American Tunes - Foot-Stompers, Shit-Kickers & Top-Poppers: A Playlist to Celebrate the 4th of July with

       
Click here to download:
American_Tunes_-_Foot-Stompers.zip (264 KB)

"Sing me back home with a song I used to hear..."

 
I haven't celebrated a 4th of July in the States in six years. Yes, I have celebrated in Australia and this year I will celebrate in London...but its not the same. There's no mad dash to the supermarket for BBQ fixin's. There's no parades down Main Street. There's no big field under a clear blue summer sky filled with friends and family playing horseshoes. There's no fireworks displays. There's no dusk bonfires outside a New Hampshire lake house. Nope...none of that. 
 
I miss all of that hoopla. I miss the tradition and camaraderie that is the celebrating of the Fourth of July. I don't want to get all philosophical on a kick-back day like today, but just let me say, "you don't miss your water, 'til your well runs dry".  
 
When I think of a 4th of July celebration, this is what I picture:
 
A wide open field, filled with closest friends and extended family. There is a stage where band will play. They will play a couple sets: one at noon and one at dusk. There's summer spots being payed everywhere: horseshoes (my fave), whiffle ball and badminton. There is a Beer tent with plenty of ice cold kegs, tapped and at the ready (everyone has red and blue solo cups in hand). The food...oh,  the food: burgers, hot dogs, chicken, corn, beans, potato salad, macaroni salad, lobsters, apple pies...all eaten off of paper plates. 
 
The day turns to night. The bonfire is lit. Everyone who is still there huddles around it. Kids sleep at their parents feet. We can see the local fireworks display from across town light up the sky. The young'ins spark up their own display out in the field in front of us.  The crowd calls out for the band to grab the acoustics and lead us towards midnight in group a sing-a-long..."Crossroads, seem to come and go, yeah...."
 
Yep...I'm hankering for a good ol' fashion Americana celebration. While I can't share a cold one or a hot dog with you, I can share some American sounds. When I'm feeling a little blue on a day when I can't celebrate the the Red, White and Blue on American soil, I do what I always do: put the needle on the record and let the music play. 
 
I have put together a playlist perfect for a day like the one I described. This playlist is full of old favorites, complete with a bit rock and roll, swinging blues and country twanginess. You'll be stomping feet and slapping backs while you pop the tops off of your ice cold longnecks of Bud when you hear this collection of classics performed by citizens of our beloved country. 
 
I have wrapped them up in a bow in this shared folder for you to download: American Tunes 
 
I'll be playing this set loud and proud as I fire up the grill and put on a couple burgers and dogs for me and the missus. Enjoy the day and and enjoy the people the you spend it with...where ever you are on this this big ol' globe. 
 
Happy 4th of July. Judd
 
p.s. the songs in the folder are not in the order that put them in. If you want to recreate that, check the sequence below

 

(download)

 

Tagged 4th of July BBQ Music New Hampshire pics Playlists USA

A 6149 Weekend Jump Start Playlist: The Shim Sham Shimmy (downloads: get 'em while they're hot)

Nothing ruins a good day like a truly bad song. 

 

We've all been there. You're up early, shower, hit the door and walk outside and you are suddenly and spectacularly bathed in the warm glow of brilliant rays of sunshine that seemingly were meant for you and you only. You hop in the car and point the beast towards the office. You are fifteen minutes ahead of your normal schedule and that makes all the difference: no school buses to get stuck behind, no long lines of traffic and rubberneckers and all, the lights, are green.

You get to the office. You get a car spot close to the front door. The Friday morning doughnut tray is still full; you get a jelly and a chocolate glazed. You have no meetings and are all caught up on emails. Today is going to be the start of a great weekend. 

Just as you are kicking your heels up on to the corner of your desk and dunking your doughnut into your coffee, the CEO's executive assistant trots by singing "I think we're alone now", by Tiffany.

Nooooooooo!

You were on borrowed time. You flew too close to the sun. You danced with the devil in the pale moon light. You thought that it was going to be that easy. Think again, brothers and sisters: You've got the "bad song stuck in my head blues".

Oh shit!? Have I now unintentionally given you the bad song blues? What have I done!?! The horror...the horror...

My apologies. Let me make it up to you. It is Friday morning here in London and I am ready for the weekend. Nothing, I mean nothing, kicks off a weekend like a good sung stuck in your head on a Friday. Yesterday I woke up with a great song stuck in my head, "Train" by Buddy Miles (its in the playlist). That song has been the tiger in my tank for the last 24 hours. I thought I would pull together a playlist of other bow-down tracks, buried treasure and good timer's and share it with you. 

I have uploaded them here. You can cherry pick the list to download or go for the all you can eat buffet. This mix has range and...keeping in the true 6149 style...it hits that sweet-spot "Cosmic American Music" (thanks GP) blues, soul, country concoction that I love so much. Hopefully you will enjoy the mix and find new sounds that you can trace back to the roots (where it came from) or pick the fruit off it's vine (who's copping the sound in "new" music today).

By the way, I woke up with "Sarah's Smile" from Hall & Oates in my head today. Not sure why, but I played it three times before 7:30 am today.

Today's Weekend Jump Start Playlist is called: The Shim Sham Shimmy

Shim Sham Shimmy - Champion Jack Dupree
I was turned on to this song by my good friend, "The Kingfish". The Kingfish owns Mojo Music, located in Sydney Australia. The Kingfish knows his blues better than anyone I have ever met. He always knows what songs to move from the back burner up to the front burner. This is a front-burner, high heat track from start to finish. 

Wham!  - Lonnie Mack
Lonnie Mack is one of those guys that plays like a legend but doesn't get lumped in with that crowd. Maybe it is because he peaked to early. If that is the case, we're talking Kilemman-fucking-jaro peaks. Wham! is a stone cold monster. 

White Lightning - George Jones
What would a weekend playlist be without a song about drinking from George Jones. Actually, what would would a song from George Jones be without it being about drinking...a Conway Twitty song, that's what. This is drinking from an old boot goodness. The lyrics are down right, down home...

Well in North Carolina, way back in the hills
Me and my old pappy had a hand in a still
We brewed white lightnin' 'til the sun went down
Then he'd fill him a jug and he'd pass it around
Mighty, mighty pleasin, pappy's corn squeezin'
Whshhhoooh . . . white lightnin'

Leaping Christine - John Mayall & Blues Breakers
John Mayall should have called his band, "Runway" and not The Bluesbreakers. He was the runway where the guitar hero careers of Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor took off from. This tune here has some hair on it and most of it is on the harp.

Train  - Buddy Miles
Buddy Fucking Mile. The Funk-Rock master of the 1970's Buddy laid the groove for the entire 70's sound scape. The Kingfish dragged me down deeper into the Buddy Groove than I had been before. Thanks again, Kingfish. This song is a stone cold mutha. From the get-go the song is drenched in drama. 

Motherless Children - Eric Clapton (live w/Derek Trucks 2009)
When I was in college, I first heard this song. It was around 1991 and I hadn't yet turned from music fan to freak. Of course I had heard the slide guitar sound, but I didn't know slide guitar until I heard this Clapton song on his 461 Ocean Drive album. I remember where I was when I heard this and how knocked out I was over it. It is not a great song, but that slide blew my mind. I started going back and finding out where he got that from and who else had it: the Delta, Muddy, Elmore, Duane, Ronnie Wood (and now Derek Trucks). Every time I hear this song  I get excited about exploring music. This is a live version from his 2009 tour. He's in good form. 

Scared - John Lennon 
There are two artists I wish were still alive making music today: Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. There is so much "what if" with them. Who knows what they would have done. I am not a Beatles fan, but I am a big John Lennon fan. His work is so honest, open and raw. This song is no different. You always feel like there is a truth that Lennon is singing about...as if he might have been scared that morning and had to write about it. The bridge in this song is the best part. By the way, Ringo Star told me about this on his iTunes Celebrity Playlist Podcast. He talked so glowingly about Lennon that I had to go and get it...glad I did. 

Jamaica, Say You Will - The Byrds (Live 1971)
I always loved this Jackson Browne tune. I had no idea that the Byrds covered it. This is Clarence White on lead vox from the Byrds Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1971 album. He played on the original from Jackson, too. His vocal is comforting. 

Amoreena - Elton John (Live 1970)
Say what you will about him now, but he was in the pocket in the early '70's. My fave album, Tumbleweed Connection, has this tune on it. I always thought it sounded "thick"...mostly because of the vocal. I got this live version from Wolfgang's Vault. It is just Elton, drums and bass. It is live, raw and a great job of storytelling.

My Mind is Ramblin' - The Black Keys
The Keys cover the songs of Junior Kimbrough on their "Chulahoma" album. They nail this song. They take Junior's fragile blues melody and put some meat on it's bone.

RL Burnside - 2 Live Wrecking Crew
R.L. Burnside's grandson, Cedric slams the skins and sings this tribute to "Big Daddy". This was one of my fave albums of 2009. It is nothing new, but it feels fresh. It feels like these guys are enjoying what they are doing. Don't pay attention to the lyrics on the album, just listen to two guys wearing their influences and enjoying trying to find their sound.

I miss R.L. Burnside.

Don't Cry No More - Bobby Blue Bland
Please listen to more Bobby "Blue" Bland. When he is on, his vocals can't be touched by anyone. He's on here.

Mellow Down Easy - Little Walter (Live)
Live Walter...wailing harp...he's giving it here.

I Got All You Need - Koko Taylor
The female Howlin' Wolf. She wails here. If she truly has all I need, after hearing this song, I want everything she's got. Eeeeeh doggeeee...

Ring of Fire - Ray Charles
I posted a vid of Ray Charles doing this on the Johnny Cash TV show. This is true genius. When someone can take a legendary song, a song so defined by sound, style and artist and turn it into something entirely different and equally good...it is a remarkable feat. I love this version as much as I love Cash's original (almost ;)

Pour Your Love on Me - Delaney & Bonnie
Delaney & Bonnie recorded an album at Stax Records called, "Home". When I heard about it, being a massive Stax fan, I was excited to put my ears to it. I was not disappointed. It does sound like Delaney & Bonnie went home to get their engine checked. Backed by Booker T. & The MGs and Mar-Keys, they are firing on all cylinders. A great song from a soul-fun album.

Mojo Boogie - Big Mojo Elam
I have this song on here because of the "sound" and the label it was released on, "Storyville". I have another post coming soon on Storyville that talks about the "sound" here. In the meantime, enjoy this bluesy boogie from a road warrior. 

Country Girl - Buddy Guy & Junior wells (Live)
This just felt right here. As a matter of cold hard fact, Buddy & Junior feel right anytime.

Already Free - Derek Trucks band (Live)
Derek Trucks towers above all other six-string-slingers today. He is operating on another level entirely. It is not so much style, but substance. His playing represents his person more than anyone else playing right now. I am continually amazed at what he is doing, but more so, the class and humility he does it with. We haven't heard the best from this master yet. This is a live version of the title track off of my fave album of 2009.

Man of the World - Peter Green
 Ah, Peter Green. A casualty of war. This song isn't about guitar pyrotechnics as much as it is about spilt guts. It is touching, heartbreaking and endearing. 

 

Hopefully one of those songs gets stuck in your head this weekend. If you have a head-case song for me, serve it up...
Tagged Cosmic American Music mojo Music Playlists riffs Sydney The Kingfish Weekend

Autumn Audio: flannel shirts, leaves changing and songs for dirt roads

     
Click here to download:
Autumn_Audio_flannel_shirts_le.zip (176 KB)

(scenes of New Hampshire in the Fall)

If you're a little bit of country and have never visited a website called "When You Awake", you ain't worth your salt.

Jody, who runs the site, says that When You Awake is an "ode to country life, celebrating everything from classic country and rock to the the current indie folk and roots scenes. The daily blog features music news, mixtapes, ticket giveaways, style finds and much more".  She does a great job curating all kinds of great tunes that go twang into mixtapes for you to download.  I know I've burned my share of bandwidth on her site.

There is a lot there to read and hear, so make sure you have time on hand when you have a gander.

In a recent post, she put together a list of "Seven Songs Shaping our Fall".  The brief for this exercise: include songs that you are really enjoying now, that are shaping your life...genre be damned. Follow the link I provided for you to see what she came up with.  

In a subsequent post Jody posted Fall song lists from "friends and trusted bloggers". She also suggests that we readers add out own lists in the comments.  It is always great to see people respond to requests/posts like this. I enjoy seeing what everyone has their ears to and what new songs/artists I can get turned on to. 

Of course this is a two-way street; I couldn't help but add my own list. A few others added their seven songs, too. Check the list updates here.  You'll find mine in the comment section.  I'm also adding it here, with my comments from the post, as well as with a Tune Tag playlist attached.

p.s. my "little bit of country" comment in the first line of this post was a tongue-in-cheek nod to two towering Champions of Contrived Cultural Cheesey-ness.  I can't believe I am even linking to this (there goes my street cred). Warning: this may make you puke in your mouth.
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My Comments from When You Awake:

Great idea for a list. I am from New Hampshire but I have been off living in Sydney Australia and now in London. I miss the fall. Just looking at that picture takes me back to the N.H. fall with short, bitter days and long, warm nights of carousing by a jukebox with friends.

Here are my seven (this list wears a flannel shirt and should only be listened to on a roadtrip, preferably on a dirt road):

1. The Mountain - Levon Helm (Dirt Farmer)
2. Pullin’ Up the Tracks - Dave Gleason (Midnight California)
3. Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show (O.C.M.S.)
4. Can’t You See - The Marshall Tucker Band (Marshall Tucker Band)
5. Long May You Run - Neil (Decade)
6. Hickory Wind - GP (Sacred Hearts & Fallen Angels)
7. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - Lucinda (Car Wheels on a Gravel Road)

(Cameron Crowe would be upset at me for not having an Elton John song on a roadtrip mix tape: Country Comfort - Elton John (Tumbleweed Connection)

 

Tagged Autumn Blogs Dave Gleason Dirt Roads Elton John Fall Flannel Shirts Gram Parsons Levon Helm Lucinda WIlliams Marshall Tucker Band neil young New Hampshire Old Crow Medicine Show Playlists riffs Tune Tags

Tune Tags: "I'm using some borrowed tunes..." (new feature @ The 6149)

The title to this post contains a reference to a Neil Young song: "Borrowed Tune".  In the song, Ol' Neil talks about how he "borrowed" this song (the melody) from the Rolling Stones (do you now which Stones song he was talking about?).  

I'm borrowing tunes for this blog all the time. Most all of my stories and posts have links to songs.  I have even posted a few stories with hidden playlists embedded in them.  I take some of the bits of the story and hyperlink them to songs that fit. Here is one of the posts with a hidden playlist: Poorman's Podcast: "We gots dat ol' Pioneering Spirit once again..." (plus, a hidden playlist).

Sometimes I offer up playlists to download or that are embedded in the post via music sharing widgets, a la GrooveShark. Here is an example of a post with an embedded playlist, as well as a couple downloadable tracks: Feel Like Goin' Home: a playlist for homesick ramblers....

I take the time to drop tunes into posts so that you get something in return for stopping by The 6149 (thanks). In doing so, I hope to turn you on to new tunes or offer up old favourites to put your ear on. (Faithful readers...does this sound familiar?  The old "Give and Take"?)

Yesterday I was adding a few links to my profile and I paused to re-read it. In it I state:
<blockquote>
"I am a fan of music and all of the sounds and stories that live in the songs...And like the bluesman, country singers and folk troubadours before me, I am pulled by the lure of going around in search of the sounds and to share my own stories."
</blockquote>
It was the last part that got me to thinking; I am not sharing enough sounds...enough music.  At least, I am not making a point of sharing it.

Going forward, at the end of each (non-mobile) posting, I am going to embed a tune or two or a few that somehow relates to the post. This could be a bit of wordplay or it could be thematic based on the post. I am not entirely sure how it will shake out yet, but I'll make 'er work. 

I am calling them: Tune Tags.  Much like tags for blog posts, these will be audio tags. If I feel its warranted, I will drop a bit twitter'esque commentary on each.  You can play along as well. If you want to add a Tune Tag for the post, leave a comment on the post and I'll update the playlist.

A bit gimmicky? Yes. Will it be worth a listen? Yes.  Am I sure?  Yes. Positive.

Here is our first go with Tune Tags.
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Tunes Tags:

Tagged Hidden Playlist Learn Playlists Songs Stories Tune Tags
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