Lists (yeah, boring I know, but what can you do....)

Happy Late Night, my Darling,

I know you are probably still working on your videos, and I have nothing to report except that it was slightly cooler today (though still sweltering at night). But I wanna write anyway, so I'll do some lists......

Let's see, Top Ten Beatles Songs, just to make it official :

1) Penny Lane 2) Ticket To Ride 3) Help 4) Hard Day's Night 5) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
6) Strawberry Fields 7) I Saw Her Standing There 8) All My Loving 9) Hello Goodbye
10) Please Please Me.

So there you have it : 5 Johns, 5 Pauls. (what, no George songs?!) Well, it is true that George wrote some of the greatest songs ever written, Beatle or otherwise. "Something", "Here Comes The Sun". But we are talking "favorites", not greatest, and the above are my favorite ten Beatles songs, after much consideration.

Favorite pianists. There's a new one! Having discovered Sofronitsky in the past couple years, I think he is the greatest of them all, and possibly the greatest musician I've ever heard, because he is so transcendent. When you listen to him, it's like he's playing to God, and you just happen to be in the audience too. There's only two other guys like that, Dinu Lipatti and Wilhelm Kempff, so those three are my Holy Trinity of Piano:

1) Vladimir Sofronitsky 2) Dinu Lipatti 3) Wilhelm Kempff 4) Glenn Gould 5) Alfred Cortot . I like many others, of course, like Byron Janis, Alicia DeLarrocha, Arturo Benedetti Michaelangeli, Martha Argerich, Mitsuko Uchida, Maria Joao Pires, Clara Haskill, Maurizio Pollini.......

But the first five guys are the most musically transcendent. Some players that are highly regarded, like Horowitz or Richter, do nothing for me. Nor do many of the Supreme Technical players of today, like Yuja Wang or Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Today's players are technically perfect but lack the soul of the earlier pianists.

I listen to a lot of classical piano music, but only select stuff. Just like with Metal : I am not a "Metal Fan", per se, but rather a big fan of a few select Metal bands, like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. I'm never a genre fan, but a fan of specific artists.

Vocalists : 1) Greg Lake. Yep. I know that today's audiences aren't familiar with ELP, and even if they were, they might not be fans, but I can remember the first time I heard Lake belt out "Jerusalem" in that huge choirboy tenor of his, and it gave me goosebumps. Still does. If I could pick one singer that I wished I could sound like, it's him. 2) Doug Pinnick. The first six King's X albums are the evidence, a run of greatness as great as any band ever, including The Beatles. 3) Rob Halford ('nuff said). 4) Peter Hammill (Of Van Der Graaf Generator), possibly an acquired taste, but the original English Shakepearean Vocalist. Johnny Rotten was a fan, and said that even Bowie ripped Hammill off. 5) David Gilmour. When you add it all up, the vocals, guitar and songwriting, he just might be the greatest rock musician of them all. 6) Alice Cooper. Nobody sings with as much originality and ferocity, and he's still doing it, closing in on 70. 7) John, Paul & George. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Beatles. They probably should be higher on the list, but it's hard to pick just one. If I've gotta pick, it's Paul. 8) Russell Mael of Sparks. Maybe the most unique singer on my list, and one of the most technically accomplished. He sings mostly in high tenor and falsetto, and hasn't missed a freaking note in over 40 years of touring. An incredible singer. 9) Eric Johnson, another triple threat (guitar, vox, songwriting), only you might not expect EJ to make a list of great vocalists because his voice is thinner than any of the above mentioned singers, and he is in no way a "lead singer" in any sense of the word. But his vocals so match the music he writes and plays, and are an integral part of the magic that results. I can't imagine anyone else singing his songs, and I don't like it when he uses guest vocalists.

For #10, I'll have to do some considering, just like I did with the tenth Beatles song. There are so many to consider......

Well, that's all for tonight SB. I could do lists all day, cause I love to quantify and qualify stuff, even though it is ridiculous to do so! But I could do it all day...

For now, however, I won't. See you in the morning instead.

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)