Wacky June Shuffle

Here is the ongoing Shuffle I’ve had running for a couple of weeks. I pop in and out of it, as I travel by bus, by car, or take a run along the cliffs. The Shuffle is eternal, always waiting for me when I return to it. This is a particularly wacky one. I mean, “The Purple People Eater” shows up, okay?

“Travelin’ Man” – Ricky Nelson. I love him. This song always makes me think of Dogfight. It’s included in the great soundtrack.

“What Do You Know (About Love)” – Wynona Carr. She of the rough ragged heartfelt voice. I love her stuff, gospel and secular. I wish there was more of it. She’s got one of those sad and all-too-common stories.

“I Got a Woman” (live) – Elvis Presley. From the absolutely insane December 16, 1956 show at the Louisiana Hayride, Elvis’ last performance on that radio show which helped make his name and spread the news. The Colonel had to buy him out of his contract because 1956 was the year national stardom exploded for Elvis, and he had already made two movies out in Hollywood, and having to make it down to Shreveport, Louisiana every Saturday was a pain in the ass. Elvis had outgrown the Louisiana Hayride in a matter of months. So he gave a big farewell concert, and the excitement of the recording of that night is still palpable. During some of his introductions to songs, he has to resort to pleading with the audience to stay in their seats and quiet down. He really lets loose here on “I Got a Woman”. It’s ferocious and crazy-sexy.

“The Long Road” – Cliff Eberhardt and Richie Havens. Cliff Eberhardt is dear to my heart, I’ve seen him a bunch of times, and love his songwriting. Here, he teams up with the legendary Richie Havens, who just died in April.

“How Do You Think I Feel?” – Elvis Presley, from his second album. I would call this a pop song, although I may be missing some nuance. The tempo is fast, it’s almost like a calypso or something. Elvis is jaunty and light.

“What Kind of Fool” – the cast of Glee. A gorgeous arrangement.

“Original of the Species” – U2. I love the piano in this.

“The Ballad of John and Yoko” – The Beatles. “The way things are going, they’re gonna crucify me.” Catchy. Eerie.

“One Night” – Elvis, during the “informal” sit-down sessions in his 1968 NBC special. It’s one of his best performances ever. He sang that song as a young man, when the censors wouldn’t let him sing some of the lyrics, and here he is, a grown man, end of the 60s, singing it with all its sinful implications intact. It’s gorgeous revenge.

“Defying Gravity” – Idina Menzel & Kristin Chenoweth. You know what? It still works. So few great duets for two women, too.

“Anna Mae” – Brownie McGhee. Another Tennessee boy made good. Great blues and folk singer. This really moves, with great electric guitar and harmonica. And, of course, Brownie McGhee also played “Toots Sweet” in Angel Heart. He lived a long life!

“Somebody to Love” – Queen & George Michael. It’s pretty exhilarating, although it’s the same arrangement as the original. But it’s live, and Michael gets the audience singing along at the end. It’s rousing!

“Mama I Wanna Make Rhythm” – the great Cab Calloway. “He had a yen for timpany …”

“I Hate Myself for Losing You” – Kelly Clarkson. Hell of a voice.

“Classical Teacher” – Tenacious D. A funny sketch where Jack Black hires a Spanish guitar teacher to take their game to the next level. Jack Black also plays the Spanish guy who proceeds to sexually harass Kyle in order to make him play better. It’s really stupid and really funny.

“The Christmas Waltz” – Frank Sinatra. Totes syrupy.

“Family Portrait” – the magnificent Pink. She’s got one of the best voices out there right now. I prefer it to the more show-offy style of Christina, although I will never dis Christina’s pipes. But I find Pink to be more expressive. A Joan Jett. She means everything she does.

“Synchronicity 2” – The Police. My God this album took over our lives in high school. I remember huddling over the lyrics in my parents’ dining room with Mere, analyzing this song, picking apart its metaphors. We had just learned about lemmings in biology. We were thrilled at how smart we were to understand what the oh-so-deep Sting was getting at there. And I still love the Yeats-ian ending. But seriously, I listened to this album about 5,000 too many times that crazy year it first came out. I’m over it.

“I’m Gonna Set My Foot Down” – the irresistible (to this day) Buddy Holly

“Sparrow” – Simon & Garfunkel. I need to be in the mood for them. I grew up listening obsessively to my parents’ albums of the duo. I loved the lyrics, thought they were the deepest thing ever.

“Why Did I Ever Like You” – Pink. One of her honest anthems. I feel that way about last year’s guy. The way it looks to me now is, for a good chunk of last year I had the great good fortune to listen to some guy complain about his job on a daily basis. Yay for me? I feel like I brainwashed myself, which I realize is common. Thanks, Pink, for being brave enough to be petty, small-minded, and full of rage. Philosophy and taking responsibility for oneself will come later. It always does. But don’t just skip the anger. It feels good to have contempt for someone who took advantage of my good nature. It feels good to say, and mean it, “Why did I ever like you? What did I see? It must have been some kind of illusion, a magic trick on me.”

“Quoi, Ma Voisone, Es-Tu Fachee (Neighbor Neighbor)” – Jane Siberry. I wonder if anyone else knows of this album. She put on a Christmas show at The Bottom Line. She had guest artists perform with her. They do traditional Christmas carols, but also non-traditional ones, and little-known ones (at least little known to me). It’s all quite beautiful. This one is very funny.

“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” – the perfect Dean Martin.

“Reel Around the Sun” – Bill Whelan, for Riverdance. It’s the opening number, which is burned into my memory.

“Wonderboy” – Tenacious D. Already classic. “Slice his scrot”? He can kill a yak from 200 yards away …. with nothing but mind bullets. I guess if you don’t find this kind of stuff hilarious I can’t explain to you why I do. But it’s also a great song.

“Stop When It Hurts” – Mike Viola and the Candy Butchers. If you are not familiar with him, all I can say is: rectify that as soon as possible.

“The Ol’ College Try” – speaking of Mike Viola! This is the ELO-inspired album he made with Bleu (my favorite guy currently). Others who appear on the album include: Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish (great band!), Hanson, Jason Scheff, Paula Kelley, and Matt Mahaffey. The album is called Alpacas Orgling and they call themselves L.E.O. No surprise, with those folks involved, that there are some great songs here. This one is a duet, and it’s a great picture of college romance.

“Brain Stew” – Green Day. On my own, here we go. Good song.

“Blowin’ in the Wind” – Elvis and his buddies sitting around in 1966, singing en masse. Nobody knows what they’re doing. They clearly are holding lyric sheets. Not to be too obsessive, but I love this clip (which is pretty poor) because Elvis is messing around with a harmony line. He so rarely sang harmony in his life. You can count the times on one hand. He always sang lead. But here, he’s giving it a shot.

“Follow That Dream” – Elvis Presley. Title song of the movie of the same name (a wonderful movie). Elvis is great here, swinging, joyous, open. I also like the Jordanaires part: not too obtrusive.

“Be Back Soon” – Ron Moody and boys from Oliver! Hooray. I’m not sure I can even begin to describe how obsessed I was with this musical as a kid. I went on to play the Artful Dodger in my school play and I was in my glory, getting to live out my fantasy of being a cunning wily urchin living by my wits. So long, fare thee well, pip pip cheerio, we’ll be back soon!

“In the Lap of the Gods” (live) – Queen at Wembley Stadium. Exhilarating recording, the entire concert.

“Angel Blue” – Green Day. From Uno, which just came out. It’s a pretty stock pop song.

“Happy Most of the Time” – Brendan Benson. He is so awesome.

“Solace” – Scott Joplin. So beautiful, melancholy. We had the sheet music at home. I used to be able to play this one. Not like Joplin, of course.

“Hold On Tight” – the great ELO. They are one of my favorite bands of all time.

“Drive to Bohemia” – Elliot Goldenthal, the Public Enemies soundtrack. Very ominous and dark.

“What’d I Say” – Elvis Presley messing around with his band in rehearsal for a Vegas gig. Of course he recorded this number and performed a manic version of it in Viva Las Vegas. It’s hysterical here to hear him messing around. He can’t remember the lyrics and at one point sings, “Put your dress on – go on home – all right … hey hey …” which is a horrible image, and it cracks him up when he sings it.

“Bounce” – Timbaland, featuring Missy Elliot, Justin Timberlake & Dr. Dre. Not a bad lineup. It grooves.

“Rock Me My Baby” – Buddy Holly. Listen to the background singers. Like so many of the artists who exploded in the 50s, you can hear the mix of what was called hillbilly music, blues, and country. I love that mix.

“All My Loving” (live) – The Beatles. You can barely hear them the girls are screaming at such a high decibel level.

“I Need Your Love Tonight” (take 14) – Elvis Presley. A difficult song. It took a lot of takes to get it right, although Elvis was always perfect. It was the coordination that was challenging. The tempo is fast, there’s lots of instruments going on, and the Jordanaires are up to some complex weird stuff in the background. This was from the 1958 session which was so fruitful, before Elvis disappeared into the Army. It’s incredible to hear how hard they all worked, take after take, with all of these great songs.

“The Real Slim Shady” – Eminem. My favorite Eminem is the Brat. He’s at his Bratty Best here.

“Interview” – Elvis, interviewed in Hollywood, 1962. Extraordinary. “I’ve tried to stay the same through this whole thing …” He talks about his fans, and how you have to be nice to them, and sign autographs, out of the goodness of his heart. “I know that they’re sincere …” He appreciated his fans. It’s rather amazing: you can hear the noises of the set going on behind him. Elvis was so rarely interviewed in his lifetime, so this is amazing to listen to. He sounds very serious, and very intelligent. Smart man, about being an entertainer and what that means.

“Paralyzed” – Elvis, another track from the insane Dec. 16, 1956 show for the Louisiana Hayride. The crowd is out of control, Elvis can barely introduce the song the sound is so loud. He jokes about the mike stand (a typical joke, he did it his whole life), “Nobody move – I think I see Moby Dick.” And when he introduces the song, he says the lyrics, “All I could do was stand there … paralyzed”, and he suddenly sounds like a fire-and-brimstone preacher. He draws out the vowels, dramatically: “All I could dooooo-uh … was-uh staaaaand they-ah … ” It’s thrilling. He is totally in charge of himself and the effect he wants to make.

“Blue Moon of Kentucky” – Elvis, his first appearance on the Louisiana Hayride, Oct. 1954. I wrote more about that here. The boys (Elvis, Bill and Scotty) only knew two or three songs at that point. They played “That’s All Right” (as Dave Marsh calls it: “the Rosetta stone” of rock ‘n roll) and “Blue Moon of Kentucky”. Elvis, two months into his career at this point, is suddenly in the position of being front-man of the band. He is interviewed, briefly, by Horace Logan. Logan asks him how they came upon their style which was so unusual and Elvis replies politely, “Well, to be honest, sir, we just stumbled upon it.” It’s great to hear this because it’s before the world went crazy for him. You can HEAR the crowd start to realize what was happening during this song. You hear people start screaming, randomly, during the song. It’s not a sustained ovation, but scattered groups of people suddenly going apeshit as they realize just how new, how exciting, the moment is. Get used to it, Elvis, there’s more of that where that came from. To quote Keith Richards: “It was almost as if I’d been waiting for it to happen.”

“Big Boots” – Elvis Presley again, from G.I. Blues. It’s a lullaby, and it’s adorable. The soundtrack to G.I. Blues is good, and you can hear so clearly how Elvis had been working on his voice during his time in the Army, pushing it into a more melodic operatic zone. Experimenting with falsetto and vibrato, pushing his range higher and lower. He worked that voice.

“Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 “Eroica”: IV. Finale: Allegro Molto” – Beethoven. This is the London Symphony Orchestra. Exciting stuff. It’s always a little strange when classical music comes up on Shuffle. You know, going from “Big Boots” to Beethoven, but that’s the joy of Shuffle.

“Star of Wonder” – Tori Amos, from her mostly-boring Christmas album. I like the arrangement here, it’s very interesting, but the way she twists words so that I can’t tell what the hell she is saying wears thin. But I do like this.

“Journey To the Past” – Liz Callaway, from Anastasia. Yes, I love this musical. I realize it has nothing to do with the truth. But you can’t keep me away from being obsessed with the Romanovs and Rasputin.

“A New Argentina” – Patti Lupone and cast, Evita. Yes! Patti Lupone, man. Mitchell, Rachel and I went to see the revival on Broadway, with Ricky Martin (he was great) – and we saw the understudy, Christina DeCicco, go on for the lead role, and she was incredible. Frightening at times, glamorous, mad, sexy as hell. So much singing, so much acting. The show is a marathon. She blew us AWAY. As much as I love the musical, and can literally recite every lyric, I had never seen an actual production of it. It’s a workout.

“I’m Mad at You” – Wynona Carr. Man, she is pissed.

“The Right Thing To Do” – Carly Simon. My parents had her albums. I would listen to them, and I remember having a baffled and almost scared feeling that these were really grown-up songs about grown-up things. Don’t even get me started on “The Carter Family”. That song scarred me for life, along with “John Henry”, “Puff the Magic Dragon” and “The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond”. Too sad for a 7 year old. Too difficult to grasp.

“Daddy Sang Bass” – Johnny Cash. So good, so real, so honest. When I was driving through Mississippi in January, at one point this song came on the radio (great radio in Mississippi), and I blasted it, and the frost was on the grass and the fields, and I felt really happy. Johnny Cash’s voice has such authority. His presence comes through the speakers. “Singing seems to help a troubled soul …” It does.

“Only Believe” – Elvis Presley. One of Elvis’ great gospel tracks. I never get enough of the gospel. Elvis lets loose here. I’ve said it before, I think Elvis is his most “macho” in the gospel stuff. By macho I mean, in charge, unafraid, bold, and, at times, aggressive. This song could have been a snooze-fest. Elvis pours himself into it with deep faith. It’s fun to listen to him.

“14th Street” – Rufus Wainwright. This may be my favorite song of his. I don’t know what it is (to quote another one of his songs), but it soothes my ragged soul. Some songs do that. But the lyrics are anything but soothing. “Why’d you have to break all my heart? Couldn’t you have saved a little bit of it?” Ouch.

“My Boy” – Elvis Presley, from Good Times. Elvis did not handle his divorce well (that’s putting it mildly). Of course he was never faithful to Priscilla, but … why would he be? He’s Elvis Presley. He still was devastated by Priscilla leaving him, and losing contact periodically with Lisa Marie (although they both did a good job of co-parenting Lisa Marie). Elvis would go over Priscilla’s new apartment in Hollywood to look at Lisa Marie while she was sleeping. You know. But it can’t be denied that Elvis started being drawn to ballads that were more cries of pain and loss. This one is all about divorce. Elvis sings the HELL out of it. Seriously. It may not be your cup of tea, but it shouldn’t be dismissed. In its own way, tracks like “My Boy” are just as personal as, say, “I Got a Woman”.

“Everything For Free” – K’s Choice. Fantastic song. One of those songs that starts quite and then gets suddenly VERY VERY LOUD.

“From the Morning” – Nick Drake. He makes me think of the first months of friendship with Allison, when we couldn’t get enough of each other. We listened to a lot of Nick Drake.

“Emma J” – Brendan Benson. One of my favorite songwriters writing today.

“Devils and Gods” – Tori Amos. Relax, Tori. Seriously. “They are you and I-ooo-eye”. Grrr. Love/hate relationship.

“Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache” – Brian Setzer, on his Rockabilly Riot album, a tribute to the songs of Sun Studio artists. It actually sounds like he gets a Sun Studio slap-back echo on his songs here. I can’t find out if he actually recorded at Sun. Would make sense if he did. First recorded by Warren Smith, IIRC.

“Tiny People with Enormous Heads” – Pat McCurdy’s nightmare vision of “tiny people with enormous heads” (ie: celebrities) taking over the world.

“What a Piece of Work Is Man / How Dare They Try” – the cast of Hair (the Broadway revival). I get cranky in the face of earnestness, and I realize that is a flaw. It’s my problem. But despite my crankiness, I love this musical.

“Simple Together” – Alanis Morissette. Oops, speaking of earnestness! This is pretty, though. In general, I like her.

“I’m the Only One” – the Glee cast. I almost like it better than the original. It’s sexier. Good song.

“Tribute to the 80s” – Pat McCurdy, one of the staples of his live shows. It gets everyone singing along. I’ve been there. I’ve sat in those uncomfortable seats and sang my guts out to Go Go’s songs and Men at Work, etc. I ain’t above it.

“Fly Away” – Indigo Girls. Sad. Sometimes I find them tiresome, and sometimes they crack me open like a walnut. I have to be careful when I listen to them. I often skip over their songs. Self-preservation. This is beautiful, though.

“There, There” – my awesomely talented sister Siobhan O’Malley. I’m so proud of her. I love the banjo here!

“So Pure” – Alanis Morissette. I prefer the angry Alanis to the earnest Alanis. This song is PISSED. Great opening line: “You from New York, you are so relevant, you reduce me to cosmic tears.”

“The First Noel” – Annie Lennox, from her terrific Christmas album.

“Everytime” – Melissa Benoist, from Glee, singing the Britney Spears song. It is beautiful.

“There You Go” – Johnny Cash. Sometimes he comes on, and the power/authenticity of his voice practically blows my hair back.

“Grace” – the gloriously talented Robbie Williams. Love that guy.

“Stone the Crows” – the Pharaoh-slash-Elvis-Presley in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and the brilliant Laurie Beecham as the Narrator.

“Sparkling Diamonds” – Nicole Kidman, in Moulin Rouge. She chews up that scenery, man.

“Velveteen Queen” – Bleu and Mike Viola on their beautiful and fun collaboration album (they’ve done a couple), Aquavia. Seek these guys out. They’re rock stars.

“Brennan on the Moor” – The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. These guys ARE my childhood.

“See the Light” – Green Day, from 21st Century Breakdown. An anthem.

“Avenue C’d” – another one by my sister Siobhan O’Malley! She’s such a good songwriter.

“When I Get You Alone” – the Glee cast’s version of Robin Thicke’s crazy-hot hit. It’s got a disco feel. Good workout tune.

“Keep Your Hands Off My Baby” – The Beatles, live at the BBC. The sound isn’t great, but I love all of the songs here. It’s raw, it’s live, and you can feel the excitement.

“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” – The Platters. Beautiful, yearning. So romantic.

“When It Rains It Pours” – Billy Emerson. One of the Sun Studio artists. Elvis did a great and raunchy cover of this. This is more bluesy, with a great horn section. It has that rough real Sun sound.

“St. Judy’s Comet” – Paul Simon. Lovely, sweet, and sad. Beautiful guitar picking.

“Jacqueline” – Franz Ferdinand. I really liked them for about a hot second. Everything starts to sound the same though.

“My Heart Cries For You” – Elvis, in a bad home recording. The sound is not good, but this is gorgeous. Simple guitar strumming, Elvis full-throated and sincere, with a trio of guys singing behind him. You know, just hanging’ out with Elvis, this is what you did. That and water-balloon fights and fire-cracker wars.

“All Around the World” – Lou Rawls. So sexy and funky. I love him.

“Hawaiian Sunset” – Elvis Presley, from Blue Hawaii. You know, on some level I do sympathize with the discombobbled fans of his Sun stuff and RCA stuff who listened to this, Elvis singing a slow gliding Hawaiian-inspired number, and thought, “WTF?” But if you can put past your expectations of him, your personal disappointment (which Elvis should not be responsible for), this is a beautiful song and he’s exquisite in this kind of material.

“Forget Me Never” – Elvis Presley, from Wild in the Country. Gorgeous and simple. He sounds incredible.

“My Dad’s Gone Crazy” – Eminem, co-starring his young daughter Hailie. She giggles, scolds, and says to herself, “I think my dad’s gone crazy”, which Eminem turned into the tag-line of the song. I like the sneaky conspiratorial beat.

“I Dreamed a Dream” – Patti Lupone, from Les Miserables. Step aside, Anne Hathaway.

“River Deep, Mountain High” – the cast of Glee. You know, nothing can compare to the original, its transcendence, its raw sexuality, its pain and hope. This is soulless.

“The Bullfighter Was a Lady” – Elvis Presley, from Fun in Acapulco. Spanish-inspired music, it’s a great-sounding soundtrack. I mean, you can’t deny that the lyrics are pretty stupid, but Elvis sounds great, almost operatic. He could do anything.

“I Got a Woman / Amen” – Elvis, near the end, in the concert that was televised. Elvis was sick, not well, he looked horrible. Some of these tracks are almost painful to listen to. But then there are others where he rises above. His desire to communicate never left him, at least not when confronted with a paying audience. You can feel him phoning this one in, though, relying on the back-up singers and orchestration. He’s not driving the song, like he did in previous years.

“Life On Mars” – Barbra Streisand covering David Bowie’s song. Mitchell and I used to blast this as we drove around Rhode Island on hot summer nights, going to Dairy Queen, and picking what movie wanted to see, as we sipped Bess Eaton iced coffee. Barbra WAILS those high notes.

“Angel” (take 6) – Elvis, with Millie Kirkham swooping her soprano in the background. She sang with Elvis a lot, she was the silly soprano on “Blue Christmas”. I believe this was the recording session where Millie showed up into that all-male environment to do her part – and she was pregnant and none of the guys offered her a seat. Elvis reprimanded all of them for that, in front of Millie, and pulled out a chair for her. Millie Kirkham talks about doing the part in “Blue Christmas” and how silly it was, and how Elvis knew it was silly but loved it anyway. He knew what he wanted. As Jerry Schilling observed in his book, Elvis doesn’t get enough credit (or credit at all) for his skill as a producer.

“OK, It’s Alright With Me” – Eric Hutchinson. Perez Hilton put up a link to this guy one random day, saying how great he was. Eric Hutchinson woke up to find himself #1 on iTunes. He was terrified – what had happened while he slept? He was playing small clubs and tiny cafes. What had happened?? Siobhan (my sister) was turned on to this guy by the link on Perez, and went to see him at The Knitting Factory soon after. The place was packed. He still seemed a little abashed by what had happened, but was wonderful live. Great songwriter! Love his voice, too.

“Someone Else’s Tomorrow” – the gorgeous and talented Patty Griffin.

“Little Child” – The Beatles. Classic. Great harmonica.

“G.I. Blues” (take 6) – Elvis. I love what he does on “heels of my G.I. shoes”.

“What Now My Love” – Elvis, in 1973, his gigantic simulcast Aloha From Hawaii concert. This is Elvis in full Melodrama Mode. I am not crazy about the Aloha From Hawaii concert, in general. Elvis seems a bit distant, his voice sounds uncharacteristically thin. Maybe he was daunted by the project? Maybe his recent divorce was weighing on him heavily? It’s like seeing Elvis through a misty glass. He’s somehow not present. He looks like a million bucks, like a literal Superhero walking amongst us, but something’s missing.

“Honey Don’t Leave L.A.” – James Taylor. I love James Taylor, grew up with him, have seen him a bunch of times, but I can’t help it: I think of Lester Bangs’ piece called “James Taylor Marked For Death” and I have to laugh.

“Almost Famous” – Eminem, from his latest, Recovery, which is growing on me. This is good, almost scary-sounding. There’s a lot going on.

“Like a Virgin” – Madonna. Wow. Memories. I was in high school when this came out, and Madonna really hit, and I didn’t get the metaphor of the song. I was an actual virgin and thought I was being made fun of.

“Blue Moon of Kentucky” – Elvis. Early Elvis. Like, first-week-at-Sun early. “That’s All Right” exploded out of a moment of spontaneity and Sam Phillips was looking to counteract that with more country-style songs (a tactic he maintained throughout Elvis’ time at Sun: there’d be a rock ‘n roll song – although they didn’t call it that then – and then a country song. This was one of the ways that Elvis started dominating not only the pop charts, but also the country charts and the r&b charts. Sam Phillips “got it” – Elvis should not be limited. He should not be a novelty act. He could do it all, and he should do it all. This song still feels fresh.

“If I Had a Vineyard” – from Sinéad O’Connor’s bizarre double-album Theology. Many of the songs appear twice on this album, and I am hard pressed to hear the differences in versions. Beautiful stuff, some of it, but confusing.

“(Drop Dead) Beautiful” – Britney Spears. Brit-Brit, I’ve got your back. Not that you care. But I love you.

“Rock and Roll (Part 2) – Gary Glitter. Ha. This always makes me think of The Full Monty but it’s also de rigeur at major sporting events.

“A Jig & Five Reels” – Bothy Band. So good. The Irish haven’t really been as omnipresent in this Shuffle as they sometimes are. The music of my childhood, jigs and fiddles and pipes. This song is live, so it’s fun to hear the whooping of the audience.

“Santa Ana Wind” – Everclear. Sometimes my association with them is too intense. For whatever reason, they were all I was able to listen to during the Great Crack-up of 2009. They seemed to represent triumph over adversity, acknowledgement of pain, the mess of living. I don’t know. I listened to them constantly. I am better now, and better every day, but an Everclear comes up and I remember the anguish of that year.

“Bring It On Home to Me” – Sam Cooke. Pure perfection.

“Could You Lie” – Alison Krauss. What a voice.

“Maudabawn Chapel/The Wild Irishman/The Moher Reel” – Kevin Burke & Mícheál Ó Domhnaill. Well, I spoke too soon about the lack of Irishmen/women on this Shuffle. Great fiddling.

“Monologue” – Frank Sinatra, bull-shitting onstage with the Rat Pack. Funny. Tough guy.

“Devil’s Got Your Boyfriend” – Tracy Bonham. I’ve been a fan since she first exploded on the scene with “Mother Mother”. She doesn’t put out that many albums, and still remains strictly independent. I love her songs. She was better when she was really pissed off, early on. I think she’s happy now and her songs have lost some of that edge. But I’m a fan for life. She’ll always be on my radar.

“My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy” – Dolly Parton. I am so glad she exists. I can’t imagine the world without her.

“Chokin’ the Gopher” – Pat McCurdy, displaying his always high-brow concerns. If you are not familiar with Pat McCurdy, then you are missing out! He’s huge in the Midwest, primarily Wisconsin and Illinois. We were friends. I performed a duet with him, which he wrote for me (humble brag), on one of his CDs.

“I Want To Be Free” – Elvis Presley, the gospel-ish song from Jailhouse Rock. Great.

“Run, Freedom, Run” – from Urinetown. The big hand-clapping inspirational number which is so ridiculous and so much fun. My family went to see that show during its first year on Broadway. It was a happy day.

“My One Desire” – Stray Cats. They were huge when I was in high school. How fun to have this rockabilly craze going on when I was an adolescent. I have since followed Brian Setzer through his big-band swinging solo career. He’s great.

“Star Spangled Banner” – Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. Makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

“You Can’t Do That” – The Beatles. Groovy. I love the echo: “gonna letyoudownandleaveyouflat …”

“30 Seconds” – Tracy Bonham, from the The Burdens of Being Upright, the album with “Mother Mother” on it. There’s not a bad or boring track on it.

“Girls! Girls! Girls!” – Elvis, singing the title track to the movie of the same name. Dumb song, but I love what he does with it, and love the arrangement.

“Livin’ La Vida Loca” – Ricky Martin. This song cracks me UP. Oooh, that girl is CRAZY, she’s into “candlelight” and “dancing in the rain”. Who could live at that speed??

“Watching the Detectives” – Elvis Costello. I’ve seen him perform a bunch of times. I think I over-listened to him once upon a time. I still love his stuff (most of it anyway). It can be a little self-indulgent. But “What’s So Funny”, and “Pump It Up” are all-time favorites.

“My Darling Child” – Sinéad O’Connor, from Universal Mother, a wonderful album, one of my favorites of hers.

“Revolting Children” – the exhilarating call to arms from Matilda: The Musical, which I have not seen, but was blown away by their performance on the Tony’s this past Sunday. Wow. Here’s the number, as performed on Good Morning America.

“Ride” – Liz Phair, from whitechocolatespaceegg. She’s uncannily accurate. It’s almost scary. It’s also validating as hell. She’s so specific. I’ve written before about her.

“Hot Patootie / Bless My Soul” – good old Meat Loaf, from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which we were all so into in high school.

“Every Ghetto Every City” – Lauryn Hill. Such a great album, such a great song. Her troubles are a shame. Not so much because I agree with her (I don’t – girl, you’re a millionaire, pay your taxes, you don’t get to not pay your taxes, and your excuses are lame) – but because something seemed to happen to her along the way, keeping her from making music. I feel deprived.

“Wooly Bully” – Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs. Hahahaha. Awesome.

“What Goes Around / Comes Around Interlude” – Justin Timberlake. Such a hot album. I love the guy.

“Roll Over Beethoven” – Chuck Berry. He’s so great. This is from the 20th Century Masters Chuck Berry collection. It’s got a raw alive sound.

“Summerland” – again with the Everclear.

“I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell” – Elvis Presley, from Wild in the Country. Interesting words here from his co-star Millie Perkins. Aside from its place in the film (one of his best), I just want to say that I love the piano on this song. Zoom in to just the piano and glory in the awesomeness.

“Hey, Louis Prima” – Brian Setzer, from Guitar Slinger. Big swinging band sound, mixed with electric-guitar rock ‘n roll. Great sound.

“Summer Nights” – the Glee cast version of the song from Grease. John Travolta and his epic mythic sexiness in that film, which flows right over the line into camp, cannot be replaced.

“Jet Airliner” – The Steve Miller Band. Oh dear lord.

“I Love You” – Donna Summer. This Shuffle is insanely all over the place. I was afraid of this album when I was a kid. You opened it up, and there were pictures of hookers, and a guy’s hand on the wheel, with cash sticking out. The outfits were scary. I didn’t understand what it all meant, but I knew it was very grown-up and I didn’t want to know more.

“Man In Black” – Johnny Cash. Classic. It burns through the culture.

“William Bloat” – The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. So satisfying. One of my favorites of theirs. It all leads up to the final line, which gets a gigantic roar of laughter from the audience. It’s thrilling.

“Ready, Willing and Able” – Doris Day. Swinging, with a great tinny piano like you’re in an old saloon. She’s so awesome. This is from Young at Heart.

“Dear Lover” – Foo Fighters. Lovely. One of their (relatively) quiet ones. Beautiful.

“Botch-A-Me” – Rosemary Clooney. Absolutely ridiculous lyrics and she is so awesome with them. You can hear her smiling, practically. You always could.

“I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” – The Ink Spots. I find them extremely relaxing. I love the spoken-voice part here.

“Two Tribes” – Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Brill. It’s still pretty rocking. Insistent U2-ish beat.

“I Need Your Love Tonight” (take 1) – Elvis Presley, from the productive and thrilling 1958 RCA session, his last before disappearing into the Army. They had a lot of work to get done, stockpiling stuff to release during Elvis’s absence. I have the recordings of the entire session, and it’s amazing how tireless Elvis is (all of this is live, all of this is recorded in a 24-hour time period), how tireless the band is – Whatever happens here is a live take. The finished products are live takes. Getting everyone coordinated of course took a lot of repetition. I love these tracks. I love hearing the songs come together, take after take. This is Take 1.

“On the Street Where You Love” – Vic Damone. Damn, he can sing. The orchestration is old-school and melodramatic, strings and all that. Makes me want to smoke a cigarette and have a cocktail.

“Girl Next Door Went a’Walking” – Elvis Presley, from the awesome Elvis is Back album, the first album he put out after getting out of the Army. The display of styles, genres, feels, moods, on this album still dazzles. Love this one.

“Dance With Me Tonight” – The Wonders, from That Thing You Do! (The Wonders, of course, being the great Mike Viola, who didn’t get proper credit for all the work he did for that soundtrack.)

“Paddy’s Lament” – Sinéad O’Connor, from her album of traditional Irish ballads and airs, Sean-Nos Nua. I love her enough to have followed her through her reggae phase, her Theology phase, which tried my patience, but I was so happy she put out an album of real Irish songs. Her voice is eerie, chilling. (And I love her latest album!)

“For Love of Money” – Pat McCurdy. Earlier Pat (you can hear that he was still a smoker!)

“The Fool on the Hill” – The Beatles. I love the pipe (is that a flute? Or a recorder?)

“The Exception” – Shakira. Have you listened to the lyrics recently? Hilarious.

“Paint It, Black” – The Rolling Stones. Maybe my #1 RS song.

“Not Afraid” – Eminem. Good for you, Marshall.

“Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” – Dolly Parton with Nora Jones & Lee Ann Womack. Beautiful trio, listen to that harmony! Achingly beautiful and sweet.

“Heal the Pain” – George Michael & Paul McCartney. I find the melody soothing, in a particularly helpful way. In other words, the song helps to deliver on the promise of its title.

“Singin’ In Tongues” – Bleu. He can do anything. More about him here.

“Tennessee Waltz” – Sam Cooke. Bliss. You have to dance when you listen to this.

“Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” – Bob Dylan. Speaking of Dylan!

“Charlie Brown” – The Coasters. Lots of old-school ridiculous-ness on this Shuffle and it makes me very happy.

“They’re Moving Father’s Grave To Build A Sewer” – The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. Hahaha. It’s for a live audience and the mood is raucous. When “the British” are mentioned, you can hear the audience start to hiss. This is the world I grew up in.

“Show Me” – Julie Andrews, My Fair Lady. I mean, her pipes are always impressive but here they are positively intimidating.

“Disenchanted” – My Chemical Romance. Everything’s going to be okay, guys. Seriously. Lighten up.

“Paperback Writer” – The Beatles. I wonder what the reply to this letter was.

“Purple People Eater” – The Mad Professors. The world does not make sense and I love it. The chorus of voices, including children, sounds 100% demonic.

“Gas Panic!” – Oasis. He’s got a great rock-star voice. I wish I liked their songs better. This one ain’t bad, though.

“(I Got That) Boom Boom” – Britney Spears. I know you’ve got “boom boom”, Britney, I know. Everything’s going to be okay.

“Polk Salad Annie” – Elvis Presley, live in Vegas. Dirty, dirty, dirty.

“You Send Me” – Sam Cooke. His voice sends me.

“Fire In the City” – Brian Stokes Mitchell and cast of Ragtime. Great musical. Coalhouse Walker is going apeshit because his car was destroyed. He is on a path of destruction.

“I’ll Be Back” – Elvis Presley, from Spinout. Perhaps a bleak time in Elvis’ life, in terms of movie soundtracks, but I like Spinout. The mix on this is typical of the soundtrack songs, Elvis’ voice pushed way too far to the front, as per the Colonel’s instructions. Elvis hated it. He liked to blend with the Jordanaires, the musicians. I think he sounds like he’s having fun here, though, as dumb as it all is.

“Electioneering” – Radiohead. From OK Computer, which I remember basically taking over the whole damn world. You could not get away from that album, at least not at all of the parties I was going to at that time. I have a vivid memory of dancing on a cyclorama in a photographer’s studio in Soho at 2, 3 in the morning with a bunch of other partygoers to the entirety of this album. I was not on drugs.

“Hello, Dolly!” – Barbra Streisand. Mitchell and I have so many small bits that we love from this enormous production number. The anachronistic and fantastic duet with Louis Armstrong. Babs screaming, on tune, “I HEAR THEM TINKLE … I SEE THEM TWINKLE …”

“I’m So Tired” – The Beatles. I love how it starts as though you are sinking into a deep pillow of sleep and then suddenly gets loud and crazy. It’s exciting.

“Clean Up Your Own Backyard” – Elvis, from the really fun movie near the end of his career as a movie star, The Trouble With Girls. He’s not even really the lead in it. He’s great. Here, Elvis sings, telling everyone not only to mind their own damn business but to take care of business before criticizing others. But Elvis is sexy as hell here, with his chorus of black female singers behind him. Hot.

“Born to Run” – Frankie Goes to Hollywood covers the Bruce Springsteen song. I think it’s pretty fantastic.

“That’s All Right” – Elvis Presley. His first single. Recorded July 5, 1954. Of all the things to love about this song and this performance, one of the things I love most is that there isn’t a real ending. It just kind of trails off. The boys (Elvis, Scotty, Bill) expended their energy through the song, and once they’re done, they’re done. Elvis strums the guitar a couple of times and then, well, what else is there to do, nothing, so he just … stops. It’s that raw, that in-the-moment. You still can feel those three guys in that one room at that one time.

Dave Marsh writes in his book on Elvis:

Every rock writer returns to “That’s All Right”, as though to the Rosetta stone. It’s not the greatest record Presley ever made, and it certainly is not the bluesiest. But it has something else: a beautiful, flowing sense of freedom and release. Elvis’ keening voice, so sweet and young, playing off the guitars, Scotty’s hungry guitar choogling along neatly until it comes to the break, where it simply struts, definitive, mathematical, a precise statement of everything these young men are all about. Is it art? Is it history? Is it revolution? No one can know, not anymore, unless they were there to hear it before they’d heard any of the other music Elvis made or any of the rock & rollers who followed him. Is it pure magic, a distillation of innocence or just maybe a miracle, a band of cracker boys entering a state of cosmic grace?

What’s most remarkable, given how assiduously pursued this sound had been, is its spontaneity and unselfconsciousness. “That’s All Right,” like the best of the later Sun material (its B side, “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” “Milkcow Blues Boogie,” “You’re a Heartbreaker”, and, most of all, “Mystery Train”), sounds casual, the kind of music you could hear any day or every day, the kind of sound that has always been familiar but is still surprising. These men are reaching that elusive noise and once they have it in their grasp, they simply toy with it, flipping the thing back and forth among them as if they have been playing with it all their lives.

Here’s the record, on the wall at Graceland:

And I think here’s a perfect place to stop although, of course, the Shuffle goes on. Eternally.