Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

This is a reworked and extended version of a post from March 2010. Back then it was 23 stops to Phoenix; now we have 81.

By The Time I Get To Phoenix is not even my favourite Jimmy Webb song, much as I love it — there are songs on the Jimmy Webb Collection Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 I love more. But I cannot think of many other songs in pop music that traverse interpretations and genres as effortlessly as this. Here I am offering a bunch of versions that cover pop, country, soul, jazz and easy listening.

By The Time I Get To Phoenix sounds like it belongs in any of these genres. And even when interpreted by artists from the same genre, it is an immensely flexible a song. Just compare the soul versions by the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Erma Franklin, Isaac Hayes, the Intruders, Lloyd Price, the Mad Lads, Billie Stewart, William Bell, The Escorts, and New York City. So I think one can listen to all the versions here without necessarily getting bored.

The first version of the song was recorded by Webb’s mentor, Johnny Rivers, in 1966. Since then it has been covered many time. Apparently there are more than a thousand versions of it.

Rivers’ version made no impact, nor did a cover by Pat Boone. The guitarist on Boone’s version, however, picked up on the song and released it in 1967. Glen Campbell scored a massive hit with the song, even winning two Grammies for it. In quick succession, Campbell completed a trilogy of geographically-themed songs by Webb, with the gorgeous Wichita Lineman (written especially for Campbell) and the similarly wonderful Galveston.

Another seasoned session musician took Phoenix into a completely different direction (if you will pardon the unintended pun). Isaac Hayes had heard the song, and decided to perform it as the Bar-Keys’ guest performer at Memphis’ Tiki Club, a soul venue. He started with a spontaneous spoken prologue, explaining in some detail why this man is on his  journey. At first the patrons weren’t sure what Hayes was doing rapping over a repetitive chord loop. After a while, according to Hayes, they started to listen. At the end of the song, he said, there was not a dry eye in the house (“I’m gonna moan now…”). As it appeared on Ike’s 1968 Hot Buttered Soul album, the thing went on for 18 glorious minutes.

The fine version of soul singer Doug Haynes changes the perspective: here she has gone to Phoenix, and Doug is making the call where the phone is just keeps ringing off the wall. Wanda Jackson’s version, titled By The Time You Got To Phoenix, is really an answer record (turns out, she is not that unhappy to see the dude gone). The Harden Trio don’t change the lyrics, as Haynes does, but offer the twist of the female voices singing from their perspective and the male lead taking the traditional leavers’ narrative.

There are those who scoff that it is physically impossible to complete the song’s itinerary — Phoenix, Albuquerque, Oklahoma — in a day. But I think the itinerary makes perfect sense, presuming it starts in Los Angeles.

He gets to Phoenix when she is normally getting up from bed. From LA to Phoenix it’s about six hours drive. Assuming she rises around 6am, our friend left LA at around midnight. By the time he hits Albuquerque, our narrator thinks she’s about to have lunch; more or less at 1pm. From Phoenix to Abuquerque it’s another six hours. That gave our friend time to spare to reach the city of Walter White. By the time he makes Oklahoma she’ll be sleeping. The distance from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City (guessing that this is his destination) is about eight hours drive. Setting aside aside breaks for food, rest and ablutions, by the time he hits Oklahoma it will be past midnight, when she will indeed be having a tear-interrupted sleep. The timeline fits.

One act that was not going to make any such journeys any time soon was The Escorts. These soul singers were incarcerated in a New Jersey jail. In 1968 one inmate, Reginald Haynes, started a singing group which would become The Escorts. They were discovered by producers and went on to record two albums. Their version of Phoenix is from the first of these, 1973’s All We Need Is Another Chance which became a hit, selling 300,000 copies. After his release, Haynes tried to launch a solo career; that attempt was cut short when he was unjustly convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Read the remarkable story here.

Back to the music, I do like the well-executed 1930s radio pastiche by The Templeton Twins. And the best individual moment in this collection might be The Pips responding to Gladys Knight‘s announcement that she was leaving with a sad, “Oh no” on their live version from 1970’s All In A Knight’s Work LP. Also check out Jermaine and the Jackson 5 doing the song on The Tonight Show in 1974; Jermaine takes the lead and Michael harmonises.

So, apart from Isaac Hayes’, which version is your favourite? I think I like Al Wilson’s best. Or the Four Tops’. Or Erma Franklin’s. Or Pete Shelley’s discoish take. Or Nick Cave’s. Or Thelma Houston’s majestic version from 2007. Or, of course, Glen Campbell’s. Or maybe the 2010 version by the song’s writer, with Glenn Campbell on backing vocals and, I think, Mark Knopfler on guitar.

The collection comes in two parts. You will need both. PW = amdwhah

1966: Johnny Rivers • 1967: Glen Campbell, Santo & Johnny • 1968: Vikki Carr, Marty Wilde, Georgie Fame, The Lettermen, Marty Robbins, Roy Drusky, Charlie Rich, Engelbert Humperdinck, The Mills Brothers, Four Tops, Joe Tex, Ace Cannon, Roger Miller, Harry Belafonte, Andy Williams, Nat Adderley, Johnny Mathis, Al Wilson, Herbie Mann, Solomon Burke, Raymonde Singers, Eydie Gorme,  Peggy Lee, Toots Thielemans, The Magnificent Men, The Intruders, The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett, Wanda Jackson, The Harden Trio, Frankie Laine, Gloria Lynne,  Jack Jones, Tony Mottola with The Groovies, Ray Price, Bobby Goldsboro, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra • 1969: José Feliciano, Dorothy Ashby, Billy Stewart,  Oscar Peterson, Burl Ives, Andy Kim, A.J. Marshall, Erma Franklin, Henry Mancini, Isaac Hayes, Lloyd Price, The Springfield Rifle, Family Circle, The Mad Lads, The Dells (in a medley with Wichita Lineman), Al Caiola, William Bell • 1970: Stevie Wonder, Autumn & Barrie McAskill,  The Manhattans, The Templeton Twins, The Ventures, Jimmy Smith, Main Ingredient (in a medley with Wichita Lineman),Wayne McGhie & the Sounds of Joy, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Willie Tee • 1971: Jimmy Webb,  Fabulous Souls • 1972: Shirley Scott • 1973: New York City, The Escorts • 1974: Jermaine and the Jackson 5, Doug Haynes • 1975: Peter Shelley• 1976: Junior Mance Trio • 1977: Isaac Hayes & Dionne Warwick (with I Say A Little Prayer) • 1986: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds • 1995: Reba McEntire • 2007: Thelma Houston • 2010: Jimmy Webb

GET IT: Part 1 & Part 2

Previous Song Swarms:
Hound Dog
Sunny
These Boots Are Made For Walking
Sunday Morning Coming Down
Like A Rolling Stone
Papa Was A Rolling Stone
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Over The Rainbow
Georgia On My Mind
Blue Moon
Light My Fire

The year 2016 continued to be a bastard in June. But instead of killing off superstars, June took from us some important names.

Imagine what it was like for audiences in mid-1956 to be confronted with the explosion of loud energy that was Elvis’ Hound Dog. Louder and more aggressive than most Rock & Roll hits that came before, to ears used to Perry Como and Bing Crosby it must have sounded positively dystopian. Playing the guitar on Hound Dog, and all those 1950s Elvis hits, was Scotty Moore, who has died at 84. In fact, Elvis’ early Sun records were credited to “Elvis Presley, Scotty & Bill” (Bill being bassist Bill Black, who died in 1965). As such, Moore was instrumental, as it were, in introducing power chords and guitar solos to this new musical form. Rock & Roll Elvis left the building when he went to the army, but Moore continued to play on some Elvis records in the 1960s — including Good Luck Charm, Devil In Disguise, Surrender and Bossa Nova Baby — and appeared on the 1968 Comeback Special.

Moore was not the only artist with an Elvis connection to die in June. Only time prevented me from putting together a special collection of songs written or produced by the great Chips Moman, who has died at 79. His crowning moment might have been the resurrection of Elvis as a serious singer, having produced the sessions that yielded the glorious Suspicious Minds and In The Ghetto at Memphis’ American Sound Studio, which Moman founded with Don Crews. The studio produced many classics produced by Moman, including Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, BJ Thomas’ Hooked On A Feeling, Merilee Rush’s Angel Of The Morning, and Dusty Springfield’s Dusty In Memphis album. Before he started the studio, Moman worked at Stax, producing hits such as Carla Thomas’ Gee Whiz. Moman was a fine songwriter, too, co-writing hits such as Aretha Franklin’s Do Right Woman Do Right Man, James Carr’s The Dark End Of The Street, BJ Thomas’ (Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song, and Waylon Jennings’ Luckenbach, Texas (which featured on Any American Road Trip 2). On top of all that, Moman was also a session guitarist, playing with acts such as Aretha Franklin, Wilson Picket, Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Johnny Cash and Guy Clark (who died last month).

Just over a week after Moman passed, Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns died. The Memphis Horns were led by Jackson on trumpet and Andrew Love (who died in 2012) on tenor sax. They produced some signature sounds in music, perhaps most famously the intro to Otis Redding’s Try A Little Tenderness. Where there is brass on Stax records, you’d hear The Memphis Horns. Later Jackson and Love decamped to Stax-alumnus Chips Moman’s  American Sound Studio where they played on those career-reviving Elvis records. Later they played at Hi Records, giving Al Green some horn (oh, behave!), including on Let’s Stay Together. They played with King Curtis on his fantastic Live At The Filmore album. They also backed non-soul acts like James Taylor, Tony Joe White, Doobie Brothers, José Feliciano, Jerry Reed, BB King, John Prine, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Joe Cocker, Steve Winwood, Billy Joel, Robert Cray Band, Peter Gabriel and many others. Jackson is getting a bunch of tribute tracks here, but you can also hear him on Aretha Franklin’s I Never Loved A Man and Elvis’ Kentucky Rain, both of which listed in tribute to Moman.

At the next karaoke when somebody does an impression of The Commitments’ version of Mustang Sally, spare a thought for Sir Mack Rice, who wrote and first recorded the song, later a hit for Wilson Picket. Rice had another minor hit with Coal Man, but his success resided in writing for others, especially on the Stax label. The biggest hit of these was Respect Yourself for the Staple Singers.There are few artists left who made their mark in the 1940s and have continued to perform into this decade. With the death at 89 of bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, we have lost one of those. The importance of Ralph Stanley in bluegrass cannot be overstated. Over seven decades in music, Stanley was known to be a fine man and a willing mentor to many who would become stars in bluegrass and country music. With his brother Carter, the banjo virtuoso was half of the Stanley Brothers and co-leader of The Clinch Mountain Boys. Starting in 1946 they were among the very first acts to play the bluegrass music of the genre’s pioneer, Bill Monroe (who initially resented the Stanleys and his erstwhile collaborators Flatt & Scruggs for “stealing” his music). Carter died in 1966, but Ralph continued on his own, releasing records — many of them gospel — right up to the last one in 2015. In 2002 Stanley won a Grammy for his vocal performance on the old Appalachian song O Death, which featured on the acclaimed O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack.

The legendary Bernie Worrell of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective changed funk with his keyboard grooves, especially once he became only the second person in the world to be given a Moog synthesizer by its inventor, Bob Moog. Armed with his Moog, Worrell had a lasting influenced on dance music, hip hop and new wave through songs like1977’s Flash Light. Worrell also arranged the horn sections for Parliament-Funkadelic. He appeared on the albums released by the outgrowths from the collective, such as Bootsy Collins, and played with Talking Heads during their Stop Making Sense period, as well as with acts like Lou Rawls, The Spinners, Stephanie Mills and Gil Scott-Heron.

Ask anybody who has worked with him, and they’ll tell you that ex-Wings and Spooky Tooth guitarist Henry McCullough was the loveliest of men. He backed Joe Cocker at Woodstock as a member of The Grease Band and played on Spooky Tooth’s 1970 The Last Puff album before joining Paul McCartney’s Wings in 1971, playing on hits such as My Love (that guitar solo is his), Hi Hi Hi, and Live and Let Die. In between he dabbled with Pink Floyd: at the end of Money on The Dark Side Of The Moon, you can hear him speak the words, “I don’t know; I was really drunk at the time”, a reference to a confrontation he had had the night before with his wife. In 2012 McCullough suffered a severe heart attack, leading Ireland’s RTE broadcaster and the BBC to announce his death. The rumours of his demise were greatly exaggerated, but death caught up with the guitarist on June 14.

The Fairport Convention defined British folk, and the group’s guiding member Dave Swarbrick defined fiddle-playing in British folk. Swarbrick introduced the electronic fiddle to the isles’ folk scene, and was much sought-after as a session musician by rock acts. Swarbrick was declared dead (yes, another case of that) by the Daily Telegraph in 1999 — a time before Twitter false alarms and hoaxes — when he was hospitalised with a serious chest infection. Swarbrick’s response: “It’s not the first time I’ve died in Coventry.” The false alarm prompted a fundraising effort which culminated in the musician receiving a double lung transplant in 2004. Which leads me to ask you: have you registered as an organ donor? And if you haven’t, why not?In the same month that Swarbrick left, another important figure in the British folk scene died. Karl Dallas was a Christian socialist (he was named after Marx and, by way of middle name, Engels) and peace campaigner. In the run-up to the illicit invasion of Iraq, Dallas got the better of the lying wear-monger Tony Blair in a televised debate. He was also a journalist who passionately advocated for folk acts such as the Fairground Convention and Steeleye Span, especially during his long association with the Melody Maker.  As a songwriter himself, he had much empathy with those whose music he was writing about. Initially he gave Bob Dylan a very bad review but later became a fan. Arlo Guthrie reportedly wrote parts of Alice’s Restaurant as a guest of Dallas’ in London. Dallas’ best-known songs are The Family Of Man, written in 1955, and Derek Bentley, about a teenager executed for killing a policeman.

Manchester lost a local music legend in promoter Alan Wise who was instrumental in the launch of the Factory club which became the record label of that name, home to Joy Division and New Order, among other acts. He was also a key figure in the city’s Hacienda club, which was famous in the 1980s well beyond Manchester. Three months ago Wise’s 22-year-old daughter died of suicide after health authorities failed to provide the counselling for 18 months. Wise was loudly outspoken about this failure at the time; his criticism found an echo in his obituaries.

Few singers’ career path takes them from the stage to the benches of the judiciary and back, but so it was with Dutch songstress Corry Brokken, one of the Netherlands’ biggest stars in the 1950s and’60s. Brokken won the second-ever Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 with Net Als Toen (Just as it once was). She had unsuccessfully represented the Netherlands the year before, and tried to defend her title the year after her win. She came last, thus holding the distinction of being the only Eurovision contestant to finish top and bottom. She presented the Eurovision in 1976, the year England’s Brotherhood of Men won. Just after that she retired from the music industry and, at the age of 44, began studying law. In the 1980s she became an attorney and then a judge. She made a music comeback in the 1990s.

The Memphis Horns have fallen silent. After the death of Andrew Love (left), Wayne Jackson left us this month to join the great horn section in the sky.

Corry Brokken, 83, Dutch singer, Eurovision Song Contest 1957 winner, on May 30
Corry Brokken – Net Als Toen (1957)

Alan Wise, 63, British music promoter and manager on June 1

Häns’che Weiss, 65, German jazz guitarist and composer, on June 2

Dave Swarbrick, 75, fiddler with British folk band Fairport Convention, on June 3
Fairport Convention – Walk Awhile (1970, also as co-writer)
Dave Swarbrick – Queen’s Jig/Dick’s Maggot (1978)

Muhammad Ali, 74, American boxer and occasional singer, on June 3
Cassius Clay – Stand By Me (1964)
(More Ali-related music)

Bobby Curtola, 73, Canadian pop singer, on June 4
Bobby Curtola – Fortune Teller (1962)

Brian Rading, 69, bassist of Canadian rock group Five Man Electrical Band, on June 8
Five Man Electrical Band – Half Past Midnight (1966)

Habib, 63, Iranian singer-songwriter, on June 10

Christina Grimmie, 22, singer-songwriter, contestant on the The Voice (US), murdered on June 11

Kim Venable, 72, drummer of pop band The Classics IV, on June 12
The Classics IV – Where Did All The Good Times Go (1970)

Chips Moman, 79, songwriter, producer, engineer, guitarist, on June 13
Carla Thomas – Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes) (1960, as producer)
James Carr – Dark End Of The Street (1967, as co-writer)
Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) (1967, on guitar)
Elvis Presley – Kentucky Rain (1970, as producer)
Willie Nelson – Always On My Mind (1982, as producer & engineer & on guitar)

Randy Jones, 72, jazz drummer, on June 23

Henry McCullough, 72, Northern Irish guitarist with Spooky Tooth, Wings, on June 14
Joe Cocker – With A Little Help From My Friends (Live at Woodstock) (1969, on guitar)
Wings – My Love (1973, on guitar)
Henry McCullough – Lord Knows (1975)

OJB Jezreel, 49, Nigerian singer and producer, on June 14

Jerome Teasley, 67, soul drummer (Motown), on June 16
Jr Walker & The All Stars – What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) (1969, on drums)

‘Sir’ Charles Thompson, 98, jazz pianist, on June 16
Leo Parker’s Quintette – New Look Swing (1948, on piano)

Tenor Fly, British raga singer, rapper and freestyler, on June 17

Attrell Cordes, 46, singer with soul band P.M. Dawn, on June 17
PM Dawn – Set Adrift On Memory Bliss (1991)

Alejandro Jano Fuentes, 45, American-Mexican singer, murdered on August 18

Bob Williamson, 67, English musician and comedian, on June 19

Chayito Valdez, 71, Mexican-American folk singer and actress, on June 20

Wayne Jackson, 74, legendary trumpeter (The Memphis Horns), on June 21
Otis Redding – I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (1965, on trumpet)
Dusty Springfield – Son Of A Preacher Man (1969, on trumpet)
Al Green – Let’s Stay Together (1972, on trumpet)
Doobie Brothers – Takin’ It To The Streets (1976, on trumpet)
Memphis Horns – Memphis Nights (1977)

Freddy Powers, 84, country singer and songwriter, on June 21
George Jones – I Always Get Lucky With You (1983)
Merle Haggard – The Road To My Heart (2010, as writer)

Karl Dallas, 85, folk songwriter, writer and peace campaigner, on June 21
Colin Wilkie & Shirley Hart – The Family Of Man (1972, as writer)

Steve French, 56, singer with gospel band Kingdom Heirs Quartet, on June 22

Jim Boyd, 60, singer-songwriter, on June 22
Jim Boyd – Father And Farther (1998)

Leo Brennan, 90, Irish musician (father of Enya and Clannad members), on June 22

Ralph Stanley, 89, bluegrass legend, on June 23
Stanley Brothers – Let Me Be Your Friend (1948)
Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys – Memory Of Your Smile (1959)
Ralph Stanley – O Death (2000)
Ralph Stanley – John The Revelator (2011)

Shelley Moore, 84, jazz singer, on June 23
Shelley Moore – The Thrill Is Gone (1962)

Bernie Worrell, 72, keyboard player with Parliament-Funkadelic, on June 24
Parliament – Flashlight (1977)
Bernie Worrell – Woo Together (1978)
Talking Heads – Girlfriend Is Better (1984)

Lor Scoota, 23, rapper, shot dead on June 24

Mike Pedicin, 98, American jazz bandleader, on June 26
Mike Pedicin Quintet – The Large Large House (1956)

Mack Rice, 82, soul songwriter and singer, on June 27
Sir Mack Rice – Mustang Sally (1965)
Staples Singers – Respect Yourself (1972, as co-writer)

Scotty Moore, 84, pioneering Rock & Roll guitarist, on June 28
Elvis Presley – Too Much (1956)
Roy Orbison – Crying (1962, on guitar)
Scotty Moore, DJ Fontana, Keith Richards & The Band – Deuce & A Quarter (1997)

Rob Wasserman, 64, Upright bass player, on June 29

Don Friedman, 81, jazz pianist, on June 30
Don Friedman Trio – So In Love (1962)

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(PW = amdwhah)

Previous In Memoriams

Keep up to date with dead pop stars on Facebook

Here’s a mix that has been brewing for a number of years now — on the subject of coffee. There are surprisingly many songs that are in some way about coffee, enough to fill a few mixes.

As always, I set myself rules. These sort of reflect our relationship with coffee (if we have one). The featured songs must be about coffee or the act or idea of drinking coffee. In some songs the act of drinking coffee is at the centre of the lyrics, in others coffee plays an incidental but not unimportant role.

So, no songs about coffee machines that need fixing, or metaphors about clouds in your coffee or your brew gone cold because the one you love does not love you anymore. I do allow one coffee as a metaphor song, as a bonus track, because I think you might like it: LaVern Baker’s wonderful 1958 version of Bessie Smith’s Empty Bed Blues, recorded 30 years after the original.

If you are a coffee drinker and this mix — or the mere reminder of caffeine — motivates you to go out in search for a fix, please do me a kindness and seek out an independent coffee shop. These independents are being squeezed out by the franchise stores, led by the unaccountably popular Starbucks. Help keep the independent coffeeshops going.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on as standard CD-R and includes home-percolated covers. PW = amdwhah.

1. The Ink Spots – Java Jive (1941)
2. Ella Mae Morse – 40 Cups Of Coffee (1953)
3. Scatman Crothers – Keep That Coffee Hot (1955)
4. Peggy Lee – Black Coffee (1956)
5. Otis Redding – Cigarettes And Coffee (1966)
6. Delbert McClinton – Your Memory, Me, And The Blues (2005)
7. Mighty Mo Rodgers – Black Coffee And Cigarettes (2011)
8. The Jayhawks – Five Cups Of Coffee (1989)
9. Fountains Of Wayne – Yours And Mine (2003)
10. Landon Pigg – Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop (2008)
11. David Bowie – When The Wind Blows (1986)
12. Bob Dylan – One More Cup Of Coffee (1979)
13. Gordon Lightfoot – Second Cup of Coffee (1972)
14. Glen Campbell – Truck Driving Man (1971)
15. Hank Locklin – You’re The Reason (1962)
16. Lefty Frizzell – Cigarettes and Coffee Blues (1958)
17. Kris Kristofferson – Here Comes That Rainbow Again (1981)
18. Guy Clark – Instant Coffee Blues (1975)
19. Lyle Lovett – Just The Morning (1994)
20. Cowboy Junkies – Anniversary Song (1993)
21. Simon & Garfunkel – The Dangling Conversation (live) (1968)
22. Walker Brothers – Where’s The Girl (1966)
23. Natalie Cole – Coffee Time (2008)
24. Frank Sinatra – Same Old Saturday Night (1964)
25. Julie London – Sunday Mornin’ (1969)

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Summer is on its way, in the northern hemisphere, and for many people that means going to the beach — or dreaming of sun, sand and sea. So, having given you five mixes of Any Major Summer already, let’s go to the beach.

On our way, we give a tip of the hat to reader Rob, who suggested this idea as a sequel to the summer mixes. The idea in the Any Major Beach mixes — yes, there will be more — is that the songs must be set on the beach or at the sea, even if only as an idea or memory.

Obviously many beach songs are cheesy, evoking Elvis in modest bathing shorts on Hawaii. There must be space for such banal fun, and The Supremes provide it here with their ditty from a 1965 movie. But many songs here offer a more sober view of the beach.

Of course, a beach mix must include the Beach Boys. They are represented here twice: with a 1968 song, and an exquisite cover of Surfer Girl by the very fine Dave Alvin. The Beach Boys track is as superb as it is pitiable in Mike Love’s desperate appeal for the Beach Boys to return to the old beach, surf and cars tropes of yesteryear, rather than Brian Wilson’s studio doodling. Wilson was game though. He wrote a fantastic melody for Love’s lyrics, and made an arrangement with Carl that would satisfy both Love’s anachronistic sentiments as well as his creative production values, with loads of overdubs. Wilson calls it his best collaboration with Love.

One man we don’t really associate with beaches is Prince; still, here it is suggesting sex on the beach. The song was credited to “The Artist (Formerly Known As Prince)”.

My new friend Rob suggested the inclusion of The Drifters’ On The Boardwalk. That song may feature in another volume in the form of a cover version (not Bruce Willis’ though!); here The Drifters offer something of a sequel to that great hit.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R to play in your transistor radio and includes home-sunburnt covers. PW  in comments.

And don’t forget apply your sunscreen!

1. The Hollies – Postcard (1967)
2. Blondie – In The Sun (1976)
3. Kirsty MacColl – He’s On The Beach (1985)
4. Martha And The Muffins – Echo Beach (1980)
5. Grace Jones – All On A Summer’s Night (1978)
6. Chairmen Of The Board – Beach Fever (1983)
7. The Dazz Band – Do It Again (1980)
8. The Artist (formerly known etc) – Sex In The Summer (1996)
9. George Duke – Brazilian Love Affair (1979)
10. War – All Day Music (1971)
11. Harry Nilsson – Down By The Sea (1975)
12. The Beach Boys – Do It Again (1968)
13. The Supremes – Beach Ball (1965)
14. The Pleasures – Let’s Have A Beach Party (1965)
15. Pat Boone – Love Letters In The Sand (1957)
16. The Drifters – I’ve Got Sand In My Shoes (1964)
17. Ralph McTell – Summer Girls (1992)
18. Jack Johnson – To The Sea (2010)
19. Zac Brown Band – Toes (2008)
20. Dave Alvin – Surfer Girl (2006)
21. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band & Linda Ronstadt – An American Dream (1979)
22. Joan Armatrading – Ma-Me-O-Beach (1980)
23. The B-52’s – Theme For A Nude Beach (1986)

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Any Major Summer
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In many parts of the world, this Sunday is Father’s Day. Following on from the first Any Major Fathers mix from two years ago, here’s the second volume.

As last time, some songs are from the perspectives of Dad (Ben Folds’ Gracie is the winner among those), others from that of the children. These tend to be more or less positive songs about father-child relationships — except one. The Sweethearts’ Sorry Faddy is an answer record to the The Limelites’ Daddy’s Home. Here the son is saying, “too late to come home; I’m gone”. A cautionary tale for fathers.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-inseminated covers (yuk!) — in case you forgot to get your dad a Father’s Day gift. PW in comments.

1. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Someday Never Comes (1972)
2. Jackson Browne – Daddy’s Tune (1976)
3. Jerry Jeff Walker – My Old Man (1968)
4. Guy Clark – The Randall Knife (1983)
5. Georgette Jones & George Jones – You And Me And Time (2010)
6. The Everly Brothers – That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine (1958)
7. The Sweethearts – Sorry Daddy (1961)
8. Paul Peterson – My Dad (1962)
9. Dolly Parton – Daddy’s Working Boots (1973)
10. The Bobkatz – The Man In The Picture (2006)
11. Ben Folds – Gracie (2004)
12. Dave Alvin – The Man In The Bed (2004)
13. Eric Clapton – My Father’s Eyes (1998)
14. K’s Choice – Dad (1995)
15. Nina Simone – My Father (1978)
16. Marie ‘Queenie’ Lyons – Daddy’s House (1970)
17. Joe Simon – I Found My Dad (1972)
18. The Whispers – A Mother For My Children (1974)
19. Chaka Khan – Father He Said (1981)
20. Stevie Wonder – Isn’t She Lovely (1976)

GET IT!

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The third leg of our musical road trip through the USA takes us from Texas via New Mexico and Arizona to California, including an extended stop in Los Angeles.

The rules for this journey — which is taking us from the East Coast to the West Coast and back east, beginning in Boston and ending in Miami — demand that the itinerary must be at least notionally plausible. But some zig-zagging is allowed. This is unavoidable in the early part of this leg.

Having left Lubbock, TX in our rear view mirror in last leg, we start off in Amarillo (I knew the way and decided to go with the original of the great George Strait hit, which you can find on the Any Major Morning Vol. 2 mix). We head west via the small town of Tucumcari, mentioned by Little Feat, to Santa Fe and Albuquerque where, after a fast food meal at Los Pollos Hermanos, we must make a decision.

See, I want to go to El Paso (for the dramatic Marty Robbins song), which means a four-hour drive south, but I also want to see the Grand Canyon, a six-hour drive west. So we’ll make a massive detour: first we go to El Paso and from there we take the nine-hour drive via Winslow to the Grand Canyon (I could have had a song about the Grand Canyon but don’t want to include landmarks. So Winslow, pop. 9,479, gets its song).

From there we’ll go to Phoenix and make another detour to Tucson, which allows me to include the rooftop concert version of The Beatles’ Get Back, which sets up our departure from Arizona for some California grass, much as Jo-Jo did in the song.

Six hours later we arrive in San Diego. And our Californian journey isn’t the most sensible either. Instead of the two-hour drive along the coast to LA, we turn inland, simply because there are few good songs about Carlsbad, none about Irvine and not much about Anaheim either. So we go twice the distance via Palm Springs (from where we can take an imaginary excursion to the Joshua Tree National Park), San Bernardino and Pasadena to enter LA from the north.

Our LA songs cover some of the essential areas — Hollywood, Beverley Hills, Laurel Canyon, Watts & Compton — as well as Randy Newman’s cynical view of the city and the racism encountered there by black people who came from the south in Dorothy Morrison’s song (written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill). Also included is Echo Park, which is said to be LA’s nicest neighbourhood.

We then turn to the coast to make our way north, beginning in Santa Monica and Malibu before hitting Ventura Highway. The America song isn’t actually set on the Ventura Highway; the idea of driving on that road is notional, pretty much like this road trip.

Notional or not, the bulk of the fourth leg will keep us in California. I expect there’ll be another three parts to the series after that.

As always: CD-R length, cover, PW in comments.

1. Terry Stafford – Amarillo By Morning (1973  – Amarillo, TX)
2. Little Feat – Willin’ (1972 – Tucumcari, NM)
3. Arthur Crudup – Mean Old Santa Fe (1950 – Santa Fe, NM)
4. Neil Young – Albuquerque (1975 – Albuquerque, NM)
5. Marty Robbins – El Paso (1959 – El Paso, TX)
6. Eagles – Take It Easy (1972 – Winslow, AZ)
7. Gorillaz feat. Bobby Womack – Bobby In Phoenix (2010 – Phoenix, AZ)
8. The Beatles – Get Back (live) (1969 – Tucson, AZ)
9. Ralph McTell – San Diego Serenade (1976 – San Diego, AZ)
10. Slim Gaillard & His Flat Foot Floogie Boys – Palm Springs Jump (1942 – Palm Springs, CA)
11. Christie – San Bernadino (1970 – San Bernardino, CA)
12. Bee Gees – Marley Purt Drive (1969 – Pasadena, CA)
13. Randy Newman – I Love LA (1983 – Los Angeles, CA)
14. Dorothy Morrison – Black California (1970, Los Angeles, CA)
15. 2Pac feat. Dr Dre – California Love (1995, Los Angeles, CA)
16. Weezer – Beverley Hills (2005 – Los Angeles, CA)
17. Joseph Arthur – Echo Park (2002 – Los Angeles, CA)
18. Tim Rose – Goin’ Down In Hollywood (1972 – Los Angeles, CA)
19. The Mamas & The Papas – Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon) (1968 – Los Angeles, CA)
20. The Beach Boys – Santa Ana Winds (1980 – Los Angeles, CA)
21. The Sweet – Santa Monica Sunshine (1972 – Santa Monica, CA)
22. Hole – Malibu (1998 – Malibu, CA)
23. America – Ventura Highway (1974 – Ventura, CA)
Bonus track:  Bill Withers – City Of The Angels (1976)

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I rarely post special tributes on the death of non-music public figures. The last time I did that was for Nelson Mandela in 2013 (still available), and, as an anti-tribute, Margaret Thatcher. Here is a tribute to the boxer Muhammad Ali, who has died at 74.

Ali was special because he was a great boxer, because he was a giant in the art of self-promotion, because he bore his illness with such dignity. But he was more than any of that. He was, like Mandela, a man of consistent principle, and a man of highest ethics (even if nit in his private affairs, as it also was with Mandela).

His politics were militant at a time when black militancy could get you killed; he converted to Islam when many Americans saw such a thing as a hostile act (and little has changed in that respect), he refused to be drafted into the army to participate in a war he considered unjust when such a refusal was regarded as an act of disloyalty to the flag (but when George W Bush ran for the presidency, draft-dodging became acceptable, provided you dressed it up right).

Ali might have had an easy gig in the US Army, as celebrities often did. He could have been a promo man for the military and a clown for the troops, never seeing a Viet Cong up close or enjoying the smell of napalm in the morning. But he didn’t want to legitimize an unjust war against people with whom he had no quarrel: “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs?”

He was prepared to pay a considerable price for a principled stand, just as he was on top of the world. And he did pay that price. Notably, the greatest trash-talker in sports never trash-talked those who persecuted him, even as he spoke out against the actions and attitudes that were immoral. And by his willingness to make profound sacrifices in uncompromising fidelity his convictions, he was a model of highest ethics.

The songs here don’t meditate much on this side of Muhammad Ali. Their focus is on Ali the pugilist, though a couple do riff on his background and his persecution. A few songs here are not directly about Ali but make reference to him, and a couple are by Ali himself — one with Sam Cooke, the other as part of a n anti-tooth decay drive (true story). One song doesn’t mention Ali at all. Ben Folds’ song is in the voice of a boxer speaking to the famous American sports broadcaster Howard Cozell — Folds has said that this boxer was Muhammad Ali.

R.I.P. The Greatest!

As always, CD-R length, covers, PW in comments.

1. Cassius Clay – ‘Rumble – Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee (1963)
2. The Alcoves – The Ballad Of Cassius Clay (1964)
3. The Best Ever – The People’s Choice (1975)
4. Alvin Cash – Ali Shuffle (1976)
5. Eddie Curtis – The Louisville Lip (1971)
6. Ali and His Gang – Who Knocked A Crack In The Liberty Bell (1976)
7. Sir Mack Rice – Muhammed Ali (1976)
8. Johnny Wakelin – In Zaire (1976)
9. Faithless – Muhammad Ali (2001)
10. LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out (1990)
11. The Fabulous Thunderbirds – Tuff Enuff (1986)
12. Big Head Todd and the Monsters – Muhammad Ali (Tribute to The Greatest) (2010)
13. Jon Hardy & The Public – Cassius Clay (2015)
14. Skeeter Davis – I’m A Lover (Not A Fighter) (1969)
15. Cassius Clay with Sam Cooke – The Gang’s All Here (1964)
16. De Phazz – Something Special (2010)
17. Dennis Alcapone – Cassius Clay (1973)
18. Mark Foggo – The Day I Met Muhammad Ali (2010)
19. Verne Harrell – Muhammed Ali (1971)
20. Nirvana – Watch Out Cassius Clay (1973)
21. Don Covay – Rumble In The Jungle (1974)
22. Mister Calypso – Muhammad Ali (1971)
23. Johnny Wakelin – Black Superman (Muhammad Ali) (1975)
24. Jorge Ben – Cassius Marcelo Clay (1971)
25. Ben Folds – Boxing (live, 2005)
26. Muhammad Ali – ‘I’m the real champion’ (1974)

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Some musicians wait tables while they try to make it in the business, others make porn movies. The latter was the path Candye Kane took. Born Candace Hogan in 1961, Kane capitalised on her pretty face, large breasts and libertine nature by becoming a star in mostly softcore porn movies with titles like Bra Breakers, Big Melons and Let Me Tell Ya Bout Fat Chicks in the 1980s and ’90s. This allowed her to support a career as a well-respected blues musician who would cross over into other genres. Indeed, she was signed by CBS as a country singer — and quickly dropped when the label learnt about her other career. As a singer she collaborated with acts as diverse as Black Flag, Los Lobos and Dwight Yoakam. She was also a philanthropist and activist in areas such as Down’s syndrome and gay rights. She died from pancreatic cancer, aged only 54.

The country Outlaws are falling one by one. Last month it was Merle Haggard, this month it’s Guy Clark. Clark’s biggest successes were as a songwriter of hits for others, most notably LA Freeway and Desperados Waiting for a Train for Jerry Jeff Walker (and the latter again for Outlaw supergroup The Highwaymen). Clark was very close to Townes van Zandt and Steve Earle; the three recorded the lovely Together At The Bluebird Café in 1995 — it was a fundraising event organised by Clark’s beloved wife Susanna for an inter-faith dental clinic for the poor. One of the tracks from that collection features here. Another track, the title track from his final album in 2013, My Favorite Picture Of You, is about Susanna, who died in 2012 after 40 years of marriage. He held the photo of Susanna about which he sang on the CD cover — it was taken when Susanna was very angry at another one of van Zandt’s alcohol-fuelled escapades at the Clarks’ home.

Perhaps more than any other genre, funk is driven by the bass. With the death at 75 of Marshall “Rock” Jones, one of the great bass players has joined the Great Disco in the Sky. Jones was a founding member of the Ohio Players, and of the group that preceded them, the Ohio Untouchables, of whom the bass player was the last surviving member. In the Ohio Players, Jones’ trademark was the white turban, the headgear he wore long after the band’s demise in 2002.

Why would a French actress who never released a record nor had a history of appearing in musicals feature here? Well, Madeleine Lebeau was seen singing in one of the great music interludes in film history: in Casablanca she played the woman jilted by Rick Blaine who then ostentatiously flirts with German soldiers, but recovers her French nationalism during the Marseillaise vs Wacht am Rhein sing-off (as the camera focuses on her tear-filled eyes, her impassioned voice is amplified). Lebeau, who died at 94, was the last surviving credited actors on possibly the greatest film of the 1940s.Before the Beastie Boys were a pioneering hip hop trio, they were an average punk quartet comprising Adam Horwitz on bass and Mike Diamond on lead vocals, as well as drummer Kate Schellenbach (later of Luscious Jackson) and guitarist John Berry, who was replaced in 1982 by Adam Horwitz. John Berry died this month at the age of 52. His work with the Beastie Boys is preserved on the tracks that appeared on the group’s debut EP, the eight-track Polly Wog Stew from 1982. That EP is out of print, but the songs were re-released along with other early Beastie Boys work in 1994 as Some Old Bullshit. The band started in 1978 as The Young Aborigines. It was Berry who came up with the name The Beastie Boys.

Just as I revived the Any Major Flute series, jazz-rock flautist Jeremy Steig died — as it happens before I could re-post Vol. 3, on which he featured; though it is his flute that scores the Beastie Boys’ Sure Shot on Any Major Flute Volume 2.  Steig released close to 30 LPS, solo and as collaborations, and played as a sideman on the albums of many others, including Richie Havens, Nat Adderley, Hank Crawford, Art Farmer, Idris Muhammad, Lalo Schiffrin, Johnny Winter, Art Garfunkel, and Yoko Ono. Steig, who had retired to Japan with his Japanese wife, actually died on April 13, but his death was announced only in May.

The German new wave band Trio is now solo. After the death of Gert ‘Kralle’ Krawinkel in 2014, drummer Peter Behrens is now gone, leaving only singer Stephan Remmler. Trio, who had a massive international hit with Da Da  Da in 1982, broke up in 1986. Behrens, who before Trio played for Krautrock band Silberbart and trained as a clown, tried his hand at a solo career, without much success — though he did sing official song for the European Football Championship 1988. He acted in a few movies and when he was not being an artist he did social work.

Don Draper did not, after all, dream up the famous Coca-Cola hilltop commercial while meditating in a hippie commune. The man who did, McCann-Erickson advertising executive Bill Backer had that idea during a long forced layover in Shannon Airport in Ireland. It is perhaps the most famous commercial featuring original music (sort of; the melody had already been used on a record; I told the story in The Originals Vol.  36), which justifies Backer’s inclusion here. Backer also originated the slogans “Things go better with Coke” and “Coke is the real thing”, as well as the term “Miller Time” to indicate the hour at which diluted urine ought to be consumed.

Jeremy Steig, 73, jazz-rock flautist, on April 13 (announced in May)
Richie Havens – Indian Rope Man (1967, on flute)
Jeremy Steig – Up Tempo Thing (1972)

Doug Raney, 59, jazz guitarist, on May 1
Jimmy Raney & Doug Raney – Have You Met Miss Jones (1979)

Madeleine Lebeau, 92, French actress, on May 1
Casablanca – Medley: Die Wacht Am Rhein & La Marseillaise (1942)

Paul Dowell, 84, singer of the Temperance Seven and actor, on May 2
The Temperance Seven – You’re Driving Me Crazy (1961)

Kristian Ealey, 38, English singer (Tramp Attack; Edgar Jones & the Joneses) and TV actor, on May 3

Reggie Torian, 65, lead singer of The Impressions (1973-83), on May 4
The Impressions – Sooner Or Later (1975)

Olle Ljungström, 54, singer and guitarist with Swedish rock band Reeperbahn, on May 4

Isao Tomita, 84, Japanese synthesizer pioneer, on May 5

Candye Kane, 54, blues singer-songwriter and porn actress, on May 6
Candye Kane – All You Can Eat (And You Can Eat It All Night Long)

Paul Brown, jazz bassist and teacher, on May 6

Rickey Smith, 36, singer and American Idol contestant (Season 2), in traffic collision on May 6

John Stabb, 54, singer of hardcore punk brand Government Issue, on May 7

Joe Temperley, 86, Scottish saxophonist, on May 11
Tony Crombie and his Orchestra ‎– Stop It (1954, on baritone sax)

Peter Behrens, 68, drummer of German New Wave group Trio, on May 11
Trio – Halt mich fest, ich werd’ verrückt (1981)
Peter Behrens – Dep De Dö Dep (1990)

Julius La Rosa, 86, pop singer and actor, on May 12
Julius La Rosa – Anywhere I Wander (1953)

Tony Gable, jazz-fusion percussionist, on May 12
Tony Gable & 206 – The Bus Song

Buster Cooper, 87, American jazz trombonist, on May 13

Bill Backer, 89, advertising executive and songwriter, on May 13
Hilltop – I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke (1971)

Tony Barrow, 80, press officer of The Beatles (initiated the term “Fab Four”), on May 14

Paul Smoker, 75, American jazz trumpeter, on May 14

Cauby Peixoto, 85, Brazilian singer, on May 15
Cauby Peixoto – Conceição (1956)

Emilio Navaira, 53, country and Tejano singer, on May 16
Emilio Navaira – Ella Es Asi

Fredrik Norén, 75, Swedish jazz drummer, on May 16

Guy Clark, 74, folk and country singer-songwriter, on May  17
Guy Clark – Desperados Waiting For A Train (1975)
Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt & Guy Clark – Randall Knife (1995)
Guy Clark – My Favorite Picture Of You (2013)

Marlene Marder, 61, guitarist of Swiss punk rock group Kleenex/ LiLiPUT, on May 17
Kleenex – Ain’t You (1978)

John Berry, 52, guitarist and original member of the Beastie Boys, on May 19
Beastie Boys – Jimi (1982)

James King, 57, bluegrass musician, on May 19
James King – These Old Pictures (1993)

Nick Menza, 51, German-born drummer of Megadeth, on May 21
Megadeth – Countdown To Extinction (1993, also as co-writer)

Marshall Jones, 75, bassist of funk band Ohio Players, on May 27
Ohio Players – A Little Soul Party (1968)
Ohio Players – Skin Tight (1974)

Mike Barnett, 89, co-founder of vocal group The Lettermen (left 1958), on May 27

Jimmy Borges, 80, Hawaiian vocalist, on May 30

Thomas Fekete, 27, guitarist of indie band Surfer Blood, on May 30
Surfer Blood – Swim (2007)

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The year 1984 in vinyl comes to you in two parts; not because 1984 was a particularly good year — it wasn’t — but because to me it was two years in one. For eight months I lived in South Africa; then I moved to London via a two-month European road trip. Part 1 concern itself with the South African half of 1984.

I see 1984 as the year that gave rise to the corporate mega-star. Michael Jackson’s Thriller had hit big in 1983 and was still hitting big, Lionel Richie’s Can’t Slow Down was mega big, Bruce Springsteen turned out his most commercial album, Prince donned the dandyish purple and became an icon, in Britain Wham! and Duran Duran hit heights of superstardom, U2 hit their stride, and towards the end of the year Madonna released an album that would turn her into the quintessential 1980s star.

It all felt artificial, even if not all of it was. While Springsteen must have been aware that he was putting out a commercial album, most of the songs wouldn’t have been out of place on The River four years earlier — but I don’t think he knew just how stratospheric it would go . And I defy anyone to claim that Prince compromised his art for anything. Rather, it was the corporate icon-building, as if music was a Hollywood dream machine from the 1930s, that felt artificial.

And music has never recovered the already compromised innocence it lost in the mid-80s. There were moments in the ‘90s when it felt it might do so. The grunge scene was a rebellion to the corporate hi-jack of music. Hip hop offered an antidote. But the corporates simply poisoned the well by co-opting whom they could or promoting hack acts to replace those who were threatening the hegemony.

Now nobody threatens the hegemony any longer. We have our megastars and they hang around longer than their ancestors did. In the past, a teen star like Justin Bieber would have been off the scene the moment his fans grew pubic hair. Now he has unlimited shelf life, a star for the sake of being a star. The process of raising and maintaining stardom is driven by image management; new blood is added as needed, but the process is entirely in corporate hands.  And 1984 was a watershed in the inexorable process that, of course, had begun much earlier.This collection, and certainly the second part, would better be called “A Life in Cassette Tapes”. Of the 19 tracks here, I had five on record (Grandmaster & Melle Mel, Tubes, Cars, Style Council on LP; Frankie on 12”. And I bought the Sade LP as a present for my sister). The rest I had on tape — bought or taped off records. Once I had a car, having stuff on tape was necessary.

As always, I don’t endorse everything on these mixes which are supposed to evoke that particular year for me. I can’t say many good things about Laura Branigan’s Italo-pop hit other than that hearing it takes me back to the driver seat of the blue Beetle I was driving in 1984. But I am also cheating a little by omission. When I think of May 1984, I might also think Matthew Wilder’s The Kid’s American, a song so bad I really cannot inflict it on you, no matter what other liberties I’m taking here. There are a few others. Ollie & Jerry’s breakdancing anthem Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us anyone? But I do include as a bonus track Break Machine’s rather good Street Dance, because breakdancing mattered.

Some songs here have personal meaning, a couple of them deeply emotional (including the Chris Rea sing), others quite comedic. On the latter front, the Thompson Twins’ Doctor Doctor represents a series of songs, which also included the two Jumps by van Halen and the Pointer Sisters, that soundtracked my curation of my younger brother’s first drunken barroom adventure. It culminated in little brother covering the interior of my friend’s car in vomit. To his credit, my friend took it in good spirits and cleaned the car while I put little brother to bed.

I might also have included Phil Collins’ Against All Odds, which accompanied the sound of my first broken heart, or Prince’s When Doves Cry, which excited me like no other song that year (Prince didn’t like his stuff to be featured on the web, so I’ll leave that one out). I went to see Purple Rain at the movies in consecutive screenings. The only other time I did that was later in the year, with the infinitely greater Once Upon A Time In America. I also watched the Sylvester Stallone & Dolly Parton vehicle Rhinestone twice in a day, first in the afternoon on my own and in the evening with friends, but let’s leave that bizarre decision alone. (Apparently Stallone turned down leads in Romancing the Stone and Beverly Hills Cop to film Rhinestone!).

I might have bought the Sade album for my sister but I loved it. I was torn about whether to include Your Love Is King or her wonderful cover version of Timmy Thomas’ Why Can’t We Live Together. Soul music gets short shrift on this mix. I also would have liked to include Patrice Rushen’s Feel So Real, Deniece William’s Let’s Hear It for the Boy or Cherelle’s I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On (later a hit for Robert Palmer).  

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes covers. PW in comments.

1. Grandmaster & Melle Mel – White Lines
2. Via Afrika – Hey Boy
3. The Tubes – She’s A Beauty
4. The Cars – You Might Think
5. Snowy White – Bird Of Paradise
6. Marillion – Punch And Judy
7. Style Council – You’re The Best Thing
8. Re-flex – The Politics Of Dancing
9. Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Two Tribes
10. Alphaville – Big In Japan
11. Nena – 99 Luftballons
12. Ultravox – Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
13. Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy
14. Evelyn Thomas – High Energy
15. Thompson Twins – Doctor Doctor
16. Sade – Your Love Is King
17. Laura Branigan – Self Control
18. Chris Rea – I Don’t Know What It Is (But I Love It)
19. Mel Brooks – To Be Or Not To Be
Bonus Track: Break Machine – Street Dance

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A couple of years ago I posted a couple of mixes on the theme of mornings; I have played Any Major Morning Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 many times, especially in the car. I have also test-driven this mix, on the theme of night.

Obviously there are hundreds more songs one could choose; I hope the reaction to this collection will justify a few more mixes on the theme.

The opening track is one of those songs that could work on more than one Any Major Mix. The Nightfly might have gone on to the Any Major Radio mix, or on to the Any Major Road Trip – Stage 2 mix (with DJ Lester’s greetings to Baton Rouge).

I enjoy the whole mix, but I love especially the sequence from the Lloyd Cole track to that by the excellent Justin Townes Earle which builds up to the great country cover of AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long by The Twang. The German group specialises in covering pop hits in country and bluegrass fashion. It sounds like a novelty thing, and in a way it is. But these covers are not there to be laughed at, even if it is amusing to hear the lyrics to the Village People hit YMCA (“You can hang out with all of them boys”) or the Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop set to the sound of country music, and that done well. Some of the covers work better than others — see how you like You Shook Me All Night Long in a Nudie suit.

Two other songs here are covers: Martha Reeves channels the grumpy Ulsterman, while The Dells cover themselves. They first recorded Oh, What A Night as a doo wop number in 1956; featured here is a reworking of the song from 1969, with Marvin Junior still on lead vocals, sharing them with Johnny Carter, who had replaced original co-singer Johnny Funches in 1960. Poor health by Marvin Junior and fellow founding member Chuck Barksdale ended the band’s run of exactly 60 years in 2012. Marvin died a year later at 77.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-dreamt-up covers. PW in comments.

1. Donald Fagen – The Nightfly (1982)
2. Little Feat – Walkin’ All Night (1973)
3. Barry Ryan – Loneliest Night of the Year (1972)
4. Paul McCartney – Every Night (1970)
5. Carole King – A Night This Side Of Dying (1974)
6. Lamont Dozier – Let Me Start Tonite (1974)
7. Martha Reeves – Wild Night (1974)
8. The Dells – Oh What A Night (1968)
9. The Walker Brothers – Saddest Night In The World (1966)
10. Sammy Davis Jr. – Night Song (1964)
11. Nancy Sinatra – The City Never Sleeps At Night (1965)
12. Sammi Smith – Help Me Make It Through The Night (1971)
13. Buckingham Nicks – Crying In The Night (1973)
14. Bruce Springsteen – Prove It All Night (1976)
15. Nils Lofgren – Night Fades Away (1981)
16. Everything But The Girl – The Night I Heard Caruso Sing (1988)
17. Missy Higgins – Nightminds (2004)
18. Lloyd Cole – Late Night, Early Town (2003)
19. Richard Hawley – The Nights Are Made For Us (2003)
20. Neil Diamond – Save Me A Saturday Night (2005)
21. Justin Townes Earle – One More Night in Brooklyn (2010)
22. Thompson Square – If It Takes All Night (2011)
23. The Twang – You Shook Me All Night Long (2003)

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