Everyday Creation

Cynthia Weil co-wrote dozens of popular songs including the one that was deemed the 20th century's most-played song on radio and TV. Here, you can listen to the Righteous Brothers singing that number one hit, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'."

Weil also wrote a mystery, "I'm Glad I Did," which is about a young, aspiring songwriter. I read a sample of the Kindle edition and immediately purchased my own copy. Here's a quote about the book from singer and fellow songwriter Carole King:  "I loved everything about I’m Glad I Did... Not just brava, Cynthia. Bravissima!!"

I put a picture of Weil's book in this episode's chapters along with an image of the audio CD "Glitter and Gold: Words and Music by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil."

Also in the chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.

This tribute to Weil is one of 44 short yet illuminating episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023. They were written and recorded by longtime writer/editor Sheldon Zoldan, who also is the creator behind Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on the subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD. 

Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.

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This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.

Pete Brown was a British poet who became a songwriter and collaborator with the supergroup Cream. He wrote the lyrics to “Sunshine of Your Love," one of the band's most successful songs.

Here, you can listen to "Sunshine of Your Love" on YouTube.

This tribute is one of 44 short yet illuminating episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023. They were written and recorded by longtime writer/editor Sheldon Zoldan, who also is the creator behind Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

If you'd like to learn more about Brown, check out his 2010 autobiography, "White Rooms & Imaginary Westerns: On the Road with Ginsberg, Writing for Clapton and Cream — An Anarchic Odyssey." There's a picture of the book's cover in the thumbnail and the chapters. 

Also in the chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.

Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.

Writer/editor Sheldon Zoldan shares insights about the life of Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian singer-songwriter who had his first U.S. hit with "If You Could Read My Mind." This is one of 44 tributes to artists, songwriters and producers who passed away in 2023.

You can listen to Sheldon's story about Lightfoot on the WGCU website, where he posts once a week, or hear Lightfoot sing "If You Could Read My Mind" on YouTube. The video shows the cover of the album "Gord's Gold." The comments below the video include expressions of gratitude for Lightfoot's music, with one person noting that Lightfoot had a voice that "makes you feel he's singing just for you."

There's a Prime video about him called "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind." In this episode's chapters, you'll find an image of the cover of the DVD version. 

Also in the chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.

Along with tributes, Sheldon writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.

In the late 1950s, Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins started a doo-wop group with George Clinton. Originally called the Parliaments, the group eventually became Parliament-Funkadelic, one of the most influential bands of the 1970s.

Haskins had a solo career too. In the chapters, you'll see an image of the cover of his 1976 album, "A Whole Nother Thang." 

Also in the chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.

Longtime writer/editor Sheldon Zoldan wrote this tribute to Haskins, who died in March last year. This is one of 44 short yet illuminating episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023.

Sheldon also writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. All of those stories and these tributes include links to the featured songs. Here, you can link to “I Got A Thing, You Got A Thing, Everybody Got A Thing" on YouTube. (I've also seen the title referred to as "Everybody's (possessive) Got A Thing." Maybe both are correct!)

To get on the Song of the Day subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.

In 1951 when she was only 22, singer April Stevens had her first hit, and the hits kept coming. This audio essay about Stevens, whose birth name was Caroline Vincinette LoTempio, is one of 44 short stories that Song of the Day creator Sheldon Zoldan wrote about music makers who passed away in 2023. 

I recently revised this episode because Stevens' brother, Nino Tempo, died in 2025. Sheldon's story about Tempo is Episode 147, titled Nino Tempo's Performing Career Had Plenty of Depth Beyond the Hit Song "Deep Purple."

Here, you can watch Stevens and her brother, Nino Tempo, sing the Grammy-winning “Deep Purple" on what was clearly an early 1960s TV show.

For more about the duo, you can visit their official website, ninoandapril.com.

You can learn more about Stevens from her autobiography, "Teach Me Tiger!" The title comes from one of her songs that was a bit scandalous for its time. The book and an album with the same name are available on Amazon.

The public domain photo in the thumbnail is credited to KRLA Beat Publications and is available on Wikimedia Commons. 

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.

In 1968, singer, actor and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte hosted "The Tonight Show" for a week. He discussed the issues of the day with a stellar list of guests including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The documentary about that week is called "The Sit-In," available on Peacock. Here, you can learn more about it and scroll down to watch the trailer.

If you want to know more about Belafonte, you can buy his 2012 memoir, "My Song," in paperback or audiobook. It's available on Amazon , which also has quite a few of Belafonte's CDs and a couple of vinyl records. The LP "Best of Harry Belafonte" includes this tribute's featured song, "Day-O," on the cover. There's also a biography of Belafonte on The HistoryMakers® site.

Writer/editor Sheldon Zoldan wrote and recorded this tribute to Belafonte. It's one of 44 short yet illuminating episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023. In the chapters, you can go right to Sheldon's tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.

Sheldon also writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. You can listen to Sheldon tell Belafonte's story on the WGCU website, where he posts once a week, or hear “Day-O,”  on YouTube. And to get on Sheldon’s Song of the Day subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.

In this tribute, you'll learn about the anomalies in the life of singer-songwriter Bobby Caldwell, who had a hit with "What You Won't Do for Love."

Longtime writer/editor Sheldon Zoldan wrote this tribute, which is one of 44 short yet illuminating episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023.

Here, you can link to “What You Won't Do for Love" on YouTube.

In this episode's chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.

Sheldon also writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on the subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love. 

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's Gary Rossington had a love for baseball, which launched him into a music career that lasted to the end of his life. This tribute to Rossington, written and recorded by writer/editor Sheldon Zoldan, is one of 44 short yet illuminating episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023.

Amazon carries four books about Rossington available on Kindle and in paperback, apparently all published immediately after his death. You can go to the chapters to see the cover of one of the books — by Tony Alexander — which has a nice shot of Rossington.

Also in the chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.

Along with the tributes, Sheldon writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.   

Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.

Jim Gordon was a brilliant and successful drummer who played with some of the biggest names in music. He also had a tragic life.

Longtime writer/editor Sheldon Zoldan wrote this tribute to Gordon, who received a writing credit for "Layla," one of Eric Clapton's most popular songs. This is one of 44 short yet illuminating episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023.

Here, you can link to “Layla" on YouTube.

If you want to learn more about Gordon, you can check out Joel Selvin's book, "Drums & Demons: The Tragic Journey of Jim Gordon," published in 2024. In this episode's chapters, you'll see an image of the cover of the book.

Also in the chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.

Along with the tributes, Sheldon writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love. 

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.

Wayne Shorter, who died on March 2 last year, influenced jazz for seven decades. His tribute, written and recorded by Sheldon Zoldan, is one of 44 short yet illuminating episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023.

Here you can go to YouTube to hear Wayne Shorter's jazz classic, “Footprints.”

If you want to learn more about Shorter, you can read his biography by Michelle Mercer. It's also titled "Footprints" and features an introduction by Shorter and a foreword by Herbie Hancock. There's an image of the book's cover in this episode's chapters.

Also in the chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.

Along with these tributes, Sheldon writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on the subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love. 

Send us Fan Mail

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.