creedence clearwater revival

Playlist #208: Uncle Gert

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It’s Tuesday, but I only just got back from a quick trip to Oklahoma last night. Yes, I said I was going to Ohio last week for Spring Break, but then a difficult and unfortunate thing happened: my Uncle Randy died. So instead of Ohio, I headed to Oklahoma. Anyway, here are ten songs that I think of when I think of my uncle.

  1. The Traveling Wilburys, “Poor House”: Whenever the family gets together, the guitars come out. And whenever the guitars come out, we play this song. Uncle Randy was the lead player of the family, the guy who knew all the parts in each song and can usually come up with something on the spot that perfectly fits the song. He loved playing this one and asked me to sing it every time.
  2. Chicago, “25 or 6 to 4”: Apparently both my dad and my uncle were completely and totally in love with Chicago back in the 70s, and this was always their favorite by them. The Terry Kath guitar solo in this one is a hell of a challenge, but apparently Randy was able to master it in high school.
  3. The Beatles, “Two Of Us”: We loved playing this one in the guitar pickin’ circle. It’s got beautiful vocals from Lennon and McCartney, giving my dad and me a chance to each sing one part. This generally works better when we’re not trying to harmonize, as I tend to follow any other voice I hear in terms of how they’re singing.
  4. Pink Floyd, “Wish You Were Here”: My uncle did a long-running series of covers called “Family, Friends, and Me.” He did well over 100 covers of rock and roll songs over the years, recently releasing the seventh volume online just a couple of weeks ago. One of the songs for this most recent collection was this Pink Floyd tune, one I’ve loved since I heard it so many years ago.
  5. The Eagles, “Desperado”: A beautiful ballad that Gert’s friend Teresa sang on the seventh volume of “Family, Friends, and Me.” She does it perfect, and I honestly can’t imagine anyone else ever singing it.
  6. The Regular Joes, “Flame On, Fire of Love”: My uncle was in a number of bands over the years, but the one I will always remember was called the Regular Joes. They were a rock and roll band who did a share of covers and originals, and this original was on their last record. It’s one of those rock songs that manages to be wistful and sad and beautiful all at once, and it’s always been one of my favorites of theirs.
  7. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Who’ll Stop the Rain”: There are good songs on every single CCR album, even the really terrible last couple. But this one stands tall even among their vaunted catalog. We played this one all the time in the pickin’ circles.
  8. Boston, “More Than a Feeling”: The guy behind the band Boston, Tom Scholz, reminds me a lot of Uncle Randy. They were both perfectly at home in the studio and crafted multi-layered, phenomenal songs.
  9. The Cottrell Boys, “Rainin’ on a Thursday”: My dad and Randy recorded a few songs themselves, just for fun, and I usually wrote lyrics for them. This is one of the songs dad and I are most proud of, and they made it sound perfect in my opinion.
  10. Foo Fighters, “My Hero”: There’s a photo of my uncle, from when he was young, sitting there in sunglasses and holding a Strat. For his birthday a few years ago, his son, my cousin Chris, gave him a blown-up version of the photo with the lyrics to this song on the back. It featured in the funeral, even. It’s a song that’s now indelibly linked with my uncle in my mind.

Playlist #204 – Birthday Edition!

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Happy Monday, folks! It’s my birthday this Thursday, if’n you didn’t know, and I’ll be turning 45. I do not feel like a 45 year old except when I stand up too fast or sit on the floor for too long. We’re gonna go sing karaoke this weekend to celebrate, so here’s my go-to songs for karaoke:

  1. B-52s, “Love Shack”: I’ll sing all the parts by myself, given half a chance.
  2. Tom Petty, “Won’t Back Down”: Really, any Tom Petty song works for me, but this one is fun if you can get everyone else to sing along on the chorus.
  3. The Darkness, “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”: The really fast part in the chorus? The absolute best.
  4. Barenaked Ladies, “One Week”: The whole damn thing is too fast for most folks, but I spent my college years perfecting it rather than going on dates.
  5. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Who’ll Stop The Rain”: Really, any CCR song would work.
  6. Hank Williams, “Why Don’t You Love Me”: A country crier? A sob-story to pedal steel and fiddle? Sign me up!
  7. George Thorogood & the Destroyers, “Move It On Over”: Yeah, it’s technically also a Hank Williams song, but the George Thorogood version is probably more fun to sing. You gotta throw that growl in there.
  8. Phil Collins, “In The Air Tonight”: If you don’t air drum at that spot (you know what spot), you are dead inside.
  9. The Animals, “House Of The Rising Sun”: Is it easy to hit those high parts? Of course not. Does that actually matter when you are karaokeing? Not in the least.
  10. Louis Armstrong, “Mack The Knife”: Everyone needs a pop standard in their back pocket, and this is mine. I think I do it some justice.

Playlist #200

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Happy Monday, folks. We’re almost to the end of February, which means next week is March: the month of my birth! That’s beside the point, though. Here’s some songs.

  1. Joel R.L. Phelps & The Downer Trio, “Lost Continent”: Heavier than my usual fare, I’ll be the first to admit. I blame John Darnielle for this one, as he’s the guy who was talking about this album on BlueSky the other day. I kinda love the idea that love is a lost continent. It’s a brilliant metaphor, I think.
  2. Role Model, “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out”: This one isn’t my fault, either. Poppier than usual, but with a bit of twang and slide guitar, and a sing-along chorus that is pretty damn infectious.
  3. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Room at the Top”: This is one of the most beautiful songs Tom Petty ever wrote, and it’s just heartbreaking as you get to that last verse. “Yeah, I keep doing those things on TV, I love you/Please love me, I’m not so bad/And I love you so.” And then the whole band kicks back in for that last chorus. Gets me every time.
  4. St. Vincent, “Broken Man”: St. Vincent does fantastical things with every new album, and I’m kinda here for it, honestly.
  5. David Gray, “A Clean Pair of Eyes”: I honestly can’t say why, but I really love David Gray’s Lost Songs collection. There’s just so much good stuff here.
  6. The Rolling Stones, “Honky Tonk Women”: Some days, you just need a little honky tonk in your life.
  7. Drive-By Truckers, “Everybody Needs Love”: Still one of the best songs the band has ever written, with such a simple message.
  8. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Someday Never Comes”: How John Fogerty could write such a heartbreaking song, I’ll never know.
  9. Bob Dylan, “Song To Woody”: How do you tell your hero they’re your hero?
  10. Mavis Staples, “Eyes on the Prize”: This woman has lived through so much, has sung so many amazing songs, and her version of this old tune still grabs me and holds my attention every time.

Playlist #187: The Longs

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Happy Monday, folks. It’s Thanksgiving Week! There ought to be more Thanksgiving Carols, right? Anyway, this week’s playlist is all songs that are well over the ten minute mark, because why the hell not? And no, they’re not all Pink Floyd songs. I just put one on here.

  1. Arlo Guthrie, “Alice’s Restaurant Massacre”: I love this song without qualifications or justifications necessary. It’s rambling, barely coherent, and funny as hell.
  2. Pink Floyd, “Echoes”: A band known for going over the top with long, drawn-out compositions like this one or “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” But they’re usually interesting and very dynamic, so they get a prog pass from me.
  3. Bob Dylan, “Highlands”: Dylan’s no stranger to long songs with fifteen thousand verses in them, going back to at least “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.” This one, though, from Time Out of Mind, is my favorite, if only because he keeps cracking jokes. It’s also where I got the title of my comic, Sketches from Memory.
  4. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”: Who would’ve thought an R&B groove could go on for that long? But damn if it doesn’t.
  5. The Decemberists, “The Crane Wife 1 & 2”: Really a bit of a cheat, since technically they’re two songs mashed together on the same track, but I’m gonna count it anyway ’cause the band seems to.
  6. Dire Straits, “Telegraph Road”: Mark Knopfler liked to stretch things out once in a while, as it turns out. There weren’t many bands who could get away with releasing a five-song album in 1982, but they could.
  7. Genesis, “Driving the Last Spike”: Yeah, early Genesis tended toward the long, esoterically pastoral fantasies, but this is late-period, early 1990s Genesis, flexing a bit, writing a song about railroad workers in industrial England. It feels different.
  8. Neil Young, “Cowgirl in the Sand”: Still not sure how Neil Young was just…recording grunge-style songs back in the early ’70s like he’s some sort of time traveler or something.
  9. Traffic, “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys”: What the hell is this song even about? I have no idea. But it’s kinda jazzy and kinda rock’n’roll and it’s a lot of Steve Winwood.
  10. Van Morrison, “Almost Independence Day”: It almost sounds like Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” but not quite. Not quite. And Van does a bit of that weird humming/scatting thing in it. Which is, as I said, kinda weird. But also kinda works? I dunno, it’s early and I haven’t had enough caffeine yet this morning.

Playlists #164, #165, and #166

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As you read this, I’m somewhere between Virginia and Oklahoma, headed back to the land of my birth for my grandfather’s funeral. He passed away this weekend, and it’s kinda left me gutted. I’m glad I got to see him over Father’s Day weekend, and that he was in good spirits at the time. It’ll be nice to remember him that way.

Anyway, I’m combining three playlists into one today, because I’m behind a bit and I put together a big playlist to get me to Oklahoma. Here’s thirty songs.

  1. David Gray, “A Clean Pair of Eyes”: Early David Gray just hits different. It’s folkier, more acoustic, and very introspective. I dig it.
  2. Louis Armstrong, “Mack the Knife”: There is no better moment in music than when Louis throws it to himself for the trumpet solo at the end.
  3. Bing Crosby, “Swinging on a Star”: One of the best songs about the importance of education ever committed to tape.
  4. Ryan Adams, “Desire”: Yeah, the guy has diarrhea of the recording studio, and some of the crap he’s pulled over the years is rather reprehensible, but he does occasionally write and record good tunes.
  5. Mavis Staples, “Eyes on the Prize”: Leave it to Mavis to turn a Civil Rights Standard into a bluesy banger.
  6. Greg Feldon, “Incoming”: On one of my (many) recent trips back from Oklahoma, I spent the better part of a day driving up I-81 listening to this song on repeat until I had it memorized. It’s a good song.
  7. The Rolling Stones, “Honky Tonk Women”: Poor Mick just can’t even have an easy one night stand, can he?
  8. James McMurtry, “Choctaw Bingo”: It’s something of a standard “driving to Oklahoma” song for me at this point. It pops up on lots of playlists, because it’s a good song and it’s kinda long.
  9. Mark Knopfler, “Cannibals”: There are no cannibals anymore, are there, Mark? I think some folsk would beg to differ with a knife and fork, sir.
  10. Rilo Kiley, “More Adventurous”: Such a beautiful, forlorn sort of song. I’ve always loved it.
  11. Big Red Machine, “Renegade (feat. Taylor Swift)”: I’d be okay with Justin Vernon and Taylor Swift doing more duets for the next decade or so if they’re up for it.
  12. Ben Caplan, “Down to the River”: Did you know you needed more klezmer-inflected folk music in your life before you heard this song? Because I didn’t, but I obvious do need more of that in my life.
  13. Hank Williams, “Honky Tonk Blues”: This man knew from hard living, not that you’d know it from his songs necessarily. If he were alive today, he’d put the rest of the country music scene to shame, I’m pretty sure.
  14. The Mountain Goats, “Training Montage”: An amazing song if for nothing else than the line, “I’m doing this for revenge.”
  15. Neil Young, “Downtown”: I do enjoy it when Neil, the godfather of grunge, rocks out with Pearl Jam in tow. It’s a good time.
  16. Van Morrison, “Give Me a Kiss”: Old school Van was always top notch, as this song proves.
  17. The Wallflowers, “Misfits and Lovers (feat. Mick Jones)”: If you’re gonna do an album that sounds heavily indebted to the Clash, it’s probably a damn good idea to get a member of the Clash to guest on it.
  18. Tom Waits, “Chocolate Jesus”: Sacrilicious.
  19. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Angel Dream”: Can we talk for a minute about the run Tom Petty had between 1987 and 1999? He released Full Moon Fever, Into the Great Wide Open, Wildflowers, the She’s the One Soundtrack, and Echo, all bangers. All classics. Name me band in the past thirty-five years that’s had a string of records that good.
  20. Toad the Wet Sprocket, “Are We Afraid”: A quieter, more reflective moment from their odds & sods collection In Light Syrup.
  21. Pearl Jam, “Better Man”: I think I mentioned a few weeks ago how the Seven Mary Three song “Water’s Edge” is just a 90s rewrite of Richard Marx’s “Hazard,” and this song is just a rewrite of the final verse of Bob Seger’s “The Fire Inside.”
  22. Peter Gabriel, “Washing of the Water”: How does this man create such consistently interesting and provocative music? It’s wild.
  23. Paul McCartney & Elvis Costello, “My Brave Face (Original Demo)”: Two great tastes that taste great together, as it turns out. Elvis brought out the sharper side of McCartney (for a given value of sharper, since McCartney long ago filed off everything to smooth edges).
  24. Drive-By Truckers, “Everybody Needs Love”: An anthem for our time. Everybody does need love.
  25. Descendents, “‘Merican”: Another anthem for our time, this time about the true history of our country and how some folks just don’t want to see everything.
  26. The Dead Weather, “Hustle and Cuss”: It’s nice to see a Jack White project where he kind of takes a backseat to the proceedings, mostly just playing the drums and occasionally singing (like on this track).
  27. David Bowie, “Modern Love”: Dance-pop-era Bowie usually isn’t my favorite, but this song rocks.
  28. Calexico, “Guero Canelo”: Do I understand a word in this song? No. Does it still slap? Yes.
  29. Bob Dylan, “Song For Woody”: Another appropriate “traveling to Oklahoma” song. Woody is a state treasure, or damn well ought to be.
  30. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Someday Never Comes”: One of the saddest songs that John Fogerty ever wrote, if you want my opinion. It’s dark and bittersweet and sad and longing, and it hits in just that right spot every time.

Playlist #116 – Three Song Runs

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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 #97: Songs About Songs

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For years, I’ve wanted to gather enough songs to put together a playlist of songs about writing/creating/singing songs. And finally, here we are.

  1. Wilco, “Someone Else’s Song”: Sometimes we sing covers. Sometimes our own songs. Who knows.
  2. Elton John, “Your Song”: “But the sun’s been quite nice while I wrote this song” is just a nice sentiment and one that I, at least, could do with more of.
  3. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Wrote A Song For Everyone”: The song this whole list was built around! I have long loved this particular song and I especially appreciate the sentiment of it.
  4. Ben Folds, “One Down”: He was apparently once a professional songwriter, and they expected you to write 3.6 songs per week.
  5. Jason Isbell, “Songs That she Sang In The Shower”: Don’t we all sing in the shower? Aren’t the acoustics in there great?
  6. John Fullbright, “Write A Song”: It’s good advice. You should write a song. All of you. Like, right now.
  7. Dan Auerbach, “Waiting On A Song”: Sometimes songs just sorta come to you, fully formed and ready to go. Other times, you have to sit around and wait for them to arrive. And damn, do they take their sweet time.
  8. Jackson Browne, “Sing My Songs To Me”: Is it possibly the greatest display of ego to want to hear other people sing your own songs? Maybe, but I also have to imagine it’s the greatest honor you can receive as a songwriter: hearing someone else give their interpretation of your words and music.
  9. Paul McCartney, “The Song We Were Singing”: “And it always came back to the song we were singing/At any particular time,” is just one of the best lines you could ever hope to write. It’s so simple, but so evocative.
  10. Panic! At The Disco, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”: Do I know much of anything about PATD? No. No, I do not. Do I care when the song title fits into the playlist theme this well? Again, no. No, I do not.

Playlist #90

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Happy Monday, folks! As per usual, here’s a new playlist for your listening pleasure.

  1. Harry Styles, “Two Ghosts”: I think I might actually like Harry Styles? Is there a doctor I should see about this?
  2. Spoon, “I Can’t Give Everything Away”: The elusive piano-led Spoon song. It’s more downbeat than a lot of their stuff, but I like it.
  3. Jay Farrar, “Feel Free”: I’ve probably mentioned this before, but for the longest time I thought NPR stood for “Non-Profit Radio.” It does not.
  4. Louis Armstrong, “Mack The Knife”: As I said on Twitter the other day, there is no more baller moment in music than when Louis tosses it to himself for the trumpet solo at the end.
  5. Better Than Ezra, “At The Stars”: Always kinda feel like Better Than Ezra should’ve been bigger than they were, even though they’re really just a solid alternative band.
  6. Calexico, “Cumbia De Donde”: I really dig the way this band combines traditional Hispanic music with indie rock. It works really well.
  7. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Someday Never Comes”: Literally the only good song on Mardi Gras. But damn, what a song.
  8. Supertramp, “Goodbye Stranger”: Sorry, lady, I can’t be tied down. Gotta move on to the next chick. Real classy, guys.
  9. Santana, “The Game Of Love (Featuring Michelle Branch)”: Fun fact: the name “Branch” in Portuguese is “Branco,” so my wife’s name came up a lot in the Portuguese music press when this song came out. Strange but true.
  10. The Offspring, “The Kids Aren’t Alright”: 90s kids remember when these dudes were all the rage. I think the lead singer has a PhD? It’s weird.

Playlist #84: Covers!

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Happy Monday! It’s December now, somehow, and as usual I have a new playlist for you. But this one is all cover songs!

  1. The National, “Ashamed Of The Story I Told”: They don’t even really change all that much about the song, except the drum pattern is completely different and it somehow manages to totally change the feel and nature of the song.
  2. Johnny Cash, “Hurt”: It’s downbeat, somber, and a little harrowing. It’s also one of those covers that I would argue is better than the original.
  3. Old 97s, “Mama Tried”: The original Merle Haggard version is damn good (as are most Merle Haggard songs), but this one has the slightest edge on it, I think.
  4. The Byrds, “My Back Pages”: The Byrds could have easily just been a Bob Dylan cover band and I’d have been happy with that. They manage to transform every single Dylan tune they cover into a jangly, poppy slice of ’60s joy.
  5. Pomplamoose, “Maneater”: Watch out, boys, she’ll break your heart, huh? I’m more concerned with being eaten, personally.
  6. Spoon, “Held”: I just love the grit and thump of this song. So good.
  7. The Dirty Knobs, “Rumble”: Mike Campbell (formerly of the Heartbreakers) and some buddies got together to form this band, and they covered Link Wray’s ode to distortion and fuzz here. I love everything about the story of how this song got created, from Wray punching holes in his amplifier’s speaker with a pencil to radio stations refusing to play it because they thought it might incite juvenile delinquency.
  8. Jesse Malin, “You Can Make Them Like You”: Malin has been using this Hold Steady track as his closer for years, usually just him and an acoustic guitar. It’s pretty great.
  9. Tom Waits, “The Return of Jackie And Judy”: The Ramones were pretty ballsy. Case in point: they reference the two main characters in this song going to a Ramones show in the song. The chutzpah.
  10. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “I Put A Spell On You”: Fogerty and Co. had a good ear for an excellent cover song, and this rendition of the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic is no exception.

Playlist #64

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Another week, another playlist! Don’t forget to support me making music over on Patreon. I’m posting a mix of one of my songs done by my brother next Monday, so be sure to check it out!

  1. Ezra Furman & the Harpoons, “Mysterious Power”: This guy does a lot of the music for a tv show called Sex Education on Netflix. It’s a funny show, you should check it out. And the music is pretty solid, too.
  2. Jesse Malin, “Crawling Back To You”: Saw this song on a Jesse Malin album I downloaded over the weekend. “Oh, it has the same name as that Tom Petty song,” I thought to myself. Folks, it is that Tom Petty song, and it’s a pretty good cover of it.
  3. The Beatles, “You Really Got A Hold On Me”: You can’t go wrong with the Beatles covering a doo-wop number. You just can’t.
  4. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Who’ll Stop The Rain”: There’s just something about CCR songs that always get me in a good mood.
  5. Tom Waits, “The Earth Died Screaming”: The Wife wants me to put together a playlist of weird songs. I told her it’d just be a Tom Waits playlist, then.
  6. The Gaslight Anthem, “Biloxi Parish”: I think The Gaslight Anthem may be one of my top five bands of the past fifteen or so years.
  7. Fleetwood Mac, “Rhiannon”: Just how common is the name Rhiannon, anyway? I can’t imagine there are too many of them wandering around.
  8. Jack Johnson, “Banana Pancakes”: I hate bananas.
  9. Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell, “This Must Be The Place”: Features the line, “Sing into my mouth,” which is probably the grossest thing I’ve ever heard Sam Beam sing.
  10. Neil Young, “Down By The River”: Neil Young gives me hope that even my crappy guitar solos aren’t so bad. “Solo? You mean play the same note 32 times in a row, right?”