The Boy Has Arrived (As Have My #BOTB Results)

Rain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Out of Character in California

      El Niño has stormed in with great vigor here in Southern California. Cold, cloudy, and intermittently rainy, the predicted weather phenomena is dumping much needed precipitation on the drought-stricken desert land of SoCal and forecasters are promising more to come. Let's hope this rainfall takes care of some of the water problems and Governor Jerry Brown can shut up about it. Of course like any dutiful politician Governor Moonbeam will continue spouting off about something, be it a bullet train or whatever hokum he rattles about in the months to come.

       The problem with the rain is that now that I'm shaking off my sickness acquired during the holiday break, I'm trying to avoid getting all wet and cold so now I'm waiting for a break in the rain so I can restock our empty pantries after our vacation return. Now that we're home I guess we probably should start eating in again and stop going out for food. I think we need to eat sometimes, but probably don't need to be going to fast food joints or restaurants or wherever.

     

So what else is new?

      Well, we've got that Lost & Found: Valentine's Edition Blog Hop featuring your special stories and thoughts about the subject of love come and gone.  You can click on the preceding link in order to get more info and to sign up.  Or you can click on the badge in my sidebar.  We're getting good participation so far and I think we're going to get some excellent entries.  It happens on February 1st and if you do the Battle of the Bands on that day don't worry:  You can combine the two events with a song expressing the topic--so far a few of us will be doing just that.

     

         On January 15 I'll be joining in the Backstage Blogathon which will also coincide with a Battle of the Bands post. If you're a film buff you will definitely want to check this out. Click the badge in my sidebar for details.

Battle of the Bands!  Battle of the Bands!

        I've already mentioned it twice in this post so I might as well do it again.  After all today is the day when the winner of my most recent Battle is to be announced.   This Battle was a good one to start the new year--"What's New" was the song and the competing artists were Artie Shaw with Helen Forrest on vocals against the Nelson Riddle Orchestra featuring Linda Ronstadt on vocals. 

        The outcome of this Battle actually surprised me.  Since Linda Ronstadt was the more contemporary choice and most likely had the greater name recognition I figured her version to be the shoo-in.  Boy, was I off on that forecast!   

        As for my own vote I really wavered on my favorite as I love both of these versions.   It's hard to beat that big band sound of Artie Shaw to my ears and Helen Forrest does a splendid job with the vocals.  Though some voters found Ronstadt's version to be too slow, boring, and sad, I think she puts a sense of drama depicting a wistful conversational tone to what she is singing which to me is very appropriate for the melancholy sentiment of the song.  Nelson Riddle's orchestral arrangement is lush and dripping with sentimentality.  I really like what they do with the song.

         For me it was a tough choice, but in the end I'm going to go with the majority and choose the multifaceted arrangement of Artie Shaw's big band.  I hear the audience noise in the background of the recording and realize it was done live.  I wish I could go back in time to be there.  Great stuff!

Final Vote Tally

Artie Shaw with Helen Forrest              17 votes

Linda Ronstadt with Nelson Riddle      11 votes

       How's the weather where you are?   Do you usually eat home-cooked meals or take-out?    Were you surprised about the outcome of this Battle?

        Next Battle of the Bands post will appear on January 15th!  Hey, that's next Friday!

What's New? (#BOTB) --Happy New Year!

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Happy New Year!

     There's something sad about New Years Day--or maybe melancholy is the better word. That's how I see it at least. It's another year of life gone by with a new one looming ahead. When I was much younger that old year seemed like a lifetime, but now I have a lifetime of many years that now seemed to have passed much too swiftly.

     Those many many years ago I saw the future as an unfathomable distance in time. Now the future is an unknowable destiny that could be reached tomorrow or in still many more years. I'd like to think the latter is the case. Ten, twenty, eighty more years--I'll take what I get and only hope that I have used them wisely.

        And so at hand we have yet another year ahead of us.  It's a new year now, but it's getting older with each moment that passes.   So what about you this year?   What's new?

Battle of the Bands

        Another year has come to an end which brings us to the start of another month which means it's time for another Battle of the Bands, the blogging event first introduced by our friends at Far Away Series and  StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens twice each month on the 1st and 15th.   The premise is simple:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.

          Here's the song for this round:

"What's New?"

          Originally composed and recorded in 1938 as an instrumental called "I'm Free" for Bob Crosby's Orchestra (click the link if you're curious to hear this version), the song title was changed to "What's New" when the lyrics were added the following year.  The song has since been recorded by many.  My Battle pits an early version with a female vocalist against a later version also featuring a female vocalist.  It's a bit of old and new with the song "What's New?"

Artie Shaw with Helen Forrest  "What's New?" (1939)

          Here's one of the early renditions of the song with a female vocalist.  It's upbeat, but still to me there's a sadness to this.  For one thing the melody has a bit of a sad sound and the lyrics are a bit poignant.  Then again it just might be that the song is an old one--can you believe over 75 years?  It's many yesterdays ago.  Still it's nice to hear again.




Linda Ronstadt "What's New"  (1983)

        Some 44 years after the previous recording came Linda Ronstadt with her genre changing album backed by Nelson Riddle's orchestra.  I think she was at the top of her game with this exquisite release.  She puts a classic touch on some of the classics of pop music.  After this came out I purchased a copy on cassette.  Ronstadt's album was a regular in my listening rotation back in the mid-80's.   Now enjoy and compare to the first version.





Time to Vote!

        This is nothing new to most of you, but if you're visiting a Battle of the Band post for the first time then let me briefly explain.  Please give each song version a fair listen to decide which version you prefer over the other.   If you don't like either then at least tell us which recording was least innocuous to you.  This comes down to your preference and it's as easy as that.

      Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours

Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ 

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

 ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ 

  'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

DC Relief Battle of the Bands

The Doglady's Den 

Angel's Bark  

Cherdo on the Flipside  

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Janie Junebug Righting & Editing.
  
Book Lover

J. A. Scott  

Quiet Laughter

Holli's Hoots and Hollers

NovelBrews

Be ReInVintaged

Results on Friday January 8th

       It's vacation time right now, but I should have a week to catch up and get back to a norm of sorts.  Since I'm traveling right now I might be a bit slow getting to your posts so bear with me.  I've got lots planned for January including another blockbuster combo post for the next Battle of the Bands on the 15th.   At that time not only will I be participating in the Backstage Blogathon, but I'll be presenting a song that corresponds to my movie pick.   Click the link if you want more info about the Backstage Blogathon.