
     Alex J Cavanaugh of the blog Alex J Cavanaugh

HONORABLE MENTION goes to Sehboyganboy VI who doesn’t blog, but has a veritable card catalog of musical knowledge in his head. I’m sure he would have some interesting answers to a post of this sort.

And finally, Mr. McCarthy had a very interesting post recently ‘My Life According to Music’, at least a particular artists music. I thought this was interesting and that I might like to join in the fun. Upon further investigation I realized that Mr. McCarthy lifted the idea from Mr. Bird of Wrote by Rote who initially pinched it from Debbie the Dog Lady of The Dog Ladys Den. Well, anyway it was fun to read their life according to one of their favorite recording artists. I’m gonna play, but since this post has now gone over the thousand word mark, and I need to consult with Mr. Petty. I’m gonna save that for another day (let’s make that day Thursday, March 10th, shall we?). So, I’ll be back before the 15th of March (or The Ides – if you prefer) with that post.



Until then...Happy Trails!


22 comments:

  1. Wow! It's like the dam burst, like the blogging floodgates opened. I don't remember the last time you wrote so many words in a blog bit, FAE.

    Interesting answers. And kinda neat that both of us cut our musical teeth on really old school Country-Western. Sons Of The Pioneers for me - formed by one Roy Rogers of Cincinnati, Ohio. (Born at second base in the old Reds baseball stadium... yes, BEFORE the stadium stood there.)

    OK, so what about the last PHYSICAL album you purchased for yourself. (Presumably a compact disc, I would guess.) What would that be?

    Looking forward to your March 10th blog bit.

    ~ D-FensDogG
    'Loyal American Underground'

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    1. Last actual Cd I purchased; a compilation of Caribbean Christmas songs, I bought while living in 'de islands'. Yeah, I don't buy a lot of music for meself.

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  2. You sure let it flow, way to go. haha I don't know if I can remember my first music related memory, could have been smurf music lol Thanks for the award!

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  3. Sorry the battle was such a land slide. I was trying to make my battle more of a battle too. In the end, it was much closer than it initially was going to be.
    I was nominated for this award too, I think I shall get mine out on Friday. Great answers.

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    1. I'll be looking towards reading your 'musical memories' post. I hope I can remember to get back over the weekend. Your BATTLE was good and pretty close, this time. I checked. We all win some, and then lose some. This one surprised me a bit.

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    2. I finally posted my music and words. I also did another music theme post a lot of people have been posting lately.

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  4. Bummer about it being a blowout, but as you said, both versions are good. Ahmad's version is just... gooder.

    I love your answers. Music definitely is freedom. I certainly feel most free when I'm lost in a great song.

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    1. Ah, another set of my most loyal followers on this BOTB thing. I shall have to find a way to give you guys a special honorable mention (ha,ha, ha - not always a good thing around here). I do sincerely appreciate you two and your votes. You generally have something gooder to say.

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  5. Well, I lost this one too. It happens.

    Congratulations on your nomination for the #M&WA. I'm still getting mine together.

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    1. I'll be looking towards your post also (I just told Jeffrey the same thing). Hopefully, I'll catch it. My blogging is spotty at best.

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  6. It was fun to read about your musical memories and thanks in advance for joining in with "My Life According To...". Looking forward to that post! (N.B. "Doglady" is purposely one word - artistic licence.)

    Ahmad was my choice for the battle as well. Nice to be in good company.

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    1. Thanks Debbie Doglady. Not sure if that was me or my auto correct (we have a running battle - me and auto correct), but, I shall remember it for the future and be sure to check, and go in and auto correct, the auto correct as needed.

      'My Life According to...' will be going up tomorrow. This is really a fun little meme. I wish I had seen it earlier. I also wish it had more circulation. There are a lot of folks I would love to see which artist they would pick and the songs they would use. Very innovative for use music lovers. Thanks again!

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    2. Glad you're participating, FAE. ☺ Cathy @ Curious as a Cathy offered up a Linky for it, so that might help. (Check it out - I edited my original post accordingly.) Also, I've been sharing it all over social media and if everyone does that, it should get more interesting.

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  7. I too was enamored by Jamal's percussion section. But both versions were excellent.

    Great answers that connect with how I'd answer these. Being a kid in the 50's I used to watch cowboy movies and TV shows that often included a cowboy song or two. Roy Rogers was a big favorite so the Sons of the Pioneers were a group I knew well.

    I'll be doing my segment of "Words and Music" on Friday I guess.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Seems a lot of you guys plan to post your 'Words and Music' award on Friday. Fridays are hard for me to check out the blogs other than on my phone, but when I do that, I usually can't comment, but because I've read the post, I usually forget to go back and make a comment. Ah, the trials!!!

      I'm making a note at my computer to check out some of these posts over the weekend. Probably, Sunday, because I have to work on Friday and Saturday.

      BTW, I enjoyed your 'My Life According to...' post and all the others I read so much, I decided to join in. Mine will go up tomorrow. But, those of you who have working 'dashboards' will probably see it. I did something in my computer to screw up my dashboard awhile back, so I have to check blogs individually. It can probably be fixed, but then 'you know me'.

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  8. Hmm... looks like Martin World News gets pushed to next week...

    I thank you for the nomination, which is something I rarely do with things that require me to DO something, but on the subject matter I can't help it. Stay tuned for the post to come!

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    1. You are most welcome. I really do appreciate your support of my BOTB. I know I've become a bad blogger, in that I don't get around to many sites other than BOTB, I have just had to work too much lately. Try to gibe me a heads up when you post this (if you can), because I would really like to see it.

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    2. Baring catastrophe, it should be up...

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  9. YAAAAAAYYYY! I finally picked a winner! Ladies and gents, mark your calendars that we may celebrate this day every year.

    Even a broken clock is right twice a day, right? I AM THAT BROKEN CLOCK, FAE!

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  10. Some battles just don't turn out the way we think they will. I thought it was a good battle though Fae and I enjoyed it!
    I also enjoyed reading your answers to the Music and Words Award post. LOVED your answer to what music means to you. YES! Music IS freedom! Well said.
    And I loved what you said about your mom's voice sounding like an angel. That made my heart swell...

    Glad you took part in the Music and Words!

    Michele at Angels Bark

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  11. http://amanteinfiel01comienzo.blogspot.com.co/2016/03/04-definicion-y-aclaraciones.html?m=1

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