Let the air waves flow...

I'm back from my month-long blog hiatus. I had a serious existential (or rather blogistential) crisis in which I questioned the value of blogging, whether I wanted to continue, and tried to figure out why I haven't been listening to that much music recently (one big problem: I have so much music on my computer that the guy at the Apple store said I just shouldn't have iTunes open if I want my computer to run properly. Sigh.)


Not all my questions have been answered, but I didn't like being gone for so long. So, I'm back for now, with a new GOOD SONG!

And miles to go before I sleep...

GOOD SONG: Midnight Mile by Lee Fields & The Expressions (original by the Rolling Stones)


This song is from the Lee Fields & The Expressions album "Faithful Man" which came out just a few weeks ago. He sings with the in-house band of his label (Brooklyn's Truth & Soul), who also have played with Adele, Aloe Blacc, Jay-Z, etc. So they're pretty damn good. Which is fitting, since Lee Fields is into his fifth decade of recording and deserves some good musicians backing him up. It's kinda crazy, since he's been making great music for ages, and yet he doesn't even have his own wikipedia page! How crazy is that? Someone should get on that....


His original songs on the album are really fantastic (like the song "You're the Kind of Girl") but I totally fell for this song Rolling Stones cover. It's from their album Sticky Fingers, and it really works as a soul song, even with it's strange, poetic verses seemingly about isolation on the road. 
I love the lyrics:


"When the wind blows and the rain feels cold
with a head full of snow
with a head full of snow
In the window there's a face you know
Don't the night pass slow
Don't the night pass slow

The sound of strangers sending nothing to my mind
Just another mad mad day on the road
I am just living to be lying by your side
But I'm just about a moonlight mile on down the road

Made a rag pile of my shiny clothes
Gonna warm my bones,
Gonna warm my bones
I got silence on my radio
Let the air waves flow,
Let the air waves flow
For I'm sleeping under strange strange skies
Just another mad mad day on the road
My dreams are fading down the railway line
I'm just about a moonlight mile down the road

I'm hiding sister and I'm dreaming
I'm riding down your moonlight mile
I'm hiding sister and I'm dreaming
I'm riding down your moonlight mile
There I go now coming home now baby
Yeah, there I go now coming home now baby
Yeah, I'm coming home 'cause

I'm just about a moonlight mile on down the road
On down the road, down the road."


It's an interesting choice for a R&B artist to cover, and he does it amazingly well. He gives it a sort of haunting feel, with a heartbeat rhythm to it. That quavering flute in the background is supernatural. It definitely feels like a song to listen to it in the car in the rain, with the wipers on. 


If you liked this song, you might also check out:
Al Green
Otis Redding
Sharon Jones
James Brown
Eli Paperboy Reed

Over and out,
Anna

Break It Down! (Covers Month Post #2)

H'okay, moving on with Covers Month:

Look at that snazzy man. He's diabolically snazzy!
Maybe it's the hat...

GOOD ORIGINAL SONG: Stop Breaking Down Blues by Robert Johnson

What an awesome song! And definitely cover-worthy. Johnson himself is quite the legend-- an incredible blues musician and guitarist, he died by being poisoned (supposedly) in 1937 (the same year he recorded this song) at the age of 27. Eric Clapton called him "the most important blues singer that ever lived," which is quite a statement. Legends about him making a deal with the Devil in return for musical ability abound, and the man has some crazy stories. This song, though, is pretty straight-forwardly amazing. It's a pretty funny song to me-- basically a guy complaining about all the other people in his life who are "breaking down" on him. Bluesy yet also a pretty upbeat song.

There are a lot of covers of this song, unsurprisingly, but here are my faves:

Only TRUE rock stars can get away with the no shirt + vest combo.

GOOD (COVER) SONG #1: Stop Breaking Down by the Rolling Stones

Whoa! Nice one! This cover is from "Exile on Main Street" (1972) which is one of my top ten albums of all time, which is saying a lot. The whole album is GENIUS. This song in particular is great-- they made it much more raw with that piano riffing and the harmonica and wailing gee-tar. They took this song and OWNED it.

Fringed shirts are also largely owned by rock stars. 

GOOD (COVER) SONG #2: Stop Breaking Down by the White Stripes

This song is from their self-titled album released in 1999 (wow, that was a long time ago). They took that whole "raw" sound to a WHOLE 'nother level here. Jack White's distinctive whine  + those bashing drums = Robert Johnson rockin' out in his grave.

I have a hard time deciding which version of this song I like the best. It basically depends on my mood. Check 'em out. What's your opinion?

If you liked this song/these songs, you might also like:

The Black Keys
Muddy Waters
Leadbelly
Led Zeppelin
The Raconteurs

Over and out,
Anna


 

Birthday Post: Rolling Stones & Stone Rollin'

So, today is my birthday! Huzzah!

In honor of this festive occasion, I am posting a bunch of GOOD SONGS songs that I just can't get enough of. They are also GOOD SUMMER SONGS!

This is what real rocking out looks like. Look closely.
You may be tested on this later, kids.

The first GOOD SONG is Loving Cup by the Rolling Stones, off their album Exile On Main Street.
If you aren't a fan of the Rolling Stones, then I just don't know what to tell you.  I have to admit, in the Beatles vs. Stones argument, I always go with the Stones.
Exile On Main Street is a CLASSIC album, and is interesting in that when it was first released, it got really bad reviews by many people. But now people have come to appreciate it much more. Fun fact: the U2 album Achtung Baby (my favorite album of theirs, I think) was almost called Cruise Down Main Street, in homage to the Stones.
Loving Cup is a fantastic song for many reasons. That intro piano reminds me a bit of the Charlie Brown theme song. But it goes on and the drums come in and it gets so rockin. This song is a perfect taste of the album as a whole.
The song struck me as funny the first time I heard it, since the refrain is "Gimme a little drink from your loving cup/Just one drink and I'll fall down drunk," since in my family, if you wanted to share a drink with someone, you would ask if the other person wanted to share a loving cup with you. Apparently a loving cup is a ceremonial cup that used to be used at marriages and things like that, where everyone took a sip. I don't think that is what the Rolling Stones are talking about, but then again, maybe I'm wrong.

Also clearly a bad-ass onstage. Take notes.

Speaking of rolling stones, the next GOOD SONG is Go To Hell by Raphael Saadiq, from his new album called Stone Rollin'.
You can definitely hear the Rolling Stones influence in his music, which, although is classified as "neo-soul," has some real rock n' roll flavor to it. I love the song Go To Hell because it rises to a fantastic crescendo with that choir in the background and the cymbals and the string section (kinda like You Can't Always Get What You Want, although less over the top). I love the chorus: Let Love bring us together! Let Love bring us together!
The other truly GOOD SONG off the same album is the title track Stone Rollin' (be aware that the video is pretty sexual). The harmonica in the beginning reminds me of the song Midnight Rambler by the Rolling Stones (most certainly a GOOD SONG). Definitely listen to them both. Hear the influence?
Raphael Saadiq is an interesting cat. He was born Charlie Ray Wiggins in Oakland, CA in 1966, and was part of the R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!. He has collaborated with TLC, John Legend, Earth Wind & Fire, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder, and many, many more. Not surprisingly, he performed with Mick Jagger at the Grammy Awards show this year.
Stone Rollin' is his fourth solo album, and was only released May 10th. I think it's worth checking out.

If you liked these songs, you might also like:

Aloe Blacc (see this post)
Eli Paperboy Reed (see this post)
John Legend
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (see this post)
D'Angelo
Artists similar to the Rolling Stones? I don't even know where to start. You've probably heard them all. As for current artists who were influenced by them, the list is, again, way too long. Do your own research.

Over and out,
Anna