Silence is Golden

This is my instrumental cover of “Silence is Golden”. Most people remember this lovely song as a 1967 hit for the British group, The Tremeloes. It reached #1 in the UK and #11 on the USA Billboard charts.

However, the song was first recorded and released in 1964 by the Four Seasons as the “B” side to “Rag Doll”. It was composed by producer Bob Crewe and group member Bob Gaudio. With Bob Crewe often assisting with lyrics, Bob Gaudio wrote a string of hits for the Four Seasons, including “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Walk Like a Man”, “Dawn (Go Away)”,”Ronnie”, “Rag Doll”, “Save It for Me”, “Big Man in Town”, “Bye Bye Baby”, and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.

The original Four Seasons arrangement was not changed much by the Tremeloes for their hit.

 

Manhã de Carnaval

This is my sixties-style instrumental arrangement of “Manhã de Carnaval” (“Carnival Morning”) by Brazilian composer Luiz Bonfá and lyricist Antônio Maria.

“Manhã de Carnaval” appeared as a principal theme in the 1959 Portuguese-language film, “Black Orpheus”. It was one of the first Bossa Nova compositions to gain popularity outside Brazil. Particularly in the United States, the song has become a jazz standard and is considered to be one of the most important Brazilian Jazz/Bossa songs that helped establish the Bossa Nova movement in the late 1950s.

Throwdown

“Throwdown” is an original, riff-based instrumental guitar rock track inspired by the Ventures mid-1960s sound.

Oh, Come, Little Children

“Oh, Come, Little Children” is a German Christmas carol. The lyrics were written by Catholic priest and writer Christoph von Schmid in 1798. The music to the poem as it is known today was written by the composer Johann Abraham Peter Schulz in 1790.

A la nanita nana

“A la nanita nana” is a traditional Christmas carol that has become a popular lullaby in the Hispanic world. The composer was José Ramón Gomis, born in 1856 in Novelda, Alicante, Spain; the lyrics were written by Juan Francisco Muñoz y Pabón. The carol was published in 1904.

There’s a Song in the Air

“There’s a Song in the Air” is a Christmas carol and United Methodist Church hymn. The music, by Karl P. Harrington, dates from 1904. The words are the work of American poet and novelist Josiah Holland, who wrote them in 1874.

As Each Happy Christmas/Christ was born on Christmas Day

This is my arrangement of two short Christmas songs, “As Each Happy Christmas” and “Christ was born on Christmas Day”, into a medley,  Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck (1770-1846) composed the music to “As Each Happy Christmas”, originally a German carol. The tune for “Christ was born on Christmas Day” dates from the 14th century.