August is traditionally a quiet time for Alfie Boe and his fans and 2017 is no exception. How lucky then that we have Eliane’s Six Sensational Songs to keep us going! Eliane is from Brazil and first started following Alfie after seeing him at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 – here are her six songs.
O Sole Mio / Now or Never – Eliane says “unforgettable, the first time I’ve seen or heard Alfie”.
I’m showing the clip of Trust instead of a full performance as Elaine fell in love with this and it’s now her ringtone!
Dimming of the Day – Eliane’s heart “gets tight, especially in the line ‘I see you on the street in company'” – I’m right there with you on that Eliane.
My Heart is Yours, chosen because Eliane “loves the sweetness and poetry of the lyrics” which as we know, were written by Alfie himself.
Parlami D’Amore Mariu, because Eliane “loves Alfie singing in Italian” – a lot of fans would agree! This performance is from way back in early 2012.
For the third time, Love Reign O’er Me from Classic Quad has been chosen to be part of this series, making it equal to Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna and second only to A Living Prayer.
Thanks Eliane for your choices – yet again, I’m amazed that each selection gives us at least one song not nominated before. Altogether we have chosen thirty nine Alfie songs – impressive! If you would like to join the series, please fill in the form:
The latest in our series of Alfie Boe sensational songs comes from Lee Kelly. Lee first became aware of Alfie shortly after the 25th anniversary Les Mis concert and was spellbound. She’s since been lucky enough to see him live a few times and met him in New York on 28 February last year. In her words, she was a “quivering wreck”! These are Lee’s choices:
Trust, chosen simply because Lee loves the album.
Wayfaring Stranger – love the fun Alfie’s having in this video! Lee chose this song because of the “haunting words”.
Tell Me It’s Not True, chosen as “Blood Brothers is my husband’s favourite musical and hearing Alfie sing Tell Me It’s Not True is wonderful”,
Run – Lee chose this as she has “always liked this song and Alfie takes it to another level”.
Bring Him Home, chosen as Lee says “Alfie makes every hair stand on end every time I hear him sing this” – I think we all agree!
Rank Stranger
Thanks for sharing your favourite songs with us Lee.
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Welcome to the fourth in the occasional series celebrating Six Sensational Songs from Alfie Boe – each post features six songs chosen by a thoughtsofjustafan reader and this time it’s the turn of Sheila Currie. Sheila first became an Alfie fan after seeing him in Les Mis on PBS and recently saw him in concert in New York, also having the opportunity to wish him well before the concert! Sheila says about Alfie:
I could pick many more than six songs, certainly. Alfie Boe is someone who will not pass this way again in my lifetime. His voice goes in my ear directly to my heart.
Here we go with Sheila’s songs:
A Living Prayer, also chosen by Betty Valentine, was chosen by Sheila because “this was on the first CD I bought of Alfie’s after his Les Mis performance on PBS. I loved the video especially. He takes this song of Alison Krause to a hymn like quality.”
If I Loved You, from Carousel – this one might be very popular amongst Alfie fans these days! Sheila says “I sang this song growing up in school choir and it just pulls at my heartstrings.”
Bridge Over Troubled Water was chosen by Sheila as it ” reminded me of my early married life during Vietnam era. I loved it then just as much”.
Forever Young, chosen because “Alfie’s reworking of this Dylan song to remind us of those who have sacrificed for us was incredible, especially the PBS Memorial Day concert”.
Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna, also chosen by Betty Valentine, was chosen by Sheila because “this beautiful song reminds me of my voice teacher and her passion for Italian opera”.
Where’er You Walk. As Sheila says “An old song but I can still sing it as if it was just yesterday.
Thank you Sheila for sharing your six sensational songs with us.
If you would like to see your favourite songs featured here, complete the form below, telling me your six songs and why they are your favourites.
With just over a week since Alfie Boe ended his acclaimed run in Carousel, fans could be forgiven for being a bit lost; however, the arrival of number four in our Best Ever Alfie Boe song poll means that we’re only a few short weeks away from seeing Alfie performing in the summer Together tour. Of course, if you’re a US based fan and can get to New York City tomorrow evening you could see Alfie (and Michael Ball) very soon – click here to buy tickets – you know you want to!
Song number four in our countdown is one that occupies a very special place in my heart – and many of yours too it seems – and means that I will forever be associated with buttons on blouses! Dipping out of the top ten last year, Keep Me In Your Heart made it’s debut at number two in the 2015 poll.
This is of course Alfie’s version of Warren Zevon’s 2003 song and you can find out more about the original here, as well as seeing the fan video that Alfie made. Alfie has performed Keep Me In Your Heart at many concerts since it was released and usually incorporates an audience singalong; rarely, aside from the Huawei Winter concert in December 2014, does he perform the song ‘straight’. An exception was the last night of the Together tour:
This week sees the first of our two entries from Trust and is the third appearance in the Best Alfie Boe song top ten for Forever Young:
This was of course Alfie’s appearance at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance in 2013 – introduced by presenter Huw Edwards as a “great friend of the festival”, Alfie has appeared numerous times, including last year with Michael Ball.
Forever Young first appeared in the top ten in 2015 at number nine, slipped back to number ten last year and now records it’s highest position – perhaps it will be even higher next year?
Alfie loves the writer of this song, Bob Dylan, but regular readers will know that he does absolutely nothing for me – I’m a lost cause I think! It’s not the song, it’s the voice, so here is a version I liked more:
Yet another song I have had the pleasure of discovering thanks to Alfie – my musical education has gone in some unexpected directions in the last five years!
1 – Love Reign O’er Me
2 – Dimming of the Day
3 – Trust
4 – Bring Him Home
5 – First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
6 – My Heart is Yours
7 – It’s Over
8 – A Living Prayer
9 – If You Go Away
10 – Forever Young
The first thing that strikes me about this year’s list is that there is only one song from Alfie’s most successful commercial album, Together – whether this has anything to do with it not being a solo album, I couldn’t say.
In contrast to previous years, Bring Him Home is now the only song to feature in every top ten, with just two more songs featuring in two top ten countdowns. In addition to Anthem, there are two more new entries in Wheels of a Dream and In My Daughter’s Eyes. This means that for the first time, A Living Prayer drops out of the top ten.
Last year we saw a definite move away from Alfie’s classical repertoire towards the rockier albums and 2017 continues in the same vein, albeit this time we are seeing a resurgence in the musical theatre songs. I can definitely see the influence of Together in these choices – it seems that hearing Alfie sing a lot of musical theatre songs in recent months, as well as his appearance in Carousel has prompted more votes for this genre of music. Trust remains the strongest album over all the polls so far, with Alfie having two tracks and one each for Bring Him Home, Classic Quadrophenia, Storyteller, Serenata, Together and La Passione.
Stay tuned for next week’s reveal of number 10 – we’ll be counting down until the beginning of the summer tour!
Thank you to those who sent in their nominations – only two songs had not been nominated before:
Goodbye (from the deluxe version of Trust) – nominated by Sally Sadler
Anthem (from Together) – nominated by Dawn Phelan
The nomination of Goodbye makes Trust our most popular Alfie album – it now has ten songs in the long list (now containing 46 songs and coming in at just shy of three hours) so put your feet up and click here to listen.
Interestingly, despite the album being Christmas number one, just one song from Together was nominated; Alfie’s previous album, Serenata, had eight nominations for best song upon release and one, Addio Sogni Di Gloria, was the winner in 2015.
Voting will close on 2 April 2017 and the top ten will be revealed next Monday – get voting!
Welcome to Six Sensational Songs, a new occasional series of blog posts featuring fans talking about their favourite Alfie Boe songs and why they are our favourites. As the title suggests, each post will feature just six songs – it might seem a herculean task to choose just six but you can do it! Details of how to send in your six favourites will be given later so keep reading!
As today marks the first anniversary of thoughtsofjustafan becoming the Official Alfie Boe Fan Blog, I’ll start us off.
Keep Me In Your Heart:
None of you will be surprised that this is my first choice but this particular video is from the last date of the 2016 Together tour and was a really special night, so glad I was able to be there. I’m always asked what it is about this song that I love – and yes, at lot of the appeal comes down to one line “like the buttons on your blouse”. What can I say – I love this song and it helps that it’s from my favourite Alfie album, Trust.
You Are My Heart’s Delight:
This was the first song I ever heard Alfie sing live and I was lucky enough to be in the company of the fabulous Linda Wellington (whose birthday it is today!) on a blisteringly hot day in September. Alfie’s autobiography had been released the previous week (I first met Linda at the book signing) and knowing that this song was so personal to Alfie made it even more special. This is just one of Alfie’s appearances at Proms in the Park and, we hope, there will be many more to come.
Love Reign O’Er Me:
Never having been a Who fan or a fan of rock opera, I was dubious about Alfie singing Classic Quadrophenia – or I was until I heard this song. Spine tingling doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about Alfie singing this or any part of Classic Quad. The world premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in July 2015 was one of the best evenings of my life and I know that anyone who was there feels the same.
Suspicious Minds:
Alfie singing Elvis is frequently one of my most popular subjects and the day that we heard Suspicious Minds at Carfest South in 2013 still ranks in top five Alfie concerts. The 45 minute set was absolutely perfect for the setting and Alfie had the crowd, not to mention Chris Evans, completely in the palm of his hand.
Angel:
Jimi Hendrix’s Angel was a song I had never heard before Alfie’s Storyteller tour but as with nearly everything else that Alfie sings (there are exceptions, but not many), I fell in love with the song. We haven’t heard this since Storyteller and maybe that’s right as it fitted in perfectly with that tour – but I do miss it. If you’re reading this Alfie, please bring it back, just once!
Brindisi:
It was a struggle to choose just six songs and you might have noticed that there are actually eight songs in the videos as some videos contain two songs (not cheating, I promise!). I’ve chosen Alfie’s duet on Brindisi with Lesley Garrett as the chemistry between them makes the song. And Alfie nearly missing his first note due to laughing is worth another look every time. Not everyone likes opera Alfie but I would dearly love to hear him singing this live. It’s not unthinkable – he’s given us Nessun Dorma, Recondita Armonia and La Donna e Mobile in recent years after all.
Now, I’m sure that you’ll all have your own choices so if you want to share them with us, please fill in the form below. You’ll need to choose six songs, they can be live or recorded but if you want a particular video to accompany your choices, please mention it. Please also tell us why you have chosen them.
Two weeks left on our quest to find our favourite Alfie Boe song…and just ten days until the first date of the tour hits Cardiff!
As mentioned last week, the top three songs in the 2016 poll are new entries this year – it’s really wonderful to see fans embracing some of Alfie’s less well known songs and showing them some love. Number two is another favourite of mine (no, they’re not ALL my favourites!) and like number three, is also from Trust. Unlike Trust, however, Dimming of the Day puts me in somewhat of a dilemma; the recorded version, with Shawn Colvin, only exists on the album which means I can’t show it to you here. Luckily, Alfie performed this song extensively with Emilia Mitiku (click here to find out more about Emilia) on the Storyteller tour:
This version was chosen as third place (behind Laura Wright, Barcelona and Bryn Terfel, Pearl Fishers) in our poll to find fans favourite Alfie Boe duet.
Dimming of the Day was written by Richard and Linda Thompson and has been covered by many artists, including Alison Krauss, David Gilmour, Bonnie Raitt and Mary Black. Of those, I like Black’s version the best:
The last word on this song has to go to the evergreen Tom Jones though, who sang Dimming of the Day on his 2012 album Spirit in the Room. The song wasn’t written for him but it’s still an example of voice and song coming together in perfect harmony:
If you want to hear Alfie duet with Shawn Colvin you’ll have to buy the album:
The tour is getting ever closer and we’re also getting closer to finding out the fans favourite Alfie Boe song in 2016. Excitingly, all top three songs are new to the top ten this year!
The song you voted in at number three is Trust, from the 2013 album of the same name (thanks Linda W for sharing). Incidentally, this video shows what happens if you pop out during Alfie’s show – be careful!
Trust was written by Steve McEwan and Chris Stapleton and remains the only totally original song in Alfie’s solo career. At the time, Trust offered a glimpse into a possible shift in Alfie’s already ever changing musical journey and as I absolutely loved this album (my review referred to Alfie Boe’s best ever album, and yes, I still think that) I think it would be intriguing to see where a further collaboration between Alfie, Steve and Chris takes us. Chris Stapleton is huge right now on the American Country scene, winning several Grammy Awards this year. I’m not alone in wishing for this, as Trust was nominated by Cathy Sarabia amongst others – and she must be right as she shares my birthday!
Having said all this, I’m aware that although Trust sold well and made it into the top ten of the UK mainstream chart, a fair amount of fans did not feel the same. That didn’t stop fans stating that Trust was their favourite Alfie album in a survey back in January 2015 although it was not the most owned album (that honour going to Bring Him Home). Obviously, this was a small audience response and it would be foolhardy to state that Alfie fans prefer the less classical part of Alfie’s music…although the more classical Serenata failed to sell as well as Trust.
This is a question that will be endlessly debated as long as Alfie continues to confound fans and critics alike with his search for good music; remember, there’s only two types of music: good and bad. Of course, what that doesn’t say is that everyone’s idea of good music is not the same. I mean, Alfie loves Bob Dylan – what’s that all about? And now, how can I even say that with Dylan being the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature? Don’t all shout at once!
Trust is available here:
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