Welcome to my music blog -
The Soundtrack of My Life!
Many of you have asked me “What’s with all the music, Dr.
Weiss?” Well, as I’ve told some of you:
I personally call every surgery patient on the evening of
surgery just to make sure they are doing well and have no questions that need
answering. Occasionally, I would be at the piano and play a song that we had
listened to that day. I gradually realized that I wanted to go through all the music
that I had played during my life and at least start making a list of the songs that
I had recently played.
Well, there are now about 600 songs on the list and I realized
that it in a way it represented the ‘soundtrack of my life’! And that’s how I got
the idea to record these songs and share them with my patients, friends and family.
After I record them they will reside here, for easy access.
Music is truth. It’s honest. It’s really the first social
media, where in a way, people could share their souls directly. And isn’t that what
the purpose of social media is and why it’s so popular - trying to share who you
really are, as completely and directly as possible?
Finally, it has been (and will continue to be) a genuine
pleasure sharing these different songs with you and I really appreciate all of your
positive feedback!!
"I Will" is a song recorded the Beatles, from their 1968 double album The Beatles (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by Paul McCartney. I’ve always particularly liked this song. Paul must agree, because according to McCartney: "It's still one of my favorite melodies that I've written. You just occasionally get lucky with a melody and it becomes rather complete and I think this is one of them; quite a complete tune.” Enjoy, Dr. Weiss Related posts: Maybe I'm Amazed, Let It Be, We Can Work It Out Bosendorfer piano sound - For this recording I’m playing a Yamaha Clavinova – which has the same keyboard action as a traditional acoustic piano, but there are no strings. Pressing a key activates (in this case) a sound which was sampled from a Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand piano. Try listening to it with a good set of headphones! It sounds better than any piano I've ever owned!!
Leon Russell must have known he had written this instant jazz classic as soon as he finished it. I mean, how could he not? Once again, the chord changes are universal, but the truth of the words makes the song. This song has a special place in my heart because I once hired Leon to play at a medical conference I put together in Deer Valley and he didn’t disappoint (he did go on a little late though!) Enjoy, Dr. Weiss Dedicated to Jerry S and Tom M Bosendorfer piano sound - For this recording I’m playing a Yamaha Clavinova – which has the same keyboard action as a traditional acoustic piano, but there are no strings. Pressing a key activates (in this case) a sound which was sampled from a Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand piano. Try listening to it with a good set of headphones! It sounds better than any piano I've ever owned!!
OK, two of my favorites, The Beatles and Stevie Wonder. What geniuses!! What’s so special about this Rick Weiss cover of Stevie Wonder’s cover of the Beatles ‘We Can Work It Out’ ? Besides the song’s compelling melody and timeless universal lyrics such as these: Try to see it my way. We can work it out. You can get it wrong and still you think that it's alright. And my personal favorite: Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting, my friend. My version of this song was ‘inspired’ by Stevie Wonder’s take on this song. I’ve always known there was something particularly special (aside from being, well, Stevie’s version) about his version, but it’s taken me many years (actually, until tonight) to understand the major but subtle changes he made in one of the main rhythm hooks of the song - the ‘We Can Work It Out’ part. I sensed that Stevie had made some kind of change but I didn’t know what. Listen closely. In Stevie’s version (or rather, in my interpretation of Stevie’s), those five syllables are of equal length and start a half a beat earlier. In the well-known Beatles version (which [...]
On This Day (September 23) in 1949 Bruce Springsteen was born in New Jersey. ‘Thunder Road’ is one of Bruce Springsteen's most performed songs, audience favorite, and the opening track on his 1975 breakthrough album Born to Run. It is ranked as one of Springsteen's greatest songs, and often appears on lists of the top rock songs of all time. (In fact, in 2004, it was ranked #1 on the list of the "885 All-Time Greatest Songs" compiled by the University of Pennsylvania's public radio station!) The song's title comes from the Robert Mitchum film noir about a bootlegger entitled ’Thunder Road’. Springsteen declared that he was somehow inspired by the movie despite not having seen it. As he once said: "I never saw the movie, I only saw the poster in the lobby of the theater." (I only recently learned that “The Ballad of Thunder Road”, the theme song for the 1957 movie, was performed and co-written by actor Robert Mitchum!) Where I grew up (in Northeast Philadelphia) we were all early Springsteen fanatics from when he released his first album, Greetings From Asbury Park, in January 1973 - earlier than he broke nationally. The Jersey shore was just an hour [...]
On this day (September 19) in 1974 Bob Dylan recorded 'Simple Twist of Fate' in New York City. It’s been reinterpreted by artists as varied as Jerry Garcia and Diana Krall. I’ve always been attracted to this song. Perhaps one reason is that Dylan's lyric notebook reveals that it was originally titled "4th Street Affair” referring to a time when he lived in an apartment on West 4th Street in Greenwich Village. I lived around the corner on Cornelia Street in the early ’70’s while I was at NYU. In my opinion, this is an example of one of the ways Dylan changed song writing by throwing out conventions. Even without the need for any words, chorus or bridge, he had (has) me with the just the song name and the simple repetitive 5-chord progression that is evocative of nostalgia of the title ‘Simple Twist of Fate’ . I’ve included the first 4 verses that seemingly describe a fleeting one night affair. I look at this song as kind of a minimalist musical mantra, another example of Dylan’s genius. This performance is dedicated to my patient Barbara M. Enjoy, Dr. Weiss Related Posts: Forever Young If Dogs Run Free Bosendorfer [...]
The Weiss Cosmetic & Laser Procedures team saw Jackson Browne at the Pacific Amphitheater last night, which got me to thinking about this version of the classic Jackson Browne piano ballad ‘Rosie’, from his seminal album “Running on Empty.” I’ve always loved to play this song. Browne explained that Rosie actually was a true story. The song’s lyrics are seemingly about a lonely groupie getting an entrance ticket from the sound man, who she later abandons for the drummer coming off stage. “This is a true story about a guy I knew who used to sit right over there and he mixed the monitors onstage,” Browne said in 1978. There is another somewhat hidden meaning to the song, one which I shall let those who are interested discover with a tool called Google, which was decades away when this song came out. Enjoy. Dr. Weiss Another New Music Post: Liebestraum (A Dream of Love) No. 3 Theme Bosendorfer piano sound - For this recording I’m playing a Yamaha Clavinova – which has the same keyboard action as a traditional acoustic piano, but there are no strings. Pressing a key activates (in this case) a sound which was sampled from a Bösendorfer Imperial Concert [...]
On This Day (August 9) in 1995 Jerry Garcia passed away (8 days after his 53rd birthday) from a heart attack. For me, this is when the final spirit of the sixties really ended (along with John Lennon’s death years earlier). As one of its founders, Garcia performed with the Grateful Dead for their entire 30-year career (1965–1995). He was renowned for his musical and technical ability, particularly his ability to play a variety of instruments, and his ability to sustain long improvisations with The Grateful Dead. Regarding his soloing style, I thought this was interesting (and useful, to a soloist): When asked to describe his approach to soloing, Garcia commented: "It keeps on changing. I still basically revolve around the melody and the way it's broken up into phrases as I perceive them. With most solos, I tend to play something that phrases the way the melody does; my phrases may be more dense or have different value, but they'll occur in the same places in the song.” Garcia first met lyricist and poet Robert Hunter in 1961, who would become a long-time friend and lyricist for the Grateful Dead, officially a non-performing band member. Of note, Hunter was [...]
On this day (July 22) in 1947 Don Henley was born in Gilmer, Texas. Desperado was written for the Eagles by Don Henley and Glenn Frey (their very first song.) It was based on a song he had started in the style of old songs by Stephen Foster (Way Down Upon the Swanee River.) In fact, he imagined a Stephen Foster song as sung by Ray Charles. Well, they came up with an enduring classic with instantly relatable chord changes and a compelling cowboy story. I mean, who can’t relate to ‘you ain't gettin' no younger’, ‘walking through this world all alone’, ‘don’t your feet get cold in the wintertime’ and letting someone love you? Once again, this song is so much fun to play - especially this one, to which I have the following somewhat tenuous connection. This performance is dedicated to my friend Alex McArthur, who played the heroic title role of Duell McCall in Desperado, an indelible but short-lived series of five Western TV movies in the ’80s. Throughout the film series, McCall is "a man of principle who roams the West of yesteryear helping people in trouble while struggling to get himself out of trouble—clearing himself [...]
On This Day (June 18) in 1942, Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool. I’m sure glad he met the other guys and I was around to hear it. I’ve always thought that “Let It Be” is one of the true classic piano solos. For years I thought I understood that ‘Let It Be’ meant ‘to leave things as they are’, with a pacifist connotation. And also that ‘Mother Mary’ had religious overtones. Now I understand that ‘Let it Be’ was meant more in a prayerful way, hoping for words of wisdom and an answer to times of trouble (as in, ‘let it be soon’) with a timeless message. Anyway, it’s a beautiful, inspiring song. I know that it’s inspired me over the years. And ‘Mother Mary’ was actually about his deceased mother Mary, who had just seen in a dream - but I’m sure that Paul was OK with the ambiguity. Happy Birthday, Paul Dr. Weiss Bosendorfer piano sound - For this recording I’m playing a Yamaha Clavinova – which has the same keyboard action as a traditional acoustic piano, but there are no strings. Pressing a key activates (in this case) a sound which was sampled from a Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand piano. [...]
On This Day in 1972 (June 17), “Stella Blue” was first performed by the Grateful Dead at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles (47 years ago today!) If you’re already a Grateful Dead fan, the song needs no introduction. But for those of you who have never been to a Dead show, after you hear the first notes of this song you just settle down into your chair to enjoy a mellow few minutes and enjoy the tasteful light show! I look at it as a musical impressionistic work of art. Impressionism is a style or movement in painting originating in France in the 1860s, characterized by a concern with depicting the visual impression of the moment, especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and color. It’s an artistic style that seeks to capture a feeling or experience rather than to achieve accurate depiction. In music it’s a style of composition (associated especially with Debussy) in which clarity of structure and theme is subordinate to harmonic effects. Robert Hunter’s phrases such as ‘all the years combine, they melt into a dream’, ‘there's nothing you can hold for very long’, and ’it seems like all this life was just [...]
