Bob Dylan 85 Years Old

   Back in 2014, I participated in an online poll ranking Bob Dylan's songs/albums/cover versions by other artists.  Now on his 85th birthday I'm gonna repost my rankings.  I've decided to keep the rankings as they were originally published.  Maybe on his 90th birthday, I'll update it.

Songs

1.  Like A Rolling Stone

2.  Positively 4th Street

3.  Tangled Up In Blue

4.  Knockin' On Heaven's Door

5.  Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

6.  Lay Lady Lay

7.  Masters of War

8.  Subterranean Homesick Blues

9. Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

10.  It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding

11. Highway 61 Revisited

12. Shelter From The Storm

13. I Want You

14. Ballad of A Thin Man

15. It Ain't Me Babe

16. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere

17. Mr. Tambourine Man

18. Blowin' In The Wind

19. Maggie's Farm

20. Just Like A Woman

21. I Shall Be Released

22. All I Really Want To Do

23. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

24. If Not For You

25. All Along The Watchtower

26. Visions of Johanna

27. Stuck Inside of Memphis

28. Love Minus Zero/No Limit

29. My Back Pages

30. Tombstone Blues

31. Simple Twist of Fate

32. Tomorrow Is A Long Time

33. Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll

34. She Belongs To Me

35. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome

36. Chimes of Freedom

37. Desolation Row

38. Blind Willie McTell

39. To Ramona

40. Gotta Serve Somebody

41. Brownsville Girl

42. Times They Are A-Changin'

43. Tight Connection To My Heart

44. Dirty World

45. Things Have Changed

46. Hurricane

47. Forever Young

48. Tweeter and the Monkey Man

49. Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35

50. Isis

Top 20 Albums

1.  Highway 61 Revisited

2.  Blonde On Blonde

3.  Blood on the Tracks

4.  Another Side of Bob Dylan

5.  Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

6.  John Wesley Harding

7.  Basement Tapes

8.  Bringing It All Back Home

9.  Love and Theft

10. Nashville Skyline

11. Desire

12. New Morning

13. Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Live 1966)

14. Times They Are A-Changin'

15. Slow Train Coming

16. Time Out Of Mind

17. Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3

18. Modern Times

19. Before The Flood

20. Bob Dylan s/t (1962)

Covers by Other Artists

1.  All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

2.  Mr. Tambourine Man - Byrds

3.  Tomorrow Is A Long Time - Elvis Presley

4.  I Shall Be Released - Band

5.  You Ain't Going Nowhere - Byrds

6.  If Not For You - George Harrison

7.  It Ain't Me Babe - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash

8.  Blowin' In The Wind - Stevie Wonder

9.  It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - Them

10. Mighty Quinn  - Manfred Mann

11. Tomorrow Is A Long Time - Rod Stewart

12. She Belongs To Me - Ricky Nelson

13. Emotionally Yours - O'Jays

14. Make You Feel My Love - Adele

15. Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Warren Zevon

16. Highway 61 Revisited (Live 30th Anniversary) - Johnny Winter

17. Absolutely Sweet Marie - Jason & The Scorchers

18. All I Really Want To Do - Byrds

19. Tears of Rage - Band

20. Masters of War (Live 30th Anniversary) - Eddie Vedder 

Playlist for 5/15

Kacey Musgraves - Middle of Nowhere 

Ringo Starr - Long Long Road

Band of Heathens - Country Sides

Black Crowes - A Pound of Feathers 

Lemon Twigs - Look For Your Mind

Tedeschi Trucks Band - Future Soul 

Luke Combs - The Way I Am 

New Pornographers - Former Site of

Ranking: Songs from Billy Joel - The Stranger

  It took Billy Joel 3 albums on Columbia before number four broke him in a big way.  Today The Stranger is a diamond selling album.  Its fate when first released in 1977 was far away from those sales projections.  But the lead single, "Just the Way You Are" peaked at #3 and the album had three more top 40 singles.  The momentum carried over in to 1978 when 52nd Street became his first number one album.  Never a critics favorite, Joel's music was often dismissed by critic during his peak as slight.  But listeners, including me, disagreed.  The Stranger remains my favorite Billy Joel album.

1.  Only The Good Die Young

2.  Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)

3.  Just The Way You Are

4.  Vienna

5.  Songs From An Italian Restaurant

6.  She's Always A Woman

7.  The Stranger

8.  Get It Right the First Time

9.  Everybody Has A Dream

Best Mother's Day Songs

Updated for 2026

When most people think of Mother's Day songs, sentimentality usually wins out.  I've got a few of those listed below, but also some that avoid the teardrops.
                                                                                                                                             

Anais Mitchell - Little Big Girl

Anthony Hamilton - Mama Knew Love

Beatles - Julia
Bill Anderson - Mama Sang A Song

Boyz II Men - Song For Mama

Brandi Carlile - The Mother

Bruce Springsteen - Wish
Carrie Underwood - Mama's Song
Dolly Parton - Coat Of Many Colors
Electric Light Orchestra - Mama
Elvis Presley - Mama Liked The Roses
Gerry Rafferty - Mary Skeffington
Gregory Porter - Mother's Song
Intruders - I'll Always Love My Mama
Jamie O'Neal - Somebody's Hero
Judds - Mama He's Crazy

John Lennon - Mother

Joni Mitchell - Little Green

Junior - Mama Used To Say

Kacey Musgraves - Mother

Lefty Frizzell - Mom and Dad's Waltz

Lenny Kravitz - Thinking Of You

Linda Ronstadt - Sweetest Gift
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man
Merle Haggard - Mama Tried
Miracles - Shop Around
Miranda Lambert - Mama's Broken Heart
Outkast - She's Alive
Paul Simon - Loves Me Like A Rock
Pink Floyd - Mother

Randy Travis - Angels

Romy - Enjoy Your Life

Ruth Brown - Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean
Shirelles - Mama Said
Sizzla - Thank U Mamma
2Pac - Dear Mama
Spinners - Sadie
Sufjan Stevens - Fourth Of July
Taylor Swift - Best Day

Playlist for 4/30

Black America sings Stevie Wonder - Various

Wednesday Morning 6AM-Radio Hits from the Small Hours 70-83 - Various

Mitski - Nothing's About to Happen to Me

Iron & Wine - Hen's Teeth

Delines - The Set Up

Johnny Blue Skies/Sturgill Simpson - Mutiny After Midnight

Harry Styles - Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally 

Poll: April 1968 Songs

   April 1968.  I'm a month away from turning four years old.  I don't think I remember these songs from that month.  But artists?  The Beatles, Monkees for sure.  

Pop Radio Gold

"(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay", Otis Redding : 1
"Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing", Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell : 2
"La-La Means I Love You", Delfonics : 3
"Tighten Up", Archie Bell & the Drells : 4
"Mrs. Robinson", Simon & Garfunkel : 5
"Dance To The Music", Sly & the Family Stone : 6
"The Good, The Bad & The Ugly", Hugo Montenegro & His Orchestra : 7
"Cry Like A Baby", Box Tops : 8
"Lady Madonna", Beatles : 9
"I Thank You", Sam & Dave : 10
"A Beautiful Morning", Rascals : 11
"Scarborough Fair / (Canticle)", Simon & Garfunkel : 12
"Love Is Blue", Paul Mauriat : 13
"Valleri", Monkees : 14
"Cowboys To Girls", Intruders : 15
"Do You Know The Way To San Jose", Dionne Warwick : 16
"Just Dropped In (To See What Condition...)", First Edition (Kenny Rogers) : 17
"Jennifer Juniper", Donovan : 18
"Love Is All Around", Troggs : 19
"(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone", Aretha Franklin : 20
"Take Time To Know Her", Percy Sledge : 21
"Summertime Blues", Blue Cheer : 22
"MacArthur Park", Richard Harris : 23
"If You Can Want", Smokey Robinson & the Miracles : 24
"Sweet Inspiration", Sweet Inspirations : 25
"The Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo)", Manfred Mann : 26
"Simon Says", 1910 Fruitgum Co. : 27
"Honey", Bobby Goldsboro : 28
"Forever Came Today", Diana Ross & the Supremes : 29
"Soul Serenade", Willie Mitchell : 30
"I Got The Feelin'", James Brown & the Famous Flames : 31
"The Unicorn", Irish Rovers : 32
"(Theme From) Valley Of The Dolls", Dionne Warwick : 33
"Kiss Me Goodbye", Petula Clark : 34
"Playboy", Gene & Debbe : 35
"Young Girl", Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett : 36
"The Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde", Georgie Fame : 37

RIP Prince 10th Anniversary

  I wrote this piece two days after Prince died on April 21, 2016. 

 Prince's albums up until the mid-90's are uniformly strong.  As the 2000's were ushered in, Prince's records all had a few good cuts, but were lacking the originality we came to expect from his classic years. 

So, my own list is top heavy with the classic stuff.

Essential
Dirty Mind
1999
Purple Rain
Parade
Sign O' The Times

Every music fan should have the above 5 in their collection.  These are Prince's best albums and show his depth better than anything:  Funk, Rock, Pop, Soul, Gospel and any other genre he was inventing.

Very Good
Controversy
Around The World In A Day
Lovesexy
Diamonds and Pearls
Love Symbol Album
Gold Experience
Emancipation
Black Album

Controversy followed Dirty Mind in 1981 and was seen as being less daring than that album, but still has some great moments.  Same fate for Around The World In A Day which followed Purple Rain. But today it stands as a neat stylistic departure.   Lovesexy from 1988, had a great, overlooked hit "Alphabet Street".  Diamonds and Pearls (1991) was sort of a comeback album chartwise, as it was released after the terrible movie Graffiti Bridge.  It has Prince's last #1 single, "Cream". The Love Symbol Album followed and was one of his funkiest albums. Gold Experience contains Prince's last big Top 40 hit, the #3 "Most Beautiful Girl In The World".   Both it and Emancipation released in the mid-90's and kind of forgotten today. Finally, the Black Album, recorded in 1987 but not released until 1994 was to be the followup to Sign O' The Times but shelved at the last minute.  It became a big bootleg album for years.  It's a good album, not a classic, but full of odd songs.

Good
Batman 
Graffiti Bridge
Prince (1979)
Crystal Ball
Chaos and Disorder
Musicology
3121
Art Official Age

If some of the titles don't seem obscure to you, then you are as much a die-hard as me.  For most, a lot of these were completely forgotten by even curious Prince fans. The latest album on this list is 2014's Art Official Age.  I'm kind of fond of the Batman album.  All have their moments, and again I hope someone compiles a latter day Prince compilation.

Greatest Hits Sets
Hits/B-Sides  (1993)
Very Best Of  (2001)
Ultimate  (2006)
4Ever (2016)

4Ever was released after Prince died and is the best of the bunch, even though it stops at 1993.  None of the others contain anything post-1993.  Very Best Of is a single disc, Hits/B-Sides a triple and Ultimate/4Ever are double discs.  Ultimate has a few 12" mixes for collectors.