Song of the Week - 'Beyond my Wildest Dreams'
Beyond My Wildest Dreams
from All the Road Running - Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris
Something my mate Pete put me onto a couple of weeks ago made me think about my Top 10 albums of all time. And think about it I have, to the point of distraction. How you could have pick your ten best to take with you to the end of time I would never know. It would be an infinite task.
First I would need to pull the five hundred odd vinyl albums down from the shelves and spread them around me like a carpet. Then as I read the sleeves I would be persuaded to play a song and then another, then the whole side, then flip it.
I still have my first vinyl LP. My parents gave it me for Xmas 1968. It's a hexagonal album called Through The past Darkly by The Rolling Stones. On here you'll find classics like Jumping Jack Flash, 2000 Light Years From Home and She's A Rainbow. Basically it is a greatest hits album part two, with High Tides and Green Grass being their first greatest hits album. Because lets face it. Back in the sixties the Stones were grass roots R n' B for mainstreamers like me who had been weaned on AM pop radio, and we mainstreamers made every song they released a hit. I can't remember how many hours I spent listening to late night Sydney radio stations like 2SM and 2UW to get a whiff of something that would have been too hot for our local radio station to handle.
Then after a few months sifting the vinyl I would make a start on the CD's and finally the 21st Century edition of my mobile music collection, itunes. If I ever had to grab my ten best albums and run, I'm sorry, but I definitely would not make the boat.
So I have come up with this idea for dealing with the Top 10 issue. Each week I will pick a song from one of my favourite albums and feature it on my blog. That way if you are interested you can go into itunes and have a sneak preview of the song and then you'll know what I am listening to at the moment when I am out walking, running, catching a bus... swimming.
My wife Jo turned me onto the Knopfler/Harris collaboration. I must admit that it is not one that I thought I'd enjoy. Knopfler I've loved since the first Dire Straits album (Dire Straits) was released (My brother Terry bought it for me Xmas 1979) but Emmylou Harris I thought just a bit too C & W for me.
The short version of this story is that on the way to Basel by train last year I was listening to Jo's ipod and to quote one of the songs on the All The Road Running album 'I Dug up a Diamond'. I was hooked instantly. This album is unashamedly full of Dire Straits intro's, outro's and inbetweens but hey, what would you expect from Mark Knopfler? And Emmylou rides equal with Knopfler when she leads and they harmonise like they have always been together.
My favourite tracks on the album are I Dug up a Diamond, All The Road Running, Donkey Town and of course Beyond My Wildest Dreams. Simple strumming, basic beat, and that distinctive Knopfler guitar feel. And the lyric? Well life is always beyond my wildest dreams, but that's just because like Knopfler says 'I never asked for much'.
So if you are looking for some new music why not give this album an itunes or Amazon taste test.
from All the Road Running - Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris
Something my mate Pete put me onto a couple of weeks ago made me think about my Top 10 albums of all time. And think about it I have, to the point of distraction. How you could have pick your ten best to take with you to the end of time I would never know. It would be an infinite task.
First I would need to pull the five hundred odd vinyl albums down from the shelves and spread them around me like a carpet. Then as I read the sleeves I would be persuaded to play a song and then another, then the whole side, then flip it.
I still have my first vinyl LP. My parents gave it me for Xmas 1968. It's a hexagonal album called Through The past Darkly by The Rolling Stones. On here you'll find classics like Jumping Jack Flash, 2000 Light Years From Home and She's A Rainbow. Basically it is a greatest hits album part two, with High Tides and Green Grass being their first greatest hits album. Because lets face it. Back in the sixties the Stones were grass roots R n' B for mainstreamers like me who had been weaned on AM pop radio, and we mainstreamers made every song they released a hit. I can't remember how many hours I spent listening to late night Sydney radio stations like 2SM and 2UW to get a whiff of something that would have been too hot for our local radio station to handle.
Then after a few months sifting the vinyl I would make a start on the CD's and finally the 21st Century edition of my mobile music collection, itunes. If I ever had to grab my ten best albums and run, I'm sorry, but I definitely would not make the boat.
So I have come up with this idea for dealing with the Top 10 issue. Each week I will pick a song from one of my favourite albums and feature it on my blog. That way if you are interested you can go into itunes and have a sneak preview of the song and then you'll know what I am listening to at the moment when I am out walking, running, catching a bus... swimming.
My wife Jo turned me onto the Knopfler/Harris collaboration. I must admit that it is not one that I thought I'd enjoy. Knopfler I've loved since the first Dire Straits album (Dire Straits) was released (My brother Terry bought it for me Xmas 1979) but Emmylou Harris I thought just a bit too C & W for me.
The short version of this story is that on the way to Basel by train last year I was listening to Jo's ipod and to quote one of the songs on the All The Road Running album 'I Dug up a Diamond'. I was hooked instantly. This album is unashamedly full of Dire Straits intro's, outro's and inbetweens but hey, what would you expect from Mark Knopfler? And Emmylou rides equal with Knopfler when she leads and they harmonise like they have always been together.
My favourite tracks on the album are I Dug up a Diamond, All The Road Running, Donkey Town and of course Beyond My Wildest Dreams. Simple strumming, basic beat, and that distinctive Knopfler guitar feel. And the lyric? Well life is always beyond my wildest dreams, but that's just because like Knopfler says 'I never asked for much'.
So if you are looking for some new music why not give this album an itunes or Amazon taste test.
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