Category: love

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acoustic guitar artist profiles Arts & Entertainment love Music relationships songwriting

How Cat Stevens’ Early Song Became a Timeless Hit

Cat Stevens wrote “The First Cut Is The Deepest” when he was eighteen. At the time, he had no intention of becoming a worldwide star performer. He sold the song for thirty pounds to P.P. Arnold, a soul singer who lived near him in London. She released “The First Cut Is The Deepest” on her first album. It reached #18 on the U.K. charts in 1967. Eventually, Rod Stewart and Sheryl Crow covered the song, making it a major hit in America.

Stevens released his version of the song on his debut album, New Masters. Because he never released “The First Cut Is the Deepest” as a single, the album went largely unnoticed.

Despite his shyness, Stevens’ songwriting and singing burst through to make him an international star in the music industry. I’m using Stevens’ version in my cover.

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acoustic guitar artist profiles Arts & Entertainment love songwriting

The Story Behind Carefree Highway by Gordon Lightfoot

On a musical tour of the Western United States, Gordon Lightfoot discovered a highway sign that read, “Carefree Highway.” The words on the sign led Gordon to write a song about a carefree lifestyle and a lost love.

Lightfoot put the lyrics away in the glove compartment of his car. Eight months later, Gordon wrote the music for “Carefree Highway” after almost forgetting about the song. Wouldn’t you know that the song became one of Lightfoot’s biggest hits?

Here’s my cover.

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acoustic guitar Arts & Entertainment love

Finding Love: Insights from Jackson Browne’s Song

Relationships, and especially love relationships are difficult. Here’s my cover of “I Thought I Was A Child,” a song about the universal search for love and Browne’s admiration of the wisdom of an older woman.

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acoustic guitar Arts & Entertainment love relationships

Remembering Kate Wolf and Her Timeless Songs

In her brief lifetime, which was cut short by Leukemia, Kate Wolf became a major influence on the folk scene with songs like “Give Yourself to Love,” “Across the Great Divide,” “Green Eyes,” “September Song,” and many more. Kate’s audience has continued to grow since her unfortunate passing. As an example, I found her late in my life. Here’s my cover of “Green Eyes.”