Playlist for 3/27

Grandaddy -  Last Place
Aaron Watson - Vaquero
Marty Stuart - Way Out West
Sunny Sweeney - Trophy
Ed Sheeran - Divide
Thundercat -  Drunk
Khalid - American Teen
Valerie Carter - Just A Stone's Throw Away
Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (Documentary)

Remembering Dad at 84

May Dad passed away in 2008. Today would have been his 84th birthday.


I bought my Dad books for his Birthday.  Usually Military history or Sports ones.  It was fun to go to bookstores (remember them?) and find stuff for him to read.  Yep, I miss those days.  Nowadays, when I see a book he would have been interested in, I pause, and remember his surprised expression when he saw what I got him.

His Birthday comes one month after his passing in February, and a couple of weeks from the date my Mom passed. So, the 2 months are always sentimental to me.

But I loved the man more today than I did when he was alive.  I think that's always the case with loved ones who pass away.  

I'm comforted in knowing that he touched many more lives besides his own family. He was a humble hero, those are the ones I admire most.

"Shoulda Been A Bigger Hit" Poll (2017)

Once again I voted in this poll.  This is from a Facebook group I'm part of called I.R.S. ("It Really Shoulda" been a bigger hit!).  In the past they wanted only songs that missed the Top 10. Now it's any song you think should have charted higher.  But I still like the original concept better.  So, all of my choices below peaked outside the Top 10.  Lists can go up to 100 songs. 

1.  Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
2.  Solitary Man - Neil Diamond
3.  Tiny Dancer - Elton John
4.  Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again - Fortunes
5.  Take It Easy - Eagles
6.  Always and Forever - Heatwave
7.  At Last - Etta James
8.  Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now - McFadden & Whitehead
9.  In The Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
10. I Melt With You -  Modern English
11. I Wanna Be Your Lover - Prince
12. To Love Somebody - Bee Gees
13. Wonderful World - Sam Cooke
14. Baby I Need You Loving - Four Tops
15. I Only Have Eyes For You - Flamingos
16. God Only Knows - Beach Boys
17. This Magic Moment - Drifters
18. Try A Little Tenderness - Otis Redding
19. Way You Do The Things You Do - Temptations
20. Respect Yourself - Staple Singers
21. Ooh Baby Baby - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
22. I'm Every Woman - Chaka Khan
23. Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel - Tavares
24. Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin
25. What I Like About You - Romantics
26. In The Still Of The Nite - Five Satins
27. Don't Make Me Over - Dionne Warwick
28. Sex Machine - James Brown
29. Operator - Jim Croce
30. Holiday - Madonna
31. Disco Inferno - Trammps
32. Tutti-Frutti - Little Richard
33. I Saw Her Standing There - Beatles
34. Since I Don't Have You - Skyliners
35. Reet Petite - Jackie Wilson
36. I Only Want To Be With You - Dusty Springfield
37. Hold On I'm A Comin' - Sam & Dave
38. SOS - Abba
39. By The Time I Get To Phoenix - Glen Campbell
40. Super Freak - Rick James
41. All My Loving  - Beatles
42. In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins
43. Fever - Little Willie John
44. For The Good Times - Ray Price
45. It's A Shame - Spinners
46. Wild Night - Van Morrison
47. Lies - Knickerbockers
48. Treat Me Nice - Elvis Presley
49. Piano Man - Billy Joel
50. Maybe Baby - Buddy Holly
51. Walking In The Rain - Ronettes
52. But It's Alright - J.J. Jackson
53. Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas
54. Sincerely - Moonglows
55. Forget Me Nots - Patrice Rushen
56. So Very Hard To Go - Tower of Power
57. Just What I Needed - Cars
58. Our Lips Are Sealed - Go-Go's
59. River Deep-Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner
60. Love The One You're With - Stephen Stills
61. Wild World - Cat Stevens
62. Listen To The Music - Doobie Brothers
63. Baby I Love Your Way (live) - Peter Frampton
64. Into The Night - Benny Mardones
65. Different Drum - Linda Ronstadt
66. This Old Heart Of Mine - Isley Brothers
67. Wishing You Were Here - Chicago
68. Undun- Guess Who
69. Just Like Me - Paul Revere & The Raiders
70. Faithfully - Journey
71. Free Ride - Edgar Winter Group
72. Time Has Come Today - Chambers Brothers
73. I've Been Lonely Too Long - Rascals
74. Tired Of Being Alone - Al Green
75. You Are My Lady - Freddie Jackson
76. Strange Magic - ELO
77. That's The Way Of The World - Earth, Wind & Fire
78. Games People Play - Joe South
79. Summer Rain - Johnny Rivers
80. One Of A Kind (Love Affair) - Spinners
81. My Mistake - Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye
82. More Today Than Yesterday - Spiral Staircase
83. Let's Spend The Night Together - Rolling Stones
84. Blue Bayou - Roy Orbison
85. Tuesday Afternoon - Moody Blues
86. Steppin' Stone - Monkees
87. So Far Away - Carole King
88. Itchycoo Park - Small Faces
89. Any Day Now - Chuck Jackson
90. People Get Ready - Impressions
91. It's My Life - Animals
92. Let's Have A Party - Wanda Jackson
93. Kentucky Rain - Elvis Presley
94. Killer Queen - Queen
95. I Saw The Light - Todd Rundgren
96. Having A Party - Sam Cooke
97. I'm Into Something Good - Herman's Hermits
98. Oye Como Va - Santana
99. Girl On Fire - Alicia Keys
100. Waiting On The World To Change - John Mayer

Great Chuck Berry Covers

Below are a list of some of my favorite Chuck Berry covers.  Not a definitive list, but just a decent mixture of well-known and somewhat forgotten versions.

Listed in alphabetical order:

Animals - Around and Around
Band - Back To Memphis
Beatles - Rock and Roll Music
Beatles - Roll Over Beethoven
Buck Owens - Johnny B. Goode (live)
Duane Allman - No Money Down
Electric Light Orchestra - Roll Over Beethoven
Elvis Presley - Promised Land
Elvis Presley - Too Much Monkey Business
Emmylou Harris - You Never Can Tell
Ernest Tubb - Thirty Days
Faces - Memphis
George Jones & Johnny Paycheck - Maybelline
Jerry Lee Lewis - Little Queenie
Jimi Hendrix - Johnny B. Goode (live)
Johnny Rivers - Memphis
Kinks - Beautiful Delilah
Lonnie Mack - Memphis
Marty McFly - Johnny B. Goode
Marty Robbins - Maybellene
Mel McDaniel - Let It Roll (Let It Rock)
Peter Tosh - Johnny B. Goode
Rockpile - Oh What A Thrill
Rod Stewart - Sweet Little Rock 'N' Roller
Rolling Stones - Come On
Rolling Stones - Little Queenie (live)

Playlist for 3/19

Miles Davis  -  Bootleg Series Vol. 5
David Axelrod -  Songs of Innocence
David Axelrod - Songs of Experience
Electric Prunes - Release of An Oath
Electric Prunes - Mass In F Minor
Snarky Puppy - Culcha Vulcha
Robert Randolph Band - Got Soul
Little Big Town - Breaker
Peabo Bryson - Reaching For The Sky
Peabo Bryson - Crosswinds
Junie Morrison - Bread Alone

RIP Chuck Berry (+ My 30 Favorite Chuck Berry Songs)

He was a Founding Father of Rock and Roll.  Part of the first class of Rock Hall inductees.  Along with Leiber & Stoller, Chuck Berry was one of the first great songwriters who wrote the book on Rock and Roll songwriting.
The first time I heard Chuck Berry was in Germany, 1971.  My Dad, who was stationed overseas at the time bought San Francisco Dues, a brand new Chuck Berry album.  Few people have heard this album.  It came out a year before Chuck's big comeback with his only #1 hit, the novelty "My Ding-A-Ling".  For years this was the only Berry album I heard, and "My Ding-A-Ling"  one I remembered hearing a lot, growing up listening to AM Top 40 radio stations.  In light of Chuck's passing I listened to San Francisco Dues again, and while not a classic, it's a fond childhood memory.   Years later when I began to immerse myself in Rock history, I began to understand the impact a Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, etc., had on the music I loved at that moment.

Here are my 30 favorite Chuck Berry tracks:
1.  Johnny B. Goode
2.  Roll Over Beethoven
3.  Rock and Roll Music
4.  You Never Can Tell
5.  Maybellene
6.  No Particular Place To Go
7.  School Day
8.  Little Queenie
9.  Memphis, Tennessee
10.  Back In The U.S.A.
11. Sweet Little Sixteen
12. Promised Land
13. Havana Moon
14. Thirty Days
15.  Reelin' and Rockin'
16.  Downbound Train
17.  Bye Bye Johnny
18.  Carol
19.  Too Much Monkey Business
20.  Almost Grown
21.  Nadine
22.  Run Rudolph Run
23.  Around and Around
24.  You Can't Catch Me
25.  Tulane
26.  Let It Rock
27,  Have Mercy Judge
28.  Wee Wee Hours
29.  I Want To Be Your Driver
30.  Bordeaux In My Pirough

Current TV Shows I Watch (Updated Winter 2017)

Shows I watch:
Not in any order.  Updated for Winter 2017.
Only listing current shows that are still on the air.

30 for 30
3%

Affair

American Pickers

Americans

Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown
Atlanta

Austin City Limits
A Word  (UK)

Ballers
Baskets
Better Things
Big Interview w/Dan Rather

Black Mirror

Black Sails

Bloodline

Broad City

Casual

Catastrophe
Chef's Table
Chewing Gum

Conan
Cooked
Crown

Daredevil

Deadbeat

Deutschland 83
Difficult People
Documentary Now

Episodes
Fall (UK)
Fear The Walking Dead

Flash
Fleabag  (UK)
Frontier

Frontline

Game of Thrones
Get Down

Girls
Gomorrah (Italy)

Grace and Frankie
Graham Norton Show
Grantchester

High Maintenance

Hinterland  (UK)

Homeland
Horace and Pete

House of Cards

Humans

Independent Lens
Indian Summers
Iron Fist
Jessica Jones

Knick
Lady Dynamite

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Later with Jools Holland

Little Couple

Live from Daryl's House

Longmire
Love
Luke Cage
Man In The High Castle
Marcella  (UK)

Marco Polo

Master of None
Mercy Street

Mindy Project

Mozart In The Jungle
Narcos

New Girl
O.C.
One Mississippi

Orange Is The New Black

Orphan Black

Outlander

Path
Poldark  (UK)
POV

Please Like Me

Portlandia
Preacher

Ray Donovan

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel

Real Time with Bill Maher
Santa Clarita Diet

Saturday Night Live
Schitt's Creek
Series of Unfortunate Events

Shameless

Sherlock

Silicon Valley

Sleepy Hollow

So You Think You Can Dance

Strain
Stranger Things

Transparent
Tunnel  (UK)

Turn

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Veep

Vice
Vice Principals

Vikings
Voice

Walking Dead
Young Pope

Playlist for 3/15

Perkins/Lewis/Orbison/Cash - Class of '55
Cash/Lewis/Perkins - Survivors
Del Shannon - Drop Down and Get Me
Del Shannon - Rock On
Phil Ochs - I Ain't Marching Anymore
Jens Lekman -  Life Will See You Now
Jens Lekman -  When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog
Jens Lekman -  Night Falls Over Kortedala
Jens Lekman -  An Argument With Myself
Jens Lekman - Oh You're So Silent Jens
Alison Krauss - Windy City

Mom 3 Years Later

My Mom passed away on March 14th, 2014.  Mom's are special. They are the ones you fall back on when you are having a rough time.  They give you a smile, a hug and a kiss and you feel like all your burdens are lifted.

My own Mom was like this.  As the year's went by and her health worsened, the fragility of life began to show in her face.  Always a proud German, she never liked to complain about anything that was bothering her.  She was more concerned with what was bothering her own family. She passed at the age of 84.  But while her body weakened, she was still strong mentally.  Some people have told me she lived a good, long life. And she's reunited with my Dad, who death she never recovered from. But I still say she was too young to die.

This is what you miss when your parents die.  While they are alive you always have that comfort of a parent to fall back on.
Now I'm not truly on my own.  A wonderful wife, son, and many relatives.  But my parents are gone. And it doesn't matter how many years have passed, that comforting shadow is no longer there.  But they are always in my heart.  Every day.

Missing Songs From "Tracks Of My Life" Spotify Playist

Below are songs that aren't on Spotify, but if they were, would be on my Tracks Of My Life playlist. That playlist contains songs, some popular, others more obscure, that have meant something to me at one point or another in my life.  Some of the missing songs below might appear on other streaming sites (and you can find them on YouTube),  but for Playlists, Spotify is still king.  And my playlist has to contain the original recordings.  No remakes.

This list will continue to be updated as I find more missing songs:

Bob James -  Angela (Theme From Taxi)  (Album cut, 1978)
Bob Seger - Mainstreet  (#24, 1977)
Carl Perkins - Birth Of Rock and Roll  (#31 Country, 1986)
Def Leppard - Photograph (#12, 1983)
Eddie Rabbitt - Repetitive Regret  (#4 Country, 1986)
Joe Sun - Old Flames Can't Hold A Candle To You  (#14 Country, 1978)
John Valenti - Anything You Want  (#37, 1976)
KLF w/Tammy Wynette - Justified and Ancient  (#11, 1992)
Lucinda Williams - Side of the Road  (Album cut, 1988)
Michael McDonald - Sweet Freedom  (#7, 1986)
Mighty Clouds Of Joy - Mighty High  (#22 R&B, 1976)
Ollie & Jerry -  Breakin' ... There's No Stopping Us  (#9, 1984)
Osmonds - Chilly Winds (Album cut, 1971)
Pake McEntire - Savin' My Love For You  (#3 Country, 1986)
Sweet Sensation - Sad Sweet Dreamer  (#14, 1975)
Tom Jones - Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow   (#15 Pop, #1 Country 1977)

Playlist for 3/9

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Gesang Der Junglinge: Kontakte
Ballad of Mott the Hoople (Documentary)
Oasis:Supersonic (Documentary)
Ticket To Write: Golden Age of Rock Music Journalism  (Documentary)
Japandroids - Near To The Wild Heart of Life
Classic Rock Presents Alternative 80's Mixtape:Cherry Red Sampler - Various
Whitney Rose - South Texas Suite
Beth Hart - Fire On The Floor

Playlist for 3/1

Roches - s/t
Roches - Nurds
Roches - Keep On Doing
Roches - Another World
Roches - Speak
Roches - A Dove
Ryan Adams - Prisoner
Tift Merritt - Stitch of the World
Natalie Hemby - Puxico
Stylistics - Rockin' Roll Baby
Stylistics - Heavy
Hamilton Mixtape - Various