I know that mix tapes seldom got legs, and that my own music collection categories are totally cross-threaded according to the industry, but Rob's music list struck a chord here. The variety of song versions is interesting. I had a Canadian friend who had only heard The Star Spangled Banner on the Woodstock album, so when he was taken to a baseball game in the US, he asked why they were playing Jimi Hendrix's tune.
Randy Newman is a brilliant satirist, probably best known for "Short People." I think he is equally brilliant and a tad more explicit in "Political Science:" .youtube.com/watch?v=EqBrw3rQvKo and "Burn On." It is an old favourite, but I didn't understand the last verse until recently. I howled. .youtube.com/watch?v=dV0gDLwfKjw Backstory: The Cuyagoga river had caught fire several times, but when the fire chief predicted a recurrence on a slow news week, it went national as a column filler. When it did go up two weeks later, Randy had his chance, and it did get cleaned up.
When I saw Grace Slick credited for writing "Show Yourself" my opinion of her shot into a new dimension: .youtube.com/watch?v=cyv4eTz-pKc It hasn't aged a bit!
In the early '50s, McCarthyism put The Weavers folk group out of business. The only musical jobs that Pete Seeger could find were singing to school children. Those kids grew up a bit and ended the Vietnam war with the best sound track of any revolution. So, here's his version of "Crow on the Cradle:" .youtube.com/watch?v=a_AQzdGpAtg with lyrics that have haunted me ever since Cosby, Stills, Nash, and Young covered it.
John Prine, on the Kentucky coal mines - "Paradise:" .youtube.com/watch?v=DEy6EuZp9IY as usual, YouTube will be happy to produce more astounding Prine lyrics about everyday people.
Neville Bros: "Change is gonna come" .youtube.com/watch?v=Mf7rkB9wx8U Aaron has a unique, wonderful voice.
Bruce Cockburn is a highly original Canadian songwriter. "Call it Democracy" is a good place to start on his work. .youtube.com/watch?v=Gfcfdt0jcWs
Timbuk 3 Two Medicines (laughter and tears) .youtube.com/watch?v=LJcqVsHRHwc Funky, fresh and folky.
Playing for Change.
There was a guy who was spending his days in a recording studio, trying to make Guitar Hero experts sound accomplished. He realized that the buskers he was passing on the street were better than his clients, so he put together a portable studio and mixed the results. .youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM
Stars got involved - here's "War/No More Trouble," with Bono: .youtube.com/watch?v=fgWFxFg7-GU
Some years later, his street stars had gotten together as a band, and were wrapping up a tour. My guess is that the young band leader had given his lead guitar a pep talk along the lines of "We are already down several members, so I need you to really hit it when it is time for your solo." You can see the rhythm section breaking up, but Louis is going back to Harare the next day, and won't be rushed. .youtube.com/watch?v=47rF0hbLjzw
You'll be getting a fine menu of others from PFC, probably covering some of your favourites, but here are a couple that get me through tough days:
Keb' Mo': "Better Man" .youtube.com/watch?v=fgWFxFg7-GU
War and Pierce: "I Lived to Tell About It." .youtube.com/watch?v=YpKNDN-5m7g
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