Don’t Stop Believin’: In Memory of Cory Monteith

Cory Monteith Meets Fans At Westfield Sydney  wikimedia commons

He’s known as the football star turned glee club singer on the hit show Glee.          

But his life was more troubled and more astonishing than his TV persona.

By 13 he was into drugs, by 16 he had dropped out of high school, and by 19 he was in rehab.

But somehow he went from a job as a Wal-Mart greeter to star of a hit show that features music and dancing, without any music or dancing experience. His audition tape consisted of him playing the drums—with pencils on Tupperware. (You can see him reprise a bit of it on the Ellen DeGeneresshow.)

He told DeGeneres that on the way to the live interview, he listened to the cast version of the Broadway show Rent, and also listened to Billy Joel albums.  Joel’s song “Honesty” was the song he performed.

He was found dead in his hotel room early on Saturday, July 13.

The police haven’t released the cause of death, but early reports are that not foul play seems to be involved. He had recently gone back into rehab, and it seems likely that a drug overdose killed him

Popular entertainment is full of tales of undead villains, but drugs are the real vampires and zombies, possessing people—even the very talented and very young—until they are destroyed.

For a look at better times, here some of Monteith’s best-known pieces. They are available for download on Freegal.

Cupcakes and Cookies and Treats, Oh My! : Wizard of Oz Party

Easy Treats for a Wizard of Oz Party

I’m squidging off topic just a little bit here. With the new movie Oz: The Great and Powerful coming out, I’m putting together sites with party ideas.

I just finished pulling together all kinds of cute ideas for treats—cupcakes, cakes, cookies, candy, and—of course—a rainbow fruit salad. (I like something to be a little healthy.)

They’re all super simple, because I know no one has the patience to make a complicated treat when they’re trying to get the rest of the party together.

And what does this all have to do with Freegal? It turns out Glee covered “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

If you remember Katharine McPhee’s performance on American Idol, her version is here, too.

Queen Meets Simon & Garfunkel: “Some Nights” by Glee Cast Members

It’s those drums. I could listen to them all day.

 “Some Nights,” by fun. is the most addictive song to come out in a long time.

Unfortunately, the drums were all you could get from Freegal for a while. After I listened to the 30-second sample track, I downloaded the song only to find out that it was just the accompaniment version, sort of like a karaoke track. Much as I like the beat, I wanted someone to start singing eventually.

Fortunately, Glee decided to cover the track, so now there is a decent version to download from Freegal.

fun. is being compared to Queen, with its anthemic music and close harmonies.  And the beat in this song is being compared to Simon & Garfunkel’s Cecilia. It’s also being compared to Nena’s 99 luftballoons.  It has something for everyone.

Now if I could just figure out why they chose the opening lyrics:

“Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle
Some nights I wish they’d just fall off.”

“Oh, the weather outside is frightful”: “Let It Snow” by Glee

Photo: Pollo

This nod to sitting smugly by the fire while the tempest rages outside was penned back in 1945. It was a modern song, mentioning newfangled things like popping corn. (Funny, I thought the Native Americans did it way back.)

Today, in Denver, the snow is falling (finally! –the first we’ve had this year), and it is nice to be sitting inside cozy and warm, though we are making scones instead of popping corn.
Glee has a jazzy version on Freegal.

When it comes to other versions, the question is who doesn’t have a version out. There are over a dozen pages of artists; here is just a sampling:  Johnny Mathis, Doris Day, Harry Connick, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Wynton Marsalis, Andy Williams, Bing Crosby, Jessica Simpson, Kenny G., and Dean Martin. If you are in a country mood, you can listen to Martina McBride, Tanya Tucker, or Austin band Asleep at the Wheel.

If you are in a really different sort of mood, you can listen to the Christmas Jug Band (they whistle the tune—reminds me of the Andy Griffith theme), or you can hear it sung in Polish by Moje Vanoce.

I came across a music box version by Mic Musicbox that I like. It sounds different from all the others.

That Little Show Choir: The Glee! Christmas Album

Fans of the show Glee! can find all kinds of cast recordings on Freegal.

The Christmas album includes 10 tracks, with favorites such as “Jingle Bell Rock,” White Christmas,””Feliz Navidad,” “Silent Night,” and “Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah.”

Beer and a Song—and White House and the World

Photo: KFP

Beer has been in the news lately.

Apparently, President Obama was inspired by home brewers and bought a kit for the White House Kitchen. The fellas hadn’t ever brewed beer before, but they got a few tips from brewers in the house, and they say their beer turned out pretty good.

Here are the recipes for White House Honey Ale and White House Honey Porter. You can see a video, too.

A quick search of Freegal shows that musicians the world over have written songs about beer.

There’s plenty of German music, of couse, with “Beer Barrel Polka” and the Bavarian Biersingers with “Gimme a Beer.”

Jazz singer Bessie Smith wants a little more in the song “Gimme a Pig’s Foot and a Bottle of Beer.”

The Irish singers The Clancy Brothers and The Dubliners go with a song that’s simply “Beer, Beer, Beer.”

The Aussie Frankie Davidson has a whole album of pub songs including “Beer, Beer, Beautiful Beer.”

Country music is well-represented, as you might imagine, with titles like “Beer Money” by John Carter, and “Dip Me in Beer” by Jeff Griffith.

Blues man Rik van den Bosch fits as many vices as he can in “Coffee, Cigarettes, and Beer.”

If you’re a Gleek, Freegal has the Glee cast’s version of “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.”

And, the Indigo Girls get into the act with “Cold Beer and Remote Control.”