MOUNTAIN MUSIC

ALABAMA
SONGWRITER: RANDY OWEN
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: MOUNTAIN MUSIC
LABEL: RCA NASHVILLE
GENRE: COUNTRY
YEAR: 1981
 
           Alabama is an American country and Southern rock band formed in Fort Payne, Alabama, in 1969. The band was founded by Randy Owen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and his cousin Teddy Gentry (bass, backing vocals). They were soon joined by another cousin, Jeff Cook (lead guitar, fiddle, and keyboards). First operating under the name Wildcountry, the group toured the Southeast bar circuit in the early 1970s, and began writing original songs. They changed their name to Alabama in 1977 and following the chart success of two singles, were approached by RCA Records for a record deal.
        Alabama's biggest success came in the 1980s, where the band had over 27 number one hits, seven multi-platinum albums and received numerous awards. Alabama's first single on RCA Records, "Tennessee River", began a streak of 21 number one singles, including "Love in the First Degree" (1981), "Mountain Music" (1982), "Dixieland Delight" (1983), "If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)" (1984) and "Song of the South" (1988). The band's popularity waned slightly in the 1990s although they continued to produce hit singles and multi-platinum album sales. Alabama disbanded in 2004 following a farewell tour and two albums of inspirational music but reunited in 2010 and have continued to record and tour worldwide.
          The band's blend of traditional country music and Southern rock combined with elements of bluegrass, folk, gospel and pop music gave it a crossover appeal that helped lead to their success. They also toured extensively and incorporated production elements such as lighting and "sets" inspired by rock concerts into their shows. The band has over 41 number one country records on the Billboard charts to their credit and have sold over 75 million records, making them the most successful band in country music history. AllMusic credited the band with popularizing the idea of a country band and wrote that "It's unlikely that any other country group will be able to surpass the success of Alabama."
          Alabama was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019 and were awarded with the first ever Life Time Achievement Award from this institution.
       Mountain Music is the sixth studio album by country music group Alabama, released in 1982. A crossover success, it ranked well as an album on both country and pop charts and launched singles that were successful in several markets. This is Alabama's most successful studio album. In 1998, the album was certified 5× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
          Early LP pressings of this album were mastered at a slower speed. Reissues made after have corrected this error.

You see that mountain over there,
yea, one of these days
I'm going to climb that mountain.
 
Chorus:
Oh play me some mountain music.
Like Grandma and Grandpa used to play.
Then I'll float on down the river to the Cajun hideaway.
 
Drift away like Tom Sawyer.
Ride a raft with old Huck Finn.
Take a nap like Rip Van Winkle.
Lay streaming again.
 
Chorus:
Swim across the river.
Just to prove that I'm a man.
Spend the day be'in lazy.
Just be'in natures friend.
Climb a long tall hickery.
Bending over skin'n cats.
Playing baseball with shired rocks.
Using sawmill slats for bats.
 
Play some back home come on music
That comes from the heart.
Play somethin with lots of feeling.
Cause that's where music has to start.
 
Chorus
Hey Hey Hey
Oh play me mountain music.
Oh play me mountain music.
Oh play me mountain music.
Oh play.

CAMINHEMOS

NELSON GONÇALVES
COMPOSITOR: HERIVELTO MARTINS
PAÍS: BRASIL
ÁLBUM: CAMINHEMOS/MÚSICAS DE HERIVELTO MARTINS/LP
GRAVADORA: RCA VICTOR
GÊNERO: SAMBA-CANÇÃO
ANO: 1957
 
           Nélson Gonçalves, nome artístico de Antônio Gonçalves Sobral (Sant'Ana do Livramento, 21 de junho de 1919 — Rio de Janeiro, 18 de abril de 1998), foi um cantor e compositor brasileiro. Segundo maior vendedor de discos da história do Brasil, com mais de 79 milhões de cópias vendidas até março de 1998, fica atrás apenas de Roberto Carlos, com mais de 120 milhões. Foi também o artista que mais tempo ficou em uma mesma gravadora: foram 59 anos com a RCA Victor/BMG Brasil. Seu maior sucesso foi a canção "A Volta do Boêmio".

Não, eu não posso lembrar que te amei
Não, eu preciso esquecer que sofri
Faça de conta que o tempo passou
E que tudo entre nós terminou
E que a vida não continuou pra nós dois
Caminhemos, talvez nos vejamos depois
Vida comprida, estrada alongada
Parto à procura de alguém, à procura de nada
Vou indo, caminhando sem saber onde chegar
Quem sabe na volta, te encontre no mesmo lugar. 

FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS

MUDDY WATERS
SONGWRITER: BERNARD ROTH
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS
LABEL: CHESS RECORDS
GENRE: BLUES
YEAR: 1956
 
           McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 – April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".
            Muddy Waters grew up on Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, and by age 17 was playing the guitar and the harmonica, emulating the local blues artists Son House and Robert Johnson. He was recorded in Mississippi by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1941. In 1943, he moved to Chicago to become a full-time professional musician. In 1946, he recorded his first records for Columbia Records and then for Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by the brothers Leonard and Phil Chess.
             In the early 1950s, Muddy Waters and his band—Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Elga Edmonds (also known as Elgin Evans) on drums and Otis Spann on piano—recorded several blues classics, some with the bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon. These songs included "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "I'm Ready". In 1958, he traveled to England, laying the foundations of the resurgence of interest in the blues there. His performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960 was recorded and released as his first live album, At Newport 1960.
           Muddy Waters' music has influenced various American music genres, including rock and roll and rock music.
            "Forty Days and Forty Nights" is a blues song recorded by Muddy Waters in 1956. Called "a big, bold record", it was a hit, spending six weeks in the Billboard R&B chart, where it reached number seven. "Forty Days and Forty Nights" has been interpreted and recorded by a variety of artists.

Forty days and forty nights
Since my baby left this town
Sunshinin' all day long
But the rain keep comin' down
She's my life I need her so
Why she left I just don't know
 
Forty days and forty nights
Since I set right down and cried
Keep rainin' all the time
But the river is runnin' dry
Lord help me it just ain't right
I love that girl with all-a my might
 
Forty days and forty nights
Since my baby broke my heart
Searchin' for her in a while
Like a blind man in the dark
Love can make a poor man rich
Or break his heart I don't know which
 
Forty days and forty nights
Like a ship out on the sea
Prayin' for her each night
That she would come back-a home to me
Life is love and love is right
I hope she come back home tonight.

IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND

GORDON LIGHTFOOT
SONGWRITHER: GORDON LIGHTFOOT
COUNTRY: CANADA
ALBUM: SIT DOWN YOUNG STRANGER
LABEL: REPRISE RECORDS
GENRE: FOLK ROCK
YEAR: 1970
 
       Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. CC OOnt (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He is often referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and is known internationally as a folk-rock legend.
         Lightfoot's songs, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon of Darkness"—a number one hit on the U.S. country chart with Marty Robbins's cover in 1965—and "Black Day in July," about the 1967 Detroit riot, brought him wide recognition in the 1960s. Canadian chart success with his own recordings began in 1962 with the Nº. 3 hit "(Remember Me) I'm the One", followed by recognition and charting abroad in the 1970s. He topped the US Hot 100 or AC chart with the hits "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970), "Sundown" (1974); "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976), and had many other hits that appeared in the top 40.
          Several of Lightfoot's albums achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally. His songs have been recorded by renowned artists such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., The Kingston Trio, Marty Robbins, George Hamilton IV, Jerry Lee Lewis, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Herb Alpert, Harry Belafonte, Scott Walker, Sarah McLachlan, Eric Clapton, John Mellencamp, Jack Jones, Bobby Vee, Roger Whittaker, Tony Rice, Peter, Paul and Mary, Glen Campbell, The Grateful Dead, The Irish Rovers, Nico, Olivia Newton-John and Paul Weller.
       Robbie Robertson of the Band described Lightfoot as "a national treasure". Bob Dylan, also a Lightfoot fan, called him one of his favorite songwriters and, in an often-quoted tribute, Dylan observed that when he heard a Lightfoot song he wished "it would last forever". Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Trent University in Spring 1979 and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in May 2003. In November 1997, the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, was bestowed on Lightfoot. On February 6, 2012, Lightfoot was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. June of that year saw his induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. On June 6, 2015, Lightfoot received an honorary doctorate of music in his hometown of Orillia from Lakehead University.
          "If You Could Read My Mind" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. It reached Nº. 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart on commercial release in 1970 and charted in several other countries on international release in 1971
      Sit Down Young Stranger is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's sixth original album and also his best-selling original album. It was released in 1970 on the Reprise Records label. The album was renamed If You Could Read My Mind shortly after release, after the song of that title reached number 1 on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada and number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. The album itself reached number 12 on the Billboard 200 chart. In Canada, the album was on the charts from April 18, 1970, to November 27, 1971. It peaked at number 8 on March 13, 1971 after an earlier peak at number 12 on June 20, 1970. The last 24 weeks were spent in the 90 numbers except for 2 times back up to 88 and once at 100.

If you could read my mind love,
what a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie
about a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
with chains upon my feet.
You know that ghost is me
and I will never be set free
as long as I'm a ghost that you can see.
 
If I could read your mind love,
what a tale your thoughts could tell.
Just like a paperback novel,
the kind the drugstore sells.
When you reach the part where the heartaches
come the hero would be me.
Heroes often fail.
And you won't read that book again
because the endings just to hard to take.
 
I walk away like a movie star
who gets burned in a three way script.
Enter number two, a movie queen
to play the scene of bringing all the good things out in me,
but for now love lets be real.
 
I never thought I could act this way
and I've got to say that I just don't get it.
I don't know where we went wrong
but the feelings gone and I just can't get it back.
If you could read my mind love,
what a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie about a ghost from a wishing well.
 
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
with chains upon my feet the story always ends.
And if you read between the lines
you'll know that I'm just trying to understand
the feeling that you left.
 
I never thought I could feel this way
and I got to say that I just don't get it.
I don't know where we went wrong
but the feelings gone
and I just can't get it back.