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!!

Categories


Streets of Minneapolis image 2 web

Streets of Minneapolis

March 5, 2026

Streets of Minneapolis (4:02) I’ve been furious since the shootings by ICE agents (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in Minneapolis—especially since I first heard the song Springsteen wrote in the 24 hours after the killings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renée Good, then recorded and released just two days later. It landed like an emotional gut punch. Renée Good was shot three times in the head from point blank range on January 7 while in her car and turning away from ICE agents. The head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension later disclosed that the FBI revoked their access to evidence related to the shooting—reversing an earlier understanding that the agencies would conduct a joint investigation. Leaders in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division declined to open a constitutional investigation, prompting more than a dozen federal prosecutors in Minneapolis and Washington to resign in protest. Video evidence and widely reported preliminary accounts indicate that on January 24, federal agents fired 10 shots in roughly five seconds killing Alex Pretti after he was pepper-sprayed, tackled, and pinned to the ground. Several shots were reportedly fired after he was no longer moving. DHS officials also reportedly prevented local police from […]

DALL·E 2023 12 31 13.56.14 A visionary depiction of AI fostering global peace, featuring an AI entity as a glowing, ethereal figure at the center of a diverse assembly of people

Peace Blog 2026 – One Spirit – Footprints In The Sands Of Time

March 3, 2026

Illustration Credits: Rick and Dall-E We are constantly trying to make sense of why we have all the wars and misery around the world, and what we can do about it. I decided to ask chatGPT (while I was in an Uber with a driver who was from Senegal, recently arrived from Africa.) We both agreed on the plan below that chatGPT came up with in seconds. My New Year’s wish is that the countries of the world select leaders who also agree.   Rick: How to get world peace? ChatGPT: “Achieving world peace is a complex issue that humanity has been grappling with for centuries. However, many ideas and steps are generally agreed upon as necessary to get closer to this ambitious goal. Here are some of them: Education: Access to quality education for everyone can contribute significantly to world peace. Education can foster understanding, tolerance, and empathy among different cultures, nations, and ethnic groups. Poverty Reduction: Poverty often leads to conflict and strife. Therefore, global efforts to alleviate poverty can directly contribute to world peace. This includes economic development, fair trade practices, and aid for underdeveloped countries. Conflict Resolution: Encouraging peaceful resolutions to conflicts instead of resorting to violence is crucial. This can be […]

Screenshot 2026 03 01 at 10.10.41 PM

Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out – Live!

March 1, 2026

Sometimes we just like to say thank you to our awesome family of patients and friends, hang out, and have a little fun. And that’s exactly what we did at this event! We couldn’t invite everyone (at least not until the SuperDome rent drops a little), but some lucky folks got to eat, drink and be merry with a little accompaniment by the fabulous live music of Dr. Weiss and Nutty Jazz. Thanks for the memories!! Enjoy, Dr. Weiss Dedicated to all my friends, family and patients. I hope that you are all doing well.   You can find more about Nutty Jazz and their music here: http://nuttyjazz.com/

Sugar Magnolia

Sugar Magnolia

January 11, 2026

Sugar Magnolia (3:13) As I mentioned yesterday, Weir’s “Sugar Magnolia” was the first Dead song that I learned on the guitar, and I took a folk guitar with me when I first drove cross-country from Philadelphia to California when I was 18 (in my brand new emerald green AMC Gremlin) – and must have sung it for many dozens along the way. So today, as promised, I worked up a version of “Sugar Magnolia” for you. I literally haven’t played this song for at least 30 years and wasn’t sure if my fingers would remember how to play it, but here it is. OK. Here’s my Bob Weir story about the time when I physically protected Bob Weir from his fans on-stage during an encore of “One More Saturday Night” at a concert in LA. I had found myself alone in the wings for the encore (how I got there is a story for another time, but it had to do with our mutual interest in supporting efforts to cure international blindness). Anyway, anyone who has ever been to a Grateful Dead show knows that there is a lot of dancing, including many ‘whirling dervishes.’ Well,  during the encore some of the more uncontrolled dancers jumped […]

New York State of Mind

New York State of Mind

December 31, 2025

New York State of Mind (5:02) Billy Joel This Billy Joel track from 1976 has always felt deeply personal to me. I first met New York as a 17-year-old freshman at New York University, and I was fortunate to experience the city early—enough to grow comfortable with its pace, its noise, and its energy instead of being swallowed by it. Over the years, NYC became something familiar, a place I could return to in different seasons of my life. Whenever I sit down to play “New York State of Mind,” these memories come rushing back—scenes and moments that aren’t in any particular order, but all feel stitched into the song. Please humor me as I share this scattershot collection of personal memories—after all, it is my blog. Leaning out the window at the Mayflower Hotel to see snow drifting down on Central Park the night I got married Windows on the World lunch at the World Trade Center The Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center with tux and oysters Lunches at Café des Artistes The smell of the bakery across the road on Cornelia Street Rays Pizza on Bleeker St. (still has a line!) La Metairie every time passing through My engagement party at […]

Teddy bears..perhaps getting ready for a picnic

The Teddy Bears’ Picnic

December 28, 2025

John Walter Bratton, died on this day (February 7) in 1947. Bratton was a Tin Pan Alley composer and wrote “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic” in 1907.  I guess that makes the song 102 years old! He wrote it without lyrics, and during the silent film era it was used as background music for a number of popular movies and later, even as background music in some of the Looney Tunes cartoons. He wrote over 250 songs, but this song is his only lasting hit.  Twenty-five years later, Jimmy Kennedy wrote the lyrics in 1932!  Interestingly, Kennedy, in a career spanning more than fifty years, wrote some 2000 songs, of which over 200 became worldwide hits, and about 50 are all-time popular music classics. Until Lennon and McCartney, Kennedy had more hits in the United States than any other Irish or British songwriter!!!  [Incidentally, Stephen, Kennedy also wrote “South of the Border”, a popular song describing a trip to Mexico, inspired by a holiday picture postcard he received from Mexico. Frank Sinatra recorded “South of the Border” when I was 2 weeks old! But I digress. “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic” was one of the earliest sound recordings, released by Edison Records [...]
Que reste t il de nos amours horizontal for web

Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours

December 26, 2025

Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours (5:10) (I Wish You Love) Today here are two versions for your listening pleasure (audio only on youtube): “Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours” – French lyrics only “Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours”- simultaneous French-English ‘inline translation’ “Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours” is a beautiful song by French singer/songwriter Charles Trenet and first recorded in 1943. You may recognize it from the English language version recorded in 1957 – “I Wish You Love” – made famous by Frank Sinatra and many others. This song not only gives me a chance to brush up on my French but is a great example of how lyrics in different languages can completely transform the meaning and character of a song. “I Wish You Love” is fairly lighthearted with Tin Pan Alley rhymes (see below), but the original French lyrics reveal a much more wistful, nostalgic and sentimental tone. If you are still with me after listening to my singing translation of the original French, compare the feeling of the song with the English ‘I Wish You Love’ lyrics by Albert Beach: I wish you bluebirds in the spring To give your heart a song to sing And then a kiss, but more than […]

Aint Misbehavin

Ain’t Misbehavin’

December 19, 2025

Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1:09) Thomas “Fats” Waller This is such a cool song! I dug it up from a previous post and decided to add a vocal. If you don’t know about Fats Waller, you should.  Check him out on Wikipedia and Youtube.  One thing I remember is that shaking hands with him was like shaking hands with a bunch of bananas!  He was a character among characters!Enjoy, Dr. Weiss

Al In Love Iw Fair

All In Love is Fair

December 11, 2025

All In Love Is Fair (2:43) Like much of the rest of the world, I appreciate the genius of Stevie Wonder. Even though I usually prefer to let the sampled piano ‘sing’ for me, I’ve decided to try to sing this one. I guess if you were here in my living room, I might be persuaded to try to sing the song, so here it is. Enjoy,Dr. Weiss

Man Smart, Woman Smarter

Man Smart, Woman Smarter

December 4, 2025

  Man Smart (Woman Smarter) ( 3:03) “Man Smart (Woman Smarter)” was first recorded and probably composed by Norman Span (King Radio) in 1936. It’s a cool song that works into many different musical genres and was first made famous by Harry Belafonte in 1956 (on Billboard’s Top Pop Albums chart for 31 weeks.)   I first learned this song from the Grateful Dead repertoire who play it with a New Orleans ”Iko Iko” type of arrangement. In any case, I’ve always liked their version, and the lyrics resonated with me because I’ve always felt the world would probably be a little kinder if the women had more say. One of the more unique versions is performed by Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz), Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball), Fred Mertz (William Frawley) and Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance) in the 1957 episode of I Love Lucy entitled “Ragtime Band”. Check it out on youtube. Anyway, here is my version, recorded live at one of our Patient Appreciation Parties a while back.  Interestingly, I spent a little time recently overdubbing parts of my vocal to improve on the mix. As usual (see my song parody “Mr. Botox Man” of Johnny Rivers “Secret Agent Man”), I start it out on […]