Song of the Day

Song of the Day (46): Patches – Clarence Carter

Is there a sadder song? Yes, it teeters on wallowing in a swamp of self-pitying sentimentality, but Clarence Carter saves it. As I was just beginning to listen to music, I heard this song and it changed what a song could do. It could make me cry. It could give me hope. And it helped […]

Song of the Day (45): Lawyers, Guns and Money – Warren Zevon

Is there any better opening verse to grab you by the lapels and say, “Listen up, buddy”? Well, I went home with the waitress You know the way I always do Well how was I to know She was with the Russians, too It is so much fun and foreshadows some of the recklessness of […]

Song of the Day (44): Let’s Work Together – Canned Heat

Written and originally recorded by Wilbert Harrison in 1962, the song did not garner much notice. Harrison reworked the song and released it again in 1968 with more success. Canned Heat recorded their version in Denver 1969 and released it on their album Future Blues in August 1970. It became their biggest hit. Bob Hite […]

Song of the Day (43): Twenty-Five – Lake Street Dive

What a wistful song, thinking of young love that could not last. The singer looks back not with regret, but appreciation for a love that could not last, but she can still taste. Akie Bermiss’s piano chords, Rachel Price’s delicate singing can break your heart. YouTube: https://youtu.be/C7iUGVKWspw?si=CvyraCC3jLJTjUR4 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7n6y0IMFF4kiMQuacMPR7m?si=8eb5f69d5b3647c0

Song of the Day (42): Six Days on the Road – Dave Dudley

Dave Dudley may have created the truck driver song with this song. The lyrics capture that highway spirit, his baritone makes for the perfect truck driver and the drumming gives it the feel of the road. Dudley released this song in May 1963 and it reached number two on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts. […]

Song of the Day (41): Funky Ceili (Bridie’s Song) – Black 47

First heard Black 47 on sweaty nights at Paddy Reilly’s in Manhattan raising pints of Guinness as they ripped through sounds that sounded familiar yet brand new. Ands who could resist their energy? Lead singer and songwriter Larry Kirwan captures the contemporary Irish immigrant experience railing against stereotypes and pigeonholes. They defy classification with […]

Song of the Day (40): Coyote – Joni Mitchell

Inspired by a brief affair with Sam Shepard during Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review, this song swirls and dips between desire and reality, flirting the whole time. The singer knows it will never work, yet can’t resist: And the next thing i know That coyote’s at my door He pins me in a corner and he […]

Song of the Day (39): Little Red Rooster – Howlin’ Wolf

Willie Dixon wrote it and Howlin’ Wolf recorded it in June 1961. While the song never charted, it has become a Chicago blues standard. The Rolling Stones recorded it early in their career and made it a radio hit. Others taking a shot with the song include Tom Petty, the Grateful Dead, Sam Cooke, Big […]

Song of the Day (38): Into the Mystic – Van Morrison

Spring had blossomed in full in Worcester, Massachusetts by May 1980, people wearing shorts and frolicking about, the winter done, classes and exams all but over, graduation and summer on the horizon. I sat in our apartment at a wooden desk we had stolen from school banging the keys on my typewriter as I reworked […]