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Song of the Day #4,680: ‘For Everyman’ – Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne brought out the big guns for his sophomore album, 1973’s For Everyman, enlisting a star-studded cast of musical peers. Elton John, David Crosby, Joni Mitchell, Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Bonnie Raitt all make appearances on this collection, a more confident and resonant album than his debut.

Browne also delivered his own versions of two of his most celebrated early compositions. The album starts off with ‘Take It Easy,’ which Browne co-wrote with Glenn Frey, whose Eagles made it a Top 40 hit. And he offers up a plaintive version of ‘These Days,’ previously released by both Nico and Gregg Allman.

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Song of the Day #4,679: ‘Jamaica Say You Will’ – Jackson Browne

It is finally here! Call this Meet Me in Montauk’s version of “Infrastructure Week” during the Trump administration. Come one, come all, to my Jackson Browne deep dive!

Over the next three weeks, I’ll feature a song from each of Browne’s 14 studio albums, then finish off with my personal ranking of his discography.

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Song of the Day #4,678: ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ – Bob Dylan

Three Dylan songs in four days. The Random iTunes Fairy is really giving old Bobby a workout this month.

Here’s another of Dylan’s early classics, the title cut from his 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited. This was Dylan’s first “rock” album, with only closer ‘Desolation Row’ recorded on acoustic instruments.

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Song of the Day #4,677: ‘L.A. Arteest Cafe’ – Stew

‘L.A. Arteest Cafe’ is the final song (not counting several hidden bonus tracks) on Stew’s 2003 album Something Deeper Than These Changes. It’s a quirky, playful tune about an ill-fated trip to Los Angeles.

After a trio of winning solo albums and another few with his project The Negro Problem, Stew kind of fell of the map, at least in terms of album releases. He focused on his theater work, and found success with Passing Strange, which hit Broadway in 2008 and was captured on film by Spike Lee a year later.

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Song of the Day #4,676: ‘Wuhan Flu Song’ – Sacha Baron Cohen

Concluding my personal list of Oscar nominations with a look at the Best Supporting Actress race.

Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Talk about a tough assignment for a debut film role. For her role as Borat’s feral daughter Tutar, Bakalova had to repeatedly improvise with no room for error, while playing off of Sacha Baron Cohen, one of the greatest improvisational talents in the world. She pulled that off with hilarious results, and found room to build a character we actually care about by the end of the film. All that and she had to share a hotel room with Rudy Giuliani at peak creepiness. Reward this woman!

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