Sunday, August 26, 2018

Songs Of The Week, 2018: 8/18-8/24



Let My Love Open The Door- Third Of Never
Oklahoma U.S.A.- The Kinks
Hasten Down The Wind- Warren Zevon
Be With Me- The Beach Boys
Body & Soul- Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse
I'm Not Ashamed- Bobby "Blue" Bland
Sunlight- The Youngbloods

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Let My Love Open The Door- Third Of Never
I don't know who Third Of Never is, but this Townshend cover kicks ass. The vocalist has a Pete quality to his voice and the drummer is doing his best Keith, making this sound more like a Who track than Pete's version.

Oklahoma U.S.A.- The Kinks
One of my ten favorite Ray tunes, which he re-recorded for "Americana 2." Still haven't listened. I'm afraid. I listened to the original instead.

Hasten Down The Wind- Warren Zevon
I'm almost halfway through Crystal Zevon's book. I know, separate the art from the artist, but man. What a troubled bastard Mr. Zevon was. Yet so much brilliant music. I pulled out the self-titled record while reading and of course, this one stood out.

Be With Me- The Beach Boys
Our pal Steve Simels mentioned a true stereo version of the Beach Boys "Today" last week. I think he called it a "thing of beauty." I will second that emotion. Mark Linnett took care of the mastering, as he did on many of the Beach Boys reissues. I've been getting them one or two at a time, and they are all breathtaking. This Dennis Wilson track from "20/20" really floored me with new and improved sound.

Body & Soul- Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse
And speaking of things of beauty, the late and absolutely wonderful Amy Winehouse delivers big time with one of the biggest. There was an article about Amy in either Mojo or Uncut and it reminded me of this amazing duet.

I'm Not Ashamed- Bobby "Blue" Bland
One of my favorite albums of all time and one of Elvis Costello's, too. From the essential "Two Steps From The Blues" record, "I'm Not Ashamed." This was a timely and even a bit scary iPod pop-up. Damn algorithms.

Sunlight- The Youngbloods
Making some space on my DVR and noticed "A Walk On The Moon" had been up there for over two years. I loved this film and this Youngbloods tracks figures big on the soundtrack.





7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to listening. Still have to catch up on the last two weeks' worth, but will get there after completing the move back home...
C in California

JAYESSEMM said...

I love that first Warren Zevon album and Hasten Down The Wind is just about perfect.

Never sure what to make of the attention Excitable Boy received because of Werrwolves Of London. People unfairly treated him as a novelty act. Sorta lLike people only knowing The Fountains Of Wayne through Stacy's Mom (Though I must say I like both songs).

Who said life was fair?

Thanks Sal

A walk in the woods said...

Thanks!

Anything Should Happen said...

The Austerity album was released last year. It's really good. As you say very much The Who, but at times, it tips over into the likes Of Cheap Trick.

Anonymous said...

The Third of Never track is a good cover of a song I've always liked. I'd never heard of them either, and neither Allmusic nor Rate Your Music have a whole lot of info. I'm going to see what else I can find. Thanks for posting!

Marc

Bill said...

Always happy seeing some Zevon in any mix. Like you Sal, despite being huge Zevon fan, I just started reading Crystal Zevon's oral biography. Really fascinating stuff, although quite harrowing.

Michael Giltz said...

Even my young gay self could see how Diane Lane was an appealing gal in "A Little Romance." (Sure she was 14 at the time, but I was 13 so it was ok -- an older woman!) 20 years later she was still drop-dead amazing and talented in "A Walk On The Moon." Twenty years after that in 2019? She'll still be wonderfully out of my league. No musical comment, just an acting one. (And if you've never seen "A Little Romance" it's a charmer.)