New Packaging, Old Product

Forget all the arguments about inexperience; they weren't working for the Republicans and they won't work for the Dems. The real problem with McCain's pick of Sarah Palin as his VP is that she's just another right-winger with old ideas...the same ideas that got us into the mess in which we find ourselves.
It's more of the same.
More war, more environmental catastrophe, more economic collapse, more tax burdens for the middle class. No universal healthcare, no regulation of the oil industry, no new ideas. No change.
The Republicans have decided that the electorate will make their choice in November based, once again, on the person with whom they'd most like to have a beer. Well, as GWB so eloquently stated, "fool me once, shame on me, fool me...uh...won't get fooled again."
It's a big mistake to let the GOP frame this argument. It cost the Dems the last two elections. Let's not let it happen again. No more, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss".

Today's Ten Off the Top

Gregg Allman: Before the Bullets Fly
Candy Butchers: Let it Ride
Led Zeppelin: Living Loving Maid
Jerry Garcia and David Grisman: So What
Muddy Waters: Walking Through the Park
Big Mama Thornton: Ball and Chain
Dr. John and Eric Clapton: Right Place, Wrong Time
Sons of the Pioneers: I'm An Old Cowhand
Iron and Wine: White Tooth Man
Beatles: Words of Love

New Covers:
Rara Avis: If 6 Was 9
This is a cool world-beat remix of the Hendrix song.

Ted Kooshian: Black Dog
A piano based jazz instrumental version of the Led Zeppelin classic.

New Purchases:
Pinetop Perkins and Friends
John Mayer: Where the Light Is (Live in LA)
The Mayer has cover versions of Petty's "Free Fallin'", two Hendrix numbers, "Wait Until Tomorrow" and "Bold As Love", and Ray Charles' great "I Don't Need No Doctor".

New Purchases and Shuffle Roulette

Some new titles added to the iPod this week include "I, Flathead", the latest from Ry Cooder, "Don't Do Anything", Sam Phillips' newest, and "Lucky" by Four Year Bender (I've been looking for this one for a while).
The Cooder might have to grow on me. It's another narrative, although less so than "Chavez Ravine" or "Buddy". Ry uses a character as a framework to hang some new songs on.
Phillips' new one is self produced, although the influence of T Bone Burnett remains evident throughout.
Four Year Bender is a Bay area group that kind of reminds me of Mofro or the Wood Brothers, but they're a little more country, which is not to say they can't lay down a pretty good acoustic groove from time to time.

And now for iPod roulette:

Elvis Costello: Sleep of the Just
Buddy Guy: Moanin' and Groanin'
James Brown: Mother Popcorn
Little Milton: Tin Pan Alley
Booker T and the MGs: Green Onions
Wood Brothers: Still Close
Ron Sexsmith: There's A Rhythm
Tom Waits: Pony
Galactic: Start From Scratch
Dave Edmunds: Worn Out Suits With Brand New Pockets

My iPod seems to have it's own favorites. Elvis Costello tends to pop up on these playlists inordinately often. And speak of the devil, there's the Wood Brothers!

Other good finds this week include a couple of additions to my ever growing "Covers" playlist. Canadian artist Jann Arden does a killer version of "Downtown", the Pet Clark classic, and the Corrs cover of Hendrix's "Little Wing" has a Celtic flair. I also added Sondre Lerche's cover of Elvis Costello's "Human Hands", originally from Elvis' "Imperial Bedroom" album. Lerche's version is a little bouncier, and piano based. Interesting, and also included in the soundtrack to "Dan In Real Life", a Steve Carrell movie that you might consider watching on a plane but probably don't want to rent.

iPod Roulette

...and today's first 10 iPod shffled songs are:

1. Bob Dylan: Honest With Me
2. Leon Russell: When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again
3. Magic Sam: Sweet Home Chicago
4. Fountains of Wayne: Yolanda Hayes
5. John Hammond, Jr.: You're So Fine
6. George Harrison: Cheer Down
7. Michael Nesmith: Prairie Lullaby
8. Rolling Stones: Stray Cat Blues
9. Nick Lowe: Cracking Up
10. Doyle Bramhall II: Smokestack

Right now I've got just over 5700 songs on my iPod, not anywhere near my entire collection. Still, it seems odd that the luck of the draw would pull up Leon Russell, Mike Nesmith, and John Hammond two days running. Such is the nature of "random" selection.

Transcendent Artists

Pretty much everyone agrees that the Beatles were great. People who don't like the Beatles almost always either have serious personality issues or were high school band nerds who listened to groups like Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears and actually thought they were being hip. Here's a news flash: Chicago isn't a good rock band. Chicago isn't a rock band. Chicago isn't a good band. I'm not even sure they qualify as a band. Their only close brush with rock and roll was that a band member killed himself, and I don't think you should use that kind of tragedy to get rock and roll points, so let's not take that into consideration. If you're a Chicago fan you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself where you went wrong.
As for BS and T, anything they did after Al Kooper left the band isn't worth bothering with either. "Spinning Wheel"? Come on. Barbra Streisand's version of "Stoney End" rocks harder. There's not enough time left in eternity to waste it listening to Blood, Sweat and Tears. If you've already lost hours of your life replaying "Lucretia McEvil" and telling yourself it's good, you can stop reading now. Go back and surf MySpace or hit up Limewire for some Gordon Lightfoot that you've managed to miss.
But I digress. Any time you're dealing with rational people, there's always agreement that the Beatles were a stellar, ground-breaking band that changed music for the better.
But this isn't really a post about the Beatles. That the Beatles were great is a no-brainer. It's the other stuff that spins your head around unexpectedly on the first listen that I'm concerned with here. It's not the same for everybody, like with the Beatles. Your list of transcendent artists will be different than mine because their work will hit you on a visceral level and you might not even be able to explain why. You might not even "like" the artist in the same way you "like" someone that's catchy or obviously talented. Maybe your transcendent artist never wrote a hook in his or her life and none of your friends "get" it, but it doesn't matter. You play a track and it takes you somewhere.
Here are some artists that do it for me and a song or an album from their repertoire that is illustrative of that transcendency:

1. Skip James: Devil Got My Woman
2. Son House: Death Letter Blues
3. John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
4. Van Morrison: Hymns for the Silence
5. Mississippi John Hurt: I'm Satisfied
6. Ray Charles: Hallelujah, I Love Her So
7. Sam Cooke: A Change Is Gonna Come
8. Reverend Gary Davis: Harlem Street Singer
9. The Drifters: Up On The Roof
10. Dion DiMucci: Mean Woman Blues

I could go on...
So, who's on your list? Hopefully nothing pitch corrected or anything remotely connected to Peter Cetera or David Clayton Thomas because, trust me, they DO NOT ROCK.

Return of the Living Dead

Has it really been a year and a half since my last post? Apparently so, and since this is another election year it's time to break my silence. I've been following the primary season the way a lot of people follow sports, and now that we're in the World Series of American politics it's an appropriate time for me to pose the question that weighs most heavily on my mind today.
What's on your iPod?
I love this game. Put your iPod on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that appear. No cheating.
I've found that this is an efficient way for music snobs to judge people without having to take the time to visit their homes and surreptitiously peruse their record collections.
So in an attempt to be transparent, I'll go first and show you mine if you show me yours.
...and SHUFFLE!

1. Total Control: Michael Nesmith
2. Parchman Farm: Mose Allison
3. Lone Wolf: Johnny Winter
4. She Took Off My Romeo: David Lindley and El Rayoex
5. Pump It Up: Elvis Costello
6. Running On Empty: Jackson Browne
7. The Myth of Fingerprints: Paul Simon
8. Thriftstrore Jewelry: The Bad Plus
9. Honey Bee: Muddy Waters
10. Whenever You're On My Mind: Marshall Crenshaw

Okay, don't leave me hanging. Judge away.

All I Want For Christmas Is a Blues Playlist

The holiday season is here again, and with it my usual dose of Christmas blues. So, in the spirit of the season, here's my list of the music that's getting the most play in my little world (that'd be in my truck or own my iPod). First, a couple of CDs that you should check out:
Dion-Bronx In Blue: Still #1 on my hit parade after a year. This great acoustic blues CD hasn't been out of it's slot in my car changer for a year...literally. It's everything you could want and more; one of the greatest rock and roll voices of the last 50 years singing blues standards accompanied only by his own guitar and a bit of percussion. Who'd have thought he could pull off the best album of his carreer when he's pushing 70?
Robert Cray-Live From Across the Pond: This new 2 disc set chronicles the Cray band at their smokin' best, live from Albert Hall. Sure, the guy cops O.V. Wright's soulful wail, but he does it so well!
And for some single tracks I can't live without right now:
How Many More Years-Howlin' Wolf
Some of These Days-Charlie Patton
Bright Lights, Big City-Jimmy Reed
Don't You Lie To Me-Tampa Red
Kindhearted Woman Blues-Robert Johnson
Ditty Wah Ditty-Blind Blake
Devil Got My Woman-Skip James
Killing Floor-Howlin' Wolf
Don't Start Me Talkin'-Sonny Boy Williamson
Love Her With A Feeling-Freddie King
Shake Your Hips-Slim Harpo
Reconsider Baby-Lowell Fulson
You Need Love-Muddy Waters
Born Under A Bad Sign-Albert King
Blues Before Sunrise-Elmore James
So, crack open a bottle of Christmas cheer, load up the playlist, and have the blues for Christmas.
Just like your curmudgeonly friend.

In the Henhouse

Well, it's finally time to count the hatched chickens and so far we're at 28 in the House and 6 in the Senate. A rout, no matter how you look at it.
We even got the added bonus of a Rumsfeld resignation and a Bush with egg on his face at today's press conferences.
Now that I've beat that metaphor to death, I'll return to celebratory mode.
The future looks bright. Vermont even elected a socialist!