Audience participation! Musically!
I was involved in an interesting conversation on Saturday night at Flickr, and Blake managed to capture part of it at the end of this post. So, first, hats off to Kelly Girtz for giving Public Enemy props.
Blake and I agreed that Illmatic by Nas was one of the greatest rap albums of all time, though he and Martin both felt that Tupac was vastly overrated. Needless to say, I couldn't continue much more in a rational manner after that.
I did happen to witness the following exchange, however ...
Martin: I'm a Chubb Rock apologist.
Blake: That's a pretty severe position to take.
Why do I mention such randomness? Good question. Namely because I want you to consider this - if you had to pick only 10 songs you could listen to for the rest of your life, what would they be? What 10 songs could you not live without?
And, I'm serious ... I want audience participation here. Post in the comments. Write it up at your own blog and let me know.
My list? I'm glad you asked. Though, as with most musical lists, it's in no particularl order and always subject to change ...
Long Time Gone by Dixie Chicks
Are You Sure Hank Done It That Way by Waylon Jennings
Atlantic City by Bruce Springsteen
Cocaine Blues by Johnny Cash
Something In The Way She Moves by James Taylor
Miss Grace by The Thymes
Elsewhere by Sarah McLachlan
The Only One (Remix) or The Only One by Evanescence
To Live And Die In L.A. by Tupac
Rabbit Run by Eminem
Blake and I agreed that Illmatic by Nas was one of the greatest rap albums of all time, though he and Martin both felt that Tupac was vastly overrated. Needless to say, I couldn't continue much more in a rational manner after that.
I did happen to witness the following exchange, however ...
Martin: I'm a Chubb Rock apologist.
Blake: That's a pretty severe position to take.
Why do I mention such randomness? Good question. Namely because I want you to consider this - if you had to pick only 10 songs you could listen to for the rest of your life, what would they be? What 10 songs could you not live without?
And, I'm serious ... I want audience participation here. Post in the comments. Write it up at your own blog and let me know.
My list? I'm glad you asked. Though, as with most musical lists, it's in no particularl order and always subject to change ...
Long Time Gone by Dixie Chicks
Are You Sure Hank Done It That Way by Waylon Jennings
Atlantic City by Bruce Springsteen
Cocaine Blues by Johnny Cash
Something In The Way She Moves by James Taylor
Miss Grace by The Thymes
Elsewhere by Sarah McLachlan
The Only One (Remix) or The Only One by Evanescence
To Live And Die In L.A. by Tupac
Rabbit Run by Eminem
posted by Jmac at 7:28 AM
20 Comments:
Hmmmm -- I must think on this and post it at my blagh. I do agree that Cocaine Blues by Cash is super-fantastic. I like Hank III's version, too. I tried to find a good compilation of Cash's music, but I couldn't find one with CB on it. I did find a box set that has a ton of good tunes on it, but it was a bit pricey-er than I would have liked.
In other news, Bly got me a Johnny Cash t-shirt for Christmas and it rocks. It looks especially good with my dark blue jeans and hand-tooled leather belt with the large rectangle belt buckle featuring a bucking bull. I'm serious about all of that.
Ice Cube - Death Certificate is the best rap album ever.
I must think on this and post it at my blagh. I do agree that Cocaine Blues by Cash is super-fantastic.
Best line - 'When I was arrested, I was dressed in black.'
Regarding your other news ... awesome. That has to become your daily outfit when you interact with patients.
It's hard to just choose 10 songs actually.
I mean, I left off Highwayman by The Highwaymen.
I was and still am a big fan of the album so I don't think I could just pick a mish-mash of 10 songs from differnt artists. Bands/Performers choose the songs on an album for a reason, maybe the songs tell a story, maybe the artist is moving in a different direction musically and the album represents that, only no one would ever know it if they only listened to one song. This is why I am anti-IPod, no one listens to albums anymore they just pick and choose a handful of singles and listen to them in some random mashed up order which effectively kills the album.
But I digress...so if I had to pick one album I couldn't live without I would go wtih Document by R.E.M., sorry for the long winded, fun-sucking response.
I did this about two years ago, with a list of 50, which you can find here. I think it's still relatively accurate.
The music industry has been doing their best to kill the album for a while now. pop music for a long time has been a few singles with a bunch of filler. Napster opened the floodgates on the singles, and itunes then legitimized the idea.
Anyways though, jmac we must have similar taste in country, cause I thought of the highwaymen too. I could never pick just ten songs though, it's too few.
The music industry has been doing their best to kill the album for a while now.
Um, why? Isn't that how they make most of their money? Getting you to buy a bunch of inferior product because you want the good stuff that's included with it?
I suppose the album is different depending on what genre you are listening to....I can see why you wouldn't want to buy an Ashley Simpson or Justin Timberlake album because most would just be buying it for one single but then get saddled with Justin's spoken word ode to the majestic dolphin that was ripped straight from his 9th grade diary along with it.
Anyways though, jmac we must have similar taste in country, cause I thought of the highwaymen too.
What's funny is that I'm really not that big of a country fan. I can't stand today's pop country (though ... I'm ashamed to admit that Here For The Party by Gretchen Wilson is kinda catchy), and my likes are kinda restricted to Waylon Jennings, Shooter Jennings, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, the Dixie Chicks and then a bunch of random songs by random folks.
Yeah, it was Hillary, but that's why napster and itunes blew the whole scheme wide open, cause they allowed people to bypass the filler. It wasn't a deliberate effort by the industry, just a side effect, is what i'm getting at.
I try to listen to albums as much as I can though, rather than singles. It helps when you don't listen to pop music though.
jmac, I agree about new country crossover being crap, but you should check out the late 80s/early 90s, back in the time of Hank Jr. and Garth Brooks (before he became a weirdo). That was a good time for country, even though it wasn't exactly pure country like Cash or Waylon Jennings or such. I think it's a litmus test of being a southerner though that you listen to at least some country.
Are you saying Ice Cube isn't pop music? Or R.E.M.?
I think we can listen to both albums and singles, interchangeably, depending on whether or not they're good.
On a related note, am I not going to get any crap over how white my list of songs is?
There were a good portion of Beach Boy- and Beatles-esque music on there.
Of course! Because that stuff is good. There's also a fair amount of the punk rock, which is possibly even whiter.
Re: iPods. I loves my iPod and I still tend to buy full albums from iTunes. I agree with Tim about albums listening -- it's a whole product (or should be).
I don't think I've bought any single songs on iTunes in the four years I've been using it (maybe a handful over the years)! If anything, I think it helps the musicians who are trying to make albums because it makes them make the entire album good so people will buy each song instead of just one or two good songs -- it used to be that having three good songs out of 12 would make people buy an entire album at Best Buy, but now it's not the case. So, whole albums have to be good now. Unless a band is ok with mediocrity.
I do listen to random rap songs without buying the album (too many skits or crap songs), as well as radio singles from the likes of Timberlake and others of his ilk. Although, Timberlake has gotten much much better lately. I have an irrational like for him. I do not tolerate Fergie, though.
breaking all the rules and restrictions in a very OLD SCHOOL kinda way:
1) Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix (and every other cover I've heard of it)
2) "Whiter Shade of Pale" - Procol Harum and NO other covers of it (honorable mention to "Memorial Drive")
3) "On the Turning Away" - Pink Floyd and Richie Havens versions
4) "Rough Night in Jericho" - Dreams So Real (I'm voting mostly for the song but also for the entire album by the same name)
5) "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" - Bruce Cockburn
6) Every song ever written by Warren Zevon
7) "Voice of Harold" - R.E.M.
about 90% of everything released on the Motown label before it moved to L.A.
every song ever written by God (I mean, Neil Young, of course)
Modern Skirts - the entire Catalog of Generous Men album
Randall Bramblett - every song ever recorded
Jack Logan - the entire album "Bulk"
There are a few more Honorable Mentions but, you really can't do better than this list, I think.
Al
P.S. Sorry about the Beatles - I liked all of it but I couldn't put it in my Top Ten;
Q: How the hell could you put ANY rap or hip hop song into your all-time Top Ten?! Makes no sense to me at all.
Al, don't make me get started on the inane beauty of rap. It's urban story-telling at its finest.
Plus you've got to separate 'pop/dance' rap from other types. Not that the latter isn't catchy in its own right, but they're fundamentally different forms of music.
hehehe....I just threw that in there to see if I could get a rise out of you. ;-)
Sorry, that was only slightly out of character for me but it was really just a friendly poke in the ribs for you.
I know lots of folks see rap the same as cowboy poetry and other kinds of culture-based art. I don't really dislike rap/hip-hop/urban music at all - not my thing but I don't spend any energy on hating it. But, honestly, I don't think it will hold up to the "30-40 year test" like, for instance, the Beatles or Motown or Hendrix.
BTW - thanks for giving me a pass on busting the whole format of what you were asking for, here!
Al
Well, Johnathan cares about the lyrics. I like the pop rap a lot, and I do think it'll hold up. Not all of it, but a comparable percentage to any other field of music. Ass-shakingness is underrated as a measure of longevity in music.
Hillary says "Ass-shakingness is underrated as a measure of longevity in music."
I can't argue with that. Good point!
I'm a lyrics guy, too. When it comes to story telling, it's hard to beat the likes of Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, T-bone Burnett, Randy Newman, Willie, Waylon, Johnny Cash, and a host of others that I didn't list the first time. Looking back at my list, not only is mine pretty "white", it's also pretty male which is kinda weird for me because I really like and listen to, a ton of female singers and songwriters...wonder why none of them came to mind? I honestly don't know. I could start listing some but I've already used up more than my quota. (no pun intended)
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