Guilty, With An Explanation

Maybe my ten best song list should be explained a little. We all have our biases.

There are a few songwriters that I feel guilty for omitting. Rosanne Cash. Bacharach & David. Warren Zevon. Becker & Fagen. Hank Williams. Brian Wilson. Richard Thompson. Steve Forbert. Juliana Hatfield.

There are a few songwriters that I don't feel guilty omitting. Many largely due to lyrical faculty, or [as in the case of Neil Young], their inability to create music with wit or effervescence to it. Same goes for Elvis Costello, who just seems to exude too many calories, you know, as if the effort and the end result were the same thing.

There are a few songwriters that I feel guilty including on the list, because their high points were/are so few. But genius is undeniable.

If you think I'm saying that Juliana Hatfield is a better songwriter than Elvis Costello, you're right.

Judy, Judy, Judy

I am too obsessed with music. I spent 45 minutes yesterday reading Judy Henske's website, and then clicking over to her ex-husband Jerry Yester's website. I did love the interview with her on her fan site, especially Judy's repeated praise of fallen hero, the late Zal Yanovsky [orig. member of the Lovin' Spoonful] as having "the juice." As in, he had "the juice." Well, she was always known for being a bit salacious.

Here's the quote, just too good to link to:

"Zalman had this dark juice all the time, and he was just fabulous. He was a real rock'n'roller, stuck in that funny little feel-good group. He was bad, Zalman was. He's so interesting. He had all the juice, and the rest of 'em were just this cute guy group. But Zalman had the juice. His father was a famous communist cartoonist, you know that?"

Just check out the Shel Silverstein-penned liner notes to her second seminal record, the one some people claim begat folk rock [apologies to Jackie DeShannon, I suppose. Or the Springfields].

Sorry, it now seems that I have dragged you, the gentle reader, into my dark obsession. That started when I was merely 9 or 10 years old. We'll go into that later.

Ten Big Ones

My ten favorite songs.

This is an important list, and let's define the terms here. We're talking about the best songs, not the best records or performances. Otherwise, you know ... Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder would win everything.

We're talking songs. Songs, that even when you just read them on the page, hear them as instrumentals, the thought of them inspires the awe that is incumbent when one is in the presence of great art. You get it!

So let's begin.

Let's knock out an easy one to start with [these are in no particular order]:

Desperados Waiting For A Train by Guy Clark [1975]

Papa Was A Rolling Stone by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong [1971]

Red Vines by Aimee Mann [2000]

Nighttime by Alex Chilton [1974]

Wichita Lineman by Jimmy Webb [1968]

Hidden Love by Peter Case [1989]

First Steps by Tommy Stinson [1993]

Jokerman by Bob Dylan [1983]

Revelator by Gillian Welch [2001]

Don't It Make You Want To Go Home by Joe South [1968]

Radio Idiots

Listened to Mason & Ireland yesterday [Los Angeles radio duo on AM 710, ostensibly it is a sports show], which as usual was a total mistake [because they are idiots. At least Mason is.]

But my justification was I WAS A HOSTAGE IN MY OWN CAR. I had to listen to something. But they were discussing "hot women over 40." And first of all, they had no concept of how old anyone was ... they were totally unprepared for the discussion. [They did correctly name only women, to their credit.] As usual, they were winging it. And badly.

But they did come up with the usual suspects, and a few odd ducks. Annette Bening [hot for over 50, they said.] Christie Brinkley. Teri Hatcher. Diane Lane. Demi Moore [who, as I was just discussing the other day, was only hot for about 10 minutes when she was 22. Let's not confuse "in great shape" for "hot." Let's face it, Aston Kutcher has a prettier face than she ever did.] Diane Keaton [smokin' hot for 60, according to Steve Mason, a man who will make no one forget Oscar Levant.] Sally Kirkland, age 62, got a mention. But we won't go into that here.

What I most object to was the reaction [laughter and derision] of the two at the mention of Ms. Fran Drescher's name. Ms. Drescher, who just turned 49, was hot, is hot, and may only be getting hotter. The deal she cut with El Diablo has not been as yet revealed, but for the LOVE OF MIKE, she singes all within 30 yards! Check her out. All men who scoff at her hotness must report to me for a brutal beating.

Enough of that. It feels good to blog again.