Paul McCartney Tosses Off A “G” Gem!
Just a guy at a piano, but what came from the mind of Paul McCartney was genius and a great way to begin my “Songs For Sunday” – with a varied look at songs – or bands – that begin with the letter “G”!
Because of that, you’ve got Beatles, Blur, Bond, Genesis and Gaucho too! Let’s go!
These Guys Messing About In The Studio!
Yes, take four Beatles and a collection of songs, and what do you get? Another of their masterpieces, including this great song from Paul!
“Got To Get You Into My Life” by The Beatles
This is one of Paul’s great slices of upbeat pop, from the “Revolver” album – it was also a huge hit for Earth, Wind & Fire.
Here is a terrific live performance by Paul at The White House for then-President Obama!
The Beatles released the greatest music of all time, and the “Revolver” album is an amazing collection of great pop hits, ballads and experimentation…see more about the 50th anniversary of this masterpiece here:
If you needed some Damon Albarn and Blur, well I’ve got that as well:
Taken from Blur’s 3rd studio album ‘Parklife’ released in 1994, which featured the hit singles ‘Girls And Boys’, ‘End of a Century’, ‘Parklife’ and ‘To the End’.
Some of you may know that I love British rock, especially by bands with one word names, like Coldplay, Doves, Elbow, Keane, Athlete, Oasis and more!
See them all here:
Next up is a band that hasn’t been given as much credit as they deserve – perhaps because they posed like this for an album cover:
Grand Funk Railroad – “We’re An American Band”
They had a pretty good collection of rock hits, but this song is the classic – life on the road for “an american band”:
“We’re coming to your town
We’ll help you party down
We’re An American Band”
Here’s a great live performance from 1974:
One of my favorite Artists, Todd Rundgren, produced this album – click here for a closer look, and also see how The Simpsons celebrated the music of Grand Funk Railroad as well!
The biggest selling duo in music history is getting the acclaim they deserve now as well:
“Go Solo” – Daryl Hall and John Oates
Daryl Hall and John Oates have so many mega-hits, like “She’s Gone”, “Kiss On My List” and “Sara Smile”, but in the early 80’s, this song turned up as an album cut on their big hit “H2O” – here is the video:
Here is a look at some other album tracks from their great body of work – fun music videos as well!
Next up, a look at some of the greatest James Bond 007 theme songs, like this one:
“Goldfinger” by Shirley Bassey
The third film in the 007 series started off with a big, bold and brassy theme song that cemented James Bond as the coolest guy in the world…and Bassey as one of our greatest vocalists…here she is performing the song live:
“Goldfinger” is considered one of the greatest Bond films, and themes as well, but what is the best? Well, here is my list of the “best” and “worst” Bond songs of all:
Next up, a band that lost its lead vocalist, and then became one of the biggest selling groups…welcome to the world of Genesis:
Genesis – “Turn It On Again”
At the dawn of the 80’s, a new Genesis, now with lead vocals by Drummer Phil Collins, arrived with a song that begins with a catchy guitar riff and explodes into the sound that would make them one of the best-selling groups of the decade…here is the music video:
A great new documentary brought the entire band back together, including original lead singer Peter Gabriel, for a candid look at the band…see more here:
Finally, another band refined its sound in the 80’s:
“Gaucho” by Steely Dan
After the phenomenal success of “Aja” at the end of the 70’s, Steely Dan cemented their new blues/jazz funk on their next album from 1980, and the title track is a great example of their sound.
Here’s an audio only version of the song, so beautiful I chose to include it without video:
Fans of the band were stunned to lose Walter Becker – here is a look at the band he founded with Donald Fagen:
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Let me know what great “G” songs or bands I missed!
Categories: Art, Books / Media, Classic Rock, Music, Obscure Music, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, The Beatles
John, this is so good, so jam-packed, it could have been a week’s worth of posts. Love it!!
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I love the intro to We’re An American Band—who doesn’t love a little cowbell? I’m a huge Genesis fan, and they have a strong opening on this tune too. I still get chills listening to their song, Mama.
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To me this Genesis song introduced the 80;s sound …MAMA is a great song as well, very much in the vibe of “In The Air Tonight” which was of course a Phil solo song, because they all agreed his personal breakup music was more suited for solo release not Genesis
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And in the spirit of Goldfinger, I’d add the song Ghostbusters!
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He’s larger than life. It’s a shame his post-Beatle group is rarely mentioned. I loved Ram.
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Yes, RAM is a great solo album…Pete doesn’t care much for him or The Beatles but we all have our own taste! Thanks for commenting!
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A great selection here. Love Grand Funk Railroad especially.
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Thank you – they are a band lost to time to a degree but they had a nice run of hit songs!
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A great trip down memory lane
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Thanks for reading!
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It never got any better for me than Steely Dan.
Blur were great though, a very London sound. Damon Albarn also went on to do some amazing things after, including ‘Gorillaz’. Nice choices, John. (Beatles excluded for me, naturally. 🙂 )
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, the “Gaucho” album is a perfect blend of pop and jazz…incredible musicians and catchy songs too! Thanks for reading, knew you’d bypass Macca!
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You have featured some amazing songs here, John. I love Goldfinger and I liked the movie too.
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Thanks Robbie! Hope all is well for you!
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Back to work today!
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