Julian Lennon-Too Late for Goodbyes

  上週介紹Styx主唱Dennis DeYoung的新MV "To the Good Old Days"，領銜的是Julian Lennon，Julian的父母親是The Beatles披頭合唱團的團員John Lennon和元配Cynthia，出生於1963年4月8日，披頭有三首歌創意來自他，那是"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (1967) ， "Hey Jude" (1968)及"Good Night" (1968) 。

"Hey Jude" 1968年曾經在Billboard Hot 100榜獲得過9週排行榜冠軍，在滾石雜誌歷年500大歌曲榜The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time獲得第8名。

"Hey Jude"這首歌也是The Beatles最長的一首單曲，全長達7分11秒，錄音時製作人George Martin反對錄這麼長，他認為電台的DJ們將拒絕播這首歌，但John Lennon堅持，他說:他們看是我們錄的歌會播。

  Paul McCartney於1968年寫了這首歌，他哼著曲子去拜訪即將變成前妻的Cynthia和兒子Julian，Paul後來在披頭回憶錄中曾說過:本來歌詞開頭想寫鼓勵的詞給Julian "小傢伙!你爸媽要離婚了，我知道你不高興，但你會沒事的"，"Hey Jude"的歌名原來是Jules，來自舞台劇Oklahoma劇中的Jud，這時也趁機改成Jude。

樣帶完成後John Lennon聽了很喜歡，但John認為Paul的這首歌衝著他而來，原因是Paul對John和Yoko Ono的關係不爽，這事使John Lennon和 Paul McCartney的關係蒙上一層陰影。

Julian Lennon受父親影響成年後一度也成了流行歌手，1985年的Too Late For Goodbyes曾經獲得第5名。2006年Julian製作環境生態紀錄片WhaleDreamers，2020年曾參與另一紀錄片Women of the White Buffalo的製作工作。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_MjCqQoLLA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0x9FFOSlNQ

Too Late for Goodbyes

Songwriters: Julian Lennon

Ever since you've been leaving me,

 I've been wanting to cry.
Now I know how it feels for you,

 I've been wanting to die.
But it's much too late for good-byes, 

yes, it's much too late for good-byes.

Time has gone since I've been with you

, and we've been starting to die.
Now it seems you don't care for me,

 and I don't understand why.
But it's much too late for good-byes, 

yes, it's much too late for good-byes.

Ever since you've been far away

, I've been wanting to fly.
Now I know what you meant to me, 

I'm the one who should cry.
And it's much too late for good-byes, 

yes, it's much too late for good-byes.

Ever since you've been leaving me,

 I've been wanting to cry.
Now I know how it feels for you,

 I've been wanting to die.
And it's much too late for good-byes, 

yes, it's much too late for good-byes.

Dennis DeYoung-To The Good Old Days(feat. Julian Lennon)

     前Styx合唱團主要人物Dennis DeYoung推推出新video給歌迷們分享

  Dennis DeYoung五月22日推出一個為他的新專輯26 East, Vol. 1當中的歌"To the Good Old Days"所拍的video，歌的主唱是Julian Lennon。

  這段video由DeYoung歌唱生涯和他50年婚姻及家庭生活的精采錄影與圖片剪輯而成。

  Dennis DeYoung表示: "對Jules和他而言，這是一個很特別的合唱經驗"，"他主唱我和音，我太喜愛了，這首歌是我專輯裡最後一首歌，那是我對美好的往日說再見的歌，包含我的歌迷、好友、家庭和寬恕"。

    在"To the Good Old Days"裡他有一段終曲"A.D. 2020"，聽得出他在演唱時的告別之意，"For time has claimed its prize, but the music never dies / Just listen and close your eyes and welcome to paradise"(很熟悉的曲子，Styx 的1981年專輯Paradise Theatre開場與結尾的AD1928及AD1958就是這個調子)

   DeYoung表示:他替這張專輯不很好的鍵琴、鼓、貝斯、新聞和部分歌聲修飾過，噢! 真受不了! "To the Good Old Days"裡的鼓聲是我兒子Matthew打出來的。

  DeYong 還說:這張專輯的第二集稍後會推出，那將是他歌唱生涯的終點。

   ﹤26 East, Vol. 1﹥有10首歌，其中"To the Good Old Days"是為已故披頭合唱團the Beatles團員John Lennon的兒子 Julian Lennon所寫…，(2020/02/06我曾介紹Dennis DeYoung的這張新專輯) 。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2ayQyPF-18

 "To The Good Old Days"

(feat. Julian Lennon)

It's so hard to say goodbye

So I promise not to cry

But any tears that might be shed

Are only tears of joy

And I thank my lucky stars

That we've come so very far

Rising up against the odds

To where we are today

Though there may be sadness

Let's all raise a glass

Cheers to us

And all that's past

To the good old days

When the world was new

When we still believed

Dreams could come true

To the good old days

And to all our friends

May the memories last

May they never end

So we'll go our separate ways

Wishing somehow we could stay

Safe again, so safe again

In all our innocence

When we all would sing along

As they played our favorite song

Dreaming of tomorrows

It seemed so limitless

So as we come together

Let's make this moment last

Here's to us (yeah, here's to us)

And to the past

To the good old days

To the sweetest years

To the ones we loved

Through the laugh and tears

To the times ahead

May we all forgive

To the good old days

Long may they live

Funny how the years have slipped away

Always there beyond our grasp

Funny how it all seems looking back

Oh, whoa

To the good old days

When we all were young

To the love we shared

May our songs be sung

To the times ahead

May we all forgive

To the good old days

May they always live

Betty Wright-Clean Up Woman

   黑人靈魂歌曲及R&B節奏與藍調歌曲的看板人物Betty Wright去世

  傳奇黑人靈魂歌曲及R&B 歌手Betty Wright，以"Tonight Is the Night"、“No Pain, (No Gain)" 及"Clean Up Woman"幾首歌曲知名，享年66歲。

  Wright因癌症於她邁阿密家鄉去世，五月初好友Chaka Khan在推特貼文 "現在需要大家的禱告"。

  本名Bessie Regina Norris 的Betty Wright 於1953年出生，三歲時從Echoes of Joy 合唱團開始唱歌，那是她家族1956年成立於邁阿密的福音歌曲合唱團。

  1968年Betty Wright推出第一張專輯My First Time Around，當時她15歲，其中的歌"Girls Can't Do What the Guys Do"進入 Billboard Hot 100排行榜前40名，1972年的"Clean Up Woman"成績更好，最高得到第6名，和 Mary J. Blige、Afrika Bambaataa 及Sublime是當年的年輕樣板歌手。1970年代中期Betty Wright推出"Tonight Is the Night" 及 "Where Is the Love,"二首在R&B歌曲排行榜top 20的歌，後者獲得1975年Grammy最佳R&B歌曲獎。

  1980年代她開了自己的唱片公司Ms. B Records，出版Mother Wit專輯，其中的單曲"No Pain (No Gain)" 1988年再度發行曾獲得R&B歌曲排行榜第14名。

  2003年她和Joss Stone合作製作 The Soul Sessions專輯，其中包括1960與1970年代的經典歌曲，在英國獲得Mercury Prize.獎。

  2006她上一個Making the Band電視節目，由 Sean “P Diddy” Combs介紹給年輕歌迷。

  2011年她加入The Roots的Betty Wright: The Movie專輯錄音，其中還邀請有Lil Wayne、Snoop Dogg 及Stone。

  "Betty Wright是S-Curve's creative family創意家族的基本咖" Curve Records唱片的老闆Steve Greenberg 告訴記者，"她和我合作很多案子，從Joss Stone 到Tom Jones 、O’Jays與她自己的專輯，範圍很廣，Betty Wright 及 the Roots.的組合看出她是有三方面才華的藝人，身為藝人、作曲及製作人，她經常有工作之外的表現，她很少讓錄音影響生活，她讓每個工作人員有信心去創造一個不一樣的東西"。

  Betty Wright在Billboard Hot 100排行榜成績最好的歌就是1972年得到第6名的"Clean Up Woman"，而此曲在R&B歌曲排行榜則獲得連續8週第2名。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKBwpxAuc3o

Clean up Woman

Betty Wright

Songwriters: Clarence Henry Reid / Willie James Clarke

A clean up woman is a woman who

Gets all the love we girls leave behind

The reason I know so much about her

Is because she picked up a man of mine

Jumpin' slick was my ruin

'Cause I found out all I was doin'

Was makin' it easy for the clean up woman

To get my man's love, aww, yeah

Just makin' it easy for the clean up woman

To get my baby's love, huh huh

I took this man's love and put it on a shelf

And, like a fool, I thought I had him all to myself

When he needed love, I was out havin' fun

But I found out that all I had done

Was made it easy for the clean up woman

To get my man's love, huh huh

Yeah, that's what I did

I made it easy for the clean up woman

To steal my baby's love, aw, yeah

The clean up woman will wipe his blues away

She'll give him plenty lovin', twenty four hours a day

The clean up woman, she'll sweep him off his feet

She's the one who'll take him in when you dump him in the street

So take a tip, you better get hip

To the clean up woman, 'cause she's tough

I mean, she really cleans up

Cher-Chiquitita

  Cher的 Here We Go Again Tour巡迴演唱本來在三月初開唱，但這位73歲的歌壇大姐大卻因新冠肺炎災情逐步升溫而有不祥之感，"我從報上的報導知道COVID-19這個傳染病來了"，她說5月2日時她在加州Malibu別墅和記者通電話，"這個傳染病好像鯊魚，就像吃人機器，我比大多數美國人了解，因為我有朋友在義大利做秀場工作，每個人都想逃走，我很幸運沒有和他們一起工作，因為舞者和我貼身表演，口對口的傳染危險很難避開"。

  NBA猶他爵士隊檢查出有球員確診，Cher原先於3月12日在Oklahoma市的賽前表演之約取消，Cher也回家自我隔離，但她的意志力與人不同，她很快地跑到錄音室去錄她55年歌唱生涯第一首西班牙語歌，"我了解我想做點事"，她表示"我其實去年開始學習和排練這首歌，但沒有錄下來，因為很難。

  Cher的努力有了結果: 1979年 ABBA 的名曲"Chiquitita"西班牙語版(1979 ﹟29)，將於五月8日推出，接著這首歌的video將在聯合國兒童基金會UNICEF的活動COVID-19 Virtual Special播放，Cher將捐出所得。她在家裡錄好她的表演部分，然後UNICEF將全世界找來的兒童表演部分合成完成帶寄給她，"這是個美好、樂觀開朗的經驗，我們生活在混亂的當下，能用樂觀態度看每件事，真是太好了"。

  Cher的故事還沒完，這位Grammy獎得主也和哥倫比亞大學傳染病學專家與兒童健康基金會共同創辦人Dr. Irwin Redlener一同成立CherCares Pandemic Resource and Response Initiative基金會(CCPRRI)，這個基金會準備先在這個傳染病期間捐出一百萬美元給"長期被忽視和遺忘的人們，因為在鄉下的拉丁、有色人種與 印地安人沒人照顧"。

  用西班牙語唱"Chiquitita"是Cher很大的挑戰，但她走過來了，而且覺得發音還挺標準，因為40年前他學過一點。

  1998年替"Believe"和Cher其它Warner Bros唱片公司經典作品擔任執行製作的Orlando Puerta上個月因新冠肺炎去世，Cher感覺失去了一位好友，她在非洲曾一起工作的夥伴Peter Hotez讓她相信要找一個與基金會相關的人才能成事，另一個朋友介紹他認識了Irwin博士，她於是開始投入與新冠肺炎之戰了。

    

  Cher 1946年出生於加州 El Centro，影歌雙棲的她在排行榜上最後一首冠軍曲是1998年底的四週冠軍曲Believe，此曲亦獲得Grammy最佳舞曲唱片獎，Cher暢銷曲很多，在歷年暢銷歌星排行榜上獲得64名，在流行歌唱界是一位巨星，但她在影壇的成就也不遑多讓。

  Cher 1987年她曾經以電影Moonstruck《發暈》獲得奧斯卡最佳女主角獎，此外她主演的「絲克伍事件」、「面具、」「紫屋魔戀」、「嫌疑犯」等片叫好又叫座，是1980年代歌迷們最佳的回憶。

     "Chiquitita"是Cher 翻唱ABBA合唱團名曲的新專輯 'Dancing Queen'當中的歌。

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KecjWsyCOoY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4QqMKe3rwY

Chiquitita

Songwriters: Benny Goran Bror Andersson / Ingrid Bjornov / Niklas Stromstedt / Bjoern K. Ulvaeus

Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong
You're enchained by your own sorrow
In your eyes there is no hope for tomorrow
How I hate to see you like this
There is no way you can deny it
I can see that you're oh so sad, so quiet

Chiquitita, tell me the truth
I'm a shoulder you can cry on
Your best friend, I'm the one you must rely on
You were always sure of yourself
Now I see you've broken a feather
I hope we can patch it up together

Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita

So the walls came tumbling down
And your love's a blown out candle
All is gone and it seems too hard to handle
Chiquitita, tell me the truth
There is no way you can deny it
I see that you're oh so sad, so quiet

Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita