Be Thankful for What You Got - William DeVaughn

Be Thankful for What You Got - William DeVaughn

3:26

Be Thankful for What You Got, 1974

Written by William DeVaughn

A classic soul bop in the style of What's Going On-era Marvin Gaye.   It's a straightforward message ong, with its falsetto addressed to the listener, saying that they don't need a car in order to feel gratitude.   "Remember, brothers and sisters / You can still stand tall."  Its groovy fadeout call, "Diamond in the back, sunroof top / Diggin' the scene with a gangsta lean," has been sampled by many a gangsta rapper.  The album version is actually seven and a half minutes long; I don't think we need that, but it is a terrific slice of '70s soul.

Night Boat To Cairo - Madness

Night Boat To Cairo - Madness

3:31

One Step Beyond..., 1979

Written by Graham McPherson and Mike Barson

It begins with a low foghorn-like sound.  "It's just gone noon, half past monsoon / On the banks of the river Nile."  The lyrics describe a wordless scene, a grizzled old oarsman paddling across the Nile.  It's a view that's informed by a British, colonialist culture shaped by numberless films about intrepid chaps off to bring civilization to Johnny Wog.  The music matches the imagery, giving it a suspenseful, adventure-story feel despite the frenetic pace.

Newk's Fadeaway - Sonny Rollins Quartet

Newk's Fadeaway - Sonny Rollins Quartet

3:11

Sonny Rollins Quartet, 1952

Written by Sonny Rollins

Okay, first, who is Newk?  Newk is Rollins' nickname (newkname?) due to his supposed resemblance to the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball pitcher Don Newcombe.  Second: credit.  This is often credited to Sonny Rollins with the New Jazz Quartet, but that's wrong.  Only the first four tracks on the 1956 compilation album were with the NJQ.  Anyhoo, this is a great saxophone track.  His tenor tone is bright but unhurried, riding atop the sparse comping like it's no big thing. The quartet leaves space open, giving Rollins room to explore ideas without much clutter.  It’s cool, loose, and self-assured.  I was surprised to find that it doesn't, at least on Spotify, fade away so much as stop abruptly. 

Night Time - The Strangeloves

Night Time - The Strangeloves

3:23

I Want Candy, 1965

Written by Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Gottehrer

Nervous Breakdown - Eddie Cochran

Nervous Breakdown - Eddie Cochran

2:20

Never To Be Forgotten, 1960

Written by Eddie Cochran

This album was released posthumously; Cochran died in a car wreck at the age of 21.  This is a rockabilly number that musically sounds a lot like "Summertime Blues" to me.  It concerns a young fellow who's stuttering and shivering and quivering.  He sees the doctor, and is diagnosed with Too Much Being Rowdy and Staying Out Late.  So he decides to take the cure.  "No more girls for a week or two / No more runnin' 'round with the usual crew."  I like the way he draws out "a, a, neeerrrvouss breaakkdown."  The Who were fans of Eddie.

North To Alaska - Johnny Horton

North To Alaska - Johnny Horton
2:50
single, 1960
Written by Mike Phillips, and Tillman Franks

This is a story song, written for a movie starring John Wayne.  These two characters, Big Sam and George Pratt, go hunting for gold south of Nome in 1892.  Then George has found the love of his life and says, "I'd trade all the gold that's buried in this land / For one small band of gold to place on sweet little Jenny's hand."  Unfortunately, the song ends there; there is no third verse that tells whether those crazy kids ever got together, or George froze to death trying to get to the courthouse.

The Damned - Bridge City Sinners

The Damned - Bridge City Sinners

2:47

Unholy Hymns, 2021

Written by ?

This outfit is neo-folk horrorbilly from Portland, OR.  Really, you only have to look at them to know that.  This song is pretty gloom and doom, like a Hieronymus Bosch painting turned into a poem: "The soil is dead and rotten / Plants don't grow here anymore / Can't feed the hungry babies / Water's creeping up the shore."  It would be a middling horrorbilly song, but for half the song, singer Libby Lux chnages her voice to an overwrought, ragged, histrionic screeching borders on the comic, except it's excruciating to listen to.  I don't see myself listening to this one a lot.

The Dogs - Justin Wells

The Dogs - Justin Wells

4:13

Dawn in the Distance, 2016

Written by Justin Wells?

A country roots singer, much in the mold of Steve Earle, down to the beard and the propensity for cursing.  This song is a self-referential tale of touring and making music: "I've pawned everything I've ever owned / Just to drive eight hours to this bar-room show / And to play these songs and pray for a friendly face / It ain't easy acting like it ain't personal."  The dogs of the title are him and his band ("We're the dog that crawled for miles on broken legs").

The Damaged - Gallows Bound

The Damaged - Gallows Bound

3:06

Gallows Bound, 2014

Written by Gallows Bound?

A terrific acoustic neo-bluegrass, or folk-punk, band with muscle and a strong lead singer.  The finger-picking makes you dance around until you start to hear the words and get depressed.  It's the story of two people who don't get along any more but lack the strength to leave.  "And alone separately they cry."  They're damaged.  "How the damaged seem to love their kind / And they wait for someone to save them."  Bleak stuff!  Nowadays we call it being codependent or enabling.  

The Distance - Cake

The Distance - Cake

2:59

Fashion Nugget, 1996

Written by Greg Brown

With the usual guitar, drums, bass and deadpan vocal (and an electronic synthesizer whistle), this is a typical Cake song, but one of their most popular songs.  To me it's not up there with my favorites, but it's definitely got a driving beat impelling it along.  It seems to be a song about moving through success and failure and just trying to get there for yourself.  "No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine / He's haunted by something he cannot define."  Maybe doing your best for love.  "And thinking of someone for whom he still burns."

The Disguise - Ornette Coleman

The Disguise - Ornette Coleman
2:50
Something Else!!! The Music Of Ornette Coleman, 1958

Written by Ornette Coleman

Despite the title, this is not a late compilation, but Coleman's debut album, one of the only ones to feature piano in the combo.  It's free jazz with blues influences, and apparently made quite an impact when it came out.  I do not have an educated ear for jazz; what's most apparent for me is Coleman's sax duetting with the cornet and the rattling percussion.  I read elsewhere that for some listeners, the piano isn't really gelling with the rest of the band, playing in an older bebop style; maybe that's why Coleman got rid of it afterwards.

Careless - Paul Kelly and the Messengers

Careless - Paul Kelly and the Messengers

2:57

So Much Water So Close to Home, 1989

Written by Paul Kelly

This is jangly guitar pop of the kind that was popular with the cool kids in the late '80s and early '90s.  But the upbeat tempo belies the sadness of the lyrics.  This song takes a leaf from Screamin' Jay Hawkins' song "Strange," with its unanswerable questions: "How many wrinkles in a pickle? / How many hairs in a head? / How many waves in the ocean? How many crumbs in bread?"  Kelly's song opens with: "How many cabs in New York City? / How many angels on a pin? / How many notes in a saxophone? How many tears in a bottle of gin?"  The narrator was careless, wrapped up in himself, and lost his love, his rock.  "How many stars in the milky way?  How many ways can you lose a friend?"

Caldonia - Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

Caldonia - Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

2:38

single, 1945

Written by Louis Jordan

A boogie-woogie jump blues addressed to the long, lean, big-footed girl of the title, posing the eternal question, "What makes your big head so hard?"  The tune is propelled along by the brassy, catchy horn lines.  Jordan shrieks the title name with a piercing falsetto on the ending syllables, anticipating the trademark whoop of Little Richard.  Jordan recorded it again in 1956 in a more rocking, guitar based style, and I think it's this version I might be more familiar with.  The song was also covered by many other artists.

Candy - The Astors

Candy - The Astors

3:02

single, 1965

Written by Isaac Hayes and Steve Cropper

Like the Strangeloves' "I Want Candy," this doo-wop soul song is not about confectionery, but — naturally — a girl.  The narrator, a young Shakespeare in search of a sonnet, compares her eyes to the sky and her voice to the mountain dew.  And, "She's just a lump of sugar / And sweetened my tea."  Curtis Johnson's falsetto voice fits the sugary pop of the song.

Church - Lyle Lovett

Church- Lyle Lovett

6:01

Joshua Judges Ruth, 1992

Written by Lyle Lovett

By far the longest song covered on this blog so far, the previous record holder being Melanie's "Ring the Living Bell" at 5:04.  This is a story song, appropriately enough about a preacher who goes on with her sermon way too long.  So the narrator climbs up onto the balcony and shouts, "To the Lord let praises be / It's time for dinner now let's go eat / We've got some beans and some good cornbread."  Lovett's wry sense of humor and a rousing gospel chorus keep this song, like the cornbread, from going stale.

Colors - Black Pumas

Colors - Black Pumas

4:06

Black Pumas, 2019

Written by Eric Burton

Eric Burton (not the famous English Animal, who spells his with a D) is an Austin-based musician.  I heard this song on several TV shows and loved it.  It's a neo-soul, bluesy song, a lovingly retro feel.  Over a beautiful interplay of guitar and organ, Burton sings positive vibes with an ethereal voice ("A good day to see / My favorite colors, colors / My sisters and my brothers").  

Little Red Light - Fountains Of Wayne

Little Red Light - Fountains Of Wayne

3:35

Welcome Interstate Managers, 2003

Written by Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger

The "little red light" of the title is a notification that the narrator has received messages.  But there is no such light on his big black Radio Shack portable phone or his big black laptop.  His love has left and not leaving any messages.  "I go to work / I come back home / But you're still gone / And I'm still alone."  The rocking, anthemic, fist-pumping power pop of the song belies the bleak situation depicted in the lyrics.

Little Sparrows - The Handsome Family

Little Sparrows - The Handsome Family

3:08

Honey Moon, 2009

Written by Brett Sparks and Rennie Sparks

A stately and unusually lighthearted song from the long-running, gloomy alt-country band.  Brett Sparks, in his honeyed baritone, asks the titular birds, perched above an overpass, "take me with you when you go."  He asks the same thing of the geese and dandelion seeds, even "All you paper cups rolling down the windy street."  There's no action in this song, only longing.  Over a plaintive steel guitar, slightly offbeat but tender images float from Sparks' aw-shucks, golden voice.

Look Good in Blue - Blondie

Look Good in Blue - Blondie

2:55

Blondie, 1976

Written by Jimmy Destri

A sped-up pop tango, with detached vocals over slinky piano, jazzed up by electro-synthesizer and electric guitar solo.   The narrator sees a friend who's down, probably over a bad breakup.  Now is the time!  He's vulnerable.  She offers commiseration, of a sly kind: "If it's alright with you / I could give you some head / And shoulders to lie on."

Livin' in Sin - Dan Auerbach

Livin' in Sin - Dan Auerbach

2:24

Waiting On a Song, 2017

Written by Dan Auerbach?

An uptempo, catchy acoustic country-folk ditty about a possibly illicit relationship.  He only meets the lady at night, after all.  Her touch is electrical!  But it's not all physical.  "I need your spiritual voodoo / You are my cynical guru."  In the end, he concludes, "everybody's livin' in sin."  It's like a spiritual cousin to the Talking Heads' "Creatures of Love."  

Lipstick, Powder and Paint - Big Joe Turner

Lipstick, Powder and Paint - Big Joe Turner

2:29

Rockin' the Blues, 1956

Written by Jesse Stone

A fast-paced blues rocker shouted affably by the big man.  It seems to be a rousing celebration of sneaking around.  "Taller than the barnyard, ten feet high / Hide me till your man pass by."  Also, he wishes his baby loved him the way his dog does: "Licks my hand wherever I go."  Swinging horns and background vocals give this number extra muscle.