Don McLean is a special sort of one-hit wonder. For one thing, he had two hits. ‘Vincent (Starry Starry Night),’ his ode to Van Gogh, was in fact his biggest international success.
Stateside, of course, he is best known for ‘American Pie,’ a song that is not so much a hit as an iconic part of the culture. Chronicling the deaths of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper in a plane crash, the song is packed with coded imagery that serves as a tour of the 60s’ musical landscape.
I’ve featured only one David Bowie song on this blog, and that was nearly four years ago. There is definitely a Bowie-sized hole in my music collection.
I never got around to exploring Bowie’s discography the way I’ve dug back into, say, The Rolling Stones. He remains a mystery, floating just outside of my sphere of familiarity though I’m very much aware of how beloved he is by critics and fans alike.
When this song came up in the random rotation, I was certain I’d featured it before. But apart from a cover version by a hot chick on a ukulele, I have not.
‘Most of the Time’ is Exhibit A (or maybe Exhibit B, with ‘Man in the Long Black Coat’ as Exhibit A) of the wonders Danial Lanois worked for Bob Dylan on the 1989 album Oh Mercy.
This track, from Lyle Lovett’s 1994 album I Love Everybody, runs two minutes and 20 seconds. It probably took Lovett about 30 seconds more than to write it.
I Love Everybody is half a great album and half a forgettable one. It is made up of songs written before the release of Lovett’s first album, so you’d expect it not to contain his best work, yet it does feature quite a few gems.
John Mayer is often dismissed (sometimes rightly) as a mellow soft rock artist aimed a little too squarely at the Starbucks crowd.
But anybody who doubts Mayer’s considerable guitar chops, or his affinity for the blues rock of his idols Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, should check out his 2005 release Try!, recorded live with stdio stalwarts Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino as the John Mayer Trio.
Meet Me In Montauk 