Happy Friday and welcome to another installment of this series featuring six songs from a specific year. In case you’re new to it, Chris & Max Pick… is the continuation of a recurring feature fellow blogger Max from PowerPop initiated in June 2023, which included the years 1955 through 1995. I’m aiming to cover each of the remaining years until 2024. Max generously agreed to support the effort by supplying one song for each post. Following are our combined picks for 1998.
Dixie Chicks/Wide Open Spaces
Kicking things off are Texas pop-flavored country and bluegrass trio Dixie Chicks, who since June 2020 have been known as The Chicks. They were formed in Dallas in 1989 and since 1995 have included co-founders Emily Strayer (harmony and backing vocals, banjo, dobro, guitar) and Martie Maguire (harmony and backing vocals, fiddle, mandolin), as well as Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, Omnichord). Wide Open Spaces, penned by singer-songwriter Susan Gibson, is the title track of their fourth studio album, which appeared in January 1998. It marked their major label debut, commercial breakthrough and the first release with Maines.
Bonnie Raitt/Lover’s Will
Bonnie Raitt is one of my longtime favorite music artists and slide guitarists who incorporates blues, rock, folk and country. In April 1998, she released her 13th studio album Fundamental. To me, the standout track is Lover’s Will, written by the great John Hiatt. He had first recorded the song for his 1983 album Riding with the King. Hiatt also penned what became Raitt’s biggest U.S. hit on Billboard’sMainstream Rock chart in 1989: Thing Called Love, which reached no. 11. Hiatt had previously included it on his May 1987 studio album Bring the Family.
Lenny Kravitz/Fly Away
Lenny Kravitz first entered my radar screen in the early ’90s with his great April 1991 sophomore album Mama Said. I’ve since listened to the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist on and off. Fly Away, written by Kravitz, is a track from his fifth full-length album 5, released in May 1998. The catchy rocker also became the fourth single and one of Kravitz’s bigger hits, especially in the UK where it topped the charts, his only no. 1 there to date.
Lucinda Williams/Right In Time
This brings me to another artist who I’ve come to love over the past few years, especially after having seen her open for Bonnie Raitt in Philly in June 2022: Lucinda Williams. The roots-oriented singer-songwriter’s 45-year-plus career almost got derailed in November 2020 when she suffered a stroke. Thanks to rehab she recovered and start touring and recording again, though she hasn’t been able to resume playing guitar. Right In Time, written by Williams, is from Car Wheels on a Gravel Road and also became the first single of her acclaimed fifth studio album from June 1998.
Barenaked Ladies/It’s All Been Done
This next pick takes us to Canada and Barenaked Ladies, who combine an eclectic mix of folk and pop rock with humorous lyrics. Founded in Toronto in 1988, they developed a following in their home country in the early ’90s before breaking through in the U.S. with their July 1998 fourth full-length album Stunt. It entered the Billboard 200 at no. 3 and became their bestseller. The album also reached no. 20 in each the UK and New Zealand. Off Stunt, here’s It’s All Been Done, penned by then-band member Steven Page – catchy and quirky!
Fatboy Slim/Right Here, Right Now
Since I mentioned Max in the intro, you may have wondered what happened to his pick. The wait is over: Right Here, Right Now by Fatboy Slim, a song I had not seen coming. Fatboy Slim is a stage name of English musician, DJ and record producer Norman Cook who helped popularize the so-called big beat genre in the ’90s. Big beat (yes, I had to look it up in Wikipedia!) is “an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno.” Right Here, Right Now, off Fatboy Slim’s October 1998 sophomore album You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, became one of his biggest hits. It was particularly successful in the UK where it surged to no. 2.
Happy Friday and welcome to the second installment of Chris & Max pick. Essentially, this is picking up a song series fellow blogger Max from PowerPop initially started in June 2023 with the year 1955 and ended last month with 1995. The idea of this continuation is to close the gap between 1995 and 2024.
Last week, we looked at 1996. This time, the year is 1997. I realize this post is coming earlier than anticipated. Given my other recurring features, I’m a bit reluctant to commit to yet another weekly post. That’s why I still believe an every-other-week schedule is more sustainable, but I guess we’ll see how it goes!
Big Head Todd and the Monsters/Resignation Superman
Kicking off the picks for 1997 are Big Head Todd and the Monsters, a Colorado rock band formed in 1986, who I only “discovered” earlier this year. Resignation Superman, penned by the group’s co-founder, main lyricist, singer and guitarist Todd Park Mohr, is from their fifth studio album Beautiful World, which appeared in February 1997.
Radiohead/Paranoid Android
In May 1997, British alternative rock band Radiohead released their third studio album OK Computer. I still find it hard to believe I essentially missed it at the time it came out. Paranoid Android, which like all other tracks on the album was credited to the entire group, became the lead single and one of their biggest hits. Founded in 1985, Radiohead still have their original line-up: Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, ondes Martenot, orchestral arrangements), Ed O’Brien (guitar, effects, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass) and Philip Selway (drums, percussion).
Sarah McLachlan/Angel
Next up is one of the most stunning pop ballads I know: Angel by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan. The inspiration for the song came from press accounts McLachlan had read about musicians getting into heroin to escape the pressures of the cutthroat music business. The intense ballad was the fourth single off her fourth studio album Surfacing, which came out in July 1997.
Oasis/All Around the World
Moving on to another British group who were pretty popular at the time: Manchester Brit pop rockers Oasis became an instant sensation in the UK when their August 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe topped the charts there. By the time their third album Be Here Now dropped in August 1997, their enormous popularity had spread to many other countries. Here’s the catchy All Around the World, which also became the third single. Like all other tracks on the album, it was written by Noel Gallagher.
The Verve/Bittersweet Symphony
Here’s yet another British group who hit it really big in 1997: The Verve and Bittersweet Symphony, Max’s pick. Their biggest international hit single, written by frontman and lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, also helped propel September 1997’s Urban Hymns to become their best-selling album. But all that success was bittersweet. After a lawsuit found The Verve illegally had taken a sample from a 1965 version of The Rolling Stones’The Last Time by The Andrew Oldham Orchestra, all royalties were relinquished, and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were added to the songwriting credits. In 2019, following the death of Allen Klein, the Stones’ manager at the time of the litigation, Jagger and Richards ceded the rights to Ashcroft.
Bob Dylan/Not Dark Yet
Wrapping up this post is a great song by Bob Dylan from Time Out of Mind. Many fans and critics regard the maestro’s 30th studio album, released in September 1997, as an artistic comeback. It also marked Dylan’s first with original material in seven years since September 1990’s Under the Red Sky. Here’s Not Dark Yet, a gem as far as I’m concerned!
When fellow blogger Max who pens the great PowerPop blog wrapped up his Max Picks song series earlier this month with selections for 1995, my first thought was, ‘I get it.’ After all, considering his taste, which is pretty similar to mine, finding great music for each year becomes more tricky the closer you get to the present time. But then I thought given how much decent new music I’ve been able to uncover each week over the past three years or so, why not continue where Max left it off.
Not only was Max generous enough to allow me to run with his idea, but he even agreed to participate in the continuation of the series by contributing one song pick for each year. Starting today, I’m hoping to publish the 29 installments every other week to get us all the way to 2024. This would mean the series would conclude sometime in the spring of next year. I realize that’s a long time to look ahead, so we’ll see how it goes and take it one post at a time. Here are song picks for 1996.
Jackson Browne/The Barricades of Heaven
I’m thrilled to pick up the series with Jackson Browne, one of my all-time favorite artists. The Barricades of Heaven, credited to Browne, Luis Conte, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Kevin McCormick, Scott Thurston and Jeff Young, is a track from Browne’s 11th studio album Looking East, which came out in January 1996. Yep, that’s many writers but what a gem!
The Wallflowers/One Headlight
In May 1996, The Wallflowers released their sophomore album Bringing Down the Horse, which became their highest-selling to date. Undoubtedly, this performance was fueled by One Headlight. The album’s second single, which became the band’s biggest hit, was Max’s excellent pick. Like all other songs on the album, it was written by frontman Jakob Dylan.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers/Walls (Circus)
Next up is Tom Petty, another longtime favorite artist of mine. Wall (Circus), written by Petty, is the opener of Songs and Music from “She’s the One”. The ninth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers appeared in August 1996 and served as the soundtrack for the American romantic comedy picture She’s the One, which came out the same year. Man, I dearly miss Tom!
Sheryl Crow/If It Makes You Happy
The title perfectly captures my sentiment about this next song. If It Makes You Happy, co-written by Sheryl Crow and her longtime collaborator Jeff Trott, is among my all-time favorites by Crow. Evidently, many other listeners agreed. The song, which appeared on Crow’s self-titled sophomore album from September 1996, became one of her most popular singles.
Shawn Colvin/Sunny Came Home
Admittedly, Sunny Came Home is the only song by Shawn Colvin I can name, but at least it’s a real goodie! Co-written by her and producer John Leventhal, not only did it become Colvin’s biggest hit, but it also won her two 1997 Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The song was included on her fourth studio album A Few Small Repairs released in October 1996.
Johnny Cash/I’ve Been Everywhere
Wrapping up this first installment of the continuation of the song series is the Man in Black. I think I first heard I’ve Been Everywhere in a TV commercial. Written by Australian country singer Geoff Mack in 1959, the song was first popularized down under in early 1962 by rock & roll, pop and country artist Leslie William Morrison, professionally known as Lucky Starr. Later that same year, Hank Snow took it to no. 1 in the U.S. on the country charts. It has since been recorded by many other artists. Johnny Cash featured it on his November 1996 album American II: Unchained. I’m still puzzled how you can mention so many different places in rapid machine gun fire fashion without stumbling! 🙂
I’d like to leave you with a Spotify playlist of the above goodies – one down, 28 installments to go!
“Any musician with a set of ears was influenced by The Everly Brothers” – Graham Nash
This post was inspired by a documentary, The Everly Brothers: Harmonies From Heaven, which I coincidentally caught on PBS on New Year’s Eve. From the PBS description: Explore the story of Phil and Don Everly, two of the most important and influential early rock ’n’ roll stars of the 1950s and ’60s. Featuring new interview footage with surviving brother Don and archival interviews with Phil, the film delves into their relationship with Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, the songwriting team who wrote many of their early hits. It also includes commentary from Art Garfunkel, Graham Nash, Waddy Wachtel, Keith Richards and other music artists. Here’s a link to the trailer.
I started listening to The Everly Brothers in my early teens back in Germany, after my brother-in-law had given me a compilation as a present. I still own that copy and was able to find it in my current mess of vinyl albums (see photo below). At the time, Elvis Presley still was my favorite rock & rock artist. As such, initially, I was mostly drawn to songs like Wake Up Little Susie, Rip It Up and Keep a Knockin’. I immediately loved the Everlys’ great harmony vocals. I think calling them “harmonies from heaven” is no exaggeration!
Isaac Donald “Don” Everly and his younger brother Phillip “Phil” Everly grew up in a musical family and began singing with their parents Ike Everly and Margaret Everly in the 1940s when they were still children. In the mid-’40s, Ike who was a coalmine worker had a show on Shenandoah, Iowa radio stations KMA and KFNF. First, he performed there with his wife, then with their sons who were billed as “Little Donnie and Baby Boy Phil”, who at the time were about 8 and 6 years, respectively. Together, they were known as “The Everly Family”.
In 1953, the family relocated to Tennessee, first to Knoxville, then to Madison. Following high school graduation in 1955, Don moved to Nashville, together with Phil who finished high school there in 1957. The brothers decided they wanted to continue focusing on making music together. Eventually, they came to the attention of family friend Chet Atkins, manager of RCA Studios in Nashville. Atkins helped the brothers get a deal with Columbia Records, but after their first single Keep a-Lovin’ Me flopped, the label dropped them.
Phil Everly (left) and Don Everly
Atkins subsequently introduced Phil and Don to Wesley Rose who told them he could get a record deal if they would sign with his music publishing firm Acuff-Rose. The brothers obliged and Rose introduced them to Archie Bleyer, founder of Cadence Records. Phil and Don got signed and recorded their first single for the label, Bye Bye Love, penned by husband-and-wife country and pop songwriting duo Felice Bryant and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant.
Released in March 1957, Bye Bye Love became the first of many major hits for The Everly Brothers. In addition to topping the county charts in the U.S., it climbed to no. 2 and no. 5 on the pop and R&B charts, respectively, indicating the duo’s appeal across different music genres. By 1973, tension had built up between the brothers, and they decided to split to pursue solo careers. While Don found some chart success, Phil did not, even though he recorded more frequently.
The Everly Brothers during their 1983 reunion concert at Royal Albert Hall in London
In September 1983, Phil and Don reunited as The Everly Brothers at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert was recorded and released as The Everly Brothers Reunion Concert later that year. While the live album reached a respectable no. 47 in the UK, it stalled at no. 162 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200. The Everly Brothers subsequently released three additional studio albums in the ’80s. They continued to tour on and off until 2003-2004 when they were guests on Simon & Garfunkel’sOld Friends reunion tour.
Phil Everly passed away from COPD on January 3, 2014 at the age of 75. Don Everly died at his home in Nashville on August 2021. He was 84. Let’s take a closer look at some of The Everly Brothers’ music and those “harmonies from heaven.” I’m going to highlight six of their songs, followed by a larger career-spanning Spotify playlist.
Bye Bye Love (March 1957)
Notably, this classic had been rejected by 30 other artists before it was given to The Everly Brothers. “I wrote ‘Bye Bye Love’ while traveling home one night,” notedBoudleaux Bryant. “Felice was driving down the highway and I got the first verse and chorus right down there. I always make sure I have a pen and paper in the car for these occasions.” He went on, “We really believed in the song and were disappointed when so many people turned it down. They said it was unsuitable, some even asked if we has anything better!”
Wake Up Little Susie (September 1957)
Wake Up Little Susie, another song by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, became the first no. 1 for the Everlys on the U.S. pop chart. It also topped the country and R&B charts, as well as the charts in Canada. In addition to outstanding harmony vocals, the song has a really cool rhythm, which Don Everly said was inspired by Bo Diddley’s signature beat. “And I guess it rubbed off on me,” Keith Richards said in the above documentary. “Don’s acoustic guitar – rockin’, man!”
All I Have to Do Is Dream (April 1958)
Written by Boudleaux Bryant alone for a change, All I Have to Do Is Dream became another major hit for The Everly Brothers, toping the pop, country and R&B charts in the U.S. Once again, it reached no. 1 in Canada and became the duo’s first song to top the charts in the UK as well. “I remember hearing ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’ on an acetate with Boudleaux’s version on it, and I said, at the time, they could have put Boudleaux’s out and it would have been a hit,” Don Everlystated. “It’s just a great, great song. It’s beautiful.” Indeed! BTW, these neat tremolo-style guitar chords were played by Chet Atkins.
Cathy’s Clown (April 1960)
While Felice and Boudleaux Bryant wrote many hits for the Everlys, the duo also had original songs. One of the most beautiful examples I know is Cathy’s Clown, which Don Everly wrote. Initially, both brothers had been credited until 1980, seven years after Don and Phil had split and I guess still weren’t on great terms. The song, which has been inspired by one of Don’s ex-girlfriends, became the last no. 1 for The Everly Brothers in the U.S., topping both the pop and the R&B charts. Cathy’s Clown was their first single on Warner Bros. after Cadence Records no longer could afford resigning them. They were still on top of the world.
Crying In the Rain (January 1962)
By the time Crying in the Rain came out, The Everly Brothers had not had a big hit in nearly a year. It already foreshadowed their declining popularity. The ballad was penned by Brill Building songwriters Howard Greenfield and Carole King, who worked for Don Kirshner’s Aldon Music at the time. Kirshner had been eager to produce a hit for The Everly Brothers. He didn’t need to cry in the rain. The song, one of the few King didn’t write with her usual lyricist Gerry Goffin, became the second-to-last top 10 hit for the Everlys on the U.S. pop chart (no. 6) and also reached that same spot in the UK.
On the Wings of a Nightingale (August 1984)
For my final pick, I’m jumping 22 years forward to what became the last charting single for the Everlys, reaching no. 50 and no. 41 on the U.S. and U.K. pop charts, respectively. Following their reunion concert in London the previous year, Phil and Don recorded EB 84, their first studio album of original material in 11 years. On the Wings of a Nightingale, which Paul McCartney specifically had written for them, became the lead single. After Phil Everly’s death in 2014, Macca wrote the following on his website, as reported by the Los Angeles Times: “Phil Everly was one of my great heroes. With his brother Don, they were one of the major influences on the Beatles. When John and I first started to write songs, I was Phil and he was Don.”
Altogether, The Everly Brothers scored 35 Billboard Top 100 singles, of which 26 reached the top 40. They hold the record for the most Top 100 singles by any duo, second only to Hall & Oates for the most Top 40 singles by a duo. In the UK, the Everlys had 30 chart singles between 1957 and 1984. In 1986, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Neil Young, who said every musical group he had ever belonged to had tried, and failed, to copy the Everly Brothers’ harmonies. Here’s the above-mentioned Spotify playlist.
Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; Los Angeles Times; YouTube; Spotify
The algorithms my streaming music providers use to serve me listening suggestions have greatly improved. Until four or five years ago, I used to make fun of them thinking, ‘gee, how do they come up with their recommendations?’ Now I have to say they evidently have a pretty darn good idea about my music taste.
Welcome to the age of A.I.! If you use Google, which of course also already leverages A.I., to search for the key trends in music projected for 2024, you quickly get to the emergence of new technologies, including A.I.-assisted music production!
While I have decidedly mixed feelings about A.I. and feel there needs to be some level of regulation to limit misuse, in entertainment and beyond, the reality is the genie is out of the bottle. As such, I might as well enjoy A.I. when it does something good, such as separating tracks of old recordings to enable sound-enhanced remixes and, of course, spitting out playlists, based on my historical listening patterns.
This brings me to the subject of this post – a playlist that was recently offered to me by one of my streaming music providers. Overall, they hit the nail on the head about 95% of the time! Here are clips of four of the picks I dig, followed by a Spotify link to the entire playlist. Hope there’s something you like as well!
Steely Dan/Kid Charlemagne – The Royal Scam (March 1976)
Yes/Beyond and Before – Yes (July 1969)
Traveling Wilburys/Inside Out – Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 (October 1990)
Bonnie Raitt/Give It Up Or Let Me Go – Give It Up (September 1972)
Stevie Ray Vaughan first entered my radar screen in 1986 shortly after I had joined a blues group as a bassist, marking the beginning of my short but intense three-year period as an active band musician. To get up to speed with our setlist, I was given a music cassette, which among others included Vaughan’s amazing rendition of Tin Pan Alley, off his second studio album Couldn’t Stand the Weather. The moment I heard his guitar sound, I fell in love with it. In this post, which is part of an irregular feature called My Playlist, I’d like to celebrate the music by who I think is one of the best blues guitarists of all time.
Vaughan’s web bio characterizes his guitar-playing as follows: With his astonishingly accomplished guitar playing, Stevie Ray Vaughan ignited the blues revival of the ’80s. Vaughan drew equally from bluesmen like Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Albert Collins and rock & roll players like Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, as well as jazz guitarists like Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery, developing a uniquely eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist, regardless of genre. I feel they hit the nail right on the head!
Before getting to some music, I’d like to provide a bit of additional background on this extraordinary artist who was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Vaughan picked up the guitar as a seven-year-old, initially inspired by his three-and-a-half-year-older brother Jimmie Vaughan. Five years later, he started playing in garage bands, followed by semi-professional groups. By the age of 17, Vaughan dropped out of high school to focus on music. In 1971, he formed his first own blues band, Blackbird.
Stevie Ray Vaughan with his older brother Jimmie Vaughan
Fast-forward to 1979 when Vaughan played in Triple Threat Revue, a band he had formed two years earlier. After the group’s vocalist Lou Ann Barton left, they became Double Trouble, named after an Otis Rush song. In addition to Vaughan, the initial line-up featured Jack Newhouse (bass) and Chris Layton (drums). In 1981, Newton was replaced by Tommy Shannon, putting in place the core line-up of the group that would back Vaughan for the rest of his short life.
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble became regulars and gained popularity on the Texas club circuit in the early ’80s. In 1982, they played the Montreux Jazz Festival and came to the attention of David Bowie and Jackson Browne. Impressed with Vaughan’s guitar chops, Bowie offered him to play on his upcoming album Let’s Dance. Vaughan ended up contributing lead guitar for six of the tracks on what became Bowie’s commercially most successful album.
Stevie Ray Vaughan with Chris Layton (l) and Tommy Shannon (r) of Double Trouble in 1983
Meanwhile, Browne offered the fierce trio three free days at his Los Angeles studio, which they used to record a demo over the Thanksgiving weekend in November 1982. That tape found its way to record producer John Hammond who had worked with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few. He secured a contract for the band with Epic Records. The demo recordings were subsequently remixed and mastered in New York City and released in June 1983 as their debut Texas Flood.
Texas Flood was the first of five albums that were recorded and appeared during Vaughan’s lifetime. A sixth, The Sky Is Crying, was released in November 1991, three months after Vaughan and four others had been killed in a helicopter crash in East Troy, Wis. following a gig. He was only 35 years old, a loss I think was comparable to Hendrix. Time for some music!
Let’s kick it off with Pride and Joy from the aforementioned Texas Flood, which Chris Layton noted Vaughan wrote for a new girlfriend he had at the time. Apparently, the same woman also inspired another song on the same album titled I’m Cryin’. As you can guess, the inspiration for that song was less cheerful, namely a fight between Vaughan and her. Pride and Joy has an infectious shuffle that makes you want to move!
Obviously, I can’t skip Tin Pan Alley, a great slow blues composed by Bob Geddins, a San Francisco Bay area blues and R&B artist and record producer. This song, off Couldn’t Stand the Weather, is a great illustration of Vaughan’s incredible sound. Check out his amazing tone, which still gives me chills!
Vaughan also composed some great instrumentals, including this one called Say What! The tune appeared on Soul to Soul, his third album with Double Trouble, which came out in September 1985. By the time of the recording, the band had grown into a four-piece and now also included Reese Wynans on keyboards.
The House Is Rockin’ – the title says it all! This is pure rock & roll that reminds me a bit of Chuck Berry. Stevie Ray Vaughan wrote this gem together with Austin blues musician Doyle Bramhall who as a high school student had played in a band with Jimmie Vaughan. It was included on June 1989’s In Step, the fourth and final studio album with Double Trouble, which appeared during Vaughan’s lifetime. Wikipedia notes that the album title can be viewed as an acknowledgment of Vaughan’s successful rehab from years of drug an alcohol addiction.
In 1990, Stevie Ray Vaughan made an album with Jimmie Vaughan titled Family Affair. Released as The Vaughan Brothers in September of the same year, it was the only album Stevie recorded with his brother. It also was his last studio release prior to his fatal helicopter crash. Here’s the closer Brothers, which the two guitarists penned together.
The last track I’d like to call out is another great instrumental, which is on The Sky Is Crying, the above-mention post-mortem album. This compilation of songs Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble recorded throughout their career was released in November 1991. Here’s their cool rendition of Jimi Hendrix’sLittle Wing, which originally appeared in December 1967 on the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s sophomore album Axis: Bold as Love. I think Jimi would have been proud of it!
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s impact on reviving blues and blues rock among mainstream audiences cannot be underestimated and perhaps is his biggest legacy. He also influenced many other guitarists like John Mayer, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Pearl Jam’sMike McCready, Albert Cummings and Chris Duarte.
Vaughan, who has sold over 15 million albums in the U.S. alone, is ranked at no. 20 in Rolling Stone’sjust released eclectic 2023 list of The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time – probably too low, but these lists are highly subjective. Vaughan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, along with Double Trouble bandmates Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon and Reese Wynans. The Blues Hall of Fame was a bit faster in getting their act together, inducting him in 2000.
I’d like to leave you with a career-spanning Spotify playlist, which includes the above and 14 other tracks. Hope you dig Stevie Ray Vaughan as much as I do!
A solid playlist generated by my streaming music service provider
If you’ve followed my blog for a few years, occasionally, you may have seen me make fun of my streaming music provider over their listening suggestions or the way they classified music/put genre labels on artists. Perhaps you also noticed I haven’t done that in a while. In fact, over the past year or two, it’s obvious their algorithms have much improved, and they now really do know my music taste pretty well.
Of course, one could argue an external party’s increased knowledge about your personal taste may be a double-edged sword. However, unlike other preferences, I’m less concerned about this when it comes to music. In fact, I always welcome good listening suggestions. Case in point: The latest “Favorites Mix” my streaming provider served up earlier this week.
While I wouldn’t call it the best playlist I’ve ever seen, I certainly like their picks, so I decided to share them. Before doing that in the form of a Spotify playlist, I’m briefly highlighting six of the tunes.
The playlist kicks off with Spirit in the Night, a song by Bruce Springsteen I first knew because of the rendition by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band who released it as a single in July 1975 and also included it on their sixth studio album Nightingales & Bombers, which appeared in August of the same year. Springsteen recorded the original tune for his January 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
Poor Poor Pitiful Me is a song penned by Warren Zevon. It was included on his self-titled sophomore album, released in May 1976 and produced by Jackson Browne who is also featured in this playlist. Lindsey Buckingham provided backing vocals on this cut. The following year, Linda Ronstadt recorded a gender-altered version of the song for her eighth studio album Simple Dreams (September 1977).
In August 1969, English rock band Humble Pie released their debut studio album As Safe as Yesterday Is. One of the tracks it included is Buttermilk Boy, written by guitarist and vocalist Steve Marriott. Prior to forming Humble Pie with Peter Frampton in early 1969, Marriott had been with The Small Faces, a group he also had co-founded. Frampton left Humble Pie and launched his solo career in 1971, which climaxed in 1976 with Frampton Comes Alive!
Elenore is a tune by The Turtles. Written by their lead vocalist and keyboarder Howard Kaylan, yet credited to all five members of the group, Elenore first appeared as a single in September 1968. It was also included on their fourth studio album The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands, which came out in November of the same year. While Elenore was a parody of happy-go-lucky pop songs like Happy Together, its strong chart performance in the U.S. and various other countries certainly was no joke.
At last, I get to write about English singer-songwriter Graham Parker, who is best known as the lead vocalist of Graham Parker & The Rumour. Parker (lead vocals, guitar) formed the band in the summer of 1975 together with Brinsley Schwarz (lead guitar), Martin Belmont (rhythm guitar), Bob Andrews (keyboards), Andrew Bodnar (bass) and Steve Goulding (drums). Gypsy Blood, written by Parker, is from the group’s debut studio album Howlin’ Wind, which came out in April 1976.
The final track I’d like to call out is Round the Bend by The Tubs, a British group who are entirely new to me. Their Bandcamppage notes they were formed in London in 2018 and “incorporate elements of post-punk, traditional British folk, and guitar jangle seasoned by nonchalant Cleaners From Venus-influenced pop hooks and contemporary antipodean indie bands (Twerps/Goon Sax, et al).” Round the Bend is off their first full-length studio album Dead Meat released in January this year.
Following is a link to the entire playlist:
Sources: Wikipedia; The Tubs Bandcamp page; YouTube; Spotify
Ever since I sawLucinda Williams open up for Bonnie Raitt in Philadelphia last June, I’ve been wanting to take a deeper dive into her music. This post is a first attempt to further explore the singer-songwriter who has been active since 1978. Over a 45-year-and-counting career, Williams has released 14 studio albums with no. 15, Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart, scheduled to drop June 30. I recently featured the excellent lead single New York Comeback in a Best of What’s Newinstallment.
Before getting to some music, I’d like to provide some background. From Williams’ website: Lucinda Williams’ music has gotten her through her darkest days. It’s been that way since growing up amid family chaos in the Deep South, as she recounts in her candid new memoir, Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I told You [Crown, April 25, 2023 – CMM].
Over the past two years, it’s been the force driving her recovery from a debilitating stroke she suffered on November 17, 2020, at age 67. Her masterful, multi-Grammy-winning songwriting has never deserted her. To wit, her stunning, sixteenth studio album, Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart, brims over with some of the best work of her career. And though Williams can no longer play her beloved guitar – a constant companion since age 12 – her distinctive vocals sound better than ever.
“I’m singing my ass off,” she told Vanity Fair in February, following her first European tour since 2019. The love emanating from audiences and her musical family onstage and in the studio exemplify the healing power of music, says Williams. In 2020, she spent a week in intensive care, followed by a month in rehab before returning home. The blood clot on the right side of her brain impaired the left side of her body’s motor skills, forcing her to relearn some of the most basic of activities, like walking.
In July 2021, she played her first gig, opening for Jason Isbell at Red Rocks. She began seated in a wheelchair, but soon she was upright. “Just the energy of the audiences being so welcoming and warm and the band playing so great and being so supportive gave me so much strength,” Williams relates. “I figured, ‘Hell, all I have to do is stand up there and sing. How hard can that be?”
Williams got into songwriting and music at an early age. She started writing as a six-year-old and was playing guitar by the time she was 12. Five years later, she found herself on stage in Mexico City for her first live performance, together with her friend and banjo player Clark Jones. This was followed by gigs in Austin and Houston, Texas in her early 20s. In 1978, a then-25-year-old Williams move to Jackson, Miss. and recorded her debut album Ramblin’ on My Mind, which appeared the following year.
Williams first gained critical acclaim with her third, eponymous studio album from 1988, which was voted the 16th best album of the year in The Village Voice’s annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. Lucinda Williams has since been viewed as a leading work in the development of the Americana movement. In 1998, Williams broke through into the mainstream with Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Her fifth album topped the aforementioned Pazz & Jop poll and won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. It also became her first album to chart on the Billboard 200, climbing to no. 68.
Time for some music! I’m going to highlight six tunes, followed by a Spotify playlist featuring these and additional songs from all of her albums. Kicking it off is a great rendition of Robert Johnson’s Ramblin’ on My Mind, the title track of Williams’ above-mentioned 1979 debut album, which she recorded together with guitarist John Grimaudo.
After two blues, country and folk-oriented albums, Lucinda Williams started to embrace a more Americana and roots rock-oriented sound on her third, eponymous album. Here’s Changed the Locks, which also became the album’s first single. Like all except one tune, it was penned by Williams. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers covered this song on their 1996 soundtrack album She’s the One.
This brings me to Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Williams’ acclaimed fifth album. It featured guest appearances by Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle who in addition to Williams served as one of the producers, along with Ray Kennedy who was working with Earle at the time, as well as Roy Bittan, best-known as longtime keyboarder of Bruce Springsteen’sE Street Band. While the recording process was drawn out, in part due to some tensions between Earle and Williams who ended up bringing in Bittan to finish the album, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road overall became her most successful album to date. Here’s the great opener Right in Time – love the guitar sound on that cut!
Next, let’s jump to October 2008 and Little Honey, Williams’ ninth studio album. It featured guest appearances by Elvis Costello, Susanna Hoffs, Matthew Sweet and Charlie Louvin. Little Honey earned a nomination for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, the category’s inaugural year, which was won by Levon Helm for Electric Dirt. Here’s the excellent opener Real Love, which also appeared separately as a single. Penned by Williams, with backing vocals by Hoffs and Sweet, the roots rocker was also featured in the 2007 American comedy-drama The Lucky Ones.
In September 2014, Williams released her 11th studio record Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone, the first on her own label Highway 20 Records. The double album debuted at no. 13 on the Billboard 200, becoming one of Williams’ highest-charting on the U.S. mainstream chart. It also won the 2015 Americana Music Award for Album of the Year. Once again, there were various guests, including Jakob Dylan, Tony Joe White, Ian McLagan and Elvis Costello, among others. Here’s the great Burning Bridges, penned by Williams.
Fast forward to April 2020 and Good Souls Better Angels, Williams’ 14th and most recently released studio album. Another widely acclaimed album, it earned Williams yet another Grammy nomination, for Best Americana Album. Here’s When the Way Gets Dark. Like all except one other track on the album, it was co-written by Williams and Tom Overby who also served as producer, along with Williams and Ray Kennedy.
Last but not least, here’s the aforementioned Spotify playlist featuring the above and some other Lucinda Williams tunes. This artist is a true treasure! Hope you have as much fun listening to her music as I had putting together this post. I’m really looking forward to her new album, which based on the lead single sounds very promising.
Sources: Wikipedia; Lucinda Williams website; YouTube; Spotify
Shining a light on influential singer-songwriter’s late-stage career
Last week (January 18), David Crosby sadly passed away at the age of 81, which according to a family statement came “after a long illness.” By now it’s safe to assume this isn’t news to anybody, given the significant number of obituaries that have appeared in the wake of his death. As such, I’m not going to write yet another summary of the influential singer-songwriter’s eventful private life and career. Instead, I’d like to highlight Crosby’s music, particularly his last nine years, during which he was pretty prolific.
When reflecting on David Crosby, I feel it’s fair to say most people primarily think of him as a co-founder of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash/Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Some perhaps also recall his February 1971 solo debut If I Could Only Remember My Name and his ’70s collaborative albums with CSN bandmate Graham Nash. But unless you’ve followed him more closely, his post-’70s output is probably less familiar. I certainly belong to that group.
David Crosby with his son and musical collaborator James Raymond
In January 2014, Crosby released Croz, his fourth solo album and first such effort in 20 years, beginning a remarkably productive late stage in his career. On several occasions over the past couple of years, he noted his remaining time was limited, so he wanted to focus on music as much as possible. And that he certainly did. After Croz four additional studio albums appeared between October 2016 and July 2021. In his final interview with Songfacts two months ago, Crosby also revealed he had completed another studio album with his so-called Lighthouse Band, to be titled Hello Moon, and was working on two additional albums. This didn’t include the then-forthcoming live release David Crosby & the Lighthouse Band Live at the Capitol Theatre, which has since appeared on December 9.
Following I’m highlighting one song from each of Crosby’s last five studio albums. While I don’t want to guarantee these are the best tracks, I can confidently say I dig each of these songs. In any case, of course, it’s all pretty subjective. I’m also including a career-spanning playlist focused on songs Crosby wrote or co-wrote, as opposed to tunes on which he sang and/or played guitar. That is by no means to undermine his important role as a vocalist and musician. The Byrds and CSN/CSNY wouldn’t have sounded the same without Crosby’s vocal and instrumental contributions.
Set That Baggage Down – Croz (January 2014)
Crosby wrote that tune together with English guitarist Shane Fontayne who has been active since the ’70s and worked with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Ian Hunter, Joe Cocker, Graham Nash and Mick Ronson. “That’s a thing you learn in AA [Alcoholics Anonymous – CMM],” Crosby told Rolling Stone, as noted by Songfacts. “I went there for about fourteen and half years. You have to look at what got you there. You have to look at the mistakes, and I made some horrific ones, and then you have to learn from them, figure out how to not wind up there again. You have to set that baggage down and walk on. If you spend all your life looking over your shoulder at the things you did wrong, you’re gonna walk smack into a tree.”
Somebody Other Than You – Lighthouse (October 2016)
This political tune, co-written by Crosby and Snarky Puppy bandleader Michael League, appears on Lighthouse, Crosby’s first album with what became known as his Lighthouse Band. In addition to League, the group also featured vocalist and songwriter Becca Stevens and Michelle Willis, a Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboarder. “There are these politicians in Washington who are run by the corporations, ’cause corporations gave them the money to get elected, and they send our kids off to war,” Crosby explained to Classic Rock magazine, according to Songfacts. “I’m deeply offended by the fact that these politicians send your kids and not theirs.”
Sky Trails – Sky Trails (September 2017)
Sky Trails is the title track of Crosby’s sixth solo album, which appeared less than 12 months after the predecessor. Sky Trails also became the name of Crosby’s second band, which featured his son James Raymond who also produced various of Crosby’s albums, and “anybody we decide we want to work with,” as Crosby put it to Songfacts during his above final interview. In the case of this tune, it was Becca Stevens who co-wrote it with Crosby. “We both spend a lot of time on the road,” Crosby told Billboard magazine, as documented by Songfacts. “And when you’re on the road, after the second or third week you don’t know where you are. You’re out there somewhere, and all the cities look roughly the same, and you lose track.” My full review of Sky Trails is here.
1974 – Here If You Listen (October 2018)
1974, a partially wordless song, was co-written by Crosby and his Lighthouse Band members Becca Stevens, Michelle Willis and Michael League, and appeared on Here If You Listen, the second album Crosby made with the group. The title is a nod to a demo of the song, which Crosby recorded in 1974. “It was a song without words that I was fooling around with,” he toldSongfacts. “I used to do that a lot: I’d have a set of changes but I didn’t have a set of words, so I would stack vocals like horn parts. I’m basically doing a horn record with voices. I had a bunch of those.”
Rodriguez For a Night – For Free (July 2021)
The last tune I’d like to highlight is Rodriguez For a Night, a great track from Crosby’s eighth and most recent solo album. A longtime Steely Dan fan, Crosby had long sought to collaborate with Donald Fagen. It finally happened with this tune, for which Fagen provided the lyrics while Crosby’s son Raymond James wrote the music with some help from his father. “[Fagan] just sent the words and stood back to see what would happen,” Crosby told Uncut magazine, according to Songfacts. “He knew what our taste was and he knew what we would probably try to do. He’s an extremely intelligent guy and I think he knew what would happen. We know his playbook pretty well, so we deliberately went there – complex chords, complex melodies. We Steely Damned him right into the middle of this as far as we could! And fortunately, Donald liked it, so I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Last but not least, here’s the above-noted career-spanning playlist. Crosby named Eight Miles High (and Turn! Turn! Turn!) when asked to identify the ultimate Byrds song during the above Songfacts interview. Separately, Songfactsnotes Crosby thought Everybody’s Been Burned was “the first actually passable song that I wrote,” quoting him from an interview with his friend Steve Silberman, an American journalist with whom he hosted a podcast.
It’s hard to believe that here in the U.S. Thanksgiving is upon us again. This is also the time of the year when New York classic rock radio station Q104.3 does its annual countdown of the Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs Of All Time. The following borrows from two related posts I published last year.
The countdown is based on submissions from listeners who each can select 10 songs. All picks are then tabulated to create the big list. The countdown starts at 9:00 am EST the day before Thanksgiving (Wednesday) and stretches all the way to sometime Sunday evening after the holiday. That’s how long it takes to get through all 1,043 songs. Obviously, they are all different tunes, as opposed to the much smaller rotation of songs most radio stations play over and over again.
The only interruption of the countdown happens at noon on Thanksgiving when Q104.3 plays Arlo Guthrie’sAlice’s Restaurant, all 18 and a half minutes of it – just wonderful! Officially titled Alice’s Restaurant Massacree and released in October 1967, Alice’s Restaurant is also the title track of Guthrie’s debut album.
The tune is a largely spoken satirical protest song against the Vietnam War draft. It’s based on a true though exaggerated story that started on Thanksgiving 1965 when Guthrie and his friend Ray Brock were arrested by the local police of Stockbridge, Mass. for illegally dumping trash. Guthrie’s resulting criminal record from the incident later contributed to his rejection by the draft board.
Perhaps not surprisingly given Guthrie’s cinematic story-telling, Alice’s Restaurant also inspired a 1969 comedy film of the same name, starring Guthrie as himself. It was directed by Arthur Penn who among others is known as the director of the 1967 classic biographical crime picture Bonnie and Clyde.
Coming back to the countdown, this year, I didn’t get to submit any picks. After having taken a look at what I did last year, I still stand behind these tunes and shaking up things a little with four artists I had not selected in previous years: California Dreamin’ (Dirty Honey) and Side Street Shakedown (The Wild Feathers), both songs from 2021, as well as I Don’t Understand (The Chesterfield Kings) and Cinderella (The Fuzztones), tunes released in 2003 and 1985, respectively.
Following are the songs I probably would have submitted again this year, if I had had the opportunity. They are in no particular order.
Dirty Honey/California Dreamin’ – Dirty Honey, April 2021
The Wild Feathers/Side Street Shakedown – Alvarado, October 2021
The Black Crowes/Twice As Hard – Shake Your Money Maker, February 1990
AC/DC/It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll) – High Voltage, April 1976
The Beatles/Helter Skelter – The Beatles, November 1968
David Bowie/Suffragette City – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, June 1972
Queen/Tie Your Mother Down – A Day at the Races, December 1976
The Who/The Real Me – Quadrophenia, October 1973
The Chesterfield Kings/I Don’t Understand – The Mindbending Sounds Of…The Chesterfield Kings, August 2003
The Fuzztones/Cinderella – Lysergic Emanations, 1985
I’m sure I’ll be listening on and off to the countdown over the coming days. Will Led Zeppelin’sStairway to Heaven once again come in at no. 1, which it has every year since Q104.3 began their countdown? While I think that’s a foregone conclusion, I still enjoy listening to the countdown. It’s not all rock, but there is lots of great music with no repetition while it lasts!
Here’s a Spotify playlist of the above tunes.
Last but not least, if you celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving! If you don’t, hope you have a rockin’ and rollin’ great time anyway!
Christian's Music Musings 