I also should have "Tom Courtney" by Yo La Tengo in there.
School's out. What did you expect?
Howdy
I like all sorts of stuff but I'm more of a Jazz / R&B guy. If you're talking "songs", these are ones I always come back to.
"I Mean You" - Thelonious Monk (really typifies Monk's approach to writing)
"Stella by Starlight" - Washington/Young (just a great melody, I used to play this for my wife over the phone when we were dating...aww!!!)
"Prelude to a Kiss" - Duke/Strayhorn (one of those great Stray/Duke pieces. Love the change going into the bridge and the lyric "its only just a simple melody")
"My One and Only Love" - Melin/Wood (similar to "In a Sentimental Mood" but, to me, a much better tune. Sting actually did a great version of this in "Leaving Las Vegas".)
"Strange Meadowlark" - Dave Brubeck (everyone knows "Blue Rondo" and "Take Five" but this is my favorite.)
"Too High" - Stevie Wonder (one of my first musical memories from Dad buying his first cassette player)
"Creepin'" - Stevie Wonder (even divorced from Stevie's brilliant synthesizer production, this is a really deep tune dripping with "mood")
"As" - Stevie Wonder (one of those great "photograph of time" songs that singers hate because Stevie wrote 5 pages of lyrics for them to memorize!)
"Blue in Green" - Bill Evans (sorry Miles, but Bill wrote this simple yet complex textural piece)
"Wildflower" - Wayne Shorter (I just love the way the melody and harmony go together in this tune)
If you're talking about "recordings", "productions", "performances" or "arrangements", I like these:
Anything played by Art Tatum (check it out on YouTube sometime)
Anything played by Jimmy Smith (the master)
"Actual Proof" - Herbie Hancock, Thrust (Herbie makes it sound easy, yet its not!)
"Knock Yourself Out" - Tower of Power, Live (Chester Thompson's solo!)
"You've Got to Funkafize" - Tower of Power, Bump City
"Song for Bilbao" - Pat Metheny, Travels (love Pat's solo even if he's been wearing the same shirt for 20 years. Same for Lyle Mays)
"More Bounce to the Ounce" - Zapp (Roger's on ur talkbox stealing ur funk)
"Blackbird" - Bobby McFerrin, Live at Carnegie Hall (one guy singing all the parts...amazing!)
"If I Only Had a Brain" - Philip DeGruy, Innuendo, Out the Other (you'll love the whimsy)
"Chicken" - Maceo Parker
If you're talking Rock/Pop/Whatever
"18 Miles to Memphis" - Stray Cats (Brian Setzer is awesome and absolutely rocks out on this tune)
"The Rain Song" - Led Zeppelin (in a way, this is the rock version of a lot of my jazz picks, very melancholly and moody)
"The Crunge" - Led Zeppelin (where's that confounded bridge?)
"Black Flag" _ King's X (a really underrated band...I always love the power trio! Great vocal group)
"Blackbird" - The Beatles (very unpretentious, love the two of them singing together)
"Lively up Yourself" - Bob Marley (kind of a lesser known tune but a serious late night party tune
"Spirit of Eden" - Talk Talk (I know, its an entire album but its one you listen to in its entirety anyhow!)
"Foxy Lady" - Jimi Hendrix (everyone has a favorite Jimi tune, I just love the bludgeon-like note he sustains a couple of bars after the intro...awesome!)
"Shinola" - John Scofield (ok, he's a jazz guy and all but this is what the love child of Sid Vicious and Carla Bley would write!)
"Kiss" - Prince (didja ever notice this song has no bass and it's still funky?)
I spent way too much time making this list!
The Stooges - Down in the street
VU - What goes on
Beach Boys - God only knows
Al Green - I'm still in love with you
Nick Cave - Sad waters
Will Oldham - I see a darkness
Jesus and Mary Chain - Just like honey
Jonathan Richman - Roadrunner
Mekons - Hard to be human
The Fall - New puritan
(No blues, no reggae, no instrumental tracks considered for this list)
Ashes of American Flags - Wilco really ought to be on there somewhere too.
School's out. What did you expect?
I'm quite a simpleton compared to most of you so here goes the at the moment 10:
I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles (I could just do 10 Beatles but I won't)
The Letter - The Box Tops
Hotel California - The Eagles
Katmandu - Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
Piano Man - Billy Joel
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Honky Tonl Woman - The Rolling Stones
The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra
Angel of Harlem - U2
If I had a Million Dollars - The Bare Naked Ladies
I don't think songs without bass should be allowed.
There is no such thing as a pitching prospect.
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |