It's So Primitive: Jonathan Richman, Ben Vaughn, and Sonny Smith

     It's been a long time since I had a car, but there is a great deal to be said for driving around on languid summer afternoons and evenings listening to "primitive" rock and roll such as Jonathan Richman, Ben Vaughn, and Sonny Smith.  For readers wanting to dig deeper into their catalogs, I'd recommend Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers "The Modern Lovers", "It's Time For", Ben Vaughn's "Mood Swings" (and the out of print "Mono"), and Sonny & the Sunset's, "Hit After Hit".

Download

Side A

Roadrunner                                                         The Modern Lovers

Jukebox Babe                                                         Ben Vaughn

Chapters                                                                 Sonny & The Sunsets

Death Cream part 2 "Watch Out for the Cream" Sonny & The Sunsets

The Baltimores                                                 Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

Paradise                                                                 Ben Vaughn

Alice Leaves for the Mountains                         Sonny & The Sunsets

The Girl Stands Up To Me Now                         Jonathan Richman

Cashier Girl                                                         Ben Vaughn

Our Favorite Martian                                         Ben Vaughn

Year of the Cock (Jackie Feathers)                     Sonny Smith

Nineteen In Naples                                                 Jonathan Richman

Rhinestone Sunset                                                 Sonny & The Sunsets

Since She Started To Ride                                 Jonathan Richman

Out Of Control                                                 Ben Vaughn

Side B

Primitive                                                                 Sonny & The Sunsets

When Harpo Played His Harp                                Jonathan Richman

I'm Just Beginning To Live                                 Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

7 Days Without Love                                         Ben Vaughn

Drug Lake                                                         Sonny & The Sunsets

Goin' Down That Road                                         Ben Vaughn

Grunion Run                                                         Jonathan Richman

Cathedral in the Desert                                         Sonny Smith

My Mind Ain't Right                                              Ben Vaughn

Beautiful Thing                                                 Ben Vaughn

Teen Age Thugs                                                 Sonny & The Sunsets

(She's Gonna) Respect Me                                 Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers

Rod for Your Love                                                 Sonny Smith

Pipe Bomb                                                         Ben Vaughn

Corner Store                                                         Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

Sucking in the '70s - Volume 8

It's time for another "Sucking in the '70s" compilation.  Apart from noting that this one is a little more all over the place than the previous one, I don't have much to say about this new compilation.  I've also re-upped all the previous volumes as well as the Saluting the 70's compilations.

Download

Salinas	Jackie DeShannon
Easy To Be Hard	Cheryl Barnes
Everybody Plays The Fool	The Main Ingredient
Delta Dawn	Tanya Tucker
Night They Drove Old Dixie Down	Joan Baez
Badlands	Bruce Springsteen
Young Hearts Run Free	Candi Staton
Don't Leave Me This Way	Thelma Houston
SOS	ABBA
Nothing From Nothing	Billy Preston
Inspiration Information	Shuggie Otis
Clean Up Woman	Betty Wright
Ain't Nobody Home	B.B. King
Rip Off	Laura Lee
Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'	Charley Pride
Operator	Jim Croce
If I Were A Carpenter	Johnny Cash
A New Day	The Notations
Finally Got Myself Together (I'm A Changed Man)	The Impressions
Starting All Over Again	Mel & Tim

There's a Heartbreak Somewhere: A Compendium of Country Soul - Disc 3 & 4

As promised last month, here are the next two volumes of country-soul.  And if you haven't had enough, I'd especially recommend the following albums: James Carr "A Man Needs a Woman", Candi Staton "Candi Staton", O.V. Wright "8 Men and 4 Women", The War and Treaty "Healing Tide", Cat Power "The Greatest", Arthur Alexander "Lonely Just Like Me", Bettye Swann "Bettye Swann", and Ted Hawkins "The Next Hundred Years".  

Download

  Disc 3

The Greatest	Cat Power
Gentle On My Mind	Tony Borders
Search Your Heart	Rudolph Taylor
Everybody Loves A Winner	William Bell
Lonely Street	Bap Kennedy
How Can You Mend A Broken Heart	Al Green
Blue Eyed Soul	Wilco
Pity a Fool	Barbara & The Browns
Steal Away	Billy Joe Royal
If You're Not Back In Love By Monday	Millie Jackson
Help Me Make It Through The Night	Joe Simon
Go Home Girl	Arthur Alexander
Willie & Laura Mae Jones	Dusty Springfield
Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye	Bettye Swann
I Can't Be Satisfied	Spence Wiggins
A Sad Sad Song	Charles Crawford
There's a Heartbreak Somewhere	Roscoe Shelton
Do Right Woman, Do Right Man	Etta James
Disc 4
Strange Conversation	Ted Hawkins
Whispering Pines	Kelly Hogan & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts
You Left The Water Running	Maurice & Mac
If I Had a Hammer	Willie Hightower
Suspicious Minds	Elvis Presley
Lover Don't Go	Nick Lowe
A Satisfied Mind	Bobby Hebb
Don't Let Her Know	Ray Charles
In The Same Motel	Dicky Williams
Starving for Your Love	Ella Washington
Something About What Happens When We Talk	Lucinda Williams
Funny How Time Slips Away	Joe Hinton
A Woman Left Lonely	Charlie Rich
The Dark End of the Street	Dan Penn
Why Not Tonight	Jimmy Hughes
Tennessee Waltz	Otis Redding
My Baby's Gone	The Wallace Brothers
Sudden Stop	Percy Sledge

There's a Heartbreak Somewhere: A Compendium of Country Soul

         I don't know why it took me so long to put together a country soul compilation as it's easily one of my very favorite genres/subgenres of music.  Perhaps, it's because it's a difficult genre/subgenre to adequately define.   I mean, "I" know it when I hear it, but I would also imagine some of the stuff that I consider to be country soul isn't seen that way by others.  

        Regardless, I hope folks enjoy the compilation, even if you have misgivings about some of the choices.  I would also highly recommend Charles Hughes' book - Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South.  It's a very interesting look at the complicated racial dynamics at play amongst musicians, producers, record labels during the heyday of country soul in the 1960s and 1970s "country-soul triangle" (Memphis, Nashville, and Muscle Shoals).  It's published by an academic press and there's a little academic jargon, but it's really a must-read for any fan of country soul.  (You can also check out Charles Hughes' country soul playlist on Spotify if you're interested.)

       I'll post Discs 3 & 4 next month - in case, you were wondering why I omitted your favorite country soul artist. :)  I've also re-upped my rare soul compilations from five years ago.

Download Disc 1 and 2

Disc 1
Just A Little Lovin'	Shelby Lynne
To The Other Woman (I'm The Other Woman)	Doris Duke
A Woman Is A Man's Best Friend	James Carr
Ode to Billy Joe	Joe Tex
He Made A Woman Out Of Me	Bobbie Gentry
The Son Of Hickory Holler Tramp	O.C. Smith
A Man Needs a Woman (a Woman Needs a Man)	Z.Z. Hill
I Don't Need You No More	George Jackson
He'll Have To Go	Solomon Burke
Eddie And Polly	The Delines
It Ain't Easier	Yola
You Really Know How to Hurt a Guy	Arthur Conley
I Threw It All Away	Bob Dylan
Sleeping Without You Is a Dragg	Swamp Dogg
Patches	Clarence Carter
Just Like Old Times	Mighty Sam McClain
Your Cold Heart	Lloyd Hendricks
Stand By Your Man	Candi Staton
Disc 2
Hold on	Alabama Shakes
Let's Do It Over	Toussaint Mccall
Life Has Its Little Ups And Downs	Brook Benton
You've Been Crying	O.V. Wright
She's Not For You	Willie Nelson
Reconsider Me	Johnny Adams
Son Of A Preacher Man	Aretha Franklin
Needledrop Blues	Emily Duff
Fancy	Irma Thomas
You Are My Sunshine	Earl Gaines
She Ain't Gonna Do Right	James & Bobby Purify
I'm So Proud	Hacienda Brothers
While I'm Away (Baby Keep The Faith)	Eddy G Giles & The Jive Five
Loving Cup	The Rolling Stones
One and the Same	The War and Treaty
Hot Burrito #1	The Flying Burrito Brothers
Don't Make Me Hate Loving You	Jeanie Greene
Crying In The Chapel	Mavis Staples With The Staple Singers

Songs for The Uninhabitable Earth Soundtrack

        I'm a little ashamed to admit that it took reading David Wallace-Wells' book, The Uninhabitable Earth two years ago to really send me spiraling into a doom loop about the environment (as I should have been residing in that doom loop a lot longer).  While a doom loop may, understandably, have negative connotations, I think it's kind of a necessary space if it propels climate activism and actions, however small, to reduce carbon emissions.  Now I do realize that making a compilation of environmental songs does nothing to improve the environment, but.....it was kind of oddly therapeutic for me and maybe they can use some of the more obscure cuts when they're making the anthology series about the book.  (I just found out about this.)

  Download

Wildfire	Hand Habits
Don't Go Near The Water	Johnny Cash
Fall On Me	R.E.M.
Monkey Gone to Heaven	Pixies
I Had a Dream I Was Falling Through a Hole in the Ozone Layer	Deee-Lite
New World Water	Mos Def
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)	Marvin Gaye
Every Planet We Reach Is Dead	Gorillaz
The Trees Are All Gone	Roger McGuinn
Before the Deluge	Eliza Gilkyson
Last Great American Whale	Lou Reed
Terra	Caetano Veloso
Blacktop	Calexico
Humans From Earth	T-Bone Burnett
The New Pollution	Beck
And It Rained All Night	Thom Yorke
Earth Intruders	Bjork
Here Comes The Flood	Robert Fripp