Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 8/21: Willie Nelson, “Red Headed Stranger”
The title song and the conceptual genesis of the album that made Willie Nelson’s career. “The Tale of the Red Headed Stranger” was a nearly forgotten country tune that Willie used to play as a DJ when it came out in 1954. His then-wife suggested he build a concept album around it, which he did […]
Song of the Day 8/20: Old 97’s, “Buick City Complex”
I drove the other day past the Boxwood Road plant, still under demolition, and didn’t realize I should have rolled up the windows. Most of the buildings are now piles of rubble, but the administration building was still half-standing. Nobody has written a song about Boxwood yet, the way Rhett Miller did for the Buick […]
Song of the Day 8/19: Bill Deal and the Rhondels, “May I”
It’s beach music, it’s blue-eyed soul, and while it only reached No. 39 on the Hot 100, it made a national act out of a band that had been playing the Virginia-Carolina beach music circuit for more than a decade but had never released a record before. The song was written and originally done by […]
Song of the Day 8/17: Roger McGuinn, “Ballad of Easy Rider”
Actor Peter Fonda died yesterday at age 79, 50 years after the release of his most famous film project, “Easy Rider.” Fonda asked Dylan to write the film’s theme song. Though Dylan declined, he did give Fonda a few lines on a napkin and told him, “Give this to McGuinn. He’ll know what to do […]
Song of the Day 8/15: Charles Manson, “Look at Your Game Girl”
Director Quentin Tarantino’s latest “let’s wish away the bad parts of history” film is tangentially related to the Manson Family murders in 1969 Los Angeles. Some critics have complained that the soundtrack is poorly fitted to the material, consisting of pop tunes instead of the psychedelic sounds emerging at the time. Surprisingly, considering Tarantino’s do-anything-for-a-shock […]
Song of the Day 8/14: Patti Smith, “Summer Cannibals”
A standout track from Patti Smith’s 1996 comeback album “Gone Again,” the song was started by her husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith (of MC5 fame), who wrote the music and had the title before his death from a heart attack; Patti finished it with her menacing but oblique lyrics. Overly literal idiots think it refers to […]
Song of the Day 8/13: Elvis Presley, “In the Ghetto”
Another in our series of “nothing has changed” songs, “In the Ghetto” was recorded 50 years ago and, as one black guy watching this in a reaction video said, the only thing that’s different is that it’s twice as bad now. The song was written by singer and songwriter Mac Davis, who explained its genesis. […]
Song of the Day 8/12: The New Pornographers, “Falling Down the Stairs of Your Love”
Vancouver supergroup the New Pornographers last week released this single from their upcoming LP “In the Morse Code of Brake Lights.” This is the indie group’s eighth album, and by this point most of its members, except singer Neko Case, are more famous as members of this band than their original ones.
Song of the Day 8/10: Frijid Pink, “House of the Rising Sun”
In the late ’60s and early ’70s the American Midwest was one of the world’s hottest markets for rock music, and the region’s musicians responded by forming an ever-changing succession of blues-rock outfits. One that slipped down the memory hole for me was Frijid Pink, a Detroit band that caught the wave in 1969 with […]
Song of the Day 8/9: Brute Force, “The King of Fuh”
Recorded back in 1969, this single seems to presage the coming of a certain someone. There was a beautiful land called Fuh And in this land there was a king And everybody called him the Fuh King And the Fuh King did what he wanted to do I said the Fuh King went where he […]
Song of the Day 8/8: The Tremeloes, “Here Comes My Baby”
So I’m at a wedding with a pretty kick-ass band — horn section, multiple vocalists, the kind of $10,000-a-gig wedding band that can cover anything and sound good doing it. Like any good wedding band, their repertoire spans decades, so I was surprised when the front man introduced this as a song by the Mavericks. […]
Song of the Day 8/7: Neil Young, “The Losing End”
In California in 1969, just about every folk-rock band and musician was dabbling in, or fully embracing, country rock. Not Neil Young. He went straight country, no rock, on the second side of “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” with a tune that wears its twang on its sleeve. He doesn’t sing like an Opry star, […]
Song of the Day 8/6: The Presidents of the United States of America, “Peaches”
It’s the height of peach season and I couldn’t resist. Local orchards have millions of peaches, and I hum this tune every time I buy a half-peck. Remember when this song came out in 1996? Part of the Seattle band’s appeal was its goofy attitude, exemplified by its name. It’s 22 years later and it […]
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