Dawn Is Me

I told you before about some of my recent strolls down musical memory lane, where I’m finally admitting to myself that the ’70s was a pretty good decade.

It wasn’t all disco and polyester, ya know.

In the land of R&B/funk/jazz and the various hybrids boasting real musicians who reveled in experimenting with musical forms from other cultures, it was a real good time.

I’m remembering those days (again) via the appropriately entitled Songs In The Key Of Life.

The biggest difference between Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire is that people have heard of Stevie Wonder. It had been such a long time since I’d listened to this amazing album that I forgot just how amazing it was.

(Another case of me having the vinyl and nothing to play it on … )

If you know me at all, then you know that all this musical stuff really, really matters to me. When I listen, really listen, to music and I tell you that it moves me, that means I can feel every instrument I hear in every cell in my body. I can’t even describe what it does to me.

If you know what I mean, you know what I mean. If you don’t, then just do yourself a favor and don’t try to talk to me while I’m singing. Or, at least, don’t talk to me if you expect me to answer you.

So, yeah, about Stevie …

When I was in high school, I belonged to an a cappella group called Octet. One of the traditions of this group was that the graduating seniors got to do a solo that was added to the repertoire for that school year.

My senior year was weird because, that year, everybody in Octet was a senior. So there was a major scramble for each senior to choose a song and for the rest of us to learn it.

My song was one of the last ones added to our … um … act. I wound up doing some Barbara Streisand ballad because the rest of the girls in the group couldn’t get it together to perform the song that was my original choice:

This is one of those songs that I’m talking about when I say I can feel the music in every cell in my body. Especially these drum rolls — they sound to me like spiritual thunder rolling right through my heart:

And, finally, nothing in particular to say about this song except that it’s a lot of fun to sing:

“Genius” is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot when it comes to music industry superstars. Personally, I think Stevie deserves the label.

(Here’s a piece of music trivia for you. Back in 1974 or so, Stevie came out with a surprisingly political song called You Haven’t Done Nothing. Singing background vocals on that cut was The Jackson 5, many years before Michael and Jermaine went solo.

At the time, The Jackson 5 was really, really huge, with worldwide audiences of fainting teenaged girls, etc., the whole nine years. But, rumor had it that they were excited and thrilled and humbled to get to sing with Stevie Wonder … ’cause, hey, it’s Stevie! Not just a star but a legend.)

“If she calls me a cunt one more time, I’m gonna smash her face into the ground.”

This is what I heard first thing yesterday morning. In fact, it is what dragged me from the “cloying mists of sleep.”

Not my preferred way of waking up but there was worse to come.

“Oh, and you can tell her than George and I had sex. George didn’t want her to know but, if he’s gonna treat me like shit, then I’m gonna tell her.”

Ooooo-kay, and that’s really just way more than I ever wanted to know about my neighbors in any lifetime.

Fortunately, before this sort of thing had the chance to give me nightmares, I got to rediscover some old musical friends: Earth, Wind & Fire.

If you are my age, you ought to know who they were with no further explanation on my part. If you are, say, my daughters’ ages, you probably have no clue.

I’m going to give you some examples, in chronological order. First up is one of those tunes that has always fondly lived in my memory on the list of Music To Get Laid By:

This next one is a true R&B classic, from the undisputed very best album the band ever did:

This last one I’m sharing with you was a tough call. It’s from Faces, released in 1980, the last of EWF’s truly great albums. This one was a double set, too, which just made it that much better. This particular album has so many great songs on it, most of which just happen to be available on YouTube, that it was tough to decide which one to post here.

So, that is my contribution to your musical education.

They just don’t do it like this anymore. This is real musicianship, complex and interesting music with multi-cultural flavors and brilliant instrumental and vocal arrangements. This is what I was listening to in my teens and early twenties, and this is why I love music.

Not to mention the fact that this sort of stuff makes it really easy to forget about the neighbors who shout details of their sex lives in the middle of the street at 9 am on a Saturday morning.

Earth, Wind & Fire: still my cure for nightmares.

Before this amazing week is completely gone, I wanted to give a brief nod to the historic event most of us watched on Tuesday afternoon.

Not being much given to schlock, I won’t gush. But I do want to share a musical tribute to the event recorded by Da G.

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[-sniff- Mother is so very proud of you, darling ... ]