Heart Banter by David Gittlin

David Gittlin
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Heart Banter by David Gittlin

Featuring acoustic guitar and vocal covers performed the way my favorite artists play them.

  1. 14 HR. AGO

    I Thought I Was A Child

    My cover of Jackson Browne's song which is about his search for love and the wisdom of an older woman.

    3 min

  2. FEB 12

    Remembering Kate Wolf's Timeless Songs

    In her brief lifetime cut short by Leukemia, Kate Wolf managed to become 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. Here's my cover of "Green Eyes."

    5 min

  3. FEB 8

    Gordon Lightfoot's Sly Humor: "I'll Be All Right"

    Here’s another Gordon Lightfoot tune that may not be as recognizable as many of his other songs that I’ve covered here. Somehow, “I’ll be Alright” crept into my consciousness, and I’m happy to offer my cover of the song in this post. To me, the song is as lovely and memorable as many of Lightfoot’s hits, including: “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Early Morning Rain,” and “Song For A Winter’s Night.” Please enjoy this remembrance of the one and only Gordon Lightfoot.

    3 min

  4. JAN 27

    The Story Behind Bob Dylan's "Girl From The North Country

    "Girl From The North Country" is another one of those songs that popped into my head from out of nowhere. I can't decide if it's a message from the Beyond or just a little piece of my subconscious rising like a sunspot from the deep layers of my skin with aging. Whatever the case, "Girl From The North Country" is one of Dylan's earliest recorded songs, written in 1962 and released in 1962. Listening to it now, I find the ballad enchanting. As a young adult, I followed Dylan's work tangentially since it was so much a part of the mainstream. Lately, I've developed a deep appreciation for Dylan's music and the man himself. I've covered several Dylan songs in this blog, including "Mr. Tambourine Man," "My Back Pages," and now this one. "Girl From The North Country" is a beautiful ballad recounting a lost love. Many believe the woman in the song is Suze Rotolo. At the time, Dylan had just dropped out of college to pursue his musical career in New York City. Rotolo had just graduated from high school and entered the Greenwich Village folk scene. Their first meeting took place at the First Riverside Church concert in New York City. Dylan described the meeting in his memoir: "Cupid's arrow had whistled past my ears before, but this time it hit me in the heart, and the weight of it dragged me overboard." Eventually, the couple lived together in Greenwich Village and then grew apart when Dylan went to England, and Rotolo went to Italy to continue her education. After some time passed, Dylan went to Italy to find Retolo. At the same time, Rotolo returned to New York City. The couple finally reunited and lived in Dylan's apartment until their final breakup. The album cover of Dylan's second album, Freewheeling, features Dylan and Rotolo walking arm in arm down a Greenwich Village street.

    4 min

  5. 12/03/2024

    Cover of American Tune--A Remarkable Song

    Born to Jewish Hungarian parents in Brooklyn in 1941, Paul Simon grew up to be one of the foremost musicians of our time. He is best known for his albums with childhood friend Art Garfunkle, but I believe Simon’s solo work is where he really shines. “American Tune” is a fine example. With its melody, guitar picking, lyrics, and overall artistry, the song comes together as a masterpiece. “American Tune” expresses the recording artist’s political disappointment in the early nineteen-seventies. The nineteen-sixties bloom of racial equality, love, and peace had already blossomed and faded. While my favorite recording artists continued to produce heartfelt, meaningful, and exquisitely beautiful folk and folk rock music, America’s social and political evolution stalled. With the election of President Richard Nixon in 1972, the glowing hope and ideals of the prior decade receded into the background. Paul Simon artfully captures the undercurrents of this period in this remarkable song. Despite its melancholy tone, I am deeply moved by the beauty of the words and music. “American Tune” popped into my head unexpectedly and without warning. It literally came “from out of nowhere.” I think it did because we are about to take another evolutionary backward step under the Trump administration. Please enjoy my cover of Paul Simon’s moving song.

    5 min

  6. 10/31/2024

    Guitar And Vocal Cover Of "If You Could Read My Mind"

    I’m watching an interesting film titled “If You Could Read My Mind.” The Canadian documentary is about the life and career of Gordon Lightfoot. Lightfoot arrived in downtown Toronto as a young man after growing up in Oridella, a small rural Canadian town. Since there were no clubs to play in at the time, Gordon landed a job in a bank to earn a living. Lightfoot was about to earn a promotion when he told his manager that he had decided to leave the bank to accept a role as an extra on a square-dancing Canadian TV show. Lightfoot’s manager found it hard to believe that the young man was leaving a good job with a future to go square dancing. As folk music became commercially viable in the late sixties, clubs began to spring up featuring promising musicians. Gordon landed a spot in one of them. He stood apart from the crowd because he performed many of his own songs in a characteristically pure voice. After he developed a following, a club owner invited Lightfoot to perform at his club across the street at twice the salary. Lightfoot gratefully accepted the invitation to perform at the Riverboat, Toronto’s premier folk music club. With his beautiful voice and prolific outpouring of quality music, it was only a matter of time before Warner/Reprise Records rewarded Lightfoot with a one million dollar recording contract, an unheard-of number for a Canadian singer. His first album with the new label was released in 1970 when Gordon was forty-two. Lightfoot had left United Artists after five albums because he felt they did not represent him adequately. “Sit Down Young Stranger” shipped 80,000 copies before sales stopped dead. The album “had no legs” in the industry’s parlance. Warner changed the name of the album and picked a new single to lead it off. “If You Could Read My Mind” became a runaway hit when an announcer on an important local radio station kept playing it. Sales of the album ballooned to 650,000 copies. The rest is history. Here’s my cover of the song.

    4 min

  7. 10/24/2024

    Cover of Nancy Griffith's "Once In A Very Blue Moon"

    Nanci Griffith introduced her third album with its title song, "Once in a Very Blue Moon," on the Austin City Limits TV show in 1984. She sang to a live audience with her typical, bold, and beautiful voice, which continues to endear this singer/songwriter to millions of people around the world after her passing. This poignant song could easily sound sad, but not the way Nanci performs it. With her crystal-clear voice, it actually sounds uplifting. A quality comes through Griffith's songs. It sounds to me like "nothing will ever get me down." I'm sure Nanci Griffith endured many hardships and obstacles in her life, but she always came out on top. I dedicate my cover to the memory of this inspiring woman.

    3 min

  8. 10/14/2024

    Cover of The Incredible String Band Song: "Painting Box"

    The Incredible String Band burst onto the folk music scene in 1966 with the release of their first album, aptly named “The Incredible String Band.” As an avid lover and consumer of folk, I had never heard anything like their songs. The band started out as a trio composed of Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson, and Mike Heron. Williamson and Heron composed most of ISB’s music. Palmer eventually dropped out, replaced by other musicians and the girlfriends of Williamson and Heron. Signed by Electra Records, the group produced seven albums for the label, most notably their first four, which included “The Five Hundred Spirits or the Layers of the Onion” and “The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter.” Through intermittent tours and appearances at prestigious venues like the Albert Hall, The Incredible String Band gained worldwide fans and international recognition from their humble beginnings in Edinburgh, Scotland. Listen to Mike Heron’s lilting, whimsical “Painting Box” to get a sense of The Incredible String Band’s multifaceted musical range. Here’s my cover.

    3 min
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Featuring acoustic guitar and vocal covers performed the way my favorite artists play them.

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