Give More Power Pop to the People - Volume Two

        So is it just me or is Bill Lloyd's Set to Pop the perfect song to start a power pop comp (it's off the album of the same name, btw)? Volume Two of Give More Power Pop to the People is now available, so I'll let you decide.

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I Went Electric	Bill Lloyd
You Were So Warm	Dwight Twilley Band
She Loves You Too	The Patriots
Underwater	The Three O'Clock
Before You Were Born	Richard Barone
Congratulations My Darling	Eugene Edwards
I Found A Love	Phil Seymour
Cynical Girl	Marshall Crenshaw
Bad Indication	Off Broadway
What I Know	The Sneetches
Stacy's Mom	Fountains Of Wayne
Goodbye Princess	Cheepskates
Every Night Is A Holiday	The Spongetones
Discolite	Teenage Fanclub
Farewell Song	Flying Color
The Mayor Of Simpleton	XTC

Give More Power Pop to the People

       The really warm spell we had here in the northeast is over, but spring will be back soon so I thought it was time for some power pop.  I've mostly resisted power pop mixtapes on this blog (with the exception of this 90s power pop compilation) in part because there's so many other great power pop blogs on the web.  One of the most prominent one is http://powerpopcriminals.blogspot.com/ and about 4-5 years ago, they put together a huge, 8-9 part compilation from the best 200 power pop albums of all time.  Now, I don't know if this violates some ethical boundary, but I took 32 of my faves from that 200 and created a much smaller 2 volume compilation (I'll post volume 2 next week).

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Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)	Raspberries
The Company of Light	Chris Stamey
The One	Cloud Eleven
Gold Town	Tommy Keene
Sally Works Nights	Liverpool Echo
Couldn't Help Myself	Bobby Sutliff
I Want You To Want Me	Cheap Trick
With My Face On The Floor	Emitt Rhodes
We Love Girls	Buster
Remember The Lightning	20-20
Tiger Nights	The Bongos
The Popular	Splitsville
A Girl (La La La)	Artful Dodger
Faith	Sex Clark Five
A Different Sunday	Beagle
You've Got No Time	The Cowsills

All Hail the New Traditionalists - Sharon Jones and the Detroit Cobras

           I thought of putting together a Sharon Jones and Detroit Cobras compilation a while back, but I was waiting for a new Cobras release.  That was about 18 months ago, and since there doesn't seem to be one forthcoming in the near future.... well, now's as good time as any (especially with summer on its way - if, I may be so bold, I think it would make a nice bbq soundtrack).   And I know traditionalist is kind of a silly term, but, hey, it seemed a bit better than revivalist. :)

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100 Days, 100 Nights	Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Hey Sailor	The Detroit Cobras
Ain't Hittin' on Nothin'	The Detroit Cobras
My Man Is A Mean Man	Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
(I Wanna Know) What's Going on	The Detroit Cobras
Give It Back	Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Wild About That Thing	Sharon Jones, Alvin Youngblood Hart & Teenie Hodges
I'll Be Home Someday	Detroit Cobras
I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Is In	Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
I'll Keep Holding On	The Detroit Cobras
Pick It Up, Lay It In The Cut	Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Ya Ya Ya (looking For My Baby)	The Detroit Cobras
Heartbeat	The Detroit Cobras
She Ain't a Child No More	Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Last Nite	The Detroit Cobras
What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes?	Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
The Dap Dip	Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
As Long As I Have You	The Detroit Cobras

The Damnations - Where it lands

   I know I posted some Texas country two weeks ago, but since SXSW is going on as I type, I figured I'd post the second album, 2002's Where it lands, from the great Austin band The Damnations.  Their 1998 self-titled first album (which they had to release under the name Damnations, TX for legal reasons) is still available as an mp3 album.  It's a little better, imho, but Where it lands  is still an alternative country gem, too.

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All Night Special

Quarter in the Couch

Root On

Steeple Full of Swallows

Wanna Be Your Mama

Animal Children

Bloodhound

New Hope Cemetery

Corona

Tora Tora Tora

Time To Go Home

I'm Living in the 80's! (Disc Four)

     It's really no use try to defend/rationalize/excuse one's musical nostalgia especially since (imho) it's the rare person who doesn't indulge their music nostalgia jones at least occasionally.  In that spirit, here's another 80s (mostly postpunk) mixtape (You can also still download Discs 1-3.

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Dissidents	Thomas Dolby
Appetite	Prefab Sprout
Death at One's Elbow	The Smiths
Landslide	Cabaret Voltaire
Producer	Gang of Four
Motorcrash	Sugarcubes
88 Seconds In Greensboro	OMD
Saint Julian	Julian Cope
The Sinking Feeling	The The
Mandinka	Sinead O'Connor
Clay	Echo & The Bunnymen
Under The Milky Way	The Church
Head Over Heels / Broken	Tears For Fears
Boss Toyota Trouble	Biting Tongues
The Telephone Always Rings	Fun Boy Three
Swirling	Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians
Sugar Hiccup	Cocteau Twins
The Three Sunrises	U2

3 Legends of Texas Country: James Hand, Justin Trevino, and Don Walser

     The annual South by Southwest music conference is fast approaching and even though it's been ten years since I attended one, I thought a little homage to Texas artists was in store for this week.  Don Walser passed away back in 2006, but Justin Trevino and James Hand are still going strong and I would hope they're both playing at SXSW this year (even if it's unofficial events).

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In The Corner, At The Table, By the Jukebox	James Hand
Texas Honky Tonk	Justin Trevino
One More Drink	Don Walser
Cowpoke	Don Walser
I Heard Mama Callin	James Hand
Leavin' And Sayin' Goodbye	Justin Trevino
Don't Want Me Too	James Hand
(The Party Don't Start) 'Til The Playboys Get Here	Don Walser
Brand New Sister Me	Justin Trevino
She Knows My Weaknesses	Justin Trevino
Chime Bells	Don Walser
When You Stopped Loving Me, So Did I	James Hand
Leave The Lonely Alone	James Hand
Chalk One Up for You	Justin Trevino
A String Boogie	Don Walser
Little Bitty Slip	James Hand
Cattle Call	Don Walser
Don't Leave the Leaving Up to Me	Justin Trevino

More Gillian!!

     Tonight, I'm posting the second volume of my Gillian Welch compilation.  First, I'd like to thank the site spontaneous wednesday for their comprehensive collection of Gillian Welch live shows. Indeed, there are so many good live Gillian tracks that I probably could have made a 3 volume collection.  But for now, you'll just have to make do with two discs of Gillian's genius.  (I was actually going to call the compilation The Genius of Gillian or Gillian's Genius, but it seemed, I dunno, a tad obvious.)

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Appalachacola Bound

Billy

Unfinished Business

Company Grave Blues

Wichita

In Tall Buildings

My Morphine

Everything Is Free

Miners Prayer

Jesus on the Mainline

Why He Needs Me

Dark As A Dungeon

Leaving Train

Hickory Wind

Only One And Only

The Only One and Only Gillian Welch

      Well, it's that time of year when I tend to feature a a female alt-country star (Neko Case), Kelly Willis, Lucinda Williams, Iris DeMent), so this year I thought it was high time for a Gillian Welch compilation.  There's one cut from each of her formal releases and the rest is contributions to tribute albums and soundtracks, duets, and a lot of live tracks.  Disc Two  arrives next week.

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Beulah Land

Pocahontas

Pretty Flowers

Summer Evening

Lua

Silver Dagger

I've Been Down Before

Gold Watch And Chain

I'll Fly Away

Wind And Rain

Barstow

One Monkey

Black Star

Tonight I'll Be Stayin' Here with You

White Rabbit

I Just Don't Know What to do With Myself - Volume 4

     Yes, it's time again for my annual anti-Valentine's day compilation.  However, this year, I decided to make the compiling a little harder by restricting it only to duets.  Actually, it was a lot harder than I thought which is why I had to include some artists I'd already featured in the series and why there's more country music than usual (there just don't seem to be that many truly sad soul duets).   Btw, I've also re-upped Vol 1, Vol 2, and Vol 3 in case folks are really in need of more sad stuff.


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You Wrecked Up My Heart Buddy Miller Portland Oregan feat. Jack White Loretta Lynn Burning House of Love X Stop Draggin' My Heart Around Stevie Nicks w/ Tom Petty  No Memories Hangin' 'round Rosanne Cash Let's Invite Them Over John Prine Those Lonely, Lonely Nights Katie Webster We'll Burn Together Robbie Fulks Sad Wedding Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell Two Different Things Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell We Get Along Just Fine (When We're Apart) Crazy Heart The Last Thing On My Mind Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner No Longer A Sweetheart Of Mine Suzanne Cox and Ronnie Reno We'll Never Love Again (With Jan Howard) Wynn Stewart Waltzing On The Titanic Lonesome Bob Love Hurts Gram Parsons Crying (With K.D. Lang) Roy Orbison Two Story House George Jones and Tammy Wynette You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart) Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong What Do You Do / The Glory Of Love Lyle Lovett and Francine Reed

Return of the 90s Indie Goddesses

    Since Mazzy Star just put out a couple of singles (one of them leads off the compilation), I decided that I needed to do another 90s Indie Goddess mix, albeit one with more emphasis on the mellow stuff (and with some of the bands folks recommended in the comments section when I posted Volumes 1&2 - which I'm re-upping as I type.)  And once again, feel free to indulge in as much cultural nostalgia for the 90s as you wish. :)

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Lay Myself Down	Mazzy Star
Tuesday Night	Kristin Hersh
Untogether	Belly
Full Moon, Empty Heart	Belly
For No One Else	The Spinanes
Uncle June And Aunt Kiyoti	Kristin Hersh
Divorce Song	Liz Phair
The Lights	Juliana Hatfield
Shining Road	Cranes
When I Die	Lush
Into Dust	Mazzy Star
Screaming Angels Dancing In Your Garden	Lisa Germano
Judas My Heart	Belly
Dylan	Throwing Muses
Give You My Lovin'	Mazzy Star
Chopsticks	Liz Phair

Gene Clark: The High Priest of Alternative Country

     Awright, I feel silly for not having anything even remotely interesting to say about Gene Clark, so I'll just say that if you're a newbie to Gene Clark and this compilation inspires you to check out more of his music, I'd recommend the live album Flowers on My Grave, his Dillard and Clark album, The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark, and his last formal cd, So Rebellious a Lover (with Carla Olson).

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Tried So Hard

100 Years From Now

Keep On Pushin'

No Longer a Sweetheart of Mine

Hear The Wind

Lover's Turnaround

Silver Raven

Day For Night

In The Pines

Lyin' Down The Middle

Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe

Dark Hollow

One In A Hundred

I Really Don't Want To Know

Young Love

Because Of You

Dark Of My Moon

Don't It Make You Want To Go Home

The Gift Soundtrack

     I've never seen the movie (but I've heard it's very good), but I'm posting the out of print 2001 soundtrack to The Gift anyway tonight.    It's a really nice mixture of 1960s country acts such as George Jones and Lee Hazelwood and newer (for 2001) alt-country acts like The Souvenirs, Neko Case, and Amy Nelson.  Just the thing for those long winter nights. :)

p.s. If you're having trouble downloading previous mixes, it's because megaupload.com has been shut down.  I'll try to post them, albeit gradually, to another site over the next couple of weeks.

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The Gift	Christopher Young
Furnace Room Lullaby	Neko Case
Great Divide	Willie Nelson
Wastin' Time	Waylon Jennings
Mama Why	Loretta Lynn
Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven	Loretta Lynn
All Alone	Christopher Young
Beautiful Hills	Hasil Adkins
Trouble Is A Lonesome Town	Lee Hazelwood
Heart On A Chain	The Souvenirs
In Case We Die	Amy Nelson
I'm Alright	The Souvenirs
If I Could Only Fly	Merle Haggard
Pretty Girls	Neko Case
A Picture Of Me (Without You)	George Jones

Crazy Baby: Bobby Hebb and Alex Chilton

      For at least the last couple of years, the New York Times has devoted the second to last magazine section of the year to all different individuals who have passed away during the year.  In the 2010 edition, the music writer Rob Hoerburger did a nice tribute to Bobby Hebb and Alex Chilton - since they were both Tennessee songwriters who briefly hit it big in the mid 1960s.  I was only familiar with Hebb because he wrote Sunny, so I decided to check out more of his stuff and was not disappointed - especially his early 60s stuff, a lot of which can be found on the Rich Records story compilation.  (He also co-wrote A Natural Man with, of all people, the comic Sandy Baron - best known now for playing Jack Klompus on Seinfeld).  So the more I listened to Hebb's music, the more I thought he and Chilton would make for a nice mixtape.  See what you think.

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Thank You John	Alex Chilton
I Love Mary	Bobby Hebb
Make a Little Love	Alex Chilton
Crazy Baby	Bobby Hebb
Atlanta, GA	Bobby Hebb
Bangkok	Alex Chilton
We're Gonna Make It	Bobby Hebb
Hook Me Up	Alex Chilton
Let's get lost	Alex Chilton
For You	Bobby Hebb
I Must Be The Devil	Box Tops
Got You On My Mind	Bobby Hebb
You Don't Know What You Got Until You Lose It	Bobby Hebb
Stuff	Alex Chilton
This Bird Has Flown	Bobby Hebb
Funky National	Alex Chilton
Tee Ne Mee Ni Noo / Tip On In	Alex Chilton
I Feel So Good	Bobby Hebb

Bedazzled by Dexter Romweber

     I really don't like to harp on how underappreciated certain musicians are, but....., well, it does seem unfair that Dex Romweber has never achieved greater fame - whether it be with the Flat Duo Jets, as a solo act, or now with his sister Sara in the Dex Romweber Duo (who have put out two really good albums on Bloodshot, btw).  So what better way to start the new year than with an homage to dear Dex?

p.s. He's still got it live, too. :)

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Theme	Flat Duo Jets
Outta Sight	Dexter Romweber
Tura Satana	Flat Duo Jets
Cobra (Theme 2 Revisited)	Flat Duo Jets
Lover's Gold	Dexter Romweber & The New Romans
Midnight	Dexter Romweber
Crow's Feet	Flat Duo Jets
Tombstone Boogie	Dexter Romweber
Wild Wild Lover	Flat Duo Jets
People, Places, and Things	Dex Romweber Duo
Homicide	Dex Romweber Duo
Mexicali Baby	Flat Duo Jets
Caravan	Flat Duo Jets
Brazil	Dex Romweber Duo
It Doesn't Matter Anymore	Flat Duo Jets
Blues That Defy My Soul	Dexter Romweber
Harlem Nocturne	Flat Duo Jets
Love Letters	Dex Romweber Duo
Tidalwave	Flat Duo Jets
Lucky Eye	Flat Duo Jets
Last Kind Word Blues	Dex Romweber Duo

On the Right Side of 2011

        As usual, I don't have too much to say about the year that's passed.  I do think that there were a lot of good albums, but there weren't too many that thrilled me from beginning to end.  Perhaps I'm just a harder boy to thrill these days. :) Still, there was no dearth of songs to put on my year end mixtape - in fact, I had to leave off some cuts that would have made it in previous years.  (And as in 2009 and 2010, all the mp3s are tagged with the album they came from.)

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Video Games	Lana Del Rey
Escape	Richard Buckner
Montezuma	Fleet Foxes
The Reason Why	Ron Sexsmith
Gone, Gone, Gone	Nikki Lane
Always Looking	Dum Dum Girls
Get Some	Lykke Li
Relax	Das Racist
Tropical Affair	Money Mark/Thalma de Freitas/Joao Parahyba
Paraty	Mia Doi Todd
Progress	Booker T Jones
Stone Rollin'	Raphael Saadiq
Checkout Time	Nick Lowe
Between The Cheats	Amy Winehouse
A Commotion	Feist
She Stole The Blush	Tom Waits
Born To Be Loved	Lucinda Williams
Calgary	Bon Iver
Heartaches and Pain	Charles Bradley
The Way The Whole Thing Ends	Gillian Welch

More Selections from the Harlan Howard Songbook

It's been a real long time (probably about 15 years ago), but I remember reading an interview with Harlan Howard where he said that when he first started writing country songs, he didn't know anything about love (or maybe he said women). I thought of that quote a couple of weeks back when I listened to Charley Pride's version of "Image of Me". While the psychological realism is a tad lacking, the male melodrama in the song is undeniably appealing. I'd try to find a quote to give a better description of Harlan Howard's songwriting genius, but I have some other stuff I have to get to, so the second volume of my tribute to HH will have to do.

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Heartaches By The Number	Dwight Yoakam
I've Got A Tiger By The Tail	Ray Charles
Busted	Duane Eddy
Sally Was a Good Old Girl	Waylon Jennings
Why Not Me ?	The Judds
Don't Call Me From A Honky Tonk	Johnny & Jonie Mosby
The Sound Of Laughter	Johnny Cash
The One You Slip Around With	Skeeter Davis
Your Heart Turned Left (And I Was on the Right)	George Jones
The Keys In the Mailbox	Tony Booth
Odds and Ends	Justin Trevino
Heartbreak U.S.A.	Kitty Wells
The Image Of Me	Charley Pride
I Fall To Pieces	Carla Thomas
A Thief in the Night	Jean Shepard
He Called Me Baby	Ella Washington
I'll Catch You When You Fall	Buck Owens
Above & Beyond (The Call Of Love)	Wynn Stewart

The Heartache Headmaster - A Harlan Howard Tribute

Just to be clear, I'm not a proponent of "great man" theories of history. Still.....it's kind of hard to imagine what country music would be like without the songs of Harlan Howard. His own recordings may leave a little something be to desired (though they're not terrible), but damn, the guy was a gifted and prolific songwriter. As with Townes Van Zandt last year and Tom Waits in 2009, I've put together a two volume compilation of Harlan Howard covers (with Volume 2 to follow next week).

Download (both volumes)

Streets of Baltimore Gram Parsons

The Hurtin's All Over Connie Smith

Pick Me Up On Your Way Down Charlie Walker

Excuse Me, I Think I've Got a Heartache Cake

The Chokin' Kind Joe Simon

Evil on Your Mind Jan Howard

I Don't Believe I'll Fall In Love Today Derailers

It Takes One to Know One Skip Heller

You Took Him off My Hands Patsy Cline

Too Many Rivers Brenda Lee

It's All Over The Everly Brothers

Life Turned Her That Way James Carr

Ain't Found Nobody The Mavericks

I've Seen That Look On Me (A Thousand Times) Willie Nelson

I'm Down to My Last Cigarette k.d. lang

Baby Me Baby Gene Watson

Don't Our Love Look Natural Keith Whitley

She's Gone, Gone, Gone Lefty Frizzell

More Billie Holiday and Elis Regina

I was listening to the Billie Holiday - Elis Regina comp I made last year (which you can still download) a while ago and, well, I thought it'd be nice to have another volume. Score one for niceness. :)

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20 Anos Blue Elis Regina

I Love My Man Billie Holiday

I Don't Want To Cry Anymore Billie Holiday

O Que Foi Feito De Vera with Milton Nascimento Elis Regina

All Of Me Billie Holiday

Madalena Elis Regina

Bicho Do Mato Elis Regina

Swing, Brother, Swing Billie Holiday

Canto de Ossanha Elis Regina & Toots Thielemans

Jeepers Creepers Billie Holiday

Alo Saudade Elis Regina

Who Wants Love? Billie Holiday

East Of The Sun Billie Holiday

O Que Tinha De Ser Elis Regina

These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) Billie Holiday

Gracias a la Vida Elis Regina

Them There Eyes Billie Holiday

E Com Esse Que Eu Vou Elis Regina

Confissao Elis Regina

What A Little Moonlight Can Do Billie Holiday

Baby, I'm A Charlie Rich Fan

In addition to his eclecticism (and his rather unique career arc), one of the things I find most intriguing about Charlie Rich is that his wife Margaret Rich wrote (or co-wrote) some of his material. Offhand, I can't really think of another male singer (or even that many female singers) with that dynamic. One of her compositions, in fact, leads off this compilation - Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs. I tried to stay away from any songs on his great 2 two cd best of collection: Feel Like Going Home, but Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs was just too perfect as the opening track. I did however, have enough willpower not to put his great demo version of Feel Like Going Home from that collection as the closer. :)

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Life Has It's Little Ups And Downs

Down On The River

Philadelphia Baby

You Win Again

Just Like Old Times

Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast

Blowin' Town

A Sunday Kind Of Woman

Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child

Am I Blue?

Almost Persuaded

Now Everybody Knows

That's How Much I Love You

You Can Have Her

Don't Come Knocking On My Door

Just a Little Bit Sweet

Very Much Alone

I Take It On Home

On the Right Side of Christmas 2011

It's a little late coming (hey, I was travelling for Thanksgiving), but here's my annual Christmas music compilation (you can still download 2010 and 2009, btw).

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Merry Christmas Baby Otis Redding

No More Pretty Presents Rod Piazza And The Mighty Flyers

Don't Believe In Christmas The Sonics

Come All Ye Faithful Surfer Girls The Chevelles

Rudolph The Manic Reindeer Los Lobos

Xmas Curtain My Morning Jacket

Maybe this Christmas Ron Sexsmith

Old Toy Trains Roger Miller

Gonna Wrap My Heart In Ribbons Hank Thompson

The Christmas Song Jose Feliciano

Perfect Gift Natalie Hemby

Got Something for You Best Coast and Wavves

What Christmas Means To Me Stevie Wonder

Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers The Crystals

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Eddie Dunstedter

All I Want For Christmas Is You Mandy Barnett

I Wish You A Merry Christmas Big Dee Irwin

The Holy Babe Mahalia Jackson

Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern) Miles Davis

Carol of the Bells The Bird and the Bee

Christmasey Brian Wilson

Christmas Means Love Sam Cooke

Christmas In Harlem (ft. CyHi Da Prynce) Kanye West

Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday The Sweet Inspirations

More Mark Eitzel and George Jones

Hopefully, the first Mark Eitzel-George Jones comp didn't make folks too morose, because here's Volume Two.

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I'm Just Blue Enough George Jones

The Boy With the Hammer in the Paper Bag Mark Eitzel

Cleopatra Jones Mark Eitzel

4033 George Jones

Hello Amsterdam American Music Club

The King Is Gone George Jones

I Broke My Promise American Music Club

Who Will I Be Loving Now George Jones

Diary of My Mind George Jones

Take Courage Mark Eitzel

We Loved It Away George Jones

The Decibels and the Little Pills American Music Club

Then It Really Happens Mark Eitzel

Tomorrow Never Comes George Jones

Everything Is Beautiful Mark Eitzel

Mark Eitzel and George Jones: The Kings of Broken Hearts

When I saw Jim Lauderdale open up for Lucinda Williams back in 1998 (he was also singing backup vocals for Lu), he played the song King of Broken Hearts (from his very fine debut Planet of Love). I can't remember if he said it wrote it as an homage to George Jones or if he wrote it with the intention of George Jones covering it. Either way, I thought of the song when I was putting tonight's Mark Eitzel - George Jones comp. Now Mr. Eitzel may not be quite the king of broken hearts that Mr. Jones is, but I think he'd put up a pretty good fight. :) I'll post Volume two next week.

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How Many Six Packs Does it Take to Screw in a Light Bulb American Music Club

I Just Don't Like This Kind Of Livin' George Jones

You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave) George Jones

Queen Of No One Mark Eitzel

Big Fool Of The Year George Jones

Sleeping Beauty Mark Eitzel

She Knows What She's Crying About George Jones

What Holds the World Together American Music Club

I've Been A Mess American Music Club

I'm A Fool For Loving Her George Jones

Live Or Die Mark Eitzel

Wine (You've Used Me Long Enough) George Jones

I'm All She's Got George Jones

What The Pillar Of Salt Held Up American Music Club

Things Have Gone to Pieces George Jones

Gladys Knight and the Pips: Everybody Needs Love/ If I Was Your Woman

Back in 1977, Richard Pryor hosted his own comedy-variety show on NBC. It only lasted for four episodes, in large part because it was up against Happy Days (or maybe it was Laverne and Shirley). And it even if it hadn't been, it's kind of doubtful Pryor would have wanted to do it for much longer since he wasn't too crazy about NBC's censors. Anyway, on one of the shows, the skit has the Pips singing backup sans Gladys Knight - i.e., the joke is that you have this silence in between brief bits of harmonizing by the Pips. And no, the execution wasn't much funnier than it sounds. :)

I invoke this brief moment of popular culture only because I think that Gladys Knight probably would be remembered more fondly if her backing band hadn't been named the Pips. No offense to any of the Pips (who were good backup singers), but the name, well, I just think it ultimately diminished her status as a soul singer. Which is too bad, because as you can hear from the two out of print albums posted (it was a twofer cd put out by Motown in the early years of cds before they realized they could sell their old stuff as single albums), she has a darn fine emotive style.

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Everybody Needs Love

I'll Be Standing By

Since I've Lost You

I Heard It Through The Grapevine

You Don't Love Me No More

Ain't No Sun Since You've Been Gone

Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me

He's My Kind Of Fellow

Yes, I'm Ready

My Bed Of Thorns

Do You Love Me Just A Little Honey

Just Walk In My Shoes

If I Were Your Woman

Feeling Alright

One Less Bell To Answer

Let It Be

I Don't Want To Do Wrong

One Step Away

Here I Am Again

How Can You Say That Ain't Love

Is There A Place (In His Heart For Me)

Everybody Is A Star

Signed Gladys

Your Love's Been Good For Me

Good Morning Mr. Trucker

Around this time last year, I put together a road songs compilation. I decided to continue the tradition this year, but focus solely on truck driving songs (though a few of them, like Ravishing Ruby, aren't really about truck driving). And if you're dying for more truck driving songs, the excellent 1996 Rig Rock Deluxe comp put out by Diesel Only Records is still in print. (there's a temporary problem uploading pix, so I'll put it up tomorrow.)

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Good Morning Mr. Trucker World Famous Blue Jays

Just A Few More Miles Dave Dudley

Truck Driving Joe Ken Clark

Miss Marie & The Bedford Blaze Marty Stuart

Nitro Express Bill Kirchen

Good Luck 'N' Truckin' Tonite Dale Watson

Truck Driver's Queen Moore & Napier

Truck Driver's Ride Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant

Truck Driver's Blues Rosie Flores

Roll On Big Mama Joe Stampley

Drag 'Em Off The Interstate, Sock It To 'Em J. P. Blues Dick Curless

Truck Drivin' Man (Live) Uncle Tupelo

Roll Truck Roll Terry Allen & The Panhandle Mystery Band

King Of The Open Road Red Sovine

Looking At The World Through A Windshield Del Reeves

Little Pink Mack Kay Adams

Semi-Crazy Junior Brown

Ravishing Ruby Tom T. Hall

Trucker's Rag Moon Mullican

Roll, Truck, Roll Red Simpson

Chrissy Hynde and Emmylou Harris redux

As I mentioned when I posted a Chrissie Hynde and Emmylou Harris mixtape last year, for those of a certain age, Emmy and Chrissy really were the it girls of rock and country, respectively. In the ensuing years, Chrissy has gotten more country (okay, twangy) and Emmylou has gotten more rock and...... well, a volume 2 seemed like a good idea. (If you missed it the first time around, you can download Volume 1 here.)

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Drivin' Wheel Emmylou Harris

Message Of Love The Pretenders

Born To Run. Emmylou Harris

(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie Emmylou Harris

Love's A Mystery The Pretenders

They'll Never Take His Love from Me Emmylou Harris

Show Me The Pretenders

My City Was Gone The Pretenders

High Powered Love Emmylou Harris

Talk Of The Town The Pretenders

Sweetheart Of The Pines Emmylou Harris

Never Do That The Pretenders

Spanish Johnny Emmylou Harris

Tulsa Queen Emmylou Harris

Rabo De Nube The Pretenders

Boulder to Birmingham Emmylou Harris

Stop Your Sobbing Pretenders

Mann Up: An Aimee Mann Collection

About a month ago, a friend of mine got us tickets to see Aimee Mann in January. I also just happened to listening to Lost in Space and Bachelor No. 2 (her two best albums, imo) back to back, so I thought it was time to put together an Aimee Mann compilation. In addition to single cuts from her formal releases (including two of her 'Til Tuesday albums, but not from her Christmas album) there's a bunch of stuff from soundtracks, tribute albums, etc.

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Coming Up Close

Fifty Years After The Fair

Sign Of Love

Two of Us

Little Bombs

Phoenix

You're With Stupid Now

Jimmy Hoffa Jokes

Reason To Believe

Momentum

The Great Beyond

High On Sunday 51

Nightmare Girl

At The Edge Of The World

The Other End (Of The Telescope)

You Do

Saluting 70's Singer Songwriters

The term "singer songwriter" often invokes a certain amount of derision today - especially when you mention the 1970s in the same breath. And while there may be certain groups/artists (who shall remain nameless) in that category that haven't aged well or weren't so great to begin with, there were really a lot of great 70's singer songwriters, even if they weren't necessarily labeled as such. For your listening pleasure, then, here's 9 of my singer songwriter favorites.

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Close My Eyes                   Arthur Russell

Oh Fernanda Why              Arthur Russell

Here Tonight                      Gene Clark

With Tomorrow                 Gene Clark

So Far Away                      Carole King

Brother, Brother                 Carole King

Speed Of Sound                 Chris Bell

Look Up                             Chris Bell

Future Song                       Curtis Mayfield

Keep On Keeping On        Curtis Mayfield

Inner City Blues                 Rodriguez

To Whom It May Concern Rodriguez

Campo De Encino              Harry Nilsson

Gotta Get Up                      Harry Nilsson

Brother                               Jorge Ben

Oba, Lá Vem Ela             Jorge Ben

Half Past France                 John Cale

Big White Cloud                John Cale

More Kinks, Jam, and Holly Golightly

As promised, here's disc two of The Kinks, The Jam and Holly Golightly. And if you're just discovering Holly Golightly and want more (and really, who wouldn't), I'd suggest starting here.

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No Big Thing Holly Golightly

Did You See His Name? The Kinks

In The Crowd The Jam

Anyotherway Holly Golightly

Nothing In This World Can Stop Me Worryin' Bout That Girl The Kinks

Holloway Jail The Kinks

Time To Go Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs

Thick as Thieves The Jam

Picture Book The Kinks

And Your Bird Can Sing The Jam

Stoned Out of My Mind The Jam

Mellow Down Easy Holly Golightly

David Watts The Jam

Look For Me Baby Holly Golightly

Lola The Kinks

Absolutely Mod Out There: The Kinks, The Jam, and Holly Golightly

While it's still sticky and humid out here in the northeast, fall will soon be upon us which means (at least to me) that it's time for some Kinks, Jam and Holly Golightly. I'll post disc two next week.

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Party Line The Kinks

Girl on the Phone The Jam

Mary-Ann Holly Golightly

Sally Go Round the Roses Holly Golightly

Monday The Jam

Gotta Get The First Plane Home The Kinks

Through Sun and Wine Holly Golightly

Who'll Be The Next In Line The Kinks

Town Called Malice The Jam

Trans-Global Express The Jam

She Said Holly Golightly

Big Black Smoke The Kinks

Time Will Tell Holly Golightly

Yo-Yo The Kinks

That's Entertainment The Jam

Ray Price: Night Life

I know I've been over indulging a bit in music from the early 1960s, but when I found out that Ray Price's superb 1963 release Night Life was out of print, I thought I owed it to folks to post it. Great selection of songs, Price's voice never sounded better, and a who's who of top studio musicians (Buddy Emmons and Jimmy Day on steel guitar, Pig Robbins on piano, Grady Martin on guitar, etc.)

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Introduction and Theme/The Night Life

Lonely Street

The Wild Side Of Life

Sittin' And Thinkin'

The Twenty-Fourth Hour

A Girl In The Night

Pride

There's No Fool Like A Young Fool

If She Could See Me Now

Bright Lights And Blonde Haired Women

Are You Sure

Let Me Talk To You