Music lovers...
I've been posting here for well over a year with trash about government, the monarchy, religion and everything else that winds me up every day. So, just for a change, here's some stuff that makes me happy...my list of twenty of some of the greatest pieces of music ever written and performed since the Second World War:
Indulge me...or dump the post; it's up to you. But some of these just might be worth listening to. Click the song links, not the pics.
In no particular order, then:
The amazing Howlin' Wolf. I defy you not to at least tap that foot...
Billy Bragg's message is the same today as it was when he sang it in the 80s and when it was written in the 30s, even though we never seem to be 'between' wars these days, just 'during' them. Maybe Miliband's "One Nation" Labour Party could adopt it as an anthem?
The purest 70s rock: Kossoff, Kirk, Rodgers & Fraser. Difficult to beat...
Free: Walk In My Shadow
Enjoying this so far? Stay with me, then....
Let's go continental next. If you're uncomfortable with how Germany is rising, you might like to arrest your Europhobia with a bit of imagination: This is "Vorsprung Durch Metall"! And if you don't know how to count to nine in German, then this is for you...
Rammstein: Sonne
And possibly the best blues song...if not that, then the best slider and the best (and only) albino brothers (with Edgar) ever to grace our stages and studios. Go, Johnny, go...
Johnny Winter: I Love Everybody
When Graham Nash left the Hollies, I was devastated...but then this happened...
CSNY: Carry On
Michael Stipe! Great songs and great angst... here's one of the best and much under-rated from REM:
Country Feedback
Still no Hip-Hop then? Neither will there be. R&B? Yes indeed...but the proper Rhythm (don't you love a word without proper vowels?) and Blues. Here's the main Van the man with another main man...the late Mr John Lee Hooker:
Gloria
Ever loved and lost? Wanted her/him back? Cry with Nina Simone....
Ne me quitte pas
Back to Rock'n'Roll...nineties style with the very talented Green Day. Just forget that Billie Joe Armstrong looks a little bit like Ant and/or Dec and you're home free, especially with their anthem...
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Back to the blues...OMG! Etta James!
AT LAST!
Hate 'em? Love 'em`? Doesn't matter. The Rolling Stones defined British rock'n'roll more than the Beatles ever did. Blasphemy? So kill me...
Gimme Shelter
And there were the brilliant covers too...Here's Melanie
Ruby Tuesday
Want to get wasted / depressed / into Shakespeare? You can rely on Radiohead...
Exit Music
OK, you can call it "Prog Rock" if you want to...but it isn't. It's just Pink Floyd. That's all it is. And it was great to see Gilmour and Waters sort of making-up back in 08. RIP Richard Wright...
(Un)Comfortably Numb
Unbelievable performance from Joe Cocker at Woodstock, '69.
With A Little Help From Mes Amis...
Too many to choose from where Metallica are concerned after twenty-five rocking years...so here's my favourite this week:
Unforgiven 2
Up against the wall, motherfuckers! Grace, Paul, Marty, Jack, Spencer & Jorma give us the quintessential Airplane sound from '69
We Can Be Together
Not that well-known, but Wolfstone are Celtic Rock giants. Here's a clip of stunning Scottish scenery as a background to the haunting, rocking 'Gillies'
Gillies
A great song for topers everywhere. OK, Joni Mitchell might reckon it's a "Love and lost" song but I think it's a boozing ballad.
A Case of You
And finally...
Allegorical? Deeply and philoshophically meaningful. Maybe...but also a great song and a great voice from Canadian Brad Roberts of the Crash Test Dummies...
God Shuffled His Feet
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