SOTU 565 All Things Miller

One of the joys of the seasons is finding new artists. I had a slight awareness of Buddy Miller but Ukefoote (Brian's) fine version of one of his songs led me down his rabbit hole. Great writer and performer. The best sort of country music. Some (a little bit sloppy) 3rd position harp here. This is when key of harp is 2 notes down from key of song. Song is in D or Dm so harp is in C. Makes for the "bluesiest"harp.
 
This was the first song I thought of when you announced this Season Sabine, because a) it fits the theme, and b) this song is one of my favourites of all time. The wonderful Michel Legrand melody, and those haunting Marilyn and Alan Bergman lyrics. I saw that Wim had done a great cover early on, and wasn’t sure whether to do it. But I’ve wanted to sing it for such a long time, so I thought I’d go for the French lyric, written by Eddy Marnay. I’m not entirely sure if the French lyric came after the Bergmans’. Maybe someone on here knows. The French lyric is beautifully evocative, the line about the couple‘s footsteps in the sand being washed away, and the autumn leaves matching the colour of the hair of the loved one who has gone. It took me an age to learn the bridge section, it’s so tricky to get right. Then I prepped to do a French song by smoking 40 Gauloises and drinking two bottles of vin rouge before breakfast. It struck me that this is one of a number of (to me) songs I have sung in a foreign language. I’ve now sung 3 times in French, twice in German, and I even had a stab at singing in Norwegian, so I like a challenge. Moulins De Mon Coeur is Windmills of my Heart in case anyone is wondering 👍
 
You're nobody till somebody loves you.

"You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" is a popular song written by Russ Morgan, Larry Stock, and James Cavanaugh and published in 1944.

The song was first recorded by Morgan and has been covered by numerous artists. It is best known in versions by Dean Martin, who recorded it for Reprise Records in 1965 and reached #24 on the US pop chart and #1 on the easy listening chart, and by The Mills Brothers.
 
Somewhat surprisingly, I don't think we've had any Steve Miller Band yet. Maybe I've missed it (apologies if so!). Anyway, here is one in which Maurice tells us of the pompetous of love. I'm sure I don't have to explain what that's all about.

 
Thursday saw the tally grow to 43, with new entries from John P, Jon D, John (and his Uke), Rob and Edwin. A new artist we hadn't met this week, the Steve Miller Band, finally made an appearance. John (Flatbaroque) taught me something about position playing on harmonicas. Edwin took me back to my teens with a very catchy tune. Rob reminded us of a valuable lesson. Jon took us back to the cotton mills with a jolly tune. (Northern) John threw himself in the deep end and recorded the French cover of Windmills of Your Mind. Boy, did he swim!
To answer the question of which version came first, French Wikipedia describes the origines as follows: the Bergmans wrote the lyrics, Legrand wrote the music, Harrison performed it for the movie. The following year Legrand recorded the French lyrics written by Eddy Marnay. I'll include a link with a deeper dive into those English lyrics for all the fans of this song:
https://nowordsnosong.medium.com/the-windmills-of-your-mind-noel-harrison-df32331d3eea

Thanks for all your outstanding performances. Give them a listen, everyone. You won't regret it! I'll see you tomorrow.
 
Thanks for hosting, Sabine!

This is a song that is very special to me for reasons that I won’t go into here, but I’m so very glad of the opportunity to cover it. John ‘One Man And His Uke’ made a great job of the shorter version earlier in the week - I’ve included the extra verses in mine, and added some extra parts and vocal harmonies too. I’ve also included some pics I took a while back of the windmill in Cranbrook, Kent - a town I worked in for the best part of 20 years until recently.

 
Here's my second, and probably final, submission this week. This song was forming in my head all week. As soon as the theme was announced I thought of the phrase "grist to the mill" - but couldn't think of how to tie that in to anything. Then, this morning, lying in bed after the alarm had gone off prematurely, the bare bones of the chorus came to me and I got up and wrote the rest.

My protagonist/narrator is the sort of chap whose ego can't let him accept defeat. I pity the poor lass he's obsessed with.

Hope you enjoy this more soulful Berni original:

 
wee_ginga_yin said:
mills brothers song You always hurt the one you love.


The original was done by the Mills Brothers, but has been rediscovered by this generation because Ryan Gosling played it on Ukulele in the film Blue Valentine.
Click to expand...

Rob, just a gorgeous interpretation.

The generation in between may remember the Spike Jones rendition (revived on radio here by Dr. Demento).
 
Flatbaroque said:
One of the joys of the seasons is finding new artists. I had a slight awareness of Buddy Miller but Ukefoote (Brian's) fine version of one of his songs led me down his rabbit hole. Great writer and performer. The best sort of country music. Some (a little bit sloppy) 3rd position harp here. This is when key of harp is 2 notes down from key of song. Song is in D or Dm so harp is in C. Makes for the "bluesiest"harp.
Click to expand...

Wow! John, if you are only discovering Buddy Miller, you are in for a treat.

The great Solomon Burke covered this on his Nashville record and I’m not sure words do it justice.
 
Thanks to the following Seasonistas for their contributions the last 24 hours or so:
Del took us back to the old mill in Amsterdam, where there are only mice around nowadays,
StoneyRun introduced me to a new artist (to me), bringing a superb song,
Chris proudly showed off his Baton Rouge, which he recently won in Jon (Mountain Goat's) 'Celluloid or Bust' competition. So happy we can all share in his joy,
Brian sang us a Paoriginal about simpler times now long lost,
Rob had more Mills Brothers for us,
Berni finished his new song 'Grist To My Mill' and recorded it for us,
Rick followed in Dave's footsteps and opted for a Roger Miller song, so after this week the singer songwriter is no longer synonymous with KOTR for me.

We have currently 50 songs on the playlist, but there's still room for more. See you all tomorrow, and cheers for today!
 
The first song that came to mind was this one.

It mentions an old mill-run, and the best rendition out there must be the one by The Mills Brothers.



Well, The Mills Brothers came to mind, and this song was the one I had printet sheet music for a year or two back and never recorded.
I originally had some multi tracking in mind, but I kind of gave up on that. Probably should have edited that dang Gm11 chord out too, it doesnt do what it's supposed to. But this was the gazillionth take, and the elast number of fumbles I can possible get in a take tonight :LOL:
 
My last one for this season Sabine, thank you for such an interesting theme. Anyway, I wanted to do an original. This mill is the metaphorical type. It’s a bit half baked, it could do with some development but I thought I’d get it posted in any case, no point sitting on these things. Publish and be damned I say!!! 😂

The rumour mill is working over time,
It says you’ve got your eye on my but I don’t mind.
Let the rumour mill
Let the rumour mill
Do what it will.

The jungle drums beat out the happy news
That you were meant for me and I for you.
Bless the jungle drums
Bless the jungle drums
For the outcome.

Take me somewhere new
Somewhere bright and blue
Drop me in your ocean deep.


 
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We're halfway through the weekend here, and the new Season has been posted. Still, since I last updated this thread, we got two extra songs, one from Mikkel (another Mills Bros offering), and an original from John (one Man And His Uke). Thanks to these two enjoyable listens, the playlist is currently 52 songs long. Thanks very much to Mikkel and John, and to you for listening and liking etc.

I think tomorrow might be when I record some short ones myself.
(The song that kicked it all off, may not be in this Season either, after missing the deadline for Val's theme. I haven't started yet, and there are a lot of verses for that one...)
 
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