Welcome to the first, and what I hope will not be the last, Share The Music Monday.
I’ve been a DailyKos member since 2003. And if I could sum up my experience here in one sentence it might very well be “Came for the politics, stayed for the community.” Over the years I’ve shared with DK members stories….theirs and mine….of health problems, deaths of loved ones, deaths of pets (who certainly qualify as loved ones,) other life losses, and an unexpectedly widely shared love of squirrels. And it has meant a great deal to me to be able to do so.
I love sharing music. If there’s a piece of music that moves me, I want others to experience it as well (fully cognizant of the fact that they might not react the same way to it.) And I think most folks possess this trait as well. Over the years I’ve shared with this community my love of Billy Strayhorn and Billie Holiday, of Prine (John) and Price (Ray), of Ella and Eilish, of Oscar (Peterson) and Olivia (Rodrigo,) and others.
And thanks to members of the DK community, I was introduced to the amazing Irish retro rocker Imelda May, and the spectacular Regina Spektor, as well as other artists. And my life has been forever richer for it.
I’d like to kick off this series with what is popularly called “Desert Island Discs.” Those recordings, of X number, that you’d absolutely have to have were you marooned on an island, albeit one that inexplicably had some way of playing recorded music!
Here are the admittedly arbitrary rules I’ve come up with for our lists:
1) We get 10 songs. That’s it.
2) By songs I mean just that. Not albums. Singles. So no “Best of” compilations or albums of any kind.
3) I’m going to be a bit liberal here (aren’t I always?) and allow recordings that were never released on vinyl or CDs or any other physical medium. In other words digital recordings. Have a live performance on YouTube that you want to listen to while waiting for your ship to literally come in? No problem.
You’re encouraged to post embeds, but I realize it’s a bit of a hassle. Feel free to just post a link. And some choices simply aren’t available to embed. If that’s the case but it’s available on a streaming service, let us know. Similarly, if you can find it at the iTunes music store then folks who want to can listen to a pretty lengthy sample there.
You’re also strongly encouraged to tell us exactly why this song made your list. Even if the reason is nothing more complex than “I love it!”
Ten songs aren’t a lot. I struggled with my list as I expect most folks will. In addition to Jazz I was raised on Classical music, as well as traditional (ie mid-seventies and older) Country. I’m a Blues fan, and I also love a great deal of Rock, being particularly fond of early Rock & Roll, Rockabilly, and Jump Blues. So that's what….at least five genres to cram into ten songs? Sheesh. Going to have to go with some picks that, while not necessarily absolute favorites, serve to bridge genres.
EDIT: Well, with only 6 recs we’re about to scroll of the front page here, folks. But thanks so much to those of you who shared the music this Monday!
1) Symphony #6 (The Pastoral Symphony) by Ludwig Van Beethoven. My first choice is the easiest one. This is quite simply my very favorite piece of music. I’ll go with the version recorded by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Georg Solti, although that’s not the version you’ll hear here:
Then in no particular order:
2) Va Pensiero (Song of The Hebrew Slaves,) from Nabucco, by Giuseppe Verdi. Just achingly beautiful. As Verdi’s funeral cortege made its way down the streets of Milan, mourners along the way spontaneously sang this in his honor.
3) Solitude, by Billie Holiday and her Orchestra. This ticks a couple boxes for me, in that I get Lady Day, and also Duke Ellington, who wrote the music. This version is by far my preferred recording. I never tire of the way she bends that note around 2:48.
4) Darn That Dream, by Dinah Washington. A beautiful melody by Jimmy Van Heusen with clever and moving lyrics by Eddie DeLange, this version was recorded in front of a live audience, but in studio, so the sound quality is first rate. Dinah doesn’t begin to sing until the song is nearly half over. Before that we are treated to a marvelous tenor sax solo by Harold Land.
5) Poinciana, by the Ahmad Jamal Trio, recorded at Chicago’s Pershing Hotel. I never, never, never get tired of hearing this. I could put the vamping by drummer Vernel Fournier and bassist Israel Crosby on a continuous loop. And Jamal’s spare but perfect variations on the melody are nothing short of perfect.
6) I make no apologies for my love of ABBA. And with fellow fans like Pete Townshend, Bono, Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten, as well as Dave Grohl (who recently told the BBC that he “wept like a baby” upon news of ABBA’s reunion,) why should I? So….which song of their large catalog to have on the island ? S.O.S., which Townshend reportedly proclaimed the best break-up song ever? Gimme Gimme Gimme, which I have proclaimed the best disco song ever? The enigmatic Day Before You Came? I only knew of one thing: It sure as sh*t wasn’t going to be Dancing Queen thankyouverymuch. Do not like that song.
Much of ABBA’s music is surprisingly melancholic and angst ridden, but I think I’m going to want something upbeat to cheer me up under the circumstances.
I chose Take A Chance On Me. For one thing it is just catchy as all get-out. I defy anyone to listen to the whole thing and not be nodding their heads or moving some body part in time to the rhythm before it’s over. But perhaps more importantly, as is so often true of people and music, it holds a very personal place in my heart.
Long ago, in a galaxy twenty or so miles west of Chicago, I met the woman whom I would eventually come to regard as my soulmate. I was immediately taken with her, and asked her out so that I could get to know her better. She declined, citing our religious differences. I wasn’t happy about it, but I respected it.
Over the following three years we developed a deep friendship, and as I got to know her better my initial impressions of her were confirmed. Somewhere along the line I fell very much in love with her. I was to discover, some time later, that she was falling in love with me as well.
She and I both loved ABBA. This particular song came out after we’d become a couple, and she got a kick out of the way I could precisely replicate the “Take a chance, take a chance, take-a take-a chance chance” cadence of Benny and Björn. Although I never shared this with her, I couldn’t help but think that if the song had come out a little earlier that it could have been the theme music for the seemingly endless time I spent head-over heals smitten with her, wishing that she would indeed take a chance on me.
The hokey video is directed, as were most of the group’s, by Lasse Hallström, who would go on to direct What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Cider House Rules, and other films.
7) With only four slots left I’m going to have to pick some songs that straddle genres. Big Joe Turner had a remarkable career that spanned nearly six decades. Originally known as a “blues shouter,” he had success in a variety of music types. This song, Shake, Rattle and Roll captures the transition from Jump Blues to Rock & Roll. This is a 78 RPM recording from 1954. And I can’t get enough of that tinkly piano!
8) Choosing my Country music was particularly tough. Do I go with Hank Williams (the natural choice,) or George Jones? The Man In Black, or Merle Haggard? How about Ray Price with his smooth baritone and incredible phrasing? Or maybe Marty Robbins could tell me what happened in Rose’s Cantina. You know…out in the west Texas town of El Paso.
Ultimately, I chose this song, Coat Of Many Colors.
There are artists who in my opinion, would have been great even if they’d only created one single work. Orson Welles could have stopped after Citizen Kane and still been one of the world’s greatest filmmakers.
And Dolly Parton could have written and recorded nothing more than this song, and she’d still be a legend. Knowing that the song recounts an actual chapter in her impoverished childhood makes me absolutely teary eyed sometimes.
9) Going with another genre straddler here. In 1962 Ray Charles released the seminal album Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music. Melding the “Nashville Sound” of lush strings and big background choruses with his extraordinary soulfulness, the album was an enormous hit that introduced both Charles and Country Music to a larger audience.
This song, Born To Lose, written and originally performed by Ted Daffin in the early 40’s, was a big hit in what was then called “Hillbilly Music.”
10) Uh-oh. Only one slot left and I haven’t decided what I want to hear when I feel like rocking out! Paint It Black is my favorite Rolling Stones song, but I don’t think I’d want to hear a song with those lyrics (which I’ve personally lived) if I’m trying to keep my mental health up while stranded. My favorite Beatles tunes are their early stuff when they were lifting bass lines from Chuck Berry and covering artists like Carl Perkins, but I’ve already got some early R & R on the list with Big Joe Turner.
Ultimately I went with this song, Joey, by Concrete Blonde. From the explosive first note, to the driving beat, the infectious bass line, the brief but perfect guitar solo in the bridge and the two-part harmony on the second verse, this record is hard not to love. But it is the amazing, heartfelt, and extraordinarily powerful vocals of Johnette Napolitano (who also wrote the song) singing from the viewpoint of a woman in love with an addict, that makes this one of the best records ever recorded in my opinion.
So...there you have it. My 10 Desert Island Discs. I hope I get a nice response to this posting, so that I can spend the next week listening to your picks!