Autumn in the Air

Keeping with my Saturday morning ritual, today I was up and out early, ahead of the traffic, lines, noise and the like, to do errands and hit the gym. It was beautiful. This song by The Rascals captures it well.

From Wikipedia: The Rascals (initially known as The Young Rascals) were an American rock band, formed in Garfield, NJ in 1965.  Between 1966 and 1968 the New Jersey act reached the top 20 of the billboard Hot 100 with nine singles, including the #1s “Good Lovin’”  (1966),  “Groovin’ (1967), and “People Got to Be Free" (1968), as well as big radio hits such as the much-covered “How Can I Be Sure” (#4 1967) and “ A Beautiful Mornin’ (#3 1968), plus another critical favorite "A Girl Like You" (#10 1967). The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. (J. Gaffney)

Donovan - "Season of the Witch" - I dropped some stitches while knitting and the song popped into my head...I picked up every stitch, have no fear. (D. Martin-Dugre)

Donovan Philips Leitch is a Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music. He has lived in Scotland, Hertfordshire, London, California, and since at least 2008 in County Cork, Ireland, with his family. Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan reached fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop TV series Ready Steady Go! (Editor's Note: This song was released in the US in September of 1966, marking the beginning of the singer's switch from acoustic folk music to electric rock.)

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The Youngbloods - "Get Together" - Seems right... (T Williams) 

I won't pretend to know Professor Williams's mind but his choice may be in response to the craziness that swirls around us 24/7.  This particular song was first issued as a 45 rpm single in 1967, "The Summer of Love", but barely dented the Top 100.  Two years later, a DeeJay at WABC-AM used the song as a promo for his show and then the National Council of Christians and Jews picked the song for a promotional push and the 45, rereleased, shot up the charts to the Top 5.  It was the only hit for the group but kept them touring in one form or another for a number of years. (RBK)

Gloria Gaynor - "I Will Survive" - Good time of year for this song! (C Hakala).
(Editor's Note) - Ms. Gaynor had a number of popular songs in the late 1970s-early 1980s, right at the end of the "Disco Craze."  This song, her biggest hit, started its slow climb to the charts in 1978 when it was released as a B-side of a 45 that barely was noticed. A Deejay in Boston, MA, flipped the record over and his audience kept calling to find out more. The record label re-pressed the 45 with "I Will Survive" as the A-side and the rest is history.

Joni Mitchell - "Free Man in Paris" - This cut was the second Joni Mitchell song I truly liked ("Big Yellow Taxi" was the first) from the first album of hers that I liked (1974's "Court and Spark").  Ms. Mitchell had begun to expand her sound, moving from her early acoustic pieces to a more fluid rhythm section.  Over the next decade, her move towards jazz and jazz-rock alienated a good part of her original audience but those of us who enjoyed Weather Report (the band), guitarist Pat Metheny, and, especially, bassist Jaco Pastorius, became smitten. This version comes from her 1980 live album "Shadow and Light" with a band that featured Metheny, Pastorius, keyboard whiz Lyle Mays, drummer Don Alias, and saxophonist Michael Brecker.  Listening to the amazing bass work is bittersweet as Pastorius sunk into depression, alcoholism, and schizophrenia brought on by what many people claimed was bi-polar disorder.  He died in 1987 at the age of 35.  When he was healthy, Jaco Pastorius was not just an amazing musician but a loving husband and father.  As for Joni Mitchell, she has retired from the music business because of the rare disease known as Morgellons.  (R Kamins)

I decided to post the live version - not a great video but you'll get the idea.