The first
time I ever heard this soul classic by Chips Moman and Dan Penn was when it was
performed in the 1991 movie The
Commitments. It’s been recorded by
Percy Sledge, Don Dixon, Eva Cassidy, and many others, but somehow never
managed to become a hit. The original version by James Carr was the only one to
appear on the Hot 100, peaking at a modest #77.
Saturday, March 18, 2017
#140 The Windows Of The World – Dionne Warwick (1967)
Dionne
Warwick, of course, made a career out of recording songs written by Burt
Bacharach and Hal David. This one unfortunately wasn’t a big hit, but it’s one
of their best, and almost certainly the most poignant. (Chrissie Hynde and the
Pretenders later did a great cover version as well.)
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Shuffle #95 (March 12, 2017)
Running On
Empty – Jackson Browne
Gettin’
Jiggy Wit It – Will Smith
Summer In
The City – The Lovin’ Spoonful
All Alone Am
I – Brenda Lee
Shattered
Dreams – Johnny Hates Jazz
I Want A New
Drug – Huey Lewis & The News
This Is My
Country – The Impressions
I Wanna Be
With You – The Raspberries
Sunshine Of
Your Love – Cream
Boom Boom
Pow – Black Eyed Peas
Friday, March 10, 2017
Dawes – Lincoln Theatre, 3/8/2017
Row J, Seat 109 (general admission) – center section, middle seat
I saw Dawes do two truly great shows in 2015, first at the Warner and
several weeks later at XPNFest. This one didn’t reach that level, although it
had some great moments, especially in the second set. With no opening act, the
amount of music was certainly generous, with a couple dozen songs spanning about
105 minutes across the two sets and two encore numbers.
The biggest issue for me was the volume. Most of the band’s repertoire
sounds about right at a relative sound level of about 8, but they had things
cranked up to 11 through most of the show, pounding their more subtle and
melodic material (including one of my favorites, “A Little Bit Of Everything”)
into complete and utter submission. Basically, THEY SOUNDED LIKE THEY WERE
YELLING MOST OF THE TIME.
The first set really didn’t do much for me, until they got to “When My
Time Comes” and “Less Than Five Miles Away” at the end, both of which worked
well with things cranked up. However, their performance of “Somewhere Along The
Way” lacked the stunning two-guitar interplay of the 2015 shows, and they chose to short-change
“Time Spent In Los Angeles” by segueing into “Most People” after the first
verse. And I’ve already mentioned their treatment of “A Little Bit Of
Everything”.
Nevertheless, I decided to stick around for the second set, and was
rewarded when they went acoustic for the first 2½ songs. “From A Windowseat”
was a highlight shortly thereafter, and the crowd rose to its feet during “If I
Needed Someone” and remained standing for the rest of the show. After ending
the set with the title cut from We’re All
Gonna Die, they encored with a rave-up version of the normally placid “Peace
In The Valley” from their debut album, and concluded with a heartfelt rendition
of “All Your Favorite Bands”, at the end of which the crowd added an extra a cappella
version of the chorus.
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Where to eat and drink near the Verizon Center
Nice listing from The Post. I’d certainly recommend a number of these,
including Chinatown Express (where we ate last week prior to a Wizards game)
and Nando’s Peri-Peri.
Monday, March 6, 2017
Shuffle #94 (March 6, 2017)
(Don’t Go
Back To) Rockville – R.E.M.
Bits And
Pieces – The Dave Clark Five
Silver
Wheels – Bruce Cockburn
Boogie Oogie
Oogie – A Taste Of Honey
Pocketful Of
Sunshine – Natasha Bedingfield
Sunday
Bloody Sunday – U2
Hello In
There – John Prine
One Step Up –
Bruce Springsteen
Nick Of Time
– Bonnie Raitt
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Racing to the bottom on health coverage
Why “allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines” is not
nearly as good an idea as it might sound.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Republican Health Plans Have Winners And Losers, Just Like Obamacare
Great article on the tradeoffs involved in any health insurance
coverage strategy. (Yes, Donald, it is
complicated.)
The Trump Show
Post columnist Marc Fisher: President Trump wants to put on a show.
Governing matters less.
#139 Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow – Carole King (1971)
If someone
co-writes a song that someone else takes to #1, and then records the song
herself 10 years later, should that be classified as a “cover version”?
I guess it
doesn’t really matter. I love the Shirelles, and their original 1961 version of
this song is pretty great, but Carole King’s slowed-down rendition on Tapestry is even better, especially the
exquisite backing vocals by Joni Mitchell and James Taylor.
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