I’ve been very sick. Nursing myself back to health and it’s slow-going. Thursday was a three-movie day: went to Hobbit screening in the a.m., then went to Birdman matinee, and then met up with Charlie for The Passionate Thief. Went to Selma screening last night (it’s terrific). Have my year-end polls to do and was waiting to see Selma before I made up my final tally. Doing all of this with flu-like symptoms was challenging but I powered through, with claritin, saline spray, and copious cough drop lozenges. My sleep has remained steady, so that’s really all that matters. What will I do when my iPod Classic bites the dust? What will I do? It’s so much a part of my life. Here’s the music that accompanied me on my flu-ridden meanderings through the city from screening room to screening room.
“Soul Survivor” – The Rolling Stones. Final track of Exile on Main Street, if I recall correctly. Mick is intense, but I am really drawn to Keith here. Killer sound. Huge.
“I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone” (take 9) – Elvis Presley. One of the Sun recordings. Sooo country, that twangy clip-clop guitar, but then his voice quivering with something else that needed to be unleashed. You can hear the merging/blending taking place, right here, in the moment.
“I Call Your Name” – The Beatles. From the Long Tall Sally EP, I think? 1964? Rough, raw, and PERFECT.
“Soon” – Squirrel Nut Zippers. Went through a big SNZ phase. This is my favorite song of theirs.
“Teenage Heaven” – Eddie Cochran. What a heartthrob.
What a loss.
“I Will” – Alison Krauss. Banjo-picking soulful cover of the Beatles song. I have an intense memory associated with the gentleman I just got a letter from, whose handwriting I recognized. The moment occurred at a county fair in Wisconsin, where I was meeting up with him, and was so intense my knees actually gave way. This song was playing as it all went down, and the lyrics seemed to describe what was happening in that moment. Sing it loud so I can hear you. I loved him more than I’ve ever loved anyone, and having it not work out made it seem like my life had been ship-wrecked. And that was just Phase One of it. Moving on.
“Precious Memories” – good ol’ Waylon Jennings. So far, this Shuffle has been Aces.
“It Might As Well Be Spring” – Doris Day. Every time she comes up now, I think of this.
“I Think He’s Hiding” – Randy Newman. He’s so psycho. I adore him.
“See You” – Foo Fighters. Like The Eminem Show, this album was one of the last albums I remember listening from start to finish, track by track, obsessively … for … a year? More? Music-buying is so different now. I still try to listen to albums (at least once, anyway) in the order in which the artist chose to place the songs.
“Heat Wave” – Marilyn Monroe. Go, Marilyn.
“Eat What You Want” – Siobhan O’Malley, my awesome sister. Check out her stuff. She’s amazing!
“Tragic” Symphony – Franz Schubert. Glorious and painful.
“I Had a Baby” – Sinéad O’Connor. I’m excited by where her career is going now. I’ve hung in there for a long time. Through the reggae, through Theology. I am a fan for life. Some really cool stuff seems to be happening right now.
“Hoodoo Voodoo” – Billy Bragg & Wilco. So joyous! Impossible to listen to and not “dance a goofy dance.”
“I Want You To Want Me” – Cheap Trick. I know what you want, boys, but life doesn’t work that way. You can’t force it so stop pressuring me!
“Kashmir” – Led Zeppelin. Ominous. Pounding. Eerie. Sexy, too, driving towards climax.
“Enter Sandman” – Metallica. It took me a while to extricate the song from this memory. Possible trigger warning for that link. Ha. I wish I had had a trigger warning before walking into that story. The story involves copious amounts of alcohol, 70s-era porn and me getting slapped in a bar bathroom. And loving it. So yeah, consider yourself warned. I would never publish that story now – writing in that way is what brought the crazy stalkers into my life, people who, to this day, harass me and send me mean anonymous emails. Whatever. That memory was the start of a really really terrible era in my life. Enter Sandman. Anyway, the song is such a favorite that I continued to listen to it, despite always finding myself back in Bellevue when I hear the first chords (not the mental hospital, but the bar – it was called Bellevue, hilariously).
“Four O’Clock Blues” – Skip James. Delta blues. The birth of a sound. The voice, that guitar. It has everything in it.
“From Home” – The Troggs. Super-sexy.
“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” – Bob Dylan. Bittersweet yearning tune notwithstanding, this song is one of the best and coldest disses ever put to music. “You just wasted my precious time.”
“He Got What He Wanted” – Little Richard. An insane song. Please look it up. Listen to it. Revel in how insane the performance is. And the orchestration. And the lyrics.
“A Big Hunk O’Love” – Elvis. One of his sexiest performances. 1958. Loud, rough, and listen to him moaning and grunting and singing during the breaks. These are all live takes with the band. He recorded this while on leave from basic training. He had a lot to unleash.
“The Road to Shamballa” – Good old Three Dog Night. Best blasted in the car as you careen down a wide open highway. On your way to the beach.
“Applause” – Lady GaGa. From ARTPOP, an album that is all over the damn place. This feels pretty stock.
“We Can Talk” – The Band. Woozy, bluesy, boozy, burlesque. They’re so great because the songs evoke an entire world, a place. Can’t you see it? The roadhouse? The off-the-beaten-path honky-tonk? A tent in a field, a country fair, a biker bar. The dance floor full of people.
“Do Me Now” – Robbie Williams. Sure thing, Robbie!
“Love Runs Out” – OneRepublic. Totally catchy. It’s on my workout mix. You must. keep. moving. when you hear it.
“Low Hangin’ Fruit” – Tenacious D. From their latest. This song gives me so much joy. “Don’t want no high class model in a designer fuckin’ bathing suit. We want the low-hangin’ fruit.” The song ROCKS and rocks HARD.
“A Woman, a Lover, a Friend” – Jackie Wilson. The man is, quite frankly, otherworldly. He inspired a generation. White boys, black boys, didn’t matter: he showed everyone up. On the Million Dollar Quartet recording, Elvis spends almost 10 minutes talking about seeing Jackie Wilson do “Don’t Be Cruel” in Vegas. People try to move the conversation on, but Elvis can’t move on. He keeps talking, doing imitations of Jackie Wilson … and he incorporated some of Wilson’s interpretation into his own, forever afterwards. Wilson was the One To Beat. People would watch him, listen to him, and just go BLANK trying to comprehend his genius.
“My Father’s Father” – The Civil Wars. They’re usually too painful for me to listen to. I have to be in a strong mood to be able to take it. I love them, but still … they’re so intense.
“Big River” – Johnny Cash. Here is what pure expression sounds like. It’s honest, and there are no barriers between the expression and the artist. He’s not ambivalent: out it comes. You cannot fake that kind of honesty or authenticity.
“In the Still of the Night” – The Five Satins. That sax, the slight echo on it … making it sound like you’re actually in a smoky dance-hall. It’s beautiful, perfect. The song creates a mood. No matter how many times you’ve heard it.
“Telstar” – The Tornadoes. Where on earth do I get all this stuff? Don’t get me wrong, I love that I have it. Shuffle is an unending adventure, what with 11,000+ songs – one of which appears to be “Telstar” by The Tornadoes.
“Baptize Me In Wine” – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Real bump-and-grind stuff, with a typically hilarious and outrageous performance from this great artist. I love it when he screams, especially from the background.
“I Miss You” – Brenda Lee. I adore her. She set records in the 1960s that weren’t broken for 20, 25 years. Until Madonna. I admit I like her rough rocking stuff better than the ballads. Her voice is so … harsh (not a bad thing). She SWUNG it, baby. But this is good, too.
“Walkin’ In and Out of Your Arms” – k.d. lang. I was a huge Absolute Torch and Twang fan, and still am. Those songs still swing. I lost track of lang after that. I know she did some torch-song type stuff, and I didn’t care for it. I like her country-ish stuff. Hell of a voice, great songs, too.
“When You Were Mine” – the great Cyndi Lauper. That album was essential. Here she does a Prince song and owns it. And of course now I think of Greil Marcus’ commentary about “Money Changes Everything.”
“Guitar Boogie” – Carl Perkins. Masterful stuff.
“One of My Bad Habits” – Waylon Jennings. The man is in a world of trouble. He’s got to quit everything! This situation can’t go on!
“Honest I Do” – The Rolling Stones. From their debut album. Bluesy and burlesquey, with a harmonica solo that sounds like it is emerging from the bottom of a well.
“Cool, Calm, and Collected” – The Rolling Stones, from Between the Buttons. Lots of Stones in this Shuffle! This feels British music-hall-ish, with a rollicking kazoo solo. I love the Stones but am not an expert in their career, so take my impressions for what it’s worth. This is from a 1967 album, the same year as Sgt. Pepper. It feels Sgt. Pepper-y. Like something heard on a victrola played either too fast or too slow. With a music hall feeling to it.
“Citadel” – The Rolling Stones. Holy mackerel, it’s a cluster! The song feels rough, hard, driving, that insistent guitar from Richards pushing the song along. Also from 1967.
“Can’t Pull the Wool Down (Over The Little Lamb’s Eyes) – Maria McKee. She’s so wonderful. I feel proud to know her. She’s great. What a voice, right?
“I Want Some Sugar In My Bowl” – Nina Simone. Talk to me, Nina. I could stand some loving too. Her voice aches with her experience: “I feel so funny. I feel so sad.”
“Song for the Deaf” – Queens of the Stone Age. I was so into them for a hot second that I could not get past this album. The phase passed, but I still love that album.
“In This Windy Old Weather” – The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. It’s live, and they ask the audience to sing. You can hear the crowd join in. “Let’s raise the roof!” It’s emotional.
“C’mon Everybody” – Eddie Cochran again. “I got some money in my jeans …” Talk to me, big boy. He was the voice of the Teenage Dream. His parents are gone, he’s got the house to himself, he wants everyone to come over!
“Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” – Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn. Classic.
“The Hammer (Keeps A Knockin’) – Faye Adams. Her voice is out of control. That vibrato, the choices she makes, the commitment she pours into every single moment. I love her.
“Lucille” – Waylon Jennings. Absolutely gorgeous aching country version of Little Richards’ nutso rock ‘n’ roll hit. Oh, Waylon. Stop being awesome.
“Xanadu” – Olivia Newton-John and ELO. Just keepin’ it real here, folks.
“Fast Train Down” – The Waco Brothers. Kind of love these guys. Country mixed with … punk? From Chicago.
“Dear Jessie” – Madonna. My God, I had forgotten about this song. From Like a Prayer, which I had on cassette tape: the cassette tape was (remember?) scented with patchouli. I don’t care for that smell so it was rather annoying. But I did love this album. “Dear Jessie” was Madonna being sickly-sweet, “if the land of make-believe is inside your heart, it will never leave.” If you say so, girl!
“Am I Blue?” – Billie Holiday. Not much to say except, Wow.
“One Vision” – Queen, live at Wembley Stadium. Honestly, they’re like Pharaohs. The sound of that crowd.
“Deja Vu” – Eminem. From Relapse. That’s a pretty sad picture you’re paintin’ there, Marshall.
“You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” – Bob Dylan. I imagine I’m not alone when I say I’ve got major personal associations tied up with this song.
“How Are You Getting Home?” – Sparks. I love this album (Indiscreet) and this song has a great sound, great chords.
“Talking About My Baby” – The Impressions. Smooooth, gorgeous, happy doo-wop/soul. Their voices! The blend of them!
“Even Flow” – Pearl Jam. The song has a macho swagger to it that I really like. It’s aggressive, not recessive. I honestly heard it one too many times on the radio in 1991 or whenever it was it came out, but still, it’s good.
“All Apologies” – Nirvana, from their iconic MTV Unplugged concert. The lyrics still get me.
“The Judas Kiss” – Metallica. A thrilling song. Lars is INSANE. I like to listen to their stuff and try to isolate out Lars from all that noise. It’s always crazy, what he is doing back there. This song is a perfect example of my brother’s comment: “Metallica is metal for math nerds.”
“Don’t Be Cruel” – Elvis, from the “Million Dollar Quartet”. A gathering of Elvis, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis (there was no quartet, there were only three of them) in December 1956 at Sun Records. An impromptu jam session started, and Sam Phillips had the wherewithal to turn on the tape recorder. And speaking of Jackie Wilson up above: Here, Elvis launches his monologue about seeing this singer with Billy Ward and his Dominos – he didn’t know his name then – (“a colored guy … he was a Yankee, you know”) in Las Vegas, do “Don’t Be Cruel” and totally re-thought the song, the singer Elvis saw performed it at such a level that Elvis knew he had been shown up. Elvis upped his game because of what he saw Wilson do (and you can see the result of it in his final appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in January, 1957). Elvis talks and talks and talks about Jackie Wilson’s version, doing imitations, bursting out laughing, filled with admiration and awe. “He was much better than the record I put out …” Elvis said.
“Murder Incorporated” – Bruce Springsteen. Love those opening chords. Rocking.
“The Coventry Carol” – The Monks of Glenstal Abbey. If you don’t know these men, check them out. Listening to them is like praying. Or, no, it’s not “like” praying. It is praying.
“Runnin’ Away” – Sly & The Family Stone. From There’s a Riot Goin’ On, the album that was rejected by critics originally (where was all that happy “we are all one” stuff they used to do??) – and is now considered a masterpiece. And it is. It’s a sad and scary album, the culture breaking apart. You can feel/hear it.
“Blue Day” – Waylon Jennings. Early Waylon, I’m pretty sure. I love all phases of Waylon’s career: it had great integrity. He found his own way. He plowed through a lot of bull shit, carving out a space for himself (and others) to maneuver. He gave up his seat on the plane that went down, killing his dear friend and mentor Buddy Holly. Waylon was on that same tour. That plane crash and the death of his friend put him in a mindfuck-headspace for years. But he found his own way. And when the “outlaw” thing started wearing thin, he moved on. He was honest.
“The Sound of Your Cry” – Elvis. Big, gorgeous, dramatic Elvis. From his country album. People who wanted him to get rough and raw again hated material like this, resented it. I don’t at all. This is just as honest as the stuff from early in his career. This, too, is Elvis. He also loved to show off his pipes. The big huge ballads gave him an opportunity to do that. And he fucking MEANS this shit.
“8 Easy Steps” – Alanis Morissette. Another one of her “list” songs. She can’t help herself. She’s an obsessive counter!
“The Ballad of Stagger Lee” – Mississippi John Hurt. For those of you who have read Mystery Train (Greil Marcus again) you will remember well his extraordinary essay on this song, and how it has morphed and changed, and what that character of Stagger Lee (or Staggolee) signifies. I have so many different versions of the song, sung by so many people. This one is haunting. It’s almost 8 minutes long. And Mississippi John Hurt talks it, tells it. It’s incredible.
“Broken Heart Attack” – Jerry Reed. He was so insane. I ADORE HIM. Bad bad boy, wild man. This is from the album called Alabama Wild Man, and the title explains it all. He’s a genius.
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” – The Beatles. Still exciting. Still blasts out of the speakers.
“It Feels So Right” – Elvis Presley. One of Elvis’ sexiest tracks. And considering how sexy so many of his tracks are, that’s saying something. This one oozes intention. I wrote a whole post about his performing of it in Tickle Me and how incredibly he uses himself. Like a woman. Like a bodacious Mae West woman. Totally unembarrassed about putting himself out there as an object. Fearless. Comfortable in that realm. The power of it still blows the walls back.
“Until Jesus Calls Me Home” – Sam Cooke, with the Soul Stirrers. Soooo beautiful.
“Highway to Hell” – AC/DC. YES. They’ve announced tour dates for 2015. Note to self …
“I Hate Myself For Losing You” – Kelly Clarkson. Woman can sing. I love her best when she’s pissed off, like here. Her Christmas album is great, too.
“Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone” – Dean Martin. Ohhhh, Dino. He’s one of those rare performers who I think is actually perfect. There is nothing wrong with him. There is nothing about him that doesn’t work. A natural performer. He was as easy onstage as he was when he was by himself – maybe more easy. I love, too, how you can hear him smiling when he sings.
“Smoke On the Water” – Deep Purple. Ha! You know, it’s all about that guitar hook.
“Rolling in the Deep” – Adele. Already a classic. And now covered by Aretha. So, you know. It’s all set.
“No One Else But You” – Brendan Benson. I adore him. He’s so prolific. I buy every single thing he does. Or at least I try – there’s so much of it. I think he’s a marvelous songwriter.
“Óró ‘Sé Do Bheatha ‘Bhaile” – The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem, live at Carnegie Hall, an album I probably heard as I was emerging into this world. I don’t speak Gaelic, but I can sing this song phonetically. It’s great, too, because the whole audience in Carnegie Hall sings along. Wrote a post about this song.
“Honey Bop” – Wanda Jackson. She’s the best. So psyched I saw her live. She’s still out there, doing her thing, touring.
“Blue Monday” – Huey Lewis & The News. From their really cool (and hard to find) album Four Chords and Several Years Ago. 1. My very first concert was going to see Huey Lewis in Providence, R.I. 2. Years later, I was an extra in the video made for the Four Chords album. I’ve only been able to find one clip of it, and can’t see myself dancing up on that scaffold, but believe me, I’m there!
“Gett Off” – Prince. I love this whole album. I love him, in general. Lost … something … while one of his songs was playing. “International Lover,” to be exact, which I realize is RIDICULOUS, but I must tell the truth.
“Busted” – Ray Charles. Brill. The man is in a sorry situation.
“Piggies” – The Beatles. Damn you, Charlie Manson, for co-opting this song. Fuck you and your minions. For so many obvious reasons, but also for this.
“Ya Had Me Goin'” – Bleu. With Mike Viola, on their ELO-inspired joint album called L.E.O. Alpacas Orgling. Bleu is such a rock-star. I don’t care that he plays small clubs with 100 people there. He is a rock star. Went and saw Bleu in November of 2012. I was just starting my descent into psychosis there, and although it might not be obvious to others, I can feel the darkness roaring up at me from below in my writing there. I was in deep shit. Sometimes I want to delete all the posts from November/December 2012, as well as those from June-July 2009, but whatever, I will let them stand. Psychosis or no, it was awesome to see Bleu live. His songs touch me, and he’s wonderful in person. You should check him out!
“My Baby Likes Western Guys” – Brenda Lee. This strikes me as hysterical. Her voice is so HUGE. What the hell is happening. Does it matter? Her boyfriend “likes all the Western guys” and “has no use for her tonight.” Looks like you’ve got some problems, Brenda, for real, girl.
“The Wild Boys” – Duran Duran. Hilarious.
“Beggin My Baby” – Little Milton. One of the guys recorded at Sun Records. You can pick out the Sun Records sound out of a lineup. It’s like Motown in that way. Immediately discernible. Those who know more than I do could pontificate on what that sound really is. All I know is I know it when I hear it. Authenticity is, I guess, the key word.
“Asshole” – Eminem (featuring Skylar Grey). From his latest. Scary brilliant. So fast, so pissed. I will remember 2014 as the year I saw him in concert. He was amazing live. I like him best when he’s mad (like … really mad), but I like all Eminems. He’s an artist.
“Save the Last Dance For Me” – the great Dolly Parton. I absolutely adore her version of this song.
“I’m Ready To Go Home” – The Louvin Brothers. They’re nuts. Their harmonies are perfect. Their religion is terrifying. I love it all.
“I Saw the Light” – Hank Williams. Tap your foot, get saved. What’s it like to be such a pioneer? To be so out in front of the pack? To break new ground? To cross over to that degree, and be the first one to do it?
“Do Rae Me” – Eminem, and Lloyd Banks. Eminem’s daughter Hailey has a cameo in this one. “Hailey!” “Yeah?” “Bring Daddy his Oscar!” “Okay!” Brat. (Him, not her.)
“It’s Electric” – Metallica. From their album of covers. I think it’s a lot of fun. This one is a Diamond Head song.
“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” – Elvis Presley. It makes me ache. I don’t know why. He skips off the surface of the song. The pace is fast, bluegrass-y. Elvis is practically snarking his way through it, but I sense … something else going on for him. It’s complicated.
“Rollin'” – Randy Newman. He’s so wonderful. The arrangements … the piano, the strings … So melancholy.
“Black Betty” – Ram Jam. Another workout-mix favorite.
“Little Red Corvette” – Prince. The sound of college.
“4 Carats” – Kelly Clarkson. From her super-fun Christmas album, that has covers, but also new songs. It’s a lot of fun. Girl wants a diamond ring for Christmas. Don’t disappoint her.
“Crazy On You” – Heart. Absolutely killer opening guitar. I mean, the whole song really … The Heart women out-tomcat their male counterparts, and it’s thrilling. Their songs are like, “Don’t care what your name is, just do me now, and do it right.”
“A Swingin’ Safari” – Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra. WTF. I’m not complaining, but still. WTF.
“Do You Love Me Now” – The Breeders. These girls were bad-asses. I still miss them. This is a great song.
“1816, The Year Without a Summer” – Rasputina. Talk about bad-asses. I LOVE THEM.
“Down On Love” – Jamie Dunlap. I feel you on that.
“Four Till Late” – Robert Johnson. Goosebumps. All over my body.
“Reet Petite” – Jackie Wilson. I mean … really? He was on another plane. Untouchable.
“Fuck Her Gently” – Tenacious D. “I’m gonna fuck you softly, I’m gonna screw you gently, I’m gonna hump you sweetly, I’m gonna ball you discreetly …” So stupid. So funny.
“The Likes Of Me” – Pat McCurdy. Hey, Pat, where you been? Usually you’re extremely bossy on my iPod. Now, not so much. He’s an old friend. We’ve been through a shit-ton together. Although you’d never know it from this. If you live in the Wisconsin/Minnesota/Illinois area, go see him live. It will be like attending a cult meeting, just know that going in. I am a long-time member of that cult. I appear on one of his albums, he wrote a duet specifically for us – which pretty much captures/describes the excitement of that whole time (we sang the song facing each other in a little studio in Milwaukee – a live take, the two of us together, and if I recall we only did one take), I’m thanked in the liner notes for another album called Fainting With Happiness, I performed with him at the Milwaukee Summer Fest for thousands of drunk lunatics, that’s how involved in the cult I am. But trust me: he’s incredible.
“Suddenly Seymour” – Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene, from Little Shop of Horrors. It makes me cry. Every damn time.
“Lookin’ Back” – Bob Seger. Live. Awesome. Lester Bangs wrote an interesting essay about Bob Seger.
“Bon Voyage” – Jane McGarrigle, Kate & Anna McGarrigle. Painful and so beautiful. As always, when the McGarrigle sisters come up, I must point to Lian Lunson’s gorgeous concert film, Sing Me the Songs That Say I Love You: A Concert for Kate McGarrigle.
“Dream a Little Dream” – Robbie Williams and Lily Allen, a dreamy romantic duet, from his latest swing album, Swing Both Ways, which I adore.
“Sweet Transvestite” – Tim Curry, from Rocky Horror. This song used to be played at high school dances and everyone would strut around singing the lyrics. Was this normal?
“He’s a Man” – Madonna, from the Dick Tracy soundtrack. One of my favorite songs of hers, ever. This is my favorite Madonna Era.
“Kokomo” – The Beach Boys. You know what? They’re timeless.
“My Little Shirtwaist Fire” – Rasputina. Like I said: I love these chicks. Who else does a song about the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire? And it’s a great song.
“House of the Rising Sun” – Jerry Reed, doing a cover. It’s eerie. I almost prefer it to the original. Listen to that guitar.
I guess there’s as good a place to stop as any. Jerry Reed is always a good place to stop.
I wish there were an easy way that you could distribute this list in machine-readable form, so that your readers could easily find those recordings.
Ha – that would be awesome!
Good to see some off the run Stones here. Between the buttons was your typical mid sixties English pop/rock album with some fine songs. “Yesterday’s Papers” being my personal favorite. It was their following album -Their Satanic Majesty’s Request- which was an attempt at Sgt. Pepper part 2 that nearly ruined the band. Somehow out of that experience “Jumpin Jack Flash” and “Honky Tonk Woman” soon followed and then Beggars Banquet and the rest as they say is history.
Also good to see some Blood on the Tracks Dylan.
Are you into Damien Rice at all? I’ve sort of just come around on him and really enjoying.
DG – thanks for your Stones expertise. Really interesting – I have pretty much all of their stuff, but just don’t have their “story” in my head the way I do Elvis’ story. So thanks!
// Somehow out of that experience “Jumpin Jack Flash” and “Honky Tonk Woman” soon followed //
Amazing how that works!! I don’t mind Satanic Majesty – although you can really feel that it’s not “them.” Did the fans reject it outright? I need to re-read Keith’s awesome book, I’m forgetting the details.
Recently I was searching on Rolling Stone (the magazine) for a playlist Tom Petty had created for them, best blues numbers from Elvis – I remember loving his commentary but couldn’t find the link. In searching for it, I found this recent article with a bunch of great quotes from Tom Petty – where he discusses Elvis, The Beatles, and The Stones – and how that trifecta of MONSTER ROCK STARS affected his generation, the ones coming right behind. I always like to hear what he has to say – anyway, here’s the link:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-petty-rolling-stones-were-my-punk-music-20140717
I don’t know Damien Rice at all – tell me more. Did you not like him at first?
What should I start with?
Power through you sweet girl. Better yet catch a flight to fort wort via Dallas. Am nursing daughter with torn knee and active toddler. U know me YOUNG gma. Your age!! It’s 70!!! here today. Sunshine and old movies await you!!! Post man always rings twice tomorrow morning and The Wife tomorrow afternoon !!
Lisa – thanks! You’re so sweet!!
The most annoying thing is I got a flu shot.
Grrrrr.
Jerry Reed might be almost as genius as Roger Miller. Certainly his songs are frequently as literate and witty. I love “Broken Heart Attack,” went and found it when I read this piece, I’d never heard it before. I’ve always loved Amos Moses, with it’s remarkable asides (so strong he could wrestle an alligator with one hand [because an alligator bit the other one off all the way to the elbow]), a son who could eat up his weight in groceries, etc. etc. Christmas “Rapping.” Ha ha! I searched for the lyrics to Broken Heart Attack. They aren’t readily available. I might have to stop everything and transcribe them. I could easily do it, as I speak southern pretty good. Take care of yourself. The flu’s nothing to mess with.
He really was so hilarious. I love “She got the goldmine. I got the shaft.”
U.S. Male? Sooo funny. Of course Elvis owns that one in his performance – it feels like he wrote it himself it’s so humorous and honest, but Jerry Reed brought out such interesting things in Elvis. A swaggering 100% male thing – like Guitar Man, but also U.S. Male – that saves itself by being goofily self-deprecating. It’s a fascinating mix.
Jerry Reed’s guitar-playing too … He’s a maestro!
Elvis doing U.S. Male, which I’m sure you know:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueVJ-wriH3Y
There are a couple of out-takes with all of these very funny improv moments from Elvis – talking in between the lines, stuff that goes on during the fade-out – and in one of them, Elvis swaggers, all bluff and brash:
“I’m a U.S. Male. An American U.S. Male, son …”
So funny. And Elvis knows it’s funny. Like, yeah, we got it, we understand, please stop talking now.
I was on a Chet Atkins tear yesterday and came across this clip, where Jerry Reed also blows me away. The guitar!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni8KBhnebwE
Even Jerry seems ready to pass the baton to Chet after that picking. Good Lord!
The stones were my punk music… That’s great from Petty. This guy Damien Rice is a bit of an enigma. An Irishman , In 2002 he released a a really fine debut album title “O” . The songs “Volcano” and “Cannonball” stand out for me. If you YouTube either of these you see he’s got a nice lass singing with his band and that they are more than musical partners. 4 years later he releases his album “9” to solid but not quite as good as the debut reviews. Somewhere along this time his singing band mate ,Lisa Hannigan, dumps him. He literally disappeared for like the 8 years since. She goes on to make two pretty good albums as a solo act. Just in October he finally released his third album which I’m just familiarizing myself with.
Intriguing – thanks for all this. I will check him out for sure.
I love Petty’s feeling as a kid that following in Elvis’ footsteps or the Beatles’ footsteps was just not feasible – they were untouchable somehow, singular – not really aspirational.
As great as the Stones are – they felt more real to him. Like, “Hey, I could do that.”
I thought that was an interesting perspective.
Re Damien Rice backstory, here’s a very interesting song by his ex-musical partner, who’s also given an interview about why she’ll never work with him again.
http://youtu.be/cNKbuHwIImo
Who knows. I like her song a lot better than his.
The plot thickens!
Re the Stones ’60s era. Looking back at it all now, I have to say that having a movie directed by Goddard is worth quite a bit more than one directed by Lester. Just sayin’.
I don’t know – don’t really like that Godard. I understand its importance – and it’s completely INSANE and entertaining to some degree, as well as a document of Godard’s state of mind (which all his films are – including his latest, which is WACKY.) I love Godard.
But I like the Lester better.
Two completely different films, though, with two completely different concerns.
(Don’t you just hate it when your commenters argue.) Here’s an interesting take on Satanic Majesty, which was certainly never my favorite album either (I own the bootleg of the Altamont show, which I bought on the streets of Height-Ashbury in the weeks after the lads passed through the bay area, in a plain white sleeve–a lot of the cuts ended up on YaYas I think, or Let it Bleed); it’s still a great listen: “the blue light was my blues, the red light was my mind…”.
http://www.furious.com/perfect/satanicmajesties.html
If this is arguing, then this is the most civilized place on the Internet! :)
Cool in re: Altomont bootleg!!
Speaking of Altomont: an Internet pal, who writes only about horror movies, recently watched Gimme Shelter for the first time and she said it scared her more than most horror movies did. “I had such a feeling of overwhelming dread for the whole entire thing …”
It was fun to read someone’s first response to it.
I actually thought of Altomont a couple of times while watching Inherent Vice. That feeling of dread is encapsulated in Pynchon’s book – mixed with deadpan humor, and Anderson gets at it in his film as well – along with the goofy “whatever, let’s party” escapism of it all.
But who am I to say. I didn’t live through it. Still: a fascinating era.
The soundtrack PTA used for Inherent Vice is fascinating too – he didn’t just go for contemporary songs of the era, because for him the story was about nostalgia, more than anything else – and so those in the film are all looking back on a more innocent time. So the soundtrack has, for example, Sam Cooke on it – and others.
My pal Glenn Kenny interviewed PTA about the soundtrack – it’s a great read.
http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/paul-thomas-anderson-inherent-vice-music-films-interview/
Sadly – the day that interview went up, Wondering Sound announced it would be closing up shop. So read it while the getting’s good!
As a watchable movie, yes you’re right. But as a director, Godard is breathtaking, and I’d think that having him getting interested in my band would be a more amazing “credit” in the great cosmic accounting than if it were Lester that made a movie about my band. That is, “Godard’s mind found me of interest” vs “Lester’s mind found me of interest” is my point. But Godard was at that time always very drawn to generating boredom in his audience, and generally exploring the fundamental nature of film, rather than making an entertaining movie. I hated “Weekend.” I loved “Le Chinoise.” And of all of his work, “Contempt” just gets better and better on each viewing, and there he’s competing with Truffaut even though he made his movie ten years earlier!
Yes, I get your point. I agree, that whatever Godard is interested in is what he puts up onscreen – feeling zero obligation to placate the audience – and that is why he can be maddening/brilliant/hilarious/preachy – however the mood takes him. I love that he would film the Stones in that context and not give a shit about giving the audience what they wanted. I respect the hell out of that.
In that respect, though, my point is: you can’t compare the two films at all. The only thing they have in common is that they feature the biggest rock group of the day. I imagine people going into the Godard, thinking they will see a rock ‘n’ roll movie, will fault the MOVIE for not being that – and that’s always a mistake. Because Godard is clearly not interested in that.
I sometimes find Godard’s brattiness (ha!) tiresome, but I really do love his stuff.
Have you seen Goodbye to Language yet? It’s barely getting a release here – it’s his 3-D movie. It’s playing in only one or two theaters in New York. It’s pretty wonderful. He is STILL doing his thing. Uncompromising. Love that about him.
I think Contempt may be my favorite Godard, although I waffle – Breathless has that magic something. But Contempt: I just LOVE all of those great long talking scenes, through the apartment and elsewhere. Great great movie about marriage. Brutally honest. Bardot is amazing.
I recently re-watched Masculin Feminin again. I first saw it in college and was absolutely stunned by it – made before I was born, it seemed to describe EXACTLY my college world, my artsy friends, my political friends. It was eerie.
Now, of course, I can see beyond my own context. He’s talking about his own generation, his own very specific generation … its heartless quality (that guillotine!), its commitment to its ideals – the traps in that, the allure of it – “the children of Marx and Coca Cola” (such a great phrase).
I love that movie.
// But Godard was at that time always very drawn to generating boredom in his audience, and generally exploring the fundamental nature of film, rather than making an entertaining movie. //
Totally agree – and he’s STILL doing it.
Will be very curious to hear what you think of his latest!
It’s challenging – it’s about film – it’s about the image – about what it means to SEE – it’s about 3D – and messing with the subtitles – but it also still has all of those political and sexual concerns that he has been working over/worrying over since the beginning.
The world so needs more of directors who do not pander to the audience, but make the audience deal with it. I’m not disagreeing a bit with what you’re saying re the Beatles movies as movies. I’m very very pleased that you rank “Contempt” up there as I do. During that same historical moment when I bought the Stones bootleg in San Francisco, I went to a screening of Contempt at UC Berkeley. I sat just behind Fritz Lang, who was of course a featured guest and spoke afterwards. I so wish I had known much more about film at that time. It’s taken me a number of viewings of Contempt to begin to love it as I do now. The conversations are marvelous. But how about that final set? The amazing “house.” If you’ve never read about that place, it has it’s own incredible story too, which is very findable on line. It was built during WW II. I hope I’ll get to see Godard’s newest. Where I live 3-D is likely not an option. Sigh.
// I sat just behind Fritz Lang, who was of course a featured guest and spoke afterwards. //
Fabulous! Wow, so envious – what a great convergence of entities – The Stones, Altomont, Godard, Contempt, and Fritz Lang!
and yes, my God, that house in Contempt! The stairs on the roof. It’s like some giant amphitheater where a tragic Greek play is being acted out.
For me, the real guts of it are that middle scene, in the apartment – where she’s trying to take a bath, and they argue. It’s just … filmed SO well, first of all – but also acted beautifully – there is so much text, and those takes are long – it all feels so real. I know there were those who were like, What the hell is Godard doing with this type of material?? but I really really love it.
// The world so needs more of directors who do not pander to the audience, but make the audience deal with it. //
I totally agree.
and I will check out the history of that extraordinary house. Thanks for the tip!
I do agree, too, that the heart of the movie is mainly before they go to “the house.” And Bardot is wonderful in the film. Trying to film the things not said is always a task, but that’s a whole lot of life, and a whole lot about the human condition, the stuff not said, not even realized. I can’t recall if I’ve seen Masculin/Feminin, so I’ll order it up again. I love “Two Or Three Things I Know About Her” too.
The other director who works so hard at filming obliquely is Antonioni, particularly the black and white “trilology” before Red Desert and Blow Up. There must be a lot of connectiveness between Godard and Antonioni. Zabriski Point is kind of his Le Chinoise. Too bad someone couldn’t have used Keef as a lead in some movie. The ’60s needed the directors of the style that could make Lana Turner into the remarkable femme fatale in Postman.
Interesting thoughts about Antonioni – I admit I haven’t seen a lot of his stuff, although of course Blow Up and Zabriskie Point, I’ve seen. He strikes me as rather cold – which, I suppose, is the point – but I may be missing some subtleties.
Vanessa Redgrave is so memorable in Blow Up.
My pal Dan Callahan talks a lot about the movie in his biography of Vanessa – he said a funny thing: When the book came out, they did a screening of Blow Up at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens – Dan introduced the film and did a book signing afterwards. And the audience was FULL of men – who had seen it, obviously, on its first release – they were of that age where Vanessa Redgrave was THE star. And so many of them had the impression that she had been naked in the movie – they would say to Dan, “Wasn’t she naked in the movie?”
She’s NOT. You just see her naked back – but the impression is so sexual that these men had remembered her as fully nude. Dan thought that was great.
I interviewed Dan for Rogerebert.com and he discussed that here:
http://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/the-greatest-living-actress-author-dan-callahan-on-the-legacy-of-vanessa-redgrave
// Too bad someone couldn’t have used Keef as a lead in some movie. The ’60s needed the directors of the style that could make Lana Turner into the remarkable femme fatale in Postman. //
Totally.
Hi, Sheila, can’t wait to read this but need to go have my picture taken. Not a happy camper. Have no neck (cord was around it, hahaha) and what I have now is a waddle. Getting old is not for sissies. But I had to write about your picture. It is GORGEOUS. Love the hair. Red hair. Love it. Is that something new? Can’t remember the last time I saw a picture of you. Anyway, I’m nursing a cold I picked up in West New York over Thanksgiving and the weather here in Keene is not adding to the gaiety of the nations (as Ruth Gordon used to say), so can empathize on the being sick part. Anyway, Merry Christmas, and will catch up with your iPod when I get back. Can’t wait. These are some of my favorite postings of yours. Take care.
Melissa – Good luck with getting your picture taken! Love the Ruth Gordon quote.
I always have red hair! But yeah, it looks REAL red in that picture!
Please come back and talk about music, when you have a second – I love the conversations these Shuffles bring up!
I just loved inthe Godard film seeing “Sympathy” being born, going through its childhood and finally ending up with all those muscles…. Interesting thing about the song… No guitar other than that killer Keith solo in the middle and the similar one for the outro… Bill I think I read it here on Sheila’s site but Lester Bangs said Ya Ya’s was like the best record he’d ever heard… And I think I agree.
Lester Bangs was basically in a codependent abusive relationship with The Stones – ha!! He LOVED them, and they drove him CRAZY. They made him want to tear his hair out! Reading his Stones columns in chronological order is like witnessing a nervous breakdown.
I didn’t remember that about Bangs and the Ya Ya’s but that sounds about right!
In re: Godard: I absolutely respect the process-oriented approach, and found watching all of them in the studio, working like that, to be riveting. There’s nothing else like it!
I love Godard, but there’s parts of him that drive me crazy. I suppose that’s as it should be. He’s difficult. But always well worth it.
I just went to go look up the Lester Bangs Stones stuff – and had forgotten that one of the essays is called “1973 Nervous Breakdown.”
haha So that must have stuck in my brain.
Bill, ouch! I mean he’s pining for her and that’s her take…I was hoping this new album of his would be sort of a Blood on the Tracks thing(this post by Sheila reminded me of the whole thing) but I don’t think it is … if you see her say hello she might be in Tangiers type of thing.
Well if Rice gets anywhere close to Blood on the Tracks he’ll get my ears, that’s for sure. I get your point, Dg. :)
//What will I do when my iPod Classic bites the dust? What will I do? It’s so much a part of my life. //
Day after announced they were discontinuing these, I ran to the nearest Apple store and demanded they bring one from the stock room (they had already been removed from the shelves) to replace the one I had that was in the process of dying.
Not sure what I’ll do when this goes. I use it daily.
That was such a smart move, Dan! Mine is still working fine but … I worry.
Me too! I feel like I have to handle mind extra carefully now – paranoid about breaking it.
Completely unrelated – your ipod & music posts remind of this book I’m reading, which I highly recommend as a fun and breezy non-fiction read: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé.
That sounds great, Dan – thanks for the rec!
Sheila –
I thought if you just created a playlist that was your entire library on an iPhone or recent iPod and set it to play on shuffle, that it would act like an iPod Classic or iPod Shuffle. Is that not the case?
I have 11,000 songs on my iPod though – with so much space left that I could never hope to fill it. That’s the draw of it – to walk around with that huge library. My iPhone couldn’t take all that music!!
and I don’t know about the recent iPods – my understanding is that they are radically different – and I just like the classic, I like the rolling feature, I don’t want to swipe for music. Maybe Dan can weigh in on the differences.
Size matters. Got it.
The joy of shuffle for me is that it forces me to deal with the Random-ness of life. It’s a good mental exercise.
I must segue from Waylon Jennings to You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile, and that’s just the way it goes.
So in the meantime, I protect my iPod Classic like it’s the dragon’s gold.
Re “Interesting thoughts about Antonioni – I admit I haven’t seen a lot of his stuff, although of course Blow Up and Zabriskie Point, I’ve seen. He strikes me as rather cold – which, I suppose, is the point – but I may be missing some subtleties. ”
You really must see L’Aaventura, L’eclise, and La Notta. All three. I’m not sure which I like the best. Perhaps L’eclise, which I found out recently doesn’t mean exactly “The Eclipse,” which is what I always thought, but more “the absence,” which makes the last ten minutes suddenly make wonderful sense. And as well as Monica Vitti, Alain Delon is in that one. La Notta is probably the most perfectly realized. I expect one could write a great book on the artistic parallels between Antonioni and Godard–the Godard of the ’60s at least.
I did see L’Avventura in high school – but yeah, missed a lot of his others – will get right on that, thanks for the push!
You can shuffle your library on the iphone and new ipods, but since I’m a (very) small ‘c’ conservative I prefer the old click wheel design.
The big appeal of the Classic is the storage capacity. If you’re a giant nerd me, who feels the need to have all 80GB of your music library with you at all times, then only the Classic will do.
All hail the small ‘c’ conservative! Ha – I feel the same way, I like the click wheel.
I’m clearly extremely attached. As well as a music nerd. Maybe there will be some new type of technology where you can carry around your entire enormous music library at all times? We can’t be the only ones who understand the appeal of that!
We’re not the only ones – but unfortunately there’s not enough of us to create sufficient demand for Apple to continue the Classic.
I’m hoping (fingers crossed) that when my Classic dies, there will be newer models of the iPod with sufficient memory, in in the 100+ GB range.
The iPhone also works as an iPod. I haven’t really used my Classic much in years.
Yes, I know that – but the question is can my iPhone hold 11,000+ songs? That is the appeal for me – collector/hoarder that I am.
Can YOUR iPhone hold 11,000+ songs? Probably not, unless you got it in the last two months. The newest version has a 128GB drive, which should be able to hold that many with some room to spare.
Hmmm okay. Yes I have a new one. I like the separateness of the iPod though. My Classics still in good shape!