The Now Playing Thread

[R_of_G]

I'll dedicate this one to any Fretters who have been or are about to be affected by the storm.
Definitely my favorite of the hundreds of great versions of this song...

[Tig***]

Etta James - Blues to the Bone


Tom Waits - Rain Dogs


Tom Waits - Blood Money

[R_of_G]

Etta James - Blues to the Bone[/IMG]
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs[/IMG]
Tom Waits - Blood Money

Nice trifecta right there.

My favorite female singer and two great Waits albums.

Rain Dogs which exists in a perpetual tie with Miles' In a Silent Way at the top of my all time list. It's too difficult to choose between them because both mean so much to me for completely different reasons.

But, if the question was favorite rock/pop album of all time it'd be Rain Dogs by a ridiculously wide margin. It was the album that introduced me not only to Waits but to Ribot. Quantifying that influence is an impossibility.

Blood Money is another excellent Waits project. It's quite dark but that's one of the things Waits does best. It's twin-sister album Alice is also quite good and stylistically similar. I call them twins because both were released on the same day and both are soundtracks to collaborations Waits did with director Robert Wilson.

In fact, as I was about to put music on anyway...

NP:

[R_of_G]

[Tig***]

I remember my Dad liking Tom Waits back in the late 70's, early 80's. Heartattack and Vine brings back memories.

I can't say that I'm a huge fan, mostly due to the "loose gravel" vocals in some songs. I like the smoother cookie monster Tom more. What I really love is the style his music is saturated in. It varies, but I like the old burlesque, off beat feeling. The lyrics are clever, fun, dark, and interesting.

[Tig***]

More of the above, plus
Smithereens - God Save The Smithereens


Smithereens - 11

[R_of_G]

Have you heard the Smithereens' Meet the Smithereens album? It's a cover album of Meet the Beatles and very well done.

My wife and I sat next to Pat DiNizio on a plane a few years back. That was a fun flight.

[Tig***]

Have you heard the Smithereens' Meet the Smithereens album? It's a cover album of Meet the Beatles and very well done.

My wife and I sat next to Pat DiNizio on a plane a few years back. That was a fun flight.

I was wondering how that album turned out. I'm amazed how good they can sound.

That had to be a cool flight!

[R_of_G]

I was wondering how that album turned out. I'm amazed how good they can sound.

That had to be a cool flight!

The album is awesome. They really worked very hard to get the harmonies right (essential for Beatles' covers) and presented each song in a way that very much honored the original while still sounding like the Smithereens.

DiNizio and fellow Smithereen Dennis Diken were on NPR's "Fresh Air" in 2007 to talk about the album. You can hear that interview here... http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=7363245

As for the flight, it was the best I've been on as far as the coolness of the stranger sitting next to me. Pat was pleased to be sitting next to music lovers (especially one who grew up in NJ and knew exactly who he was). I remember before he sat down he was making his way down the aisle. That was 2002 so I'm not sure what he looks like now, but at the time he was pretty overweight and dressed kind of sloppily. I could see a lot of people in aisles with open seats that looked relieved when he passed their aisle without sitting down (I guess they didn't want to sit next to a fat guy). We had an open seat next to us and I said to my wife "I hope he sits here because whether those people know who he is or not, I do and I'd love to sit next to Pat DiNizio." Sure enough, he sat down right next to my wife. He saw we were reading a music magazine that was open to an article on Warren Haynes. He said "hey I know that guy," and we never stopped talking until the plane landed in Tampa.

Incidentally, he was on his way to Tampa to perform a "living room concert," which is something he's been doing for many years now. For a reasonable cost you can fly Pat into your town and have him perform a private show in your house. Don't hear about too many artists being that generous to their fans.

[Tig***]

Very cool story!

He sounds like my kinda' musician.

[R_of_G]

Today's playlist honors the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

I began with this...



Now it's this...



Stay tuned.

[Beerman***]

I've loved this song from the minute I heard it on Treme. For a guy not from here (N.O.) he seems to have gotten it.
A friend and I played this last night at a small birthday party. He can't really sing to well but he did a good imitation of Steve.

[R_of_G]

I've loved this song from the minute I heard it on Treme. For a guy not from here (N.O.) he seems to have gotten it.
A friend and I played this last night at a small birthday party. He can't really sing to well but he did a good imitation of Steve.

On several of the live versions available on YouTube he talks a little about the origin of the song. During the first season David Simon asked him if he could write a song that would be a song his character would have written in 2005 after Katrina. He's also said that he and Simon viewed the character of Harley as someone Steve Earle would have been had he never gotten a record deal. The result was an amazing song.

Also, the studio version on I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive features a beautiful horn section arranged by Allen Toussiant which helps lend it that much more New Orleans authenticity. I learned the chords a few weeks ago and I've more or less figured out the melody line for the horn part. I can do a pretty fair Steve Earle as far as singing but to me singing and playing simultaneously is like a magic trick that I can't do.

[Beerman***]

That's exactly what I've heard and read as well.
I've got just about every version of this song I could find on the net....live and original. He definitely as soul.
He uses drop D on many of his songs. This song is a bit hard to sing and play to at the same time. My friend also does a nice harmonica on this one that works out well.
Thanks for sharing this. Perfect timing!

[R_of_G]

Up next in my playlist...

[R_of_G]

Fell behind on posting... after the Dirty Dozen was this...



Now we're on to this one...

[Beerman***]

Now you're going back about 20 or so years. Iko Iko and Big Chief still are my favorites. He's an ugly looking specimen and sometimes I have to be in the mood for extra doses but he does hit on some of the local classics on that album.

[R_of_G]

I particularly like his version of "Little Liza Jane" and the Huey Smith medley.

[Tig***]

Reminds me of the early roots of so much music, Professor Longhair - Tipitina.
I can listen to this collection all night: