Written by Ben Evans<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we\u2019ve looked back on the past 100 years during Harding\u2019s Centennial celebration, I can\u2019t help but look at the halfway point between now and then, 50 years ago, to 1973. Why \u201873? Well, the year means a lot to me personally. 1973 was the year that my mom was born and adopted, so I want to honor this year by discussing it, and more importantly, its music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would be wrong for me to discuss \u201873 without mentioning my favorite musician, Billy Joel. On Nov. 9, 1973, Joel released one of the most iconic songs of all time and a staple of his career, \u201cPiano Man.\u201d While most people know the lyrics, only a few know that the story of \u201cPiano Man,\u201d was actually Billy\u2019s reality when he wrote the song. The album \u201cPiano Man\u201d released before Joel\u2019s breakout album, \u201cThe Stranger,\u201d when Joel was traveling the country, living off of small gigs and piano bars. In fact, the album \u201cPiano Man\u201d is the closest thing to a concept album that Joel ever wrote. The songs are connected by a \u201ctravel\u201d motif. Joel name-drops nine different states, mostly from the West Coast, throughout the album. It also centers on repeated characters and themes of poverty, divorce, drug abuse and life as a musician. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPiano Man\u201d was a huge experiment for Joel, as it was before he found his iconic piano-led-rock-and-roll sound, so songs on the album range in genre. \u201cTravellin\u2019 Prayer\u201d <\/em>is a bluegrass medley, \u201cAin\u2019t No Crime\u201d <\/em>and \u201cStop in Nevada\u201d <\/em>are written like gospel tunes and \u201cBilly the Kid\u201d <\/em>was originally written as a movie soundtrack. If you\u2019ve never given \u201cPiano Man\u201d a proper listen-through, I\u2019d highly recommend it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When record shopping with my sister a few weeks ago, I just so happened to pick up another \u201873 hit, \u201cBand on the Run\u201d <\/em>by Paul McCartney and Wings. \u201cBand on the Run,\u201d the album and the title track, are considered some of McCartney\u2019s best solo work, and I personally think it\u2019s better than several of the albums he wrote with The Beatles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re going to listen to \u201cBand on the Run,\u201d you should know that it is one of those albums where you should listen to it completely, front to back, with no shuffling or skipping, as the songs interact in a very fun way. Many motifs, concepts, lyrics and even full-on samples of previous songs will pop up throughout the album, making it one of my favorite listens. Turning 50 this December, \u201cBand on the Run\u201d is definitely worth a listen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One last album I would like to mention is \u201cCall Me,\u201d by my favorite soul musician and fellow Arkansas native, Al Green. \u201cCall Me\u201d <\/em>turned 50 this April and has been re-released this year to celebrate its birthday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Much like the previous two albums, the most famous song from \u201cCall Me\u201d is its title track. \u201cCall Me\u201d <\/em>itself is a beautiful song, but the album is full of funky music, including a soulful cover of \u201cI\u2019m so Lonesome I Could Cry.\u201d As a huge Green fan, no song makes me happier than \u201cYour Love is Like the Morning Sun,\u201d the \u201cAvengers: <\/em>Endgame\u201d of Al Green songs, as it makes reference to and quotes four of his greatest hits from his previous four albums. Of course, these are only a few of the important songs and albums of \u201873. A few honorable mentions: \u201cInnervisions\u201d <\/em>by Stevie Wonder, a look into politics, race and culture that is still applauded today, turned 50 this year. \u201cDark Side of the Moon\u201d by Pink Floyd was released that year and it is still considered one of the greatest rock albums recorded. Last, but certainly not least, \u201cLet\u2019s Get it On\u201d <\/em>by Marvin Gaye had a 50th birthday this August, and its title track is just as iconic as ever. If you want to listen to something new, or more accurately, something pretty old, I\u2019d recommend giving one, maybe even all of these albums a listen. Here\u2019s to the songs that have stuck with us for 50 years, and here\u2019s to 50 more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Written by Ben Evans As we\u2019ve looked back on the past 100 years during Harding\u2019s Centennial celebration, I can\u2019t help but look at the halfway point between now and then,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15068,"featured_media":18984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15068"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}