Tag: Music Reviews

Top Ten Feel -good Songs from Freegal

by Conor Machale

Although the Rory Gallagher Music Library is closed for the duration of Lockdown, there is a great way of listening to music on your device by downloading the Freegal app. You can stream music by numerous artists on your device and download a limited number of songs every week to build up your own library of music. All you have to do is download the app and register with your Cork City Library card.

Get started here: https://corkcitylibraries.freegalmusic.com/home

For some inspiration to keep the mood upbeat and happy here are some feel-good songs available to stream on Freegal:

Katrina and the Wailers: Walking on Sunshine

This song appears on about every feel-good songs list out there. An 80s classic that will sweep away the cobwebs on a winters day. There is also a cover version from the film soundtrack of the same name by Leona Lewis et al.

Bill Withers: Lovely Day

The late Bill Withers left a legacy of great songs like Ain’t no Sunshine and Lean on Me. Lovely Day is one of his stand out classics that will instantly brighten your day and is just a great chill out tune. Check out too some fine cover versions by singers such as Clarence Carter and Jimmy Lee.

Pharrell Williams: Happy

This infectious tune is a more recent stand out song that was played everywhere in recent years and is one of the most popular songs of the last decade.  You can find a live version of the song too. Impossible not to clap along to!

Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars: Uptown Funk

Another recent chart topper Uptown Funk is produced by Mark Ronson who is responsible for Valerie with Amy Winehouse and Oh My God with Lilly Allen. This tune dominated the charts in 2014 and is still as fresh today. As well as this version there is a neat acapella recording by Tommy Musso along with a workout mix to add to your fitness playlist.

Prince: Let’s go Crazy

There has to be a bit of Prince on any of these lists and here is a great tune that will liven up any situation.  As with many artists on Freegal there is an array of rare recordings and live albums and so here there is a cracking live version on the Purple Reign Live from New York album.

Chubby Checker: The Twist

A new dance craze was popularised in the 1960s with this song. Push back the furniture and do the Twist. For nostalgia fans there is a great collection on the Sound of 1960 playlist.

Al Green: Let’s Stay Together

Everybody likes this song. It stands the test of time as one of the most popular and uplifting soul tunes from the Rev. Al Green. There are also fine versions by Edwin Starr and Jimmy McGriff.

Johnny Nash: I can see Clearly Now

Known for his reggae influenced songs, the recently departed Johnny Nash is responsible for this wonderful chilled out pop song that is instantly recognisable           .

Huey Lewis & the News: The Power of Love

Another 80s classic known to many from the Back to the Future film from 1985, this is available with both studio and live versions on Freegal.

Outkast: Hey Ya!

This song was another chart topper and remains infectiously popular. Of the various versions of the song complimenting the original recording by Outkast is an instrumental by the Vitamin String Quartet which is guaranteed to instantly enhance your mood.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of feel- good songs. Take time to explore Freegal and create your own playlist of good mood music. Revisit old favourites and discover new songs to brighten up your day.

Listen to playlist: https://corkcitylibraries.freegalmusic.com/browse/playlists/library-playlists/241689

A Treasure Trove of Taste!

Liam Ronayne, Cork City Librarian — as those who know him are aware — is a huge music fan and is always happy to spend a coffee break chatting about the latest goings-on in the music world or about revered legends of the past. It isn’t often, however, that Liam would have the time to put pen to paper on the subject, but considering that this is Rory Gallagher & Taste and that Liam himself is a fan, he’s gone that extra mile: 

The Taste Box Set, I’ll Remember — recently released by UMG / Polydor — is a four-disk treasure trove.

On disk 3, the five numbers culled from a 1970 BBC Radio 1 live set are introduced by John Peel, so laid-back he’s virtually horizontal. Peel remarks that, “Taste are one of those bands . . . who need to be seen and heard live to be fully appreciated”. That’s a view that most would agree with, borne out here by pillars of Taste’s live set, like ‘Catfish’, ‘Gamblin Blues’ and ‘Sugar Mama’, and by the version of ‘What’s Going On’ captured live in Stockholm not long before the band split up, which breathes so much more into the song than the studio version. Gallagher’s legendary energy, fantastic technique, and joy in the music are all to be found in the many live cuts over the four disks, and especially on the Stockholm set.

But it would be very wrong to overlook the beautifully crafted songs that make up ‘On the Boards’, Taste’s second studio album. This is a very special artefact in itself, and much more than a keepsake of the live sets. In the title track, the band, all three of them, stretch out to great effect: the dynamic, the groove, the bluesy sound all remind us what was lost when they did split up.

Another rare Taste postcard

Another unmissable aspect of the Box Set for Rory fans from this part of the world is having a full 56 minutes of the original line-up from 1968, with Eric Kitteringham on bass and Norman ‘Sticks’ D’Amery on drums. Seven numbers were recorded in the Maritime Hotel, Belfast (Van Morrison & Them’s old stomping ground) as a demo to interest record labels; there are versions of ‘Blister on the Moon’ and ‘Born on the Wrong Side of Time’, recorded as singles for the Major Minor label (run by Belfast promoter Phil Solomon), songs that were re-recorded with Wilson and McCracken for Taste’s debut album on Polydor the following year. The four tracks recorded at the Woburn Abbey Festival in England in the summer of 1968 showcase a lively, powerful band, with a great sense of fun.

Liam Ronayne Cork City Librarian
Liam Ronayne
Cork City Librarian