Gems & Stones: Diamonds Made From Rain

purchase [Diamonds Made From Rain]

I thought I knew a lot about Eric Clapton, so it surprised me to come upon one of his songs I don't recall having heard before.
That's one of the benefits of blogging here - digging around for gems.


Maybe if I more closely followed public media (I watch almost no TV), I would have known about the Cheryl Crowe/Clapton fling back around 1999. I guess it is public knowledge. But their relationship has little or no import on this theme or post. Except that it may have been a gem for either that neither you nor I know about, and it appears to have maybe been the spark for the song I've chosen.

A Google search for <Clapton Gems> brings up a 2017 Miami GEMS festival (with another scheduled for the Fall of 2018) - it appears to be a mix of film and music.
And considering Clapton's heavy touring schedule, it is no surprise that there seems to be no YouTube link to a 2017 GEMS festival/Miami event.

But .. Gems, Stones & Diamonds ... Stones that make you rich. Stones that you can pick up as you walk around are rarely those that turn you into a millionaire. It happens. But rarely, even if you live in Angola or Botswana.

Me, I have a collection of agates (some of them pretty decent) that I have found on the beach. But they aren't worth more than a $ or two - at most (kind of "dime a dozen" stones. But they are beautiful. And they have a different kind of value - they don't just show up without effort.
So .. the value of gems.

Agates are gems, but they aren't worth much.
But then again, diamonds are artificially over-priced stones (gems)
Good music is a gem that only you can place a value on: your wedding song, a song that brings tears to your eyes or a song you want to hear on your death-bed,
You define the value of a musical gem.

So ... here, we've got <Diamonds Made from Rain>

Clapton sings:

every stone that I have turned!
wash over me like diamonds made of rain
we can make diamonds from the rain

But the song appears to belong to Cheryl Crowe and not Clapton - apparently written about his infidelity?

And a cover -

motown 70s: I want you back

purchase Jackson 5 [I Want You Back]

A last minute post for the Motown 70s theme. Actually several days in gestation - paragraphs written and deleted (talk about Berry Gordy? Yes. No.)

And so, before the theme expires, at least to share some of the music that cropped up.

I loved the evolution of the Jackson five as seen in this collection of clips. First off,-  above -  we've got Jermaine as the definite front man of the group) Jermaine's name is all over the backdrop. The full clip has the MC talking to Jermaine about "his" group.

Fast forward a few years - same band/different front man (no surprise!)

 

And then a couple of covers to round it out. Starting with Cheryl Crowe at the White House

 

Janelle Monae at the Nobel Peace Prize 2011

 

And in case you need one more (but do not miss this one!) The Piano Guys.