LP #2 Donald Fagen – The Nightfly (1982)

Steely Dan, the long-running collaboration between Fagen and Walter Becker, put out some great albums in their time, but Fagen’s first solo effort actually outshines the best of them. Fagen completely nails the loose concept that he puts forward in the liner notes: “The songs on this album represent certain fantasies that might have been entertained by a young man growing up in the remote suburbs of a northeastern city during the late fifties and early sixties, i.e., one of my general height, weight and build.” “Walk Between Raindrops” would have been a great song for Sinatra – it was actually recorded by Mel Tormé – while “The Goodbye Look” spins a wonderful tale of Caribbean political intrigue. Fagen also does what for me is the definitive version of the Leiber-Stoller classic “Ruby Baby”, eclipsing the fine earlier recordings by the Drifters and Dion.

 

Favorite tracks:

Walk Between Raindrops

The Goodbye Look

Ruby Baby

New Frontier

I.G.Y.

Celebrating Sinatra

Since yesterday was the 100^th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth, I figured I’d mark the occasion by listing my five favorite songs by the man who’s probably this country’s greatest singer ever, if not necessarily its most exemplary role model.

 

The Summer Wind (#11 on my list of all-time favorite songs)

All My Tomorrows

Softly As I Leave You

High Hopes

The World We Knew

 

“High Hopes” and “All My Tomorrows” were both featured in Sinatra’s 1959 movie A Hole In The Head, which I vaguely remember seeing as a kid. “High Hopes” was the anthem of legendary Phillies radio announcer Harry Kalas, so after Kalas’ untimely death on April 13, 2009 (as he was getting ready to broadcast the Nationals’ home opener with the Phillies, a game which we attended) I decided to watch the movie again. That is when I fell in love with “All My Tomorrows”, which plays over the opening credits and fits the movie perfectly. It’s one of the greatest songs to ever languish in near-total obscurity, and I admit to blubbering like John Boehner for some reason whenever I listen to it.

Best Music of 2015

Here’s my annual list of favorite songs and albums. I’ll update this post once the results are in from the three radio station polls in which I voted. [DONE]

 

Overall, not the strongest of years, with a few exceptions …

Songs (list I entered on WXPN) 

1. Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson f/ Bruno Mars (#11 WXPN Top 100)
2. All Your Favorite Bands – Dawes (#17 WXPN, #19 WTMD Top 89)
3. Stay Gold – First Aid Kit
4. Believe – Mumford & Sons (#44 WXPN, #85 WTMD)
5. Ship To Wreck – Florence + The Machine (#2 WXPN, #8 WTMD)
6. Kansas City – New Basement Tapes
7. Restless – New Order (#74 WTMD)
8. Make You Better – Decemberists (#84 WXPN)
9. Satisfy Me – Anderson East
10. Simple Machine – Guster 

Other Favorite Songs (not played on WXPN) 

1. Lips Are Movin’ – Meghan Trainor
2. Lean On – Major Lazer
3. I Don’t Like It, I Love It – Flo Rida
4. Cheyenne – Jason Derulo
5. Marvin Gaye – Charlie Puth f/ Meghan Trainor 

Favorite Albums 

1. All Your Favorite Bands – Dawes (#3 mvyradio Top 25)
2. Title – Meghan Trainor
3. Delilah – Anderson East
4. One Lost Day – Indigo Girls
5. Still – Richard Thompson
6. 25 – Adele

 

LP #3 David + David – Boomtown (1986)

David Baerwald and David Ricketts came seemingly out of nowhere to record this masterpiece, and seemingly disappeared almost as quickly. Baerwald subsequently released several solo albums, none of which met with much commercial success; Ricketts never released an album under his name. Both stayed in the music biz, however, writing and producing material for other artists. Baerwald is credited with co-founding the “Tuesday Music Club” that launched Sheryl Crow’s career and provided the title for her Tuesday Night Music Club album, for which both Baerwald and Ricketts co-wrote several songs.

 

Boomtown is the album that Daryl Hall & John Oates might have made had they grown up in L.A. and been heavily influenced by Tom Waits and the Police. Most of the tracks depict the seamy side of life in L.A. (or any big city), with characters who are “Being Alone Together” as they are “Swallowed By The Cracks”; the most upbeat track musically (“Ain’t So Easy”) is written from the perspective of a domestic abuser. (No, this is not the CD to put on during your next party.) “River’s Gonna Rise” has broader socio-political implications; it’s apocalyptically brutal, but redemption comes in the chorus (especially for those at all familiar with Greek mythology.)

 

Favorite tracks:

River’s Gonna Rise

A Rock For The Forgotten

Welcome To The Boomtown

Swallowed By The Cracks

Serendipity #53

Used To Rule The World – Bonnie Raitt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjdMEwYO2rg

Heard 12/7/2015 around 11:50, at Zoe’s Kitchen (Kentlands)

Serendipity #52

Money’s Too Tight (To Mention) – Simply Red

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrUB0g8Vjgg

Heard 11/28/2015 around 2:00, in the cafeteria at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Serendipity #51

The Bottle – Gil Scott-Heron

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

Heard 11/23/2015 around 12:00, at Zoe’s Kitchen (Kentlands)

Serendipity #50

Mexican Radio – Wall of Voodoo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCEexG9xjw

Heard 11/18/2015 around 6:00, at Jerry’s Subs (Fallsgrove)

Madeleine Peyroux, The Barns at Wolf Trap, 11/17/2015

Row L, Seat 106 (further back than usual, but dead center)

 

Nice show! Main level was pretty full (did have 3 empty seats next to me). Slightly smaller combo on stage even than I had expected, just Madeleine, plus two other wonderful musicians on guitar and upright bass, who also contributed harmony vocals on a few songs. (Sort of thought they might have someone on keyboards.)

 

Started with “Take These Chains From My Heart” (popularized by both Hank Williams and Ray Charles) and “Between The Bars”. Several songs in, paid tribute to the late Allen Toussaint with a politely funky version of “Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky (From Now On)”, followed by a few songs with just Madeleine and her acoustic guitar. Other highlights included “Don’t Cry Baby” and Randy Newman’s “Guilty”.

 

Really kicked it into gear at the end, concluding with three tracks from her breakthrough Careless Love album: Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me To The End Of Love”, “Don’t Wait Too Long”, and the title track. They then encored with the final cut from that CD, “This Is Heaven To Me”. No intermission – whole show ran just under 90 minutes, meaning that I actually made it home around 10:00.

The Brothers Four, Bethesda Blues & Jazz Club, 11/12/2015

1960s folk legends the Brothers Four, still with one original member, had done a nice set in an area church a few years back; this time they occupied the much larger Bethesda Blues & Jazz Club for an enjoyable performance, with a two-hour show divided into two sets. Most of the tables were filled, although the theater-style seats in the rear were empty (as they don’t go on sale until the table seats have sold out).

 

The group’s trademark vocal harmonies worked well on such slow tunes as “Try To Remember” and two of their best-known hits, “Green Leaves Of Summer” and “Greenfields” (their next-to-last pre-encore number). The most enthusiastic crowd reactions, however, seemed to come on the uptempo numbers where Mark Pearson pulled out his banjo, such as their four-song “bluegrass medley”. Their two encores were a stunning version of “Shenandoah” and finally “Michael Rowed The Boat Ashore” (a personal favorite of mine from my childhood).

 

The previous time I saw them, they did a great, sad song about the end of an old family farm – I hadn’t heard it before, and they didn’t do any kind of introduction. Based on the lyrics, I was finally able to chase it down (I thought) on the Internet: “Time To Be Planting Again” by Leslie Eliel. They started into the song Thursday night, but once they got into the chorus, I wondered about whether I had found the correct song, despite the many similarities. Apparently Mark and Leslie wrote the song together but decided to go in different directions with the chorus, as the Brothers Four title their version “Heart Of The Heartland”.