As per usual, I listened to a ton of music this weekend. The difference though, between this weekend and most, is that I had a difficult time focusing. I was feeling a little out of it, a bit lethargic, lazy, distracted and well, crappy.
One of the things I listened to gave me an idea for a post...except I don't remember what it was. I do remember the idea...I think. I was listening to someone famous, with a wealth of material, many hits, etc.. Could have been a band or a solo act. A song came on and I thought, "Man. This is great. I bet no one has ever heard this before, except maybe the diehards." For the life of me, I don't recall what it was.
But...let's run with this anyway.
Pick one...ONE PLEASE...song by an established singer or band that you absolutely love but you feel is completely under the radar.
I know I could just pick one myself, but I won't rest until I remember exactly what it was that triggered this.
Maybe your suggestions will jog my memory.
43 comments:
"The Price You Pay" from The River gets me every time. It's hard to say any of Bruce's songs are under the radar, but I think this one comes close.
Hello all...no, please remain seated,
Fun topic, Sal. First reaction to your question? Matamoros Banks by Bruce Springsteen, off the Devils & Dust album. That album doesn't seem to get a lot of love, but I thoroughly enjoy it.
Matamoros tells the story of (presumably) an illegal immigrant murdered on his way into the US. The story timeline in the verses is told in reverse order - a nice Quentin Tarantino touch. The lyrics are great, it's got a nice melody, and I'm pretty sure he plays the song on his acoustic guitar in dropped D tuning. Gives a nice low end to his simple playing.
Always kind of surprised it wasn't a bigger song for Bruce. Could be because of the vocals, which are maddeningly mumbled on many songs throughout the album.
regards,
RichD
"Through the Lonely Nights". One of my favorite Rolling Stones songs.
Hands down it's "Idol" by Elton John. I would say "Fade Away" by Todd but he's not as well know by the general public.
Sal,
Well done. I'm intrigued and have to think more.
I'm not sure it fits perfectly but when I play for friends Harry Niilson and John Lennon's Save The Last Dance For Me they always go "this is great!" "who is this?" "why don't I know this song?" ...
Sal,
Black Muddy River by the Dead. So many folks never get past Workingman's Dead and American Beauty they miss out on some really fine Garia/Hunter songs. This is a great example of that sound.
Chris
So far all terrific choices and personal faves, especially Black Muddy Water which is my very fave GD song. Heartbreakingly beautiful.
Hello all…no, please remain seated,
I know you said “only one”, but I’m going to interpret that direction (self-servingly) as one suggestion per post. Hope this one isn’t more obscure than you intended with your original challenge, Sal.
Do you guys still listen to Cowboy Junkies? If not – if you’re not one of the die hards - bear with me for a minute. The Junkies have always been one of my all-time favorite cover bands. If you’ve ever seen/heard them do Neil Young’s “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”, you know what I mean.
Well, they released an album in 2011 called “Demons”, containing 11 gorgeous-but-tragic songs by the late Vic Chesnutt. The track that kills me – Kills Me! - is “Square Room”. Five minutes of angst, heart break and sorrow done at an even slower tempo than most Junkie songs. It’ll break your heart, so you better not listen to it at work.
When I saw the CBJ’s last year in Tarrytown NY, they played this and totally blew my mind. I know that the Cowboy Junkies have never been an outfit with a huge audience, but this song deserves a wider audience. Hell, I couldn’t even find a YouTube link for the song. Ok…off my soapbox…
Oh and...nice call on Price You Pay. Also, I will now have to put aside my aversion to most GD songs and download Black Muddy River
Regards,
RichD
(slow day at work)
Already Over Me -or- the entire Bridges to Babylon album.
You wouldn't think of the Beatles as having any music that flies under the radar, but I've always thought that "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" was one of their songs that would qualify.
"Like Lovers Do" from Love Story by Lloyd Cole. Though there are at least 5 different songs on that album which have had their turn as my favorite.
This is an area I explore frequently. I apologize for overstepping my bounds.
Are The Cowsills eligible? If so here's an amazing song from Bill Cowsills hopelessly out of print 1971 solo album "Nervous Breakthrough"
"The Same About You"
http://alanwalkerart.com/audio/the_same_about_you.mp3
And here's Moby Grapes "Going Down To Texas" from "20 Granite Creek"
http://alanwalkerart.com/audio/goin_down_to_texas.mp3
And then there's all the pre-VU Lou Reed material recorded for Pickwick such as "You're Driving Me Insane"
http://alanwalkerart.com/audio/youre_driving_me_insane.mp3
P Gabriel's Genesis "Happy The Man" (1972 b-side)
http://alanwalkerart.com/audio/happy_the_man.mp3
The Sex Pistols "Did You No Wrong"
http://alanwalkerart.com/audio/did_you_no_wrong.mp3
And speaking of tThe Sex Pistols, there's this version of "Roadrunner" by Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
http://alanwalkerart.com/audio/roadrunner_twice.mp3
I could go on, but I've already overstayed my welcome.
"When I Turn Out the Living Room Light" by The Kinks. One of those Great Lost Kinks album tracks that I read about for years, but didn't hear until the dawn of Napster made all things possible. Actually, most of the songs that made up that album before it was deleted after being released briefly.
"No Anchovies Please" from the J. Geils Band "Love Stinks" album.
(I'm being silly)
"Tell Me" by Bob Dylan. This is a terrific song ... hard to believe it wasn't considered worthy of release at the time (1983, not one of Bob's stellar periods). Can be found on the first (?) Bootleg box set.
Niiiiiiice idea. Way too many I could suggest. So I’m going with the first one that popped into my head.
Alone In A Room by Marshall Crenshaw. What a damn song!!
His later LPs, much like his earlier LPs to some extent, haven’t gotten much press, but many that is one great latter-day ballad.
Try it, you’ll like it.
Speaking of Bob... Señor from Street Legal did not catch my ear back in 1978. It only was when hearing Garcia's cover did i go back and listen to the original
and enjoy the gypsy flavor thats a leftover from Desire
The first song that popped into my head when I read your post was "My Baby Gives It Away" by Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane. I listened to Rough Mix on a long drive this weekend, and just about every song on that album is perfect. A great song to kick off a long drive on a sunny Friday.
Bill
"The Inner Light," Beatles. Can't believe "Blue Jay Way," "Piggies," "Within You, Without You" made it on albums and this didn't.
Also, for the Dead, "Althea" from Go to Heaven.
Bruce H.
Power Failure by Procoll Harum
yeah maybe the die hard Procoll fans know it but the rest of the the rock and roll universe is missing out on one of the great drummers and drum solos of all time not to mention cowbell excellsioriois all contained in one hell of a song
No More Looking Back- THe Kinks
hounch
Picking Up The Pieces - Difford and Tilbrook
Tits by Sparks
The Land Torments The Sea- Neil and Tim Finn
An outtake/ b-side from their ridiculously ignored Everyone Is Here
Don't Think About Her When You're Trying To Drive- Little Village ( as told to John Hiatt fans)
"Dance Along the Edge," hell, ANYthing by this band, Concrete Blonde.
Holy Smokes, I forgot David and David...anything, really, but "Rock For the Forgotten" always gets me.
I can think of a few off the top of head/ipod most played category:
"Human": Pretenders
"Marlene:" Todd Rundgren
"The Lucky One:" Freedy Johnston
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood:" Robben Ford & the Blue Line
"Call It a Loan" Jackson Browne with Dave Lindley (Shawn Colvin recently covered it for the Browne tribute record)
"Two Different Views:" The Fixx
"Back Of My Mind": John Hiatt
"Oh, to be Back with You": Steve Forbert
"You Can Be Sure": Peter Frampton
Not all classics, to be sure, but ones that make me stop and listen all the way through.
Michael D.
Huh, my post never came through?
I had originally suggested "I'll Be Back" by the Beatles (what seems like a throwaway song at the end of AHDN, but is quite complex musically).
But I went with "The Knife Feels Like Justice" by Brian Setzer as it seemed to meet your criteria better.
The Moody Blues - "It's Up to You"
Rush - "Losing It"
The Hollies - "Don't Let Me Down"
The Who - "The Punk and the Godfather"
yeah, my post never made it either - sunspots or editorial, who is to say?!?
"It Never Rains" by Dire Straits
"The Idler, the Prophet, and a Girl Called Rain" by Michael McDermott
"See the Same Way" by Bruce Hornsby
"Dirge" by Bob Dylan has always been a long time favorite.
Great topic.
Thanks,
Stevie B.
Too many choices for a music collector, so I'll stick with an artist very popular on your site: Springsteen's "Shut Out The Light", a B-side from BITUSA. Heard it when it was released, on a San Fran station that played deep cuts, and to this day there isn't a BS song that comes close to it, tho I really really love "Candy's Room", "Ghost Of Tom Joad", and "I'm On Fire" (obviously a fan of BS's darker stuff).
Gene Oberto! -- I made a cassette in the 80s called L.A. Noir and one side featured Concrete Blonde's debut, the other side David & David's debut! Classics.
C in California
I'm thinking about the catalog of John Prine—to my mind maybe the most underrated songwriter out there. I guess you could say nearly everything he's ever done, except a few things like "Angel From Montgomery" and "Sam Stone" are under the radar.
So it's very hard to narrow it down...but I came up with "Unlonely," a terrific song about love found and "All The Best" a bittersweet masterpiece about love lost.
"Good to Me" by Otis Redding. Under the radar even to most Otis fans.
Allan R.
T Bone Burnett - The Sixties
Procul Harem - She Wandered Thru The Garden Fence
Otis - Old Man Trouble
Kinks - Sitting In My Hotel
Dylan - Hazel
Stones - Take It Or Leave It
I guess your Weekend Mix has been made for you.
Try this one if you can find it:
1935's "I Can't Tame Wild Women" by Bill Boyd & His Cowboy Ramblers with the immortal line, "I can't make a wild woman tame but I can tame a wild woman."
Yikes! I really butchered that line. Glad I'm not the singer in the band. Let's try it again:
1935's "I Can't Tame Wild Women" by Bill Boyd & His Cowboy Ramblers with the immortal line, "I can't tame a wild woman but I can make a tame woman wild."
That's better. Makes more sense now.
"In the Middle of it All" Arthur Alexander...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN0x180tG0w&feature=kp
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