Reflections Of My Life #BoTB showdown #WildWednesdays

Happy New Year, folks! Here we are in a brand new year and I can’t even begin to know what happened but then that’s the way I feel each passing year.  

I’m always on the look for inspiration for my mewsic posts.  Last July, yeah think about summer’s heat there while you warm your mittens this morning with a hot cup of coffee, anywho, as I was saying I borrow ideas from others.  Today’s battle song John shared on the 4M dance floor, Reflections Of My Life by Marmalade. So, thank you John!

The first contender in my first battle of the new year is a little known to me artist.  His presence on social media is limited with a handful of cover songs on YouTube with a mention on a Facebook page.  I’m not sure where he’s from other than I believe he’s latin.  I hope someone out there can tell me more about this feature artist. I really like his voice.  Kindly listen to this 70s style rocker,  Heleno Brentano!

My next cover artist has been around for more than 30-years purrforming and recording classics many of us grew up loving.  Give it for the Israeli rock band, The Sixties!

Polls close noon (EST) on the Jan. 7th!

Who gets your vote, Heleano or The Sixties?

Remember there is no wrong vote, except a no vote.  If you have an opinion and I’m confident that you have one, then this is your chance to voice it freely without fear.  

You’ll find more awesome battles underway at some of these blog listed below and if you’d like to be included in the fun, then contact Stephen requesting to be added to the list.

That’s it for now. I thought I’d leave you with another YT cover, for your enjoyment only, recorded 50 years later by Dean Ford (former front man of the 60s band Marmalade). Yep, singer/songwriter doin’ it again and he doesn’t sound bad! 😉 

 

Last week I promised to share with you  more photos taken from The Inn at Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge.  Not wishing to go back on my word, I’m winding things up today with a few photo shares.

 

These young ladies were super sweet. Thank you for posing, girls!!
I first snapped an overall view and then took another photo of baby Jesus close up which I shared last Wednesday.

 

Okay, that was more than just a few but I couldn’t resist.  They aren’t the greatest pictures but they will give you a sense of how elaborate The Inn at the Christmas Place decorates for the holidays. It’s mind-blowing beautiful!!

I pray 2020 holds promising things for you and yours. Don’t forget to swing by next week this time to see if your favorite artist is declared winner in this Reflections of My Life BoTB showdown and tomorrow if inspiration hits I’ll join the Thursday Art Date with Rain community.

 

 

 

Please read: Aces are wild birthing the idea of my new mid-week hop WILD WEDNESDAYS (#WildWednesdays) and all personal bloggers are invited to promote yourself. Share your photos, artwork, music, musings, randomness, or more because we want to connect with you. Warning… please NO CRUDE CONTENT and spammers will be DELETED without prejudice. Thank you! 

WildWednesdays contribution Pixelmator Pro photo-art creation using my Dept 56 New England Christmas Village



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33 comments

  1. Cathy, Happy New Years to you! What gorgeous pictures of Christmas decorations at The Inn at Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge. I miss Christmas lights and decorations in the US. They decorate here in Japan for the winter but not all over. You have to go a special place to pay to see lights. Not my cup of tea.

    My vote goes for The Sixties. Somehow, Heleno’s vocals remind me of another lead singer of a 80s band (maybe the guy from ABC?). But, Heleno sounds more throated. The lead singer from The Sixties’ vocals are smoother.

    1. Amy,

      I would miss the festive Christmas decorations if I’ve Japan, too. It seems oriental countries don’t place as much importance on the Christmas season as America or many European communities. I’m with you on not liking the idea of paying to see Christmas lights. There are places in our area who do put up an elaborate display charging an entrance but I think the money goes to a charity. I guess that’s okay, if you’re interested in doing that but honestly I’m not too impressed by these type of light shows generally. They tend to be too contemporary and less meaningful. To each his/her own, right? Thanks for taking time to case your vote for The Sixties. I’m heading over to your place now to see what you have going on for the first battle of the new year! 😉

  2. Great song and I am voting for the sixties version also. Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful rest of the week and Happy New Year to you and your family.

  4. I liked those covers of Reflections Of My Life I remember Marmalade’s original in the 69/70 when i was growing up I loved it

    I liked all the photos very festive 🙂

    Happy New Year Cathy and best wishes for 2020 from London 🙂

  5. Hi Cathy!

    Happy New Year!!! Great song to kick it all off with 🙂 I have to say my favorite of the two is Heleno, so he’ll be getting my vote.

    I had to put my blog on moderation as I have been hit with a spammer. Hopefully this will deter them and soon I will be able to remove the moderation again, but don’t let that stop you from casting a vote in my battle, if you haven’t already.

    ~Mary
    Robert Burns Battle

    1. Mary,

      Thanks for joining me for my first battle of the new year and for casting yours for HELENO. Your decision to set your blog on moderation won’t stop me from playing alone and am heading your way now! 😉

  7. Such beautiful photos. Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy 2020! XO

  8. I love that song Reflections of Life. So prettiest and truest! Love your pics darlin’ ! Very pretty! Gotta go finish cooking. Just wanted to stop by and wish you and Robin a very HAPPY, HEALTHY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR! LOVE YOU BOTH! HUGSSSSSSSSS

    1. Marie,

      These are some of the pictures I managed to get while we were on vacation. The Inn is always beautiful but especially so at Christmas because they put up even more lovely decorations for the holiday. Thanks for the warm new year wishes and my prayer for you is the same. God bless you, my dear!

    1. Liz,

      The entire foothills community of the Smoky’s decorate and participate in a Winter Festival that starts sometime in November and ends in mid-February, I think, so it’s a gorgeous display of lights and decorations. The Inn is done up beautifully every year. Thanks for visiting.

  10. Love this song! I’m glad you chose it, and thanks for the recognition!

    Heleno Brentano (I think he’s Italian) has a real nice, smooth sound. I choose his over The Sixties.

    1. John,

      You’re welcome, my friend. I’m happy to point out that it was you who inspired me with this battle song choice. I have you down for HELENO BRENTANO. Someone on Facebook referred to Brentano as a Brazilian cover artist. I really like his voice, too.

  11. Happy 2020 to you and yourn, CATHY!

    First off, thanks so much for the lovely E-card you sent! Very, very nice of you, and what you wrote was so kind! I thank you.

    Secondly – WOW!, HOKEY-SMOKE!, & HOO-WEE! That Inn at Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge is flat-out gorgeous! I would love to see that in-person someday. (A new Bucket List entry.)

    And, thirdly, I don’t recall having heard this song before, but it was quite nice. I dug it! I thought both versions were good, but I preferred the slightly mellower rendition by HELENO BRENTANO, as I feel the quieter approach maybe fits with the sentiment of the song a wee bit o’ better. Although, like I said, both recordings were enjoyable. Excellent Battle!

    Bless And Be Blessed, my Friend!

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

    1. Stephen,

      You’re most welcome for the e-Greetings. It’s just a little way to include my dear friends in Blogosphere in the holiday celebration. 🙂 HELENO BRENTANO definitely has a mellow vibe and like you, that’s one reason why I like him. In fact, I did listen to a few other songs by him while I was pulling this battle together but now my brain is doing its blank routine. I guess that means I’ll need to go back for another Brentano session on YouTube. Thanks for playing along in my first BoTB, my friend!

  12. I love these pictures of this place and what beautiful decorations. It must have taken them a few weeks to set up. The girls are cute and must be dressed up for The Nutcracker? I listened to both versions and I like The Sixties which reminds me of the original more but I will go with Heleno who made it more personal. I have no clue who he is and was hoping Thomas or Arlee could tell you

    1. Birgit,

      I’m always in awed of such displays at Christmas but businesses I’m sure hire it done unlike a home owner. Now, that’s really impressive when you see someone’s home totally decked out! The girls probably mentioned what purrformance their were in but being that my hearing stinks I missed it but you’re probably right. Thanks for stopping by to vote for HELENO BRENTANO!

  13. Such a great song! Brings back good memories. Seems kind of appropriate considering the subject matter of the song.

    Both versions are excellent. Give my vote to the Israeli rock band. I especially liked the instrumental backing. And I like Israel!

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    1. Lee,

      Yeah, I thought the song was purrfect to bring in the new year, too. I can’t believe we’ve entered a new decade. Thanks for voting for THE SIXTIES.

  14. Those lights and decorations are beautiful.
    Happy New Year and 2020 to you!

  15. It’s not easy to vote when you hear excellent performers singing one of Granny’s favourite songs of the sixties and when you can’t chose Dean Ford…well…then we go for The Sixties too 😀 Extra Joyful Pawkisses for a Happy, Healthy and Joyful New Year to you all 🙂 <3

  18. What a lovely post. Wow. Love the videos and love the decorations. Some folks are ever so talented.

    ☆¸.•°”˜˜”°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°”˜˜”°•.¸☆
    ╔╗╔╦══╦═╦═╦╗╔╗ ★ ★ ★
    ║╚╝║══║═║═║╚╝║ ☆¸.•°”˜˜”°•.¸☆
    ║╔╗║╔╗║╔╣╔╩╗╔╝ ★ NEW YEAR ☆
    ╚╝╚╩╝╚╩╝╚╝═╚╝ ♥￥☆★☆★☆￥♥ ★☆ ♥♥♥

  19. Hi, Cathy!

    Happy New Year once again, dear friend? How’s 2020 treating you so far? 🙂 Is it whizzing by? 🙂

    I love those pictures taken at Christmas Place. There’s nothing like festive lights piercing the darkness, each one a symbol of goodness and hope.

    I am all verklempt after watching that Dean Ford video as he sang his signature song “Reflections.” He sang from the soul as he did on the original recording, and I appreciated the intercut footage of him and his Marmalade band taken all those years ago. Sadly Dean died a year ago yesterday of complications relating to Parkinson’s disease.

    As for your band battle featuring two covers of “Reflections,” you picked two worthy opponents. The first artist, Heleno Brentano, renders the song in a smooth, mellow style. It was very enjoyable and not all that different from the original. The second act, The Sixties, was somewhat handicapped by relatively poor audio pickup, but I adjusted my ears and concentrated on the vocals and the band’s performance of the soft rock classic. While it doesn’t stray far from the Marmalade original, I found that The Sixties version has more life, more of a rock edge, and I like that. The guys also sing in harmony, which is important to the song, an element that is lacking on Heleno’s version, even though he played with a band. Hooray for The Sixties! They get my vote in this your first BOTB of 2020.

    Have a super day and a great year, dear friend Cathy!

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