Justine - Don & Dewey

Justine - Don & Dewey

2:44

single, 1958

Written by Don Harris and Dewey Terry

Although R&B duo Don & Dewey did not have any hits of their own, many of their songs became hits for other artists.  This piano-driven boogie, a rocker very much in the style of Little Richard, is gloriously fuzzy, with buzzy horns and the duo screaming every line and alternating the titular girls' name.  The lyrics are the typical ribald-adjacent stuff of the era: "You just won't treat me right / You like to ball in the mornin' / Stay out late at night."  This cut is unusual also in that about the first 40 seconds is studio chatter about what instruments to use in the recording ("don't need no piano!").

J'suis d'accord - Françoise Hardy

J'suis d'accord - Françoise Hardy

2:03

Tous les garçons et les filles, 1962

Written by Françoise Hardy and Roger Gustave Samyn

Un morceau pop yé-yé plein d'entrain, dans lequel la narratrice est ravie d'aller à un rendez-vous, mais ne souhaite pas s'engager davantage.  "J'suis d'accord pour le cinéma / Pour le rock, le twist ou le cha-cha / J'suis d'accord pour tout ce que tu voudras / Mais ne compte pas sur moi pour aller chez toi." C'est un peu jazzy, ça a un petit air de rockabilly des débuts, c'est un vrai régal qui donne envie de bouger la tête.  Hardy l'interprète avec une assurance cool et une voix maîtrisée.

James River Blues - Old Crow Medicine Show

James River Blues - Old Crow Medicine Show

3:06

Big Iron World, 2006

Written by Critter Fuqua, Ketch Secor, Willie Watson, David Rawlings

This is a mid-tempo, strumming blues, nothing complicated or flashy.  I prefer the Old Crows when they're killing it with sprightly bluegrass, but this song is enjoyable enough, with Fuqua's nasal voice plodding along until the harmonies come in, punctuated by fiddle.  The lyrics are Depression-era plaints about the big machines taking good honest physical labor away from the working man, a theme that of course resonates today and always.  "That train came on through / And the work's gotten slow / Now where's a boat man to go."

Jeep is Jumpin' - Johnny Hodges & His Orchestra

Jeep is Jumpin' - Johnny Hodges & His Orchestra

2:46

Castle Rock, 1955

Written by Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges

"Jeep" was one of Hodges' two nicknames, the other being "Rabbit."  Hodges was called "Jeep" supposedly after the Popeye character, but what the connection might be isn't widely known.  Anyhoo, Hodges' alto sax mastery is on full display on this swinging jazz track.  He plays against the trumpet and drums masterfully.  I like the way the music comes to an abrupt stop at around 1:30 and pauses, until a hi-hit kicks off the last third, which showcases a swirling sax solo.

Joy - Against Me!

Joy - Against Me!

2:12

Searching For a Former Clarity, 2005

Written by Laura Jane Grace, James Bowman, Andrew Seward, and Warren Oakes

An acoustic punk song delivered in a growling bellow.  Grace's introspective and sometimes abstruse lyrics describe an unyielding world.  "And somewhere off in the distance, rapidly advancing, is an onslaught of sorts / Young sirens wail in a skewed sense of glory / And the lions in the cages roar at the memory of fight."  Is it a conquering army?  Is the klaxon and chaos of a revolution?  Maybe it's all a jumble; the import thing is that joy can still be found somewhere, despite it all.

Je l'aime à mourir - Francis Cabrel

Je l'aime à mourir - Francis Cabrel

2:45

Les Chemins de traverse, 1979

Written by Francis Cabrel

I had never heard of this musician, although he's been huge in Europe for nearly fifty years.  I read that one-time Dylan guitarist Freddy "Fuzzy" Koella referred to Cabrel as a Dylan-like French musician, a claim that clicked when I heard this warm, soulful folk tune.  It was covered in both French and Spanish by Shakira and became a hit, also.  It's a love song, with surreal but sweet lyrics reminiscent of "Love Minus Zero," except with a Gallic flavor: "Elle a gommé les chiffres des horloges du quartier / Elle a fait de ma vie des cocottes en papier, des éclats de rire / Elle a bâti des ponts entre nous et le ciel."  It's a language of love that transcaneds the literal.

All You Had To Do Was Stay - Ryan Adams

All You Had To Do Was Stay - Ryan Adams

3:30

1989, 2015

Written by Taylor Swift and Max Martin, 2014

It's pretty audacious to cover an entire album, and extremely daring to do it only a year after the original was released.  Adams strips away some of the high-production gloss of Swift's song, but somehow fails to make it raw, warm, or intimate.  The music might be handmade, but Adams' voice sounds echoey and distant, with the grandiose emotion of an arena belter, not, for example, a broken-hearted singer in a nightclub.  The monotonous percussion doesn't help much.

About a Girl - Nirvana

About a Girl - Nirvana

2:46

Bleach, 1989

Written by Kurt Cobain

I read that Cobain considered this song a jangly, "R.E.M.-type" pop song, which I suppose it is compared to most of their output, but to me it's a fuzzy grunge song, with a small kernel of Beatles-inspired melody hidden under the sludge.  The lyric is about his then-girlfriend and their rocky relationship caused in part by Cobain's lack of a job and apparent refusal to help with housework: "I'll take advantage while / You hang me out to dry."

All Outta Angst - NOFX

All Outta Angst - NOFX

1:52

So Long And Thanks For All the Shoes, 1997

Written by Fat Mike

This album's title comes, of course, from the Douglas Adams book, but the band notes on their website that "We tend to get hit with a lot of shoes when we play so we thought it was a good title."  It's unclear if the shoe-throwing is a tribute or an attack, but either way is probably exaggerated.  Over El Hefe's punchy horn stabs, Fat Mike nasally vocals insist that "I'm not insane, I'm not bummed out," despite feeling bored and burned out enough to move to Pakistan or Mongolia.  It is the voice, and sexual frustration, of the teenager.

Archbishop Harold Holmes - Jack White

Archbishop Harold Holmes - Jack White

2:51

No Name, 2024

Written by Jack White

Jack White delivers this track like a street-corner sermon from a preacher who's half prophet, half carnival barker. Over a stomping, distorted groove, White unleashes a torrent of satirical, manic, and faintly apocalyptic words from the titular preacher: "God spoke to me / Said, "Listen to me I anoint you with the power / That'll get 'em all moving!" / You're agitated? You prayed and meditated? / You're concentrated on getting elevated?"  He promises a gospel of prosperity, "but first you must tell seven friends."  White’s clever lyric takes the main stage here, set against raw guitar-heavy garage-blue.  It's all righteous fury and absurd theater.

Alleluia - PLK

Alleluia - PLK

3:19

Enna, 2020

Written by PLK

PLK is a French rapper of Polish ("PoLacK") and Corsican descent.  This track's production is fairly moody and minimal, letting his voice carry a mix of detachment and quiet intensity, interspersed with some brief but rapid-fire verses.  The hook has a melodic, almost chant-like flow.  He leans into his heritage ("Maintenant, fils de polonais, mes ancêtres n'étaient / Pas des enculés de colons") and images of Euro-cool channeled through The Matrix ("Les balles passent même dans l'imperméable / C'est dans les classiques que je fais mes bails").

Gypsy Songman - Steve Earle & the Dukes

Gypsy Songman - Steve Earle & the Dukes

2:37

Jerry Jeff, 2022

Written by Jerry Jeff Walker, 1987

Earle sings this statement of purpose with gusto, keeping it uptempo and brisk.  It's the proclamation of an itinerate musician, always moving on and getting by on tips.  "I got a stage on every corner, hall on every street / My hat is my coin box, this song is what you need."  It's a classic musician on the road song, up there with Willie's "On the Road Again" and "Devil in a Sleepin' Bag."  Earle and the Dukes meld fiddle and pedal steel to create a rollicking Cajun sound, with Earle's growl here smoothed out considerably.

Gimme Shelter - Merry Clayton

Gimme Shelter - Merry Clayton

3:31

Gimme Shelter, 1970

Written by Mick Jagger and Kieth Richards, 1969

Clayton did the powerhouse background vocals on the Stones' recording to great acclaim (fun fact: she was four months pregnant at the time), so the next year she went out and did her own version.  With some thick, fuzzy guitar lines, blaring soul horns, and her own female choir behind her, Clayton shouts new life into this song.  In fact, I think I like her blazing, funky rendition better than the Stones'.  It flips the emotional center of the song completely.  She doesn't lean on her experience singing on the original, but expands it.  Where the original simmers with dread and distance, hers is immediate, embodied, and ferocious.

Grape Fruit - Juicy Fruit - Jimmy Buffett

Grape Fruit - Juicy Fruit - Jimmy Buffett

2:58

A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean, 1973

Written by Jimmy Buffett

This is a gentle, low-tempo number buoyed along by pedal steel, harmonica, and Key West vibes.  It describes a laid-back musician coming on to, presumably, a groupie, and then needing, as musicians do, to move on.  After washing away his hangover with the titular juice and gum, he gets down to the romance: "Drive-in / guzzle gin / Commit a little mortal sin / It's good for the soul."  Buffett later wrote that the song is based on a specific drive-in in Florida, and the movie was Payday, starring Rip Torn.

Galway City - The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem

Galway City - The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem

2:16

Isn't It Grand Boys, 1966

traditional

The Clancys sing this jaunty tune as a group, with no individual solo.  Sharing a melody with "Nancy Whiskey," this song is about a fellow who woos a young maiden, who rebuffs him with prejudice.  He's got money, but that doesn't do him any good (like the guy with a car in Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress me Much").  She scoffs at his wealth!  "What do I care for your gold and silver? / All I want is a handsome man."  That's a rejection with an implied insult on the side!  Then she starts in with the metaphors: "Did you ever see a copper kettle / Mended with an old tin can? / Did you ever see a handsome lassie / Married off to an ugly man?"  That's cold, baby.  Ice cold.

Galway Races - The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem

Galway Races - The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem

2:11

Isn't It Grand Boys, 1966

traditional

As much as I love the Pogues' snarling tear through this song on the medley on If I Should Fall From Grace With God, I appreciate the Clancy's more restrained and traditional version as well.  Even a pleasant day at the track gets political in dear old Erin: "There were passengers from Limerick / And more from Tipperary / The boys of Connemara / And the Clare unmarried maidens / And people from Cork City / Who were loyal, true and faithful / They brought home the Fenian prisoners / From dying in foreign nations."  Then they list the snacks!  Perfection.  The line "And a big crubeen for thruppence to be picking while you're able" refers to a delicious boiled pig's foot.

Tobacco Road - John D. Loudermilk

Tobacco Road - John D. Loudermilk
3:02
single, 1960

Written by John D. Loudermilk

A slow-burning folk-blues about growing up in poverty in North Carolina: "Grew up in a rusty shack / All I owned was hangin' on my bony back."  Over stark blues guitar lines and a spare percussion, the narrator tells of his dreams to leave and make some money out in the world.  But he vows to return with big plans for his loved and hated home town: "Bring me dynamite and a crane / Blow it up and start all over again / Build a town, be proud to show / Keep the name Tobacco Road."

Ten Tiny Toes - One Baby Nose - Sol Ho'opi'i and His Novelty Quartette

Ten Tiny Toes - One Baby Nose - Sol Ho'opi'i and His Novelty Quartette

3:16

single, 1933

Written by Jack Little, David Oppenheim, and Ira Schuster

The title on the original shellac pressing of this Hawaiian pop song includes a parenthetical "(That's All I'm Living For)," but I figure the main title, along with the artist name, is long enough already.  Musically, the tune is exactly what the title suggests: a cheery, sweet novelty song about a newborn baby.  Over a ukulele and a steel guitar, and with a crooning male chorus behind him, Ho'opi'i trills in a high tenor the overpowering sentiments that most new parents share: "Believe me, that little tot / In his little cot / Is all the world to me."  There's a verse to the song, but as with many popular recordings of the era, Ho'opi'i just repeats the refrain twice.

The Tempest - The Real McKenzies

The Tempest - The Real McKenzies

4:09

Westwinds, 2012

Written by the Real McKenzies

This song starts off with just bagpipes and a steady single drum beat. The pipes fade out a few seconds in, and the Paul McKenzie's vocals start with the metronome beat behind him, until the band kicks in.  The lyrics begin with a lift from Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract: "We are all born free but forever live in chains."  It's sung from the point of view of galley slaves, who sing to keep their spirits up while plotting escape: "We carry on the burden and we hide our grimace well / For the day will come for us to mutiny / But as long as we survive our hope and pride they can't deprive."  It's a perfect blend of Cletic punk, sea shanty, and modern swagger.

Too Much Time - Televisionaries

Too Much Time - Televisionaries

2:08

Mad About You, 2022

Written by Austin Lake, Brendan Lake, Trevor Lake, and Aaron Mika

A jangly, late 1960s-style power pop song, heavy on the guitar and showy percussion, with splashes of surf rock and Merseybeat.  The narrator bemoans the lack of love in his life, interspersed with lyrics that are shallow hippie-inspired ramblings "Every war that's waged makes me cry / Every bird that goes by gets me high").  So the Lake brothers aren't exactly poets, but this is a catchy retro rock that gets your toes tapping.

Take Back the Power - The Interrupters

Take Back the Power - The Interrupters

3:21

The Interrupters, 2014

Written by Aimee Allen, Tim Armstrong, Jesse Bivona, Justin Bivona, Kevin Bivona

No need to bemoan the lack of Rancid releases when the Interrupters are around!  Armstrong's Clash fixation is apparent in the second verse of this protest song: "Whatcha gonna do / When they show up in black suits / On your street in army boots? / And they're there to silence you / What ya gonna say / When they strip your rights away?"  The song has all the Rancid hallmarks: a pounding ska beat, a singalong catchy chorus on repeat, and anti-authoritarian lyrics.  I always question how much the band had to do with the writing of their songs; I envision a sort of Prince vis a vis The Time situation.

Politics - Hank Penny

Politics - Hank Penny

2:57

single, 1947

Written by Phil Rickie

This is a rapid-fire talking blues with a pattern akin to "A Boy Named Sue," except with a sung chorus: "Politics oh politics / You've gotta know just how to vote."  Penny advises that for expediency's sake one should change one's vote to please the boss, an idea probably rejected by most progressive individualists.  But here's some timeless analysis too: "It ain't what you do, it's who you know / It's the same old thing wherever you go / If you've got connections then you're all right."  Then he pivots and goes into a riff about how if you have no money, your wife will leave you.  I feel like he went a bit off-script there, into something personal, or maybe just a little hilarious general misogyny.  So, not really the incisive skewering of the political landscape of 1947 America I was hoping for,

Polk Salad Annie - Tony Joe White

Polk Salad Annie - Tony Joe White

3:43

Black And White, 1969

Written by Tony Joe White

This song is about the titular girl who lives down in Louisiana, collecting polk, or poke weed in a tote sack for a meager supper for her family.  Her mama ("a wretched, spiteful, straight-razor-totin' woman") was working on a chain gang, and her dad was lazy and no-count ("he claimed he had a bad back").  The song describes a very real life of poverty; White said in an interview, "My folks raised cotton and corn. There were lotsa times when there weren't too much to eat, and I ain't ashamed to admit that we've often whipped up a mess of poke sallet."  Despite the very real poverty, the song is leavened by some dark humor "gators got her Granny — chomp chomp chomp")  The song's intro is spoken, while the verses are sung, and lively horns punctuate the choruses.  It's a starnge but groovy hybrid of humorous novelty and true-to-life, blue-eyed-soul social justice song.

Party Lights - Claudine Clark

Party Lights - Claudine Clark

2:23

Party Lights, 1962

Written by Claudine Clark

This song is sung from the point of view of a teenage girl who sees the beautiful party lights (red and blue and green) across the street, but her mother won't let her "make the scene."  Clark lists all the dance crazes of the era: they're doing the fish, the twist, the Watusi, the bop, and the mashed potato — and she's missing out.  She sees the pary goers filing in: "I see Tommy and Joe, uh-oh, and Betty and Sue / Whoa-oh, uh-oh, there goes my boyfriend too."  It's not clear whether he's with some other girl and this will cause drama; the tone of the song is simple yearning for fun, with Clark's girlish voice occasionally reaching a pleading growl over a marching-band drum line and party chatter.

Party Like You - Cadillac Three

Party Like You - Cadillac Three

3:05

Bury Me in My Boots, 2016

Written by Jeren Johnston, Jon Nite, and Jimmy Robbins

This is a fast-paced Southern country rocker, clearly influenced by the fusion stylings of the loathsome Kid Rock, a little slang taken from the hiphop community ("cut off blues like damn you know it").  The song is about a hard-drinking good old boy who finds a real hottie in a bar.  Is there a twist, or even a meet-cute resolution, like in Cory Branan's terrific "Prettiest Waitress in Memphis"?  No.  Simple minds, simple pleasures.  "Little bit of drink, little wink wink / Tell me what you think / I've been lookin' for a party like you / You get dancing, hearts get stolen / Love the way the night is goin'."  Still, the whiskey-soaked hick-rock-rap is a good time. 

Psycho - Eddie Noack

Psycho - Eddie Noack

3:36

single, 1968

Written by Leon Payne

This eerie song, with its taboo subject for the time and its spooky deadpan delivery, is a confession to the narrator's mama: "Don't you think I'm psycho, Mama? / You can pour me a cup / If you think I'm psycho, mama / Better let 'em lock me up."  The narrator relates how he killed and buried his ex and her new man, as well as a little girl in the park with a wrench.  It's the conversational tone that really gives the song its chilling effect.  At the beginning of the song, he warns that he might handle the puppy too roughly if she hands it to him, and in a later verse, casually mentions he just killed it.  Near the end, as his confession winds down, it's apparent that the mama he's talking to is also dead.  It's wild that this 60 year old, calm portrait of homicidal insanity is so much more vivid and disturbing than all the glossy, affected "shout at the devil" shock rock that would come later.

Royals Style Punk - Puddles Pity Party

Royals Style Punk - Puddles Pity Party 
3:06

single, 2020

Written by Lorde and Joel Little, 2013

It's Cover Time! 

Backed by a fairly basic rock band, Puddles tears through "Royals" in what is very much not a punk style (except maybe the exuberant drums), but certainly as an uptempo bar rocker. Puddles' mellifluous, operatic voice is of course one of the most expressive instruments in music today, but here he rushes, and doesn't give himself a chance to really belt.  He also has released versions of this song straight, and in a reggae version, but this one scratches an itch I have for faster songs, and it's a testament to how brilliant the original is that all his versions work.

Lola - The Raincoats

Lola - The Raincoats

4:04

The Raincoats, 1979

Written by Ray Davies, 1970

It's Cover Time! 

This is a faithful, yet ragged and off-kilter take with quiet, reedy vocals that packs a lot of charm.  The Raincoats bring their fierce folk-punk sensibility to the song, with female harmonies, offbeat drumming fills, and lyrics that become gender-flipped twice over by virtue of being sung by a woman.  The result is a familiar song that suddenly feels stranger, funnier, and a touch more subversive.

You Shook Me All Night Long - Big & Rich

You Shook Me All Night Long - Big & Rich

2:43

Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace, 2007

Written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Brian Johnson, 1980

It's Cover Time! 

A fully countrified cover by one of my absolute favorite guilty pleasure songs.  Almost all AC/DC songs are deliberately juvenile, winking, and over the top; here, the duo's twangy double vocals and a rollicking barroom piano give the tale of an epic one-night stand yet another layer of cornpone goofiness.  Somehow, it works; the only way to ruin the song would be by taking it seriously.

Hey Ya - Obadiah Parker

Hey Ya - Obadiah Parker

4:58

The Tip Jar Volume One, 2008

Written by André Benjamin, 2003

It's Cover Time! 

Normally, I'm not a great fan of white artists doing acoustic covers of rap; it's either a bit too much like whitewashing — Pat Boone cleaning up Little Richard's wild genius for bigoted suburbanites — or too winking and ironic: "Look how transgressive I am!  I'm a rich white person singing urban lingo!"  But Parker seems to mean every syllable of this Outkast classic.  He doesn't slow it down as a joke; he's reflecting the broken heart at the core of the song.  His impassioned vocals pull the song's buried sadness into the open, revealing the fragile emotion that was always there beneath the celebratory performance.

Brown Eyed Handsome Man - Nina Simone

Brown Eyed Handsome Man - Nina Simone

2:02

High Priestess Of Soul, 1967

Written by Chuck Berry

It's Cover Time! 

The Berry classic is turned inside-out on this endearing, catchy, jazzy version, with the big band having fun behind Simone's perky delivery.  There are even campy string flourishes after the chorus, evocative of the transition sound from the old "Batman" TV show from the 1960s.  If you're too ingrained in either the rock or jazz traditions, you might find Simone's cover a turn off, but if you're open to the blending and bending of genres, it's a blast.