Author: mystro2b

Heart and Soul by Huey Lewis and the News

Many of us are aware that this song is a cover of a song originally recorded by Exile and they had a minor UK hit with it peaking at #58 when it was released as a single in 1981 and only bubbled under in the US, but Huey himself wasn’t aware that the song was a cover until he asked around to people who are diehard music buffs to find that out.

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/some-trivia-regarding-the-huey-lewis-hit-heart-and-soul.428497/

Here’s the original:

Don’t Stop Believing by Journey

Journey’s most enduring song, this track has a unique structure, which helps it stick in your mind. Where most songs have a chorus that’s repeated several times, “Don’t Stop Believin'” brings in its chorus (and title) only at the end – about 3:20 into the song. The structure goes: instrumental, first verse, instrumental, second verse, first pre-chorus, instrumental, third verse, second pre-chorus, instrumental, and then finally the chorus until fade-out.

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/journey/dont-stop-believin

The Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet

“We were trying to write songs that had no meaning, and ‘Ballroom Blitz’ was one of them. I suggested the title and we sat down and wrote a song about a guy having a horrifyingly bad dream that his latest record hadn’t made it – he was in this ballroom, in a discotheque, and maybe he was on drugs because he started hallucinating. They were pretty funny words to that song, although I’ve forgotten the real version because I did this horrifyingly dirty version of that song.”

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/sweet/ballroom-blitz

The Dream Weaver by Gary Wright

After the record was released and became successful many people asked me what the song meant. I really wasn’t sure myself and would answer ‘it was about a kind of fantasy experience… a Dream Weaver train taking you through the cosmos.’ But I was never satisfied with that explanation, and as years went by I began to reflect on what the song actually meant and then it came to me: ‘Dream Weaver, I believe you can get me through the night…’ was a song about someone with infinite compassion and love carrying us through the night of our trials and suffering. None other than God Himself.”

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/gary-wright/dream-weaver

Barracuda by Heart

Roxanne by The Police

What Child is This by Vince Guaraldi Trio

Quite simply the best jazz arrangement of Greensleeves period.

rp250 Jazz solo by Pendergrass

This little jazz ditty was played on my Route 101 “Solimar Strat” and is my attempt to emulate a classic jazz setup: maybe a Gibson ES-150 archtop with a P-90 single coil pickup. I could go from jazz, to blues, to rock with the 3 way pickups and 5 way switching. Versatile axe for sure.

Route 101 guitars are no longer being manufactured. You could special order them and have them assembled with the parts that you wanted. Parts were made in India and assembled in California. This was a company that allowed the buyer to have their guitar built to custom specifications.  This model (the Solimar) was given a high rating in Guitar Player magazine.  3 pickups/5 way switching and maple fingerboard.  This is a 2000-ish Route 101 Solimar Custom I purchased used in 2004.

Whipped Cream by Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass

Recognize this from your dad’s collection…

The Headmaster Ritual by The Smiths

Morrissey described the song in his autobiography as: “A live-wire spitfire guitar sound that takes on all-comers.”

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-smiths/the-headmaster-ritual