Throwback Tracks -- August 17, 2017
David R. Smith
Somehow Wednesday snuck up on me again. It's remarkable how quickly it gets here. I know I say that on a somewhat regular basis, but if I didn't think it, it wouldn't bear repeating. I guess. Anyway, here are 5 more songs for you this week!
The Guys From do not hold the rights to any of these songs, it is more our hope to expose our readers to new (*cough*) and different retro music, or re-expose them to things they may have forgotten about.
At the top of each section, will be the song name, followed by the artists' name linked to their website (if possible...which is totally hit and miss with oldies), so you can fall down the rabbit hole, finding and supporting what you dig.
I Got A Name - Jim Croce
Oh man. This song. It makes me sad that Jim Croce died when he did. The guy had a really cool folk sound about him. It's remarkable how many musicians have died in plane crashes, particularly when they're just starting to achieve stardom. It's hard to say what could have happened, but Jim Croce had the sort of voice and style that you feel could have spanned for many more decades to come.
He had some pretty great hits: Bad Bad Leroy Brown, and You Don't Mess Around With Jim but this is easily my favourite song of his. (Though, I Have To Say I Love You In A Song is also spectacular.) What makes this song even more sadly beautiful is that apparently it was scheduled to be released as a single the day after he died. How ominously fitting is that? Ugh. My heart hurts just thinking about it.
If you aren't familiar with Jim Croce, but somehow have heard this song and you're not sure how, there's a good chance you might have heard it while watching Django Unchained. I also definitely went down the rabbit hole of Django clips after that... so, to more music!
Rain King - Counting Crows
Remember two weeks ago when I said I called an audible and swapped a song out for Spacehog? Yeah, this was the song I swapped it out with. And this song is REALLY good! I just wanted to get Spacehog up there. So now that we've had that track play, I'm ready to get this one on TBT.
We all know the success of The Counting Crows and Mr. Jones. It's an okay song but it propelled them into stardom. I don't mind that track, but it gets overplayed, in my opinion. The Counting Crows have so many other great songs to play, including this one. It's one of those songs that you can't help but feel happy when this song is on. It's got a great beat, the verses are solid and that chorus. It just grips you in the right places and makes you feel like your day is going to be good. Music has an incredible power to change your mood, and I feel like this song is definitely one of those songs!
Good Lovin' - The Rascals
Another one on that list of tunes that instantly puts you in a good mood. No word of a lie: I am so close to standing up and dancing to this song. Instead, my legs are just twitching back and forth.
The tempo is so fast, that you can't help but move to it. And that organ solo right in the middle? How often is an organ considered a cool instrument? (Unless it's played by Boom Gaspar) But trust me when I say, if this song was played at a social gathering and I was on a dance floor of sorts, I'd be busting out some air organ there. Because I'm just that uncool.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - Joan Baez
My original plan wasn't to have this version of the song on here. I am a massive fan of The Band and their version of this song is wonderful. It will, at one point. get put on one of these lists. But in the meantime, I wanted to put Joan's rendition of it because she has such a solid talent and I felt like maybe we needed some females to balance out the previous three singers. Plus hers is a very different, folksy tune.
A song about the last days of the civil war from the point of view of a southerner, it was written by Robbie Robertson (with help from Levon Helm) and achieved much success as a song by the Band. Joan covered it in 1971 and apparently it did well for her too.
Given what has happened over the past week in Virginia, I'm not sure how this song fits in the political climate today. It definitely makes a person feel empathy for the soldiers of the south, but it also isn't condoning anything awful. It's just the story of one person who has had to deal with something that was not necessarily in their control. It could have been sung from the point of view of a soldier in the north and it would likely be just as impactful. I just think it's interesting that the reference to Stoneman's cavalry attacking in Virginia:
“The first lines of the lyrics refer to one of George Stoneman’s raids behind Confederate lines attacking the railroads of Danville, Virginia at the end of the Civil War in 1865:
Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train,
Till Stoneman’s cavalry came and tore up the tracks again...”
Call Me - Blondie
Another song by a female voice but a far cry from the last one. What's the opposite of singing about a southern civil war soldier? How about a song from the male point of view as a gigolo?
Whatever this song is about, it's great. I have a huge crush on Debbie Harry, so I'll listen to her sing anything. But this song is both fun and sexy. The bridge with all the ooo-oo-ooos makes my soul melt. I'm not sure how anybody can listen to this song and not feel a bit fluttery at the thought of calling Debbie Harry.
Oh. This song was legit a song on the American Gigolo soundtrack, so it's definitely about prostitution. So that's fun. I guess. Anyway; great song, right??
In the immortal words of Porky the Pig, (minus the stutter) that's all folks. I hope you enjoyed this rather eclectic week of music. I'm looking forward to having this month's weird combination of music land itself on a finalized playlist. But if you can't wait for this one, here are all the other ones. I also tried to clean this section up a bit because it was getting a bit out of hand...
2017
July 2017 TBT Playlist (and the July Spotify List), June 2017 TBT Playlist (and the June Spotify List), May 2017 TBT Playlist, April 2017 TBT Playlist, March 2017 TBT Playlist , February 2017 TBT Playlist
2016
Throwback Playlist for Dec 16/Jan 17, October 2016 Throwback Playlist, September 2016 Throwback Playlist, August 2016 Throwback Playlist, July 2016 Throwback Playlist, June 2016 Throwback Playlist, May 2016 Throwback Playlist, April 2016 Throwback Playlist
-D (@davidronn)