Skip to main content

WEEKLY ROAD TRIP, VOL. 2

,,,Hey there!  Here's part 2 of this little experiment.  I left L.A. around 2:30am after a fun night of hosting Trivia and spending some time with my friends.

Here's what I got to listen to (via Ipod Shuffle) on the way
Home to Emily:

1.  Ain't That a Kick in the Head - Dean Martin
This is from the "Cool Then, Cool Now" CD.  I love it when they keep studio banter in songs like this.  This one, however is unusual, in that it "features" Kevin Spacey (which I just found out) from one of those duets-after-they-are-dead collections.  Well, it still works.

2.  Out On the Road (Mondo Version) - Norah Jones
Fun - and appropriate - song from her new one, "Little Broken Hearts", produced by Brian Burton AKA Danger Mouse.

3.  Fighting (Instrumental) - Elmer Bernstein
2 weeks in a row, Mr. Bernstein makes the list.  As I said before, I really like the score to Heavy Metal (1981).  This is from the last story from the Loc-Nar called "Taarna".  You know, when she's in the bar where the band is playing "We're Thru Being Cool", then she decapitates a couple of jerkstores.  Then, she goes after the leader of the bad guys - the one with the weird, sort-of Viking helmet thing that was made evil by the green, volcanic-like eruption and she's the last of her kind to avenge the deaths of a group of peaceful scientists and artists (or something).

4.  Encyclopedia of Classic Takedowns - A.C. Newman
Also known as Carl Newman, the leader of The New Pornographers.  This is from his latest solo CD, "Shut Down the Streets".  Newman has said that Shut Down The Streets "is all about birth, death, happiness and sadness, chronicling a time in my life where all those things had to learn to coexist side by side."  Well, I'm digging it so far!

5.  Lonely Stranger - Eric Clapton
From the Unplugged set he did which spawned the slowed down, shuffling version of Layla.  I found a CD called "Acoustic Waltz" which is the entire recording session for the Unplugged show that aired on MTV in the 90s.

6.  Dim Lights, Thick Smoke - Dwight Yoakam
Twangy, funky, rockin' and groovin' track from Mr. Yoakam's latest, "3 Pears"  Good with the windows down and the top open.

7.  You Don't Know - The Heavy
Another fuzzy, chunky entry from their debut CD, "Great Vengeance & Furious Fire".  Just in case, they are the band that does, "How You Like Me Now", which was on several ads over the last few years.

8.  93 Million Miles - Jason Mraz
2 weekends ago, Emily and I were in Las Vegas.  It's not what you think; her mother lives there.  It is like when you go to visit your partner's family...you know.  We did, however, go to the Red Rock casino to see Jason Mraz live.  His outlook on everything is very positive and upbeat, which is not my regular kind of music to listen to, but I'm enjoying what I'm hearing from him.  For me, the best part of the concert was seeing how happy Emily was.  Each song made her smile and sing and dance in her seat.  It was great.

9.  Teenage Wasteland - Pete Townshend
Of all people, do you REALLY think I wrote that song title, meaning "Baba O'Riley"?!  Of course not!!!  This is a demo of the first track from Mr. Townshend's 2nd attempt at a rock opera, "Lifehouse", which kind of predicts the Internet.  the result from aborting "Lifehouse was "Who's Next", with Baba O'Riley, Won't Get Fooled Again, Behind Blue Eyes and a couple of other great WHO tracks.

10.   The Wind - Cat Stevens
Simple and classic, from "Teaser and the Firecat".

11.  Hikky-Burr (Kincaid Kinfolk) - Quincy Jones & Bill Cosby
This was the theme song to "The Bill Cosby Show"...NOT "The Cosby Show" or even "Cosby".  The one where the Cos plays Chet Kincaid, a high-school gym teacher just helping out the kids whenever he can.  The "Hikky-Burr" title comes from some nonsense lyrics that Mr. Cosby added during the recording.  This is basically the full song, minus the lyrics.  A nice groove Mr. Jones created.

12.  Ab (We Need Treatment) - The View
Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg and Elizabeth Hasselbeck recorded this...Oh, who am I kidding?  The View are a Scottish indie rock band.  This is from their 4th CD, "Cheeky For a Reason"


13.  For Once in My Life - Stevie Wonder
Did you know Berry Gordy did not like Mr. Wonder's version of this song?  Mr. Gordy vetoed the single's release, and the recording was shelved. Billie Jean Brown, the head of the Motown Quality Control department, finally coerced Mr. Gordy into allowing Mr. Wonder's version to be released in October 1968.  Unbelievable...this is my favorite version.  Obviously, Mr. Gordy had no idea what he was doing (well, not really, but COME ON?!).

14.  Cracklin' Rosie - Neil Diamond
Mr. Diamond's Ode to a bottle of wine:  Cracklin' Rosie is a type of wine drunk by a native Canadian tribe. Diamond heard a story about that tribe while doing an interview in Toronto, Canada and the story subsequently inspired him to write this song. Apparently the tribe had more men than women and Cracklin' Rosie was the nickname they used for their homemade alcoholic brew, which the single men, who did not have dates, would sit around the fire and drink together.

15.  Another You - MoZella
I got this because the title of the CD is "The Brian Holland Sessions".  Brian Holland is one of the songwriters during Motown's heyday in the 1960s and 1970s.  You may have heard of Holland - Dozier - Holland (Heatwave, Baby, Don't You Do It, Nowhere To Run, Stop! In the Name of Love, How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) just to name a few).  MoZella co-wrote the songs with Mr. Holland, and the result is very classic Motown, with a slightly tighter production.

Well, there you have it.  Feel free to comment here or on the link on Facebook...and thanks for reading!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

giving humor a bad name

Why is it that when someone in politics - or just in the public eye - says something offensive, they back peddle and claim they were trying to tell a joke or be funny? Read the following article from Politico.com and you tell me, was the comment by Michael Barone of U.S. News and World Report funny in any way at all: Barone: Media wanted Palin abortion By MIKE ALLEN & ANDY BARR | 11/11/08 5:58 PM EST A roomful of academics erupted in angry boos Tuesday morning after political analyst Michael Barone said journalists trashed Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republicans' vice presidential nominee, because "she did not abort her Down syndrome baby." Barone said in an e-mail that he "was attempting to be humorous and ... went over the line." Barone was speaking at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, to the 121st annual meeting of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, which calls itself the nation’s oldest higher-education associatio...

Buckin' Fig is now open

Hey there! Well, I've decided to step out of the occasional myspace blog and start my own. Why? Cuz I wanna. I'll post some of my earlier blogs - the one's I actually wrote - here soon. I plan to post frequently, but that's subjective to me so let's say I'll post when I can about any number of topics. Welcome and I hope this works. Later Me

'Tis the season to be voting

I haven't enjoyed a primary season like this one in SUCH a long time! First, I'll say, I haven't paid as much attention to primaries in the past as I have this one, but damn, I sure picked a good one. So, Clinton and Obama are in a dead heat (always thought that was a weird phrase). OK. I'm an Obama supporter, but if Clinton gets the nomination, I'm fine with that. If all of the Democratic contestants were still in the race, she wouldn't be my second choice either. However, if it's her, I can deal. I'd like to see how a female president would work. I think, very well. I do feel - though - that we need a real change in this country. The idea of Bush - Clinton - Bush - Clinton is not appealing to me at all. Yes, things were going well in the 90s, but that's so last millennium. Enough of the past. I think we need a real change, or - to paraphrase Monty Python - we need something completely different. I think that's Barack Obama. As much ...