#11 The Summer Wind -- Frank Sinatra (1966)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug8cBIbxDaY

Sinatra has to be my favorite male singer of all time. (My favorite female singer would be Eva Cassidy.) This is such a great summer song, I really regretted leaving it out of the top 10, and almost wound up doing a last-minute switch. Having said that, it was a close call selecting this as my favorite Sinatra song over some other worthy contenders.

I was surprised and delighted that this song came in at #133 on WXPN’s recent countdown of the “885 All Time Greatest Songs” – the highest entry of 3 Sinatra songs to make the list.

#12 Red Streamliner -- Little Feat (1977)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMDYo4N5aNY

 

Little Feat almost certainly has to be the best rock-era act that not only never hit the top 40, but never even had a song in the Hot 100. To be fair, back in the day you actually had to release a song on a 45 RPM record (or, later, as a 12-inch, cassette, or CD single) to get onto the Billboard chart, and as far as I can tell Little Feat never did anything of the sort, certainly not during their 1970s heyday. Nevertheless, they got quite a bit of airplay on FM rock and alternative stations with such classics as “Fat Man In The Bathtub” and “Dixie Chicken”.

 

“Red Streamliner” is not as well-known or catchy as those two, with much more complexity in both the melody and chord progressions, but it has a haunting beauty, and is one of the two best songs of all time about trains. (The other one will appear at #7 on this list.) Michael McDonald’s backing vocals also help tremendously.

Shuffle #35 (November 1, 2014)

Nowhere Man – The Beatles

F.M. – Steely Dan

Fill It Up Again – Indigo Girls

No Smoke Without Fire – James Hunter

El Salvador – Garland Jeffreys

Welcome Back – John Sebastian

You Know I’m No Good – Amy Winehouse

Always The Last To Know – Del Amitri

Hello It’s Me – Todd Rundgren

#13 Try A Little Tenderness -- Otis Redding (1966)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnPMoAb4y8U

There aren’t any “really old” recordings (defined here as “a lot older than I am”) in this list, but there are a few really old songs. Most of them, such as "Georgia On My Mind" and "Beyond The Sea", are generally recognized as classics. That’s not so much the case for “Try A Little Tenderness”, although it has been recorded by Bing Crosby and numerous other folks starting in 1932. No one, however, did such a radical reworking as Otis – not particularly tender, but definitely soulful.

#14 Am I The Same Girl -- Swing Out Sister (1992)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3dkLr1yFps

This one has an interesting history. It was first recorded in 1968 by R&B singer Barbara Acklin, but became a big hit as the instrumental “Soulful Strut” (credited to Young-Holt Unlimited) when a revised version was released later that year with Acklin’s vocals removed. Both Acklin and Dusty Springfield released the vocal version of the song in 1969, neither with much chart success.

Swing Out Sister finally rescued the song in its full glory from obscurity in 1992. The Acklin and Springfield versions aren’t bad, but Corinne Drewery and crew really make it their own.

Incidentally, one of the best CD bargains I ever picked up was in the mid-1990s in Clearwater FL (down mainly for spring training, naturally), where I found a Swing Out Sister “In-Store Play Sampler” for a mere $1.99. I don’t think I gained a lot of cred from the clerk with my purchase, but the 7 tracks proved that SOS did some great stuff beyond their few hit singles.

Shuffle #34 (October 26, 2014)

Speed Of Sound – Coldplay

The Twelfth Of Never – Johnny Mathis

Ready To Take A Chance Again – Barry Manilow

Am I The Same Girl – Swing Out Sister

Sweet Emotion – Aerosmith

Rock Skippin’ – Jim Hall

Solitary Man – Neil Diamond

The Edge Of The World – Sonia Dada

You’ll Never Get To Heaven – Dionne Warwick