Bodies of Water: River

Joni Mitchell: River

[purchase]

Herbie Hancock with Corinne Bailey Rae: River

[purchase]

"Society is like a large piece of frozen water; and skating well is the great art of social life." ~ Letitia Landon

Then there's the peculiar case of Joni Mitchell's "River." The song first appeared on her album Blue some 36 Christmases ago. It starts with Mitchell's piano playing "Jingle Bells" in doleful minor chords, which leads to a delicate and exquisitely disconsolate melody, and even more forlorn lyrics. References to Christmas, reindeer, and "songs of joy and peace" crop up in the first verse, then disappear. Damning herself as "selfish and ... sad," Mitchell confesses to disillusionment with "this crazy scene" (probably the drug-fueled Cali-rock crowd at the time) and driving away the guy who not only loved her but gave crazy-good sex (rumored to be James Taylor or Graham Nash, her boyfriends during this period). The refrain has her craving a river "I could skate away on"; she just wants to leave all of it, even the seasonal festivities, behind. The song returns to its initial chorus, but by then, it's too late for tidings of comfort or joy. Even the Christmas references--images of trees being cut down, fake reindeer being hauled out one more time--are more cynical than buoyant.

"River" is only peripherally about Christmas, and in lyrics and tone it's hardly the type of song one warbles around the piano with the family (assuming people still do such things). Yet over the last few years, it's become ubiquitous, included on a large number of yuletide albums in various genres. One can now hear "River" done up not only as adult contemporary (separate versions by Sarah McLachlan and James Taylor on their seasonal-themed albums) but as holiday adult lounge jazz (Dianne Reeves), new age guitar (Peter Mulvey), Celtic ballad (the Albion Christmas Band), alt rock (Sister Hazel), Brit pop (Travis), and jazz elevator music (Fourplay, Boney James). That's not to count non-holiday-record covers by everyone from Heart to the Indigo Girls to Herbie Hancock (the latter, sung by Corinne Bailey Rae, is the title track of Hancock's album of Mitchell covers, just nominated for an Album of the Year Grammy).

The rest of the article can be found here...

Bodies of Water: On Palestine

JJ Grey and Mofro - On Palestine

[purchase]

"On Palestine" tackles that old-meets-new Florida, where the perils of timber companies came to Lake Palestine and virtually wiped out the lush forest. It comes from JJ Grey and Mofro's 2007 album, Country Ghetto.

Bodies of Water: Loch Lomond

Cordelia's Dad: Loch Lomond

[purchase]

Dan Zanes w/ Natalie Merchant: Loch Lomond

[purchase]

O you’ll tak’ the high road and I’ll tak’ the low road
And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye
For me and my true love will ne-er meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond

Two of my favorite versions of this traditional, familiar Scottish tune of life, death, and scenery, first published in 1841 as The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond.

First, a rock/punk/jam genre-hybrid take from the self-titled debut of local boys Cordelia's Dad, who would later turn towards both shape note singing and an acoustic form of No Depression-era Americana, but got their start reframing american folk songs in a rock and roll mold.

And second, a much more mellow, meandering take from kidrock band leader and ex-Del Fuegos guitarist Dan Zanes, here joining forces with easily-identifiable guest vocalist Natalie Merchant.

Internationally schooled linguists will note, of course, that a Loch can be either a lake or a sea inlet. In this case, Loch Lomond is the largest lake in Great Britain, whose varied shoreline and numerous islands have made it a popular vacation destination for centuries.

Bodies of Water: Reservoir

Hem: Reservoir

[Purchase]

At first, I thought maybe this song wasn't a good fit for this week's theme as it's often a man-made body of water. But then I considered that the theme was inspired by the snow melt-off of Spring, and isn't that what the reservoirs are designed for? They save that excess water for later use. So I decided I was going to go for it.

Hem is band that makes Americana that is almost more like lullabies. It is difficult not to feel serene when they're playing. This song is no different. Their music often gives a picture of life, whether it emotional or everyday. This one talks about the light on a particular reservoir outside of Pittsburgh (thus, the picture I chose for the entry is of Highland Park Reservoir, which is, "right outside of Pittsburgh") and how we may travel near and far, and despite seeing and experiencing wonderful things, there's nothing that can evoke those same feelings as your hometown.

Bodies of Water: Cold Missouri Waters

So far this week, we have had posts about types of bodies of water, a lake, a pond, an ocean, and so on. Such songs tend to use the body of water as a symbol or metaphor. And we have seen that such songs can be very powerful.

Here, however, is a song which mentions a specific body of water in the title, in this case the Missouri river. The song is also very specific, telling the tale of a particular time and place.

James Keelaghan: Cold Missouri Waters

[purchase]

James Keelaghan is a prime example of a great Canadian artist who is not well enough known in the United States. His style ranges from folk to folk-rock, and his voice is one of the best doing this kind of music.

Cry Cry Cry: Cold Missouri Waters

[purchase]

Dar Williams, Lucy Kaplansky, and Richard Shindell got to together for a one-shot album in 1998. For this project, they called themselves Cry Cry Cry.

The album notes explain that Keelaghan “wrote this account of the first fire fighter to create an oasis within a forest fire by deliberately scorching a circle around himself....” It happened at Mann Gulch, in western Montana, on August 5, 1949, and the narrator’s full name was Wag Dodge. To this day, the hills of Mann Gulch are dotted with the thirteen crosses mentioned in the song, which mark the exact spots where the fire fighters’ bodies were found. One of the these crosses is shown above.

Tom Juravich: Cold Missouri Waters

[purchase]

I got to wondering, as I planned this post, if there were other interesting versions of the song. Tom Juravich chose to slow the song down to emphasize its tragic elements.

Juravich sings mostly about the labor movement on his recordings. He fit this one onto an album of songs that celebrate the working man. Juravich is also a professor of Labor Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Note: if you saw my post earlier this week of Ain‘t Life a Brook, you may have missed my update. Have a look and a listen.

Bodies of Water: What Does The Deep Sea Say?

Bill Monroe & Doc Watson - What Does The Deep Sea Say? [purchase]

What does the deep sea say?
It moans, it groans, it splashes and it foams,
And it rolls on its weary way.

Charlie and Bill Monroe first recorded this tune in 1937, way back when older brother Charlie was the dominant Monroe. But, Bill was no man's second fiddle, so to speak. The group split up in 1938, Monroe joined the Opry in '39, and everything was rosins and bows until Elvis came along and dropped a wiggling turd in the punchbowl. Almost overnight, bluegrass music became quaint and old-fashioned.

Then, in the late 1950s, quaint and old-fashioned music surged in popularity, especially on college campuses. Old was the new new. Bill Monroe was one beneficiary of this so-called folk boom. Doc Watson, the sightless wunderkind of flatpick guitar, was another. When they recorded this duet in May 1963 at the Ash Grove in Los Angeles, Watson was two months away from a performance at the Newport Folk Festival that would put him on the national map for good. Monroe, meanwhile, was already an elder statesman of old-timey, but was about to enter the bluegrass festival era, when he would stand as the genre's livingest legend.

On a sidenote, I'd be willing to bet that in the audience at this Ash Grove show was a young guitar picker named Clarence White. According to Kentucky Colonels bassist, Roger Bush, Clarence called him from the Ash Grove in March 1962, excited about hearing "a blind guitar player from Deep Gap, North Carolina." The KCs actually played the Ash Grove in April 1963, so chances are good they were in town. And if you were in town, why in god's name would you pass up the Bill Monroe/Doc Watson gig??? Trick question ... you wouldn't.

Follow-up dispatch from the "lattice of coincidence":
Within hours of posting this track, Crawdaddy ran a phenomenal profile on Ed Pearl, owner and operator of the Ash Grove nightclub ... who, by the way, singles out Bill Monroe and Doc Watson as career highlights.

Damnations - What Does The Deep Sea Say? [personal recording; not available for purchase]

A beautiful rose, one day,
I placed on the crest of a wave.
I said, "Take it, please, and let it settle home
Above his watery grave."

I've discussed the greatness of The Damnations before, and it was they who turned me onto this obscure chestnut. Though never formally recorded, "Deep Sea" was a regular part of The Damnations setlists. This particular version came from a July 2002 show at the Cactus Cafe in Austin and I was lucky enough to capture it on mini-disc. As usual, sisters Amy Boone (pictured left) and Deborah Kelly (center) provide the killer, downhome harmonies, but it's Rob Bernard's heavy, percussive banjo and Conrad Choucroun's train beat drums that push the song into breakneck, cowpunk territory. Incidentally, after crunching the numbers on Amazon, it turns out you can buy both Damnations albums for a whopping $5!. Get you some.

Bodies of Water: The Lakes of Canada

The Innocence Mission: The Lakes of Canada

[Purchase]

How could I not post one of the best songs by one of my favorite bands this week? I posted another Innocence Mission song a while back, but this one is really one of their most beautiful. It has warranted itself a number of different cover versions as well, including one by Sufjan Stevens, but really, I don't think any cover could compare with the original.

Karen Peris' soft vocals on this song lend themselves to the calm contented feelings evoked by the song. In the song, she is rowing on a Canadian lake and feeling hopeful and joyful. It is one of those rare moments in life of pure happiness where anything seems possible.

Bodies of Water: The Sea

Morcheeba: The Sea

[purchase]

I wasn't planning on posting this slinky, funky, mystical trip-hop journey this week, though it is certainly strong enough, in sensibility and performance, to be worth adding to the mix. But having three songs in a row which used a "The BodyofWater" title format was just too tempting to resist.

Plus, the world needs Morcheeba. The combination of DJ Paul Godfrey, his multi-instrumentalist brother Ross, and original vocalist Skye Edwards make for a groove that's out of this world. And though sophomore albums are sometimes a risk, Big Calm, which featured high in many alt-press end-of-year lists when it came out in 1998, is a stellar, perfectly ambient mix. No regrets here.

Bodies of Water: The Ocean

Dar Williams: The Ocean

[purchase]

Peter Mulvey: The Ocean

[purchase]

Dar Williams: The Ocean (w/intro, live at the Kate Wolf Festival, June 14, 1997)

Living here in South Florida for soon-to-be 17 years, the ocean is obviously near and dear to my heart... and, although it is only a 25-minute drive from my suburban home to the shores of Hollywood Beach, I don't get there nearly as often as I should - the songs I'm surrounding myself with today are motivation to make a visit this week... to refill my well and replenish my spirit with the sound of the rushing surf and the squawking gulls... the feel of gritty sand on my suntanned skin, the whipping wind in my hair and crunching shells underfoot... and the salty smell of forgiveness and new beginnings...

Of course, Dar Williams' Ocean isn't nearly so kind ("I've bludgeoned your sailors, I've spat out their keepsakes") - the first track above is her original (complete with craggy back-up vocals from John Prine) from her Mortal City CD... the second is a cover by Peter Mulvey on his Ten Thousand Mornings... and the third is a live version (complete with explanatory introduction) from Dar's June 14, 1997 performance at the Kate Wolf Festival in Laytonville, California...

Dar was accompanied by Peter Mulvey during this set - although he doesn't sing/play along on the song on this occasion, I've always wondered if it inspired him to eventually cover her tune, 5 years later...

Bodies of Water: The River

Reggie Greenlaw: The River

[purchase]

Reggie Greenlaw is a hammer-dulcimer and guitar player who has never quite made it in the big time. I saw him play with The Weavers once, and I know that he opened for Greg Brown at another time. But, his profile is still extremely limited.

In that sense, Reggie, like so many other folk artists, follows the old tradition of making music for its own sake. All of his music has a sort of sweet simplicity to it that leaves the listener feeling like he or she is just hanging out with a friend and his guitar.

I've searched for ways to purchase his music, but I've come up largely empty handed. The featured track is from his Mayflies album, but it is apparently out of print. The link above is to the only album of his that I can find online, which seems to be a dulcimer record without vocals.

Bodies of Water: Ain’t Life a Brook

Ferron: Ain‘t Life a Brook

[purchase]

When I first heard the music of Ferron, the first two songs to catch my ear were Ain’t Life a Brook and Misty Mountain. (Maybe one day, we’ll do a week of geographical features...) Ain’t Life a Brook is a perfect description of the stages one goes though when a relationship ends. Ferron chose the metaphor of a running stream, noting.

“Life don’t clickety-clack, down a one line track. It comes together and it comes apart.”

By now, everyone knows that I love train songs too, but Ferron chose the perfect metaphor for what she wanted to say.

Update:

My wife insisted that this post would not be complete without Lucie Blue Tremblay’s version of the song. Tremblay arranges the melody for just voice and guitar, and she sings in a language I don’t understand, French. This highlights the beauty of the melody.

As I said, I don’t speak French. But I believe that Tremblay’s title translates as Our Beautiful Years. And that has me wondering if the French lyrics are the same, or is this perhaps an answer song? If anyone can translate the lyrics Tremblay sings, please leave the answer in a comment. Thanks.

Lucie Blue Tremblay: Nos Belles Annes

[purchase]

Announcement:

When we covered 1989 a few weeks ago, I posted Wendy Wall’s song The Proving Ground. I noted that Wall had a new album coming out, and I would let everyone no more when I did. My review of the new album is now up at Oliver di Place. Come have a look and a listen, and let me know what you think.

Bodies of Water: Down The River

Chris Knight - Down The River

[purchase]

In the vapid ‘Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy’ tarted-up world of country music, a songwriter of Chris Knight’s caliber is either a) flat out ignored or b) too deep for the pop with a fiddle Clear Channel country music fan. There are no parties for Chris’s characters, no Honky Tonk or Badonkadonk’s. Chris’ characters are doomed to lives of jail cells, calloused hands, black eyes, beaten wives and unpaid bills, all told by one of the consistently best songwriters I’ve heard since the Drive-By Truckers.

Down The River comes off Chris's 2001 album, A Pretty Good Guy. It may clock in at 7 minutes long but it's worth listening to just for the closing lines.

Bodies of Water: Red Sea Black Sea

Guest submission by Mari

Shearwater: Red Sea Black Sea

[web session; purchase studio version here]

Reader Mari, who sent this wonderfully dark and delicately brooding alt-countrified folk song along, writes:

"To quote directly from the daytrotter session that i downloaded from is more than anythin' i could make up!"

We treasure songs when they’ve got more floor dirt on them than shine. It’s at those points – when they’re just skin and bones – when you can either take them or leave them behind forever. Hearing something less perfectly or in an altered form – possibly a completely foreign setting – is the point where we make up our minds and whether the song shows that it’s got legs and a working heart. We dig that in a song, when it can affect us even more when it’s randomly wrinkled or ruffled. We find nothing wrong with these songs. We find that we love them more with each passing day because they work us like a stiff gust and a warm massage.

Bodies of Water: Ocean Rain

Echo & The Bunnymen: Ocean Rain

[purchase]

From Echo's last great release, Ocean Rain, I give you the title track. I love the way this song builds from almost silence to the beautiful crescendo that highlights Ian McCulloch's dramatic neo-psychedelic vocals.

Bodies of Water: (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay

Otis Redding: (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay

[purchase]

The visceral effect this song (with its rushing surf and bluesy guitar and mournful whistling) has on me can now be explained, as I only just learned (or remembered) the tune was released posthumously - Wikipedia backstory here:

While on tour with the Bar-Kays in August 1967, Redding wrote the first verse of the song, under the abbreviated title "Dock of the Bay," at a houseboat on Waldo Pier in Sausalito, California. He had come off his famed performance at the Monterey Pop Festival just months earlier in June 1967. While touring in support of the LPs King & Queen (collaborations with female vocalist Carla Thomas) and his live set Live in Europe, he continued to scribble lines of the song on napkins and hotel paper. In November of that year he joined producer and guitarist Steve Cropper at the Stax recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee.

In a 1990 interview on NPR's Fresh Air, Cropper explained the "origins" of the song:

“Otis was one of those kind of guys who had 100 ideas. Anytime he came in to record he always had 10 or 15 different intros or titles, or whatever. He had been at San Francisco playing The Fillmore, and he was staying at a boathouse, which is where he got the idea of the ship coming in. That's about all he had: "I watch the ships come in and I watch them roll away again." I took that and finished the lyrics. If you listen to the songs I wrote with Otis, most of the lyrics are about him. He didn't usually write about himself, but I did. "Mr. Pitiful," "Sad Song (Fa-Fa);" they were about Otis' life. "Dock Of The Bay" was exactly that: "I left my home in Georgia, headed for the Frisco Bay" was all about him going out to San Francisco to perform.”

Together, they completed the music and melancholy lyrics of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." From those sessions emerged Otis Redding's final recordings, including "Dock of the Bay," which was recorded on November 22, with additional overdubs on December 8. The result was a song quite different in style from most of Redding's other recordings, but one with which he was very pleased. While discussing his latest song with his wife, Redding stated that he wanted to "be a little different" with "The Dock of the Bay" and "change his style". There were concerns that "The Dock of the Bay" had too much of a pop feel for an Otis Redding record, and contracting Stax gospel act The Staples Singers to recording backing vocals was discussed, but never carried out.

Redding continued to tour after the recording sessions and, on December 10, the charter plane which was carrying him crashed into Lake Monona, outside Madison, Wisconsin. Redding and six others were killed. Only one passenger survived, Ben Cauley of The Bar-Kays. Redding's body was recovered from the lake the day after the crash.

"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was released in January 1968 amid the fall-out of Redding's death. R&B stations readily added the song to their playlists, which had been saturated with Redding's previous hits. The song shot to number one on the R&B charts in early 1968. By early summer of that year, "Dock of the Bay" topped the pop charts. The album, which shared the song's title, was released and became his largest selling to date, peaking at number four on the Pop Albums chart. "Dock of the Bay" went on to gain success in countries across the world, and brought Redding the greatest success of his career. The song went on to win two Grammy Awards: Best R&B Song (for songwriting) and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (for vocals).

Bodies of Water: Harbor

Vienna Teng: Harbor

[Purchase]

This is my favorite track off singer-songwriter Vienna Teng's sophomore album "Warm Strangers". It's a beautiful piano-driven love song.

The song uses a sea motif to describe a relationship. She encourages her love to sail away and seek adventures but that she will remain to be his safe haven, his harbor when he needs or wants that security.

Bodies of Water: Lily Pond

Elizabeth Mitchell: Lily Pond

[purchase]

A tiny transitional song, originally written and performed by modern freakfolk forerunner Vashti Bunyan, who we featured last week as part of our highly successful run of train songs. The tune is borrowed from a highly familiar source, and carries with it the desired impression of childlike innocence; the lyrics are sweet and summery, and feature full immersion in the body of water in question.

This lovely, delicate little interpretation comes from fave kidfolk artist Elizabeth Mitchell, who with banjo and voice manages to lend warmth and intimacy to the song while retaining Bunyan's tender sense of awe and oneness with the natural world...even after clipping a good 24 seconds off the original.

Shorties: How To Find a Shorty

In the course of finding songs for this week’s theme, and reading other people’s posts, I have developed a set of rules for finding shorties. If we ever decide to do a second week of shorties, I hope this will help.

1. Find a song by an artist or band who are known for short songs.

When They Might Be Giants first got together, they had a common problem; no one would sign them. They came up with an unusual solution. They recorded songs that were under a minute long each, and put a different song each day as an answering machine message. Then they plastered signs all over New York City to let people know about their Dial-a-Song service. It caught on, and was even reported in the New York Times where I first heard of it, and soon enough They Might Be Giants were signed to the Bar-None label. Many of the Dial-a-Song tunes found their way onto their early albums.

They Might Be Giants: Token Back to Brooklyn

[purchase]

2. Go with a TV theme or a cover of one.

Spiderman has been made into an animated TV series many times, but this Spiderman theme comes from the first series, made in the 1960s. The original Spiderman cartoon was animated by Ralph Bakshi, who went on to make the movies Fritz the Cat and Wizards.

Moxy Fruvous: Spiderman

[purchase]

3. Use a kid’s song.

From My Head comes from an episode of Sesame Street. It is a rare example of a jazz singer doing anything in less than two minutes. Kid’s songs often come in at under two minutes; there seems to be a widespread belief that no kid will pay attention for longer than that.

Betty Carter: From Your Head

[unreleased, no purchase info]

and, 4. Go with an older song.

Generally speaking, the older a pop song is, the shorter it is. That is because recording and transfer technology limited the length of a recording that would fit on a vinyl single and still sound decent. At the time that the Clovers cut their classic, the upward limit for a single was 2:30. But Love Potion #9 is even shorter.

The Clovers: Love Potion #9

[purchase]

Shorties: Accidentally Daisies

Danny Schmidt: Accidentally Daisies

[purchase] (first 100 pre-orders will receive an autographed copy!)

By now, you are all aware of my inability to do anything in 25 words or less - I confess that I am also an easier-to-get-forgiveness-than-permission kinda woman. I am about to beg your indulgence in advance - to paraphrase my first post to this collaborative blog way back in late-October, what's a few seconds among friends?...

I have written of Danny Schmidt (one of my favorite songwriters) here before - I am eagerly anticipating presenting him in my concert series in a few weeks....

His management sent me a copy of his soon-to-be-released (March 10) CD, Instead the Forest Rose to Sing, a few weeks ago... and I was of course prepared to love his deeper, denser tunes - however, I didn't expect to be hit in the heart so hard with Accidentally Daisies, a simple yet substantial song, clocking in at mumble mumble... two minutes and six seconds... mumble, mumble...

Lots of meaning there for me, as daisies have always been my favorite flower, I used them in my wedding... and my china pattern has a daisy border - the sweet words of devotion... coupled with tender harmonies... accompanied by a swell (my attempt at a DS pun) string section... reduce me to tears every single time I listen...

It is a lovely memory jog of the chain that binds (or unfurls, as he sings) - accidentally daisies fill my eyes... indeed...

Shorties: Car Bomb / Over the Hiccups

Negativland: Car Bomb

Negativland: Over the Hiccups

[purchase]

Long-standing cultural remixers and early anti-copyright activists Negativland don't make songs or albums so much as they create collections of sonic collage experiments, many of which call to particular genre approaches even as they challenge our sense of what a song is.

Here's two of my favorite such moments: a hilarious and tender a capella recording of a small child with hiccups singing Over the Rainbow which I once kept around to fill time on the end of mixtapes, and a faux thrash-punk litany of automotive nouns punctuated by a ticking drum beat, a clock, and a series of ever-larger explosions.

Both come from Negativland's most album-like album, 1987's aptly titled "Escape from Noise", better known for introducing the world to a song called "Christianity is Stupid".

Shorties: The Oz Edition

The Wizard of Oz original motion picture soundtrack:

Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead

As Coroner I Must Aver

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Optimistic Voices

[purchase]

"Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets, then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again." ~ TV guide summary, Marin Independent-Journal

My love for all things Oz has been chronicled here - the original motion picture soundtrack has many songs that are under two minutes (most of them under sixty seconds!)... and these are my favorites...

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

Shorties: The Taste of You

Erin McKeown: The Taste of You

[purchase]

Erin McKeown is one of those wonderful artists who does not precisely fit into any genre. The case could be made for folk, tin pan alley, even jazz, but none of these labels does her justice.

The tracks I have chosen highlight McKeown’s jazzier side, but this is only one of the flavors her music comes in. I would encourage all to explore further.

Bonus track:

Erin McKeown: Honeysuckle Rose

The purchase link above applies only to the song The Taste of You. As far as I know, this version of Honeysuckle Rose is only available from Erin McKeown’s Daytrotter session.

Honeysuckle Rose is a cover of the classic Fats Waller tune.

Shorties: Absolutely Cuckoo

The Magnetic Fields: Absolutely Cuckoo

[Purchase]

There are many bands that seem to be partial to the "short but sweet" song. Magnetic Fields are excellent with this, especially when it comes to their infamous "69 Love Songs" set, a set of four discs containing, yes, you guessed it, 69 love songs. I suppose when you're writing that many songs, making them shorter makes it quicker to reach your goal.

This song, in particular, is about a minute and a half long. It is fast and upbeat in pace, but like most Magnetic Fields songs, is actually very cynical and dark about the prospect of love, and also a bit comical. This was the first Magnetic Fields song I ever heard and remains a favorite.

Shorties: Tiny Little Song

Barenaked Ladies: Little Tiny Song

[purchase]

The last year has been a strange one for Canada's lovable pop group The Barenaked Ladies.

First it was the drug arrest of singer Steven Page... then the plane crash of singer Ed Robertson. Now there is the news this week that Page is leaving the band to "pursue solo projects."

As someone who used to love BNL for their sheer goofiness and knack for producing a well turned phrase, I have been very saddened by some of these recent developments.

Here's a song from happier times and 1994's Maybe You Should Drive. Bassist Jim Creeggan takes a rare turn at vocals.

Shorties: Presto #1 In G Minor After Bach

Bela Fleck and Evelyn Glennie: Brahms: Studies, Anh 1A/1 - Presto #1 In G Minor After Bach

[purchase]

We don't do much classical music here on Star Maker Machine, but I think the Brahms study is a perfect example of a timeless shortie that transcends its genre. The simple, startlingly successful duet of banjo and marimba really captures the way the Presto bursts into existence, fizzes around like a firecracker, and finally slams to a halt.

Popular music fans are more likely to recognize Bela Fleck's name, but Evelyn Glennie is worth knowing, too: the profoundly deaf Scottish percussionist is a Grammy winner in her own right, and a Dame Commander of the British Empire to boot. You can learn more about the world's first full-time solo percussionist here.

Shorties: A Bone To Pick

Those Poor Bastards - A Bone To Pick

[purchase]

Death's theme song.

Shorties: Dookie

Green Day: Coming Clean
Green Day: Emenius Sleepus
Green Day: In the End

[purchase]

When I heard about this week's theme, the first thing that came into my head was punk music. Being a teenager in the mid-90's, my introduction to punk came by way of Green Day and their album, Dookie.

I bought the album a few months after it was released and quickly became hooked. I had never heard anything so raw that still retained such a melodic quality. There was a certain finesse behind the fury. I went out and bought their first two albums as well (Kerplunk is still my favorite), and they became one of my favorite bands during my high school years.

The last few songs off Dookie (the album ending "F.O.D." excluded) all clock in at less than 2:00 and are all included here. I still pull this album out from time to time on a late night drive when I need a little extra something to help keep me awake. It always does the trick.

Shorties: Testimony

Frente!: Testimony

[Purchase]

Frente! is an Australian band that is best known for it's cover of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" that charted in the mid '90s. They made really great, simple, often acoustic, pop music. Now, frontwoman Angie Hart has moved on to do other projects, including fronting a duo called "Splendid" and now does solo work. I've always thought this band was wildly underrated, as they made superb and creative pop music that was undeniably catchy.

This song appeared on the EP for their song "Labour of Love". The whole EP was wonderfully acoustic and simple. This song features only Hart's sweet vocals, one acoustic guitar and some hand claps for percussion. It clocks in at around a minute and a half.

Shorties: Alphabutt

Kimya Dawson: Alphabutt

[purchase]

"A is for Apple."

It's one of the first things we learn as a child. Our parents taught it to us, we teach it to our children, and so on. It's as basic as "2 + 2 = 4" and "See Dick run."

In the hands of Kimya Dawson, however, it's something completely different.

WARNING: This song is not intended for anyone who may be offended by "Huge Gorilla Farts."

Shorties: Lucky in Love

Jill Sobule: Lucky in Love

[Purchase info not available]

Jill Sobule had a hit some time ago with the song I Kissed a Girl. This is not the same as the recent Katy Perry song, but guess where Perry got the idea.

For Sobule, this has meant that bills get paid, but she has also gotten typecast as a singer of novelty songs. That’s a shame, because there is so much more to Jill Sobule’s music than that. Posting Lucky in Love is my attempt to try to set the record straight.

As noted above, you can not buy the album that Lucky in Love comes from. The song made its only appearance on a Valentine’s Day EP that Sobule put out in 2000. Jill Sobule doesn’t even sell this item on her own website. So I’m very happy to be able to present the song here.

Shorties: True Love Will Find You In The End

Daniel Johnston: True Love Will Find You In The End

[purchase]

Basia Bulat: True Love Will Find You In The End

[live]

More fragility, though at a decent if stumbling pace this time. As I noted this summer, Johnston is cited as an influence by a vast number of emotionally broken artists, and this heartbreaking tune is among his most covered. So many have heard so much in this song, and his body of work in general. I think you will, too.

The Basia Bulat cover is a bonus, from a 2008 Daytrotter session. It's short enough, and true to the original in its irregular pacing and warbling vocal. Broken beauty, all of it.

Shorties: Alex Chilton Edition

The Box Tops - Chilton standing center


Big Star (as trio) - Chilton slouching right

The Box Tops: The Letter [purchase]

Big Star: I'm In Love With A Girl [purchase]

Alex Chilton has had his hand in a few pithy pop classics. As the 17-year-old lead singer of The Box Tops, he pushed his voice way down soul deep for The Letter. The result was the second shortest No. 1 hit in the history of pop music. (Guess the shortest No. 1 hit in the comments below.) As a kid and teenager I probably heard The Letter a hundred times before I realized that it was sung by a teenaged Chilton. The guy sounds at least 24.

When Chilton actually did reach 24, he was still churning out catchy little pop numbers. On I'm In Love With A Girl, Chilton pushed his voice in the other direction, up into the falsetto range. It's hard to believe it's the same singer.

Unfortunately, circumstances conspired to prevent Big Star from timely receiving the popular success their music deserved. The consolation prize was to be adorned with cult-like hipster status by the college rockers of the 1980's.

(OK. I better stop now. This post is getting too long for me.)

Shorties: Riding My Bike

Lisa Germano: Riding My Bike

[purchase]

Lisa Germano is known for her dreamy and dark music, most of which I've always found deeply affecting.

On her first album, 1991's On The Way Down From The Moon Palace, you'll find "Riding My Bike," a song which barely makes it under the two minute prerequisite for this week's theme.

Initially, the song seems sweet enough; acoustic plucking and Germano's unmistakable soft voice, as she sings in first-person. Then a deep stomping and suddenly, her voice deepens.

And thus, you'll discover Germano's amazing ability to conjure up something as innocent as a childhood past-time and turn it into something haunting, but heartbreakingly realistic. All under the time it takes to brush your teeth.

- - - - - -

I was riding my bike across the street
Just riding my bike

I was riding my bike across the street
Just riding my bike

Then this man came up to me
Was driving his car

Riding my bike across the street
Just riding my bike

Something was wrong
Just didn't feel right
My heart beat fast

He said "Which way is Adams Street?"
My heart beat fast

"Hey little girl, you sure look cute riding your bike."
"Hey pretty girl, you want a little of this? You sure look cute."

He followed me home
He knows where I live
He knows my name

He followed me home
He knows my name

Shorties: Why Don't We Do It in the Road

The Beatles: Why Don't We Do It in the Road

The Beatles: I Will

[purchase]

These two songs could not be more different melodically as well as emotionally - however, they are tracks 15 and 16, respectively, on Disc 1 of The White Album... and are both less than two minutes long...

Another pivotal album for me - my high school boyfriend used to sing Rocky Raccoon, still one of my favorite songs (and now my dog's name... :-)

Shorties: All Mod Cons

[Image removed by request from the creator]

The Jam: All Mod Cons

[purchase]

All Mod Cons (short for All Modern Conveniences) is the title track to what is certainly one of my 20 favorite records of all time. In this short 1:20 song, Paul Weller rails against those in the music industry who glom onto every hot band, but abandon them just as quickly if the money stops coming in.

Seen you before, I know your sort, You think the world awaits your every breath. You'll be my friend, or so you say, You'll help me out when the time comes.

And all the time were getting rich, You hang around to help me out. But when were skint, oh God forbid! You drop us like hot bricks

Artistic freedom. do what you want. But just make sure that the money ain't gone. I'll tell you what, I got you sussed, You'll waste my time, when my time comes.

Shorties: Come On

Chuck Berry: Come On [purchase]

Chuck Berry, sublime guitarist and avowed master of the short rock song, had no patience for mis-dialers.



(Miscellany: The female vocal part is by Chuck's sister Martha. The static you hear is on the master tape.)

Shorties: After the Operation

Eels: After the Operation

[purchase]

After the operation
I didn't have a care
I'd spend whole afternoons
Just layin' there
While I stared
At things in the room
That made me think

I love the way Mark Everett's hushed bedroom performance and vague lyrics evoke the dreamlike haze of post-operation lethargy. And how the song fades into first lyrical and then sonic nothingness just before the two minute mark, aptly reflecting the timelessness of a long recovery.

Shorties: Tea for the Tillerman

Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman

[purchase

Okay... I can just hear all of you now - "this week's theme has the Folkie Woman stumped", you are thinking...

I am here to say that not all folk tunes are droning, whining, navel-gazing, train- or mining-disaster-related... and not everything in the genre clocks in at 4+ minutes long - we do have some short, sweet and simple songs to offer up..

Exhibit A - aaahhh...

Tea for the Tillerman came out in 1970 when I was a sophomore in high school - to say it was captivating is an understatement. Such a pain to have to turn that pesky album over to hear Side 2 - hooray for CDs...

When I met my soon-to-be husband in college, the first thing I thought was that he looked like Cat Stevens - Tillerman was a huge part of our life together then as well...

In fact, the whole family was listening to it on our way to vacation on St. George Island this summer... and I was excitedly describing to our kids its far-reaching impact... such that I missed the turn and we went an hour out of our way - Cat Stevens still has the power...

I don't know what this shortie *means*... other than the piano and the chorus and the switch in tempo make me feel good - happy day!

Bonus song from the same album, also less than 2 minutes...

Cat Stevens: But I Might Die Tonight

Shorties: Tony's Theme

Pixies: Tony's Theme [purchase]

This is a song about a super hero named Tony. It's called Tony's Theme.

Shorties: Mariposa

Prescott Curlywolf - Mariposa [purchase]

"Don't you cry, Mariposa
Flutter by, butterfly
You will live for awhile, then you'll die."

I loved Prescott Curlywolf for many reasons, not the least of which was their ability to pack 3-4 minutes worth of song in less than 2 minutes. If 1:27 was all a song needed, then that's all it got. "Mariposa" was just such a song.

It barely missed the cut in my Prescott piece from last November. Written and sung by bassist, Tim Kinard, the lyrics wonderfully capture that moment when public drunkenness turns from comedy to tragedy. It sounds like something The Pixies might've done circa Surfer Rosa, Kinard's fractured fairy tale offset by Rob Bernard's Frank Black-esque punk squall in the left channel and Ron Byrd's laid back, Joey Santiago-esque accents in the right. Funny, touching, ironic, subtly sophisticated, and fist-pumpingly anthemic in less than 90 seconds.

PS - It's Prescott Curlywolf Day at Adios Lounge HQ, where another classic shortie is being celebrated.

Shorties: Old Sad Songs

Lucero - Old Sad Songs

[purchase]

Short songs deserve few words. This is from Lucero's 2002 album, Tennessee and I quote it all the time as I'm leaving my wife to go to a show.

Shorties: Freight Train Blues

Jack Guthrie: Freight Train Blues

[purchase]

Last week, I wrote about how my father’s child memories led me to discover western swing for myself. And last week, we learned in the comments that some people love pictures of trains. So this is a two-for-one special.

Growing up, I remember my father singing Freight Train Blues all over the house at odd moments. I don’t know if this is the version my father remembered, but Jack Guthrie sings it the same way my father did. So what made such an impression on my father, that he could still sing the song forty years later? I think it may have been the first time he ever heard yodeling.

Jack Guthrie was a cousin of Woody, and Jack was the more popular of the two during the short span of his career. Jack Guthrie and his family migrated from Oklahoma to California in the Dust Bowl years, and there he began to perform in public. Jack had his first success performing songs inspired by his memories of Oklahoma for transplanted Oklahomans. It is likely that this music found its way onto the radio in Oklahoma, where my father would have heard it.

Jack Guthrie’s career only lasted from 1944-48. He performed and recorded almost until his dieing day; this kept him from seeking treatment for his tuberculosis until it was too late.

Shorties: Story In a Nutshell

Bettie Serveert: Story In a Nutshell

[Purchase]

A little over ten years ago this song was one of my go-to songs. This was a time when I made mix tapes for myself and for friends and liked to cram as much on there as possible, and we all know that "shorties" are the mix tape makers friend. They conveniently fill that space at the end of a side where there's not enough room for a regular length song. It allowed you to skip the hassle of fast-forwarding to have the tape switch sides, which was especially nice when making mixes for the car so I didn't have to fiddle with the stereo while driving. After making enough mixes you were able to tell just by the width of wound tape left about how much time you had left, and clocking in barely over a minute long, this song almost always fit and made a welcome addition. I never felt like I was scraping the bottom of the barrel to find something that fit.

What better title for a brief but power-packed fun rock song than something involving a nutshell. Concise. Short but sweet. This song appeared on the Dutch rock band, Bettie Serveert's, 1997 album "Dust Bunnies". It compacts the full pop/rock style and the fun of a little love song into a song that lasts barely over a minute in length. Impressive, if you ask me. So, thank you, Bettie Serveert, for making a fun pop song that kept me safe on the roads!

Shorties: The Ramones

The Ramones: Do You Wanna Dance

The Ramones: Teenage Lobotomy

The Ramones: Cretin Hop

[purchase]


The Ramones might have been a Punk band, but underneath, they secretly were masters of the two minute Pop song. Here's a few examples from their 1977 masterpiece, Rocket To Russia - if you find yourself headbanging along, it's okay, just mind the walls.

Shorties: Lullaby

Emitt Rhodes: Lullaby

[purchase]

I love this theme. There are so many great shorties out there, and all of them have a special appeal to me. I like short songs because they are usually made up of essential stuff and only essential stuff. My first thought was, "Would it count to post the entire second side of Abbey Road?" [Most of it, anyway].

Speaking of Abbey Road, right about the same time as The Beatles were winding down, Emitt Rhodes recorded his mostly piano-based self-titled album at his house on a 4-track recorder. It was released in 1970 to some minor acclaim, but not enough. This is a very nice album with lyrical and melodic gems strewn throughout. There's only one shorty on the album and it is a guitar tune.

Short and sweet. It gets to the point. Sings you a lullaby. Then it's over. It leaves you wanting more.

Shorties: Mah Nà Mah Nà

Piero Umiliani: Mah Nà Mah Nà

[purchase for $125 dollars]

The American cultural origin of this familiar tune is definitive. The vivid imagery of the Muppets frames the song as a story, played out between the earnest chorus voices and the smarmy, interrupting lead. It's hard to shake the association, and harder still not to see the song as innocently playful as a result.

But Italian film composer Piero Umiliani originally wrote the song for a sauna scene in a mock-documentary about wild sexual behavior in Sweden. How does this challenge our sense of the song's playful innocence? Our image of Jim Henson himself? Discuss.



Bonus trivia points: singer and surf guitarist Alessandro Alessandroni, whose nasal voice can be heard on the original track above, also did the whistling for the soundtrack to The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

Shorties: Koka Kola

The Clash: Koka Kola [purchase]

It's the pause that refreshes in the corridors of power!

There's a lot going on here in 1:48. We're in an elevator at an advertising agency. There are snake skin suits and alligator boots. A snub nose .44 comes through the door. Someone leaps from from a window.

Musically, there are verses, choruses, and even a bridge.

Just goes to show that if you keep the tempo moving, a couple of minutes gets the job done.

Good line: "Coke adds life where there isn't any."