~ Like the ripples in a pond, the work of one man spreads out and touches the lives of others ~

From The Soul of One ~ To The Hearts Of Many
TAYLOR HICKS MY IDOL
Taylor Hicks "The Distance"


Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Hell Of A Day



Taylor Hicks' self-penned "Hell Of A Day", from his 2005 CD
'Under The Radar', was based on an expression Taylor remembers his grandfather Earl favoring when he was little.



Often his grandfather would talk to him about how it had been a hell of a day at work, but one day Taylor realized that you could also have a hell of a day in love too, and this original tune captures that feeling.

"Hell Of A Day", being a fan favorite, was also added to 'Taylor Hicks', his 2006 Freshman CD, as an exclusive bonus track for Wal-Mart.

I can truly empathize with Grandpa Earl's use of the expression,'cause it was a hell of a day yesterday for me trying to create and publish this blog.

Absolutely nothing was working right, I spent hours upon hours, between uploading & downloading programs, only to have error messages appear when the process was finally completed!

Today, miraculously everything is working, but now blogger is acting up ... I'm beginning to feel as if I've been slammed against the wall, and that's a whole other song!

I was at Taylor's concert at The Royal Oak Theater, front row, well actually sitting on the end of the stage, when Taylor first segued from "Hell Of A Day" into "Another Brick In The Wall"!

OMG, pretty much summed the reaction we all had, it was FABULOUS, and the crowd went wild, and it was already an extremely wild crowd!

You can see from the expressions that pass across Taylor's face in the following close up video, that at times he looked a bit bewildered by the intensity of the fans.
This is an awesome video capture and one of my most treasured concert videos!


Taylor Hicks @ The Royal Oak Theater
"Hell Of A Day"/"Another Brick In The Wall"
April 22, 2007
video capture: DianeC
Thank You!

If you have read any of my past blog entries, you already know I was at Taylor's Hagerstown concert, woo hoo, again front row, and how FABULOUS this concert was!

It was the second time I was fortunate enough to experience his "Hell Of A Day"/"Brick In The Wall" live and we have video!
It's not a close up capture, but the sound is superb and his performance outstanding!


Taylor Hicks @ The Maryland Theater
"Hell Of A Day"/"Another Brick In The Wall"
July 6, 2007
video capture: VICKILOVESTAYLOR
Thank You!

Wow, I am simply blow away every time I watch these two videos, "HOAD" with "Brick in the Wall" would make a hell of an opener, and I hope it's added regularly to his set on his next tour!


Now on to today's musical history lesson ....



"Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd, became a number one song on both sides of the Atlantic.

Pink Floyd's roots go way back to the early 1960s, when Waters, Wright and Mason were in an R&B band together while at art school in Cambridge.

After numerous lineup and name changes, the group settled on the name Pink Floyd (taken from the name two American blues musicians, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council) and featured Waters on bass, Wright on keyboards, Mason on drums and a friend named Syd Barrett on guitar and vocals.



Pink Floyd was one of the first bands to use instrumental freak-out passages incorporating feedback, electronic screeches, loud amplification and other unusual means to create eerie sounds.

In the mid-60s they began to incorporate light shows into their concerts.

Syd Barrett (lead singer and guitarist) began to compose songs that combined unusual psychedelic arrangements with melodies and lyrics that often viewed the world from a child's perspective of emotion and wonder.

Pink Floyd ~ "Another Brick In The Wall"




'Another Brick in the Wall', the stories behind Pink Floyd's songs, was written by Cliff Jones and tackles one of rock’s greatest enigmas: finding the muse behind Pink Floyd’s music.
Each track on every album is examined, revealing for the first time the creative context behind the music and the lyrics that made icons out of LSD, pigs, power stations, and brick walls, and unearthing the crazy, tragic stories behind some of the most popular and original songs of all time.




To learn the inspirations and muses behind Taylor Hicks' music, as well as his life story thus far, I highly recommend 'Heart Full Of Soul' his inspirational memoir about finding your voice and finding your way!



Today's cup:
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.
Only through experience of trial and suffering,
can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired,
and success achieved."
~Helen Keller~

1 comment:

KarinP said...

While I was at the Royal Oak Theatre that night, I must admit that I didn't realize the genius of using Hell of a Day to move into Brick in the Wall. Now that I see it on the video, it was a very cool move and I liked it!

I was never a Pink Floyd fan and at the moment, I don't have great memories of them. They did a concert in our stadium in 1975 and the stadium was so trashed that there has never been another concert held there. It is unfortunate because Tim McGraw and Faith Hill wanted to do a concert here this summer in the stadium but do to lack of political foresight, it is not going to happen.

I enjoyed watching the facial expressions on Taylor's face as he performed in the video. I know I have said it before but I will say it again, a "covers" CD would have been a brilliant idea.

Thanks, Bloom!