In honor of the two-year anniversary of my blog, it’s time once again to look back at the past year’s entries and choose my favorite musical moments. Okay, there may have been some misfires- did
Alice Cooper really merit four entries- and
the Turtles five? Has the annual
Kiss Me I’m Irish series finally been exhausted? But hey, they were all quite fun for me at the time- and isn’t that what blogging is all about? Anyway, here are my favorites- including liner notes for each song. Enjoy!
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| Dinosaur Jr. |
This is the first DJ album with all three original band members since 1989’s
Bug. The pleasant, almost
country sounding romp contains the usual J Mascis guitar antics (and murky lyrics) while Lou and Murph do their best to keep the beat. I’m a long time fan and this is about as light and upbeat as the band gets.
02. Burl Ives – “Buckeye Jim” (1956) from Folkies V
Folks my age know Burl Ives’ distinctive voice from the classic stop motion animated Christmas TV special
Rudolph the Red Nosed-Reindeer but there’s so much more to the man’s musical repertoire than just
“Holly Jolly Christmas”. While I doubt any kids’ music today features lyrics about dying from the whooping cough, it’s probably good to expose children early on to the fact of their own mortality.
03. Indigo Girls – “Closer to Fine” (1989) from Rock Grab Bag VI
Hard to believe it’s been 20 years since I joined the Peace Corps and went off to Bulgaria where for some of my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers and me this was our unofficial theme song during our two years in the Corps. We performed it together often at parties and around campfires- still do whenever we get together and somebody has a guitar.
04. Eva Cassidy – “Fields of Gold” (1998) from Rock Grab Bag VI
I first heard and fell in love with the original
Sting version when I was in the Peace Corps and only recently discovered this recording. I think I prefer Eva’s version.
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| Donovan |
05. June Tabor and Oysterband – “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (2011) from Folkies V
A stark, moving rendition of the 1980 Joy Division song- you can actually make out the words in this version. Is this the future of music- cover songs? I’m actually okay with that since it means music has come full circle and the songs of my youth have now become the new standards.
06. Burl Ives – “Fooba Wooba John” (1950) from Folkies V
Fooba wooba! Just some good time
folk music for the whole family.
07. Justin Roberts – “Stay-At-Home Dad” (2008) from Folkies IV
Cute song although the stay-at-home dads- and moms- I’ve known say the experience is not as much fun as the song suggests.
08. Rancid – “Up to No Good” (2009) from Punk Fourth of July! II
Rancid are a California band but have spent a lot of time in New York City and always seem eager to emulate that NYC toughness and attitude of don’t trust anyone- especially other New Yorkers (whether they be friends, neighbors, or the President of the United States). I listened to this album a lot in the summer of 2009 while studying Arabic. That’s ‘60s legend Booker T. Jones on the infectious keyboard.
09. Tom Waits – “San Diego Serenade” (1974) from Blue Jean Rock Poets IV
I can usually take or leave Tom Waits’ music and if there is something I like it’s usually from his mid ‘70s period when the songs are sung from the perspectives of world weary characters whose quaint mid 20th century worldviews no longer exist.
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| Jefferson Airplane |
10. The Gaslight Anthem – “’45’” (2012) from Alternative Grab Bag IV – Part 2
The Gaslight Anthem continues their mission to keep the flame of 20th century
rock and
punk music alive. Funny how something I used to do alone in my bedroom- listening to records- has become the stuff of romantic legend. I used to have a killer record collection, by the way, but it was destroyed in a flood in 1990. It is tempting but I am still not ready to go back to vinyl. Too risky- too painful.
11. Morphine – “In Spite of Me” (1993) from Adults Only II
“Last night I told a stranger all about you. They smiled patiently with disbelief.”
12. Donovan – “Widow with a Shawl (A Portrait) (Live)” (1967) from The Hurdy Gurdy Man – Part 3
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Donovan paints a picture and I like the way he throws a little bit of history into the intro. I am from a nautical village on Long Island where I grew up hearing all sorts of sailor stories including woeful tales of whalers’ widows- not to mention UFO sightings on the bay.
13. Fleetwood Mac – “Landslide” (1975 ) from Rock Grab Bag IV
For many years I preferred the 1997 live version from
The Dance (not to mention the
Dixie Chicks’ version) until in recent years I’ve come to prefer this original studio version. It’s not great songwriting but when compared to what’s passing for popular music these days it’s downright genius. A song to hear when you’re young and then with which to grow old- like finding an old high school journal 30 years later.
14. John Prine – “Hello in There” (1971) from Prine Country – Part 1
For me the strength of the song hangs on the line “We lost Davey in the Korean War- and I still don’t know what for.” Losing your kid- especially to war- must leave a special kind of emptiness in parents.
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| Gordon Lightfoot |
15. Jefferson Airplane – “Volunteers” (1969) from Psychedelic Laundromat II – Part 1
Taking it to the streets circa 1969, this is some kind of early
psychedelic punk music that makes me think Jefferson Airplane’s albums might be worth a second look.
16. Loudon Wainwright III – “Presidents’ Day” (2018) from Folkies V
I think many of his fellow boomers distrust President Trump because to them he represents everything they fought against in the ‘60s. Glad to hear some of them are still sticking it to the Man.
17. U2 – “In a Little While” (2000) from Four Guys from Dublin – Part 1
I heard Joey Ramone was listening to this song in his hospital bed when he died in 2001. Reminds me of holding my French bulldog, Maurice, in my arms as he took his last breath in 2008.
18. The Walker Brothers – “The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress” (1975) from The World of Scott Walker II
The pretty melody and Scott’s offbeat singing make this a gem in the now closed Walker canon.
19. Johnny Cash – “Streets of Laredo” (2002) from J.R. from Arkansas – Part 4
Another solid Cash cover of an old cowboy song. One of his final recordings.
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| Bruce Springsteen and Alejandro Escovedo |
20. Gordon Lightfoot – “Talking in Your Sleep” (1971) from Summertime Dream – Part 1
The Canadian minstrel just doing what he does best- singing about desire and touching listeners in their secret places. I love the backup singers on this one.
21. Don McLean – “American Pie” (1971) from Rock Grab Bag V
Around 1989 my friend Toast and I started hanging out with some pretty wild girls who loved this song and used to play it all the time- I still know every word of it. Some years later I discovered and started enjoying the rest of the
American Pie album- especially when alone in my car delivering pizzas.
22. Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon – “Where Are We Gonna Work (When the Trees Are Gone?)” (1994) from Punk Earth Day!
“Will the big boss have us washing his car or maybe mowing his lawn?” In this era of heated debate over global warming, these are legitimate questions. “O Lord! What have we done?”
23. Alejandro Escovedo and Bruce Springsteen – “Always a Friend (Live)” (2008) from Alejandro Who? – Part 2
There’s a catch in Alejandro’s voice (at just the right moment) near the end: “It’s only love, love, love.”
24. Mary J. Blige feat. U2 – “One” (2005) from Soul by the Dozen IV
“And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me” (John 17: 22-23). It would be difficult to explain the Mystical Body of Christ (in Roman Catholicism, a mystical union of all Christians into a spiritual body with Jesus Christ as their head) through a song, but this one comes close.
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| The Last Supper by Juan de Juanes |
25. Gordon Lightfoot – “Shadows” (1982) from Summertime Dream – Part 2
“Let it happen, like it happened once before.” The man definitely has a way with a song. Of all the ‘70s
singer-songwriters, Gordon Lightfoot is my favorite.
Listen to the playlist on Spotify...
