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Blogwhoring, chatting, relaxing, headline-sharing, you know the drill…
Relaxing and staying away from the keyboard is really, really hard for me. I’ve only put up a couple of posts this weekend, and spent a good deal of time unconscious. Last night I was on Facebook and in another window I was listening to Anita Baker videos to relax. Her album Rapture (1986) was her masterpiece. Seven years ago, I loaded it on my now-ancient MP3 player and that was what I listened to as I sat on a beautiful meditation point on The Big Island (Hawaii) all by myself.
Songs from Rapture were on our CD of wedding music five years ago. So I associate the soothing, smooth sounds of Anita Baker with peace, love and tranquility. It’s no surprise that I turned to it last night when I was in pain, woozy and wanted to hear those healing songs. I’m not alone in loving the Queen of Quiet Storm. My FB page of links to a few of the videos brought quite chimes in of appreciation for Baker.
A couple of videos…
Below left, the song most people think of when they hear the name Anita Baker, Sweet Love. On the right, from a later album, 1994′s Rhythm of Love, another favorite, Body and Soul.
What album do you turn to when you need to chill/get away from the world/heal?Sweet Love (Live). Proves that she’s not a studio creation.
45 Comments
Hmmmm…relaxing music tends to make me bluerAnd I love “Rapture”; I had in on vinyl.
I tend to turn to Earth, Wind and Fire when I’m feeling down. “Sing a Song” picks me up.
If I need to listen to someone more upset than I am, I go to Alice in Chains “Unplugged” album. (“No Excuses”)
Here’s the best song ever if you’re feeling low: “Soar” by Christina Aguilera:
It variesOn my now dead computer, I had the better part of 300 videos ranging from current to 1970s. So… I am slowly rebuilding the list.
Usually, it’s guitar stuff. But lately, I’ve been listening to alot of ’80s music, especially Australian rock:
Somewhere up in the attic, I still have this one (“Cargo” by Men At Work), 3 or 4 dozen cassettes and some albums.
YupLove this:
And this:
Oh, and here’s a new video — The Black Mormons feauturing Public Enemy and Anthrax“Hate! How Low Can You Go?”
Fly me to the MoonBy Sarah Vaughn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
All By Myself -Il Divo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Album Getz/Gilberto 1965The bosa nova album ‘Getz/Gilberto’ that features “The Girl from Ipanema’. Yes its elevator muzak. But my mom would put that on after the 3am feeding and changing when I was like way little. I fell asleep to it every time. Now days when ever I hear it I think of my mom and stuff….and get wayyyy sleepy. LOL.
To Relax?Do I EVER?
At the top of my head, Touch Me In The Morning by Diana Ross. I’m burned out on the title track, but the first few songs on that LP are mostly ballads and great to relax to.
Plus I LOVE the LP cover!
http://images.uulyrics.com/cov…
several CDs (oh who am I kidding they are always ablums in my mind)I’ve never even proceeded to MP3s
Rita Coolidge…. Nice Feelin’
couldn’t find that song on video, here’s… We’re all Alone
http://video.google.com/videos…
Otis Redding…..Try a Little Tenderness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
k d lang…..most of her ablums, I’ll Walk Barefoot In The Snow For You (is a favorite)
http://www.dailymotion.com/vid…
Issac Hayes…..By The Time I get to Phoenix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Rod Stewart ….old standards ablum
What A Wonderful You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Melissa Etheridge’s …. You Can Sleep While I Drive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
James Taylor’s ….Up On The Roof
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Dionne Warwick’s ….Walk On By
http://www.dailymotion.com/vid…
Ahhhh! k.d. lang “So It Shall Be”
“Save Me” k.d. lang
ooops What a Wonderful World by Rod Stewart
Lutz KirchhofLutz Kirchhof playing Weiss.
I don’t know about relaxingBut when I need to just sit and listen to something, these find my way into the stereo:
Closer, by Joy Division
Head Over Heels, By Cocteau Twins
The Serpent’s Egg, by Dead Can Dance
or A Lifetime Away, by Perfume Tree
WellMy iTunes library has a number of quiet storm in it. Hell, right now I’m listening to Blue Magic – The Side Show.
It’s funny – my iTune library gets populated by what I hear on Pandora.com based on my suggestions of what I like.
But then if you look at my last.fm profile Earth Wind & Fire ranks #1.
Ahhhh, those videos bring back memories…
Half the delight of seeing Baker in concert that first year at the glorious Paramount theatre in Oakland was her dancing with herself while she sang. And, yes, I, too, went through a period playing Rapture over and over.
Also, a kind of “best of” single compilation from the three CDs that Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong recorded together.
Barbra’s Classical album.
Mahalia’s Live at Newport 1958
Judy Collin’s Wildflowers
One I can’t find a CD of: Laurindo Almeida’s Reverie for Spanish Guitars.
Verdi & Puccini Duets with Leontyne Price & Placido Domingo.
Betty Buckley’s The London Concert.
The release of Judy at Carnegie Hall containing her enchanting in-between-songs patter; sometimes just what was the first side of the two-LP set with the mesmerizing Do It Again and he cathartic Alone Together.
Sometimes I simply put a single track on repeat, over and over and over:
Leontyne’s tour de force Tu? Tu? Piccolo Iddio! from Butterfly, which, no pun intended, is good for opening an emotional vein, or the ethereal La Rondine Chi Il Bel Sogno Di Doretta from La Rondine.
Eartha’s Everything Changes.
Linda Eder’s wrist slasher When I Look At You or Buckley’s Tell Me On A Sunday.
Or listen to every version of Danny Boy on Imeem. You have not LIVED until you’ve heard the version by Jackie Wilson.
Or one of Patti’s supersonic performances of Over the Rainbow BEFORE she, sadly, lost control of her vibrato. That it lasted as long as it did is a miracle, and each of the three times I saw her perform this in person was the closest a card carrying athiest can come to a religious experience.
Finally, it doesn’t exactly fit the thread but it’s as good an excuse as any to share this rare amateur film of an historical moment when two giants were in the same room at the same time and the Spirit hit one just as the other was about to speak. They don’t make such anymore and we are poorer for it in more ways than one. If LGBTs had moments like this we might be legally free, too.
Jazz. Always jazzToday it was Curtis Fuller. other days it’s Maria Schneider or Oscar Peterson or you name it.
Nothing beats down the blahs or sands off the rough edges like living music. Keep the pretty packaged music. Put on music that constantly surprises us.
MP3No MP3?
I love my LP’s, CD’s and all that – but I love MP3′s just as much because I can carry several pounds worth of music in something about the size of a cell phone.
Of course nothing beats having the actual album with the artwork, liner notes and all that good stuff.
While the Quiet Storm is always relaxing, and I’ve loved Anita since a young age…my roots run a little more in this direction, and these folks are a little less commercial (and from NC).
Be sure to watch the local folks come in and dance at the 1:37 mark.
There’s something about a down home reunion/jam session that does a body good.
Oh, that’s easyNew Beginning by Tracy Chapman.
When I’m feeling depressed, down on myself, or pessimistic about the world in general, I listen to that album. Her lyrics are the most perfect description of how I feel, so it reminds me that I’m not alone. It tends to lift me out of my funk and leave me feeling more hopeful and ready to move on.
Annie Lennox’s Medusa
Rita Coolidge and Kris KristophersonHelp Me make It Through The Night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Rolling Stones…..Sister MorphineWhen I’d need to just escape the insanity of the all alcoholic household I was raised in, I’d put on my headphones on and just check out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Cat Stevens….Where Will The Children Play? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Cat Stevens…..Trouble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Cat Stevens….If you want To Sing Out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Springsteen….Streets Of Philadephia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Roberta Flack….Killing Me Softly With His Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Fugees and Roberta Flack…Killing Me Softly With his Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Ray Charles…Whatd I Say http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Cleo Laine and Ray Charles – Porgy and Bess medley from the 70s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Cleo Laine – Not While I’m Around
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
singles & discsSome singles I’ve been listening to on endless repeat lately:
Both Sides Now
Joni Mitchell re-recorded her classic (also sung by Judy Collins) in 2000. She also did a studio version that appeared on the soundtrack to the movie “Love, Actually.” I’m mad for it. JM no longer has her high range, and her vibrato is failing. But emotion and life experience resonate powerfully and hypnotically all through her voice. This is stop-you-in-your-tracks stunning.
Eva Cassidy had a talent for making songs her own. Check out
Honeysuckle Rose
Imagine
Songbird
Last one actually makes me forget the original; something I would have thought impossible. Instead of a child’s wistfulness, it becomes a woman’s lament. Somewhere Over the Rainbow
But especially lately, Jill Scott’s Family Reunion.
For discs, I rediscovered George Michael’s “Older” on a road trip, and it was terrific road music. There’s a real sense of personal journey and transition to it, and the cuts vary in style & tempo but are still all of a piece.
On the public radio show Sound Opinions a few weeks ago, the hosts (who usually review rock exclusively) gave a plug for the jazz release “The Bright Mississippi” by Allen Toussaint, released in April. Waiting for it to arrive, but from the clips I’ve heard, I expect I’ll be playing it a lot.
And there’s always Ella and Sarah; rocks when I need tonic for the soul.
I fight new technology until they make it nearly impossible not to changeI hoped I wouldn’t have to get a computer til you could just talk to it and not have to type.
I have no MP3 player, and to be blunt, I don’t enjoy re-buying the same music I have in two other formats…and I go back to 8-track players, and 45′s, hell even a few 78′s.
I had never heard of Eva Cassidy until last weekWe watched a CD of a wedding reception we designed, and they used Eva Cassidy’s…Fields of Gold in the ceremony.
for queer healingI almost forgot …
What if LGBTs were loved and accepted by our parents/caregivers from even before we understood what we were? Listen to folk singer/ activist Fred Small’s “Everything Possible.” (The Flirtations’ version on YouTube is decent enough, but listen to Fred’s for the full effect.) He also does a lesbian-affirming song called “Annie” that I enjoy. And for affirming queer cabaret that is only a little bit dusty, try Tom Wilson Weinberg’s “Ten Percent Revue” from 1987.
New Age or Native American music …
For those interested in Native American music ….you can go to http://www.ktnnonline.com , the radio station of the Navajo Nation.
I enjoy listening to it when it is in range driving around upper Arizona or when I have traveled across country to Arizona.
And what is most interesting, all of the annoucers speak in Navajo rather than English the majority of the time.
Eva CassidyShe always does my favorite version of the oft-remade True Colors. It’s really beautiful.
I’m a Detroit Boy soAnita is perfect for quiet storm. Of course, Pam, you also need to go back to Anita’s very first hit, Angel from her album, the Songstress
Other Quiet Storm faves:
Luther Vandross- A House is Not a Home
Chaka Khan-Fire (Mary J. Blige had no business even attempting to sing this.)
Diana Ross- Theme from Mahogany (I remembermy Mom and Stepdad taking me to the Drive-in to see “Mahagony” It’s not all that great of a movie, but it is an integral movie to my awakening as a queen!)
No Need To Re-Buy Your MusicI’d say I have at least 1,000 CD’s and CD maxi singles (a good portion thanks to Half Price Books! LOL), and I simply rip which CD’s I want on my MP3 player.
And because many LP’s I love have never been reissued on CD, I’ve transferred them from the vinyl album myself. Or cassette tape, depending on which source I have.
To this day, I’ve only bought 4 MP3′s via iTunes. Why do that when I’ve got my own library of music? LOL
I used to bother with recording cassette tapes from ablums to take in the carBut in my list, Dionne Warrick and Issac Hayes and Rita Coolidge I had on 8 track. Aretha and Janis Joplin I probably had on 8 track, 45s, ablums, cassettes I recorded or bought, and CDs. I no longer have an 8 track player, or turntable, but probably in storage lockers my ablums and cassettes are stored.
I just don’t bother very much anymore, but I am glad, YouTube has videos of much of what I have in other mediums.
I also don’t drive 1/100th of what I did in my younger working days, and I drive with my hubby who rarely even likes the radio on.
One nice thing in some of my 3rd shift jobs in SecurityI had 8 hours a night where I could listen to music playing in my office. I was also able to read or sketch in times I had no other duties to perform.
No 8-Tracks HereI used to have a few KISS 8-tracks and a tiny portable 8-track player that I found at a yard sale many years ago, but I don’t know what happened to them. In most cases, if an album was released on 8-track, it was also released on vinyl and possibly cassette tape.
And beings music IS my main hobby, I always look for the best source to record from – even if I have to buy a factory sealed tape on eBay, which has been unplayed and will give you the best possible sound. Most record labels are too lazy to release the obscure and out-of-print albums I love, so I set up my own recording studio (with turntable, cassette deck, etc.) and do the “remastering” myself! LOL
Part of my change in musicThere are few newer artists I get really excited about. I also once lived in the center of the largest gay ghetto in Minneapolis, and it was peppered with old used music stores, as well as old bookstores, that I would walk to daily.
Now I’m very rural and even the nearest signs of a store is a Walmart, 30 minute drive from me.
“Save the Planet…it’s our only source of chocolate”I was browsing a book of vintage postcards, and happened by this saying.
Nearest to Pam requestTry Adrian Gurvitz “Acoustic Heart”
iTunes has it but lists the Artist as
Eidorianga Bittsu
Seeing all the youtube links I looked for
Adrian but the best I found was with his
brother Paul and Ginger Baker.
Baker Gurvitz Army ‘The Artist’
Anita Baker’s Rapture AlbumI LOVED that as a teenager, which always made me feel slightly disconnected from my peer group. Which was oriented around the stylings of “Whitesnake” and “Bon Jovi”.
ahh – my next bumper sticker! /nt
For me,It’s pretty much anything Celtic – Clannad, Enya, etc. I do love Anita Baker, though. The epitome of cool.
Feel Sorry For You!I couldn’t survive without a record store in driving distance! LOL
Ever since around 2002, we’ve had more than 10 CD stores close (mainly several Wherehouse Music and CD Warehouse locations), but we do have 1 huge record store which has just as much vinyl and cassette as they do CD. The only problem is they tend to be overpriced with their vinyl (which is why I also shop at Half Price Books – much more affordable).
And speaking of which, I just got my new 45 in the mail today!: a promo 45 of The Supremes final single from 1977, with a rare mono mix and the standard stereo mix on the other side! FUN!!!