5 on Friday - Set 181

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

Birthday boy time -- here are five tunes featuring musicians born in July.

1 - Red Sector A - Geddy Lee from Rush

I woke up after the second Rush concert two weeks ago with this song going through my head. It's the perfect way to begin celebrating these musicians' birthdays, as Geddy Lee came very close to not being here at all.

His parents were both young Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz, having come from different towns in Poland. Despite the harrowing circumstances of their meeting, Mary and Morris maintained contact with one another until the war ended and they were liberated.

Morris tracked down the young woman for whom he'd bribed officials and guards in order to send her shoes and other items to ensure her survival. They married as soon as they could, eventually emigrating to Canada and becoming parents to three children -- one of whom is Rush bassist and lead singer Geddy Lee.

The lyrics of this song were written by drummer Neil Peart, but the song belongs to Geddy's parents. A very, very happy  60th birthday to Geddy. 

2 - The Other Way of Stopping - drummer Stewart Copeland from The Police

I've got musicians from three trios featured in the July birthday set. Considering that July is mainly a Cancer birthday, and Cancers are intensely family-focused, it comes as no surprise.

3 - Somewhere Down the Crazy River - Robbie Robertson

Hey, why not lip sync a complicated spoken-word song during a music video while looking directly into the camera?

If the director says so...well...he probably knows what he's doing...especially if he's Martin Scorsese...

4 - Christmas is Coming - Vince Guaraldi Trio

As a Christmas maniac, I'm always in the mood for Christmas. Especially when it's Vince Guaraldi's kind.

5 - Soul Sacrifice - guitarist Carlos Santana and the Woodstock performance of Santana