Pretty Saro - Bob Dylan

Pretty Saro - Bob Dylan

2:16

The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971), 2013 (recorded 1970)

traditional

The narrator pines for his love, Saro, but since he has no land or money, he can't very well ask for her to stick around.  He's not even a dab hand with words: "If I was a poet / And could write a fine hand / I'd write my love a letter / That she'd understand."  But since he can't, he must bid her adieu and see her only in his dreams.  Dylan's using his crooner voice here, a subdued, haunting vocal that emphasizes the narrator's helplessness in the face of harsh reality.

Pretty Polly - The Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys

Pretty Polly - The Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys

2:48

single, 1951

traditional

This song's origins date back to the late 18th century; it developed from a murder ballad known as "The Gosport Tragedy."  A lot more information about the origins of this song and some of its interpreters can be found here.  It's a creepy tale, and Ralph Stanley's plaintive, nasal vocals are fittingly eerie.  In this version, the cold-blooded killer doesn't just stab Polly to death because he doesn't want to marry her — he makes a nasty remark about her "past reputation" before doing the deed.  

Pretty Boy Floyd - the Byrds

Pretty Boy Floyd - the Byrds

2:34

Sweetheart Of the Rodeo, 1968

Written by Woody Guthrie, 1939

I know this song from the Guthrie and Dylan version. This one has a brisk tempo and some mighty fine bluegrass banjo picking by John Hartford.  McGuinn's nasal vocals have an easy, semi-spoken pace, so you can make out the words easily.  It's not an earth-shaking cover, but pleasant to listen to.  I put it in the same category as the early Stones covers, where an artist does a slightly rockier version by an old master as an homage and a way to gain genre cred.

Pretty Little Baby - Connie Francis

Pretty Little Baby - Connie Francis

2:22

Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love, 1962

Written by Barry Mann and Gerry Goffin, probably?

Wikipedia says this song is by Marvin Gaye, but it's clearly not; his song is totally different.  This song's lyrics are decidedly not Gaye's style: "Meet me at the car hop or at the pop shop / Meet me in the moonlight or in the daylight."  It's definitely a puppy love song of its time.  I find it quite charming, the spritely tempo, spritely organ, soft backing vocals, and Francis's cheery, bubbly voice urging carpe diem: "Now is just the time, while both of us are young."

The Prettiest Waitress in Memphis - Cory Branan

The Prettiest Waitress in Memphis - Cory Branan

3:11

12 Songs, 2006

Written by Cory Branan

Hard-driving alt-country rock Americana.  A story song of the kind Johnny Cash might sing.  The narrator, apparently a long-haul trucker, is enamored of a pretty waitress, but "she's only that way for a while."  The lyrics are surprisingly witty, the kind of funny that grabs you immediately.  "Well, there is only one reason I stop in this place / Let me stress that it ain't the cuisine."  And: "She's the prettiest waitress in Memphis and I think she's flirting with me / Readin' them specials extra special, slipped her finger into my sweet tea."  Of course, there's a clearly-telegraphed "surprise" ending.  "It's not what you're thinking."  Well, it is, but the song is terrific.

The Ten Commandments Of Love - Little Anthony & the Imperials

The Ten Commandments Of Love - Little Anthony & the Imperials

3:05

single, 1969

Written by Marshall Paul

I prefer this doo-wop version to the Moonglows' original version with its talking and lugubrious tempo.  The arrangement is stately but lush, and the harmonies swoop and soar.  It starts out with a hushed reverence, with some crystal-pure echoing backing vocals, then gets into a more intense, soul-singer pleading.  By the end, Anthony is screaming like James Brown or a preacher, though the song fades out there so the effect is somewhat diminished.  

Nine Pound Hammer - The Tony Rice Unit

Nine Pound Hammer - The Tony Rice Unit

2:55

Manzanita, 1979

traditional

Where Johnny Cash and Merle Travis play this song straight and slow, as a working song (takes that have failed to grab me), Tony Rice transforms it into a uptempo, fast-paced masterclass in dazzling flatpicking guitar, with clean, rapid, melodic runs, and a polished blend of bluegrass and jazz phrasing.  The mandolin, bass, and fiddle hum along with a light, fluid touch, blending bluegrass with jazz phrasing.  Rice's smooth, laid-back vocals ler the musicianship take center stage.

Beat Me, Daddy, Eight To the Bar - The Andrews Sisters

Beat Me, Daddy, Eight To the Bar - The Andrews Sisters

2:54

single, 1940

Written by Don Raye, Hughie Prince, and Ray McKinley

Pounding boogie-woogie piano and horns, with expert harmonies.  Supposedly, a pianist named Freddie Slack was nicknamed Daddy, and McKinley, a drummer, would ask for a boogie beat, or eight to the bar.  A couple of songwriters heard him, and a song was born.  The sisters' cheeky harmonies really make the song, bouncing effortlessly between playful syncopation and silky smooth blend.

7 Chinese Bros. - R.E.M.

7 Chinese Bros. - R.E.M.

4:14

Reckoning, 1984

Written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe

I'm much more familiar with the "Voice Of Harold" version of this track.  It's still odd for me to hear this music and not hear the liner notes to the Revelaires album,.  Anyway, the actual song's lyrics are, surprise surprise, pretty abstruse.  Stipe said it was about him breaking up a couple and then trying to date them, but there's little in the song that might make that clear to an outsider.  It's possible I prefer "Voice Of Harold."  As a kid, I sure enjoyed the book the song title is somewhat based on, though.

Six Days On the Road - Dave Dudley

Six Days On the Road - Dave Dudley

2:14

Songs About the Working Man, 1963

Written by Earl Green and Carl Montgomery

I know this song through the Burrito Brothers version.  It's an original pill-poppin', scale-dodging, probably unsafe trucker's road anthem!  Funny lyrics, but with a universally relatable theme of wanting to get home after a hard day's work no matter what the obstacles.  The song really evokes the boredom, thrills, and careless corner-cutting that make up the long haul trucker's life.  Dudley's slurred bass sounds like a poor man's Johnny Cash impression off and on through the track, but it's that very tone of woozy masculinity that sells the song.