Spin That 45

  Originally featured on  Inside MusiCast  as  my Pick of The Day Today Mr. Howard Smith celebrates his birthday. What a perfect day for me to pick a song from one of my most treasured LP's. How the album "Face To Face" by producer Scott V. Smith came into my life in 1984 is a fabulous story in and of itself. Another day. . . . "Set Free" written by Howard Smith and Scott V. Smith is a beautiful ballad. IMC friend and former guest;  James Harr ah  on guitars sets the tone from the beginning with his acoustic. Howard's vocals are like rich velvet. I've always loved the way Howard sings. Fans of Andrae Crouch & The Disciples will remember him from those days. Howard sings with such passion. There's such an urgency in his vocals when he sings the lyrics "Slavery!" and "Fantasy!" "They say He Holds the Keys." The man is singing from his gut. You FEEL him. Honestly, you feel him throughout the entire song. So beautiful. A...

  Originally featured on  Inside MusiCast  as  my Pick of The Day Leland Sklar was our guest on Inside MusiCast . He had a great chat with Rick, Eddy & Kim Reilly. It's no secret Lee is one of my favorite bass players. His delivery is so there, that I usually know when he's on a recording, even when he's blending. Like take this tune; "Heaven In The Real World." When this was released, I wasn't really into the music of Steven Curtis Chapman.  That developed later. But I really liked this song. I was loving the bass lines, the drums and of course the guitar. Only to find out later that Lee was on bass, John Robinson on drums and Dann Huff on guitar. HA! Amazing! Other notables are producer; Mark Heimermann and Michael Gleason on backing vocals, Phil Naish on Keyboards and Hezekiah Walker And The Love Fellowship Crusade Choir adding that Gospel fullness. Towards the end of the tune, Lee and Dann add some fancy string work that is work listening as well as Jo...

  Originally featured on  Inside MusiCast  as  my Pick of The Day I heard this on the radio today and knew that it had to be my Pick. Just hearing those lyrics; "I got work to do! Everybody's got work to do" made me think of those who are on the front lines while the rest of the world is on lockdown because of COVID-19. I'm groovin' to the tune and then find myself tearing up at "keep your love lights burning And a little food hot in my plate You might as well get used to Me coming home a little late" I realize the song was originally written with another topic in mind, but I couldn't help but think of all those who are overloaded, working overtime and missing their loved ones. This classic Soul tune has a completely meaning for me now. Released in 1972, it has been covered by The Main Ingredient, The Average White Band, Vanessa Williams, Mayer Hawthorne and so many others. What I love about the original tho, is how organic it is, like all the way to...

  Originally featured on  Inside MusiCast  as  my Pick of The Day Musicians Greg Mathieson  and  Casey Young  were our guests last week on Inside MusiCast's Facebook page  via Zoom. If you were there, you may have heard Greg talk about working with Olivia Newton-John and his contribution to the Grease Soundtrack. I don't think there's a person out there who hasn't heard this track. But having Greg share his memories on working on "You're The One That I Want" and "Hopelessly Devoted To You " was so wonderful. He's an incredible storyteller. He was on the set from the beginning of filming and was the rehearsal pianist. He was then asked to play on both these hits. When talking about "You're The One That I Want, Greg shares that at the chorus, singing "You're The One That I Want, the one that I want, the one that I want;" the original had no "piano bar" in between. Greg tells how he added those 3 notes in between...