More about music

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged about my twin interests of classic rock music, and ordering things into lists.  I got burned out on that music list project, and after a while I figured out why.

It was the ranking that did it, trying to come up with which was my favorite song for the year, then my second favorite, and so on.  I’d go back and forth on two or three titles, worry about whether to call a tie on some of them for the same place, and I’d keep second guessing myself.  Then I’d worry about where to cut off the list, what would be the last song, when was it all good enough, and so on.

It was just too much work for something which was supposed to be just a fun diversion.

So here’s my new, simpler approach, and I’m having more fun with this.

For a long time I’ve been intrigued with those “best of” compilations you can buy.  The only problem is that none of them perfectly match my interests.  Most of them are ratings driven, the “Number 1 Hits” which sold the most.  But good luck to you if you liked a deeper cut from the album better than the big hit.

So now I’m making playlists on my computer for each year, and I’m using Wikipedia as a reference source for US release dates.  Keeping it chronological makes for an easier, quicker project.  It’s like listening my way back through one year or other.

So, here’s what I recently did for...

1971.

January 

                  Mountain – Taunta / Nantucket Sleighride

February

                  George Harrison – What Is Life

                  Yes – Your Move / All Good People

March 

                   Jethro Tull – Aqualung

April 

                   James Gang – Walk Away

                   Rolling Stones – Wild Horses

May

                   Rod Stewart – Reason To Believe

                   Bill Withers – Ain’t No Sunshine

July 

                   Moody Blues – The Story In Your Eyes

August 

                  The Who – Baba O’Riley

September

                  Jefferson Airplane – Rock and Roll Island

                  T. Rex – Get It On
                  Three Dog Night – Never Been To Spain
                  Van Morrison – Blue Money

October 

                  Van Morrison – Wild Night

November 

                  Harry Nilsson – Jump Into the Fire

                  Led Zeppelin – Rock and Roll

December 

                  Badfinger – Baby Blue

It’s not perfect.  I really wish I had, or could check out from the library Paul McCartney’s “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey” (released in May, after “Reason To Believe”).  And if I could find a copy of The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes”, I would put that in the playlist instead of “Baba O’Riley”.

And maybe also Ringo Starr’s “It Don’t Come Easy” (in April, after “Walk Away”), and Santana’s “No One To Depend On” (in September, between whichever song by The Who, and Jefferson Airplane’s “Rock and Roll Island”).

1972...

...is turning out to be a bigger project.  Think:  two CD’s worth.  I haven’t got it completely figured out, but so far…

January

                  Paul Simon – Mother and Child Reunion

                  Jackson Browne – Doctor My Eyes

February 

                  Todd Rundgren – I Saw the Light

                  Allman Brothers Band – (2 of these 3:  “Melissa”,
                                         “Trouble No More”, “Blue Sky")

                  Neil Young – Heart Of Gold

March

                  Fleetwood Mac – Bare Trees

April 

                  Arlo Guthrie – City Of New Orleans

                  Hollies – Long Cool Woman In a Black Dress

                  Jim Croce – Operator

                  Creedence Clearwater Revival – Sweet Hitch-Hiker

                  Wishbone Ash – Sometime World

                  Wishbone Ash – Leaf and Stream

May

                  Randy Newman – Simon Smith and the

                                                   Amazing Dancing Bear

                  Bill Withers – Lean On Me (maybe)

                  Rolling Stones – Happy

June

                  Alice Cooper – School’s Out (maybe)

                  Eagles – Take It Easy

                  Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now

                  Leon Russel – Tight Rope (maybe)

July

                 Argent – Hold Your Head Up

                 Doobie Brothers – Listen To the Music

                 Jefferson Airplane – Long John Silver

                 Rod Stewart – You Wear It Well

August

                  Seals and Crofts – Summer Breeze (maybe)

                  Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes –

                             If You Don’t Know Me By Now (maybe)

                  Pure Prairie League – Amie

September

                  Yes – Siberian Khatru

October

                  Steely Dan – (two of these three:  “Kings”,

                                        “Midnight Cruiser”,

                                        “Reelin’ In the Years”) 

                  Stealers Wheel –
                                  Stuck In the Middle With You (maybe)

                  Loggins and Messina – Your Mama Don’t Dance

                  Joe Walsh – Turn To Stone

                  Billy Preston – Will It Go Round In Circles

                  Albert Hammond – It Never Rains In

                                Southern California (maybe)                            

                  Stevie Wonder – Superstition

November 

                  Joe Cocker – High Time We Went (maybe)

                  Carly Simon – You’re So Vain

                  Gordon Lightfoot – Old Dan’s Records (maybe)

                  Edgar Winter Group – Free Ride

                  Moody Blues – I’m Just a Singer
                                           (In a Rock and Roll Band)

                  America – Ventura Highway (maybe)

If I end up burning two CD’s off this playlist, the dividing point will probably be Argent’s “Hold Your Head Up”.  That will likely be either the last song of the first CD, or the first song of the second.

One more thing…sometimes when you check out CD’s from the library, you’ll surprise yourself with something you missed.  My last week’s discovery was from The Doobie Brothers “Long Train Runnin’ 1970 – 2000” CD, where I got “Listen To the Music” for this playlist.  There’s a track, “Dark Eyed Cajun Woman” that I don’t remember hearing.  I didn’t know the Doobies ever did that much of a blues number.  As you might suspect, the lyrics are slightly suggestive if you want to take them that way, but it could have been worse.  Musically though, I like the song.