Mark Pentleton » Eflat-maj

361/365 Songs: What are you doing New Year’s Eve? – Frank Loesser

admin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:51:07 +0000

Today’s song dates from 1947 and was written by Frank Loesser, the lyricist of over 700 songs from films and musicals including Baby, it’s cold outside, On a slow boat to China, Two sleepy people and the musical Guys and Dolls. The first time I heard this song it was sung by Harry Connick Jr and I’ve since heard other versions including Diana Krall’s version from her Christmas Songs album. I hope whatever you’re doing on New Year’s Eve you enjoy it and are surrounded by family and friends and everyone special to you!

344/365 Songs: The Christmas Song – Nat King Cole

admin — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 06:45:13 +0000

This is one of my all-time favourite Christmas songs, and it has to be the original Nat King Cole version from 1946! It was written by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells in the heat of the 1944 summer: the idea was that Tormé and Wells would “stay cool by thinking cool” about Jack Frost biting at your nose and folks dressed up like Eskimos. Forty minutes later and the pair had written the most-performed Christmas song (according to the BMI) in history!

335/365 Songs: Winter Wonderland

admin — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:07:07 +0000

And so, December has begun and across the UK we’re surrounded by snow. I’m currently in Edinburgh working on the Apple K20 tour and the city is looking fantastic with snow everywhere. The event is taking place at Edinburgh Castle and I took a few photos this morning before things got started properly.

Winter Wonderland is one of the most well-known Christmas songs. It was written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith, and has been recorded by hundreds of artists from around the world. I hope you enjoy my rendition!

307/365 Songs: Misty – Ella Fitzgerald

admin — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:23:44 +0000

It’s November and since most of December’s 365songs will probably have a festive feel, I’ve been having a look at some of the songs that I really enjoy playing that I want to fit in before the end of the month. I couldn’t believe that I’d not played Misty! This song dates from 1954 and was written by Erroll Garner but has been covered by many artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Frank Sinatra. I recorded this this evening and it was only after I’d played it that I realised that my recorder was still set to mono. Of course when I then rerecorded it in stereo it didn’t quite seem as good. The third and fourth version weren’t much better! I’ve posted my fifth (stereo) version but also the original mono – I’ll be interested to hear what you think! For info, the top player below is the stereo version and the bottom one is the mono.

294/365 Songs: Guantanamera

admin — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 22:20:53 +0000

This song dates from the 1920s and is probably one of the most well-known Cuban songs. It has been covered by many artists, from Nana Mouskouri to Tito Puente and Joan Baez. The song was traditionally used as a vehicle for social commentary, with performers improvising verses according to events or situations, but always returning to the traditional chorus. Joseíto Fernández, a Cuban radio presenter, wrote the song and regularly used it with different verses in his radio show, commenting on the days events through improvised lyrics. Today’s random fact is that one of the strangest items in my iTunes library is the questionable German football-disco classic Ein Rudi Völler (”There’s only one Rudi Völler”) which uses the melody of Guantanamera! Having seen this version on YouTube it just feels wrong!

284/365 Songs: The Way you look tonight – Jerome Kern

admin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 08:16:15 +0000

This is such a lovely song and I hope I’ve done it justice! It was written by Jerome Kern in 1936 with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Apparently when Kern played the melody to Dorothy Fields for the first time, she “went out and started to cry. I couldn’t stop, it was so beautiful!” The song was sung by Fred Astaire to Ginger Rogers in the film Swing Time and won an Academy Award as best original song.

207/365 Songs: You’ve got a friend in me – Toy Story

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:22:40 +0000

Yesterday I asked my son Ewan what song I should play today and he immediately suggested You’ve got a friend in me. He’s just seen Toy Story 3 with his brother and mum (I’ve not seen it yet, but look forward to seeing it some time soon!) so this seemed like a good song to play.

186/365 Songs: Can’t help falling in love with you – Elvis

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:34:17 +0000

As promised yesterday, this song is dedicated to my sister Clare and her husband Eamon who celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary yesterday. I am reliably informed by my wife that their first dance was to this song (I have no idea how she remembers these things…) so I hope I’ve got all the details right! Happy anniversary (albeit belatedly!) to Clare and Eamon!

171/365 Songs: Three coins in the fountain – Frank Sinatra

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:46:39 +0000

Given that today is Fathers’ Day, I asked my dad what song he’d like me to play, so this one is for him! Happy Father’s Day, Dad! I’m sure there’s a photo somewhere of my mum and dad at the Trevi fountain. If not, there’s definitely one of the whole family there in 1980… Dad?

The song comes from the 1954 film of the same name which tells of three American girls looking for romance while employed by the American Embassy in Rome. Despite not being allowed to see the film or read the script, lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne came up with the song in an hour. It was recorded the following day by Frank Sinatra.

Update: Thanks, Dad: here’s a photo from 1980 taken by Mum – from left to right it’s my Dad, me, my sister Clare and my brother Derek at the Trevi fountain. Weren’t shorts short in 1980!?

141/365 Songs: Smoke gets in your eyes – Jerome Kern

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 07:20:14 +0000

I’ve been saving this song for my father-in-law Tony who celebrates his birthday today – I believe it’s one of his favourite songs. Written in 1933 by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach for the musical Roberta, it went on to become a standard with covers by performers as diverse as Louis Armstrong, Cher, Richard Clayderman (remember him?!), Serge Gainsbourg and apparently Zoot from the Muppet Show! Happy birthday, Tony!

133/365 Songs: Because you loved me – Céline Dion

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 12:47:36 +0000

I’m not a massive fan of Céline Dion, but she has recorded some songs which are absolutely beautiful, including this one from 1996 which was used in the film Up Close and Personal. It was written by Diane Warren (there’s another Diane Warren song coming up later this week!) and was number 1 in many countries. Because you loved me was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and four Grammy Awards, of which it won one for Best Song for a Motion Picture.

132/365 Songs: They can’t take that away from me – Gershwin

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 06:07:42 +0000

I like to think that I’m keeping things as varied as possible here on 365songs – in the past few days we’ve had TV Themes, Opera, Disney, 80s Power Ballad and today I’m returning to what is probably my favourite type of music to play with Gershwin’s They can’t take that away from me. It was first featured in the 1937 film Shall We Dance in which Fred Astaire sings it to Ginger Rogers on the deck of the New Jersey to Manhattan ferry. I hope you enjoy it!

122/365 Songs: Answer me – Nat King Cole

admin — Sun, 02 May 2010 17:06:02 +0000

This song was written by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Rauch and was originally called Mutterlein. However, in 1952, David Whitfield and Frankie Lane recorded an English version, written by Carl Sigman. I have to be honest – I had no idea about the history of this song, and I’ve been playing it for years. It turns out that the English version asked God why the singer had lost his love: “Answer me, Lord above…” This resulted in many complaints and the BBC banned the song! The lyrics were changed to “Answer me, oh my love…” and it became a UK number one single for Frankie Lane and Dean Whitfield. Interestingly the version by Whitfield got to the number one spot first, and was knocked off by Laine’s version! This has never happened since in UK chart history. Answer me was rerecorded by Nat King Cole and it’s this version which is perhaps the most famous, and certainly how I got to know the song.

120/365 Songs: Beauty and the beast – Disney

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:24:38 +0000

Song 120 is the title song from the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast. Written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, it won the Academy Award for Best Song in 1992. We’re four months into the project now. I’d be interested to know if you have any favourites so far? Let me know in the comments.

108/365 Songs: She moves through the fair – Traditional

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 13:42:05 +0000

Today’s song is another of the Irish tunes I played the other night in Cheltenham. It’s sometimes known as Our Wedding Day. This is a beautiful song and I’ve decided to do something a bit different today – I’ve combined the piano sounds of my Roland RD-700GX with some of the on-board synth pads to give this song a bit of an ethereal sound. The interesting thing about this song is that it’s in Mixolydian mode – if it were performed in C major, the seventh would be flattened to B flat. I’m playing it in E flat, meaning the seventh is D flat rather than the major scale in which it would be D. Hope you enjoy it!

103/365 Songs: What a wonderful world – Louis Armstrong

admin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 06:16:16 +0000

Tomorrow we’ll conclude the Kristina från Duvemåla series, but I wanted to do something different today: Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World is dedicated to Catriona – today is our wedding anniversary and I wanted to play one of her favourite songs.

94/365 Songs: Cavatina – Theme from The Deer Hunter

admin — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 08:58:01 +0000

Happy Easter to one and all. Today’s piece of music is Cavatina by Stanley Myers. It was recorded by guitarist John Williams and was used for the 1970 film The Walking Stick. Then in 1973 Cleo Laine wrote lyrics and recorded He Was Beautiful, accompanied by John Williams on guitar. It only became a top 20 hit when it was used in the 1978 film The Deer Hunter. I hope you enjoy my version of Cavatina!

93/365 Songs: How deep is your love – Bee Gees

admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 20:07:09 +0000

Today’s song is a bit late – sorry! I’ve spent the past eight days travelling with my work, firstly to the Czech Republic and then to the Ukraine, delivering workshops for Apple Education. I’d recorded the past week’s songs before I left and have been activating them each day of my trip, but I’ve been catching up with things since my return and as a result I’ve only just managed to get today’s song recorded. It also appears that there are some technical problems with Libsyn (hosting company) and there’s a chance that the link won’t work. If that’s the case, it should resolve itself in the next few hours.

How deep is your love was recorded in 1977 by the Bee Gees and was part of the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever and then rerecorded by Take That in 1996.

76/365 Songs: Danny Boy – Happy St Patrick’s Day!

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:41:36 +0000

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh! Here’s the traditional Irish song Danny Boy / The Derry Air to wish you all a very happy St Patrick’s day!

71/365 songs: Ev’ry time we say goodbye – Cole Porter

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:26:29 +0000

A beautiful song today – the Cole Porter classic Ev’ry time we say goodbye which was popularised when Ella Fitzgerald recorded it in 1956. I hope you enjoy something nice and calm for the end of a busy week!

56/365 Songs: But not for me – Gershwin

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:33:46 +0000

Today’s song is the Gershwin classic But not for me, written for the musical Girl Crazy in 1930. It’s since featured in the movies Manhattan, When Harry Met Sally and Four Weddings and a Funeral. By the sounds of things I need to practise my jazz scales a bit more – the middle section is a bit messy but hope you forgive me! I’m just back from five days in Strasbourg and am exhausted!

55/365 Songs: You raise me up – Secret Garden

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:44:45 +0000

This song was written by Rolf Løvland and Brendan Graham and was originally included on the 2002 Secret Garden album Once in a Red Moon. Since then it has been covered by many famous artists including Josh Groban and Westlife who recently sang it at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize concert celebrating Barack Obama’s win. This song was included in my From a Distance album in aid of the Haiti Earthquake appeal which to date has raised over £500 for Save the Children online and SCIAF through the church.

53/365 Songs: Crazy – Patsy Cline

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:17:45 +0000

Today’s song is dedicated to my friend and former colleague Joan Herald who teaches at Mearns Castle. This was always Joan’s song and she has sung it countless times at many wonderful parties, concerts, and even once or twice in class I think! I’ve been told that Joan and her colleague Jim McKenna have been known to have a wee singalong to my tunes in the staffroom at MCHS, so hopefully today I’ve provided some further inspiration!

Crazy was written by Willie Nelson in 1961 and was made famous by Patsy Cline in 1962.

365 Songs: As time goes by – Casablanca

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:22:26 +0000

It’s day 50 on 365songs and today’s performance is the classic 1942 song As time goes by from the film Casablanca. It was actually first written in 1931 and featured in the musical Everybody’s Welcome, but was made famous when it was performed by Sam in Casablanca. This song was actually named as #2 in the American Film Institute’s list of top movie songs – 100 years … 100 songs. I’m sure a few more of these songs will find their way into my playlist for the year! I hadn’t realised this until I read about the song, but it seems that the verse of this song was never included in the film, and most recordings since then have also left it out. I’ve always played it with the verse, so I hope you enjoy this rarity! If you’d like to sing along, the verse lyrics are below…

This day and age we’re living in
Gives cause for apprehension
With speed and new invention
And things like fourth dimension.

Yet we get a trifle weary
with Mr Einstein’s theory
So we must get down to earth at times
Relax, relieve the tension.

And no matter what the progress
or what may yet be proved,
The simple facts of life are such
they cannot be removed.

You must remember this,
a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply,
as time goes by…

365 Songs: You’re still the one – Shania Twain

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:19:15 +0000

A bit of Shania Twain today with the song You’re still the one, and I’m back playing today after the thumb incident! This song was nominated for four Grammy awards in 1999, and won two: Best Country Song and Best Female Vocal Country Performance, and it’s no.66 on the Billboard All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs!

365 Songs: Seasons of Love – Rent

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:02:05 +0000

How do you measure a year? In daylights, in midnights, in sunsets or in cups of coffee? This is probably the best known song from the musical Rent, and was one of the many songs we used to do with the choir when I taught at Mearns Castle. It probably needs a bit more than just piano – if Stevie Wonder had been available he’d have done the harmonica solo, but he was busy when I recorded this song!

365 Songs: Somewhere – West Side Story

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:55:26 +0000

This beautiful song written by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim is my favourite song from West Side Story, and indeed one of my favourite songs of all time! In addition to featuring on the cast recordings of many productions of the show, Somewhere has been recorded by artists ranging from Johnny Mathis to Josh Groban and Barbara Streisand to Kylie Minogue! The main theme of the song is actually taken from Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto – and I didn’t realise that until I researched today’s blurb!

365 Songs – She’s always a woman – Billy Joel

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:56:18 +0000

After yesterday’s late posting, I thought I’d get today’s posted nice and early! It’s one of my favourite songs by Billy Joel and it’s also one of Catriona’s favourites, so this one is for her.

She’s always a woman was released in 1977 on the album The Stranger. It was also released as a single in the same year peaking at no.17 in the US Billboard chart, but only 53 in the UK singles chart.

I hope you enjoy today’s performance.

365 Songs – I dreamed a dream – Les Misérables

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:53:53 +0000

Today’s song is another favourite from Les Misérables, I dreamed a dream. It has been recorded in 21 languages and covered by many artists including Aretha Franklin, Hayley Westenra and most recently Susan Boyle who performed it on last year’s Britain’s Got Talent.

365 Songs – Mona Lisa – Nat King Cole

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:09:53 +0000

This one’s for my mum! I wonder if she’ll post a comment now…

Mona Lisa was first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1950 and since then has been covered by Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and … Shakin’ Stevens!

365 Songs – Your Song – Elton John

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:30:45 +0000

Earlier this week I asked if anyone had any requests and I’ve had loads of suggestions from friends on Twitter, Facebook and even in the real world! I’ve started recording some of these and we’ll start today with Elton John’s Your Song which was requested by Carolyn, dedicated to her dad. I had the pleasure of working with Carolyn’s dad, John Adrain, while I worked on the Partners in Excellence project for East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and Argyll & Bute. It’s an honour to dedicate this song to John.

365 Songs: Bridge over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel

admin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:44:38 +0000

“This one’s going out to Sorcha and Paul in Northern Ireland…” If you’re interested, you can find out more about the song on Wikipedia.

365 Songs: Someone to watch over me – Gershwin

admin — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:17:56 +0000

I’ve always loved this song. It was originally written by George and Ira Gershwin in 1926 for the musical Oh Kay! and has been sung by many performers including Ella Fitzgerald, Barbara Streisand and Linda Ronstadt. The song has also featured on Battlestar Galactica and in Star Trek: Voyager and in the movie Mr Holland’s Opus.

Hope you enjoy it!