George Martin and I, that is… my YouTube friend from Scotland. We did a duet of “Devoted to You” by Carly Simon and James Taylor. Pictures are of northeastern France, taken in January of this year, before the coronavirus bullshit.
James and Carly released their version of this song on Carly’s 1978 album Boys in the Trees. A few weeks ago, I suggested this song to George and he kindly learned to play it and sing James Taylor’s part so we could do this duet. It was earlier done by The Everly Brothers.
I don’t know why. Usually, in the morning, I have “morning voice”, and it takes awhile before it’s all clear and crisp. Today, I’m sounding unusually good.
Some guy on SingSnap, name of “SultanOfSwoon” (love that name), sang a duet with me. It was “Something Good”, from The Sound of Music. I liked his voice, so I went to see if he had any open duets I could join him on. Most of the stuff he had open weren’t really duet songs, but I did find a nice guitar version of “Never Fall in Love Again” that he did. So I joined him…
And then I did a few other songs. I’m particularly happy with this version of “I’ll Build A Stairway to Paradise”, a song I only know because I own a tribute album to Larry Alder, the great harmonica player, that came out in 1994. Issy Van Randwyck, of Four Bitchin’ Babes, did a very pretty version of it. I always liked it, but could never find an instrumental of it that I could cover. Someone uploaded a karaoke version of Michael Feinstein’s rendition, so I altered the key and gave it a go. This was my second attempt. I could probably really do this justice if I practiced. I seem to have a knack for Gershwin.
This is a great album, if you can find it.
I love to do jazz songs, but jazz isn’t my favorite kind of music. It just seems to be a good genre for me. I also love to do bluegrass, and sometimes when I’m feeling particularly energetic, I like doing rock… but I’m getting too old for rock songs. 😉 I know a lot of people would, for whatever reason, rather read my rants than listen to my musical efforts. Personally, I think my music is more pleasant than my writing. At least it’s not as full of profanity, most of the time. But then, some people enjoy profanity. I do, as long as it’s done creatively. I don’t like reading things where every other word is “fuck” or “shit”, but if a person uses profanity intelligently and judiciously, I have no problem with occasional cursing.
Anyway… it’s Friday, and Bill is working from home again, although he did get a negative COVID-19 result. I shared the news with Facebook friends, and got well over 125 likes. That was probably the most popular post I’ve ever written. Unfortunately, even with a negative COVID-19 test today, that doesn’t mean he or I couldn’t get exposed tomorrow. It’s probably inevitable, despite all of the precautionary measures people are taking. Yesterday, I walked Arran and there was an elderly lady ahead of us, walking with poles. I could tell she was doing her best to “social distance”, so I gave her a wide berth. I heard her say “Danke.” as I passed. She may have a condition that puts her at a higher risk.
Bill says he’ll probably be working from home for at least 60 days. I don’t usually like to sing when he’s around, but he doesn’t mind… and singing helps stave off depression and anxiety. So I’ll sing, and hope things get better soon. It makes me sad to think about being confined like this as the weather gets better.
I don’t have much else to write about right now. I mean, I could write about a lot of things, but most of them would just make me feel shitty and depressed. So I think I’ll get back to making music– maybe do a couple more songs. And then I will go do some reading and maybe watch some more bad TV. It’s basically just my normal life in general, only Bill is here to witness it during the daytime.
Sorry for anyone coming here looking for deep commentary. I know I have a few people who read because they like my anti-Trump rants. I just don’t have it in me today. March has been a very strange month on many levels. On one level, it’s been great, because Bill finally reconnected with his daughter and was able to give her a long awaited (15 years!) hug. He got to meet his grandchildren and his son-in-law. That was amazing and wonderful. On another… well, if you’re a regular reader, you probably know. We’re luckier than a lot of people, though. I’m trying to look on the bright side as much as possible. Maybe this weekend, we’ll plant a garden.
I’ll probably be ready to bitch about Trump again by Monday.
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