It’s nice to see the title track of Billy Joel’s 1978 album 52nd Street pop up on a Random Weekend so soon after my trip to New York City to see Hamilton.
I’ve always considered this jazzy rock classic one of the quintessential New York City albums, from its cover photo of Joel leaning against a wall on 52nd Street and Seventh Avenue to city settings like Zanzibar and the Herald Square of ‘Rosalinda’s Eyes.’
Elvis Costello has released so many albums, and so many reissues of those albums featuring dozens of bonus tracks, that he’s bound to show up on Random Weekends more than most.
I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I recall Costello bonus disc cuts like today’s SOTD popping up more than a few times since I started this tradition.
Today’s random selection comes from Bruce Springsteen’s 2002 album, The Rising. This album was written and recorded following the 9/11 attacks and many of its tracks are directly or indirectly about that tragic day.
This one, however, is a pretty straight-forward relationship song. If it has a connection to 9/11, it’s in these lines from the chorus: “Don’t know when this chance might come again, good times got a way of coming to an end.”
Ah, Tift Merritt. I find this woman’s voice, and her songwriting, as emotionally satisfying as pretty much any music I own. She exudes thoughtfulness and sensitivity, but with an underlying grittiness. Just sublime.
Today’s Random Weekend selection is the closing track of Merritt’s 2008 album, Another Country. She has been so consistently good that I can make an argument for that album being her best, her “worst” or anything in between.
Liz Phair’s self-titled 2003 album has been ripped by longtime fans and music critics alike as a crass attempt to sell out.
Phair initially turned in a set of tracks produced by Michael Penn, but Capitol Records, as the saying goes, didn’t hear a single. They teamed her up with hit songwriting/production team The Matrix to come up with some more commercial material.
Meet Me In Montauk 