The seventh track on the eponymous “White Album” and the b-side release of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” marked his emergence as an elite songwriter and has been hailed by fans and critics alike as among the best Beatles songs of all time. In addition to the celebrated hard rock version, an acoustic outtake was released on the 1996 Anthology with Paul McCartney playing harmonium, and later on the Love compilation with George Martin’s final string arrangement for the group.
"The Girl from Ipanema" by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and Norman Gimbel
Perhaps bossa nova’s most popular song is “The Girl from Ipanema” (or “Garota de Ipanema”). The music was composed by Tom Jobim and the lyrics were written by Vinicius de Moraes in 1962. Norman Gimbel wrote the lyrics of the English version. It was recorded in 1964 by Jobim with tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, vocalist and guitarist João Gilberto, and vocalist Astrud Gilberto. The “Getz/Giberto” album has the duet of João’s Portuguese and Astrud’s English versions. However, the song’s single release contains only the latter. The album was a worldwide success earning multiple Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year in 1965.
"King of Pain" by Sting
Born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner on October 2, 1951, Sting acquired his nickname at age 17 playing with the Phoenix Jazzmen. He would wear a striped yellow and black sweater and was told by a fellow musician that he looked like a bee. He would later say, "My children call me Sting, my mother calls me Sting, who is this Gordon character?"
"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as part of his ballet, “The Nutcracker.” It was premiered at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1892. It had only modest success at first, but has since become deeply woven into the fabric of music and dance, in addition to appearances in animation, video games, and a host of other media. The New York City Ballet produced George Balanchine’s staged reinterpretation in 1954 and has done so for every Christmas season since, to houses packed particularly with parents bringing their children to see the grand two-hour spectacle.
"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" by Joe Zawinul
Jazz piano legend Joe Zawinul was a composer, performer, electronic keyboard innovator, and band co-leader who left his enduring mark on music through the songs he wrote and in collaborations with the likes of Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Jaco Pastorius and “Cannonball” Adderley.