I headed north into the wilderness for some necessary time off. Off the grid (well, except for Instagram). The drive is long and boring: interstates all the way. Hot muggy weather outside, nice AC in the car, and 5 hours of music, providing entertainment. The iPod is like the craziest DJ ever.
What the HELL am I going to do when my iPod classic dies.
So here goes.
“He’s Got a Way With Women” – A.J. Croce. This is hypnotizing and sexy. The piano.
“Wishing” – Buddy Holly. There’s something going on with that lead guitar in the background … a crazy picking-thing happening … that gives the song a weird pulse and drive. If you listen, you’ll see what I mean. And beautiful swoopy guitar solo.
“That’s All Right” – Elvis. The “song heard round the world,”, that launched Elvis. This is a live performance, on August 20th, 1955, on the Louisiana Hayride radio program. All of his performances on that program have been recorded, and it’s a fascinating glimpse of a now-lost world. By 1955, Elvis had already grown too big for the Hayride (he overshadowed all of the other guests), but he still had a contract. In this clip, you can hear the frenzy in the background, you get to hear Elvis’ “stage patter” – often awkward, with his stuttering (there are times when he has to stop talking altogether, because he can’t get the words out). None of it matters. The audience flip. Here, there’s some incomprehensible banter between Scotty and Bill and Elvis, with Elvis introducing the song – his accent thick as a chew of tobacco (he’d work to lose most of it once he got to Hollywood). I love hearing that thick tough Southern accent in his early days. When he finally starts the song, the crowd erupts into screams. And he ATTACKS the song. It’s great, too, to hear Scotty’s guitar keeping it all going. Elvis in his element. But already moving beyond it.
“American Tune” – Paul Simon. My pal Larry joked once that he read in Rolling Stone or something some writer saying: “Simon & Garfunkel gave rock ‘n’ roll a higher IQ” Larry cracked: “Who asked ’em to?” I tend to agree. I grew up listening to Simon & Garfunkel, my parents had all their albums, and I followed Simon for a couple of years into his solo career. I don’t really follow him anymore. I think this might be one of his best songs.
“Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)” – Dolly Parton. I can’t even express how much I love what’s going on in this song. She yodels. She is a “lady mule skinner.” There’s great fiddling going on in the background. There’s also a whip-cracking. She’s tough – little comments in between lines: “… and I’m sick of it …” Dolly Parton is everything. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do when the inevitable happens… I can’t even think about it. Be grateful she is still here, still putting out amazing music, touring, etc. We are LUCKY to have her.
“Coalhouse Demands” – from Ragtime. Brian Stokes Mitchell (who killed it on the series The Path this past year), as Coalhouse making demands that the guy who trashed his car pay him back. Violence ratcheting up. White fear of black rage. Hm, sounds familiar.
“Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” – The Foo Fighters. Stunning. Instrumental. Sometimes I can’t believe that these guys “made it.” By that I mean, rising out of the ashes of Nirvana … that 1st album, which no one seemed to see coming, could have been it. And now it’s, what, 20 years later?
“Honesty” – Kevin McHale, from Glee, covering the Billy Joel song. It’s beautiful and simple. I was so into Billy Joel in high school that … I honestly have a hard time listening to him now. Like, I never need to hear Joel sing this again. I never need to hear “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” again. I feel bad even saying that. It’s not like I think the songs are bad – clearly, they are not bad songs – but I just have heard them all one (or 200) too many times. The Glee did a bunch of Billy Joel songs, and it’s actually kind of nice to re-hear some of these songs. Like “Vienna” and “Movin’ Out”. They’re beautiful songs. Never said they weren’t!
“Can’t Help Falling in Love” – Elvis, live. This is the final TV concert he gave. I actually should just get rid of these tracks. It’s too painful to listen to. His voice is so thin at points, overwhelmed by orchestration and the background singers. It makes me want to cry. But even more than that: there are moments where he pulls it OUT, because of course he does, because he’s Elvis fucking Presley. Like the end of this song here, when he finds it in himself to thrust his voice up, and up, and up, over the high-jump bar, and then back down. Oh, Elvis. These are painful tracks though. The man should have been in a hospital, not on a stage.
“Bionic” – Christina Aguilera. This feels like a Beyonce song. I love Christina – I love Beyonce too – but it seems like the explosion of Beyonce – I mean, into what she’s now become – which, as far as I can tell, really started with “Single Ladies” – not only encroached onto territory owned by Aguilera, Spears, and anybody else – but torched the ground in victory. I’m not going to take the time to research this. I’ve been a fan of Christina’s from the beginning, and I also loved Destiny’s Child, but this feels like Christina trying to re-assert dominance, or at least realizing: “Holy shit, I gotta Up my game a bit, because Beyonce is killing it.”
“Guitar Man” – Elvis Presley, with Jerry Reed on guitar. (Jerry Reed wrote it, of course. It’s his life story.) They called Jerry Reed in to play guitar on the track, and the stories of Reed rolling into American Sound Studio in 1969 to “play for Elvis” are legendary. Reed ended up practically running the session, pushing Elvis, encouraging Elvis, giving Elvis notes – giving ELVIS notes!! – I love you, Jerry Reed – and because Elvis recognized talent and dominance when he saw it (as only a truly Alpha can do), he totally listened to Jerry, and was inspired by Jerry. On some of the takes, you can hear Jerry saying, “Okay, take it back, Elvis, and make sure you really hit that word …” or whatever. Really specific. And smarty-pants Elvis realized Jerry knew what the hell he was talking about. Jerry played on a bunch of Elvis tracks and it makes me sad they didn’t tour together, so there’s be some footage of them in action together!
“Armed Forces Medley” – The Vocal Majority. A male choir. Their live performances are very entertaining, if you go for this kind of stuff, and I do.
“Yes I’s Finished On Y’Alls Farmlands” – the cast of Hair, on the cast recording of the Hair revival on Broadway. Listen, it’s a great cast. But there are so many damn songs, and I also can’t help but think of the following Hunter S. Thompson quote from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, VICIOUS towards the entire world-view of things like Hair:
Ignore that nightmare in that bathroom. Just another ugly refugee from the Love Generation, some doom-struck gimp who couldn’t handle the pressure.
Listen, I didn’t live through it. But that’s my view, for sure.
“A Call From the Vatican” – Penelope Cruz, from the Nine soundtrack. She’s so fabulous. I saw this on Broadway when I was in high school. Raul Julia as Guido. It was great! I had ZERO understanding of what was happening in that play.
“Urinetown” – the Broadway cast of Urinetown. It’s hard to believe that a show ending with the entire cast screaming “HAIL MALTHUS!!” would ever go anywhere. But here we are.
“Chess Game #1” – Chess. This is from the concert version, starring Josh Groban. I’ve written about this before: I have almost 13,000 songs on my iPod. And every time, every time there’s a Shuffle, at least one song from Chess turns up. It gets annoying actually. Like Chess is like: “Hey. Don’t EVER forget about me.” I will never get rid of my three (three!) versions of Chess though. I do love the music. And, more importantly, Dad loved it so much. None of us had ever even seen the show. It didn’t matter. Dad always played Chess in the car. So it’s okay. It’s a little piece of Dad.
“Stop, Look, and Listen” – Elvis. From Spinout. As frenzied as the beat is, this is some pretty tired shit, and it also has that typical “Elvis soundtrack” sound, with his voice pushed to the front-lines so far that he often drowns out his own background. This was the Colonel’s doing. “People don’t buy these records to hear the guitars.” The Colonel was brilliant in a lot of ways, and not so brilliant in a lot of other ways. Elvis HATED that sound.
“Beautiful Woman” – the gorgeous brilliant soulful Charlie Rich. Mmmmmmmmm.
“Drinkin’ In My Sunday Dress” – Maria McKee. Great lyrics. I love this woman. “I love to play the role of damsel in distress, flicking ashes in my coffee, and drinkin’ in my Sunday dress.” So happy we’ve become friends. The movies she makes with her husband! Amazing! And she and her husband were there at the reading of my script in Los Angeles in 2011. I mean, come on, Lone Justice! An amazing talent and human. I mean, the way Quentin used her “If Love Is a Red Dress” in Pulp Fiction …
“Little Green Apples” – Robbie Williams and Kelly Clarkson. This duet appears on his fantastic latest album, where he sings with a bunch of different people. I love this man. He is a superstar. He is a throwback. He is also very NOW. This is an old-fashioned duet. And Kelly Clarkson – obviously a lead singer – gets to sing the harmony line. It’s beautiful.
“I Will Survive” – The Puppini Sisters, singing the feminist anthem of Gloria Gaynor. And they slow it down at first, way way down. It’s quite funny. I love these dames.
“All Along the Watchtower” – U2, covering Jimi, from their great album Rattle and Hum. It still leaps out of the speakers and I’ve listened to this album 1500 times.
“Don’t Rain on My Parade” – Lea Michele, from Glee, trying to fill some pretty HUGE shoes. But she does a fine job. She’s not Barbra, but who the hell is?
“Last Night I Had a Dream” – Randy Newman. There is nothing more melancholy than melancholy Randy Newman.
“So Long Frank Lloyd Wright” – Simon & Garfinkel. Now I can’t get Larry’s comment out of my mind.
“Girl From the North Country” – Link Wray. Rock ‘n’ roll don’t need no high IQ. Right, Link? Absolutely love Link covering Bob Dylan. It’s FASCINATING.
“Four Green Fields” – The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. At their most patriotic martyr-ish Irish sentimental. Tommy Makem singing alone. I remember saying to my Dad (and I had to be about 7 or 8, so factor that in), “Why is Tommy even in the group? He’s not a brother!” (I was annoyed.) And I remember Dad saying in reply, “Oh, but he’s the real singer.” Truth.
“Surfers Rule” – The Beach Boys. From their third album of the same title. With the famous cover photo of them with the surfboard. The harmonies. And that great and subtle bass-line. Chugging away. The hand claps. The falsettos. It’s all perfect, what else can you say.
“Wayfaring Stranger” – Jerry Reed. I cannot get enough of this guy. Ever. The guitar playing is so maestro-level and yet the WAY he does it sounds like he’s in the position on the album cover, just sitting on a porch in the Bayou, messing around, all as he bats away mosquitoes. He’s casually a genius.
“Andy” – The Indigo Girls. Who the hell would have predicted that these ladies would still be around? That they were an act that would last? I certainly didn’t, although I loved them off the bat. But they’re still here. They have some great songs. Some clunkers, too. But I love their harmonies, and there are two of their songs that I flat out cannot listen to ever again. Okay, maybe three. This isn’t one of them. I’m fine with this one.
“I’m a Believer” – Lenny Kravitz. He’s such a rock star.
“About a Girl” – Nirvana, live at Pine Street Theatre. His voice goes right through me.
“The Long Run” – The Eagles. I don’t mean to open up a can of worms, I really don’t, but I think it’s hilarious that somehow The Eagles are controversial. I’ve seen people go APESHIT with hatred in various Internet threads about these guys. They seem pretty innocuous to me. Chuck Klosterman’s essay about “The Eagles,” included in his essay collection The Man with the Black Hat is hilarious, as he tries to work out why he hates them so much. I’m not a huge Eagles fan, but I certainly don’t get why they would inspire such hatred. Is it because they are rich entitled bad-boy hippies?
“Here Comes the Night” – The Beach Boys. This was re-released as a disco song, which is hilarious. I think this is deceptively simple (as much of their stuff is). There’s a hell of a lot going on here. There’s a Stones-ish quality to it too … the Stones were clearly paying attention. (Although probably not on the night of the famous TAMI Show, where they closed out the show with looks of sheer terror on their faces because they followed James Brown, who gave a performance for the ages, showing them up before they even got on the stage. The Beach Boys had performed earlier in the night). I don’t know much about music, but doesn’t this sound Stones-ish? Am I making this up?
“Put the Blame On Me” – Elvis. One of my favorites of his. It’s dirty. He’s kept a girl out all night. She’s gonna be in big trouble. “You can say my arms were just too strong. Put the blame on me.” It’s hot.
“Ride the Lightning” – Metallica. I love men who are sensitive. Of course I do. (I love people who are sensitive, in general, but we’re talking about men now.) But there’s nothing like male rage – which is a kind of sensitivity. It’s also a kind of creativity when it is unleashed. (It can also be destructive. But that’s true of most emotions.) So here, they unleash their rage. At least they’re doing it in a song, and not out on the streets against their fellow citizens. This is what art is for.
“I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” – Elvis. A huge hit for him, off of his first album. The story behind the recording of this is fascinating. He and “the boys” were flown to Nashville for the recording session. I think they were touring somewhere. They had a horrific flight, really turbulent. Elvis emerged so shaken that he wouldn’t fly for YEARS afterwards, until he got his own plane. During his movie years, he drove to Los Angeles from Memphis and back. No more planes. He was so shaken up that he had a difficult time getting through the song (very unlike him). It was also Easter Sunday, if I’m not mistaken, and he had some religious issues about working on that day. He was pissed and offended. (Again, very unlike Elvis to let anyone see that stuff – but the bad flight stripped him of his defenses.) Once you know the story, you can hear all of that in the recording. It’s a very vulnerable performance from him: listen to how he THROWS his voice around. No holding back. No wonder it was a hit. He was all fucked up that day.
“Skyfall” – Adele. DRAMA. DRAAAAAAMAAAAA.
“I Got a Woman” – Elvis. Live. In the 70s, some time. Messing around with one of his first hits. It takes him forever to get the song started (it’s kind of famous to Elvis fans, those repeat “we-llll”s) but once he does, it jams. It’s such a huge orchestration, with various backup groups behind me. I love his original version: just him. Both innocent and corrupt at the same time. A young man, singing about this crazy relationship, way beyond his years (when Elvis recorded it he was still dating a girl from church, and they had vowed to stay pure until marriage. See, this is what is so amazing about Elvis. He burst onto the scene with rambunctious sexuality – that hadn’t even been expressed yet. At least not in that way. But sexuality exists whether you’ve already had sex or not, right? And repression makes things come out stronger anyway. I just think it’s great and perfect that Elvis was a virgin when he arrived, and made every girl in the Southeast of this here United States realize they wanted to be having sex as soon as possible.)
“An Evening Prayer” – Elvis. Going operatic. It’s almost beyond him. But I love these attempts at things beyond him: he knows what it will take, he works his ass off. He goes for the brass ring – he does not hold back. More importantly, he does not hold back what is going on inside of him: devotion, praise, love for Jesus. There it all is, as sincere as anything else.
“Rag Mama Rag” – The Band. Classic. Honky tonk, juke joint jam. Life on the road. There’s no “home base” feeling in their songs. Their home is a tour bus.
“Gotta Broken Heart Again” – Prince. Ugh. I still hate this. Is this even happening? This from Dirty Mind. Such simple lyrics: he misses it all, the things she said, the sex, he can’t believe it: “I can’t get you out of my head!” His voice surges up, out, reflecting the howl of pain. And ending abruptly: “There ain’t nothing left to say.”
“West Point” – Jonatha Brooke. I was into her for a hot (milli)second. Had this album that I feel is over-produced. Does every song need to be 5 minutes long? She’s a folk singer. Please relax. HOWEVER: her voice is beautiful and I do love her songs.
“Because of Love” – Elvis. From the movie Girls! Girls! Girls! I mean, what are you gonna do. He was under contract. And thank God for the Jordannaires. He felt safe working with them in a pretty uninspiring environment. They worked out arrangements together, trying to salvage something from out of nothing. Listen to this and you can hear how they’re elevating something not worthy through sheer force of will-power and talent.
“Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This” – The Eurythmics. Still gets radio play. Not surprised. It still feels like a hit. It was a hit upon arrival.
“Great Balls of Fire” – Jerry Lee Lewis. Reading Peter Guralnick’s long-awaited biography of Sam Phillips was fascinating in terms of Jerry Lee Lewis. Once Elvis was gone, it was Lewis’ time, and Phillips devoted so much time to Jerry Lee’s career that the other artists on the roster – you know, little-known names like Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison – felt like they got short shrift. Sun may have gotten them their start. But they were like, “Fuck this. Jerry Lee is not the only artist in the world. What about us.” (Not Jerry’s fault, of course. It was just one of those things that happen in a competitive atmosphere.)
“White Boys” – from Hair. Hair and Chess are in the running for the most obnoxious albums on my iPod.
“Hey Jude” – Tom Jones & Wilson Pickett. They did a TV special together. There are clips on Youtube of very poor quality. But they are not to be missed, ESPECIALLY this duet, which launches “Hey Jude” (a song I never need to hear again … sorry!) into the stratosphere. (Yes, I grabbed the clip from Youtube, turned into mp3, then put on iPod. I don’t normally do this but with TV clips I make an exception.) If you haven’t seen it: get ready.
“Ode to Somethin’ to Cry About” – Bleu. One of my favorite singer/songwriters working today. This is part of an album – Aquavia – that he put together with Mike Viola (they’ve done a couple of projects together: Love both of them.) I highly recommend going to see Bleu live if he comes your way. He gives a hell of a show. I was suicidal when I went to go see him in 2012, but honestly … well, I won’t say that show saved my life because the situation was more serious than that. Not one thing will ever save everyone. And I was so sad during that show it was at times unbearable and when the show ended I was actually afraid to go home. But something about his presence onstage, 10 feet away from me, and the vibe in that small room … I don’t know, I decided to write about it, which I did, and so I put “it” off for another day. And here we are today. Bleu means a lot to me.
“Sunday Bloody Sunday” – U2. I cannot explain the impact that this song had on an Irish-American teenage girl, who grew up steeped in Irish history, who was in Ireland with her family at the time of the hunger strikes (or at least for a portion of it: we were not in the North, but still, in looking back, it was like the entire nation was holding its breath about what was going on up north). “Bobby Sands” was discussed as though he was a member of the family. Prayers for Bobby Sands at church. Stories of Bloody Sunday. I don’t remember learning such things just like I don’t remember learning about Paul Revere’s ride. These stories were given to us, somehow, by our parents. So to have this song – become a Top-40 hit – I don’t know how to explain what that even felt like. It was like a family secret being told to the whole world. And I’m not from Ireland. But as a child, all of those stories were told in a way that were like: “This is where you are from. This is your history.”
“Satan Is Real” – The Louvin Brothers. I love these fire-breathing maniacs. You can search for a hundred years for a sense of irony in their songs. You will come up empty.
“This Is How I Disappear” – My Chemical Romance. What are they so upset about again? I can’t tell.
“Yes It Is” – The Beatles. I was wondering when they would show up. I was thinking the other day about how I learned to sing harmony. I am from a very musical family where we actually did stand around the piano and sing songs. So I learned there, but I really learned how to sing harmony from The Beatles. Their harmonies are so rich (I love the harmony here), and so figuring out the harmony line as an 8, 9 year old, was thrilling. It was like I suddenly understood how the songs operated on a deeper level. How tension builds, how things resolve: it’s all there in the harmonies.
“Óró Sé Do Bheatha ‘bhaile” – The Cassidys. A Gaelic-language contemporary group. With electric guitars to make this traditional song “hip.” I don’t know. It’s okay but … it’s also slightly embarrassing. But it’s about an ancestor of ours, a famous female pirate (one of my sisters has the pirate’s name as her middle name – and my Dad always called her by that name), and therefore I love it.
Tá Gráinne Mhaol ag teacht thar sáile,
Óglaigh armtha léi mar gharda,
Gaeil iad féin is ní Gaill ná Spáinnigh…
Is cuirfidh siad ruaig ar Ghallaibh!
“El Toro” – Elvis, from Fun in Acapulco soundtrack. There was actually some money and thought given to the songs for this movie, and they sound awesome. I mean, it’s Elvis singing mariachi music, so it’s ridiculous, but he kills it. Flinging his voice around, operatic and melodramatic – a mood which always suited him, and which he can pull off vocally.
“Bitch Please II” – Eminem. From The Marshall Mathers LP. Multiple voices, a choral series of monologues, with the chorus starting, “You don’t really want to fuck with me.” Duly noted.
“Jet Airliner” – The Steve Miller Band. Who are these people.
“Don’t Forget To Cry” – The Everly Brothers. Stunning harmonies, with a great kiss-off line (the title).
“My City of Ruin” – Bruce Springsteen. “This is a prayer for our fallen brothers and sisters …” is how he introduces the song, which he sang on the fundraiser that happened right after 9/11. It’s intense.
“Love’s In Need of Love Today” – Stevie Wonder. Huh, weird: this was the song Stevie Wonder performed in the same fundraiser mentioned above. It’s so beautiful and heartfelt and it brings back the horror of that aftermath, the wound. Lower Manhattan was still smoking when this telethon/fundraiser happened. Here’s that performance.
“Good Rockin’ Tonight” – Elvis. Off his first album. It’s almost scary. Yes, you have to go back to that time to understand how radical this performance was. But come on. Learn your history. It’s there for the taking. No excuses. It belongs to you.
“Carnival Tango” – from the Broadway production of The Boyfriend. I was OBSESSED with this musical when I was around 11, 12. It had two of the things I loved most in any story: girls in boarding school, the Jazz Age.
“Kizza Me” – Big Star. Phenomenal. Sexy. That guitar. The piano. His VOICE. You know Kurt Cobain loved him. Cobain’s voice has that similar angel-gone-darkside sound to it that Chilton’s does.
“Put Your Money Where Yer Mouth Is” – Oasis. I never tipped over into Love for these guys. I love his voice, but the songs just don’t do it for me. Or they don’t “do it” as much as I wish. My favorite of theirs feels like a departure: “She’s Electric.” It’s not an attempt to be an anthem. It’s a little funny British ditty, and it feels much more organic and natural to them.
“Fuckin’ Perfect” – Pink. You know what is fuckin’ perfect? Pink’s voice.
“I Went To Sleep” – The Beach Boys. 1969. A crazy year. With the classic Beach Boys choir-boy-with-a-twist harmonies. The Beach Boys had been far out ahead of The Beatles in a lot of ways, and the two bands paid close attention to one another – a friendly competition. You can really hear that two-way influence on both sides.
“Little By Little” – Nappy Brown. This was a big hit for him. You can see why. There’s that great saxophone accompanying him, but it’s his voice that sells it. The song still swings.
“Love Coming Down” – Elvis. Released in a 1976 album. The year before he died. Listen to his voice here. It shows the lie that the 70s were just one big wash, or that he could barely “get it up” for the majority of the decade. Okay, fine, maybe you don’t like the self-pitying power ballads. But ELVIS loved them. And he killed them! He’s so knowing here, so pained, so honest. A real grown-up.
“Sound Of My Own Voice” – Mike Viola. Boy can write a heart-breaking melody that’s for damn sure.
“Silent Night” – Shawn Colvin, a track on what I refer to as her “suicidal Christmas album.” Every song feels like she is celebrating her FINAL Christmas before opening a vein.
“The Rain Song” – from the Broadway production of 110 In the Shade, starring Audra McDonald. I am so glad I bought a ticket, if only to get to see McDonald live. If you get a chance, see her in ANYthing. She’s unREAL live.
“I Gotta Know” – Elvis. From his great album Elvis Is Back, released after he got out of the Army. I talked about this album here to Padraic Coffey. There’s an Everly-Brothers-ish quality to some of the harmonies. It’s Elvis at his most humorous, playful, mischievous. Listen to what he does with inflection, phrasing: you can hear him smiling.
“Hopelessly Devoted to You” – Olivia Newton-John, from Grease. Thank goodness Sandy realized what she needed to do to keep her man: don black camel-toe Spandex! Sandy, you are NOT perfect just the way you are, Sandy, and that is the crux of the problem. Floozy it up, girl. That’s the only way.
“Little Darlin'” – Elvis. Off of Moody Blue, the album that came out posthumously. Elvis cannot take one second of this song seriously. You can hear it. He did this in his live shows, too. I think it was suggested he do this song to “tap in” to the nostalgia-racket. But Elvis was always about the present and future, NEVER about the past. So he sings this traditional doo-wop song and goofs on it, or introduces it saying, “This is a very serious song.” In one concert he says, after finishing the song, “If you buy that … you’ll buy anything.” hahahaha
“Finale” – the cast of Wicked. Because I always remember every obnoxious comment made on my site (or most of them), check out this post I wrote a million years ago about Wicked, and the comment from Otis. I have no idea why I remember this – mainly because it’s the funniest example of the kind of people who used to comment here. I was like: “Where the hell did these stupid people come from?” I didn’t know how to deal with it at first, because I am not accustomed to having to say to people: “You are stupid and what you just said was stupid.” But oh well, a girl’s gotta do what she’s gotta do. I had to deal with people like that all the time back in the day, because my site was linked to by the Wall Street Journal and Instapundit. I grew to dread Instapundit links because another horde of people with cultural chips on their shoulder would come my way! People who couldn’t keep up. That’s how I saw it. They could not talk on the level that I wanted to, that I am accustomed to. Elitist? You betcha! Otis deserved what he got, which was mockery.
“Baby What You Want Me To Do” – Little Richard. When he turns on the sex … it’s the sexist sexiness that anyone has ever sexed. The only person who approaches that level is Prince. Well, and Elvis too, of course. That’s a given. But other than that? Little Richard is nasty, in the best sense. This is HAWT. The sexy-starlets like Britney Spears, or Beyonce … now, I love those ladies … but their sexuality is performative, “empowering”, and somewhat intellectual. It’s performance-art. Neither of them could ever even begin to attempt to be as open about their sex drives as this:
“Night of the Long Grass” – The Troggs. Talk about a bunch of guys in touch with their sexuality. They’re aggressive, yes. They have a song called “Come Now,” after all. (Yes, SIR.) I think why I love them though is that there is a sheer sense of pleasure in all of it – missing from some other cocky rock stars who sing of sex like it’s conquest. The Troggs are like, “This is FUN. Let’s do more of THIS. And I want you to come too.” Sad that this is still radical.
“Where I Belong” – The Beach Boys. This has been a very good shuffle for Beach Boys! There’s some synthesizers going on, moving on into the 1980s. The lyrics are sad and honest and yearning. Carl Wilson beautiful lead vocals.
“Ooh Ooh Baby” – Britney Spears. I know I just compared her unfavorably to Little Richard … which is totally unfair, but it does tell you something about how our culture views sex, and how (in my opinion) we have fallen behind into something prurient and grossed-out as opposed to the sheer pleasure and joy and nasty-boy-reveling of Little Richard, James Brown, Elvis. Never mind, Brit Brit. I still got your back.
“Until the End of the World” – U2. Eerie. Ominous. Yeats-ian.
“The Queen’s Chamber 2” – Sarah West. One of the most eerie haunting voices I have ever heard. I bought this album at the showing at an art gallery in Taos of Dean Stockwell’s work. Sarah West was there and she performed for the crowd out on the patio, the audacious sunset behind her, and it was like a spell had fallen over the group. It was a profound moment. And I can’t help it, I’m just reporting the truth. I was standing next to Dean Stockwell listening to her (his art dealer had befriended me and introduced me to Stockwell 4 times – full story here) and when she finished, he turned to me, cigar in his mouth, and said, “Isn’t that somethin.” Yes. It was.
“Got a Lot O’ Livin’ to Do” – Elvis, from the Loving You soundtrack. His second movie. Crammed with excellent songs. He’s wonderful in the movie. And him going “Come on, baby-eh!!” was used by Quentin Tarantino in True Romance.
“Those Were the Days” – Cream. Listen, I like them. And of course they are all brilliant musicians. But the ego … the ego is off the charts. It’s fine: rock stars are not known for humility. But … I don’t know. This sounds mean but I just don’t think they were good as THEY thought they were. Sorry if this offends.
“Rockin’ Down the Highway” – The Doobie Brothers. Sometimes I feel like if I don’t keep moving I’ll lose my mind, too.
“The ‘In’ Crowd” – Dobie Gray. That’s a pretty sad picture you’re painting there. How long can that situation last, do you think? His voice is so beautiful.
“Sharks Cant Sleep” – This has been a very boy-heavy Shuffle so it’s good to get some girl-power in here, especially someone like Tracy Bonham. The kind of singer who burst onto the scene only to find the entire culture change in the next second, with the advent of Britney. Rage was out. Performative sexuality was in. Because you know you can’t have more than one woman at a time. Women can’t be complex and multi-faceted, because people’s heads would explode!! I love Tracy Bonham’s rage, especially here, over and over and over: “No, it wasn’t okay!” I agree with you. It was NOT okay.
“Juke Box Hero” – Foreigner. OMG.
“Road to Nowhere” – Talking Heads. I love this song so much but unfortunately I associate it with my 10th nervous breakdown in a life full of nervous breakdowns. Good times! This is one of the songs we listened to all the time when my boyfriend and I drove across the country in our camper van. Barely talking to each other. I always see that van the second this song comes on. Will this last forever? I’m thinking Yes.
“Bip Bop Boom” – Mickey Hawks & The Night Raiders. Great raw rockabilly. You know you listen to this song, with the stupid nonsensical rhymes – I mean, it’s called “bip bop boom” okay? – and I really understand Larry’s comment about Simon & Garfunkel above. It’s fine to write smart intellectual lyrics about Frank Lloyd Wright. Seriously, no shame in that. But rock ‘n roll doesn’t need a boosted IQ in order to justify its existence.
“Am I Blue?” – Billie Holiday. I think we all know the answer to that, Billie.
“Bei Mir Bist Du Schön” – The Puppini Sisters. They’re so fabulous and fun. Tribute, yes, but with their own style and energy.
“Hey Porter” – Johnny Cash. It’s that old “rhythm of the tracks” again, as Keith Richards wrote so eloquently in his autobiography.
“Pretty Big Mouth” – Count Five. Hot as hell. (I love Lester Bangs’ crazy essay on Count Five.)
“I Feel Love” – Donna Summer. Maybe too much love, Donna? Just a thought.
“Piano Lesson” – Shirley Jones & Pert Kelton, from The Music Man. From Donna Summer to Shirley Jones. The glory of Shuffle.
“Sing Them Blues to Daddy” – Waylon Jennings. Well, since you asked so nicely, Waylon …
“Bombay” – Timbaland, with Amar & Jim Beanz. From Timbaland’s fantastic album Shock Value. Here he goes Bollywood.
“Even If It Breaks Your Heart” – Eli Young Band. I tripped over him randomly when I was seeking out contemporary country music that I LIKED, as opposed to shit that talked about butterfly kisses and ‘Murrica and small-town-bullshit sung by millionaires pretending to be men of the people with beat-up pickup trucks. I love country music, people! But I can’t bear so much of it, at least that’s happening right now. It’s got no TEETH and – more unattractively – it’s got a big chip on its shoulder like good old Otis up there in this thread. So I came across him, and I like him a lot. It’s pretty “stock,” I have to say, but I like his voice and his attitude. It’s truthful. He’s no Eric Church (who is?), but I like him.
“Funny How Time Slips Away” – Elvis, live in the 70s. I love his performance of this song. He’s so bluesy, so knowing, so grownup, so yearning, so accepting of time, and mortality. He doesn’t feel sorry for himself. But boy, time does slip away, don’t it.
“Don’t Fear the Reaper” – Blue Oyster Cult. Well, thanks for the advice, but I think I WILL fear the reaper, if you don’t mind.
“Goodnight My Someone” – Robert Preston & Shirley Jackson, from The Music Man. A cluster!
“Bad Way To Go” – Lydia Loveless. Charlie and I went to go see her at Webster Hall and had a blast. She’s awesome. She did her own stuff, she covered Hank Williams, she drank beer throughout. Rock ‘n’ roll.
“Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby” – Carl Perkins. Recorded in 1957 at Sun Records. One of the first songs where a singer/songwriter wrote about the trappings of fame. Now a song like this is de rigeur: every big rock star has one. “Oh man life on the road, screwing all these women, eating take-out food, it’s so SAD.” But as always: CARL GOT THERE FIRST.
“Gary Indiana” – Robert Preston, from The Music Man. Okay, this is hilarious now.
“The Girls In My Life, Pt. 1” – Randy Newman. He’s so bizarre. I love him so much. If you want a real treat, seek out Greil Marcus’ essay on him, included in Mystery Train.
“Love Surrounds Me” – The Beach Boys. Brian Wilson was super-sick during the recording of this album. There’s something missing. I don’t know. The spark. The Beach-Boys-ness of it all.
“Hound Dog” – Little Richard. KILLING IT.
“A Better World” – The Monkees. YES. THE MONKEES. From the album that just came out, which is super-fun.
“Dream a Little Dream of Me” – Ozzie Nelson. I love my music collection. Seriously.
“In the Closet” – Michael Jackson. Oh, Michael. :( I remember back when this song came out, there was all this tittering chatter like, “In the closet?? Ha! Michael Jackson is admitting he’s gay and he doesn’t even know it!” Mitchell was like, “You honestly think he doesn’t know what that means and isn’t USING his knowledge of that term to get you all to say exactly the shit that you are saying right now? Give me a fucking BREAK.” The loss of irony. The rise of literalism.
“Moon Dawg” – The Beach Boys. So loopy, so nuts, with those howling dogs, and that phenomenal guitar. Great!
“Only With You” – The Beach Boys. You guys, suddenly The Beach Boys are like: “Let us in, man. You know you want to listen to our entire body of work front to back, so go for it.” This is a sad little ballad. Reminds me a bit of The Band.
“Hash Pipe” – Weezer. The only way to play this is really loud. I am sure the cars around me stuck in traffic were jamming out to the sounds emanating from my car. Or annoyed as hell. Either one.
“Strange Things Happen” – The Beach Boys. I swear I am not manipulating this to happen, but I am really happy nonetheless. We’re getting a good cross-section of their entire career here.
“Whiter Shade of Pale” – The Box Tops covering the hit song that so many people have covered. There’s that Memphis grit there in Chilton, in all the rest of them. Only in Memphis does stuff like this come together. It’s in the air, in the water. And then Chilton, just a teenager here, who would go on into Big Star, and it all seems just too good to be true. We’re just lucky it happened. Thank you, Memphis, for who you are as a cultural hub, what you do, what you encourage and provide.
“She’s In Love With the Boy” – Trisha Yearwood. Okay, fine; I like this song. But it’s an example of what I was talking about above in re: contemporary country. We’ve got all the right symbols and images as shorthand: beat-up Chevy, dirt roads, one-horse town, Maw and Paw waiting up, etc. It’s effective, sure, but it’s also bullshit. Trisha Yearwood then would go on to break up a longtime marriage. She’s been married 3 times. So much for traditional values. I don’t JUDGE her, but I DO judge the hypocrisy as well as the performative aspect of the values/world in current country music: Barbecue sauce, church dances and picnics, country nights, etc. Listen, I like those things too. But country music used to be the music of the downtrodden, the outsiders, the way-out-there-non-mainstream, and it has moved so far away from that that you can see why Waylon Jennings would write a song called “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?”
“I Can Dig It” – The Box Tops. More Box Tops! Lazily and confidently sexy.
“Laredo Tornado” – ELO. The first album (vinyl) I ever bought all on my own was ELO’s Time. I was obsessed from the first second my junior high friend (still a friend today) Meredith played me the first track on her turntable in the living room of her parent’s house. Up until then, it had been all show tunes and Irish political songs. With a little bit of John Denver. All in my parents’ collection. ELO was the entryway into my OWN THING. Of course this track isn’t on Time. Time was also the entryway into all of ELO’s stuff. They’re still a favorite. The love has not waned.
“I’ll Bet He’s Nice” – The Beach Boys. What a sad song. I think we can all relate to these lyrics. Side note: The Beach Boys are everywhere. I am not complaining.
“As Long As I Have You” – Elvis Presley. An absolutely gorgeous performance from him in the film King Creole. There are so many wonderful performances from him in this film, including his acting.
“Congo River” – The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. Talk about rousing Irish tunes from my childhood. Picture sweaty children bellowing the lyrics to this song in the back seat of our station wagon as we headed home after a day at the beach.
“Summer Romance” – The Rolling Stones. I’ve missed them in this Shuffle. Good of you boys to show up.
“I Feel a Sin Comin’ On” – Pistol Annies. They are a new discovery for me. I adore them. Let’s hear it for country music that’s all about sin, darkness, temptations, failure, the intensity of life and its problems. They’re fabulous. One of the things I love about country music (the good stuff, anyway) is that – lyrically – they’re sophisticated. Way more sophisticated than most pop music. Or even r&b, where the beat is more important than what is being said. Country music is filled with puns, and comparisons, and specificity, and word-play. Like Eric Church’s song “Cold One,” about a break-up – where “cold one” refers both to 1. the beer he needs and 2. the “cold” way his girl broke up with him. It’s clever. Pistol Annie’s has a song about the shit women go through to make themselves “presentable” to just walk out of the door every morning – and the song is called “It Ain’t Pretty Being Pretty.” I love these girls.
“Thank You Friends” – Big Star. I love his voice so much. It’s not as raw-agonized as Kurt Cobain’s but there’s a similar vulnerability there, an honesty – always always honesty. I love, too, how this song has a bursting big choir in the background, showing up as the song picks up speed. It’s thrilling and it suits the big-ness of the song and the big-ness of Chilton’s whole … THING.
“For the First Time in Forever” -Kristen Bell & Idina Menzel – from Frozen, of course. Very familiar with it because 1. It’s good. and 2. I have nieces who are OB-SESSED.
“Women Do Know How to Carry On” – Waylon Jennings. You said it, Waylon. And you love it.
“Little Pink Umbrella” – Pat McCurdy. I was wondering where he was. An old old friend of mine. If you live in Illinois, Wisconsin, or Minnesota you may have heard of him. That’s his circuit. Hugely successful. He plays over 300 shows a year. I was a fan, attending his shows in Chicago with religious regularity (he is a blast. His shows are more like… cult meetings, than your garden-variety music show). Then we became friends. Then he had me start singing with him. He brought me (and three other friends) to perform with him at Milwaukee Summer Fest. (Here I am backstage. Which … says it all … and says nothing … at the same time.) He wrote a duet for the two of us to sing which appears on one of his albums. Our adventures were legion. That was all a long long time ago. “Little Pink Umbrella” appears on an album – different from his other albums, more serious, introspective – where I’m thanked in the liner notes … and I still don’t know why. We had fallen out of touch by then.
“Hungry Like the Wolf” – Duran Duran. Naturally.
“Good Morning Jury/John Henry/Furry’s Blues” – the great Furry Lewis (with Leon Russell). Their whole “session” is on Youtube, and I so recommend checking it out. Furry Lewis was one of those Memphis guys who was well-known to locals, who fell into almost total obscurity, before a revival in the 60s with the folk music explosion. Stanley Booth wrote a great piece about Lewis in Rythm Oil. A real “character.” This medley has that insistent beat that keeps things going, no matter what happens … the song needs to express itself … the song goes through its repetitions – with Leon Russell twanging and twisting it up, supporting, riffing, so that Furry can GO where he needs to GO. The SONG says when it’s over. And “John Henry”? A million years ago, I wrote a short post about songs I heard as a child that haunted me. “John Henry” was one of them. “Eleanor Rigby” was another. “Puff the Magic Dragon” was on the list, and the final one – “The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond…” was the most haunting. I actually remember agonizing about it. Thinking to myself, pangs of pain in my heart, “But why can’t they just take the same road???”
“Red Football” – Sinéad O’Connor. One of her best. One of her angriest.
“I Beg of You” – Elvis Presley. One of the songs that came out of the incredibly fruitful RCA recording sessions in spring 1958, while Elvis was on leave from basic training. He was headed to Germany in September for two long years, where he would do no recording. There was urgency to get down as much as possible. The material was great, the Jordannaires were there, the band was awesome, and Elvis was … well, not in rare form … but at the top of his game. There is something about the songs from that session (released on the album where he stands there in his gold-lame suit) that stand out, with a unique quality of sound and energy, something that could be felt in the room at the time.
“I’m a Man” – Bo Diddley. Primal.
“Little T & A” – The Rolling Stones. Listen to Keith. LISTEN TO KEITH.
“Shorty the Barber” – Charlie Burse. A Sun Records track which, of course, is recognizable without even knowing it was recorded at Sun. It’s that Sun Records SOUND. The feel of that tiny ROOM.
“I Saw the Light” – Hank Williams. Is it possible this man died at 29? Like Elvis, he was up in the rafters of his own field, as high as anyone had ever gone, the world changing, the possibilities exploding … but no manual for how to deal with success, who could tell you how to deal with something like that? Nobody had been there before. Not to mention the fact that people like Hank Williams grew up dirt-poor. How to even process the switch change-over to having money? And Hank Williams glittered and shimmered on that stage with fringe and all-white suits and pristine hats and sparkling belt buckles: part of his tradition, but moving up and on out of it too. (This goes back to my whole “Bling” thing. People who call “bling” crass or tasteless have probably never known poverty and want in their lives. Williams loved his bling. As well he should.) It’s a lonely position to be in. The first big crossover star, a harbinger of what was to come. He’s so forthright in his delivery. Whatever he sings it’s like it’s a one-on-one conversation with each member of his audience.
“Man of Constant Sorrow” – Waylon Jennings. As weird as this might sound, there’s something very gentle about him.
“Baby Got Going” – Liz Phair. From her follow-up to Exile in Guyville. Another great album. This is one of my favorite tracks on it. She’s my Gen-X soul sister.
“You Know I’m No Good” – Amy Winehouse. So bummed out. Every time one of her (few) songs come up, I feel the loss of her all over again. Dammit.
“14th Street”- Rufus Wainwright. “Why’d ya have to break all my heart? Couldn’t you have saved a little bit of it?”
“Flight 505” – The Rolling Stones. The opening sounds like it’s emerging from the past, an old dusty saloon in a frontier town, playing for ghosts long passed from the earth. It’s very cool. And then the song really starts, but it’s filled with the echo of the jingly echoing piano from the opening.
“Here Comes the Sun” – Nina Simone. I’ve said before that I think her version is almost superior to the original. Or, she has so taken it into her own hands, and re-thought it, and inhabited it, that it doesn’t even feel like the same song. It sounds like she MUST have written it. Despite the (slightly) hopeful lyrics, the way she sings it sounds almost like a suicide note. It’s staggeringly brilliant rendition. I can’t even imagine what Lennon/McCartney must have felt when they heard it.
“That’ll Be the Day” – Buddy Holly. The lyrics tell a very different story from the zippy melody.
“Drink You Away” – Justin Timberlake. SO HOT. Listen, he’s a Memphis kid. Nobody should be surprised.
“Day Drinking” – Little Big Town. Another contemporary country band I like. It’s got stuff like banjos, but with rock ‘n’ roll percussion. “I know you know what I’m thinking. Why don’t we do a little day drinking?” No thanks, but it sounds like a blast the way you sing about it.
“Hey Wow Yeah Yeah” – Robbie Williams. He’s such a maniac. I think we’d get along like gangbusters. #deadserious
“Mississippi Rolling Stone” – the legendary Tina Turner. So fortunate that I saw her live on the “Tiny Dancer” tour a million years away. Wang Chung opened for her, so that gives you an idea of the era … But she was as phenomenal live as you would imagine. Always wish I had seen her and Ike in action together. They had the sickest live act perhaps ever. Just watching the clips make you feel dirty … upset … turned on … fucked up.
“Santa’s Beard” – The Beach Boys. Hahahahahahaha
“Shut Up and Fish” – Maddie & Tae. Okay, so there’s a bit of a “let’s see what this city boy can do” thing that I find tiresome, but it’s still rather adorable. Again, with some clever-ness in the lyrics, lots of fishing-as-courtship metaphors: “I was fishing, he was wishing we were kissing, I was getting madder than a hornet in an old Coke can …” You know, it’s cute. Also it tells a story. He was getting too hot and heavy, she was trying to slow him down. Please don’t try to hold my “reeling hand” while I’m fishing, city boy.
“This Magic Moment” – Lou Reed. How to put this into words? And why I love the arrangement? And why it thrills me? I’m not sure I can do it.
“Too Many People” – Paul McCartney. Ram, man. Right??
“Lay Your Shine On Me” – The Box Tops. So damn FUNKY.
“The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” – Prince. I kind of want the relationship he describes here. He takes a bubble bath with his pants on, for starters.
“Carol” – The Rolling Stones. It’s basically Johnny B. Goode. (Speaking of which, Mitchell and I had a funny text exchange last week about Johnny B. Goode’s illiteracy. “Learn how to read, Johnny.” “Right? Get a tutor.” “It’s unfortunate, but FIX IT.” Dumb. But entertaining. It went on forever.) I love the hand-claps.
“Rap God” – Eminem. You know, with a title like that, you better live up to it. Uhm ….. Yeah. He does.
Hey Sheila…since you’re into the Pistol Annies thought you might like this (in case you haven’t heard it…hoping she’ll put it on an album so there’ll be a version with better sound)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bz_lran_N4
Ha! That’s great.
Once a month I remember to say a little prayer for your iPod classic.
Does it have a name? So I can pray more specifically.
Doomed.
This is why I follow your blog religiously (except when I’m trying to sell a house and downsize at the same time which was my situation until recently). I follow you and your writing because even if I know absolutely nothing about the subject, your interest in it and the way you write about it always stimulates my curiosity to learn more. Sometimes I don’t agree at all. But I am never, ever bored. Sometimes I found out more about something (like some of your movie/music choices) and decide that they are definitely not for me. But most times, after reviewing your reading or writing or listening or watching diaries, I found deep understanding and intriguing insights with none of the condescending arrogance that one occasionally runs into. I’m grateful for that. Thank you.
PS. Please bite the bullet, buy the new iPod and have one of the little “geniuses” at an Apple store transfer your songs. Please.
Carolyn – what a nice nice comment. Thank you! I learn from you too and your perspective – and I look forward to your comments, whenever they come in.
Good luck with the house-selling!
I know, I really need to get prepared. I have all my songs backed up on a hard drive – it makes me nervous in general to have my music collection in the hands of a “landlord” (i.e. Apple). I’ll figure it out when that day comes!
The first time I heard Fuckin’ Perfect, I cried. Sat there listening to the song with tears streaming down my face. I felt like Pink was talking directly to the insecure, self-critical 14-year-old inside me. I love her.
I feel you on the fear of your iPod’s demise. I thought I lost my iPod nano for about two years when it apparently fell out of my purse – it had music on it that was not on my computer and got from borrowed CDs. Tom Petty, Arlo Guthrie, Rolling Stones – probably at least a couple hundred songs that I couldn’t afford to I was devastated. Then when I was getting ready to trade in my car, I found it under the passenger seat. I was almost more excited to find the iPod than I was about the new car!
// I felt like Pink was talking directly to the insecure, self-critical 14-year-old inside me. //
She really is so so good at that, isn’t she? I find her stuff to be truly empowering – not just “look at how sexy I am and I do it on my terms” empowering – but in terms of sticking up for herself, and being honest with herself. I also like her “I’m a bratty rock star” songs.
// it had music on it that was not on my computer and got from borrowed CDs. //
That’s exactly it, right? I had a huge music collection – cassette tapes and CDs – and I downloaded all of that stuff. We’re talking hundreds and hundreds of songs. I refuse to re-buy them. My hard drive crashed this past summer – and thankfully I had back-up – but re-building iTunes was a BITCH – mainly because of those songs that didn’t come “from them.” I eventually did recover them – but it was a pain in the ass and it pissed me off. That’s MY music collection and I don’t CARE that I didn’t buy it from iTunes. This is shit I’ve had in my collection since high school and I will NOT buy it again. On principle!!
It all worked out in the end but, you know, it’s a glimpse of what has happened – when a corporate entity actually STILL owns the music that you already bought from them.
Tattoo You.. The last pretty good Stones album.. 1981.. Ironic because Mick and Keith were not on speaking terms at this point and really didn’t even want to be in the same room with each other.. But the Stones owed the label an album so producer Chris Kimsey took a bunch of unreleased tracks going back to 1973 and pretty much put the album together himself… They just dubbed the vocals on and that was pretty much it. Lo and behold Start me Up becomes a smash hit and the Stones are out touring stadiums. Jagger always said it was about at this time when everyone (in authority) went from hating us to loving us.
Wow. Dg, I love your Stones info – I have all their stuff, but am just not that well-versed in their history like I am with other artists. Thank you! I look forward to your comments.
I love WICKED so much it hurts. As in, I can’t listen to “For Good” while driving, because I’m pretty sure one should not be a blubbering mess when one is piloting a one-ton hunk of metal down the highway. We’ve seen the show twice, and when it comes ’round our way again, we’ll go a third time. The songs, with some really underrated writing in the lyrics (“I’m Not That Girl”, for instance — Elphaba sings, “She is winsome/she wins him.” I cry at THAT, too….), and the wonderful book by Winnie Holzman, one of the genius writers behind MY SO-CALLED LIFE and my beloved ONCE AND AGAIN.
Anyway, Otis was a dummy, is all I’m sayin’.
Kelly – I’ve never seen the show, can you believe it?? I know, I know!!
But yes, I love the music so much. Otis was such a dummy-dum-dum.
Have you heard Kelly Ellis’ version of “Defying Gravity”? Highly recommend checking it out.
I saw Wicked last year and enjoyed it and you’re right, Kelly, “For Good” gets me every time because on Oprah Winfrey’s 25th anniversary show, Kirstin Chenowith, who I believe was the original Glinda, serenaded Oprah with that song while they showed all the students from Morehouse who had received scholarships through Oprah’s foundation. It was fantastic and it gets me every single time. I know it’s on You Tube. Check it out.
//What the HELL am I going to do when my iPod classic dies.//
I’ve looked into this, since this also a worry of mine. There (or were last I checked) companies that will refurbish/repair your Classic if it dies.
I will not surrender my Classic. I need to have ALL of my music with me, and certainly wouldn’t fit a new iPod.
The trip got started with some Dolly so that’s good. I’m seeing her on this road trip.
Lots of Elvis this time!
Nice!! My friend Mitchell just saw her at Ravinia outside of Chicago. I’m so envious!