iPod Shuffle

It’s been a while. I’ve been driving a lot these days. Music is an escape. A gentle escape, though. Something alongside reality, something that helps me access emotions that aren’t really available to me normally. iPod Classic with the click-wheel still holding strong.

“Hello, Trouble (Come On In)” – Ernest Tubb. See, this is the beauty of Shuffle. It starts you off with Ernest freakin’ Tubb.

“Love Is All Around” – Joan Jett, paying tribute to one of her main inspirations, Mary Tyler Moore.

“Green Green Rocky Road” – Emmylou Harris, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Loudon Wainwright. From the wonderful album The McGarrigle Hour.

“Rhyme or Reason” – Eminem. He morphs into Yoda at one point. I love the sample, too.

“The Ol’ College Try” – L.E.O. Okay, so this is from an album called Alpacas Orgling, and it’s the brainchild of two of my favorite current singer-songwriters – Bleu and Mike Viola. The two of them are hugely influenced by ELO, and so this is their “band”. I love the album. Not a bad song on it. These guys are amazing.

“Tell It Like It T-i-Is” – The B-52s. This song is so anchored into a specific time and place for me that when it comes up, I am transported in time. I had just moved to Chicago. I lived in one room in a glorified roach-motel on the shores of Lake Michigan. I was staggering out of a terrible relationship. I was all kinds of fucked up. I took long runs along the lake shore. I was going 5 miles a day, sometimes more. I have never been in such great shape. I wasn’t doing it to get in good shape. I was doing it because I was in a heightened state of awareness and anxiety, everything new, everything scary. I remember I was in a Cracklin’ Oat Bran phase – this was my cereal of choice at the time. ?? See. This is how memory is stored, in the senses and that’s what I think of when I hear this song. I had made a “workout mix” cassette tape, which I played as I took my daily runs, even in the pouring rain. The music kept me going, helped me work off some of the panic I felt at getting out of that relationship, at being single for the first time, at starting my Madcap Floozy Progression through Chicago.

“Somethin Else” – Eddie Cochran. He was so sexy.

“To the Sea” – Jack Johnson. A bit twee for me. A bit??

“Hound Dog” – Elvis. From one of the shows he did at Madison Square Garden. He introduces it with, “This is a song I did on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1912.” And then he proceeds to just mess around with it, slowing it down, with James Burton killing it around his vocals. I mean, it’s all a goof. He’s so relaxed.

“You Hold the Key” – Lloyd Conger. I don’t know where I picked this up. Maybe it was on a soundtrack or something. Charlie Rich is clearly the inspiration, but it just points up that nobody can really be Charlie Rich except Charlie Rich.

“What” – Brendan Benson. I love this guy. He came onto my radar because of some commercial for an iPod a million years ago. The song called to me. It was a felicitous discovery. He’s a wonderful singer, wonderful songwriter, and prolific too. So far he hasn’t written a boring song. I love him.

“Beale St. Blues” – Eartha Kitt. ACES.

“Down and Out” – Charlie Rich. Speaking of Charlie Rich … He’s got as strong a sexual presence as Elvis, or Brigitte Bardot, or any other Erotic Muse you can think of. He makes me weak in the knees.

“Do Somethin'” – Britney Spears. Maybe go home and take a nap, Brit? Either way, I love you!

“Cry Me a River” – Michael Buble. The arrangement is hysterical. It starts out like it’s a sequence in an action movie taking place in the 1920s, or like it’s been composed for a military parade in a totalitarian dictatorship.

“Little Red Corvette” – Prince. Every so often I suddenly am reminded he is dead and I think, “Wait … no … can it be true?” It still hasn’t sunk in for some reason.

“Alabama Wild Man” – Jerry Reed. He cracks me up. Also you can pick his guitar playing out of a lineup.

“Next To Me” – Emeli Sande. Sooo groovy.

“Wedding Bells” – Jerry Lee Lewis. One of them self-pitying country songs. Punctuated by his floozy-juke-joint piano. I love the combo. I also love the huge female chorus behind him.

“Bruise Violet” – Babes in Toyland. Ferocious. I’m so glad the soundtrack to my 20s featured so much female anger. Just seemed like a valid part of life. It was given voice. Sexuality was obviously present. Everyone sings about sex. It’s what everybody is doing. But there was room for all this other stuff. There still is now. But … it doesn’t really sound like this.

“Like Home” – Eminem (featuring Alicia Keys). This is beautiful. Painful. Outraged. I cried the first time I heard it.

“Lay Your Shine On Me” – The Box Tops. So funky.

“Bluegrass With Guts” – Jerry Reed. He’s just dazzling.

“Forget You” – Gwyneth Paltrow (the Glee cover of Cee Lo Green’s awesome “Fuck You”). Paltrow does a hell of a job. Something else comes out in her when she sings. (See Country Strong.) She’s LOOSE, happy, free. Also, she can legit sing.

“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – Gladys Knight. Classic.

“Little White Church” – Little Big Town. “Take me down to the little white church.” Maybe you can just drive yourself there. Stop demanding rides.

“Trying to Get To You” – Elvis, from the “sit-down” sessions in the 1968 comeback special. One of his greatest live performances. One of ANYBODY’S greatest live performances. It gives me goosebumps, no matter how many times I’ve seen it. His neck and chest glistening with sweat, throwing his head back, oh my God, it’s overwhelming. He is overwhelming.

Elvis: Trying to get to you from Robbo on Vimeo.

“Stairway to Heaven” – Heart, at the Kennedy Center Honors for Led Zeppelin. Yes, I converted the video to mp3. The performance is so powerful it’s not just a tribute – it takes the song to some OTHER LEVEL. A level that seems to shock Robert Plant and Jimmy Page themselves in the audience. Blows me away. If you haven’t seen it:

“What a Wonderful World” – Joey Ramone. What a coincidence. It was his birthday yesterday! I just posted this on Twitter. I was in love with this raucous cover long before Supernatural used it so memorably. But that scene … so smart. To choose that song? It’s such a smart use of the perfect song to create the mood. Also that it’s the RAMONES, which loops into the whole music world of the Winchesters. It’s not a traditional rendition of the song. It’s a ROCK rendition of the song. The scene shows a dude mowing a lawn. That’s it. How can you make it seem like a MIRACLE of exploding joy? They did. With the help of Joey Ramone.

“Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line” – Waylon Jennings. Do not mess with Waylon. He’s HAD IT.

“Superstitious” – Stevie Wonder. He is a natural antidepressant.

“Me and Bobby McGee” – Jerry Lee Lewis. He’s the definition of a “natural” – although he’s clearly what you might call “touched.” Sam Phillips sure thought so. The word “talent” doesn’t even cover it.

“When Baby Gets the Blues” – Jerry Lee Lewis. I’m so happy his career didn’t end with his scandalous marriage. He “came back” and went on and on and on and ON … taking over Nashville, with album after album … there’s so MUCH of him out there. Very grateful.

“Practically Out Of My Mind” – my old pal (and Elvis discussion buddy) Pat McCurdy. There’s something about him that sometimes makes me cry. He also makes me laugh uproariously. We go way back. History. Weird history. His music – and he – means a lot to me.

“Honey Don’t” – Ben Folds Five, with a raucous version of Carl Perkins’ classic. I wrote about it here.

“Burslem Normals” – superstar Robbie Williams.

“I’m On My Way” – The Proclaimers. Member them? This is the only album of theirs I have. My friend Kate sent it to me randomly, a million years ago, without even a note enclosed. So I went for months wondering who my secret pen-pal was. I was like, “Thanks a lot, whoever you are, I love the album!”

“Nothin'” – Robert Plant and Allison Krause. God, I love the album they did together. Their voices blend so beautifully. I read that one of the reasons he was drawn to doing an album of duets was that – as a lead singer – he rarely sang the harmony line. Long long career, always sang lead vocals. So it was so fun for him to explore a different aspect of music, that of the harmony line.

“Shitloads of Money” – Liz Phair. From Whitechocolatespaceegg. Liz Phair is in the news now, with the box set anniversary box set of Exile in Guyville and I read some review that said, “Almost no one likes Whitechocolatespaceegg” and I think – as I always do when a critic makes a statement like that – “I liked it. Stop assuming shit. Speak for yourself.” Now granted, I’m a fan for life. I think even her “sellout” album is FANTASTIC. I love her blunt sense of truth here: “It’s nice to be liked, but it’s better by far to get paid.”

“Everything” – Michael Buble. This song makes me feel really lonely.

“So Glad You’re Mine” – Elvis Presley. Sexy jangly fun. Love the tinkly piano.

“I’m Hurtin'” – Roy Orbison. So dramatic! And he’s got the voice for it. Histrionics. Exciting. “You walked awayyyyyyyy (bum bum bum) The pain begaaaan (bum bum bum bum) I Knew I’d NEVEEERRRR (bum bum bum bum) know love again …”

“A Hazy Shade of Winter” – Simon & Garfunkel. I grew up listening to them. My parents’ albums. I will always have a place in my heart for them. But after reading Ellen Willis … she didn’t change my mind but I have to acknowledge she has a point. That woman could WRITE.

“Prince of Darkness” – Indigo Girls. This album was so huge. Kind of amazing they are still around. I’m happy about it.

“Fancy” – Reba McEntire. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen my friend Mitchell lip synch this, towel wrapped around his head, with 100% commitment. I love it best when he gets PISSED (as Fancy). His face is like, “Go ahead. Judge me. You privileged piece of shit. I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO.”

“We’re Coming In Loaded” – Elvis. From the Girls Girls Girls soundtrack. Now I will not pretend this is in any way peak Elvis. In many ways, it is a complete travesty. But the man sells it, what can I say. And there’s honor in that.

“I Got Stung” – Elvis. Now THIS is peak Elvis. It’s thrilling.

“Twistin’ the Night Away” – Sam Cooke. Great songwriter. One of the best things about him is the details he puts into the lyrics. He SETS THE SCENE.

“My Monkey Made a Man Out Of Me” – Mike Viola. Mentioned above. Fantastic songwriter. He’s solo now, but I “came to him” when he was with his band the Candy Butchers. (My sister Siobhan opened for him. Very exciting.)

“Unchained Melody” – Charlie Rich. He’s perfect. What can I say.

“This Is Living” – Elvis. From the Kid Galahad soundtrack. See above comment about “We’re Coming In Loaded.” You listen to this, and think about the Beatles, and then you think, “What on EARTH is happening.”

“Hello Mary Lou” – Ricky Nelson. Pure joy.

“Batman Theme” – the great Link Wray. If you haven’t seen the new documentary, Rumble, I urge you to drop what you’re doing NOW and seek it out.

“Baby” – Little Richard. SWING IT. “Baby, don’t you need a man like me?” Not sure about that, Little Richard, but thanks for asking!

“Eleanor Rigby” – Aretha Franklin. A complete re-imagining of the song. It’s unbelievable. I often think of what it must have been like for John Lennon and Paul McCartney to hear covers like this. Gives me goosebumps.

“What’s Left Of Me” – Waylon Jennings. “Even dogs think that I’m a tree.” This is a sad sad story, Waylon.

“Don’t Be Cruel” – Elvis. A monster hit. 1956. If you listen to it, there’s a tapping sound throughout. That’s Elvis tapping on the top of a guitar case. It gives it such an immediate sound (but all of his tracks have that, since they’re all “live” performances. What happened in the room is what we get on the record. Very little post-tinkering.)

“I Got a Woman” – The Everly Brothers. I find their version thrilling! “OH YEAH SHE IS MY BABY DON’T YOU UNDERSTAAAAAAND” – it’s primal. Great big sound.

“Apache” – Link Wray. The sound goes right through you.

“Hold It Against Me” – Britney Spears. All of her songs are like, “I am the wildest woman you’ve ever seen. Sorry you can’t handle it.” I have such fondness for her. Will always root for her.

“The Coventry Carol” – The Mediaeval Babes. I got into them years ago. There’s something about them – their backgrounds in avant-garde music/art/burlesque/film – they’re all just so HIP. But then they have this really traditional approach to these old medieval songs. I love it. They were just nominated for Emmy’s – so these women have staying power.

“All I Wanna Do” – Sheryl Crow. This song was so omnipresent when it first came out it actually got super annoying. “I never want to hear this damn thing again.” And the video was also annoying. This was when you actually knew what the video was because you actually watched MTV.

“You Are My Sunshine” – Leftover Cuties. I am such a huge fan.

“Norwegian Wood” – Waylon Jennings. I love his voice so much. He gets very full-throated here, it’s filled with emotion.

“It’s Raining Men” – The Weather Girls. I will always think of Michael – and his withering SCORN – when I got excited, hearing this song coming out of the “disco club,” as we stood in the alley outside, trying to hear what kind of music they were playing. Michael was (is) a disco snob. We had so much fun.

“Whitechocolatespaceegg” – Liz Phair. See, I love this. What’s not to love?

“Chain Gang” – Sam Cooke. A pretty major recording, important in his discography. Once again: he paints a picture, he sets the scene. And those rhythmic grunts just MAKE it.

“Give Me One Reason” – Tracy Chapman. Never been a big fan of hers, but I can’t live without this song. Great recording, great piece of work. Timeless. Best thing she ever did.

“I Love Rock ‘n Roll” – Britney Spears. I remember people were outraged when she covered this. Relax. On one level, yes, it’s ridiculous. But also … it’s kind of a jam. Side note: I am glad I came of age in the era of Babes in Toyland/The Breeders/Liz Phair – and, earlier – Joan Jett herself – as opposed to Britney. I love Britney but I came to her as a wise old lady who can enjoy her without being influenced by what she represents.

“Get Up” – Bleu. One of his best. He writes pop anthems. Effortlessly.

“Fuck Her Gently” – Tenacious D. The song gets funnier the longer it goes on. If this isn’t your “kind” of humor, then there’s no way I can convince you of how DEEPLY funny I find it. “I’m gonna ball you discreetly.” It’s the CONCEPT that’s funny.

“Sylvia” – Elvis. This song gets no love. I mean, okay, I get it. But come on. He sings the HELL out of it. I love Big Melodramatic Power-Ballad Elvis. He just THROWS his voice up, “I’m WAIIIITING for a word of love …” Like I said, this is not a half-assed job. I find it kinda thrilling.

“Gone, Gone, Gone” – The Everly Brothers. They were just so perfect.

“Non-Existent Patricia” – L7. Talk about your female role models in my wild-child early 20s. AND they have a new album coming out. You can’t imagine what the last couple of years have felt like: with Sleater-Kinney, The Breeders, Liz Phair AND a new L7 album … all with new albums (or, in Phair’s case, an anniversary box set). I’m in heaven. L7 is hard, tough, really really heavy, heavy metal heavy. My kind of music.

“Mother’s Little Helper” – The Rolling Stones. “… gets her through her busy day …” This is some bleak shit.

“If the Lord Wasn’t Walking By My Side” (take 6) – Elvis. One of my favorite Elvis gospel tracks. Halfway through him, you hear him start to clap with the beat, and it’s so joyful it makes me want to cry.

“Road to Ruin Woman” – Brett Detar. I am pretty sure this one came on my radar from the great soundtrack to the TV series Justified. Maybe not. Wherever I found this, I’m happy I did. It’s fantastic.

“I Need Your Love Tonight” – Elvis. From the frenzied sessions in the spring of 1958, put together to get as much of Elvis recorded as possible, to be released during his 2-year stint in Germany. These sessions are WILD, with an extremely unique sound in Elvis discography. Elvis is on fire. Incidentally, the Colonel was not wild about this series of songs because the band was too prominent. (The man was a genius at promotion, but his taste was just awful.)

“I Love You Because” – Jerry Lee Lewis. A big country hit in the 1940s. Elvis recorded it, one of the first things he recorded at Sun. Jerry Lee Lewis does “his thing” with it: it swings, it keens, there’s a swoopy fiddle in the background, and then there’s his piano. The man is jaded. He’s always got the whiff of the juke joint honky-tonk around him and it’s why I love him. This guy is not a softie. He gives women hell. He’s not endearing. It’s refreshing.

“I Miss You” – Leftover Cuties. I love her voice so much. I love what they’re doing, their taste, their style, their sensibility. It’s a throwback, but it’s not precious. It’s honest.

“Bottom Dollar” – Jerry Lee Lewis. See above. I realize I am probably unduly influenced by Nick Tosches’ biography of JLL, which has to be read to be believed. I get a lot of joy from Jerry Lee Lewis. He’s barely recorded one boring song. Even the cliched songs have his characteristic swoop and panache and narcissism, all the things that make him HIM.

“C’mon Everybody” – Eddie Cochran. Along with his voice, and general sexuality, it’s the grinding shaking beat underneath the song, the drums, the tambourine, the bass line, that give it is drive.

“Money (That’s What I Want)” – Little Richard. What would we do without him? I tremble at the thought.

“Glass Onion” – The Beatles. When I was a kid, I was so blown away by the “meta” aspect of this song. Referencing their old songs. 9 year old me: “Can they DO that??”

“Wonderful” – Brian Wilson. Is that a harpsichord? He is such a genius.

“Don’t Bring Me Down” – ELO. Huge ELO fan. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve heard this. I get excited.

“Take Me With U” – Prince. From Purple Rain. That opening … I love how it finds its way, it starts one way, exploring it, before “settling down” into the intro of the song. I have memories of high school dances with everyone on the dance floor singing the chorus at top volume. Nerds. But happy.

“Don’t Wake Me Up” – Pat McCurdy. From his album Fainting with Happiness. I’m thanked in the liner notes for that one, and I’m still not sure why. We hadn’t seen one another in years at that point. But it’s one of his best albums, so sure, I’ll take it.

“Every Ghetto Every City” – Lauryn Hill. This album, man. Perfect.

“Your Obedient Servant” – Leslie Odom Jr. and Lin-Manuel Miranda, in Hamilton. The increasingly hostile correspondence between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, moving towards the inevitability of a duel. Although these letters are filled with anger, they always end so politely. “I remain, your obedient servant …” My mother and I just talked about our experience seeing Hamilton this past weekend.

“Lookin’ Better Every Beer” – Stray Cats. The 80s were such a weird time. One narrative is that Nirvana et al. came along and blasted open the boring mainstream. Okay. There was that feeling. But the 80s were WEIRD. You had Prince and Cyndi Lauper and Devo and The Go-Gos and Huey Lewis and Madonna and Michael Jackson doing their thing … some legit geniuses on that list. Then there was the 50s comeback, which was really formative for me since I was already in love with 1950s movies. So you have a rockabilly craze, embodied by The Stray Cats … who you might THINK would fade out after the phase faded out. But turns out, they CREATED the phase, because they were visionaries of a sort, and actual artists, who moved on to other things. Ahead of the curve. Always. Big-band swing comeback in the 90s? Who’s at the center of it? Brian Setzer, who suddenly now has a big band orchestra. I adore him. I’ll follow him anywhere.

“Little Pink Umbrella” – Pat McCurdy. Another one from Fainting with Happiness. I love this, it has what I consider to be his “fingerprint”, a mix of whimsy and melancholy, humor and longing, gives you a heartpang. He has such an interesting career. If you live in the Chicago-Minneapolis-Wisconsin area, seek him out. “Last night I saw you as you rose up from the sea. You were breathing fire and destroying Tokyo. Last night I saw you and I’m glad you didn’t see me cuz you turned my heart to ashes long ago.”

“C.O.U.N.T.R.Y.” – LoCash Cowboys. Now listen. These guys jam. Meant to be played loud. Fun, in a lot of ways. But they’re so defensive. Their entire thing is “We’re better than them snobs up east” which is just … My God, get over it. You lost the war. #sorrynotsorry Every single one of their songs has that “chip on the shoulder” thing I find so boring in so much of country music. However, I also like the beat? #sorrynotsorry or #sorrykindofsorry “Got a hound dog named Minnie Pearl.” Good for you. Why are you so ANGRY about it?

“How to Win Friends and Influence People” – Everclear. They’ve helped me through some really rough times. I don’t know why. It wasn’t the lyrics, not really. But maybe because there’s a sound in their stuff of “having overcome hard times” and coming out the other side into expressiveness – whether it be joy or anger or sex – maybe it was that that helped me in 2009. Or, didn’t “help me” … things got so bad in 2009 that anything that gave me pleasure was abolished from my world. I couldn’t read. I couldn’t watch movies. I couldn’t listen to music. But I could listen to them. Who knows why.

“What’d I Miss” – Daveed Diggs (and others), from Hamilton. Thomas Jefferson, in head to toe purple velvet, dancing around, singing “What’d I Miss?” Sooo hilarious. The laughter just EXPLODED throughout the theatre, and never stopped for the entirety of the number. Diggs, who also played Lafayette (a perfect casting decision, since Jefferson was such a Francophile), is so talented.

“Frozen Heart” – from Frozen. I got into Frozen because I realized if I didn’t I wouldn’t have anything to talk about with my niece Pearl.

“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” – Jerry Lee Lewis covering ol’ Hank Williams. Listen to that piano opening.

“Lorenza, Giada, Alessandra” – L7. In my top 5 L7 songs.

“Working in the Coal Mine” – Devo. Talk about the 80s. This being played at a high school dance? I’m sorry. But it’s super hip.

“Harper Valley PTA” – Jeannie C. Riley. A feminist anthem, really.

“Milk Cow Blues” – Eddie Cochran. He slows it wayyyy down, it’s as bluesy as you could get. I wrote a piece about the different versions of this song through the years.

“Little Bitty Pretty One” – Huey Lewis & The News. He was my first concert. He’s recently had some bad news. I understand there’s no cure for his ailment. It makes me sad.

“When Baby Gets the Blues” – Jerry Lee Lewis. A lot of The Killer in this shuffle. I’m happy about it.

“Hi-Heel Sneakers” – Elvis, at his most sexually aggressive. Rowr.

“Broken, Beat & Scarred” – Metallica. My brother once said that Metallica is “metal for math nerds” and you can really hear that here.

“Search Me Lord” – Little Richard. His gospel stuff is to die for. He seems to be perched on a cloud here.

“Phoenix from the Flames” – Robbie Williams. One of his best. One of those songs I clung to during one of my many Bad Times. Something about the song, its music, its progression, the way it hits me … it obliterates thought. And obliterating thought is what’s comforting to a woman with a brain like mine.

Also I have a tattoo of a phoenix on my back. I drew it myself. I drew it while I was “in the flames”, hoping I would come through it. A couple weeks ago, a hashtag exploded across the Internets: #Oldheadshot It was so fun seeing actors – famous and not – sharing their early headshots. Here’s one of mine. It was taken when tattoos on women were still a novelty. I took off my shirt at the photographer’s studio and the photographer and makeup artist both saw the tattoo and pounced. “Oh please can we take a picture featuring the tattoo?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to. I don’t particularly like my shoulders or my arms. They assured me it would be okay. I was happy with how it turned out. Incidentally, I was “in the flames” here, too. The day before had been a bad bad day, so bad I almost canceled the headshot appointment because my eyes were swollen. I have spent most of my life in varying degrees of total despair. Thank you for this second chance … family, doctors, whatever … so I can actually live without that kind of nameless wordless anguish all the time.

“Hold Me Tight” – Evan Rachel Wood, from Across the Universe. I love her version. This movie gets no love. I like its inventiveness.

“Role Model” – Eminem. At his brattiest most slim-shadiest.

“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” – The Beach Boys. Yes. It would be nice.

“Sex” – Lenny Kravitz. Yes, sir.

“Jesus Done Just What He Said” – Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers. I love Sam Cooke’s gospel stuff with the Soul Stirrers. This is particularly good. The build. The build is all in the voices. Each time they come back to the verse … it goes higher … higher … more intense … until the song almost explodes.

“Mambo Italiano” – Dean Martin. He sings it with a wink. He knows it’s a goof. One of my favorite things about Dean Martin is that you can hear him smiling when he sings.

“The Holy Spirit Is the Air We Breathe” – The Monks of Glenstal Abbey. I would love to visit this abbey, or go to one of their concerts. When they come up on Shuffle, sometimes I want to skip it because it requires me to slow down, take a moment, take it all in. They are meditative. Calming. Thoughtful. This one is spoken word, no music. But I find it restful.

“The Crow” – Steve Martin. BANJO! From his New Songs for the Five-String Banjo album, which I adore.

“Buddy Holly” – Weezer. Adorable.

“Boeser Zwilling” – Moka Efti Orchestra (from the great German television series Babylon Berlin – the music is FANTASTIC throughout). I inhaled Babylon Berlin last month. Only 16 episodes, alas. I am hopeful they will go on to do more. One of the best things I’ve seen all year.

“Frozen Man” – James Taylor. I love James Taylor. But ever since I read Lester Bangs’ “James Taylor Marked for Death” … I can’t get it out of my head. I will never be able to purely respond to JT again. Thanks a lot, Lester!

“Who Will the Next Fool Be” – Charlie Rich. From his start at Sun Records. He’s so OPEN. Blasted open. He’s so damn masculine, but his openness is stereotypically feminine – and his fluidity in this respect, and his lack of neurosis about his openness and being this vulnerable, is part of what made him such a great and important star.