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LATE NIGHT DREAM Presents A Tribute To Michael Franks Part 2 by David Lucarotti 320kbit/s

Michael Franks occupied a uniquely popular niche in the world of soft jazz and pop music in the 1970s; he was one of those crossover artists who defied easy categorization on the radio (which made him ideal for FM radio of the period), and found an audience mostly among college students. He was born in La Jolla, California in 1944. His parents weren't musicians, but they were music lovers and he was soon immersed in swing music and vocal jazz and pop. Franks' early idols included such jazz-cum-pop legends as Nat King Cole and Peggy Lee, as well as composers and lyricists such as Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Johnny Mercer. His first instrument was the guitar, and he got the only formal instruction of his life -- a total of six private lessons that came with his first instrument -- at age 14.

Sonny & BrownieHe was drawn to poetry as a high-school student, especially the work of Theodore Roethke, and began singing and playing folk-rock during this period. Franks majored in English and then comparative literature at UCLA and also embraced the music of Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz, João Gilberto, and Antonio Carlos Jobim, among others. He never studied music in college, however, and seemed on track toward teaching American literature as the '60s drew to a close. It was during this period that he started writing songs, which led him to compose an antiwar musical entitled Anthems in E-Flat, a piece that found life as a workshop production starring a young Mark Hammill. He also began to get some film work, including music for Monte Hellman's Cockfighter and Jan Troell's Zandy's Bride (both 1974), the latter starring Liv Ullmann and Gene Hackman. He also saw some success as a songwriter courtesy of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, who recorded three of his songs, "White Boy Lost in the Blues," "Jesus Gonna Make It Alright," and "You Bring Out the Boogie in Me," on their A&M Records album Sonny & Brownie (1973). Franks also played guitar, banjo, and mandolin on that album and the accompanying tour. That same year, he recorded his self-titled debut album for the short-lived Brut label (founded and owned by the men's cologne company).

Read more : allmusic.com/artist/michael-fr...92299/biography

01.Michael Franks With Crossfire - Don't Be Blue (Live, 1980)
02.Michael Franks - He Tells Himself He's Happy
03.Michael Franks - The Music In My Head
04.Michael Franks & Valerie Simpson - Now Love Has No End
05.Michael Franks - Mr. Smooth
06.Michael Franks - Face To Face
07.Michael Franks & Bonnie Raitt - Ladies' Nite
08.Michael Franks - Rendez-Vous In Rio
09.Michael Franks - Like Moon Behind A Cloud
10.Michael Franks - Somehow Our Love Survives
11.Michael Franks - When Sly Call (Don't Touch That Phone)
12.Michael Franks - One Day In St. Tropez
13.Michael Franks - Alone At Night
14.Michael Franks - Tahitian Moon
15.Michael Franks - Read My Lips
16.Michael Franks - The Dream
17.Michael Franks - Rainy Night In Tokyo
18.Michael Franks - Your Secret's Safe With Me
19.Michael Franks - Baseball
20.Michael Franks - Under The Sun
21.Michael Franks - The Way We Celebrate New Year's
22.Michael Franks - Down in Brazil
23.Michael Franks - Woman In The Waves
24.Joe Sample & Michael Franks - Leading Me Back To You
25.Michael Franks - Never Say Die
26.Michael Franks - Now That Your Joystick's Broke
27.Michael Franks - Three Today
28.Michael Franks & Brenda Russell - When I Give My Love To You
29.Michael Franks - Please Don't Say Goodnight
30.Michael Franks With Crossfire - Monkey See- Monkey Do (Live, 1980)

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