Song Chain : Responsible

Freedy Johnston :Responsible

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When The Silos broke up, co-founder Bob Rupe kept busy as a member of the indie supergroup Gutterball, as bassist for seven years with Cracker and by making guest appearances on albums as diverse as Daniel Johnston's Hello How Are You? and Freedy Johnston's 1992 album Can You Fly?. ( No, they're not related)

   A Kansas native who literally sold some of the family farm to finance the recording of Can You Fly?, Freedy was joined on the record by a who's who of indie rock legends including Marshall Crenshaw, Chris Stamey ( The dB's), Kevin Salem (Dumptruck), Dave Schramm ( Yo La Tengo), Jane Scarpantoni ( who's played with 10,000 Maniacs and Richard Barone) and Rupe among others.

  Freedy's gamble paid off. Robert Christgau called Can You Fly? "a  perfect album" and Rolling Stone named Johnston songwriter of the year.

Song Chain: Caroline

The Silos: Caroline
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There seem to be many songs with “Caroline” in the title, but when I saw the previous song, I immediately thought of this one by The Silos. I love the way the singer just yells out the name before the music starts.

So, when did alt-country music start? Who knows, but as much as I love Uncle Tupelo, they clearly weren’t the first alt-country band. The album that this song comes from was The Silos’ third, and was released months before No Depression. It’s a silly argument anyway, just as trying to figure out what the first rock and roll song was.

The Silos' first few albums were a great mix of country and rock, with great songwriting and playing. They have gone through lots of members, and their recorded output is inconsistent, but on this track, they rock, and I strongly recommend this album, and the one that preceded it, “Cuba.”

Song Chain: Caroline

MC Solaar: Caroline
[purchase]

 I was cool, sitting on a bench.  It was springtime.  For a genre so dependent upon lyrics, not many rappers have the nerve to be lyrical.  There are, to be sure, many MCs who are possessed of a deft turn of phrase and verbal skill, but true poetry is a little harder than that.  The blame can't really be placed at Hip-Hop's door: popular music isn't really about literary cleverness, after all.

Perhaps it's something to do with the nature of the language in which he raps, but MC Solaar has always been a little different.  This tale of amour fou begins with him watching lovers gather daisies, gathers pace through the reminiscence of an obsessive, doomed love and ends with slightly rueful hope (against hope) for a future reconciliation that won't happen.  The tale is grounded upon two central metaphors: the addictive nature of obsessive love, as made plain by the fact that the object of our hero's affection's name is also slang for cocaine (as in the English 'Charlie,') and that of the relationship as game of chance.  Je suis l'as de trèfle qui pique ton coeur - he is the ace of clubs who trumps her heart, or indeed her diamonds ('caro').  At least that's what he tells himself, but in the casino that is Paris he knows he has already lost. C'est la vie.

Song Chain : Reconnez Cherie

Wreckless Eric : Reconnez Cherie

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Decades before marrying Amy Rigby, Wreckless Eric recorded some of the great Stiff Records punk-pop singles of the late 70's including "(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World", "Veronica" and "Reconnez Cherie". As he details in his autobiography, A Dysfunctional  Success -The Wreckless Eric Manual, he eventually lost everything he earned to the bottle and moved to the French countryside for ten years. In his book you meet all kinds of famous characters including Ian Dury, Nick Lowe and Huey Lewis ( the tea boy at Stiff Records office the day Eric wandered in).

Song Chain: All I Want

Amy Rigby: All I Want

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Money may be what the Beatles and the Flying Lizards want, but in her song "All I Want," Amy Rigby longs for something more basic: "Just a little something to show me that you care whether I live or die." On her first records (this one is from 1998's Middlescence), Rigby specialized in these working class love-on-the-rocks songs, some with an alt-country sound, others -- like this one -- with a '60's girl-group feel. Amy Rigby (nee McMahon) launched her career in the aftermath of her divorce from dBs drummer Will Rigby. Though she's never quite broken out as either a singer or songwriter, she released a series of very enjoyable records in the late '90s and aughts, including a couple of duet albums with her second husband, the artist formerly and still known as Wreckless Eric.

Song Chain: Money (That’s What I Want)

Flying Lizards: Money (That‘s What I Want)

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The rules of our game this week are to post the first song that comes to mind based on the previous post. Kkafa‘s post made me think of Beatles remakes, and Money (That‘s What I Want) immediately came to mind. It‘s not a pure Beatles remake, because the Beatles were themselves covering the song. The original version was by Barrett Strong, and it was the first single released by the Motown label, in 1959. By the time we get to the Flying Lizards’ version heard here, we are firmly in the territory of 80s remakes. Perhaps no other reinvented the song to the extent this one did. Some people would probably regard this as a destruction of the song. All I know is that it always brings a smile to my face when I hear it.

Song Chain: I Don't Want to Spoil the Party

Nu-Utopians: I Don't Want to Spoil the Party
[free download at Beatles Complete on Ukelele]

Time to get out of the TV funk we've been stuck in for some time now. I admit I am not much of a TV person, nor am I a party type, either. Having said so, let's use J David's reference to TV parties to move on. Now, it's not my intention to spoil anyone's party. I am, however, a die hard Beatles fan and a Creative Commons buff. I know, I have previously brought you something else from the Beatles Complete on Ukelele project, but all the same, in the interest of moving on ...

The Nutopians are dedicated to keeping the music of John Lennon alive. Rex Fowler, previously of Aztec Two Step, is one of the band members. As with all the songs at the Beatles Complete on Ukelele, you'll hear some ukelele on this fine rendition of  a not-so-well-known Beatles hit from the mid 60s.

Song Chain: TV Party

Black Flag: TV Party
[purchase]

We seem to be in sort of a television phase here. Here is a fun, kind of sloppy song by Black Flag, called “TV Party.” This album came out just after I graduated from college, and I pretty much missed it when it came out. But it has a number of great songs on it.

This one, which really does sound like a bunch of friends singing about watching TV and having a few beers, has a certain charm. I particularly like that these guys mention Hill Street Blues, which was one of my favorite shows at the time.

I’m one of those people who think that there is actually a great deal of good things to watch on TV, and most nights, I’m having a little TV party of my own.

Song Chain: All The Young Dudes

David Bowie: All the Young Dudes
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Geoviki's mention of a strange dream/nightmare combined with the mention of a television, brings to my mind this song that Bowie wrote for Mott the Hoople. Here, Bowie performs the song. He sings, "Television man is crazy saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks", and take us from dreams of fame and fortune in the name of Jesus to the fame and fortune of various personalities of the 70s glam rock scene with much that is likewise disquieting.
(tip of the hat to Bert: I see belatedly that he sent the Mott the Hoople version your way a while back)

Song Chain: Antichrist Television Blues

Arcade Fire: Antichrist Television Blues

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Joe Ross' post had a vivid description of a scene by someone who grew up in a Christian church, son of a minister. It brought to mind this story, much more disquieting, of a man who badly wants his young daughter to pursue fame and fortune in the name of Jesus. His dream, he realizes, is becoming a nightmare for her, and yet we get the impression that he won't stop with his heartless quest.

Song Chain: Dust on the Bible

Blue Sky Boys: Dust on the Bible

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For a song chain theme, one writes quickly and posts the first song that comes to mind. When I heard the beautiful silky smooth voice of Loreena McKennitt singing “All follow this and come to dust,” it made me think of the Blue Sky Boys (Bill and Earl Bolick) harmonizing on “Dust on the Bible.” It’s one of those sweet traditional bluegrass gospel tunes that comes from the brother duos of the 1930s and 1940s. We like to pick and sing the song with my own band here in Oregon, the Umpqua Valley Bluegrass Band. The song has a message which is still relevant today.

The song was written by Walter and Johnny Bailes. Walter once said, “I was born and raised in West Virginia in an area now considered a part of Charleston. My dad, being a minister, and my Christian mother led us children to believe in Christ and go to church. It was in church while in my late teens that I found the origin for ‘Dust on the Bible.’ A young minister by the name of Willard Carney came there and started a church in store basement. Since our parents had always taught us respect for all Christ-believing churches, I started attending Brother Carney’s church pretty regular. In one of these services, I heard him relate this experience of going into a home to visit, which story is told in this song. I just put his story in song and bless him for it. I believe him to be a very sincere minister of Christ!”

Song Chain: Cymbeline

Loreena McKennitt: Cymbeline

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Have you ever played Word Association? It’s the game where one person says a word, and the next player has to say the first word that comes into their head. The results can be funny, revealing, or just wonderfully odd. This week, we will be playing a musical version of that game, and forming a song chain. Each song will have something, anything at all, to do with the last one. To start off, here is the first song that came to mind when I saw Mt Vernon Mike’s post of The Reduced Merle Haggard.

So how did I get to Loreena McKennitt from Merle Haggard? Mike mentioned Shakespeare. Now, if I were normal, I would have posted Romeo and Juliet. But no, I had to think of one of the Bard’s most obscure plays. Cymbeline can only be regarded as a history if you regard the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth as being more historical than folkloric. In any case, it is clear that Shakespeare expanded the plot of Cymbeline with material that came not from Geoffrey at all, but rather from the Bard’s own mind. Loreena McKennitt uses Shakespeare’s own words from near the end of the play as the text for her song. The result is a beautiful lament for a pair of doomed young lovers.

Song Chain => War and Memory: Born in the USA

Richard Shindell: Born in the USA

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From transformative covers of songs with California in the titles, it’s not hard to get to another transformative cover. This one also kicks off a week of songs about people affected by wars, both soldiers and those who waited for them at home. It’s all in honor of Memorial Day, but I hope this theme resonates for our readers in countries other than the United States as well.

Here then, is Richard Shindell’s version of Bruce Springstein’s Born in the USA. The lyric presents a portrait of a man who served in Vietnam, and now he is trying to make it as a civilian, while still holding on to the memories of the men he served with. Springstein’s original recording was a rock anthem, and people latched onto it as a patriotic song. But for me, Shindell’s version does a better job of focusing on the lyric, and therefore brings the protagonist to life more vividly. Springstein is an artist I have a great admiration for, but this is one time when his performance did not best serve his lyric. I’m sure any number of Springstein fans will disagree with me in the comments; I would ask that you do so respectfully.

Song Chain: California Dreamin'

This photo of California Dream Inn is courtesy of TripAdvisor.

Eddie Hazel: California Dreamin'

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The last song was a fast cover of a mid-tempo song about California. This one's a slow cover of a mid-tempo song about California (or at least about wanting to be in California).

Eddie Hazel, mostly known as a guitarist in the P-Funk army, only released one solo album during his lifetime, 1977's Games, Dames, and Guitar Thangs. From it comes this slow-burn take on the Mamas & Papas hit.

Song Chain: Hotel California

The Gipsy Kings: Hotel California

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Spanish guitar? Makes me think of this familiar, yet not, cover of the Eagles hit.

The Gipsy Kings are a pop-rhumba-flamenca group hailing from France, although their heritage is Spanish Romani. And this beautifully arranged song is from the soundtrack to The Big Lebowski. It's got one of the best intros ever.

Song Chain: That World Outside

Mink Deville: That World Outside

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I must have heard You Don’t Own Me before, because I saw Dirty Dancing when it came out in the theaters. But I don’t remember the song, so rediscovering it here was a pleasure indeed. Starting with that great growly sax sound, and continuing with swelling strings done right, even into the doo-wop backing vocals, Own Me was great. Many of these same musical elements can be found in the music of Mink Deville, and I offer That World Outside as an example. Here is that growly sax again, and the swelling romanticism. The Spanish guitar on this one is a special bonus. This link in the chain then is all about feel.

Song Chain: You Don't Own Me

The Blow Monkeys: You Don't Own Me

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It only took Boyhowdy's descriptive phrase: gender-bent folk rock offers just the right tone of righteous, defiant anger to trigger a bunch of entries that I thought would fit in our chain. You see, I collect genderbending songs. Aaaaaaand, I think that's all I'll say about that. ;)

Actually , I'm spoiled for choice here. Two runners up were Cam Clarke's Son of a Preacher Man or The Czars Where the Boys Are. But the clear winner for "defiant anger" has to be this Lesley Gore cover from 1987's soundtrack to Dirty Dancing.

Song Chain: Beautiful

Clem Snide: Beautiful (Christina Aguilera cover)

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For me, the song chain challenge is no challenge at all, but rather the way my mind works anyway. I am, after all, the product of the very last vinyl-to-tape generation - and so, letting the mind open to the possibility of the next natural song is merely an echo of an earlier era, spent on the floor at my father's vast and varied record collection, where - in order to ensure that no silence interrupted a good evening of listening, or perhaps merely to make sense of the mix tape creation process - the three minutes listening to one song could be used wisely to search for another, so as to have it waiting for the switch-out with little more fuss than the lift and slide, the slide and drop.

Such quick-changes can come from anywhere, of course - which is to say, most chains, and most mixtapes, do not use the same sort of connection between one pair of songs and the next. Today, for example, we've gone from a titular connection to one of narrative meaning, and an antithetical one at that - for after seeing this afternoon's post of "Oh, Pretty Woman", this song came to mind, mostly, because Christina Aguilera's hit "Beautiful" always seemed like a kind of reclamation of the feminine mind from the objecthood which Roy Orbison's chart-topper imposes on the gender...and Clem Snide's grungy, gender-bent folk rock offers just the right tone of righteous, defiant anger against the femme-flattening two-dimensionality which so plagues the patriarchal society, even today.

Song Chain: Oh, Pretty Woman

Roy Orbison: Oh, Pretty Woman

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Okay, I'll get this started, and say obvious song is obvious. I saw Darius's title and thought it was actually this song, so this post is all about making mistakes at first glance.

When I was young, in 1965 when this song came out, I couldn't tell the difference between Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley, so I thought it was an Elvis song.

I always think this song is titled "Pretty Woman" but it's got an "Oh," in front of it.

And my picture of that pretty woman? Is a guy. That's J-Rocker Kaya, who looks way better than I do in makeup.

Show Tunes => Song Chain: Pretty Women

Peabo Bryson: Pretty Women

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Welcome to our Song Chain theme. This is a musical version of the old word association game, where one person thinks of a word, and the next person says the first word that comes into their head. So I hope this week is as much fun for our readers as I believe it will be for my fellow Star Makers and me.

Geovicki completely surprised me with her post of songs from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. First of all, I knew Hedwig had been a movie, but I didn’t know that it was a stage show first. And then, she took a Show Tunes theme, and found a way to include a J-pop artist. So the connections to this post are that I am concluding our Show Tunes theme, and I am offering a surprise.

Pretty Women comes from Sweeney Todd, and it’s no surprise that someone covered Sondheim, or that it was done as jazz. But I have never heard Peabo Bryson singing jazz before, and he does it very well. And he is working with Herbie Hancock, of all people. The combination works beautifully.