LOVING ARMS

KRIS KRISTOFERSON & RITA COOLIDGE
SONGWRITER: TOM JANS
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: FULL MOON (EXPANDED EDITION)
LABEL: A & M RECORDS
GENRE: COUNTRY
YEAR: 1973
 
          Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on Billboard magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and then-husband Kris Kristofferson. Her recordings include "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," "We're All Alone", "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love" and the theme song for the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy: "All Time High".
              Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are the songs "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night", all of which were hits for other artists. Kristofferson composed his own songs and collaborated with Nashville songwriters such as Shel Silverstein.
         In 1985, Kristofferson joined fellow country artists Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash in forming the country music supergroup the Highwaymen, and formed a key creative force in the outlaw country music movement that eschewed the Nashville music machine in favor of independent songwriting and producing. In 2004, Kristofferson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. As an actor, he is known for his roles in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), Blume in Love (1973), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), A Star Is Born (1976) (which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor), Convoy (1978), Heaven's Gate (1980), Lone Star (1996), Stagecoach (1986), and Blade (1998).
             "Loving Arms" is a song written by Tom Jans and first recorded and released by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge as a duet in 1973 on their album Full Moon.
           It was covered by Dobie Gray shortly after, and then by a number of artists the following year including Elvis Presley, Petula Clark and Jody Miller. Millie Jackson and Olivia Newton-John also covered the song in 1975.

If you could see me now
The one who said that he'd rather roam
The one who said he'd rather be alone
If you could only see me now
 
If I could hold you now
Just for a moment
If I could make you mine
Just for a while
Turn back the hands of time
If I could only hold you now
 
(CHORUS)
I've been too long in the wind
Too long in the rain
Taking any comfort that I can
Looking back and longing
For the freedom of my chains
Lying in your loving arms again
 
If you could hear me now
Singing somewhere
Through a lonely night
Dreaming of the arms
That held me tight
If you could only hear me now
(CHORUS)

CARRYING YOUR LOVE WITH ME

GEORGE STRAIT
SONGWRITERS: JEFF STEVENS & STEVE BOGARD
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: CARRYING YOUR LOVE WITH ME
LABEL: MCA NASHVILLE
GENRE: COUNTRY
YEAR: 1997
 
              George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. George Strait is known as the "King of Country" and is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. He is known for his neotraditionalist country style, cowboy look, and being one of the first and most prominent country artists to bring country music back to its roots and away from the pop country era in the 1980s.
             Strait's success began when his first single "Unwound" was a hit in 1980. During the 1980s, seven of his albums reached number one on the country charts. In the 2000s, Strait was named Artist of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music, was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and won his first Grammy award for the album Troubadour. Strait was named CMA Entertainer of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 2013, and ACM Entertainer of the Year in 1990 and 2014. He has been nominated for more CMA and ACM awards and has more wins in both categories than any other artist.
           By 2009, he broke Conway Twitty's previous record for the most number-one hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart when his 44 number one singles surpassed Twitty's 40. Counting all music charts, Strait has amassed a total of 60 number-one hits, breaking a record also previously set by Twitty, giving him more number one songs than any other artist in any genre of music.
          Strait is also known for his touring career when he designed a 360-degree configuration and introduced festival style tours. For example, the Strait Tours earned $99 million in three years. His concert at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in June 2014 drew 104,793 people, marking a new record for largest indoor concert in North America.
             Strait has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His certifications from the RIAA include 13 multi-platinum, 33 platinum, and 38 gold albums. His best-selling album is Pure Country (1992), which sold 6 million (6×platinum). His highest certified album is Strait Out of the Box (1995), which sold 2 million copies (8× Platinum due to being a box set with four CDs). According to the RIAA, Strait is the 12th best-selling album recording artist in the United States overall.
               "Carrying Your Love with Me" is a song written by Steve Bogard and Jeff Stevens, and performed by American country music artist George Strait. It was released in May 1997 as the second single and title track from his album of the same name. The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The track was also voted by website Country Universe as number 200 of the top 400 greatest songs of the 1990s. "Carrying Your Love with Me" was nominated for Best Male Country Vocal Performance at the 1998 Grammy Awards.

Baby all I got is this beat up leather bag

And everything I own don't fill up half

But don't you worry 'bout the way I pack

All I care about is gettin' back real soon

A goodbye kiss is all I need from you

 

Chorus:

'Cause I'm carrying your love with me

West Virginia down to Tennesse

I'll be moving with the good Lord's speed

Carrying your love with me

It's my strength for holding on

Every minute that I have to be gone

I'll have everything I'll ever need

I'm carrying your love with me

 

On a lonely highway stuck out in the rain

Darlin' all I have to do is speak your name

The clouds roll back and the waters part

The sun starts shining in my heart for you

You're right there and everything I do

 

Chorus

It's my strength for holding on

Every minute that I have to be gone

I'll have everything I'll ever need

I'm carrying your love with me

Chorus.

BRIGHT EYES

ART GARFUNKEL
SONGWRITERS: M.K. JEROME; MIKE BATT & OTTO MOTZAN
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: FATE FOR BREAKFAST
LABEL: COLUMBIA RECORDS
GENRE: POP BALLAD
YEAR: 1979
 
              Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel.
            Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include a top 10 hit, three top 20 hits, six top 40 hits, 14 Adult Contemporary top 30 singles, five Adult Contemporary number ones, two UK number ones and a People's Choice Award. Through his solo and collaborative work, Garfunkel has earned eight Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1990, he and Simon were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008, Garfunkel was ranked 86th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
          "Bright Eyes" is a song written by British songwriter Mike Batt and performed by Art Garfunkel. It was written for the soundtrack of the 1978 British animated adventure drama film Watership Down. Rearranged as a pop song from its original form in the film, the track appears on British and European versions of Garfunkel's 1979 Fate for Breakfast and on the US versions of his 1981 album Scissors Cut. "Bright Eyes" topped the UK Singles Chart for six weeks and became Britain's biggest-selling single of 1979, selling over a million copies. Richard Adams, author of the original novel is reported to have hated the song. A cover of the song was later used in the television series of the same name explicitly as its theme song.

Is it a kind of dream,
Floating out on the tide,
Following the river of death downstream?
Oh, is it a dream?
 
There's a fog along the horizon,
A strange glow in the sky,
And nobody seems to know where you go,
And what does it mean?
Oh, is it a dream?
 
Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.
 
Is it a kind of shadow,
Reaching into the night,
Wandering over the hills unseen,
Or is it a dream?
 
There's a high wind in the trees,
A cold sound in the air,
And nobody ever knows when you go,
And where do you start,
Oh, into the dark.
 
Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
bright eyes.
 
Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

JOHN DENVER
SONGWRITERS: JOHN DENVER & MIKE TAYLOR
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
LABEL: RCA RECORDS
GENRE: COUNTRY FOLK
YEAR: 1972
 
             Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, activist, and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singer. After traveling and living in numerous locations while growing up in his military family, Denver began his music career with folk music groups during the late 1960s. Starting in the 1970s, he was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists. By 1974, he was one of America's best-selling performers, and AllMusic has described Denver as "among the most beloved entertainers of his era".
       Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed. He had 33 albums and singles that were certified Gold and Platinum in the U.S by RIAA certification with estimated sales of more than 33 million units. He recorded and performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, his disdain for city life, his enthusiasm for music, and his relationship trials. Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts, including country music, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, in all earning 12 gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Annie's Song", "Rocky Mountain High", "Calypso", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", and "Sunshine on My Shoulders".
         Denver appeared in several films and television specials during the 1970s and 1980s. He continued to record in the 1990s, also focusing on environmental issues as well as lending vocal support to space exploration and testifying in front of Congress in protest against censorship in music. He lived in Aspen for much of his life where he was known for his love of Colorado. In 1974, Denver was named poet laureate of the state. The Colorado state legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its two state songs in 2007.
       An avid pilot, Denver died at the age of 53 in a single-fatality crash while piloting his recently purchased light plane.
        "Rocky Mountain High" is a folk rock song written by John Denver and Mike Taylor about Colorado and is one of the two official state songs of Colorado. Recorded by Denver in 1972, it went to No. 9 on the US Hot 100 in 1973. Denver told concert audiences in the mid-1970s that the song took him an unusually long nine months to write. On April 10, 2017, the song was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 500.000 digital downloads.
       Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

He was born in the summer of his 27th year
Coming home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him
You might say he was born again
Might say he found a key for every door
When he first came to the mountains
His life was far away
On the road and hanging by a song
But the strings already broken
And he doesn't really care
It keeps changin' fast, and it don't last for long
It's a Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
The shadows from the starlight are softer than a lullaby
Rocky Mountain high, in Colorado
Rocky Mountain high
 
He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below
Saw everything as far as you can see
And they say that he got crazy once and that he
Tried to touch the Sun
And he lost a friend, but kept the memory
Now he walks in quiet solitude, the forest and the stream
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight is turned inside himself, to try and
Understand, the serenity of a clear blue mountain lake
 
And the Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply
Rocky Mountain high, in Colorado
Rocky Mountain high
 
Now his life is full of wonder
But his heart still knows some fear
Of the simple things he can not comprehend
Why they try to tear the mountains down
To bring in a couple more
More people, more scars upon the land
 
It's the Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly
Rocky mountain high
It's the Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
Friend around the camp fire and everybody's high
Rocky Mountain high, Rocky Mountain high
Rocky Mountain high
Rocky Mountain high.