Take the (Johnny) Cash

   This is usually the time of year when I feature some alternative country woman artist such as Neko Case, Kelly Willis, Lucinda Williams, or Gillian Welch (they've all been re-upped, by the way).  In order to fend off any potential charges of sexism, I've decided to feature a lil' ol' male country artist named Johnny Cash. :)  Basically, I stayed away (at least I think I did) from any cuts that appear on either his 3 cd greatest hits collection or the Love, God, Murder discs.   I could probably have made another 2-3 volumes, but if you decide that you need a lot more Cash, there's always the recent 63 cd box set with every Columbia album he ever released and 2 cds of rarities.

Download Volume One

If I Give My Soul

One Too Many Mornings

Ridin' On The Cotton Belt

Any Old Wind That Blows

Oh What A Good Thing We Had

Wo Ist Zu Hause, Mama

Honky-Tonk Girl

Banks Of The Ohio

Billy & Rex & Oral & Bob

Cold Shoulder

Hidden Shame

Wrinkled, Crincled, Wadded Doll

The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore

Troublesome Waters

The Letter Edged In Black

Girl From The North Country

Just the Other Side Of Nowhere

Tell Him I'm Gone

Navajo

My Old Kentucky Home

Old Chunk Of Coal

Download Volume Two

I Washed My Face In The Morning

Fools Hall Of Fame

To Beat The Devil

The Fable of Willie Brown

Crystal Chandeliers And Burgundy

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

Life's Railway To Heaven

Six White Horses

Go On Blues

So Doggone Lonesome

Roughneck

That's Enough

Wildwood In The Pines

Don't Think Twice It's Alright

Don't Step On Mother's Roses

There You Go

I Don't Know Where I'm Bound

Bottom Of The Mountain

Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby

Sugartime

Amen

I'm Living in the 80's - Disc Five

    Yes, it's that time of year again - time for another 80s (mostly) postpunk mixtape.  I tried to avoid the most obvious tracks, but I confess to not being as much of a maven about this stuff (there's a bunch of bands - like The Jesus and Mary Chain - that just weren't on my radar or I didn't quite get during my misbegotten late teen/early 20s years).   And there were some obvious cuts I just couldn't resist - I'm looking at you The Waterboys' This is the Sea.  (Also, I just noticed that the links for Discs 1-4 aren't working, so I'll try to re-up them.)

       I should also mention that my posting on the blog is going to be reduced from now on - life change stuff, less free time, and all.  Plus, I'm starting to run out of ideas for mixtapes. :)

Download

A Walk Across The Rooftops	The Blue Nile
Coldsweat	Sugarcubes
Colours Fly Away	The Teardrop Explodes
Pushing Up The Daisies	Colourfield
Cattle and Cane	The Go-Betweens
Watching you Without Me	Kate Bush
Leave Me Alone	New Order
For Belgian Friends	The Durutti Column
Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel	Simple Minds
It's So Hard	Jesus And Mary Chain
Bikini Red	The Screaming Blue Messiahs
The Last Of The Famous International Playboys	Morrissey
The Back Of Love	Echo & The Bunnymen
Killing An Arab	The Cure
Here Come Cowboys	The Psychedelic Furs
Kingdom Of Love	The Soft Boys
Love at First Sight	The Gist
This Is The Sea	The Waterboys

On the Right Side of 2012

     It's my annual "best of" (actually I prefer "my favorites") compilation  and I must confess I always feel a little self-conscious about this one in a way that I rarely do about my other compilations.  Not so much about how it will be received, but more along the lines, "so this is the kind of music I listen to....Are my tastes too stereotypically 40something? Am I in a bit of rut in terms of expanding my palette? But I'm over it now. :) I should also mention that there were a few artists I left off because they had appeared on the best of 2010 or best of 2011 comps.  Anyway, happy listening and a Happy New Year to all!


Download

Hang Loose	Alabama Shakes
3 Pears	Dwight Yoakam
Please Return To Jesus	Bap Kennedy
Slip and Roll	Aimee Mann
Leonard	Sharon Van Etten
Magic Summertime	Eleni Mandell
Blackwind	Patrick Watson
Tell Me A Tale	Michael Kiwanuka
Who	David Byrne & St. Vincent
Dirty Money	Antibalas
All Your Gold	Bat For Lashes
Sweet Life	Frank Ocean
Montauk	Rufus Wainwright
The Kingdom Has Already Come	Iris Dement
Adam and Eve	Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson
Yet Again	Grizzly Bear
Splitter	Calexico
Human Being	Cat Power
I Like To Keep Myself In Pain	Kelly Hogan
Deep River	Bobby Womack

More Bowie Covers

     In addition to being inspired to do a Bowie covers compilation by seeing the Feelies perform Fame in Something Wild, I should also cite Seu Jorge's great set of Bowie covers from the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou soundtrack (specifically The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions cd) as inspiration.  For some reason, I only got it earlier this year.  Not only the cd is great, but it also validates my argument that the best tribute albums are usually one artist paying homage to another artist.  (And yes, I realize that kind of invalidates my putting together a tribute compilation like this, but I prefer not to dwell on that. :)  I also recognize that including Nirvana's version of The Man Who Sold the World is a bit on the obvious side (especially since Richard Barone's version is quite dandy).  Blame it on my Gen Xer mentality if you must.

Download

The Man Who Sold The World	Nirvana
Queen Bitch	Capsize 7
Watch That Man	Lulu
Ziggy Stardust	Bauhaus
Oh! You Pretty Things	Seu Jorge
China girl	Rhonda Harris
Andy Warhol	Tubalcain
Ashes to Ashes	The Wee Trio
Starman	Culture Club
Red Money	Swahili Blonde
Changes	Lewis & Clarke
Soul Love	Marti Jones

All About Bowie

    As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I saw the 1986 movie Something Wild again recently and was struck by how good The Feelies were as the high school reunion band - especially their cover of David Bowie's Fame.  In addition to sending me on a Feelies listening binge, I also started listening to more Bowie, and, of course, more Bowie covers.   The pickings were a little slim - especially given how many Bowie tribute albums there are - but I consider that a testament to Bowie rather than an indictment of his songwriting.  There's some interesting interpretations (starting with M. Ward's version of Let's Dance) as well as some nice straightforward covers (Culture Club's take on Starman).  Disc Two comes next week.

Download

Let's Dance	M. Ward
After All	Ventilator
The Gospel According to Tony Day	Edwyn Collins
John, I'm Only Dancing	Vivian Girls
Suffragette City	The Get Up Kids
Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)	Ex-Voto
Fame	Dennis Coffey
The Sun Machine (Memory Of A Free Festival)	Mercury Rev
Fall in Love With Me	Guy Chadwick
Drive in Saturday	Teacher and the Pets
The Bewley Brothers	Sister Crayon
Heroes	TV On The Radio

Tarnation - Gentle Creatures

          I was tempted to indulge in just a bit of nostalgia for the alternative country of the 1990s, but I'll refrain and just say that Tarnation's out of print 1995 album "Gentle Creatures" is an underappreciated gem.  It's out of print now (as is their also out of print follow-up Mirador), but, unbeknownst to me til about 20 minutes ago, the lead singer (and creative force) Paula Frazer has put out several solo albums.   Which I will shortly be checking out. :)

(p.s.  I still haven't figured out new solution to the recent file-sharing problems, but I figured I'd give filefactory.com a shot.)

Download

Game Of Broken Hearts

Halfway To Madness

The Well

Big O Motel

Tell Me It's Not So

Two Wrongs Won't Make Things Right

Lonely Lights

Gentle Creatures

Listen To The Wind

The Hand

Do You Fancy Me

Yellow Birds

Burn Again

Stranger In The Mirror

It's Not Easy

On the Right Side of Christmas 2012

    Yes, it's time for another compilation of Christmas music.  I don't know if it flows quite as well as some

of the previous Xmas compilations (which are still available to download here), but it's a little more mainstream - probably the one you could play with the least amount of complaints at a holiday party.  

Download

Christmas Is Quiet	Wild Colonials
Get Down for the Holidays	Jenny O.
Go Where I Send Thee	Kenny Burrell
You'll Never Find My Christmas	Bishop Allen
Born In Bethlehem	Lonnie Donegan
Gift X-Change	Calexico
Away In A Manger	Buddy & Julie Miller
The First Snowflake	The Boy Least Likely To
The Bells Of St. Mary's	Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans
I Want A Boy For Christmas	Del-Vets
Christmasville USA	Jimmy Charles
Merry Christmas Loopy Lu	The Kaisers
Jingle Bells	Paul Franklin
California Christmas	Sleepy Rebels
Deck Us All With Boston Charlie	Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
Blue Christmas	Heartless Bastards
The Gift Of Giving	Bill Withers
Sweet Secret Peace	Neil Finn
Please Come Home For Christmas	Willie Nelson
Silent Night	Tom Waits
I Saw Three Ships	Nat King Cole
Little Drummer Boy	Miracle Legion
O Holy Child	Dusty Springfield
Auld Lang Syne	The Black On White Affair

A Real Cool Time in Hoboken

      Well, I'm about halfway moved into the new digs, so I'm finally able to post something.  I mentioned my fondness for the soundtracks to Married to the Mob and Something Wild when I posted them about two years ago.  I hadn't seen either film, however, in a long time so I had to watch Something Wild again this summer when it was on HBO.  The film still holds up well, imho, and I had forgotten how great the Feelies are in the film as the band at the high school reunion (check it out if it's been a while).  In addition to delving back into the Feelies, I also spent a lot of time listening to other Hoboken bands from the 1980s and 1990s. And since I didn't post anything last week, it's a two disc compilation of said Hoboken bands.  (And I do know that Ben Vaughn was from Philly, but I know he frequently played Maxwell's - the hub of the Hoboken scene.)

Disc One

That Time Is Gone	The dB's
Magdalena	Ben Vaughn
On the Roof	The Feelies
Living In Confusion	The Schramms
George Says	Kate Jacobs
I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City	Richard Barone
Path to Springs	Yo La Tengo
The Undertow	The Feelies
Who Betrays Me	The Cucumbers
If And When	The dB's
Nuts & Bolts	The Bongos
Daddy's Gone For Good	Ben Vaughn
Country Song	Tiny Lights
What Can I Say	Yo La Tengo
Funeral Song	Dave Schramm

Disc Two

Real Cool Time	The Feelies
Ups and Downs	The dB's
How Many Lives	The Schramms
My Siberia	Kate Jacobs
Don’t Say A Word (Hot Chicken #2)	Yo La Tengo
Young And Dancing	The Individuals
Carved In Stone	Ben Vaughn
Loveless Love	The Feelies
Sweet Blue Cage	Richard Barone
Skydiving	The Bongos
Right Here, Right Now	The Cucumbers
Wild and Small	The Schramms
Bad Reputation	The dB's
Some Kinda Fatigue	Yo La Tengo
Vibrato In The Grotto	Ben Vaughn

I just moved...

....so I still haven't hooked up my desktop computer where I have all my music files and such.  As such, there's no mixtape tonight.   I'm hoping to be a little more moved in by Sunday, but damn, I got a lot of crap to sort out. :) 

50,000 Obsessive Elvis Costello Fans Can't Be Wrong

    I'm moving into a new place tomorrow so I don't have much to time to write tonight.  But I do hope you enjoy my collection of Elvis Costello obscurities - I tried to make it a cross-section of stuff from various points in his career.  There's also a lot of good stuff I didn't include, so I may have to make another 1-2 of these at some point.

Download

Temptation (live)

From Head To Toe

New Rhythm Method

Still Feeling Blue

Blame It On Cain (Honky Tonk Demo)

Peace Like a River

Aubergine (with Jazz Passengers)

The Night Before Larry Was Stretched

A Condemned Man

Sticks and Stones

So You Want To Be A Rock N Roll Star

My Mood Swings

Little Boxes

What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend (Live)

Gloomy Sunday

Impatience

Sad About Girls

That Day Is Done (With The Fairfield Four)

Keep Your Eye on the Road

    I lost (or perhaps a better way to put it is that Time Warner misplaced it) my internet last night, but I've got it back.  And since I live in one of the sections of NYC that never lost power during Hurricane Sandy, I can't complain too much.   Regular readers/downloaders of this blog will remember that I tend to post road song compilations around this time of year and this year it's no different.  The mix below is a little more mellow than usual.  I don't know why exactly - perhaps I'm just mellowing out a bit. :)

Download

Goin' To Acapulco	Jim James & Calexico
Time For Me To Come Down	Amy Rigby
Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)	Tom Waits
Several Miles	Ron Sexsmith
Eight Days On The Road	Aretha Franklin
The Road Is A Lover	Alison Krauss & Union Station
Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight	Emmylou Harris
Churches off the Interstate	Laura Cantrell
White Line Fever	Merle Haggard
Eye On The Road	Bob Neuwirth
Sheila's On The Road	Tommy Womack
I'm Coming Home	Robert Earl Keen
Wheels	Stars of Heaven
Wayfaring Stranger	Mandy Barnett
Jackson	Lucinda Williams
Northbound	Tim Easton
Nevada Moon	Rosalie Sorrels
The Road to Ensenada	Lyle Lovett
We'll Be Here Soon	Phosphorescent
Goin' Home	Dan Auerbach

In Defense of Folk Rock

    A couple of years ago, I posted a compilation featuring male artists (Billy Bragg, John Prine, and Ron Sexsmith) who, in one way or another incorporated folk into their music.  Tonight's compilation has a slightly different premise as I feature four female artists (Sarah Harmer, Jenny Lewis, Shannon McArdle, and Sharon Van Etten) who offer different variations on the ever-sturdy folk rock.  I am aware that Lewis (especially her band Rilo Kiley) is more likely to be considered indie rock, but like I said, it's different variations on folk rock.  

Download

Rabbit Fur Coat	Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins
Washington	Sarah Harmer
One Day	Sharon Van Etten
Poison My Cup	Shannon McArdle
I'm That!	The Mendoza Line
Almost	Sarah Harmer
I Wish I Knew	Sharon Van Etten
Sing A Song For Them	Jenny Lewis
Wedding Dance	Slow Dazzle
Go Ahead	Rilo Kiley
Lodestar	Sarah Harmer
Kevin's	Sharon Van Etten
Life of His Own	Sharon Van Etten
Close Call	Rilo Kiley
The Dream Of Axes	Shannon McArdle
How Deep in the Valley	Sarah Harmer

Johnny Paycheck - The Real Mr. Heartache

     Like a lot of folks, I was pretty unaware of Johnny Paycheck - save his huge hit Take This Job and Shove It for a long time.   So I was pretty unprepared for the insanely brilliant country to be found on the Country Music Foundation's 1996 24 track compilation of Paycheck's 1960s recordings on the Little Darlin' label.   The songwriting, the singing (jesus christ, he can sell a song), and, of course, Lloyd Green's inspired pedal steel playing.   Just phenomenal country.  Now, it went out of print a while back, then I think it was back in print for a while, but is now definitely out of print (and pretty rare).  However, Nowhere to Run, another compilation of his Little Darlin' label did come out last year and they share about 10-11 songs in common.  Still, there's about 18-19 tracks on that comp that aren't on The Real Mr. Heartache.   The Koch label also put out some other comps of Paycheck's stuff from the 60s - they're all good, but I think I'm kind of partial (at least this month) to The Complete Gospel Sessions.  And also check out The Soul and the Edge - it's a nice collection of his best 70s material.

Download

Don't Start Countin' On Me

The Girl They Talk About

A-11

The Real Mr. Heartache

I'm Barely Hangin' On To Me

The Lovin' Machine

He's In A Hurry (To Get Home To My Wife)

The Ballad Of Frisco Bay

Wherever You Are

Big Town Baby

Hang On Sally

(Pardon Me) I've Got Someone To Kill

(It's A Mighty Thin Line) Between Love And Hate

Apartment #9

The Late And Great Me

Motel Time Again

Jukebox Charlie

Touch My Heart

My Baby Don't Love Me Anymore

The Cave

Don't Monkey With Another Monkey's Monkey

(Like Me) You'll Recover In Time

It Won't Be Long (And I'll Be Hating You)

If I'm Gonna Sink (I Might As Well Go To The Bottom)

The Passion and Pride of Johnny Paycheck

       Given his career arc, I understand that it would be difficult to make a Johnny Paycheck biopic.  But why, oh why, isn't his music used in more films? You'd think someone like Quentin Tarantino would have made some southern noir 60s film based around the music of Paycheck by now.  As a (very) partial remedy, I give you a 15 song sampler of the truly late and great Mr. Paycheck.  I'm pretty partial to his 60s stuff recorded on the Little Darlin' label, but I've also included a bunch of his 70s songs as well.  And since it's out of print, I will post the great Paycheck collection put out by the Country Music Foundation: The Real Heartache: The Little Darlin' Years next week.

Download

I'm A Coward

Heartbreak TN

Livin' in a House Full of Love

I'm Glad to Have Her Back Again

Not Much I Don't

She Thinks I Still Care

It's Only A Matter Of Wine

Kissing Yesterday Goodbye

I Thought I'd Never Fall in Love Again

She's All I Got

I'm Gonna Tell The World

Black Sheep

Passion and Pride

From Cotton To Satin (From Birmingham To Manhattan)

The Wheels Fell Off The Wagon

Happy 15th Yep Roc!

          I was going to get all righteous (or just a little righteous) in discussing music labels and why they still matter, but I'm going to refrain and just say that Yep Roc has long seemed to be a cool (well, except for the name), artist friendly label.  And since they're celebrating their 15th birthday next weekend (October 11-13th) with a set of live shows in Carrboro, North Carolina by their various acts, I thought an homage was in order.  There's one track from each year from a different Yep Roc artist starting in 1998 with Nick Lowe's Faithless Lover from his Dig My Mood album (*) and ending with Eleni Mandell's Bun in the Oven (from her 2012 release I Can See the Future).  Needless to say, there were some Yep Roc artists I really like (I'm looking at you Big Sandy, Dave Alvin, etc.) that I couldn't fit in.

Download

Faithless Lover	Nick Lowe
One Paper Kid	Two Dollar Pistols With Tift Merritt
Turquoise	Laika & The Cosmonauts
Fool's Paradise	Greg Hawks & The Tremblers
Shallow Heart, Shallow Water	Caitlin Cary
Some Tears	Thad Cockrell
Drivin' All Night Long	Amy Farris
Georgia Hard	Robbie Fulks
Adventure Rocket Ship	Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3
The Trial	The Sadies
El Huracan y Pin Pon	The Iguanas
Hot Talk	Chuck Prophet
Cloud Spitter	Steve Wynn And The Miracle 3
Little Tiger	John Doe
Bun In The Oven	Eleni Mandell

* I know Dig My Mood was initially released by Upstart records, but it was reissued by Yep Roc.  Therefore, it counts. :)

I'm Gonna Make You Love The Jayhawks - Side B

      As promised, here is Side B (I listened to the Jayhawks on my car cassette player a lot back in the 90s so it seemed apropos to label the comps as Side A and Side B).  For those of you new to The Jayhawks, I'd recommend Tomorrow the Green Grass and Hollywood Town Hall (Louris and Olson harmonizing at their finest) followed by Rainy Day Music (definitely their best post-Olson album). 

Download Side A and B

The Trap's Been Set	Mark Olson & Gary Louris
My Own Jo Ellen	Mark Olson And The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers
Fools On Parade	The Jayhawks
Tailspin	The Jayhawks
Do You Know How it Feels to be Lonesome	Golden Smog
Tiny Arrows	The Jayhawks
Martin's Song	The Jayhawks
Get The Load Out	The Jayhawks
I´m Gonna Make You Love Me	The Jayhawks
Last to Know	The Jayhawks
Desperate Serenade	The Jayhawks
Up Above The River	The Jayhawks
Sing Me Back Home	The Jayhawks

I'm Gonna Make You Love The Jayhawks - Side A

           As I've mentioned a couple of times on the blog, I tend to listen to a lot of twang in the fall, especially on my morning (and afternoon) commutes.  As I practically wore out the cassette tapes I had of them back in the 1990s when I had a car, I thought an homage to the alternative country superstars The Jayhawks including solo releases from Mark Olson and Gary Louris (and, also, material from The Jayhawks albums that Olson wasn't on) was overdue.  I'll post Side B next week.

Download Side A and B

Blue	The Jayhawks
Up Above My Head	The Jayhawks
Sioux City	The Jayhawks
Break My Mind	The Jayhawks
If You Really Want Me To, I'll Go	The Jayhawks
Precious Time	The Jayhawks
Lights	The Jayhawks
December's child	Mark Olson And The Creekdippers
It's Up to You	The Jayhawks
Keith And Quentin	The Jayhawks
Good Long Time	The Jayhawks
Black Grass	Gary Louris
It Sure Can Get Cold In Des Moines	Mark Olson With Victoria Williams

A King Sunny Ade's Ransom

         I don't really know why it took me so long, but I didn't become a King Sunny Ade fan until about 8 years ago when I bought Best of the Classic Years, a collection of material culled from his 1967-1974 recordings.  Once smitten, I, of course, couldn't believe that he had never become an international star, especially since there was a real push in the early 1980s - when he was with Island Records - to expand his audience.  As for tonight's mix, I tried to incorporate material from various stages of his career.  I also owe the website http://globalgroovers.blogspot.com/ thanks for posting several of his out of print albums.

Download

Sunny Ti De

Ma Jaiye Oni

Ja Fun Mi [Instrumental]

John Ali

Egbe board

Ogunja

Solution

Maajo

Afojudi

A kunle a tewo adura

S.K. Dada

Baba orun a mbe o

We Need an Answer: A Collection of Answer Songs

      I usually don't go in for the themed mixtape (not that there's anything wrong with them), but I was listening to Camera Obscura's "Hey Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken" and I couldn't help but start making an answer song mixtape.   I know that I already included the song (as well as the Lloyd Cole and the Commotions song which the Camera Obscura song answers) on the Dear Heartbroken in Glasgow comps.  But I really love both songs and I also had a hard time finding any other contemporary answer songs that I liked (and everything else on the mix was either country or soul/old r&b).  In the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that I used a couple of the ones featured on a WFMU blog.  There's a bunch of other ones there too, if you're so inclined.

Download

I'm Sorry	Brenda Lee
I'm Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee)	Ben Vaughn
Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)	Loretta Lynn
I Come Home A-Drinkin	Jay Lee Webb
High Heel Sneakers	Tommy Tucker
Slip In Mules	Sugar Pie DeSanto
Hit The Road Jack	Ray Charles
Well, I Told You	The Chantels
King Of The Road	Roger Miller
Queen Of The House	Jody Miller
Mama Didn't Lie	Jan Bradley
Mama Didn't Know	Major Lance
Bring It on Home to Me	Sam Cooke
I'll Bring It On Home To You	Carla Thomas
The Wild Side Of Life	Hank Thompson And His Brazos Valley Boys
It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels	Kitty Wells
It's A Man's World	James Brown
It's A Man's Woman's World (Pt. 1)	Irma Thomas
Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?	Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken	Camera Obscura

Aretha and Dusty - Volume Two

     About two years ago, I posted an Aretha Franklin - Dusty Springfield compilation.  A year later, a commenter said that he was surprised that Dusty won the "competition" between the two easily.  I was a little surprised by that, but I have to admit, after listening to the comp again several months ago, that indeed Dusty won that compilation.  In the spirit of fair competition, I thought a rematch was in order (plus, it's only right that this comp includes Dusty's version of "I Can't Wait to See My Baby's Face).  I say it's a draw, but I'll let y'all make up your own minds.

Download

So Well When You're Well	Aretha Franklin
I Can't Hear You (No More)	Dusty Springfield
Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody	Aretha Franklin
Meditation (Meditao)	Dusty Springfield
Climbing Higher Mountains	Aretha Franklin
Heartbeat	Dusty Springfield
Oh No, Not My Baby	Dusty Springfield
96 Tears	Aretha Franklin
I'll Try Anything	Dusty Springfield
I Need A Strong Man (The To-To Song)	Aretha Franklin
You Send Me	Aretha Franklin
I'm Gonna Leave You	Dusty Springfield
Hello Sunshine	Aretha Franklin
Let Me in Your Way	Dusty Springfield
Every Natural Thing	Aretha Franklin
Who Gets Your Love	Dusty Springfield
Love Shine Down	Dusty Springfield
I've Been Loving You Too Long	Aretha Franklin
I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face	Dusty Springfield
I'll Never Be Free	Aretha Franklin
Tupelo Honey	Dusty Springfield

Jonboy Langford and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts: Misery Loves Company

      Here's the out of print (and pretty darn rare) 1994 Jonboy Langford and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts Misery Loves Company cd I promised last week.  As I may have written previously, I know some folks are a little skeptical of tribute albums, but Jonboy definitely has a way with The Man in Black's songs (I do think one artist paying homage to another artist generally work better than a bunch of artists all covering one artist).  Among Jonboy's releases that are in print, I'd recommend are his collaborations with Sally Timms and the Sadies, his solo All the Fame of Lofty Deeds release, and, of course, his too numerous to list releases with The Mekons.

Download

Cocaine Blues

Tennessee Flat-Top Box

Guess Things Happen That Way

What Is Truth?

I Got Stripes

Busted

Big River

Sunday Morning Coming Down

There You Go

I Still Miss Someone

Thing Called Love

Give My Love To Rose

Next In Line

Home Of The Blues

Tell 'em Jonboy is Here: A Jonboy Langford Collection

            Whatever alternative country is (or has been), it's kind of hard to imagine it without the contributions of Jon Langford - starting, of course, with The Mekons, then on to his various solo projects, his collaborations with Sally Timms, Richard Buckner, and The Sadies, the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, and, of course, his work with The Waco Brothers.  With that in mind, here's 18 tracks of Jon Langford in all his various guises.  Oh, and befitting his status as the hardest working man in alternative country (you should also check out his artwork), he's just put out a single to benefit a foundation to provide free music tuition to people in Wales.  Lastly, if you're wondering a track from his Pine Valley Cosmonauts tribute album to Johnny Cash isn't on the compilation, it's because I noticed that the album was out of print.  So I'll post that next week.

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Hole in the Ground	The Mekons
Tubby Brothers	Jon Langford
Plenty Tough Union Made	Waco Brothers
Maverick	Mekons
From Attic To Basement	Richard Buckner And Jon Langford
Sweet Kind Of Love	Pine Valley Cosmonauts
Junco Partner	Jon Langford
Dark Sun	Sally Timms & John Langford
The Fame Of Lofty Deeds	Jon Langford
Strange Ways to Win Wars	Jon Langford & Skull Orchard
Teeth	Mekons
Amnesia	The Mekons
Up To My Neck In This	Jon Langford And The Sadies
Revolution Blues	Waco Brothers
Road to Florida	Mekons
Nothing to Say	Waco Brothers
White Freightliner Blues	John Langford & Sally Timms & John Rice
Over the Cliff	Jon Langford's Hillbilly Lovechild

Short Cuts soundtrack

      I was in beautiful central California last weekend (for a cousin's wedding) and brought along Jennifer Egan's  novel "A Visit from the Goon Squad".  As I was finishing it (it's very good, btw), I was thinking how about it might be made into a movie - which, in turn, made me think of Short Cuts, the 1993 California based movie which is based on several different Raymond Carver short stories.  So, of course, when I got home, I listened to the Short Cuts soundtrack.  While pulling the cd out, I realized it was on the ill-fated Imago label (along with Aimee Mann's first two albums) and probably out of print.  Which it is, so enjoy! :) And after listening to it, you should definitely check out the movie - the director Robert Altman is at the top of his game.

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Open On Helicopters (Sound Effect)	Sound Effect
Conversation On A Barstool	Annie Ross & Low Note Quintet
To Hell With Love	Annie Ross & Low Note Quintet
Punishing Kiss	Annie Ross & Low Note Quintet
Cello Concerto In B Minor	Lori Singer & The Trout Quartet
Blue	Annie Ross & Low Note Quintet
Evil California (These Blues)	Annie Ross & The Low Note Quintet With Iggy Pop & Anthony Coleman
Berceuse From "The Firebird Suite"	Lori Singer
A Thousand Years	Annie Ross & Low Note Quintet
Cello Concerto No. 2, Opus 30-First Movement	Lori Singer & The Trout Quartet
Imitation Of A Kiss	Annie Ross And The Low Note Quintet With Roy Nathanson
Full Moon	Annie Ross & The Low Note Quintet With Michael Stipe, Steven Bernstein, & Dave Tronzo
I Don't Know You	Annie Ross And The Low Note Quintet With Dave Tronzo And Lori Singer
Nothing Can Stop Me Now	Low Note Quintet
Earthquake Into Low Note (Sound Effect)	Sound Effect
Ending Credits Music: Medley - Prisoner Of Life / I'm Gonna Go Fishin'	Annie Ross And The Low Note Quintet With Lenny Pickett
How Does She Do It So Quickly?	Thomas Tree & Cory J. Coppage