Four-Legged Friends: The Puppy Song

Harry Nilsson: The Puppy Song

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Victoria Williams: The Puppy Song

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On the surface, this early Harry Nilsson delicacy is a perfect slice of delicious 1969 poptimism, a fun little soft-shoe ditty about wishing for a puppy. Lift the sunshiny childlike innocence, however, and you'll find a subtle dig at the status quo in the narrator's longing for playful, eternal companionship away from the rules of society and crowds. The ever-sweet Victoria Williams gets the balance just right, too.

Four-Legged Friends: Howl at the Moon Edition

Cheryl Wheeler: Howl at the Moon

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David Stocker: Penny the Moondog

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Cheryl Wheeler is one of those artists who can have you laughing uproariously or crying inconsolably - this song, inspired by/written for James, her new-at-the-time border collie, has the latter effect on me...

David Stocker was a finalist in our South Florida Folk Festival songwriting competition in 1998 and 1999, and the tune above was one of his entries, which became a howl-along at every opportunity - David is now better known for his participation in the group One Drum...

Both of these songs remind me of my own dog Rocky (official name Rocky Raccoon, after the Beatles' song), who has slowed down considerably in his almost-15-years with our family - he is adorable, wise, affectionate and loyal. Rocky spends most days curled at my feet (if I'm on the computer) or following me from room-to-room (if I'm doing chores around the house)... yet he gets super-excited when one son returns from work... or the other comes home from college for the weekend... or as soon as I get back from my walk and take the leash out of the drawer for his own turn around the block - he is immortalized in the blogosphere here, when Christine Kane took a picture of him the weekend she played my concert series a few years ago and stayed overnight with us before driving to a gig in Tampa the next day...

Rocky is doing his doggie-dream hiccup, even as I type - "a tale of two souls, four paws, one heart" indeed...

Four-Legged Friends: Seeing Eye Dog

Ani DiFranco: Seeing Eye Dog

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You can go away for a couple of days, and leave a cat to fend for itself. Not so with a dog. Dogs are dependent upon humans for their bodily functions, but the also require the company. A dog defines itself in terms of its place in the pack.

When you’re talking about a seeing eye dog, the dependency is mutual. Ani DiFranco uses a seeing eye dog as an extended metaphor, to describe a mutually dependent, and entirely human, relationship. As with a seeing eye dog and its owner, here two people together are greater than they could ever be apart.

Four-Legged Friends: Palomar

Rheostatics: Palomar

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Rheostatics were a unique, creative Canadian band that never achieved much success below the 49th parallel. I friend of mine slipped me a copy of their Whale Music album years ago, and I was immediately sucked in by the eclectic arrangements, offbeat song structures, and often inscrutable lyrics. But I still don't know how to describe them, other than "very Canadian".

"Palomar" is one of the more musically straightforward songs from that first album I heard (which, as it turns out, was actually their third). It's about a man and his dog. Or mankind's relationship with Man's Best Friend. Or about how men are like dogs. Something like that. As I said, their lyrics were often inscrutable.

Four-Legged Friends: Four Legs Good. Two Legs Bad.

Christine Kane: Four Legs Good. Two Legs Bad.

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I love this catchy, country-ish, cautionary tale about the importance of canine and feline companionship in our lives - literary bonus points awarded for Christine's nod to Animal Farm in her song title... :-)

Four-Legged Friends: Dog Gone Wrong

Freakwater: Dog Gone Wrong

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To begin with I would like to commend the efforts of everyone involved in the disaster relief during the aftermath of the horrendous earthquake in Haiti. That said I would also like in particular to acknowledge the dogs and their handlers who have been and still are working feverishly to rescue survivors.

The old expression 'give them an inch and they'll take a mile' can appropriately be applied to dogs. Most of them will try just about anything that a dog can get away with at least once. But when a dog gets his of her first taste of blood, they become a different animal altogether. And just like people, should a dog fall in with a bad crowd, more often than not there is no turning back.

Four-Legged Friends: 900 Dogs

The Carnivaleros: 900 Dogs

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Chances are, most of you haven’t heard 900 Dogs. The song comes from The Carnivaleros’ album Happy Homestead, which I reviewed on my blog, Oliver di Place, back in September. You can read my full review here.

Gary Mackender is the songwriter of the group. Here he takes the idea behind the expression “dog eat dog”, and turns it into an extended metaphor. The song has a desert rock vibe, topped by a wailing sax, that only helps to make the point.

Four-Legged Friends: Beware

Ann Peebles: Beware

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"You better beware of the dog that brings the bone,

she´s only trying to break up your home..."

This one´s dedicated to the great Willie Mitchell of Hi Records fame, who passed away last week at 82. Only one out of countless southern soul gems that Mitchell had a producing hand in, Beware shows that there´s much more to Ann Peebles than just her famous million-seller I Can´t Stand The Rain.

Four-Legged Friends: Furr

Blitzen Trapper: Furr

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I hope it's OK to post a fairly recent tune but Blitzen Trapper's Furr is a song that tells a story of a young man who joins in with a pack of wolves. More than a simple dog, or in this case wolf song, it's also the story of a young man's quest for his identity. I might be pushing the envelope some here but since all dogs came from wolves I think they deserve a nod. As does Blitzen Trapper for this wonderful song.

Four-Legged Friends: Drive By

Glen Phillips: Drive By

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My New Year's Resolution is to once again become more active on this site and try to post at least once each week with each new theme. It starts today.

This one comes from Glen Phillips' first solo album after his departure from Toad the Wet Sprocket. It's a character study of a child struggling with trying to be a "good boy" in the face of being forced to participate in a heinous act.

Glen's character wants to please his father... even during his misguided attempt to murder the neighbor's dog. He, however, wishes no actual harm to come to the dog so he prays to The Father to stay his father's hand.

In the end, God comes through and answers Glen's prayers... even though Glen can't keep the promises he made.

Four-Legged Friends: My Dog and Me

John Hiatt & The Goners: My Dog and Me

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This week’s theme is challenging for me for a couple of reasons. Not long ago, I posted a set of dog songs at my place, and I don’t want to repeat myself. Also, I am a cat person, and dogs are not really my thing. Still, duty calls.

Actually, if I was ever going to change my mind about dogs, this might be the song that would do it. John Hiatt describes a peaceful day with just him and his dog, and it sounds wonderful. I remember when this album came out that some reviewers hated this song. They were looking for a jaundiced view of the world, and clever word play, and Hiatt is often the best place to look for both of these things. But here, he plays it honest and straight, and keeps it simple, and it works. To me, it just shows another side to his talent.

Four-Legged Friends: Police Dog Blues

Jorma Kaukonen and Tom Hobson: Police Dog Blues

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This old "Blind" Arthur Blake tune, first recorded in the early days of the country blues, tells a pretty typical tale: rambling man meets Tennessee girl, girl passes him up because she doesn't like his tie, guy drops the issue before her crazy "police dog" can take a bite out of his pants. Irony alert: the dog's name is Rambler, too...

Blake was king of the ragtime guitar; this acoustic blues version from Jorma Kaukonen and Tom Hobson is a whole mess whiter. Still, the early stuff from these bluesfolk princes has a gentle, bittersweet soul of its own.

PS: I've been on an acoustic blues kick lately; if you like this sort of stuff, why not ramble over to Cover Lay Down for more?

Four-Legged Friends: Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne

Jim Stafford: Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne

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This week's theme is something I hold dear to my heart. I've been a dog guy since I was a kid and have never been without at least one. We currently have two.

Jim Stafford's song Spiders And Snakes was a novelty tune from the 70s. It was a pretty good tune at the time but a friend of mine told me to listen to the whole album, that there were a number of other songs on it worth checking out. I took her advice and bought the LP. Turned out she was right, so when Stafford came out with his next album, Not Just Another Pretty Foot, I snapped it right up. Many of my favorite songs by Stafford, though humorous, also have surreal, dreamlike story quality to them. A perfect example would be Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne. Personally I would've thought a bulldog would prefer beer but the song set me straight.

Four-Legged Friends: Hot Dog Boogie

The Singing Dogs: Hot Dog Boogie

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Four-legged friends, huh? I´m more fond of cats myself, but if you want dogs, I give you dogs. Singing dogs...

The follow-up to a barked version of Jingle Bells, this weird gem stems from 1956. In our computer age a record like this would probably be easy to make, but back in the fifties it must have been quite a feat.

I found this a while back on a fanmade collection of the favorite tracks of avid record collectors Lux & Ivy of Cramps fame, and it quickly became a firm fave of my eight year old daughter. Woof!

Ten: You and Me Edition

As I was searching my collection for the songs I would post this week, a strange thing happened: I came across two songs, released sixteen years apart, with oddly similar titles. The only other thing they have in common is that I really like them. So I couldn’t resist posting them together.

Indigo Girls: You and Me of the 10,000 Wars

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First, 1990 saw the release of the Indigo Girls album Nomads Indians Saints. My first selection is not one of their best known songs, which just shows how deep in quality their catalog is. Indigo Girls have been politically active on various causes, but the 10,000 wars of the title have nothing to do with world events. Rather, these are the little wars that flare up in any relationship. The song is probably about a pair of lovers, but there is a line about a “prodigal daughter”. This could just as easily be about a parent and child.

Peter Mulvey: You and Me and the Ten Thousand Things

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Peter Mulvey’s song comes from 2006. Musically and lyrically, I can detect no influence from the older song, so I tend to think that Mulvey may not even be aware of it. You and Me and the Ten Thousand Things list off many reasons why modern life is discouraging, but then offers hope. Mulvey approaches the subject with his typically wonderful sense of whimsy, while the music swings and sways.

Ten: I Spent My Last $10 (on Birth Control and Beer)

Two Nice Girls: I Spent My Last $10 (on Birth Control and Beer)

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To echo Cybill Shepherd's comment at a gay rights rally in Washington in the early-90's: "I'm straight, but I'm not narrow." - one doesn't have to be a lesbian to appreciate this song ("poignant and hilarious", states one of the reviews), and the CD I got it from...

Rewind to the late-90's as I was browsing in a used CD store... and ran across a promo copy of Lesbian Favorites: Women Like Us - in perusing the tracklist, I saw Dar Williams' As Cool As I Am, as well as selections by k. d. lang, Janis Ian, Ani Di Franco, Jane Siberry and Ferron (so many of the artists I was recently discovering). I of course read the liner notes (written by Gretchen Phillips) when I got home... and only now realize she was a founding member of Two Nice Girls - notes for Rhino Compilation can be found here...

A bit of delving shows the band broke up in 1992, but have dreams to re-release their albums (one a year) and have considered the possibility of a new recording/reunion tour - Darius, I learned that they merged covers of Lou Reed's Sweet Jane with Joan Armatrading's Love and Affection... called Sweet Jane (With Affection)... on their self-titled debut!

P.S. I'm crazy about Sandra Bernhard's female remake of Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover - wish I'd thought to post it for our Gender Benders theme (guess I'll have to wait for Leftovers in late-November... :-)

Tens: The Progressive Edition

Moon Mullican: Nine Tenths Of The Tennessee River

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Nine Tenths of the Tennessee River. I couldn't resist posting this one!

ZZ Top: Ten Foot Pole

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While working up something for this weeks theme it occurred to me to check and see if any songs on my long list had anyone born on the tenth day of a given month. Pat Benatar, Roger Miller and Rod Stewart all have January 10 birthdays but I have nothing by any of them that would fit the theme. However, December 10th is ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard's birthday.

Concrete Blonde: 100 Games Of Solitaire

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Living in Nevada we've found it's much safer to play solitaire than blackjack. But even still, sure as poker chips, I don't know a hundred of them. But that's OK. Concrete Blonde does.

Captain Tractor: 1000 Goodbyes

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Captain Tractor reminds us that for every hello there is a thousand good-byes.

Robert Earl Keen: 10,000 Chinese Walk Into A Bar

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And lastly, there must be 10,000 variations on the joke about someone walking into a bar. Robert Earl Keen tells us of a story about some Chinese folks.

Speaking of tens, it might be worth mentioning that the tenth day of the tenth month also holds a few more important birthdays: Tanya Tucker, David Lee Roth, Huey 'Piano' Smith and John Prine. Sorry to report I didn't have a 'ten' song by any of them that would fit either.

Ten: Psychedelic Edition

Mark Mikel: 2010 Anthem

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I couldn't resist posting Mark Mikel's "2010 Anthem", for the obvious reason.

Mark Mikel is the lead singer and chief songwriter in a fabulously psychedelic band out of Toledo, Ohio called the Pillbugs. He has also recorded a lot of solo material, this song included.

I'm not sure when this song was written, but I'm guessing that 2010 was used as a reference to a not-too-distant future. (See also Paul McCartney's "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five", which this song occasionally echoes.) It's not quite a dystopian future, but it is a rather unsettling vision of future leaders and complacent masses. "Rule our thoughts with catchy quotes / Poison with no antidote / Shove the sh*t right down our throats / We'll swallow" is as good a description of our soundbite culture as any I've heard.


Western Electric: 10-4

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Here's some more modern-day psychedelia, this time from Long Ryders and Cole Porters frontman (and Gram Parsons biographer) Sid Griffin, leading one-album band Western Electric back in '99. The relaxed rhythm, gentle vocals, and woozy pedal steel are pretty indicative of how the rest of the album sounds.


The Yardbirds: Happenings Ten Years Time Ago

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Now for an authentic 1960's blast of energy! "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" scraped the top 40 back in 1966, but what really makes it interesting is that it is one of only three songs the Yardbirds recorded with both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page on lead guitars. Not long after its release, Beck was fired.

Ten: Perfect 10

The Beautiful South: Perfect 10

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I drew a complete blank on songs with Ten/10 in the title for this week's theme... not my modus operandi at all, as I usually have too many tunes in my head and not enough time on the clock - so... I went on an adventure with my dear friend Google... and came up with this one...

My next step was to check the SMM archives to make sure the song had not been used before, whereupon I ran across Robbie's post of a bit over a year ago, covering the same band but a different song - we miss you, Robbie!

I knew nothing of The Beautiful South, but one reading of their lyrics, while listening, made me want to find out more about this group - they're clever, they're catchy, they're... disbanded?!?

Read here for some interesting observations from Wikipedia about double meanings and double entendres - there's also a sweet message behind the "nudge, nudge, wink, wink"...

'Cause we love our love in different sizes
I love her body, especially the lines
Time takes its toll, but not on the eyes
Promise me this, take me tonight...

Ten: Hang Ten

The Jazz Mandolin Project: Hang Ten

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Legend has it that this spirited improvisational jamjazz piece spontaneously arose from a late-night studio stop-in from Phish lead guitarist Trey Anastasio, but despite the regular presence of Phish drummer Jon Fishman on the skins of The Jazz Mandolin Project, the band itself is truly the baby and brainchild of rural New England-based mando master and compositional experimentalist Jamie Masefield. And Jamie continues to experiment: his most recent project involves a combination of video, literature, and live performance, and his most recent album - the sixth from the project - is an all-covers acoustic delight that features Tom Waits' bass player and Pat Metheny's pianist.