Music/Singers/Bands, You Only Came To Appreciate 'Later in Life'

[Richard A Thackeray]

This was an idea for a thread, primarily due to mentioning an 'idol' of my mothers, in Gene Pitney, this thread
She still has, as far as I'm aware all of her 70's/80's vinyl

Mum & Dad met him at least a dozen times (& his wife too), & in those pre-internet/email days, was in a regular correspondance with him (the letters are still probably somewhere in the house?)
This even included imvitations to their home, all mum & dad had to do was get to the USA, but a bit beyond their means in those days

I've met him a couple of times too, as a youngster (maybe aged 10 - 13??)
Once at Batley Variety Club*(one of the big names of 70s entertainment), when collecting something, they & me, were introduced to an irishman
From a distant memory, he was pleasant, made mum & dad laugh
Photographs were taken, I didn't know who he was, not for a few years any.......... but the missing section of an index finger stuck in my mind
Yes, that wonderful comedian; Dave Allen!!


So here's a few that I didn't appreciate back then, but do now
She's probably got most of the LPs featured


View: https://youtu.be/SZqquTZBcts?si=juj_sfSMn-FzYoCO



View: https://youtu.be/0HkpCjT4LiE?si=JquU_HqaFCYocfhd


The same 'Town', in German

View: https://youtu.be/9ZwvdoC5qtY?si=ooYTjrslGg-dAG0V


He also sang in Italian

View: https://youtu.be/MLcukdoH4yc?si=FLGmh5iSHA72JFc8





*Not a band that I like, at all, but......... one of The Beegees met his wife there, as she was a waitress

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Tony Christie

I saw him a couple of times too
I'm not certain if it was one of the 'old style' (70s/80s?) seaside shows, that were common back then

I do recall thinking he had a powerful voice even back then

Not bad for a Doncaster lad

Sadly better known for Peter Kays cover, but it did bring him back into the public arena

View: https://youtu.be/2zi28s83exk?si=Q1AJgirjbp-5pS3h


I didn''t know he'd been to Glastonbury!

View: https://youtu.be/MLaMyr9wu3c?si=5useYR3LtcNSLts1



View: https://youtu.be/jhGKv9pYmKU?si=B7eAamNvn9o6Rnan



View: https://youtu.be/Fegn7_koxY4?si=8b-raKLjj2eG16qQ

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

George Jones

Along with the 2 names above, this guy was a constant in early years
I guess it's part of the reason I still love country music*

Dwight Yoakam had a late 80's attempt to write his own tribute to this, with 'Johnsons Love' & to me, he equalled it!!

View: https://youtu.be/VExw77xJsBQ?si=FJ6ODKtAm9STOeOn


G & G together

View: https://youtu.be/aH8oOgbN1N4?si=ster2gT4Rw8FqvVG


Pitney also recorded this

View: https://youtu.be/pE1QYlATnGo?si=Cxp_hh25N6wfLFzs


*'Western' is a different style, especially 'Western Swing' (try Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys)

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Jerry Reed

I knew of him before he featured in (& wrote/sung) a lot of the soundtrack to Smokey & The Bandit, he was Cletus Snow ('the Snowman', the truck-driver)

Released circa 1970-1972?

View: https://youtu.be/PbXFHSa4YmQ?si=DcpfBp7__DSMae5R


Seen here, singing a song that he wrote, that, ironically, a real-life truck driver later recorded, also asking Reed to play guitar on it!!
The other chap is someone I'd wrote off in those days, due to the 'rhinestone' era (still prefer early, or later, not the 70s country)
BUT, both are incredibly awesome guitarists!!


View: https://youtu.be/nqxv3DbXO4k?si=Yc-Gs5lRCJKzqTu5


Reed also wrote A Thing Called Love, far better known for Johnny Cash covering it

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Mario Lanza
What a voice!!

This on my spotify, for music in the car


View: https://youtu.be/cRv9tyz1XVc?si=ZI0Yl26RjsTXBISb

 

[steverob]

Tony Christie

I saw him a couple of times too
I'm not certain if it was one of the 'old style' (70s/80s?) seaside shows, that were common back then
I do recall thinking he had a powerful voice even back then
Not bad for a Doncaster lad
Sadly better known for Peter Kay, but it did bring him back into the public arena

I got to see Tony Christie in concert at my local Civic Centre just after Amarillo was re-released in 2005. Obviously he'd arranged this tour knowing that it was going to be in the charts and that the publicity would help him sell tickets, but I don't think even he knew how big it was going to blow up, because otherwise he'd have booked much bigger towns and venues than he did!

The night we saw him, he was celebrating having hit No.1 on both the singles and album chart at the same time and he was absolutely flabbergasted by it all. Was also a really good performance as well - a mix of all his hits, a few covers and a lot of really cool anecdotes between songs.

 

[DRM]

Glen Campbell was a member of the Wrecking Crew, the absolute top session musicians of their day, they were also more or less Phil Spector's house band, a very talented man, and a Beach Boy for a while

 

[Drago]

Gordon Lightfoot. I was fortunate to see him live.

 

[DRM]

I remember hearing Gordon Lightfoot on my parents Hi-Fi as a kid, even then I twigged that, If You Could Read My Mind was something special, no idea who sang it, no idea what it was really about, but it had something about it, now I know what it's about, it's a work of genius

 

[Drago]

I remember hearing Gordon Lightfoot on my parents Hi-Fi as a kid, even then I twigged that, If You Could Read My Mind was something special, no idea who sang it, no idea what it was really about, but it had something about it, now I know what it's about, it's a work of genius

It's one of the finest popular songs ever made, and beautifully played and produced. You might find this interesting...


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X33YyowZZxQ&pp=ygUkcmljayBiZWF0byBpZiB5b3UgY291bGQgcmVhZCBteSBtaW5k0gcJCVEJAYcqIYzv

 

[Alex321]

Gordon Lightfoot. I was fortunate to see him live.

I've liked him for as long as I can remember.

 

[Chislenko]

Stray.


View: https://youtu.be/CeSwqNIdY-Y?si=MWEEfNLXCKnZSWA5

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I remember hearing Gordon Lightfoot on my parents Hi-Fi as a kid, even then I twigged that, If You Could Read My Mind was something special, no idea who sang it, no idea what it was really about, but it had something about it, now I know what it's about, it's a work of genius

Plus the superb story of The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

 

[Gunk]

@Richard A Thackeray ’s living room

 

[Drago]

Plus the superb story of The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

And the Canadian Railroad Trilogy.