Songs for Matthew Morrison's CD?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 12/16/09 at 9:30pm

If you could suggest songs for Mr. Morrison to include on his upcoming CD or even a subsequent CD, what would they be?

Here is my little wish list:

R&B/Country/Rock: "I Can Help"

That old Elvis Presley song by Billy Swan "I Can Help." But with the main or only accompaniment being a kerplunkity jazz/blues piano like the one they have at Chez Josephine restaurant on 42nd Street. (You cannot take any concert piano and get that sound, it has to be a specially tuned and a suitable piano.) I am thinking of jazzy bluesy piano accompaniment in the style of the Marvin Gaye classic "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You." You get a real jazz pianist and they can just improvise it. And I'd like to hear Mr. Morrison do it in his baritone range which has a sweet sound, but you don't get to hear it often. Elvis' song hints at the very, very end, of what it could be if performed in that style, you can hear it online here:

http://www.rhapsody.com/elvis-presley/walk-a-mile-in-my-shoes-the-essential-70s-masters/i-can-help/lyrics.html

Titanic Musical: "The Proposal/The Night is Alive" duet, with Mr. Morrison as Radioman

Scottish (nationalist) folk song ballad: "The Skye Boat Song" by Lady Wilson and Sir Harold Boulton, with its traditional lyrics.

American folk song ballad: "Four Strong Winds" by Ian Tyson, because sometimes you like something a little sweet and melancholy.

Irish (nationalist) folk song ballad: "The Minstrel Boy" by the poet patriot Thomas Moore, preferably just the original lyrics and not the ones added during the American Civil War.

I am also thinking a Skye Boat Song/Four Strong Winds/Minstrel Boy medley in that order could be quite lovely. Updated On: 12/16/09 at 09:30 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/16/09 at 10:09pm

I'd love to hear him do a reading of the poem "The Heathen Chinee" by Brett Harte, perhaps with some gong and bicycle bells in the background.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 12/16/09 at 10:53pm

Here's a nice, if somewhat slow and dramatic version of the Skye Boat Song by Scottish Canadian tenor John McDermott:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufz2yaFMEtg&feature=related Updated On: 1/9/10 at 10:53 PM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 4/22/10 at 9:32pm

Layla

with blues guitarists like Clapton and Allman.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 4/22/10 at 10:15pm

"Father and Son" by Cat Stevens.

With Tom Wopat or Boyd Gaines singing the father.

There's a great Hawaiian music version with maybe Moe Keale singing the father that is very, very good, but I can't find it using any google or amazon.com search, unfortunately. Could be by another pair of well-known Hawaiian singers.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/22/10 at 10:23pm

"Enchantment Passing Through". I don't know why.