I took an hour or so and listened to what I think are the best personal interpretations of randomly selected popular tunes.

What stands out is the power that can be created by a great version of a great piece of music by a "master".


I started with Robb Thomas, of Matchbox 20 fame, and listened to his performance on Daryl's House of the Hall and Oats song "Your Kiss is on my List". He lowered the key, slowed it down and really dug in. My previous favorite of his was the work done with Santana.


Then, I listened to a country dude, Jimmy Wayne, singing a Hall and Oates song, "Sarah Smile" and his own song, "Do You Believe Me Now?".

Next, I listened to Luther Vandross singing "Superstar","A House is not a Home" and "Love Won't Let Me Wait" from a 1996 London concert. I met him in 1983 and found him to be obnoxious as hell, but, man what an interpreter of "message tunes"!

Johny Mathis was next: a live performance of "How do you Keep the music Playing?", followed by my new/old interest, Les McCann, playing "Compared to What?", and singing "With These Hands".

Powerful, introspective material from a wide variety of performers. These tunes were performed over a 30 year period.

The lesson is, whether it's an instrumental or vocal...a ballad or a blues number...a love song or a protest song, we can each put our own stamp on the material we perform...make it our own.

That's when awesome, extremely personal,"tear creating" things can happen.

The power of music is really heart stopping, sometimes.


Russ