A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
Another of those ‘Wow, you’re suddenly all grown up’ songs. This was written by Brian Wilson and released in 1965. It is said that radio stations did not like the … Continue readingThe Beach Boys: The Little Girl I Once Knew
Schubert wrote this piano duet between January and March of 1828, the last year of his life, when he knew that he was dying. He dedicated it to his pupil … Continue readingSchubert Fantasy in F minor, D 940
This is the fifth in a weekly series celebrating the immense Jewish contribution to popular music over the last century. RICHARD Rodgers and Lorenz Hart returned from Hollywood to a triumph with … Continue readingThe Melody Makers 5: Rodgers and Hart, Part II
A commenter reminded me of this slightly odd song released in 1975 by Reparata, former lead singer of Reparata and the Delrons. It was first recorded in 1973 by a … Continue readingReparata: Shoes
Written by Nils Lofgren, the best track from the Horse’s eponymous 1971 album. Nils would go on to recycle it several times, with his band Grin and on solo recordings. … Continue readingCrazy Horse: Beggar’s Day
Mozart wrote this in 1789 for the clarinetist Anton Stadler. It has some similarities with his Clarinet Concerto, which he wrote for Stadler two years later, two months before his … Continue readingMozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major, K 581
Written by Sylvester Bradford and Al Lewis, this was a million seller for Little Anthony and the Imperials in 1958, reaching No 4 in the US charts.
Recorded in 1965 during the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited. It did not appear on that album but was released as a single, a follow-up to another brilliant putdown, Like … Continue readingBob Dylan: Positively 4th Street
This work is best known for the second movement, Air, which was arranged later into Air on a G-string. However the whole thing is lovely. Bach (1685-1750) wrote it in around 1730. In the … Continue readingJ S Bach: Orchestral Suite No 3 in D major, BWV 1068
New Yorkers Harold and Herbert Kalin, or Hal and Herbie, had a couple of flops before they found When, written by Paul Evans and Jack Reardon, in a pile of … Continue readingThe Kalin Twins: When