I’ll do us all a favor and say what is on my mind. The first three songs on Bruce Hornsby’s album The Way It Is are f**king incredible. The three songs are:
“On the Western Skyline”
“Every Little Kiss”
“Mandolin Rain”
(The biggest single off the album was the title track “The Way It Is”. I have never been a fan of that song, even though I agreed with its message. Oh well.)
Hornsby is cool for a million reasons, two of which are his affiliations with the Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead. He has a signature piano style, much like Floyd Cramer. His songwriting skills are debatable, for he is not the world’s most gifted lyricist.
But screw all that. Bruce Hornsby rocks.
Especially the first three songs on his album The Way It Is. The three songs are:
I wasn’t there, but my reliable sources told me that when they saw him he had a big glass full of requests on his grand and for a good while he pulled them out and played them. Kind of a charming change of pace, even though I generally respect and approve of not playing requests.
I’ve seen him with the Dead (and post-Jerry constructions) several times and on his own once or twice. Fantastic. He appears so… so… happy to be playing, and it comes out in the music. Would I be right in thinking that an implicit statement of the OP is ‘Bruce is underrated’? I remember a few moons ago (92?) he was making sporadic appearances with the Dead after Vince took over for 'boards. In a happy moment I turned to my friend and shared an observation: we just traveled hundreds and hundreds of miles, from city to city, through adversity and bliss, all to see a band with an accordion. Whoda thunk?!
Rhythmdvl
I went through a big Bruce Hornsby / Huey Lewis thing in high school.
No, I was not very popular in high school . . . why do you ask?
Er, anyway, I’ve always thought of Hornsby as one of the greatest popular pianists of all time. He could kick Billy Joel’s ass up and down the keyboard. There really is an exuberance that comes through in his playing–coupled with a vast amount of raw talent, I might add. I took piano lessons because I wanted to play like Bruce Hornsby. I was young and stupid, but was properly disillusioned in a year or two.
“Look Out Any Window” has always been my favorite. I found it very strange that Dukakis used it in his campaign ads, considering that it contained the line, “Far away, too many leaders let them get their way/ Close your eyes, and let it all out in to the bay–we’ll clean it up some other day,” which, before the ad, I’d taken as a direct reference to Boston Harbor . . .
Ah, “Every Little Kiss” and “Mandolin Rain”. It’s been years since I’ve heard those songs (they play “The Way It Is” waaaay too much), but I still like them very much.
