The Tale of Mr. Morton
Jack Sheldon
Lynn Ahrens
Schoolhouse Rock
Children's, Boxed CD Sets
Written twenty years after the initial Grammar Rock series, this track now rivals "Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla" as my favorite song about the parts of speech. In concert, Bob Dorough and Jack Sheldon expressed a partiality to it as well. You can now purchase Grammar Rock separately from the full Schoolhouse Rock set. At the time we got this though, it was the only way to get the grammar and history songs.
It's Not My Birthday
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants
Then: The Earlier Years, They Might Be Giants
Pop/Rock
Alternately known by Matt Knoth as They Might Suck, this band is often a love or hate experience for listeners. Their lyrics make no sense, their chord progressions often baffling, their arrangements and melodies (and voices) are far from pleasing to the Western ear. Yet if you at all enjoy this track, originally a B-side of "They'll Need A Crane," you might find yourself alongside me in the "love" camp before long.
I May Never Get to Heaven
Wanda Jackson
Bill Anderson, Buddy Killen
Vintage Collections, Wanda Jackson
Country & Western
Once groomed to be the female Elvis, Jackson's lack of chart success (possibly due to a public uncomfortable with a woman rocker) pushed her into Nashville and the country & western scene. Which makes me wonder why I didn't include one of her rock or rockabilly numbers here; perhaps because of her vocal performance on this track, which packs in a whole lot of honkytonk heartache. Listen closely for her craggy moan heading into the final verse. It'll wreck you up good.
Come As You Are
Laura Love
Kurt Cobain
Octoroon, Laura Love
Pop/Rock, Folk
Covers like this may get me to like Nirvana yet.
Knock Me A Kiss
Louis Jordan
M. Jackson
The Best of Louis Jordan, Louis Jordan
Jazz, Big Band
Released shortly after the U.S. entered WWII, this single on 78rpm shellac sold more than 500,000 copies. Listening to other popular singles of the day, Jordan's music sounds ten years ahead of its time.
Stink (short version)
John Lurie
Get Shorty, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtracks
Music to wear sunglasses and strut by.
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Tim O'Brien vocals, bouzouki, Mark Schatz ham bone
Bob Dylan
Red on Blonde, Tim O'Brien
Bluegrass, Folk
This entire album is a bluegrass/oldtime reworking of Dylan tunes. You know this one--it's the sign-flipping song.
Shango
Angelique Kidjo
Angelique Kidjo, Jean Hebrail
Fifa, Angelique Kidjo
World Music, Pop/Rock
Kickin ass from Benin.
So in Love
k.d. lang
Cole Porter
Red, Hot and Blue, Various Artists
Pop/Rock Collections
I've never been a fan of k.d. lang's songwriting. And yet the only two albums of hers I own are all songs she's written. I'm hoping 1997's Drag means she'll continue to pursue singing other people's songs. I went to a concert of hers this year, and though it wasn't cheap, it was the closest I'll likely ever come to hearing the voice of God. Her new collection of torch-styled covers suit her voice amazingly, as this did 1990 recording, which I've been clinging to until I get my own copies of Drag and (eventually) Shadowland.
See My Vest
Harry Shearer (as Mr. Burns and Smithers)
Alf Clausen, Michael Scully
Songs in the Key of Springfield, The Simpsons
Soundtrack
If you like The Simpsons, you need this collection.
Louisiana Blues
Wayne Hancock
Wayne Hancock
That's What Daddy Wants, Wayne Hancock
Country & Western
Honkytonk music don't get much better than Wayne "The Train" Hancock. Leastways not nothin' released since 1995 anyhow. Give me a degree in insanity, man.
Southern California Wants to Be Western New York
Dar Williams
Dar Williams
Mortal City, Dar Williams
Folk, Pop/Rock
I tried listening to Dar Williams' The Honesty Room on a CD listening station, but I think I was distracted somehow. I couldn't latch onto her voice--it was too high, or too soft, or something. The production didn't make it sound like folk music I was used to. A couple years I was browsing idly in a music store, and suddenly found myself feeling ready to cry. The song playing on the loudspeaker, about a mixed faith family ("The Christians and The Pagans") sitting down for a holiday meal, was touching and sweet, and the singer's voice had wrapped itself around the lump in my throat. I looked over at the register to see that it was Dar Williams' Mortal City playing, but instead of simply buying it on the spot, I found myself pretending to browse for the next forty minutes as I listened to song after song over the loudspeaker, because I didn't want to leave the store while it was playing. By the time this track came on (making me think of my friends far away in Syracuse), I was ready to buy The Honesty Room without even listening to it again.
Williams has supplanted the Indigo Girls as my favorite recording artist. She's the coolest.
Better Not Look Down
B. B. King
Joe Sample, Will Jennings
Thelma & Louise, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtracks
In college, Ryan Lucas used to bring this CD with him everywhere he could, put it in whatever stereo he could find, and play it loudly over and over and over again.
Charlie Two-Step
The Boswell Sisters
Hoagy Carmichael
That's How Rhythm Was Born, The Boswell Sisters
Vocals
The Boswell Sisters--Martha, Vet (Helvetia), and Connie--were one of the hottest vocal groups of the late 1920s to mid-1930s, appearing regularly on Bing Crosby's radio show and as guests in several movies, typically backed by the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. Coming out of New Orleans, their harmonies and rhythms were heavily influenced by black jazz music, resulting in a sound that out-swings the Andrews Sisters, who came a decade later. My guess as to why they aren't widely remembered: the group retired in 1936 when Martha and Vet got married, and so weren't on the pop music scene during WWII (although Connie did continue her career solo); and their arrangements are pretty wild--sudden tempo and key changes twice or even three times during a song. Oh, and the scatting. I don't think audiences went for white people scatting until Mel Torme came along.