Last year around this time, the MP3 blogosphere was abuzz with news that Okkervil River had just released a new album-length collection of covers and live recordings for free, only on the band's website . I'm never one to sneer at things that are free, and so I downloaded it. And listened to it, over and over again. I'm not a traditional music customer, as a quick perusal of this blog will certainly show, but this worked on me. (Don't believe me? Click on Okkervil River's tag at the bottom of this post.) Since that [...]
Here is 2007's second mix. This one focuses on rhythm, blues, and soul with some hints of gospel thrown in. (2008's mixes will be posted on the 21st and the 23rd of the month.) You'll note that this CD and ...Country Little Christmas both started with variations on "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." I actually had another one for the country CD, a Buck Owens tune called "Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy" but it didn't make the cut. This CD contains two of my favorite Christmas records of all time, "White Christmas" [...]
Today you get eight versions of painter-turned-music-legend Joni Mitchell's ( fansite wiki AMG ) 1971 " River ." She first started singing by belting out Christmas carols in a children's hospital. By 1971 she was in California, missing the winters of Canada and writing a "selfish and sad" paean to the end of a relationship. I don't have a lot to say about this song, except that I had planned at one point to include every single one of these versions on this year's compilation, Have Yourself A Depressing Little Christmas. (Watch this [...]
Here is one of last year's two CD-length mixes. This one focuses on country, western swing, bluegrass and folk music. (In two days, I'll post the other mix from '07, focusing on blues and soul.) I had a hard time whittling this down to one CD's worth of music. At the earliest stage, I had almost three hours of music to pick from, all songs on the theme which I loved. (The second mix was a little easier to choose from -- I only had to delete about half an hour from that one.) I'm well aware this [...]
Howdy, all. Today's post is brought to you by my good friend Todd, who's been collaborating with me on internet things before some of you were even born. Todd says: I'd have to say "Marshmallow World" from the Maverick's Raul Malo is an outstanding bit of business. Raul does an outstanding classic crooner rendition with a bit of pep in it. It's enough to make you bop your head while driving and get immediately in the Christmas Spirit. Mark [...]
The Sonics ( myspace wiki fanpage AMG ) were a garage band from Tacoma, WA, active during the 1960's and recently reunited for a few live shows. Here's one of their four contributions to Etiquette Records' 1965 compilation Merry Christmas (the album also featured labelmates The Galaxies and The Wailers -- whose song "Christmas Spirit" appeared on last year's Country Christmas mix, which will appear in roughly this space on Sunday). The Sonics are so punk it's hard to believe this is from 1965. [...]
Chris, AKA CD, is this blog's most revered commenter. Also, mostly its only commenter (not counting the splogs and onepost commenters who need a file fixed). Until last week, I didn't know his last name, or even his first name, but he's good people. Today, he wants to talk to you about Ethan Lipton 's Waitsian tune "Gift Basket." Let's review the reasons to enjoy the holidays, shall we? There's the whole good will on earth towards one's fellow man, fresh snowfalls, twinkly lights, egg nog , and, if [...]
This is one of the treasures of my music collection, with a great backstory. Many years ago, while the internet was in its infancy and the earth's crust was still cooling, I met a guy online and traded some tapes with him (I can't find him these days, so I won't name him and maybe get him in trouble). He claimed to have an uncle who worked for Motown during the early 80s, who gave him all kinds of rare outtakes. I have a wonderful 90-minute tape of this stuff, with vocal flubs and studio chatter. And then [...]
Irving Berlin wrote "White Christmas" in 1940. It was first publicly performed (by Bing Crosby) in December 1941, and Crosby first recorded and released it in 1942. The '42 recording actually degraded so much from overuse that five years later Crosby recreated the original session, laying down the version we're all familiar with now. It's since been recorded by hundreds of other acts. In 1954, the same year Crosby starred in the year's top-grossing film (titled, as you can probably guess, White Christmas ), The Drifters recorded this version, with a gospel-blues tinge that kept [...]
I owe Charles Brown an apology. By all rights, and in the tradition of Multiple Mondays, his picture, or one of his album covers, should be over there to the right. (Keep reading to learn why I photoshopped a Santa hat on Chuck instead.) You see, waaaaay back in 1947, rhythm and blues singer Charles Brown met a songwriter named Lou Baxter, who wanted him to record a song called "Merry Christmas Blues." Brown reworked the song and took it into the studio, where his usual collaborators, Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, provided the backing track. (Apparently [...]
Here's the second of 2006's two Christmas mixes I compiled. The mixes from '06 and '07 (stay tuned!) don't have covers uploaded, since I made all the covers by hand with paper cutouts and stickers and such. I'll probably put together covers for this year's two mixes, though I'm planning to continue with the handmade covers for the hardcopies my friends get. Now, for about as long as they've existed, I've been a fairly faithful reader of two music blogs: You Ain't No Picasso and WFMU's Beware Of The Blog . But until December '06, [...]
I'm afraid I'm temporarily discontinuing Stagger Lee Saturdays, in favor of Christmas music. I know this might be unpopular with some of you, but I'll bring Stag back in January, or if anyone out there can suggest more versions which specifically mention the Christmas Eve setting, as this one does. You'll notice that The Grateful Dead get the year wrong, setting it all the way in 1940 (the date of the real-life murder was 12-24-1895), but it at least mentions "Xmas Eve" so I'm gonna make this our December Stag post. (The Dead also played this live a [...]
Here's one of the two CD mixes I put together in 2006 for all my friends. (Come back Sunday for the second one, Have Yourself A Mellow Little Christmas, and I'll also explain how Christmas music was my introduction to MP3 blogs.) Two years ago, I was celebrating having a computer and regular net access for the first time in literally years. Also, for the first time in ages, due to changes in my job, I was really digging on Christmas music, and the spirit of peace and love I hadn't gotten much of for years. This is a nice [...]
Dennis Wilson would've been 64 today. He was a sensitive guy, at first overshadowed by the other Beach Boys (he didn't sing lead vocals for years, and wasn't the primary songwriter on any songs they recorded till 1968). Like his brothers, he had a deep spiritual side, which you can hear on his original Christmas hymn. (This song is so relaxing and warm I included it on my '06 compilation, Have Yourself A Mellow Little Christmas. Stay tuned -- it's coming in three days.) This was recorded for 1977's aborted album Merry Christmas From The Beach [...]
Those Transatlantics are from Michigan and, like so many other Michigan bands, they've contributed to Suburban Sprawl's Christmas releases . (That link there has six years' worth of music, for hours and hours of original and covered Christmas songs. Highly, highly recommended. This is not the only song I'll be posting this month I found on that page.) This song starts out charming and adorable, continues straight down that avenue for a while, then takes a left turn down the boulevard of rocking your ass so hard it falls off your body. It's earned [...]
The Sads are a Prague band (and namesake song recorders ) fronted by my good friend Steven Rusling, who'll be contributing a guest entry this month. This is the final track from their new album, the band at their most Magnetic Fieldsian. Steve says: I originally wrote it as a fast jangley happy sounding Phil Spector type number. Then, possibly, now that I think about it, because I wouldn't know how to record that, I slowed it down and weirded it up a bit, which maybe changed the landscape a bit. [...]
Here is post number one, in my attempt to write a post every day between now and Christmas. Our patron saint, Thurl Ravenscroft , recorded lots of Christmas music, and here's the 35 minutes I have in my collection. This includes 3 songs in which Thurl plays Santa, four tracks about the birth of Jesus (a subject dear to Thurl's heart -- his first public performance was in the church choir), and clips he recorded for Christmastime in the Disney parks. Tracklisting: 01. Country Bear Christmas #1 02. Billy May - Do You Believe in [...]
Woody 's take on Stag makes him a "bad man," yes, but he's also pretty vain. I personally don't own many suits of clothes that cost a hundred dollars, and it's almost been 113 years since the original story took place. It's rare to hear a version of Stag that doesn't celebrate him at all -- Woody says "we was all glad to see him die"!! Sometime I'll do a rundown of the various guns Stag has used in different versions of his tale -- usually it just comes down to which caliber rhymes with the previous line. [...]
Here's a repost of my first three birthday posts. (Possibly all of them, since I seem to have stopped doing them. Only time will tell.) The original posts: Meredith Willson John Fogerty Louis Armstrong Zip file
All righty, it's time to clear off more disk space, since I have fancy plans (and pants to match) for December. Tracklisting, with links to the original posts: Chris Hatfield - Born Again Pagan Curtis Mayfield - Ghetto Child (demo version) Dr. Dog - Say Something Eddie Cochran vs. Snoop Dogg - Everybody Drop It Like It's Hot Gnarls Barkley - Run Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (Futuro Remix) [...]
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