Song of the Day

Song of the Day (118): Detroit City – Bobby Bare

The war (WWII) has ended and you’re sick and tired of the cotton fields in Mississippi. You’ve heard the tales of a better life up north; you’ve seen the pictures. SO many are leaving. You join them, following the river and rails north, past Memphis, past St. Louis, past Chicago and you settle in Detroit. […]

Song of the Day (117): Busted – Ray Charles

Written by Harlan Howard, this song first hit the airwaves as a country song sung by Johnny Cash. Ray Charles reimaged it as a blues number and gives a convincing telling of how it feels to be broke and everything goes against you. #Songoftheday #spreadinghappiness #raycharles #busted YouTube: https://youtu.be/L2YOqZBSE6w?si=gQV0qdvCY2sSLgA5 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3KtLLTfMX9DrrahuU6hLfp?si=31934276c7904caf

Song of the Day (116): Space Oddity – David Bowie

Inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bowie released this song in 1969 shortly before the Apollo 11 moon landing, a gift to an audience hungry for anything to do with space travel even if this has a somewhat desolate ending. In high school, we had juke box in the senior end of the cafeteria. I […]

Song of the Day (115): Dad’s Yard – Catie Curtis

Here’s a sweet song of a daughter turning back to her dad and all that junk he kept that she now sees as tangible memories and parts of his life. She passes the test of imagination as she does not generalize but she names the objects: the old chair, the cracked snowshoes. And when “you’re […]

Song of the Day (114): Birdland – Weather Report

“Birdland” became Weather Report’s biggest hit and probably the biggest jazz fusion hit. Released in 1978, it came out at a time when FM radio stations would still play an eclectic mix so you could hear new wave, punk, americana, jazz fusion, country all on the same station. Too often now, we retreat to our […]

Song of the Day (113): Be-Bop-A-Lula – Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps

When we had our first son, I realized that I did not know any nursery rhymes or children’s songs, so I sang what I could. Be-Bop-A-Lula was part of my playlist. Galway Kinnell knew about it: I used to come to you and sit by you and sing to you. You did not know, and […]

Song of the Day (112): Hardley Getting Over It – Hüsker Dü

Another group more influential than famous, this trio from St. Paul, Minnesota began as a hard core punk band with a touch of thrash metal then add more melody nuance as they matured (and perhaps learned to play their instruments). Hüsker Dü broke apart by 1989 without ever hitting the charts, but they had an […]

Song of the Day (111): Guitar Town – Steve Earle

Early Steve Earle, full of youthful enthusiasm, ready to burst out on the world. #Songoftheday #spreadinghappiness #steveearle #guitartown #americana YouTube: https://youtu.be/AINUPFbFpqg?si=j2dJbFNNF-5MqZH2 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/62ZRHYSOIT9WeZnz18kTHS?si=19eb57ef0f4a4039

Song of the Day (110): John the Revelator – Blind Willie Johnson

Gospel music and the blues, the sacred and the profane, often ride parallel tracks. In1930, Blind Willie Johnson smashed them together and we get “John the Revelator,” growling with this urgency of the blues, driving with the conviction of his devotion to God. IT is a performance of this earth, yet sounds other worldly. This […]