Nat King Cole: The Christmas Song

La navidad nos anuncia el final de un largo y duro año, y el comienzo de uno nuevo, el 2016, esperanzado en que sea mucho mejor que este. La música que nos acompaña siempre en los buenos y malos momentos, se edulcora e impregna del espíritu navideño, transmitiendo tristeza para algunos y alegría para otros.

Nat King Cole, elegante y todo un maestro de las emociones, nos encauza ese espítitu por medio de una canción compuesta en los años 40 por Mel Tormé y Bob Wells, convertida hoy en dia en todo un clásico de la navidad, "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)".

Letra

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yule-tide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight

They know that Santa's on his way
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
And every mother's child is gonna spy
To see if reindeer really know how to fly

And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you

Frankie Valli: Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Francis Stephen Castelluccio, aparte de ser conocido como vocalista del grupo The Four Seasons, uno de los más destacados grupos de pop/rock de los años 60 y 70, tambien es conocido por sus excursiones en solitario. De origenes italo-americanos, adoptó el nombre de Frankie Valli artísticamente, y entre sus éxitos en solitario destaca su participación en el tema "Grease" -escrito por Barry Gibb- y "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" -escrito por Bob Crewe y Bob Gaudio-, y que significó su primer éxito en solitario allá por 1967.

Han sido muchas las versiones que se han realizado de este tema. Desde Frank Sinatra a Lauryn Hill, pasando por The Temptations o Gloria Gaynor, pero ahora es el momento de recordarla en la voz de este hombre. Él marcó una forma especial de cantar por su falsete y su habilidad vocal, capaz de dominar varios estilos, convirtiendo la canción en todo un clásico.

Letra

You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
You'd be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.

Pardon the way that I stare.
There's nothing else to compare.
The sight of you leaves me weak.
There are no words left to speak,
But if you feel like I feel,
Please let me know that it's real.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.

I love you, baby,
And if it's quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you.

You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
You'd be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.

I love you, baby,
And if it's quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay..

Bob Dylan: Blowing In The Wind

Músico, cantante y sobre todo poeta, siendo considerado uno de los artistas más influyentes y prolíficos del pasado siglo XX.
Bob Dylan consiguió -sobre todo en los años 60- convertirse en cronista informal de los confictos de Estados Unidos. Sus letras anti-bélicas, cuestionaban la situación social y política de la época, alcanzando la categoría de himno. Su voz áspera, nasal y sin técnica, no fue un impedimento para que, años más tarde, fuese considerado como uno de los mejores cantantes del mundo. Pero eso da igual, lo importante en él es su mensaje y la forma en que nos lo hace llegar. Canciones de estilo rock o folk que se convertían en poesía e himno como "Blowing In The Wind", versionada una y otra vez por multitud de artistas, desde Joan Baez pasando por Stevie Wonder o Sam Cooke, dejando claro que hay canciones que estan por encima de cualquier género o época.

Letra

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Los Bravos: Black Is Black

Son el primer grupo de rock español en tener un éxito internacional, ellos eran Los Bravos, y la canción era "Black Is Black", nº 2 en las listas de ventas de U.K. y número 4 en los Estados Unidos, curiosamente llegaron a realizar un jingle para la Coca-Cola en ese pais. Al frente como voz estaba un alemán, Michael Volker Kogel -más conocido como Mike Kennedy- que ayudó con su buena pronunciación en ingles, poderosa voz y carismática imagen. Pero la vida del grupo se rompió con el suicidio de uno de sus componentes y la marcha de su cantante Mike.

Letra

Black is black
I want my baby back
It's gray, it's gray
Since she went away, Ooh-Ooh
What can I do
'Cause I-I-I-I-I'm feelin' blue

If I had my way
She'd be back today
But she don't intend
To see me again, Ooh-Ooh
What can I do
'Cause I-I-I-I-I'm feelin' blue

I can't choose
It's too much to lose
My love's too strong
Wow! Maybe if she
would come back to me
Then it can't go wrong

Bad is bad
That I feel so sad
It's time, it's time
That I found peace of mind, Ooh-Ooh
What can I do
'Cause I-I-I-I-I'm feelin' blue

I can't choose
It's too much to lose
My love's too strong
Wow! Maybe if she
would come back to me
Then it can't go wrong

Black is black
I want my baby back
It's gray, it's gray
Since she went away, Ooh-Ooh
What can I do
'Cause I-I-I-I-I'm feelin' blue
'Cause I-I-I-I-I'm feelin' blue

Roy Orbison: Only The Lonely

Como muchos de los blancos pioneros del rock and roll, Roy Orbison empezó haciendo country, y en sus más de 4 décadas en la música, realizó giras con The Rolling Stone, The Beach Boys y The Beatles, siendo punto de influencia para ellos y otros como Elvis Presley o Bob Dylan. Con una imagen muy particular -pálido, con gafas oscuras e inamovible en el escenario- las baladas más románticas y sensibles surgían de su voz de tenor, bella, de registro alto, en ocasiones en falsete y sobre todo misteriosa en su tono. No obtuvo un éxito continuado en sus comienzos, fue tras su muerte cuando se empezaron a valorar grandes temas como "Oh, Pretty Woman", "In dreams" y canciones póstumas como "I drove all night" o "You got it". Recordamos su primer gran éxito y número uno, "Only The Lonely", era el año 1960.

Letra

Dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah
Ooh-yay-yay-yay-yeah
Oh-oh-oh-oh-wah
Only the lonely

Only the lonely (dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah)
Know the way I feel tonight (ooh-yay-yay-yay-yeah)
Only the lonely (dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah)
Know this feelin' ain't right (dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah)

There goes my baby
There goes my heart
They're gone forever
So far apart

But only the lonely
Know why
I cry
Only the lonely

Dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah
Ooh-yay-yay-yay-yeah
Oh-oh-oh-oh-wah
Only the lonely

Only the lonely
Know the heartaches I've been through
Only the lonely
Know I cried and cried for you

Maybe tomorrow
A new romance
No more sorrow
But that's the chance - You gotta take
If your lonely heart breaks
Only the lonely

Dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah

Frank Sinatra: I've Got You Under My Skin

Camarero, actor, cantante..., pero sobre todo elegante y señorial. Asi era Frank Sinatra, genuino en todo lo que se proponía.

Su control de la respiración al cantar, su precisión al vocalizar, su capacidad y facilidad para transmitir con su voz emociones y sensaciones..., era todo un conjunto de detalles que le auparon a ser considerado simple y llanamente como "La Voz". Todo un premio a una figura que ha interpretado de manera personal y única más de 1000 canciones, entre ellas "I've Got You Under My Skin", escrita por Cole Porter y que define perfectamente la fusión entre canción y artista. Sin duda uno de los más grandes cantantes que ha habido y habrá.

Letra

I've got you under my skin
I've got you deep in the heart of me
So deep in my heart, that you're really a part of me
I've got you under my skin.

I tried so not to give in
And I said to myself this affair never will go so well
But why should I try to resist, when baby I know so well
That I've got you under my skin.

I'd sacrifice anything come what might
For the sake of having you near
In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night
And repeats, repeats in my ear

Don't you know you little fool, you never can win
Use your mentality, wake up to reality,
But each time that I do, just the thought of you
Makes me stop before I begin,
'Cause I've got you under my skin

I would sacrifice anything come what might
for the sake of having you near
in spite of a warning voice
That comes in the night and repeats,
how it yells in my ear

Don't you know you little fool, you never can win
Why not use your mentality,step up, wake up to reality
And each time I do, just the thought of you
Makes me stop just before I begin
'Cause I've got you under my skin
Yeah, You breath me under my skin..

Louis Armstrong: What A Wonderful World

Todo un virtuoso de la corneta y la trompeta, Louis Armstrong era tambien un maestro en la improvisación y una de las figuras más carismáticas e innovadoras de la historia del jazz y el más popular. Su forma de hacer música era sofisticada y novedosa, hasta el punto de que sobre sus estándares del jazz de Nueva Orleans y canciones populares del momento, han resistido perfectamente el paso del tiempo. Su toque único de trompeta, su improvisación melódica transformando temas, y su particular voz grave y rota, lograban elevar la música a un punto casi inalcanzable para un ser humano. Fueron muchos los temas que lanzó al estrellato, pero quizás sea éste el más conocido, "What A Wonderful World", letra, voz y música llenas de belleza y encanto.

Letra

I see trees of green........ red roses too
I see em bloom..... for me and for you
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue..... clouds of white
Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky
Are also on the faces.....of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do
Theyre really sayin......i love you.

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
Theyll learn much more.....than Ill never know
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world

(instrumental break)

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky
Are there on the faces.....of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do
Theyre really sayin...*spoken*(I ....love....you).

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
*spoken*(you know their gonna learn
A whole lot more than Ill never know)
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself .......what a wonderful world.

Tom Jones: It's Not Unusual

Pocos artistas han sabido resistir el paso de las décadas y seguir manteniendo su autenticidad. Ese es el caso de Tom Jones, extravagante, sensual y con una poderosa presencia y voz que hace irrefrenable el acto de moverte escuchando canciones como "It's Not Unusual", su primer éxito allá por 1965.

Letra

It's not unusual to be loved by anyone
It's not unusual to have fun with anyone
but when I see you hanging about with anyone
It's not unusual to see me cry,
oh I wanna' die
It's not unusual to go out at any time
but when I see you out and about it's such a crime
if you should ever want to be loved by anyone,
It's not unusual it happens every day no matter what you say
you find it happens all the time
love will never do what you want it to
why can't this crazy love be mine
It's not unusual, to be mad with anyone
It's not unusual, to be sad with anyone
but if I ever find that you've changed at anytime
it's not unusual to find out that I'm in love with you
whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

Otis Redding: (sittin`on)The dock of the bay

Con una voz llena de un soul fluyendo del interior del alma, es sin lugar a duda uno de los más grandes vocalistas que jamás ha dado el soul. Falleció con tan sólo 26 años debido a un accidente de avioneta, pero antes nos dejó su canción más famosa, "(sittin`on)The dock of the bay". Numerosas versiones de este gran tema, pero como el original ninguno, disfrutemos del gran Otis Redding.

Letra

Sitting in the morning sun
I'll be sitting when the evening comes
Watching the ships roll in
And I watch 'em roll away again

[Refrain]
Sitting on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay
Wasting time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the 'Frisco bay
'Cause I had nothin to live for
And look like nothing's gonna come my way

So I'm just...
[Refrain]

Look like nothing's gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same

Sittin here resting my bones
And this loneliness won't leave me alone
It's two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home

Now, I'm just...