Vinyl Voyage Radio

  Episode 2 of Songs in the Key of Dave premieres tomorrow at 2pm Eastern on Vinyl Voyage Radio. This episode takes us to the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Featured in this episode are John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson and many more. Can't wait until tomorrow? Listen on-demand via Mixcloud .

This month on Adventures in Vinyl we are going back to 1972 for the K-Tel classic, 22 Explosive Hits, Vol. 2 . Yes, this is "Volume 2"; volume one came out a year earlier. This album features Derek and the Dominoes, Sammy Davis, Jr., Lobo, the Chi-Lites, James Brown and Olivia Newton-John.  All "Original Hits" and "Original Stars."  The album runs a total of 57 minutes and is, like usual, heavily edited.  "Layla," for example, is a mere 2:33; the original runs 7:11. But that's the glory of K-Tel. This album also features The Fortunes, an English group known for their harmonies.  The song on this collection is "Rainy Day Feeling."  However, they were also the voice of Coca-Cola at the time, singing their commercials featuring the slogan "The Real Thing."  Here's the Fortunes again: Join us this month on Adventures in Vinyl for a musical time trip back to 1972.  We will play 22 Explosive Hits, Vol. 2 ...

We all have those songs which touch us in certain ways. Music has that ability---to stir emotions, to wrangle memories. We have the tendency to claim songs as our own for what they do within us. For me, no song is more poignant and powerful than “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” The song was written by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell, their only collaboration as songwriters. Russell was dying of cancer at the time and his lyrics for this song would be the last he ever wrote. The origin of the phrase is unknown, but it did appear as the title of an article in Kiwanis magazine in 1924 and then later became the motto for Father Flanagan’s Boy’s Town in the 1940s. Written in the late 60s, the song conjures images of the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam. In fact, every year when I teach Vietnam, I use music to tell the story and “He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother” highlights 1970, the year of it’s release. However, for me, the song has nothing to do with Vietnam. For me, the song i...