CanAm

Great nominations, Laurie! I nominated Everybody's Talkin' quite some time ago and it didn't make the cut. I hope it does better this time. You've definitely got my votes for both your noms.

1. Do It Again - Steely Dan 2. Candle In The Wind - Elton John 3. Evil Woman - E.L.O. 4. Nick Of Time - Bonnie Raitt 5. Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley & His Comets 6. River - Joni Mitchell 7. Norwegian Wood - The Beatles 8. You Needed Me - Anne Murray 9. You Are The Woman - Firefall 10. They Don't Know - Tracy Ullman

1. Nick Of Time - Bonnie Raitt. As a wise person already said about two other songs, this is lyrically and musically beautiful. 2. Candle In The Wind - Elton John. The original version about Marilyn Monroe, not the one for Princess Diana.

I'm glad to see that someone (Batman) mentioned Rory Gallagher. IMO, he is an incredibly underrated guitar player. He was versatile (he could play a mean sitar) and fast. He was a great slide guitar player (much better than Clapton) although he didn't play slide nearly as often as I would have liked. Since I originally responded to this thread, I have come across some amazing guitar players. Scotty Anderson, Johnny Hiland, Danny Gatton and Albert Lee were players I had never heard of until a few months ago. Each one is an amazingly talented guitarist who has a unique style. Hiland plays everything from country to hard rock. Danny Gatton was primarily a country/jazz player. Scotty Anderson plays an odd (in a good way) blend of bluegrass and traditional jazz while Albert Lee plays rock and roll and country equally well. It's a shame that many of these talented players do not achieve the notoriety or commercial success of their rock contemporaries.

Amen, Jane!! The Allman Brothers Band were great and, IMO, they were the pioneers of Southern Rock. It's a pity that Duane Allman did not live longer. He was a tremendously talented slide guitarist at a young age and it would have been interesting to see how his playing would have evolved as he got older. Some of my favourite Allman Brothers tunes are Statesboro Blues, Melissa, Whipping Post, Midnight Rider, Ramblin' Man, Southbound and Hoochie Coochie Man.

1. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who. Sorry, Darryl, but this is my favourite song by The Who. Dr. Gregory House likes it too. 2. Help Me - Joni Mitchell. Another great song by this fabulous artist. Great nomination RonJon! 3. Comes A Time - Neil Young 4. Four Strong Winds - Ian & Sylvia. I'm really getting my dose of Canadian content this time around. 5. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life - Stevie Wonder 6. Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan 7. It's All Over Now - The Rolling Stones. Not my favourite rendition of this classic, but a good tune, nonetheless. 8. Separate Ways - Journey 9. Joy To The World - Three Dog Night. That Hoyt Axton was one talented songwriter. 10. Brownsville/Mockingbird - Joy Of Cooking. This narrowly beat our Dylan's Don't Think Twice It's Alright.

1. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who 2. Four Strong Winds - Ian & Sylvia. IMO, one of the greatest folk songs ever written.

Wonderful suggestions, Joe!! Hark! The Village Wait is my favourite Steeleye Span record and I have almost all the early Fairport Convention material. I'll have to check out Pentangle and Rennaisance.

I have almost everything they ever released. IMO, they are a greatly underrated band. Essentially, they were a group of studio musicians brought together in the early 70's to try and capitalize on the success of southern rock as pioneered by The Allman Brothers and carried on by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Sylistically, however, they had more in common with the Eagles or early Buckingham/Nicks Fleetwood Mac than they did with The Allmans or Lynyrd Skynyrd. Many of their songs have heavy jazz overtones. If you want a good introduction to their music, you can't go wrong with their greatest hits package. In terms of their albums, I like A Rock And Roll Alternative which contains their first big hit, So Into You. Champagne Jam, Underdog & The Boys From Doraville are also excellent albums. Although the group is still recording and touring, Ronnie Hammond, the lead singer from their heyday, is no longer performing with them.

My wife and I saw Bonnie Raitt in concert last night and were absolutely blown away! She is such a dynamic performer. She began the show with some great songs off her new album Souls Alike. She really got the audience going though, when she began to play some of her better known tunes like Louise, Women Be Wise, Nick Of Time, Have A Heart and Something To Talk About. At 57, she is a very atrractive, vivacious woman whose voice has only become better with age. And boy, can she play slide guitar. Her band beautifully complemented Raitt's stellar playing. Bonnie Raitt is,without doubt, one of my favourite performers. She is intelligent, articulate and has a great sense of humour. For those of us fortunate to see her perform last night, it felt like we were in the living room of an old friend, listening to her joke with her band members and with us. Almost all the proceeds from last night's show went to the Pembina Institute, an organization dedicated to developing sustainable energy technology and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels while preserving our environment. Unlike celebrities like Bono, who never miss an opportunity to get their faces in front of a camera, most of Raitt's charity work is done without much fanfare. She has helped raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and created a fund to compensate many black blues players who were never properly remunerated for their songs recorded in the 60's and 70's by white blues bands. Many of these bluesmen are in their 70's and 80's and living a hand to mouth existence. All in all, last night's performance was one of the best live shows I've ever seen. She is one classy lady. The opening act was Maia Sharp, a very talented singer/songwriter from L.A. whose songs have been recorded by Raitt, The Dixie Chicks and Carole King among others. She is a multi-talented lady who plays guitar, keyboards and a mean baritone sax. She and her bass player performed six of her own compositions and she performed several songs on stage with Bonnie Raitt. I think I'll have to check out some of her CD's.

1. I'm A Believer - The Monkees 2. I'll Never Fall In Love Again - Dionne Warwick 3. Bad Moon Rising - C.C.R. 4. The Warrior - Patty Smyth & Scandal 5. Higher Love - Steve Winwood 6. So Nice To Be With You - Gallery 7. One - Three Dog Night 8. Down By The River - Neil Young 9. Only The Good Die Young - Billy Joel 10. Take Me To The Pilot - Elton John

Jenny, I was never a big fan of country music, but over the last few years, I've discovered several artists I like. Mary Chapin Carpenter - IMO, one of the best singer/songwriters in the business. All but her first and last albums are excellent, but my favourites are A Place In The World and Shooting Straight In The Dark. Trisha Yearwood - she has a lovely voice and her music is definitely not twangy. Emmylou Harris - a sultry alto voice and another great songwriter. The Desert Rose Band featuring Chris Hillman formerly of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Excellent musicianship and catchy pop/country tunes make them worth listening to. Southern Pacific - rocking country music in the tradition of Sawyer Brown and Alabama. Steve Earle - a literate country-rocker whose best effort IMO, is the album Guitar Town even though it does not contain his biggest hit, Copperhead Road. Marty Robbins - unlike so many of his contemporaries, Robbins didn't sing with a pronounced nasal twang. And boy, could he sing!

I believe these may be my first 80's nominations. 1. Higher Love - Steve Winwood 2. The Warrior - Patty Smyth & Scandal. The video on You Tube is pretty hokey, but the woman has a great set of pipes.

On our local cable station, all the best shows are aired on two nights. It's very frustrating. On Tuesday there is Boston Legal, House and Law and Order SVU. On Thursday it's ER, Shark and Ugly Betty. As for Criminal Minds, sometimes it's on Wednesday and sometimes it's on Friday. What is especially frustrating, is that the good shows often air at the same time. And right now our VCR is on the fritz so we can't tape anything. Grrr!!! The rest of the week it's either wretched reality shows or decidedly unfunny sitcoms. As for the World Series, Yawn!! I just don't see how anyone can be excited by watching baseball on TV. Next to cricket, golf and auto racing, it has to be the most boring spectator sport on earth. Thank god hockey and football are now in full swing.

Like someone else mentioned, my favourite song or artist depends very much on my mood. Favourite Pop/Rock artist - Elton John Favourite Pop/Rock song - Heart of Gold by Neil Young Favourite Adult Contemporary Artist - Mary Chapin Carpenter/Anne Murray Favourite Adult Contemporary song - Rhythm of the Blues by Mary Chapin Carpenter or Snowbird by Anne Murray Favourite Composer - Claude Debussy Favourite Classical composition - Claire De Lune by Debussy.

I love Luck Be A Lady by Sinatra. It made number 2 on my list! There are only 2 or 3 Sinatra tunes that I like more.

1. Tush - ZZ Top 2. Luck Be A Lady - Frank Sinatra 3. The Joker - The Steve Miller Band 4. Bend Me, Shape Me - The American Breed 5. Dancing In The Moonlight - King Harvest 6. Landslide - Fleetwood Mac 7. What Is Life - George Harrison 8. I Need A Lover - John Mellencamp 9. Take It To The Limit - The Eagles 10. Life's Been Good - Joe Walsh

1. Tush - ZZ Top 2. Dancing In The Moonlight - King Harvest

Some of my favourites are: 1. The Commitments - A great soundtrack. 2. Saturday Night Fever - Gasp!! Another great soundtrack. 3. The Rutles 4. Walk The Line 5. Jailhouse Rock 6. Sid And Nancy - even though I hated the music of the Sex Pistols, this was a very interesting movie about the relationship between Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. One of my favourite movies is American Grafitti. While it may not have been specifically about a musician or musicians, music was an important part of the plot. A fabulous soundtrack to boot.

A great and comprehensive list, Ken!! Here are a few other Canadian bands/artists who are worthy of mention. Blue Rodeo - Great country rock. Jim Cuddy's voice soars on great tunes like Five Days in May, Til I Am Myself Again and Trust Yourself. One of Meryl Streep's favourite bands. Five Man Electrical Band - Tremendously underrated Candadian band which had hits like Signs, Absolutely Right and I'm A Stranger Here. Les Emmerson was the creative force behind this group. Larry Gowan - He is now the lead singer with Styx (he sounds eerily like Dennis DeYoung), but he had a fairly successful solo career in Canada with hits like A Criminal Mind and Moonlight Desires. Crowbar - An early 70's naughty blues/rock band whose only hit was Oh, What A Feeling. Lighthouse - One of my favourite bands, they had a string of hits including One Fine Morning, Sunny Days, Pretty Lady and Hats Off To The Stranger. In their heyday, they were every bit as good as Chicago. Chilliwack - Did not have a lot of commercial success outside of Canada, but they had numerous hits in The Great White North like Crazy Talk, California Girl, Watcha Gonna Do and Lonesome Mary. The Stampeders - A great Calgary band of the late 60's and early 70's. The trio had many hits in Canada including Sweet City Woman (their one US success), Carry Me, Wild Eyes, Oh My Lady and Then Came The White Man.

1. In My Life - The Beatles 2. California Dreamin' - The Mamas And The Papas. My favourite folk/rock song and one of my top twenty songs of all time. 3. God Only Knows - The Beach Boys. I love, love, love this song. 4. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd. One of the greatest guitar solos in rock music. 5. All My Loving - The Beatles. At one time this was my favourite Beatles tune, but it has recently been supplanted by In My Life. This was the first song I remember hearing as a child and as such, it will always be one of my sentimental favourites. 6. Day Tripper - The Beatles. What can I say? I love the Beatles. 7. Sounds Of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel. A brilliant piece of songwriting. 8. Runaway - Del Shannon. A classic that will never grow old. 9. Sultans Of Swing - Dire Straits. Not my favourite song by this underrated group, but a great song nonetheless. 10. My Sharona - The Knack. Perhaps the greatest one hit wonders of them all.

1. Bitch - The Rolling Stones 2. El Condor Pasa - Simon and Carbuncle 3. Smoke On The Water - Deep Purple. I wondered when someone would get around to nominating this one. This was one of THE rock anthems when I was in high school those many moons ago. 4. Sweet City Woman - The Stampeders 5. I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher 6. Come A Little Bit Closer - Jay and the Americans 7. Take Me In Your Arms - The Doobie Brothers 8. Sweet Talkin' Woman - E.L.O. 9. Before You Accuse Me - Eric Clapton 10. You're My Best Friend - Queen

What can I say Shawna? I'm suitably chastened. I can only hope that the impressionable members of Songfacts like Uncle Joe and Old 55 are not too offended! I like your new avatar. My eyesight is not what it once was. Is that Miss Nicks?

1. Bitch - The Rolling Stones. This is my first Stones nomination. 2. Sweet City Woman - The Stampeders

1. Refugee - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 2. Like A Hurricane - Neil Young 3. Solitary Man - Neil Diamond 4. This Time - John Mellencamp 5. Without You - Nilsson 6. Only The Lonely - Roy Orbison 7. Time In A Bottle - Jim Croce 8. These Boots Are Made For Walking - Nancy Sinatra 9. Another Day In Paradise - Phil Collins 10. No Matter What - Badfinger This wasn't so tough. I only had to leave off 7 songs that I really like!