I know it’s another “twice-told-tale” but I saw Kenny Rankin back in the ’70s at Paul’s Mall in Boston.  My buddy, Perry and I had front row, center seats.  When Rankin flubbed up a little during one of his sets he made a funny face and we both laughed (not noticing we were the only ones laughing, of course).  At the end of the set he looked at us appraisingly, and a little too lengthily for my comfort, and said “even professional musicians make mistakes.”

Born in New York in 1940 and raised in Washington Heights, Jazz was his favored genre, but as a singer-songwriter of his era, it was clear to him that he needed to take a more pop-oriented path, at least early in his career. And in following that path he developed a considerable following in the early ‘70s with a number of albums that broke into the Billboard Top 100 Album Charts.

By the 1990s he was able to re-slant his repertoire to accommodate his jazz preferences while retaining his existing audience. Johnny Carson certainly liked him, and he appeared on “The Tonight Show” nearly two dozen times.  Kenny Rankin died from lung cancer in 2009, only three weeks after receiving his diagnosis.

Today’s selection was written by Paul McCartney (although credited to Lennon-McCartney) while he was residing in Scotland in 1968.  He later claimed to have been inspired by the escalating racial tensions that year in the U.S.  The song was included on “The White Album”.

Years later, when McCartney and Lennon were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, McCartney sought out Kenny Rankin to sing “Blackbird” at the ceremony, saying that Rankin’s was the best rendition he’d ever heard.

 LISTEN TO TODAY’S SONG – Thursday 8 March

Blackbird

Blackbird singin’ in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting

For this moment to arrive

 Blackbird singin’ in the dead of night

Take these sunken eyes and learn to see

All your life

You were only waiting

For this moment to be free

 Blackbird fly

Blackbird fly

Into the dark and lonely night

 All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to be free

You and me, we’re waiting for this moment to be free

Can’t you see we’re waiting for this moment to be free

Yes indeed we’re waiting for this moment to be free.