Hope everyone’s spending a nice weekend. I’d like to welcome you to another imaginary time travel excursion to visit six tracks in different flavors from six different decades. Let’s do it!
Sonny Rollins Quartet/Tenor Madness
Our journey today starts in October 1956 and some neat jazz by the Sonny Rollins Quartet. After tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins had worked with Miles Davis and been part of the trumpeter’s band, he asked the members of Davis’ “First Great Quintet” – John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (double bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums) – to back him on an album titled Tenor Madness. The album is best known for the title cut, a Rollins composition. It’s the only track on which Coltrane played and, apparently, the sole recording featuring both Rollins and Coltrane.
Marc Benno/Lost in Austin
Our next stop takes us to 1979 and Texas singer-songwriter Marc Benno. I decided to earmark Lost in Austin right away after I had listened to the song at the suggestion of my longtime German music buddy – my not-so-secret weapon any longer! If you’re fan of Leon Russell, you may have heard of The Asylum Choir, a short-lived duo he formed with Benno around 1967. After The Asylum Choir had run its course, Benno launched a solo career in the early ’70s and also worked with the likes of The Doors, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Rita Coolidge. Lost in Austin is the title track of Benno’s fourth solo album – my kind of music!
Great Lake Swimmers/Uncertain Country
Ever since I started paying attention again to newly released music, time and again I realized great songs aren’t limited to the past. They’re just harder to find! Case in point: Uncertain Country by Canadian folk rock band Great Lake Swimmers. Granted, as a group founded in 2003, they aren’t exactly new, but my pick Uncertain Country is. It’s the title track of their eighth and latest studio album released in April this year.
Them/(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66
After a stop-over in the present, let’s jump back close to 60 years to June 1965. That’s when Northern Irish garage rockers Them came out with their first album The “Angry” Young Them. While best known for the garage anthem Gloria, it also featured a great cover of (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66, a popular R&B song composed in 1946 by Bobby Troup. Nat King Cole recorded it first that same year with the King Cole Trio. Initially, I heard and came to love the cover by The Rolling Stones. Then I came across this great rendition by Them, a tight sounding band with great musical chops and Van Morrison as a compelling frontman.
Pearl Jam/Even Flow
Time to pay a visit to the ninnnnnnnnnneties. In August 1991, American rock band Pearl Jam released their debut album Ten. While it wasn’t an immediate success, by late 1992, it had reached no. 2 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200. Even Flow was one of three hit singles Ten spawned , which ultimately made it the group’s most commercially successful album with over 13 million copies sold in the U.S. alone. Admittedly, every time I listen to Even Flow, I think of Adam Sandler’s silly spoof, but it’s a pretty good song with lyrics by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music by Stone Gossard, one of the group’s guitarists.
Crowded House/Something So Strong
This leaves us with one more stop. To wrap up today’s trip we shall travel down under to August 1986, which saw the release of Crowded House’s eponymous debut album. The New Zealand-Australian pop rock band had formed in Melbourne the year before. Best known for the beautiful Don’t Dream It’s Over, which became the band’s biggest hit, the album topped the Australian charts and reached no. 3 in New Zealand. Another single that enjoyed decent chart success, especially in these two markets, was Something So Strong. It was co-written by the band’s Neil Finn and producer Mitchell Froom who officially became their keyboarder in 2020 after Crowded House had reemerged from a multi-year hiatus.
Last but not least, following is a Spotify playlist of the above songs. Hope there’s something that speaks to you.
Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify