Last night, CNN aired a one-hour, in-depth interview with Barry Manilow, the 78-year-old pop sensation who has garnered countless hits and millions of fans over the span of nearly 60 years. So, did this profile about “The Showman of Our Generation,” the man who Frank Sinatra said, “He’s next!” when referencing, live up to the iconic star’s blinding luminescence? Read on for my thoughts.
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Behind the keyboard featured in Journey’s “Separate Ways” music video. Below it is the piano that Jonathan Cain and Steve Perry wrote “Faithfully” on.
In September, my wife and I went to Nashville to celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary. We chose Nashville because we wanted to go someplace that felt new but didn’t require a ridiculous amount of travel time or money. Also, everyone I’ve spoken with that’s been to Nashville has enjoyed their time there. In addition to eating an insane amount of fried food and meat, our trip was punctuated by several music-related excursions, which I detail below.
Neal Schon, lead guitarist and founder of Journey, just released his holiday EP, Ave Maria, featuring guitar by the man himself and orchestration by Gary Cirimelli. It’s available to buy and stream, and I highly recommend you do so, as the music contained within is beautifully done. In addition to the title track, which is a masterpiece, Schon included instrumental versions of two Journey classics – “Open Arms” and “Faithfully.” And he rounded out this holiday offering with a gorgeous version of “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” which was originally made famous by Elvis. I played this last track for my wife, as it was the song she walked down the aisle to at our wedding in September. Stephanie liked Neal’s version so much that she asked me to play it again, which is a testament to the quality of the music on Ave Maria.