The Friday Five: April 15, 2011
Friday Five : ‘frī-(,)dā,-dē ‘fīv : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.
The Five:
“She Talks to Angels” by The Black Crowes (from Shake Your Money Maker, 1990)
Sounds as good today as it did 20 years ago. Damn, has it been 20 years?
“We Can Get Together” by The Hold Steady (from Heaven Is Whenever, 2010)
My doppelgänger’s finest tune. Somehow, The Hold Steady’s music hadn’t made it to my ears in any major fashion until last year’s Heaven Is Whenever. Now, I can’t get enough.
“Amie” by Damien Rice (from O, 2003)
So here’s a question, who is the bigger sad bastard: Damien Rice or Glen Hansard? I’m asking with the best intentions, because let’s face it, I love sad bastard music. “Amie” is nothing short of brilliant.
“It May Be Late” by Harper Blynn (from Loneliest Generation, 2010)
I discovered this band when they opened for—and subsequently, and quite seamlessly became—The Damnwells at their NYC tour stop. I was blown away by the band’s sheer presence, as they tore through an amazing set. I recall commenting to my wife that had they pulled out a Queen cover, complete with four-part harmonies, I wouldn’t have been surprised. I believe that fellow Popdose’r Matt Wardlaw is a convert as well, after seeing them last night.
“Road” by Nick Drake (from Pink Moon, 1972)
The O.G. sad bastard!
What’s on your shuffle today?
16 Comments
Anonymous
Wow 20 years… craziness!
Here’s my five for this fine Friday morning:
1) Prince – Let’s Go Crazy
2) Huey Lewis & The News – Do You Believe In Love
3) Richard Marx – Love Goes On
4) NIN – Sanctified
5) Bruce Springsteen – If I Should Fall Behind
de10ero
Albert Castiglia-Catfish
His take on Dylan’s tribute to the late great A’s/Yankees hurler
Mary Weiss-Nobody Knows (But I Do)
Former Shangri-Las leader singer stills got the pipes
Lee Roy Parnell-Going Down Slow
With Bonnie Bramlett, now that’s a duet!
Graham Parker & The Rumour-Help Me Shake It
Rocker from across the pond puts the Heat Treatment to this one
Marshall Crenshaw-You’re My Favorite Waste Of Time
Nothing personal…it’s a slice of pop magic
Matt Springer
“The World Isn’t Fair,” Randy Newman–From his later effort Bad Love, a criminally underappreciated record.
“Dead Sound,” The Raveonettes–I just have this song of theirs and always meant to track down more.
“Holly Up on Poppy,” XTC–Oh yes.
“Two Hearts,” Bruce Springsteen–Oh YES.
“Rocket 69,” Todd Rhodes–from an obscure compilation I downloaded someplace called Risque Rhythm, featuring raunchy tunes from the early rock and R&B era. This is of course a dirty rewrite of “Rocket 88,” recognized by many as the first rock song ever.
dslifton
You don’t look anything like Craig Finn, Michael…
Here’s mine:
“Summerbelle Winterbelle” – Micah Blue Smaldone. I have no idea who this is or how this got on my iPod, but it’s quite a nice little acoustic fingerpicking thing until the vocals start. I don’t like the guy’s voice. I’ve since flagged it to remind me to delete it when I get home.
“Smile” – Tony Bennett. Ah, that’s more like it. Also, Michael Jackson’s all-time favorite song. It makes sense when you think about it.
“I Need To Know” – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (Live Anthology). Simple rock n’ roll played brilliantly. Who needs more than this?
“Ol’ Cannonball” – North Mississippi All-Stars. I got this after hearing rave reviews a month or two ago. I’m digging it.
“One Way Street” – Bruce Springsteen. Further proof that it’s almost impossible to go five songs on my iPod without hitting Bruce. A gorgeous soul ballad that reminds me of “Dark End Of The Street.” He should have given it to Southside Johnny along with the others he wrote at this time, but it stayed unreleased for over 30 years until last year’s Darkness box.
BillC
Dave Edmunds-One Step Back from Plugged In. Not one of his better known songs but a fine tune to start the Five.
Neil Young-The Ways of Love from Freedom. Not one of my favorite tunes by Neil. I skipped this one.
The French Inhaler-Warren Zevon from Genius. Having just finished Crystal Zevon’s biography of Warren has led to me going back and listening to his stuff again and again. He was amazing.
Badge (Live) Cream Live at Royal Albert Hall. Mabel? Seriously who names a kid Mabel? But such a great song.
Flying (Live) The Faces-Five Guys Walk Into a Bar. One of the best Box Sets available. If you don’t own it, I highly recommend it. And this song is but one example why.
Pete
1. “Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose” – Dwight Yoakam / one of my favorite songs of all friggin time
2. “White Ladder” – David Gray
3. “Lover’s Lane” (extended version) – Georgio (lest there be any doubts about my honesty when it comes to my Friday 5)
4. “E. Knievel Interlude” – Grandaddy
5. “Panama” – Trey Anastasio (live at Bonnaroo 2005) – I deleted this after 15 seconds.
Happy Friday!
Chris Holmes
Let’s rock!
1. The Beatles, “Honey Pie” – To this day I’m still conflicted about the White Album. There’s so much genius on there, but so much wasted potential too. This track a clear harbinger of Macca’s solo work to come.
2. Rush, “Show Don’t Tell” – Oh hells yes! Love the Presto album, and this is their best opening track since “Tom Sawyer.”
3. King’s X, “Alright” – Latter day King’s X doesn’t thrill me quite the way their work up until ’92 does, but XV is a fine album and this tune is one of the better off the album.
4. Black Sabbath, “The Sign of the Southern Cross” – Epic Dio-era Sab. Those two Martin Birch-produced albums are true gems.
5. Garnet Mimms, “Looking for You” – Well there’s a change of pace for you. How can I argue with a slice of Northern Soul on a Friday afternoon?
Anonymous
1. “Willin'” – Little Feat
2. “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” – Indigo Girls
3. “On The Road” – Leeroy Parnell
4. “Any Time At All” – The Beatles
5. “Shake It” – Ian Matthews
Mike Duquette
1. Charlie Louvin, “I Will Go Sailing No More” – I’m going on vacation next week, so I’m loading up the iPod with new stuff. And along comes this oddity – a bluegrass cover of Randy Newman’s “Toy Story” tune from an album of bluegrass covers of Disney music put out by Disney itself! (It’s called “O Mickey Where Art Thou?,” which I couldn’t make up if I tried.) A good spin on a sad song (if it was that song from “Toy Story 2,” the rest of the Five would be drowned out by me crying).
2. Arcadia, “Goodbye is Forever (Dub)” – there aren’t enough dub versions of Duran Duran songs, so this take on one of the singles from the DD side-project Arcadia will have to do. Easily one of the more underrated dance-pop records of the 1980s.
3. The Police, “One World (Not Three)” – the Ghost in the Machine album is probably my favorite Police LP, and it’s tracks like this that make it so. One of the better reggae grooves on the album, with an infectious horn line.
4. The Time, “Sometimes I Get Lonely” – a shrug-worthy slow jam that makes me wish Morris, Prince and company just released the “Corporate World” instead, “Jerk Out” or no “Jerk Out.”
5. Quincy Jones featuring Al B. Sure!, James Ingram, El DeBarge and Barry White, “The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)” – Oh HELL YES. So smooth…so seductive…wait, what was I talking about?
A hell of a Five. Happy weekend to y’all! Get some good stuff at Record Store Day tomorrow!
Blerd
And…hello there.
1-“Steve McQueen” by Sheryl Crow-I can’t say I like any Sheryl Crow album all the way through (except for “Tuesday Night Music Club”) but they’ve all got inspired spots. This is one of her best singles, for my money. Sounds like what I imagine AM pop/rock radio sounded like in the mid-Seventies. Even though it was made in…2002?
2-“Rio” by Duran Duran-Still debating whether I want to see these guys in concert at the end of the month (and get ripped off by buying a ticket off of Stubhub). Leaning more towards doing in. You only live once, right?
3-“Priority” by Mos Def- I wish this guy would make albums more often. Correction-I wish this guy made *good* albums more often. When he’s focused, this guy’s fire. Enough to make you forget he began his career on a shitty sitcom with Nell Carter (random Blerd fact of the day).
4-“Real Situation” by Bob Marley & the Wailers- Well, would you look at that? 4/20 is next week!
5-“Single Heart” by DeBarge- Random track from the “Rhythm of the Night” LP. Sounds very generic and pop in that mid-Eighties vaguely Caribbean fashion. Something tells me Diane Warren wrote this. However, El’s voice sounds good on just about anything, so…
Chimesfreedom
Hard to believe that “She Talks to Angels” and the album was that long ago, but the song is certainly timeless. Here’s my five:
(1) “This Mornin’ I Am Born Again,” by Ray Wylie Hubbard (Delirium Tremolos);
(2) “Jonah,” by Sister Rosetta Tharpe (The Gospel of the Blues);
(3) “Ways to Be Wicked,” by Lone Justice (Lone Justice);
(4) “Octopus’s Garden,” by The Beatles (Abby Road); and playing at the moment. . .
(5) “Fourth of July, Asbury Park” (Springsteen cover), by Richard Shindell (Courier).
I usually get a clunker periodically (like Pete mentions with “Panama”), but not in this stretch.
EightE1
Ah, just a little song or five before I shut this machine off for the night and go read a book.
Michael Bolton, “Need You to Fall.” Something from his last album that I actually like. No histrionics, no caterwaul, just a nice, mid-tempo ballad with some vaguely hip-hop beats. Good stuff.
Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Live Another Day.” From the In the Beginning live record. A virtual carbon copy of “Pride and Joy,” or “Pride and Joy” was a virtual carbon copy of it. Still, it swings and his guitar and vocals are as incredible as they always were.
The Clash, “Jimmy Jazz.” London Calling, y’all. London Calling.
Bob Dylan, “The Lonesome River.” With Ralph Stanley, from the Tell Tale Signs collection. The harmonies here bring tears of joy to my aging, blurry eyes. I think I might need to listen to this again.
Trey Anastasio, “Mud City.” From a live record, a kickin’ pseudo-psycho-soul jam with some excellent organ work from Ray Paczkowski, who looks like he just came in from a couple months at sea and has some stories to tell.
Zack Stiegler
1. Battles – Race: In
From the Mirrored LP. They have a new one on the horizon, sans key member Tyondai Braxton. I’m curious, but not too hopeful.
2. Le Tigre-Gone B4 Yr Home
From their 2001 EP. Outside of a few key tracks, I don’t listen to Le Tigre too often. But I’m always pleased when they turn up on the old shuffle.
3. Prince – 2morrow
Emancipation-era outtake from the Crystal Ball set. Me likey.
4. The Roots-Double Trouble
The Roots crew kicks it from what is possibly my favorite Roots album, Things Fall Apart.
5. The Clash-One More Dub
Sandinista!
Dennis Corrigan
Taking a break from another short appearance by a Yankee starter…
1. “Foreign Window” by Van Morrison from No Guru, No Method, No Teacher. I was chatting on Twitter the other day about how Paul Simon, the Smithereens & Feelies had put out great records in ’86 and 25 years later each had put out records that stand up to those. We’d be fortunate indeed to get a record in 2011 like this 25 year old gem from Van.
2. “I Go Wild” by the Rolling Stones from Voodoo Lounge. Speaking of later albums, this one brings me back to a rainy show at the Cotton Bowl
3. “Lost Coastlines” by Okkervil River from The Stand Ins
4. “The Same Old You” by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers from Long After Dark. “We could buy a ’62 Cadillac/Put a Fender amplifier in the back/Drive straight to the hear of America/Turn up to 10 and let that sucker blast”
5. “Green Earrings” by Steely Dan originally from The Royal Scam, this version from the Citizen Steely Dan box set.
That’s it for this week. Hope you grab something good at Record Store Day tomorrow. I’m after that Big Star reissue
Shannon J
“Bad”, by U2 from The Unforgettable Fire. And this one is, what, 25 years old? I love this song and album.
“Tin Man,” by The Avett Brothers from I And Love And You.
“Rainy Day Man,” by Bonnie Raitt from Streetlights.
“Charlie, The Methadone Man,” by Fastball, from All The Pain Money Can Buy. Forgot about this band until recently. Are they still making music?
“Pretzel Logic,” by Steely Dan. Concluded the set of “man” songs with a Dan song.
Good stuff. Happy Friday!
Anonymous
“Down the Road”- Bee Gees from Mr. Natural
“Get Down and Get With It”- Slade from Sladest
“Out Go the Lights”- Spoon from Transference
“Cowgirl in the Sand”- Neil Young from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
“Help Me Make It Through the Night”- Bryan Ferry from Another Time Another Place