• Friday Five

    The Friday Five: December 16, 2011

    Friday Five

    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:

    I’ll Be Home for Christmas (If Only in My Dreams)” by Frank Sinatra (from Christmas With the Rat Pack, 2002)

    This is a perennial favorite. The (somewhat) ironic thing is: this was not part of the music that I grew up with. Sinatra was, in the words of my parents, “old people music.”

    Winter Wonderland” by The Andrews Sisters (from The Time-Life Treasury of Christmas, Volume 2, 1987)

    Without Bing, I don’t know that I care much for The Andrews Sisters.

    Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” by Michael Bublé (from Christmas, 2011)

    Damn you, Michael Bublé. Damn you straight to hell.

    “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by Leon Redbone & Zooey Deschanel (from Elf, 2003)

    Wait up, Bublé; make room for Ms. Deschanel. Okay, to be fair, I love this version. Despite a deep, burning—not unlike the time Dave Lifton’s mom gave me the clap—dislike for Will Farrell, I love the film it comes from. For more unbridled scorn of Zooey head over to Popdose for today’s installment of Jeff Giles’ & Jason Hare’s Mellowmas.

    The Little Drummer Boy” by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (from A Very Special Christmas, 1990)

    I take no issue with Bob Seger’s overwrought, overproduced version of the holiday classic. Listen to those swelling synth pads and gospel choir vocals! This is what Christmas is about, y’all.

    What’s on your shuffle today?

  • Friday Five

    The Friday Five: November 4, 2011

    Friday Five

    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:

    I hear that my little town—Newtown, CT—has made the news recently as being “ground zero” for the power outages effecting the Northeast, thanks to the Halloween snowstorm this past weekend. I say “hear” as I’ve been living life a little bit more simply the past few days, relying on the kindness of friends and family to get warmth, recharge my batteries and catch up on the world.

    So … live, from my Mother-In-Law’s dining room, it’s the Friday Five!

    “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” by Fall Out Boy (from, Believers Never Die – Greatest Hits, 2009)

    “All My Tomorrows” by Frank Sinatra (from, Nothing but the Best, 2008)

    “Hated” by The Afghan Whigs (from, Up in It, 1990)

    “Mr. Bojangles (live)” by Nina Simone (from, To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story, 2008)

    “Datskat” by The Roots (from Buy-Product 1, 1995)

    What’s on your shuffle today?

  • Oldies

    Elvis on The Frank Sinatra Show – March 1960

    March of 1960 was a busy, eventful month for Elvis Presley. On March 1st, Elvis shipped off from Germany, returning home after a two year stint in the U.S. Army. Colonel Parker scheduled a train ride from New Jersey to Tennessee, alerting towns along the way that Elvis would be rolling through. Throngs of fans greeted him at every stop.

    On March 20th, Elvis and his entourage chartered a bus to Nashville for the first recording session that would become part of the Elvis Is Back album. “Stuck on You” and “Fame and Fortune” were two of the songs recorded, and within 72 hours, 1.4 million records were pressed and shipped out. Along with regulars Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana, some of Nashville’s top session pros were brought in to help – including jazz guitarist Hank Garland and piano man Floyd Cramer.

    Less than a week later, on March 26th, Elvis was in Miami for a taping of The Frank Sinatra show. Elvis performed “Fame and Fortune” and “Stuck on You”. Sinatra then came out for some awkward banter, followed by a joint medley of tunes: Sinatra’s “Witchcraft” and Presley’s “Love Me Tender.”

    What a month… Within 26 days, Elvis had returned from Germany, recorded his first singles, and performed them on Sinatra’s TV show.

    How’d he do it? Well, the truth is that by this time, Elvis had discovered amphetamines – the little white pills that were introduced to him while on tank maneuvers in Germany. It’s hard to gauge to what extent drugs had become a part of his life, but there was no turning back at this point.

    It doesn’t diminish his stature as a performer though – not in my opinion. Yes, fast forwarding 10-15 years, it’s clear that his lifestyle choices were taking their toll. But in this moment in time – March 26th, 1960 – it’s amazing to see how natural and at ease he is as a performer. Keep in mind that during his 2 years away, he didn’t perform at all. And to deliver something like this just a few weeks after returning stateside… it’s still incredible – fifty years later.

    [Source: Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley]