This “extraterrestrial folk song” from Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s 1978 tour and resultant 1979 “Rust Never Sleeps” album really hits my sweet spot. The song was recorded live at The Cow Palace in San Francisco, like most of the tracks from the “Rust” collection. It has a haunting chord progression with a prickly guitar […]
Song Of The Day – “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive ” by Johnny Mercer
With a resume that includes writing the lyrics to some of the greatest songs of the 20th century including “Goody Goody,” “I’m An Old Cowhand,” “Too Marvelous For Words,” “Hooray For Hollywood,” “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby,” “Jeepers Creepers,” “And The Angels Sing,” “Sweet Georgia Brown,” “G.I. Jive,” “Day In Day Out,” “I […]
Song Of The Day – “Streamline” by Artie Shaw
“Benny Goodman played clarinet, I played music.” Such was the animosity between the two main clarinet-playing band leaders during the height of the big band era. While both musicians were exemplary, Artie Shaw was far more inventive in his soloing, composition style, use of instrumentation and crucially, in the arena of arrangements. Shaw held a […]
Song Of The Day – “When I’m President” by Ian Hunter & The Rant Band
Ian Hunter is making records today that stand ever so tall in a catalog that includes classics by Mott The Hoople and solo staples like his eponymously titled debut album from 1975 and 1979’s classic “You’re Never Alone With A Schizophrenic.” Hunter and his current Rant Band have been on a roll releasing several stellar […]
Song Of The Day – “Hard Hard Year” by The Messengers
I’ve been listening to late ‘60s Garage Rock all day via an exceptional compilation of tracks originally released on the U.S.A. and Destination record labels out of Chicago. U.S.A. is known to most as the label that released The Buckingham’s classic chart-topping 1967 single “Kind Of A Drag.” Sundazed Records, a collector’s label that specializes […]
Song Of The Day – “Mulberry” by Yoko Ono, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore
Yoko Ono — You either love her, or you so totally loathe her that you can barely put your hate into words. As for me, I think she’s about as original and daring as they come…in the best way possible. Yoko, of course, was the Fluxus artist who married John Lennon and got a raw […]
Song Of The Day – “Who Wants Ice Cream” by Ravi Coltrane
In 1965, while John Coltrane was giving birth to his masterpiece “A Love Supreme,” his wife Alice was giving birth to their son Ravi. Sure, it’s in the blood…and it can’t be easy being a Jazz saxophonist whose father was a legend, but throughout the years, Ravi Coltrane has steadily carved out his own space […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Get It Together” by James Brown
For the past ten years, my Christmas Eve and Christmas morning has meant the organizing, staffing and managing of homeless shelters throughout the Northern Lake County area of Illinois. My main goal on this special day is to ensure that the shelter guests have a peaceful and memorable holiday centered on a meal with all the […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Salt Peanuts” by Dizzy Gillespie and his Orchestra
Like the Rock and Roll that sprang from its loins, this new form of off-the-chart Jazz called Be Bop from the mid-1940s captured the imagination of the youth of America and positively terrified its parents. Not only was the music primarily an African American form, but hep cats known as “Bird” (Charlie Parker) and “Diz” […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Jack’s Lament” by Danny Elfman from “Nightmare Before Chiristmas”
Halloween is in the air…and so is the greatest Halloween and Christmas film ever made! Tim Burton’s “Nightmare Before Christmas” has become a modern-day classic. The film had a ten-year gestation period and was released in October of 1993. The soundtrack was composed and mostly performed by Danny Elfman, who was a member of the […]
