Songs Of The Week, 2020: 1/18-1/24

Two Winters Long- Irma Thomas
Someone Else's Heart- Elvis Costello & the Roots
What's A Matter Baby- Timi Yuro
Candy's Room- Bruce Springsteen
Flames- Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera
I Haven't Got The Nerve- The Left Banke
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress- Linda Ronstadt

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Two Winters Long- Irma Thomas
I'm starting to get New Orleans fever. The lineup for the 2020 Jazz & Hertiage Festival was unveiled and as a bonus, one of my favorite drummers John Vidacovich posted a photo on Instagram of a studio set up where a new Irma Thomas record is being created. Oh happy day! Had to listen to Miss Irma to celebrate both events.

Someone Else's Heart- Elvis Costello & The Roots
So apparently there is a 20 track tribute to Squeeze that has been finished for some time now. YepRoc has been releasing singles for Record Store Day as a teaser. So far there we've heard Difford & Tilbrook themselves covering "Take Me I'm Yours" with The Roots. Erykah Badu covering "Tempted." Todd Rundgren covering "Bang Bang." And this, Elvis & the Roots covering a song originally produced by E.C., "Someone Else's Heart." Still no word on the release of the full length.

What's A Matter Baby- Timi Yuro
My bud and band mate Sal Maida played this classic on his Spin Cycle radio show last week. It reminded me of just how good it is.  Timi Yuro, "The Little Girl With The Big Voice!" Ellen Foley does a killer version of it, as well.

Candy's Room- Bruce Springsteen
Always a good time to hear "Candy's Room."

Flames- Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera
Here's All Music: "Although labeled a psychedelic band in their day, the Opera never sat comfortably in that strawberry field, partially because of the diversity of their sound, but also due to the simple fact they were just too far ahead of their time even for the psyched-out crowd. Their myriad musical meanderings took them down wayward byways that later became stylistic highways -- at least in their native U.K.. So it's no surprise then, that this band would have slotted perfectly into the Britpop scene, or going back further in time, into the R&B-drenched mod scene."

Here's Me: Their rhythm section ended up in Strawbs, while this single sounds a little bit and nothing like all mentioned. This is a great lost record. Vinyl fetches a few bills. I highly recommend YouTubing or Spotifying the whole shebang. It's quite a ride!

I Haven't Got The Nerve- The Left Banke
Lead singer Steve Martin Caro passed away last week, so of course I had to listen to The Left Banke, which really wasn't so much of an effort since the "Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina" album is one of my 20...maybe even 10 faves of all time.

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress- Linda Ronstadt
The Linda documentary is still fresh in my mind and I have been going back to many of her records over the last few weeks. This is from "Get Closer," an uneven record with a stellar Side One.  I think Linda delivers a defining version of this Jimmy Webb track.