I’ve established an annual tradition of taking a week off from blogging each summer to allow for a family vacation.
This year I’ll mark the time with a week’s worth of videos by the lovely and talented Beyoncé. Enjoy!
Song of the Day #1,464: ‘Crystal River’ – Mudcrutch
I love Tom Petty, and I love how he reunited with his early band Mudcrutch to release an album in 2008. But nothing can excuse a song like this one lasting nine minutes, especially given that there are about 12 words in the whole song.
I am a vehemently anti-jam band man (say that five times fast). You can take your Phish, your Dead, your Dave Matthews Band and put them on mute. I have no interest in swaying for five minutes while a bearded man noodles away on his electric guitar.
Song of the Day #1,463: ‘The Further I Slide’ – Badly Drawn Boy
Badly Drawn Boy is another artist — like Jude and Jump, Little Children on recent Random Weekends — who once upon a time seemed like somebody who might be a long-time favorite.
His first album, The Hour of the Bewilderbeest, was a left-field surprise, marrying solid pop hooks to sonic experimentation and a poetic sensibility. His soundtrack for About a Boy captured the film’s tone and featured a couple of memorable singles.
Song of the Day #1,462: ‘Things We Said Today’ – The Beatles
Best Albums of the 60s – #1
A Hard Day’s Night – The Beatles (1964)
A Hard Day’s Night – The Beatles (1964)
Today’s pick is very similar to yesterday’s in that both are early albums by artists who went on to create much more ambitious and ground-breaking work.
A Hard Day’s Night was the third Beatles album but the first to feature exclusively original material. Billed as the soundtrack to the film of the same name, the album featured all of the new songs in the movie plus additional material written for the film but unused in the final cut.
Song of the Day #1,461: ‘I Shall Be Free’ – Bob Dylan
Best Albums of the 60s – #2
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan (1963)
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan (1963)
Before he went electric; before the motorcycle accident; before “Judas!,” The Band and The Dead; before he found Jesus, Mark Knopfler and Alicia Keys… Bob Dylan put out his first album of original material.
The 22-year-old had released his self-titled debut a year earlier, but that album featured only two originals among a slew of folk and blues covers. 1963’s The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was its mirror image — two covers and eleven originals by a new voice that would revolutionize folk music.
