Welcome to my music blog - The Soundtrack of My Life!

Many of you have asked me “What’s with all the music, Dr. Weiss?” Well, as I’ve told some of you:

I personally call every surgery patient on the evening of surgery just to make sure they are doing well and have no questions that need answering. Occasionally, I would be at the piano and play a song that we had listened to that day. I gradually realized that I wanted to go through all the music that I had played during my life and at least start making a list of the songs that I had recently played.

Well, there are now about 600 songs on the list and I realized that it in a way it represented the ‘soundtrack of my life’! And that’s how I got the idea to record these songs and share them with my patients, friends and family. After I record them they will reside here, for easy access.

Music is truth. It’s honest. It’s really the first social media, where in a way, people could share their souls directly. And isn’t that what the purpose of social media is and why it’s so popular - trying to share who you really are, as completely and directly as possible?

Finally, it has been (and will continue to be) a genuine pleasure sharing these different songs with you and I really appreciate all of your positive feedback!!

Musical Genres

Botox Man Weiss Music Minute

Botox Man

November 13, 2023

Botox Man – Weiss Music Minute   Today I want to share an incredible coincidence that has linked me and Botox Cosmetic: we have the same birthday (April 15)!  In fact, I was being interviewed on the radio about the product on my birthday on the very day of the FDA approval (Botox Cosmetic’s ‘birthday’.)   Please enjoy this parody of Johnny Rivers song “Secret Agent Man” entitled, “Mr. Botox Man” that I wrote back in the day. We literally recorded it in a garage by the beach!    

When I paint my masterpiece ancient rome streets filled with rubble and footprints watercolor

When I Paint My Masterpiece

September 16, 2023

  When I Paint My Masterpiece Illustration credit: Rick and Dall-E   “When I Paint My Masterpiece“ is a 1971 song written by Bob Dylan. It was first released by The Band, who released it exactly 52 years ago on September 15, 1971. Dylan released his version (produced by Leon Russell) on his Greatest Hits Volume II album (highly recommended) a couple of months later. Basically, I guess I was introduced to this song from his Greatest Hits album when I was an 18-year-old sophomore at NYU.  How could you not appreciate a song that began: “Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble, ancient footprints are everywhere,” even if that were the only lyrics! Interesting fact about the lyric ‘When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese’: (From Wikipedia) The story is that when the Republic of Rome was under attack from the Gauls in 390BC, Rome seemed about to fall and the Romans were besieged.  Despite low food supplies during the siege the Romans kept their sacred geese fed, and this turned out to be a shrewd idea, because as the Gauls attacked, the geese honked as they do, woke up the guards, who then resolutely defeated the […]

Margaritaville

Margaritaville

September 2, 2023

Margaritaville Jimmy Buffett, who passed away today at age 77, unfailingly gave a great concert and always exuded amazing positive good-time energy, which contributed to his devoted hard-partying fans. Although I wasn’t a Buffett super-fan, I enjoyed his songs as much as anyone. Also, one of the most memorable concerts I ever attended was relatively recently (or so it seems) at a special show at the cozy venue of the Belly Up in Solana Beach. What a concert… and what a crowd! I hope you enjoy my Weiss Music Minute mini-tribute to a memorable musician. Rest in peace, Jimmy. Hope you are enjoying a ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise.’ Rick Weiss

And I love her 3

And I Love Her

August 15, 2023

And I Love Her ‘And I Love Her’, one of McCartney’s personal favorites, was released July 20, 1964 (almost 60 years ago – yikes!).  McCartney called ‘And I Love Her’ “the first ballad I impressed myself with”. Lennon called it McCartney’s “first ‘Yesterday’”. But try to imagine the song without George Harrison’s signature guitar riff. A beautiful and peaceful 2 minutes, for sure. Dedicated to my wife and constant companion. Enjoy, Dr. Weiss

Ophelia

Ophelia

August 13, 2023

Ophelia – Robbie Robertson One of the greats!  Rest in peace Robbie, and thanks for the music! Enjoy, Dr. Weiss

Footprints

Footprints in the Sands of Time

January 1, 2023

Footprints on the Sands of Time Adapted from “A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow New Year’s Day is always a moment during which many of us reflect on the passage of time. This year we have also been constantly reminded of our own mortality. So, it’s particularly appropriate that I present this song to you today, as it was something I wrote earlier during the pandemic. ‘Footprints on the Sands of Time’ is a phrase from “A Psalm of Life” by Longfellow, describing the legacy that individuals leave behind after they pass away. The poem attempts to describe nothing less than the purpose of life. In Longfellow’s optimistic view, though our body dies, the soul remains immortal. When we strive to lead ethical and moral lives of consequence, we will leave behind ‘footprints’ that others can follow as they pursue their own exceptional lives. Wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year! Enjoy, Dr. Weiss “Music is the language spoken by angels.” Longfellow

Russian children

Russians (2022)

June 1, 2022

Russian Children (they look like our children, don’t they?) ‘I Hope the Russians Love Their Children Too’ On this day (June 1) 42 years ago, Sting released this song on his first solo album. Sting wrote the lyrics to this 1985 song but borrowed the central theme from the second movement (‘Romance’) of Serge Prokofiev’s “Lieutenant Kijé Suite,” which begins at the 4:20 mark of this orchestral recording. Sting reharmonized Prokofiev’s theme by adding a short but profoundly unique bass line (in addition to creating a powerful original but thematically similar melody.) Prokofiev himself is said to have taken the theme from an old Russian folk song called “The Little Grey Dove is Cooing.”  [In playing this song, I’ve further discovered another possible source. Try singing the Christmas carol ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ (originating in the 1650s) over Sting’s lyrics.] With the current invasion of Ukraine, Prokofiev’s song is especially remarkable. In one of life’s extraordinary coincidences, Prokofiev was born in Sontsivka in 1891, in the Donetsk Oblast (region or state) of Ukraine – the very center of the area in eastern Ukraine that Putin is claiming to protect and liberate in 2022! It’s just 50 miles north of Mariupol, where the greatest […]

The everly brothers

All I Want To Do Is Dream

August 22, 2021

The Everly Brothers: Phil and Don (Press arrow to play) Don Everly passed away today at age 84.  They were slightly before my time, but I sure loved this song.  A lot of other people did also, because this 1958 song is ranked No. 141 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  Thanks for the memories of all of the times that I’ve enjoyed listening to it. Rest in peace, guys. Dr. Weiss

The Scream

Help! John Lennon’s cri de couer

July 19, 2021

Help!   Dear family of patients, On this summer day July 19, 1965 – 56 years ago, the Beatles released the single “Help!” (now ranked at number 29 on the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.) I remember listening to it over and over again with my brother in his room on our portable 45 rpm record player.  I also remember wrestling with my brother while listening to the B-side “I’m Down” (OK, I was 12 and my brother was 10.) I sent you this song as an Earth Day video a few months ago, but looking back, I now feel that the importance of the Earth Day message as well as the accompanying visuals (not to mention my amateur vocals) detracted from simply enjoying the beautiful sound of this arrangement and instrumentation (Bösendorfer Grand piano sample on the Yamaha Clavinova.) I can’t quite put my finger on it, but the aural quality and chord changes alone, sans lyrics, seem to express all the existential angst of our current global pandemic moment, while improbably being strangely soothing at the same time. Lennon said that Help! was one of his favorite Beatles songs and “one of the only true songs he ever wrote.” I’ve chosen […]