Monday, February 9, 2009

02-09-06: My Own Beliefs Are In My Song

J Dilla was an extraordinary hip hop producer who made records for A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Common, among many others.  A couple days before I threw this mix together, he released an album of hip hop instrumentals called Donuts.  Being a fan of his work, I picked it up the day it came out.  Three days later, he was dead, from complications due to blood disease.

I had already picked out a few of my favorites for this mix. All the tracks on Donuts are short and flow together, often based on samples from 70s r&b songs.  The pieces, with their late night feel--even their titles, take on great poignancy given the circumstances. Here we have "Last Donut Of The Night", "One For Ghost" and maybe my favorite;"Hi", which samples "Maybe" by The Three Degrees.  Haunting, beautiful, unforgettable.

Also here: the sweet early single "Standing At The Crossroads Of Love" by The Supremes, Kenny Loggins with Michael McDonald on the enduringly awesome "This Is It", retro garage stomper "Bad News Travels Fast" by The Fuzztones, GZA's ominous "Living In The World Today", militant poets The Watts Prophets with "I'll Stop Calling You Niggers"; and guys who make no such promises, The Wu-Tang Clan, with "Maria".

Squeeze is on here with their fantastic and punchy "Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)" and Richard Thompson covers them with a live acoustic take of "Tempted". Ray Davies covers himself with a similarly styled take of "Set Me Free". The original Kinks song is here as well.

Dillard & Clark were banjo player Doug Dillard and Gene Clark from The Byrds. In the late 60s, they did a couple albums together, the second of which has a pretty cover of The Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down". Two of the originals on this album were covered by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on their recent album Raising Sand, which won album of the year on the Grammys last night.

"Invitation" by The Rolling Stones is a rare bootleg from a studio jam session in the mid 80s, notable for having both Bobby Womack and Sly Stone playing with them. Unfortunately, it can't quite live up to its rock band in heaven premise. I do have Sly & The Family Stone's anthemic "Everyday People" following that at the end of the mix.  Despite its ubiquity in car ads and oldies radio, I can't ever get sick of this song.  Never ever. This is brave, witty, uplifting and beautiful music. Also here is a funky Sly cover of "Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself Again" by Maceo & All The King's Men.

Lots of songs here with "call" in them: an alternate take of "Call On Me" by Big Brother & The Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, the wintry "Call Of The Night: A.K.A Girl Help Me (demo)" by The Zombies, Al Green's smooth "Call Me (Come Back Home)", the hypnotic Clash track "The Call Up" from their vastly underrated Sandinista! album, and the devastatingly gorgeous "Call Me" by Aretha Franklin.

I try to eschew hyperbole in my little song descriptions but no such thing for Aretha, particularly here.  I wish I could write something pithy here about what this song evokes, but words fail.  I would only hope that anyone reading this and enjoying music can, even for a happy minute, feel as much in love as Aretha sounds here.  I love where she breaks out of the singing, to speak "I love you, call me!" while the back-up singers soar.  Breaking the fourth wall, out of the character of "singer", like that only makes her song sound more real.

As if there were any doubt.

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Sunday, February 8, 2009

02-08-07: It's Knowing I'm Not Shackled By Forgotten Words And Bonds

Shortly before I made this mix I had the pleasure of seeing the great Solomon Burke perform here in NYC. He's a big guy and his health isn't so great, so he spent the entire concert seated. But on an ornate throne, which picks up the motif of his old album covers and publicity shots, where he often dressed up as a king.

His 60s soul career was a bit more obscure than that of Otis Redding and the like but his status is still legendary.  After seeing him perform, I had to throw a few of his songs on this mix.  His roots in country are well known: here, he sings the standard "She Thinks I Still Care." I also have the popular George Jones version. Frankie Laine made "That Lucky Old Sun" into another standard, covered by countless others, including Solomon. And the third Solomon song on here is one written for him by Tom Waits: "Diamond In You Mind".

Also on here: Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Band's sweet "Love Land", early Nas with "The World Is Yours", the languid "Wishful Thinkin'" by Sly & The Family Stone, a sparkling cover of Talking Heads' "Naive Melody" by The Arcade Fire, and the astounding "Stakes Is High" by De La Soul.  It seems everyone I know has the first De La album, but they continued to make great music.  Their critique of hip hop here might sound like hectoring if it weren't for that sublime production from J Dilla.

Bob Dylan related: Jerry Garcia does a wonderful version of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and then a young Cher, with Sonny Bono, tackles "All I Really Wanna Do."  I also included the obscure Bob song snippet "Lunatic Princess Revisited".

I love the song "Gentle On My Mind" and have versions of it across other mixes by Dean Martin, Johnny Cash, Lou Rawls and of course, the hit by Glen Campbell.  They are all great, but hard to put any above Aretha Franklin's.  The back up singing alone is worth it.  In the 80s, she collaborated with George Michael, which may be why I have a song by Wham! next.  "Everything She Wants" is the only song of theirs I like and I like it without apology. Great groove, killer hook, all despite the not at all convincing lyric "so, you say you're havin' my baby.."

Last 5 on the mix: The countryish "Richmond" by The Faces is Ronnie Lane taking Rod Stewart's normal place as lead singer, sounding a lot like George Harrison. Nico's "The Fairest Of The Seasons" boasts a pretty guitar line played by her teenage lover and the author of the song, Jackson Browne.  P.P. Arnold was a spectacularly talented, but not popular, soul singer in the 60s who briefly dated Mick Jagger.  Here, she delivers an amazing take of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" with a kitchen-sink production including trumpets and her own backing vocals behind her tremendous singing.  On the same album she covers The Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody". Here, in a much more subdued version, is Al Green.  Finally, the deeply romantic "Cherche La Rose" by Marlene Dietrich was recorded in 1962.  

A year later, she was invited to the meet JFK at the White House. She had, when Jack was still in college, vacationed with the Kennedy family in the South Of France before WW II. During this time, she had an affair with JFK's father, Joe.  Now around 25 years later, according to a recently published story from Marlene's daughter, JFK pulled her into a bedroom and clumsily made a pass at the 62 year old woman. She resisted at first, then finally had sex with the young President, the son of her former lover.

Her one condition, given that she was due to sing later, was that he not mess up her hair.

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Saturday, February 7, 2009

02-07-08: Human Kindness Is Overflowing

East Of Undergound was an amateur group of musicians stationed as US Army soldiers overseas during the Vietnam War.  Shortly before I made this mix last year, an album of their work was dusted off and released on CD.  It's mostly covers of popular songs of the time, recorded in 1971.  Here, I have from them an amazing cover of Undisputed Truth's paranoid "Smiling Faces Sometimes".

That's followed by an exotically flavored cover of Bob Dylan's "One More Cup Of Coffee" by Robert Plant.  Then, Bob himself with the haunting "Ain't Talkin" from his recent Modern Times album.

Also on here: the bluesy "Slave" by The Rolling Stones, Curtis Mayfield's mellow "Tripping Out", Biz Markie's funky "This Is Something For The Radio", the cheerful "Pole Musa" by Daudi Kabaka, early 1930s lullaby "Watching The Knife And Fork Spoon" by Don Redman & His Orchestra, and the nearly a cappella "Cotton Picker" by 50s rock legend Eddie Cochran.

There simply isn't a more joyful song in the world than Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)". The parenthetical part of the title is nearly indecipherable when Van sings it in the chorus.  It sounds like another language.  Here, it's preceded by Mr. Wilson's smash "Reet Petit", which is pretty damn joyful as well.

While we're on this happy vibe, last year the vocal track of Van Halen's "Runnin' With The Devil" made the rounds of the internet. I think at least 3 friends emailed it to me. David Lee Roth's vocals, stripped up the Van Halen brothers' backing, are a blast: growling, yelping, screaming and other joyful wordless singing around the lyrics. Here, it's followed by a remix of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" that starts with a sample of Van Halen's "Runnin' With The Devil" and also includes bits of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" and "Shout" by Tears For Fears.

Other remixes:  Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid In Full" picks up a sample of John Cougar's "Jack & Diane" and also an amazing remix of "Break On Through" by The Doors that intercuts Jim Morrison speaking from the stage.  I enjoyed hearing this played at my friends' wedding reception last summer, while watching a tall, quiet woman go nuts with a wild arm-swinging hippie dance. Also remixed, Digable Planets' 9th Wonder with the vinyl pops adding a cozy touch.

Finally, this mix is bookended with the early Randy Newman composition "I Think It's Going To Rain Today." It's been covered by many, most famously Joe Cocker and Dusty Springfield.  Here, I have his little-heard original version as well as a stunning take by Nina Simone.  It's such a heart-rending song about loneliness, but in her hands it's triumphant. Near the end in particular, as she punctuates the chorus with "yeah!" a few times, one feels that this is not at all a sad song, but an exuberant one.


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Thursday, February 5, 2009

02-05-04: You Can Rely On The Old Man's Money

So, in my year-long project of archiving all my old mixes as well as adding a new one each week, Thursday is always a killer.

Because after putting together a new one and blogging it, I have to return to one that falls on the same month/day from 5 years ago.

Sort of like putting on yesterday's underwear. I won't even wear the same pair of jeans twice without washing them.

Music wears better, and sometimes it's fun to see what I was digging years ago.

Here, we open with a cover of Queen & David Bowie's "Under Pressure", called "Presionando" by Fobia.  Muy bueno! Next is the tense early Cure single "10:15 Saturday Night".

Songs that repeat: "Pressure Drop", the original Toots & The Maytals reggae version as well as the rockin' Clash cover.  Two performances of "Mayonaise" by Smashing Pumpkins, one acoustic, one from the album.

Also here: "We Made It" from Ghostface Killah's superb Supreme Clientele album, Tiger's bizarre "Yuh Dead Now", Janet Jackson's Sly Stone-sampling "Rhythm Nation", Pixies b-side "The Thing", Maze-sampling "Joy & Pain" by Rob Base & DJ-EZ Rock, Sound Experience's funky "Boogie Woogie" and an early, non-Astral Weeks version of "Beside You" by Van Morrison.

Hall & Oates are here with a live acoustic version of "Sara Smile" as well as Nina Simone covering them with an odd but winning cover of "Rich Girl".

Dangermouse became a famous producer shortly before this mix with the leak of his Grey Album, which laid vocal tracks from Jay-Z's Black album over backing from The Beatles White album.  "What More Can I say" is one of the best of these tracks.

"Song 3" is an instrumental from Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On studio sessions. It's such a sweeping, beautiful track.  I wonder what it might sound like with his vocal on it. Amazing that scraps like this were left off the album. I agree with the studio vocals at the end, where someone mutters "That is a bitch, man!"

The last song on here is one of my favorites from my youth, "Unsatisfied" by The Replacements. When I had an entry level job at a huge ad agency many years ago, I heard this playing in someone's office. I peeked in and was horrified to see this song playing over a black and white commercial for Nike, with a montage of athletes trying and failing their various routines. Jumping a high beam, etc.  Could this deeply meaningful song have been co-opted to sell sweat shop made shoes?  Would the Replacements actually do that?

I was naive to the practice of creating rips of commercials using stock footage and preferred music, to sell a "concept". Yuck.  Lame idea, lame cribbing of a great song.  And fortunately, never perpetuated on the public. Or endorsed by a great band.

The Replacements remained where they belonged, in my past; unsullied by the easy cynicism and dull compromises of adult life.

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02-05-09: I'm Just Gonna Splatter And Shatter His Pipe Dream

This week's mix starts with the lovely "Here, There And Everywhere" by The Beatles.  This is Paul McCartney artfully treading the line between sweet and sappy.  After the Beatles, he lost that battle more often than not.  Also on here are 2 covers, one in Spanish, "En Todas Partes", by Bobbie Gentry and another by the great jazz singer Carmen McRae, who just kills it.

Speaking of jazz singers who kill it, Esther Phillips is on here with a masterful version of the cheesy early 70s pop hit "Alone Again (Naturally)".  The original is here as well, by Gilbert O'Sullivan.  His hit gained new notoriety in the early 90s when he successfully sued Biz Markie for sampling it, changing sampling laws forever.  In addition to these two versions, I have a nice reggae cover by The Now Generation.

The other set of songs that repeats: The Police ode to prostitution "Roxanne" and The Bee Gees disco smash "You Should Be Dancing" are here separately and together in a mash up by DJ Zebra called "Roxanne You Should Be Dancing".

Squeeze is here with a stripped down live version of "Take Me, I'm Yours".  I included a cover of The Wipers' "Doom Town" by Born Dead Icons last December. Here is the original, which is great but the cover is even more ferocious.  Speaking of ferocity, JJ Fad's "You're Goin' Down" takes apart rival female rapper Roxanne Shante, who gets her turn with "Bite This".

I have Peggy Lee here twice with two very different musical partners.  First, a mash up of her "Fever" with Iggy Pop's "The Passenger" called "Passenger Fever" by Go Home Productions. I've been on an Al Jolson kick recently and found an album of duets he did with a wide variety of performers.  From that, "People Will Say We're In Love" with Peggy Lee is very sweet.

Rockin' out:  "I Love Rock N' Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts was an anthem for my 6th grade class. And for rock in general.  From the same era, hard core punk band Fear's "I Love Livin' In The City".  Fear was John Belushi's favorite band. Shortly before he died, he agreed to come back and host Saturday Night Live on the condition that they would perform as the musical act.  Also here, Johnny Thunders with a love letter to heroin, "Chinese Rocks". It was actually written by Dee Dee Ramone and Richard Hell, but it was always associated with the doomed Johnny Thunders.  Maybe he and Esther Phillips shared a needle?

Pure Essence was a very obscure 70s r&b band who recorded only two songs.  "Third Rock" is one of them. I love its Sly Stone vibe. Another great 70s r&b song is the Rose Royce ballad "Wishing On A Star", which gets a nice acoustic reading from Paul Weller on one of his BBC sessions. He changes the original lyric from "in the game of love you reap what you sow" to the more explicitly apologetic "in the game of loving you I was slow."

I think the next 3 songs go particularly well together.  "Rains On Me" by Tom Waits is a non-album track from his late, scratchier-voiced period.  Blind Willie Johnson ups that ante with "Bye And Bye I'm Goin' To See The King".  The King, Elvis Presley, is here with his song from the movie King Creole, "Crawfish".  I've heard there's a Johnny Thunders cover of this that I will have to track down some day.

The last song not mentioned yet is Kool Moe Dee's vicious hip hop classic "How Ya Like Me Now?". I was reminded of this song earlier this week when the newly appointed, and black, chairman of the Republican National Committee quoted the title when suggesting how much he was going to spar with Obama.  Great. Just when this country desperately needs to work closer together and bag all the partisan crap, the guy who popularized "Drill, baby, drill!" at the Republican Convention is now lamely quoting hip hop lyrics to antagonize our President.

"How ya like me now?" Not much.

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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

02-03-05: I Really Did Try To Get Close To You

The drum kick at the beginning of this mix, followed by Bob Dylan's harmonica, sounds like a gun shot. "One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)" is one of my favorite tracks from his best album, Blonde On Blonde. The way he drags out the last words in each line makes this one of his early peaks as a singer.

It reminds me so much of college, when this became one of my favorite songs during my senior year. The year before, a couple of my best friends had taken a slightly cynical "year abroad" at a state school known for partying.  The logic behind transferring out seemed to be enjoying a campus where the girls, drugs and mountains where all more plentiful than they were at our old fashioned little school in the middle of nowhere.  The idea was to return for senior year to pick up a more prestigious degree.

Much of my time with these guys sophomore year involved sitting around and listening to music, drinking cheap beer and arguing over what to listen to next.  All before bracing ourselves for a party or bar where our presence was uninvited or unwelcome, several guys adding to the cruel ratio of boys to girls.  We often stood apart, bound by our surliness and frustration, and blended in about as well as someone's parents. Then, back home to the "hang out" room where a pizza and a pipe and loud music and laughter gave succor to our wounded egos.

The self-appointed ringleader of this group was one of the guys who took that year at a state school, and when he returned to our fold the summer before our senior year, where many of us stayed for classes, he and I found each other in a happy yet uneasy reunion.  We had consumed dozens of records on our own since the year before, and were excited to compare notes.

One of our common areas of deepening interest was Bob Dylan. There was so much to dive into!  That summer, he and I came up with the now faintly quaint notion of creating a "Dylan Hour". Once a week, we would take turns playing for each other our favorite Dylan songs.  Trying to impress the other with what we discovered, and what we heard in the music.  These started with just the two of us taking turns and a couple other guys, over beers. Soon, they blew up into something much bigger. A rakish child psychology professor, his floppy hair and black plastic specs and entertaining classes all adored by many a co-ed, emerged as a Dylan expert, with rare bootleg albums like The Great White Wonder.  He regarded us with a mix of bemusement and indifference, looking past us at the growing number of fetching young women who were joining us.  Because soon, as silly as it sounds now, these "Dylan Hours" became a haven for hipsters.  By the time the school year started in the fall, several dozen of them would be crowded into my modest two bedroom apartment.  A sea of flannel shrouded in the smoke of marlboro lights.  Bob Dylan, through my cheap stereo speakers, strained to be heard above the happy din.  Eventually, the music became an afterthought, faintly heard background music.  It might as well have been Spyro Gyra. I remember turning to my friend at one of these and saying" Whatever happened to Bob?"  He had left the building.

If he was gone, as it often appeared during points of retreat in his career, there were any number of singer-songwriters tagged as the "new Dylan".  Former Chicago postal clerk John Prine was was one of them. Here, I have his incredible Vietnam vet song "Sam Stone", as well as a stunning cover by Swamp Dogg.

Also here:  Junior McCants' beautifully sung "This Boy Needs A Girl", which sounds like it is sung by a woman; Kanye West's breakthrough hit "Through The Wire", sampling Chaka Khan; Sam & Dave's proto-rap "Hold On, I'm Comin'"; GZA's ominous "I Gotcha' Back"; and "Sport" by Lightning Rod, a rap pioneer from the 70s, backed by Kool & The Gang.

Then, a little disco break with Manzel's classic "Space Funk" in a 12 inch remix, followed by the Bee Gees' "Night Fever" from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

The next suite of songs are a wildly diverse set to carnal affairs. Jimmy Jones' "Ain't Nothing Wrong With Making Love" is very obscure 70s loverman soul, followed by Def Leppard's stuttering "Foolin'", and then Clipse's swaggering "Grindin'".  Jimmy Jones' opening line is that "there's nothing wrong with makin' love the first night".  Agreed!

When I hear a song like "Obstacle 1" by Interpol, I wonder how much more I might have liked it as a teenager. We have the Bee Gees on this mix, and we also have a Bee Gees cover by Gram Parsons and The Flying Burrito Brothers, with "To Love Somebody."  Mitty Collier's 60s soul ballad "I Had A Talk With My Man" last night borrows greatly from an old gospel song called "I  Had A Talk With My God Last Night".  It's such a sweet, sweet song.

The next few songs are all in the key of bummer.  Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" reminds me of my parents' vicious custody battles, for which this distantly haunting song played as a soundtrack off the top 40 radio.  "Let The Bad Times Roll" is Paul Westerberg's typically jokey pun turned into a dirge. I love the distorted singing over humming at the end.  Didier Hebert's similarly mush-mouthed "I Woke Up One Morning In May" is off the famous Harry Smith Folk Anthology. Then, after Swamp Dogg's "Sam Stone" is The Beach Boys lament "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times".

Perhaps I wasn't either. In general, I am proudly out of step with where I am supposed to be. During my "Dylan Hour" era, my father once told me that I would "grow out of" my Dylan phase.

That hasn't happened yet.


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Monday, February 2, 2009

02-02-06: The Time You Ran Was Too Insane

Lushlife's "Jesus Walks" is the perverse and awesome pairing of the Beach Boys Pet Sounds track "You Still Believe In Me" with the vocals of Kanye West's "Jesus Walks".

Staying in that realm, The Rev. Al Green takes on Burt Bacharach's "Say A Little Prayer".  Which is followed by Vivian Reed's sexy Al Green cover "Tired Of Being Alone".  Then, Ella Fitzgerald's "Sunshine Of Your Love", originally by Cream. I also have a brief live version by Jimi Hendrix and an incredibly funky one by Spanky Wilson that just might be the very best.

In between: Steve Miller Band's college party staple "Rock'n Me", Fuckintosh's hypnotic Johnny Cash and AC/DC mash up "Track 16", the brilliant "It Takes Two" by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, Ol' Dirty Bastard's staggering "Protect Ya Neck II", the anthropological"Rhythm" by Streetland Gang Rhythms Band 4, a stunning version of "I Say A Little Prayer" by Rashaan Roland Kirk and Bing Crosby's breezy "Swinging On A Star".

The Kirk version of "I Say A Little Prayer" bears further mention: it was recorded, on the album Volunteered Slavery, not long after Martin Luther King's assassination and starts with the vocal cry "They shot him down!" repeated a few times before resolving into "but, we're gonna say a little prayer for him anyway" and then that killer melody, elevated into something deeply spiritual.

It's commonly thought that Bob Dylan's cover of the then-recent Simon & Garfunkel song "The Boxer" was a bit of a piss take, but to my ears, stripped of its bombast, it's sweet and sincere.  

Next is Liz Phair doing an acoustic version of her debut album song "Never Said", then the Kinks rarity "Rosemary Rose", and then Justin Hinds & The Dominoes with the reggae version of a wonderfully made up word I plan to adopt: "Botheration".

Tortoise & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy team up for a spacey and somber cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road". I grew up with the Rod Stewart version, but I love the sweetness of "Some Guys Have All the Luck" by The Persuaders. "Passion Flower" is a haunting and cinematic instrumental by hip-hop producer and rapper and all-round genius MF Doom.  It appears elswhere on one of these mixes as "Krazy World" with vocals by Gigan under one of Doom's many guises, King Geedorah.

The stately piano of "The Crystal Ship" makes Jim Morrison's lyrics sound even more poetic than they are.  I hit my Doors phase hard in junior high and by the time I was in college their music seemed silly and shallow to me.  Yet as I've grown older, I've appreciated the drama and dark beauty of their music, while ignoring its inherent banalities. Meaning, where their music seemed rather "deep" to a 13 year old boy, I don't really look for that in their, or any, body of music any more. I just love the way it sounds and this moody little piece is about as good as they get.

Which leads nicely into Mazzy Star's "Look On Down From The Bridge".  Just beautiful.  Bridget St. John croons a Nico-like version of Bob Dylan's "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" and we end with a very young Ray Charles singing "I'm Beginning To See The Light".  It's an unreleased practice take...love how he name-checks his lifelong friend Quincy Jones. It's an obviously hopeful song.

And I'll take this as a sign of early spring over a groundhog's shadow any day.

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Sunday, February 1, 2009

02-01-07: She Got A Camouflaged Face And No Money

This mix kicks off with Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion", which also kicks off one of my very favorite films, Dazed And Confused.  Every song in the movie has special resonance for me for simply being in that movie. I would go on, but this is a music blog.

The rest is a hodgepodge:  Madlib's mysterious instrumental "Third Ear", the sinister DJ Muggs and GZA collaboration "Smothered Mate" and the even more sinister "Down By The Water" by PJ Harvey.

Continuing in order: the posthumously released and Curtis Mayfield-sampling "Niggas" from The Notorious B.I.G., then three songs called "Children's Story".  The first is a remix of Slick Rick's classic that seems to sample "It Takes Two" by Rob Base &  DJ E-Z Rock. The second is a macabre spoken word piece from Tom Waits. Then, a Tricky cover of the Slick Rick original.

"You Are The Way You Are" is a lush, slick instrumental from Marvin Gaye's sessions for the I Want You album.  "W.O.E. is Me (World Of Entertainment)" by Jurassic 5 has a refreshing old school vibe. Ronnie Ronalde's bizarre "The Yodelling Whistler", with its animal noises, never fails to start dog barking in my house.  David Bowie's poppy "Blue Jean" may not be considered an artistic peak, but for me it's a sweet reminder of my early high school years. I can almost feel the acne on my chin.

I have always loved The Spinners, and the live version of "How Could I let You Get Away" is notable for Philip Wynne's hilarious and affectionate  impressions of other soul singers.  No one can imitate Mr. Wynne, "The Rubberband Man". He was in a class of his own.

Sister Sledge was best known for "We Are Family" but I like the sweet single "Thinking Of You". So did Paul Weller, his uplifting acoustic cover is here as well.  In between: RIAA mash up Burt Bacharach's "Say A Little Prayer" with the vicious Johnny Rotten screed "Religion" from his group Public Image Limited.  Has to be heard to be believed!  Also, Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer". When I was in college, a very sweet and spacey girl in our clique, who I eventually dated, stayed out with us to get Paul Simon tickets. She wondered if "Garfield" might join him.  You know, the sardonic orange cartoon cat?  She never lived that down, but I don't mean to imply she was dumb--she got her PhD and taught as a college professor.  To kids who probably couldn't distinguish Garfunkel from Garfield.

Three low-tempo covers to end the mix:  Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson doing The Eagles' "Take It To The Limit", Etta James (who also does a great cover of that song) doing an amazing version of the old 60s song "Never My Love" by The Association and finally, M. Ward's radical re-working of David Bowie's "Let's Dance."

I wonder what he, or Etta, Willie or Waylon, could do with "Blue Jean". Wouldn't bet against them.

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