carole king

Playlist #180

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Monday, folks! It’s PSAT/SAT Week here at the school where I teach, which means I get to spend Wednesday administering a test. Joy. In the meantime, here are some tunes to help you get through the next seven days.

  1. Stone Temple Pilots, “Big Easy”: Still follows the soft/loud dynamic of every band that ever heard the Pixies, but the incorporation of acoustic guitars and slide guitar is rather novel. I dig it.
  2. Mount Eerie, “Ravens”: Part of a song cycle/album about the death of the singer’s wife, it’s soft and contemplative and bare bones in its instrumentation, like it was made for Saturday around 3:00 AM.
  3. Buckingham Nicks, “Long Distance Winner”: Early work from Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, pre-Fleetwood Mac, and the album is indeed hard to track down. It’s not available on any of the streaming services I checked, and even a CD version on Amazon was more money than I want to admit I spent on Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. But it’s damn good music, even if some of the lyrics are a little too simple most of the time.
  4. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Breakdown”: Sometimes, I’m just in the mood for some good ol’ fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. And Tom always provides. Always.
  5. The Smile, “Foreign Spies”: More electronic than their previous two albums, but what do you expect from 2/5 of Radiohead?
  6. Jimmy Eat World, “Lucky Denver Mint”: Jumped up rocker is jumped up rocker.
  7. Carole King, “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman”: I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a Carole King song that I didn’t like.
  8. Louis Armstrong, “A Kiss To Build A Dream On”: If you don’t love Satchmo, I don’t think we can be friends.
  9. The Clovers, “Love Potion No. 9”: This will always be the goofiest damn song to me. Dude drinks a love potion and ends up kissing a cop. Classic.
  10. Glen Campbell, “MacArthur Park”: So apparently this song is based on the love story between Jimmy Webb (who wrote it) and Susie Horton. Horton was working at an insurance company office near – you guessed it – MacArthur Park at the time. It’s apparently symbolic of the end of the love affair, according to Webb, but that really makes me wonder what kinda kinky cake-related shenanigans they got up to. Also, original recording of the song was by actor Richard Harris, later of Dumbledore in Harry Potter fame.

Playlist #116 – Three Song Runs

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

My brother Clif challenged me to come up with a playlist made of three-song runs by artists/bands, runs of songs that are all killer, no filler. There are limits: no compilations/best of collections, no soundtracks, just three songs in a row from a single album. So here’s four such runs.

Run 1: Carole King, “You’ve Got A Friend,” “Where You Lead,” and “Will you Love Me Tomorrow” (from Tapestry): I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Tapestry is solid from beginning to end. There is not a bad song on that album. I could have pulled any three songs from this album at random and it would’ve been just as good.

Run 2: Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” “Run Through the Jungle,” and “Up Around the Bend” (from Cosmo’s Factory): Honestly, I could’ve pulled any three song run from any of CCR’s first five albums (well, maybe not their self-titled) and it would’ve been just a series of bangers. These guys cranked out just amazing songs every time out (we’ll ignore Pendulum and Mardi Gras).

Run 3: The Gaslight Anthem, “The ’59 Sound,” “Old White Lincoln,” and “High Lonesome” (from The ’59 Sound): Again, you could pull any three songs from this album and they’d all rock. These three songs in particular feel like Bruce Springsteen fronting a punk band, a thing I never knew I wanted until just now.

Run 4: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Refugee,” “Here Comes My Girl,” and “Even the Losers” (from Damn the Torpedoes): Damn the Torpedoes plays like a greatest hits album. Seriously. Even the deep cuts from this album are amazing. These three songs open the album, and it only stays this awesome from there.

Playlist #61: Mom’s Birthday, Take 2

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Last year, I posted a playlist for my mother’s birthday that really didn’t reflect her favorite musicians or bands. This year, I make up for that. I present to you Version 2.0 of my Mom’s Birthday Playlist!

  1. Supertramp, “Take The Long Way Home”: One of the few CDs mom had when we were young was a Supertramp greatest hits collection. We listened to it a lot on car trips.
  2. Simon & Garfunkel, “A Hazy Shade Of Winter”: She also had a Simon & Garfunkel CD. This song was not on it, but it’s still a good song.
  3. The Eagles, “Take It To The Limit”: Mom likes the Eagles. I like the Eagles. My wife hates the Eagles with a fierce, fiery passion.
  4. Electric Light Orchestra, “Sweet Talkin’ Woman”: Who doesn’t love ELO? Commies, that’s who.
  5. The Moody Blues, “Ride My See-Saw”: I mean, they have that one song where they spend the last couple minutes just talking, but this song doesn’t do that. It’s just a fun, uptempo bop.
  6. Huey Lewis & The News, “It’s All Right”: I had a Huey Lewis button on my jean jacket growing up. It was awesome.
  7. Carole King, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”: This woman writes a song better than damn-near anybody. I will fight you on this.
  8. Carly Simon, “You’re So Vain”: You probably think this song is about you. It’s not.
  9. The Band Perry, “If I Die Young”: I heard this song in the doctor’s office earlier this week. I then recalled that a coworker had me learn how to play this song for our school talent show several years ago.
  10. Don Henley, “All She Wants To Do Is Dance”: And make romance.

Playlist #27

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Good evening! As we roll into November, I have a new playlist full of tasty treats for you.

  1. Drive-By Truckers, “Daddy’s Cup”: When I saw these guys live about 15 years ago, they played this song, and damn if it didn’t blow me away back then. Who knew racing cars could make for compelling family drama?
  2. Yo La Tengo, “Deeper Into Movies”: I always feel like I should listen to these guys more. They’re very good at what they do, and what they do is quite nice.
  3. Wilco, “Handshake Drugs”: I enjoy playing this one on the guitar. It’s only got four chords and two verses, so even my tiny brain can remember it all.
  4. Rockwell, “Somebody’s Watching Me”: One of my freshman students was singing this song the other day. “How do you know that song?” I asked, as she did not strike me as the sort to listen to music that was more than six months old. “TikTok,” she replied, and a little piece of my curmudgeonly heart died.
  5. Bill Withers, “Ain’t No Sunshine”: When he repeats the “I know” over and over and over again, two thoughts run through my mind: (1) he forgot the next line and (2) how did he not pass out?
  6. Bruce Hornsby, “The Great Divide”: This guy writes good songs. I should probably listen to more than just this one and “That’s Just The Way It Is.”
  7. Bush, “Glycerine”: First of all, Bush is pretty terrible. Second, while this isn’t necessarily a good song, it’s at least entertainingly bad.
  8. Carole King, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?”: Still one of the best, most underrated songwriters out there. Is there a bad song on Tapestry? No, no there is not.
  9. Charlie Sexton, “Burn”: Charlie Sexton, 80s heartthrob, Dylan guitarist, guy who puts out an album every decade or so. We’re way past due for a new one, Charlie. Let Bob spin his wheels behind a guitar for a few months, go record something for us.
  10. Courtney Barnett, “Pedestrian At Best”: Australian musician who has a wonderful off-the-cuff, relaxed lyrical style that I enjoy listening to, even if her voice is an acquired taste (and one the Wife has yet to acquire).