Friday Fives - iPod edition

Hey all,

This is a cross post from my other site.  This is a game I play called the iPod game.  I put my phone in song mode and hit shuffle.  Then, i will tell you the story of my relationship with the song that comes up - no matter what it is.  For full disclosure, it's a 16 gig phone.  My last iPod was 120 gig, so that had about 8,000 albums.  This has maybe 30.

Ready?  Let's go

Grateful Dead - Loser
Springfield, MA 5.11.78

This song has grown on me over the years.  I used to find it a sleeper, but it has totally gotten better to me for some reason. I have a LOT of Grateful Dead. It could be half my collection on here is Dead stuff.  I am very much a 'deadhead'.  I got to do the whole thing - follow the band on tour.  It was amazing.

I can't speak too much to this version.  It just came up, and I don't have time to listen to the whole thing now.  I can't say much about 1978 for the Dead, except that the year before was EPIC.  There are two eras of Dead live music that have become legend - '77 and '91.  I was lucky enough to see most of my shows during the latter era

Hayseed Dixie - keepin' your poop

Have you heard of these guys?  Here are some links.  They are awesome.  This is a group of self confessed hillbillies who play amazing bluegrass - with a catch.  The music they play is entirely heavy metal covers.  This song, though, is an original.



Billy Joel - Uptown Girl

I have been on a Billy Joel kick a lot in the last month.  He is fantastic!  Such a great songwriter.  Now, this song above... it's a throw away.  I don't even listen to it.  It was packaged on a greatest hits disc.  This was, of course, his awesome ode to Christy Brinkley.  They were married for a bit, but not too long.  Both of them have about 6 marriages each.  Basically, this song could be called Brinkley!"   She is still crazy hot, and crazy relavant.  I googled her name.  Once I typed in 'Christie' google auto completed her last name.  In fact, they are both doing really well.  Here is a very recent pic of Christie.  She is likely about 60, but still wicked hot.  and Billy?  He is doing great again.  Check out this  performance of 'you may be right' recorded just two weeks ago (new years eve 2013/2014).  Dude just kills it!  This song is special to me because my band plays it.

Sorry, I really wanted to embed that video right here, but that ability is disabled.  Interesting, huh?

Also, above in the title I would normally link the song.  However, this song is way better, and from the same era.  Dig it!

Tom Waits - Tango till their sore
Rain Dogs

Tom Waits is great.  Amazing.  He is like the sad drunk version of Billy Joel.  Luckily, I got to see him live, too.  This album is amazing, and contains the song 'downtown train'.  Rod Stewart had a HUGE hit with this Waits original.  Hootie, Springsteen and the Eagles both had big hits with Tom Waits material.  To many, I think he is like Bob Dylan.  They think "well, he's a great song writer but he sure can't sing".  I firmly disagree.  See, you are only thinking of this Tom Waits (which is awesome) - but don't forget this Tom Waits is there, too.

Waits is also an actor, and amazing guest on talk shows.  Mostly, though, he is a recluse.  He never really toured, records very sporadically.  He is quite strange, but in a joyful way.

Bob Dylan - Hard times in New York Town
Witmark Demos

This is classic very very early Dylan.  Maybe his first original ever.  I love it, but you won't.  These Witmark demos are for hardcore collectors.  it is all the demos he recorded simply for copyright purposes.  So, they are not fully fleshed our or even recorded well.  They are more like a sketchbook.  For someone who LOVES Dylan (like myself) it is a great collection.  However, I would never start someone on Dylan with a collection like this.

These were never meant to see the light of day.  This was simply archive material for the record company legal department to prove Bob wrote these songs.  It is common practice.  Bob knew some of these songs might not be released for 5 or 10 years, but he wants to make sure they are logged as his.  It's ironic, kinda, since Bob was known as bit of a copyright thief.  Seriously, big time.  He took well known songs and changed a few words.  Then, copyrighted them as his own.  When questioned about this dubious behavior, a reporter asked "are they your songs", Dylan's response was "well, they are now". 

By the way, like Tom Waits above in being a great talk show guest, Dylan was amazing with press conference some.  Google them, they are for the ages.  you get gems like this about being a celebrity and what a drag it was for him "well, I am only Bob Dylan when I have to be.  The rest of the time, I am just me."  That is good writing.  That is why he was the voice of a generation.  It's such a simple and thoughtful expression - but says so much.