There is a lot of spectacular talent born on March 30th, the best singers to have graced the mic and one of the most prolific actors ever.
Eric Clapton is a living legend. The singer/guitarist is absolutely phenomenal and nothing I write here can do this man’s remarkable talent justice. He’s known his share of pain and anguish and he has used his music as a cathartic expression of pure, unadulterated heart and soul. I first fell in love with Clapton’s work after listening to him perform “Layla” and “Tears in Heaven” — I’ll admit that I’m a soft touch, that song has made me misty eyed on more than one occasion.
The woman with the golden voice. That’s who Celine Dion is. The level of emotion that her vocal instrument conveys is incredibly powerful. I was lucky growing up because my mom would listen to some really great songs that became my favorites. When I first heard her rendition of “If You Ask Me To” I was asking myself, “Who is this beautiful songbird?” Celine grew up with a lot of siblings and came from humble beginnings. There’s something uniquely genuine, endearing and graceful about her that touches the very soul. I’m a dude and I have more than a few Celine songs in my music library. Among my favorites is “Nothing’s Broken But My Heart,” “Because You Loved Me,” “To Love You More” and “That’s the Way it Is.”
Tracy Chapman drove a Fast Car right to the top of the charts in the early 1990’s and her vivid account of struggle and striving to make it has struck a familiar chord with me, and I’m sure with everyone at some point. Tracy’s smooth, soulful voice is as comforting as silk. She dared you to dream in the face of incredible odds and she taught us that through overcoming adversity so that we all could be someone, be someone…
I have a Warren Beatty story of my own. When I was living in Hollywood a friend picked me up in a Mercedes convertible for a stroll west on Sunset Blvd. and to our left we saw a bigger Benz convertible that caught our eye. When we stopped at a red light we were amazed to see that driving with the top down was none other than Warren Beatty, clear as day and very recognizable. Ever true to his breakout role in Bonnie and Clyde, he took one look at us in the car right beside him and give us a gun shoot gesture before he got the green light and sped off.
Who’s the man with the funny pants and the side-step jig? Why, it’s M.C. Hammer, of course. The minister of cool! Where would early 90’s music be without Vanilla Ice and M.C. Hammer? It was Hammertime for a fleeting moment in time. His Aries enthusiasm helped to catapult him to his fifteen minutes of fame. You can’t touch this!
Eric Clapton is a living legend. The singer/guitarist is absolutely phenomenal and nothing I write here can do this man’s remarkable talent justice. He’s known his share of pain and anguish and he has used his music as a cathartic expression of pure, unadulterated heart and soul. I first fell in love with Clapton’s work after listening to him perform “Layla” and “Tears in Heaven” — I’ll admit that I’m a soft touch, that song has made me misty eyed on more than one occasion.