From Soundgarden to Sinatra! (WTF?)

I know, it has been a while. I can't say it won't be a while before I'm back, so tonight I'm packing this post with music... and total fucking randomness! If you're the kind of person who doesn't mind mixing his Sinatra with his Pearl Jam and his AC/DC, this one is for you.


"Shake a Leg" by AC/DC:
I must have heard this song dozens of times over the years, but it never grabbed me by the throat until it popped up on my iPod shuffle a few weeks ago. I was embarrassed to find out that it wasn't some obscure b-side, but rather just one of the many blistering rockers on the band's classic Back in Black album. This song easily climbs to the top of my favorite post-Bon Scott AC/DC numbers, and belongs on your next highway road trip soundtrack. I'm sure ol' Frank would have been a big fan. (Revisiting Back in Black takes me back to one of my strangest AC/DC-associated memories: a friend of mine hired a terrible team of DJs for her wedding, and at one point I had left the reception to catch a phone call. Upon my return, they were playing "Hell's Bells." Here's a tip to DJs everywhere: if you want to clear a dancefloor, play "Hell's Bells." I've never seen so many horrified grey-hairs in my life.)

"Flower"
"Hands All Over"
"Stray Cat Blues"
"Girl U Want"
"Mind Riot"
"Burden in My Hand"by SOUNDGARDEN
"Seasons" by CHRIS CORNELL:
Chris Cornell, former lead singer of hard rock bands like Soundgarden and Audioslave, has some new solo material out, and if you haven't yet heard it, it is FUCKING BRUTAL. And I don't mean "brutal" in the sense that thrash metal is brutal. Brutal as in virtually impossible to listen to, and cringe-inducing. I'm not even going to waste time trying to find links to his new music; doing so would be like actively finding someone to kick me in the balls.

Cornell was the next Robert Plant, a stunningly good looking and charismatic frontman with a wicked set of pipes that could evoke Rhythm & Blues one minute and then shatter your windows the next. His work in Soundgarden (and the one-off side project with Pearl Jam known as Temple of the Dog) proved that. Then... dude went solo. And not the good solo, like his "Seasons" from the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's Singles, which made me hope for the day he would put out an acoustic album. Instead, Cornell released a couple of boring, plodding singer-songwriter-y records. His newest album, Scream, looks like a step in an even more misguided direction, with Cornell seeking to hip himself up to the kids like he's Justin Timberlake by leaning on producer Timbaland. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing but respect for Timbaland. This misstep is all Cornell's.

Dude: stick to rock. You're in your mid 40s now, so who are you trying to appeal to with this crap? Teenagers aren't going to be fooled by a middle aged man trying to make singer-songwriter dance music. Ask Jewel how that shit went when she tried it. Even your Audioslave stuff kinda sucked, but at least you were back at the front of a muscular rock band.

Sorry about the tirade, but I just wanted to give you guys a handful of tracks that at least represented what was great about Cornell before this shit hits the airwaves (if it hits at all). The above tracks are presented chronologically, for the most part, with "Seasons" the exception. "Stray Cat Blues" and "Girl U Want" are, respectively, covers of Rolling Stones and DEVO songs. "Mind Riot" is a bit of an obscure choice on my part, from Soundgarden's (in my opinion) best album, Badmotorfinger. I've always thought "I was slipping through the cracks of a stolen jewel / I was tightrope walking in two-ton shoes" was one of the best opening couplets in any rock song.

"Reach Down" (live) by PEARL JAM (feat. Chris Cornell)
"Crown of Thorns" (live) by PEARL JAM:
As a sort of extension of the Cornell theme, here's the man joining Pearl Jam for a live performance of "Reach Down" from the aforementioned Temple of the Dog album. In addition, I've included a really rare performance,, Pearl Jam covering the Mother Love Bone song "Crown of Thorns." Mother Love Bone was lead by one of Cornell's best friends, vocalist Andrew Wood, who died prior to the release of the band's first full length album. Cornell joined most of the members of Wood's band (who had begun working with a new singer named Eddie Vedder, for Temple of the Dog. Circle closed. (The performance of "Crown of Thorns" comes from Pearl Jam's 2001 10th anniversary show in Las Vegas, and was released as one of the band's Christmas singles.)

"Hung Up on My Baby"
"Never Can Say Goodbye" by ISAAC HAYES:
It's too late for me to eulogize Isaac Hayes, so I'm just going to let the man speak for himself. Though I must add: listen to the fucking groove on "Hung Up on My Baby." Unbelievable.

"When the Wind Was Green" by FRANK SINATRA:
This has always been one of my all-time favorite Sinatra tunes, but I've only owned it on vinyl until last week when I finally hunted down a digital copy of the brilliant September of My Years. Frank's deep voice is buttery as hell here, and the way ends some of these stanzas (the way he sings "tumbling, stumbling down" or "in a brown wind, dying" for example) can just break your heart. What a voice.

Records for sale - update

Like I mentioned before:

Anyone wanna buy some vinyl?

Here's the full list of what's goin' bye bye. I'm going to try and update it on a daily basis, since there are a few things I haven't added and some things that I will take down as they sell.

If there's anything on this .doc file that tickles your fancy, please feel free to contact me with questions. Shipping is 1.50 per LP, or free with any order over $30.

Thanks for any help you can provide:

THE LIST

And, since I'm not a completely self-serving douche, here's an a couple more numbers:

"Spin the Black Circle"(live, from Self Pollution Radio) by PEARL JAM

"Making Plans for Vinyl" by GO HOME PRODUCTIONS

Records for sale pt. 1

Just a brief note here for now, but I've got some songs to post in the coming couple of days, so stay tuned.

Anyone wanna buy some vinyl? I've got bills to pay and records to sell (and miles to go before I sleep).

For now, I've compiled a list of 7" and 10" records I need to get rid of. I will follow up with a list of 12" LPs in the next week or so. I will try to keep this file updated as stuff sells.

If there's anything on this .doc file that tickles your fancy, please feel free to contact me with questions. Shipping is 1.50 per LP, or free with any order over $30.

Thanks for any help you can provide:

THE LIST, FOR NOW

And, what the hell, here's an .mp3 to tide you over:

CHER, covering Bob Dylan's "Tonight, I'll be Staying Here With You"

I know, you're probably thinking Cher?!!. Just click it and see.

"You've had bad breaks? Well that's tough luck."

"The Ghost of Tom Joad" (featuring Tom Morello) by BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND:
Today sees the release of Bruce Springsteen's Magic Tour Highlights digital EP, featuring collaborations with Alejandro Escovedo, Byrds' guitarist Roger McGuinn and this duet with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello on Bruce's "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (which RATM covered nearly a decade ago).

The EP features the final performance of E Street keyboardist Danny Federici. Royalties and profits from the EP (iTunes also has videos of each performance for sale at 1.99 a piece) will go to The Danny Federici Melanoma Fund, in honor of Federici, who died shortly after the March 20 Indianapolis concert where "Sandy" was recorded. The EP also features Springsteen covering Escovedo's "Always a Friend" and The Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn!" For more information, check out your iTunes store or head over to Amazon.

"My Daily Food" by TOOTS & THE MAYTALS:
This track came on my iPod Shuffle and pretty much plastered a gigantic smile onto my face. An explosion of happy, a party in a pill bottle, "My Daily Food" is over almost as quickly as it begins. What makes someone create such a great song and then decide, "Okay, if we make this thing longer than 2 minutes, we're really wasting everyones time"? A question only Robert Pollard might be able to answer.

"Laissez Briller Le Soleil" by LES BOOTS:
I don't know a damn thing about Les Boots. I can't even tell you how I stumbled onto this song, or where it came from. I most certainly can't tell you what they're singing about (though I'm pretty sure it's in French). All I know is that Garage Rock, in any language, is pretty much the best shit in the world.

Tuesdays with LIZZY!
"Bad Reputation":
Fans of Guitar Hero will recognize tonight's tune as one of the most fun tracks from the second volume in the game franchise. It is completely beyond me why this is the only Lizzy track to ever appear in either the GH or Rock Band series of games, since there are easily dozens of Lizzy tracks that would be perfect. No "Jailbreak," "Emerald" or "The Boys are Back in Town"? Come on, assholes.

(As a side note/afterthought: is every song with the title of "Bad Reputation" pretty kick ass? I can't think of an example where the song is lame, from Lizzy to Joan Jett. . . even Freedy Johnston.)

Bad Reputation, as rendered in Guitar Hero 2 (this version is a pretty spot-on cover):

Our MORNING JACKET

"It Makes No Difference"
"Black Sabbath"
"Rocket Man"
"Where to Begin" by MY MORNING JACKET:
Louisville, KY's My Morning Jacket have a new album out. If you've come here with the expectation that you're going to hear about it, I'm sorry to disappoint you. Other than a couple of tracks, I haven't heard it yet. I'm sure there are dozens of places where you can find all the latest breaking news, anyway.

Tonight, I'd rather give you a few rarities and live tracks. My Morning Jacket have slowly been earning the reputation as one of the best live bands working today, and judging from what I've seen and heard from dozens of bootlegs and televised performances, that reputation is solid. The band recently appeared on Saturday Night Live and absolutely killed on "I'm Amazed" and the strangely Prince-ian "Evil Urges," a track that has been dividing MMJ fans down the middle. Decide for yourself HERE.

My Morning Jacket have fantastic taste in covers, as represented by the inclusion in this post of their live rendition of Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath," and their studio recording of The Band's classic "It Makes No Difference." Even when covering a song that has been driven into the ground by classic rock radio, like Elton John's "Rocket Man," lead singer Jim James manages to breathe new life into the tune.

The band were one of the few highlights of Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown, and also (depending on your opinion of the rest of the movie) Todd Haynes' meditation on Bob Dylan, I'm Not There. "Where to Begin" comes from the former film; I previously posted MMJ's take on Dylan's "Going to Acapulco" a few months back.

For Omaha area readers, My Morning Jacket will be performing outdoors at the Stir Concert Cove in August. I highly recommend checking them out, and I hope to see you there.

Songs my iPod shuffle re-introduced me to this week:

"Big Love" by KEVIN DREW & BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE

"Conquest" by TAPES N TAPES

Don't forget to check out Dylan and the Movies to see if watching 365 movies in 365 days takes its toll on my psyche.

With the quickness.

Okay, no time right now, but I do have a couple of housecleaning issues to deal with:

"The Pusher" by NINA SIMONE

First and foremost, I'm starting a new blog. "What the fuck, Dylan?" you might be saying. "You can't even keep up with this one."

I know, I know. This one isn't a music blog, though. For no exceptional reason I decided to try and watch 365 movies in the next 365 days and write about the movies whenever possible. Since I didn't want to clog up this site or my MySpace blog writing about movies on an almost daily basis, I started Dylan & the Movies. If you ever find yourself bored. . . incredibly bored, please stop by and check out what I've been watching.

In other news, a reader posted a comment in my last post about the old GUIDED BY VOICES 100 I did a few years back. They specifically asked if I could post the entire Jellyfish Reflector album, along with the vinyl-only bonus tracks. Unfortunately for all of us, I can't post the album. I only own it on vinyl, and was lucky enough to find someone long ago who could send me an .mp3 of "Pantherz," one of my all time favorite GBV tracks. I'm reposting that song tonight for that reader. I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you, friend:

"Pantherz" by GUIDED BY VOICES