Not-so WW shares space with BOTB

Good morning! I’m presenting a double post and I hope you don’t mind, kittens and dawgs. In the first part of my post I’m sharing my mid-week photo (not-so) Wordless Wednesday and hope if you’re in this crowd that you’ll help me in the second half of my post. 😉

The winter before last, we were in the western North Carolina mountains passing through Maggie Valley when we came on a snow tube run beside the road.  It was chilly and the winds didn’t make it feel any better but I braved the cold to snap a few shots.  The one element needed that night was falling snow. (click on picture to view in another window and use zoom feature to magnify image)

I know what you’re saying but what’s that white stuff falling?  It’s all fake, baby! I loaded my image in my photo editing software program, Pixelmator, and used a freebie background from Insight Designs to add some snow. Pretty cool, eh? 😉

 

What through the lens views are you sharing this week? I’m eager to see them, just link up below! 

DH surprised me on Valentine’s Day with a single red rose, Harry London assorted chocolates, a sweet little Teddy bear who I named Val. DH is the sweetest Valentine ever!

iPhone capture + Bokeh overlay

Okay you not-so WW crowd, you’re here and there’s no need to rush off just yet. I invite you to stick around for the second half and help pick the next winner in the second round of Battle of the Bands.

I decided to go with The Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps (the original is not part of the battle and is for reference only) in this showdown.  George Harrison penned the words to this soft, beautiful ballad. This is what Wackipedia says…

I wrote “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at my mother’s house in Warrington. I was thinking about the Chinese I Ching, ‘The Book of Changes”. The Eastern concept is that whatever happens is all meant to be, and that there’s no such thing as coincidence – every little item that’s going down has a purpose.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” was a simple study based on that theory. I decided to write a song based on the first thing I saw upon opening any book – as it would be relative to that moment, at that time. I picked up a book at random, opened it, saw “gently weeps”, then laid the book down again and started the song.

Today, I’m playing Santana against Toto. Who will win? It’s up to you! Listen and decide who does it better.

 

 

 

Ok, here’s the drill. Voting is open to everyone visiting. There is NO wrong vote, except if you DON’T vote. You can start by telling me in comments which artist you like best and why (optional).

Which artist gets your vote, Santana ft. India Arie & Yo-Yo Ma or TOTO?

The fun continues with more epic battles underway and I invite you to visit the official manager of BoTB, Stephen for the update list of players.  Check back, next week same place and time to see if your pick gets named the winner! 😉

Come back tomorrow for another peek through the lens with my early edition of Skywatch Friday & Celebrate the Small Things.

Have a songtastic day!Save

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42 comments

  2. I love Santana but there was something about Toto that made me gravitate to them more. I have to give Toto my vote because I liked the styling better.

  3. Wow! You really put together a great Battle, CATHY! It’s an excellent song and both groups did it very well.

    Santana’s style of guitar playing is perfect for a song like this. And I didn’t love his female vocalist, but I thought she was fine. Coming into this, I figured my vote was a slam-dunk for Carlos because I know how he plays. Plus, the only Toto song I’ve ever liked was ‘Hold The Line’, so I thought: No contest here.

    WRONG!

    Very tight competition. But in the end, I liked TOTO’s vocalist better, and their guitar work was fabulous also, so they get my vote.

    I think this was one of your best Battles ever!

    ~ D-FensDogG
    Check out my new blog @
    (Link:] Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews…

    1. Stephen,

      You honor me with your comment, “I think this was one of your best Battles ever!” I appreciate hearing this, my friend, and am happy to learn you went the opposite from what you thought.

      Santana – 8
      Toto – 6

  4. DH sounds like your perfect Valentine!!!

    Santana can get too raucous on his guitar for my ears… Sometimes. But not today!!! I thought his interpretation was wonderful, particularly paired with India.Arie. They get my vote!

    1. Robin, DH is my purrfect Valentine. Every time I say to DH, “I don’t know what I did to deserve you?”. He always says, “It must have been something awful!” He’s such a sweet feller! Thanks for visiting and voting, my friend!

      Santana – 8
      Toto – 5

  5. Love the photo, makes me want to go play in the snow. As for the BOTB, one can never go wrong with Santana’ s guitar virtuosity, I vote for Santana and friends.

    1. Yvonne, I’m pleased you like my photo-edit. Sometimes when I see snowy photos it makes me wanna play in it but whenever we actually get any, which isn’t much, then I just want to stay inside where it’s warm. lol Thank you for visiting and for voting.

      Santana – 7
      Toto – 5

  6. Harry of London Chocolates are a well kept secret I think. I received them a couple of years ago for Valentines Day and they sit right up there next to my fav, Godiva!! Yum!!
    Hubby did quite well.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ps. I tweeted your WW Linky Party 🙂

    – Lisa

    1. Lisa, Ah, another Godiva fan! Their chocolates are awesome. We’ve been getting a couple of boxes of Godivas regularly for the past two or three Christmases. There isn’t anything locally that can touch their quality. We both were pleased with Harry of London’s chocolates. I’m going to check their website to learn more about them. Oddly, DH picked this box up in the florist he got my rose and teddy. It’s possible other stores in town carry them but not the big box stores like Walmart. Thank you for tweeting my WW linky party. I appreciate you doing that, my friend. Have an awesome day!

  8. Great photo, good idea to add snow. I liked both versions, but I prefer Santana’s unique sound over Toto.

    1. Ellen, Thanks! The magic of photo-editing is purrty cool! I love playing with my images and hopefully I’ll get this art down pat! 😉 Thanks for voting in BoTB!

      Santana – 6
      Toto – 5

  9. Nothing compares to the original, with Clapton’s solo (made to sound more “Beatle-y,” as George Harrison put it). George was really coming into his own as a songwriter and this was really the first glimpse at what his solo work would be like. Now, to the matter at hand…

    Carlos Santana and Steve Lukather both did remarkable solos in their respective versions. So we go to the music behind them, where I think Toto had it. They get my vote.

    1. John, the original is the best and it amazes me to think until recently this song sorta went right over my head. Now, I really, really love it! It’s so beautiful and tender! This battle is neck and neck now. It’s gonna be fun to see how this one turns out.

      Santana – 5
      Toto – 5

  11. Oh, you are so very cool! SANTANA! Always. I love him.
    Are you going to do A-Z? Do you have a theme?
    Bill came home for Valentine’s Day. He brought lunch, chocolates, and roses!
    Hugs, my friend.

    1. Annie, thank you dear for voting in today’s BoTB. I’m a Santana fan, too. He’s fabulous! That’s fabulous Bill was home and he treated you so special. What a nice guy! Yes, I plan to do the A-Z Challenge and I’m thinking about continuing a retro theme like last year but I need to get on the ball with this so it doesn’t turn into a nightmare for me. lol

      Santana – 5
      Toto – 3

    1. Raquel, I can not read Spanish. *Blush* So, I used Google to translate (It looks like real snow, a great photo) for me. Thank you, Raquel. You’re very kind! Have a good day!

  16. Hi, Cathy; That snow effect on your photo is very cool. As for the battle, I thought for sure Santana would get my vote, because I love him. I didn’t care for the female vocalist though, so I’m going with Toto. Surprise! (I’m taking a break from BOTB until May to concentrate more on actual writing and the A to z Challenge.)

    1. Debbie, It’s great seeing you today. I just came from your blog a few minutes ago. I totally understand your break with BoTB. I may take a complete blog break next month to prepare for the A to Z Challenge if I hope to stay ahead of the game. It gets too overwhelming to write posts, visit, leave comments, and comment on the comments. Thanks for voting. I like both covers. I mentioned earlier that I was leaning toward Santana but the female vocals are beginning to wear on me. I’m torn as to how I’m going to go in this round now. Your vote ties things up but it’s early.

      Santana – 3
      Toto – 3

  18. Way ta go with the photo Cathy. I just can’t do things like that. As far as the song goes I’m going to have to go with Toto. Although I love Santana and the guitar was fantastic here’s singers made it sound too… oh I dunno guess I just didn’t like the singers at all. You are one lucky young lady your man still treats you like his date. Way to go for hubby chalk one up for him. He’s a keeper!!!

    1. Marie, Absolutely DH is a keeper! I’m not getting rid of him. 🙂 I bet ya could do photo editing if you tried. It’s not difficult at all. You ought try playing with some of the free sites like fotoflex (I used this one a lot in the past) with your pictures to see what you think. Thanks for visiting and for voting in BoTB.

      Santana – 2
      Toto – 2

  19. Nice work on the photo Cathy looks nice there too

    What a nice Valentines surprise aww!

    I quite like those versions I think I go for Toto 🙂

    Have a tanfastic day Cathy 🙂

    1. Steve,

      Thank you for being such a love to join in this round of BoTB! Oh yes, DH has a way of surprising this gal and even after all these years he makes my heart skip a beat. 🙂 Have a bandtastic day!

      Santana – 2
      Toto – 1

  20. Hi, Cathy!

    Thanks for showing us the lovely and thoughtful gifts your sweet man gave you for Valentine’s Day. He’s a keeper!

    Turning to your BOTB, I have said it before and I’ll say it again. It starts with a great song… and Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is a great song. Moreover, I have never been so torn in a band battle, because these are two great covers which I consider to be classics in their own right. Toto, the California band that came to fame by means of the Top 5 hit singles “Hold the Line”, “Rosanna”, and “Africa,” did justice to “Guitar Weeps” with a 5.5 minute version that contains a killer guitar solo. By the slightest margin I pick Santana on the basis of the beautiful lead vocal (and possibly backing vocals) provided by India Arie and the inclusion of cellist Yo-Yo Ma on the recording. The Santana version truly was 6 minutes in Guitar Heaven and Santana & India get my vote.

    Thank you very much, dear friend Cathy!

    1. Tom,

      DH is definitely a keeper. I won’t let this one get away! 🙂

      It does my heart good to know this band had you torn just a bit. Both covers are true gems. It won’t make me weep to see who wins this battle. My ear is leaning toward Santana but I find sometimes I change during the showdown. I’m usually influenced by my current mood when I place my vote in the kitty which isn’t a clear indicator that I prefer one more than the other. We’ll see how things go in the end.

      Santana – 2
      Toto – 0

  21. This is really a wonderful song. These versions are both new to me and quite nice.

    Toto’s version is not quite as nice as Santana and friends though. I really like the classical touch they put to the song and the vocals are so smooth. I’m going with Santana & Co.

    Very nice match up.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    1. Lee, I agree it’s a wonderful song. I like it more and more everytime I hear it. Toto vocally reminds me a lot of The Beatles. Their mewsic arrangement didn’t have the deep emotion as the original but certainly isn’t a shabby cover. However it’s gonna be hard for them to beat Santana who is not only a killer on the guitar but the vocals and mewsic composition were more hauntingly beautiful. I loved the cello in the intro. Thanks for being the firs to vote this morning!

      Santana – 1
      Toto – 0

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