On the Right Side of Christmas 2023

   Is it just me or does Christmas music lack the stigma it used to have? It's hard to think of many artists who haven't recorded at least one Christmas song - though that could be more a function of the age and type of artists I listen to. :) Anyway, it means that there's still a lot of great Christmas songs that haven't appeared on any of my previous compilations (and all of the the previous Christmas compilations are also available).  Hope folks enjoy it.

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Chi Town Christmas	Chance The Rapper ft Jeremih
Oh, Mary and the Baby, Sweet Lamb	Elizabeth Mitchell
Sleighride	Lloyd Glenn Trio
Mambo Santa Mambo	The Enchanters
Jingle Jangle	The Penguins
Kisses For Christmas	Marti Brom
Christmas Lights	Billy Childish
Little Drummer Boy	The Bomboras
Christmas Time in Nassau	King Scratch
Christmas Time (Is Here Again)	The Beatles
Christmas Is the Time to Be With Your Baby	The Orchids
Xmas in the Jailhouse	Ox
It's Christmas Time in Louisiana	Johnnie Allan
Christmas Love	Rotary Connection
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas	Phoebe Bridgers
The First Song	Band of Horses
Empty Stocking Blues	Floyd Dixon
Blue Christmas	Girl in a Coma
Skating	Vince Guaraldi
Meri Kirihimete	Erny Belle
Shine a Light	Hiss Golden Messenger
The Bells	Bobby Powell
Silent Night	The Impressions
Auld Lang Syne	Pistol Annies

Ooh Carlas!: Carla Thomas and Carla Morrison

   I'm not quite sure how I came up with the idea to pair Carla Thomas and Carla Morrison.  I'd been listening to the 1960s Stax box set a lot - in particular, Carla Thomas - and may have just been scrolling through Itunes artists when the idea came to me.  At any rate, they're both gifted and underappreciated singers and I think they sound quite good together.  Hope folks enjoy it. (Btw, Carla Thomas, after a really long absence from performing, sings background on a cut from Valerie June's 2021 release "The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers.)

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Looking Back	Carla Thomas
Pale Blue Eyes	Carla Morrison
It Ain't No Easy Thing	Carla Thomas
Disfruto	Carla Morrison
Azúcar Morena	Carla Morrison
Pick Up The Pieces	Carla Thomas
Soñar	Carla Morrison
Guide Me Well	Carla Thomas
Tu Manera de Querer	Carla Morrison
Something Good (Is Going To Happen To You)	Carla Thomas
Ooh Carla, Ooh Otis	Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
Tú Atacas	Carla Morrison
What A Fool I've Been	Carla Thomas
Lagrimas	Carla Morrison
Comfort Me	Carla Thomas
Amor, Amor	Carla Morrison

I Hear an Angel Singing: The Obscurantist Guide to Angel Olsen

      I’ve loved Angel Olsen’s music ever since I heard Burn Your Fire for No Witness  nearly ten years ago.   However, if someone had told me that her 2022 release “Big Time” was her version of a country soul record before I actually listened to it, I think I still would have been more than a little skeptical.   You know, it sounds like a pretentious chef on a sitcom describes doing an “Asian fusion take on chocolate chip pancakes”. But the album is absolutely exquisite - I had no clue just how much I needed an Angel Olsen country soul album. In my entranced state over the last year, I did a full dig into her eclectic catalog, including a lot of live versions and appearances on other artist’s albums.  However, I didn't include any of her work on Bonnie Prince Billy's albums from the early 2010s as it's mostly her on background vocals.  Enjoy!!

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                                              Disc 1

Since You Broke My Heart Angel Olsen More Than This Angel Olsen My Last Date (With You) Angel Olsen You're Gonna Be Sorry Angel Olsen Forever Young Angel Olsen Stranger's Kiss Alex Cameron(w/Angel Olsen) Forgiven/Forgotten Angel Olsen Sweet Dreams Angel Olsen Never Be Mine Angel Olsen wildfire Angel Olsen Greenville Angel Olsen Winter Angel Olsen Oblivion Chivalrous Amoekons Heartstruck (Wild Hunger) Hamilton Leithauser and Angel Olsen Who's Sorry Now Angel Olsen Right Now Angel Olsen                                               Disc 2 Walls Angel Olsen (and Hand Habits) One Too Many Mornings Angel Olsen True Blue Mark Ronson w/Angel Olsen All Mirrors Angel Olsen Fly On Your Wall Angel Olsen Mr. Lonely Angel Olsen & Emile Mosseri Drunk and with Dreams Angel Olsen Halfway To Paradise Angel Olsen Cold Blooded Old Times Angel Olsen Sidetracked In Miami Tim Kinsella (w/Angel Olsen) Free Angel Olsen The Blacksmith Angel Olsen Something on Your Mind Angel Olsen My Reverie Angel Olsen Nothing's Free Angel Olsen Alive and Dying (Waving, Smiling) Angel Olsen

 

The Derailers' "Reverb Deluxe" and Joy Lynn White's "The Lucky Few"

      I was listening to several Joy Lynn White and Derailers  albums recently and was curious if their albums were still available on streaming.   I was quite surprised when I found out that the albums I consider their respective best (The Derailers' Reverb Deluxe and Joy Lynn White's The Lucky Few) are both out of print, even as all of their other releases are available for streaming.  So I felt it my duty to post two of the finest  alternative country releases in 1997 - if I was doing a best of from that year, they would definitely make the top ten.  Enjoy.

Reverb Deluxe

Just One More Time

Lover's Lie

California Angel

Can't Stop A Train

I Don't Believe I'll Fall In Love (Today)

Pawnshop Wedding Rings

No One To Talk To But The Blues

Dull Edge Of The Blade

Ellen

Tears In Your Eyes

It's Too Late

You Don't Have To Go

Painful Days And Sleepless Nights

Come Back / Raspberry Beret

The Lucky Few

Too Big for This Town

Try Not to Be So Lonely

Why Do I Love You

I Doubt If It Does to You

It's About Me

I Just Wanted to See You So Bad

It's Better This Way

The Lucky Few

Life's Just Too Short

I Lost It

More Covers of the Rolling Stones

    I hope it's not overkill, but I thought it was necessary to have a different cover of Satisfaction in each volume, especially as I just couldn't see leaving either the Devo or Otis Redding version out.  Also, while I was putting together these comps, I went back and listened to a lot of Stones albums, some of which I hadn't listened to in a long time - growing up listening to classic rock radio in the 70s kind of burns one out on just about any classic rock song that's in heavy rotation (for years and years...).  Anyway, I have to say that I came away newly impressed by how well the Stones transitioned into the disco era of the late 70's.  Some Girls, Emotional Rescue, and Tattoo You  aren't my favorite Stones albums, but, they still sound like a band following their muse, rather than a band just trying desperately to follow a trend.  I mean, I'm not gonna name any bands, but.....some releases from rock artists in the late 1970s and early 1980s were pretty dreckful.  

   Anyway, hope folks like this third volume.

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Backstreet Girl	Lambchop
Loving Cup	The Bittersweets
Angie	Womack And Womack
Fool To Cry	Tegan & Sara
Honky Tonk Women	The Flying Burrito Brothers
19th Nervous Breakdown	Jason & The Scorchers
Brown Sugar	Alice Russell
Sister Morphine	Ren Harvieu
As Tears Go By	Marianne Faithfull
Ventilator Blues	Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
Gimme Shelter	Cal Tjader
Paint It Black	The Feelies
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction	Devo

Leave No Stones Song Uncovered: A Tribute to the Rolling Stones

      Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are both turning 80 this year (July 26 and December 18, respectively) so I thought it only appropriate to put together a Rolling Stones tribute.  Perhaps maybe I should have done a compilation of songs the Rolling Stones recorded themselves, but I still find that a compilation of covers almost always gives me a better appreciation of the musicians' artistry and songwriting ability.  Even though there are very few covers on this compilation that I definitively prefer to the Rolling Stones' versions (and I shan't say which ones), but they all have their charms and hearing the song in a different voice often enhances my fondness for the original.  Anyway, hope you like them and I'll post a Volume 3 next week 

  Download both volumes

  Volume One

Dead Flowers	Townes Van Zandt
She Smiled Sweetly	Billy Bragg
No Expectations	Odetta
Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind	Vashti Bunyan
Jumpin' Jack Flash	Ananda Shankar
Mother's Little Helper	Liz Phair
Let's Spend The Night Together	Joe Simon
Satisfaction	Otis Redding
Aqui En Mi Nube	Sonia
Play With Fire	The Fleshtones
Miss You	The Concretes
Wild Horses	Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
I Got The Blues	Aloe Blacc & Joel Van Dijk
Volume Two
Waiting On A Friend	Over the Rhine
Emotional Rescue	St. Vincent
Moonlight Mile	Lee Fields
You Can't Always Get What You Want	P.P. Arnold
Sympathy For The Devil	Motörhead
The Last Time	Dwight Yoakam
Satisfaccion	Los Apson
What a Shame	Lorelle Meets The Obsolete
Under My Thumb	Veronica Falls
Bitch	The Sugarman 3
Just Wanna See His Face	The Blind Boys Of Alabama
I Am Waiting	Jennifer Warren
I'd Much Rather Be with the Boys	Reigning Sound

Country/Folk Legends: Kris Kristofferson, Bob Neuwirth, and Mickey Newbury

       I'm taking a break from the Texas Legends Series (they're all still available to download), though I do anticipate doing a few more in the future.  I'm can't precisely remember why I decided on Kristofferson, Neuwirth, and Newbury, though I do recall I was listening to a lot of Newbury a while back (and it was before Neuwirth sadly died a year ago).  Nonetheless, I think the three sound good together and serve as an excellent soundtrack for any lazy summer weekend doings.  I should note that Newbury and Kristofferson were both born in Texas (Neuwirth was born in Akron, Ohio), but they were both more associated with Nashville, especially Newbury.  And if you want to dig deeper into their respective catalogs, I'd start with Kristofferson's "Kristofferson", Neuwirth's "99 Monkeys", and Newbury's "Harlequin Melodies". Actually, I think Newbury's best albums are 'Frisco Mabel Joy" and "Heaven Help the Child", but they're inexplicably out of print.

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She Even Woke Me Up To Say Go	Mickey Newbury
I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground	Bob Neuwirth with Eliza Carthy
Billy Dee	Kris Kristofferson
Born to Die Alone	Kris Kristofferson
Aracely's Natia	Bob Neuwirth
Why You Been Gone So Long	Mickey Newbury
The Lady's Not For Sale	Kris Kristofferson
Annabelle Lee	Bob Neuwirth
T. Total Tommy	Mickey Newbury
Somebody Nobody Knows	Kris Kristofferson
Life Is For Living	Bob Neuwirth
Frisco Depot	Mickey Newbury
Rock Salt and Nails	Bob Neuwirth
Why Me	Kris Kristofferson
Sweet Memories	Mickey Newbury
Just Dropped In	Mickey Newbury
Between Heaven And Here	Kris Kristofferson
Blue Detour	Bob Neuwirth