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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Play List


Dear John,

Following up on a suggestion you made Friday, here is a list of personal favorites that are pretty much in my vocal range. 

The refrains to "Baby Blue" and "No Matter What" -- along with the high bits of "Maggie May" (at least in the keys I prefer to use) -- are in doubt, but with all of them I think I can "make it" or "fake it."

I don't know what makes me think I can render "Sympathy For The Devil" but I've always "felt" "Sympathy" from the inside out and, oddly, it suits my voice.

Below I have hyperlinked 23 songs.

Before the curtain falls, I'd really like to sing The Top 10 with the band. 

At 68 -- and with my voice fading -- I feel a certain urgency around this.

I must confess in advance that "I'm In A Hurry" and "Maggie May" are guilty pleasures, songs I love to sing but songs that most people find "not quite right" perhaps because their "hooks" (and/or lyrics) seem commercially driven rather than full-throtle, unstrategized inspiration.

One afternoon last fall, Chuck "picked up on" my evident enthusiasm for Maggie May and was kind enough to work out the chords even though he has zero interest in Rod Stewart. 

For me, Maggie May epitomizes the high spirits and depressive lows of the years I kicked around Central and South America. 

I know I can do a good job on my #1 choice, "Call It Democracy" - another song permanently planted in my belly.

1.) "Call It Democracy" - Great live rendition with superimposed lyrics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fr6khzOskI
      "Call It Democracy" - Studio version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfcfdt0jcWs&index=20&list=RDmN2uMVYwmqc




5.) "Sympathy For The Devil" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkXIYgsvO0c


7.) "The Bells of Rhymney" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGFb_xZR3K0 For some unfathomable reason, this song always brings tears to my eyes.


9.) "Sahajiya" is performed here by friend Tommy Graham. The song was written by Tommy's friend, Brent Titcomb. Chuck plays BRILLIANT piano on this piece. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/01/sahajiya-tommy-graham-and-amazing.html 

10.) "La Bamba" http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/03/la-bamba-richie-valens-and-los-lobos.html  Los Lobos' version is my favorite of the three.

11.) "No Matter What" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwbTHl6C56U  

12) "No Expectations" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rIqBeMZAMc  This song is not a personal favorite but the fact that it fits my voice -- along with being a really song -- "makes the cut."


15.) "For What It's Worth" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5JCrSXkJY

16.) "Amie" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4xp2lgiAjY  Friend Cliff Steppe, a.k.a. T.P. Waterhouse, was "in on" the composition of Amie's B-side. 

17.) "It's A Good Feeling To Know" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPMadlXtfE0 If you don't know Poco -- and lots of people don't -- "Good Feeling" is a masterpiece of feel-good rock-and-roll.

18.) "You Were On My Mind" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29uNvGHsRlc (The production value of this video may mislead you into thinking "On My Mind" is bubble gum. Maybe so. One way or another, I love this song. Wikipedia Excerpt: "You Were on My Mind is the first studio album by the folk band We Five which was released in 1965. The title track hit #1 on the adult contemporary chart and #3 on The Billboard Hot 100.[2] The album landed on the Billboard 200, reaching #32.[3] The single also marked a musical transition because the single was one of the first to feature drums, and the electric guitar to a folk composition.[4]"


The next three songs are Bruce Cockburn ballads. You are probably unfamiliar with them but I encourage you to give a listen. I consider Cockburn the most gifted guitarist-song-writer currently making music. Whether or not you agree with this glowing assessment, I know it is easy for me to "quit on songs" before hearing them 3 or 4 times and since this is a common affliction, please "hang in there." I'm quite sure I can pull off the first two of these ballads - less sure about "Southland."



22.) "The Southland Of The Heart" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCPfi_oBA7E

The final song is another Badfinger tune which I sang a lot as a young man. I'm still tremendously fond of "Day After Day" but listening to it now I'm not sure it's a "crowd pleaser."


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