Jack O'Diamonds - Lonnie Donegan and His Skiffle Group

Jack O'Diamonds - Lonnie Donegan and His Skiffle Group
2:52
single, 1957
Traditional

I know this song from its recording by folk-blues giant "Spider" John Koerner.   This rendition is a clattering express train that slowly gains tempo.  The rattletrap percussion and sharp picked guitar notes create a primitive beat.  Donegan's vocal starts stately, but is fairly shouting the lines by the end, his nasal yowl cutting through the din as the tempo edges ever upward.  The performance feels improvised not in structure but in momentum, as if no one involved is quite sure how fast it’s going to end up.

I'm Going To Give It To Mary With Love - Loudon Wainwright III

I'm Going To Give It To Mary With Love - Loudon Wainwright III

3:16

I'd Rather Lead a Band, 2020

Written by Cliff Edwards, 1933

Assisted by Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, Wainwright takes on this song, which, like all the others on the album, is from the early American songbook.  This one's a winking, risqué-for-the-time song of sexual innuendo ("I'm going to let her take it right in the hand / 'Cause I know that she'll stroke it so grand")  Later, of course, he tosses out the joke: "I'm talking about a necklace!" Wainwright, with his long history of describing himself as a cross between a goofy dad, a hopeless husband, and a ladies' man who can't help himself, is the perfect voice for this novelty song.

Hope Is a Dangerous Little Thing - The Menzingers

Hope Is a Dangerous Little Thing - The Menzingers

3:12

Some Of It Was True, 2023

Written by the Menzingers

Raw, emotional yet muscular Americana punk, reminiscent of the Lawrence Arms and Gaslight Anthem.  The album title seems to come from the Clash's "London's Burning," which is at the least a sign the band has good taste.  Built on a fierce percussion backbone, this song is an arm-pumping, depressing anthem of not being loved by the one you love: "I passed a restaurant burned to the ground / And a dollar store with a burned out A / I laughed thinking that I relate / I'm the junk you buy then throw away."

Goodbye NOLA - Orgone feat. Kelly Finnigan

Goodbye NOLA - Orgone feat. Kelly Finnigan

2:42

single, 2017

Written by Orgone and Kelly Finnigan

A modern funk band, Orgone is an eight-piece that wears its Funkadelic and Stax Records influences on its sleeve proudly.  This song is pure '70s funk driven by a soul beat, with a note-bending guitar solo.  It's a tribute to New Orleans with odd, dream-like lyrics: "Mama Rule got the fever, fever for the second line / Cry in my heart while the water burst my mind / I was filled with the sound of a trumpet hound / And the flood run through the mud of every sacred ground."  It's got a Dr. John vibe, and guest Finnigan provides some swampy, gruff vocals.

Fugue For Tinhorns - Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Dean Martin

Fugue For Tinhorns - Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Dean Martin

1:30

single, 1963

Written by Frank Loesser

The opening number from Guys and Dolls, of course, redone by three of the greatest voices of the era.  Singing over one another, they create a cavalcade of words, overlapping so you hear first one snatch of lyrics, then another.  And man, could Loesser — whose songs have been featured on this blog twice —write patter!  "And just a minute, boys / I've got the feed box noise / It says the great-grandfather was Equipoise."  It's charming, it's funny, it's even a little sad when you think how these tinhorns are so convinced of their slim chances to win big,

End Of the Road - Jerry Lee Lewis

End Of the Road - Jerry Lee Lewis

1:48
single, 1956

Written by Jerry Lee Lewis

In this tough country rockabilly number, the narrator is eager to get things shaking with his love.  He's planted at the titular end of the road.  He doesn't care if he ever gets home!  In fact, he claims he doesn't need anything.  "Well the stars may not shine and neither the moon  / What the heck, we don't want no moon."  I get a kick out of that line; it's funny, blunt, and slightly unhinged, much like the Killer himself.  The rolling piano lines interplay with surf-like guitar, but the piano is the star, of course.

Down On Bended Knee - Johnny Copeland

Down On Bended Knee - Johnny Copeland

3:24

single, 1962

Written by Charlie Booth and Johnny Copeland

This song comes with a bit of discographical confusion. Some sources list a "Down on Bending Knees," which may be the same song retitled somewhere along the compilation trail, or an unlikely second, slightly different song. Discogs muddies the waters by crediting both titles on different releases. Either way, this is a rocking electric Texas blues.  Copeland has a big, soul-drenched voice and plays a dazzling, blistering guitar.  Stabs of brass punctuate the virtuoso guitar lines and add even more swagger.

Chimurenga del Guadiana - Perrofláuta

Chimurenga del Guadiana - Perroflauta
3:53

Perrofláuta, 1998

Written by Perroflauta

I have no context for this song. The band seems to be Basque or Spanish, with a name that translates literally to "dog flute" but apparently is a slang word meaning a vocal extreme leftist, what we might call a "social justice warrior."  As for the title, "Chimurenga" is a Shona word meaning “struggle,” most famously associated with anti-colonial resistance in Zimbabwe, while the Guadiana is a river marking the border between Spain and Portugal. The song itself is vocal-heavy, built around repeated "ley ley ley" chants, call-and-response singing, and long, bent notes that clearly draw on African musical traditions. The rhythm leans hard into African beats rather than Iberian folk, creating a deliberately hybrid sound. The final thirty seconds shift abruptly into a militaristic, chant-like rap delivered in what sounds like a Romance language I can't identify.  I may not fully grasp what Perroflauta are trying to synthesize politically or culturally here, but musically it works. The collision of styles feels earnest rather than gimmicky, driven by energy, rhythm, and communal voice.

Big Ten Inch Record - Bull Moose Jackson

Big Ten Inch Record - Bull Moose Jackson

2:15

single, 1952

Written by Fred Weismantel

This is the epitome of swinging bawdy blues.  You can guess, certainly, what the big ten inch record is referring to without even being told.  Punctuated by a slinky horn, Bull Moose's juicy baritone belts out the crucial lines: "When we're in a lover's clinch / And when she gets all excited / She begs for my big ten-inch" — And here there's a brief but pregnant pause — "Record of the band that plays the blues."  The comic precision leavens the innuendo, which ultimately elevates it and sets it apart from the ruck of other dirty blues of the '30s and '40s.

All New Minglewood Blues - Grateful Dead

All New Minglewood Blues - The Grateful Dead

4:16

Shakedown Street, 1978

Written by Noah Lewis, 1930

The Dead initially claimed credit for this song, and while it is definitely fleshed out and expanded, it's clear that it's Lewis' creation, at least the blues structure and lyrics.  (The original, "Minglewood Blues," was written before 1930 and has different lyrics; Lewis' "New Minglewood Blues" from 1930 is the one this was based off.)  But they do transform it.  The acoustic shuffle becomes a thick, swaggering bar-band groove, anchored by Phil Lesh’s roaming bass rather than a traditional blues walk. Bob Weir's rhythm guitar is all clipped chords and percussive accents, leaving space for Jerry Garcia’s lead lines, which mix stinging blues bends with his distinctly conversational phrasing.  It's swampy, gritty, and tailor-made for extended jams.