Carly Simon – “You’re So Vain”, “The Right Thing To Do”, “Nobody Does It Better”, “Jesse”, “Haven’t Got Time For The Pain”, “Anticipation” and “That’s The Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be”

I was thinking that “You’re So Vain”, from 1972, was the only song by Carly Simon song I knew. I soon found there were a number of others. At the time everyone was trying to work out who the song was about. As it turns out, she now says it was the result of various […]

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Arlo Guthrie – “City Of New Orleans”, “Alice’s Restaurant” and “Coming Into Los Angeles”

Arlo Guthrie, the famous son of the famous American folk singer Woody Guthrie, was already a legend himself by the early Seventies when “City Of New Orleans” hit the airwaves. In particular he had made his name with the 18 minute 34 second long “talking blues song” “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, better known simply as “Alice’s […]

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Kansas – “Dust In The Wind” and “Carry On Wayward Son”

“Dust In The Wind” from Kansas features strongly in a short story I once wrote that takes place in a bar in (then West) Berlin, which in turn always reminds me of a Kate Bush song that begins with the line “You’ll find me in a Berlin bar in a corner, brooding” (“Saxophone Song” from her first album “The Kick Inside”.)

Last time I went back to that bar, some years ago, it had turned into a bright, slightly sterile pizzeria. No atmosphere and certainly no “Dust In The Wind” playing.

Anyway, back to “Dust In The Wind” itself.

This is the studio version accompanying what appears to be a privately made music “video” filmed on 8 mm film in 1977 and recently salvaged by the filmmaker’s son:

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Nazareth – “Love Hurts” and “Dream On”

In 1975 Scottish rock band Nazareth released their version of the Everly Brothers track from 1960, “Love Hurts”.

It was the only version of several to become a hit.

Here’s the video recording of the studio version:

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John Denver – “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, “Sunshine On My Shoulders”, “Grandma’s Feather Bed” and “Rocky Mountain High”

Driving down country roads in New Zealand in my late teens, often the melody of the John Denver song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” would come to mind, and I’d find myself singing it as I drove along.

I say late teens because I sold my car to go on my first trip to Europe just before I turned twenty. In fact, I had my 20th birthday on the plane back home a couple of months later.

Because of the time differences and the international dateline, I actually only had about an hour of birthday, at Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii.

Anyway… I used to find the song particularly appropriate when I was driving home from university along State Highway 50, actually a series of practically empty back roads that run the length of Central Hawkes Bay parallel to the main road, State Highway 2.

It follows a range of mountains and crosses numerous rivers…

As you are perhaps aware, John Denver lost his life in a plane crash, flying solo, in 1997. Long before then, this had become one of his signature songs.

Here is a live version of “Take Me Home, Country Roads”:

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