A Bloggers Musical Look at 40!

Well, my dear, sweet, gentle blog readers, today is a milestone day for me.  Or, so I’m told.  Yep, it is my 40^th birthday.  Feel free to comment on how old I am or must feel.  Candle jokes are always funny, and yes, I am actually typing this attired in black and with one foot in the grave.

I like to think that I have made my musical feelings abundantly clear over the last year or so in this blog.  Songs are snapshots along our continuum that allow us to recall special times, people, and places. Music shades us in many ways, some so beautifully moving that we are overcome by emotion, others etched in our fabric like a familiar scent that recalls the halcyon days of our youth, while others are just simply attached to a moment in time.

In my forty years, I have lived and experienced more life than I probably deserve.  I know I certainly lived more than my parents deserved.  Through it all, music is the one constant that I have turned to regardless of the situation.  Adolescent love, loss, birth of children, marriage, divorce, and death, and yes, much living in between, music has been my salvation. Music resonates within me at many different levels. The basic premise behind music is notes, keys, chords, rhythm, etc….   It is analogous to food in the fact that there is music for all occasions.

So today, is my musical look at 40!  Below are 40 songs that have colored me indelibly. I will offer no explanation as to why these songs resonate with me nor will I debate their worthiness of inclusion.  After all it is my birthday, my blog and my computer at which I type. 

Below is this Bloggers Musical look at 40:

Song	Artist
Blinded By the Light *note* Cause Mama that’s where the fun is!	Bruce Springsteen
Everybody Hurts	R.E.M.
Simple Man	Lynyrd Skynyrd
Tiny Dancer	Elton John
With or Without You	U2
Louisiana Rain	Tom Petty
Dyer’s Eve	Metallica
Touch From Your Lust	Ben Harper
Fire Lake	Bob Segar
Masters of War	Bob Dylan
See What Tomorrow Brings	Arc Angels
There Is So Much More	Brett Dennen
Mystic Rhythms	Rush
Jimi Thing	The Dave Matthews Band
It’s In the Way That You Use It	Eric Clapton
Rearview Mirror	Pearl Jam
Sweet Child O’ Mine	Guns N’ Roses
The Sea and the Rhythm	Iron & Wine
Waiting for the Sun	The Jayhawks
Little Wing	Jimi Hendrix
Highwayman	The Highwaymen
Gimme Shelter	The Rolling Stones
Chloe Dance/Crown of Thorns	Mother Love Bone
When You Come Back Down	Nickel Creek
I’m Trying To Find It	Pat Green
Wish You Were Here	Pink Floyd
Slip Sliding Away	Paul Simon
Sideways	Citizen Cope
Wheel In The Sky	Journey
Sign O’ The Times	Prince
What a Crying Shame	The Mavericks
Sweet Caroline	Neil Diamond
Minutes To Memories	John Mellencamp
Band on the Run	Paul McCartney
Killing In the Name	Rage Against the Machine
Shades of Gray	Robert Earl Keen
Life Without You	Stevie Ray Vaughan
Plush	Stone Temple Pilots
Badfish	Sublime
Into the Mystic	Van Morrison

When I hear any of these songs, I vividly remember the moments, feelings, situations, and the friends I shared the moments with.  I contend that these artists and their songs do or will stand the test of time and are just as relevant today as they were in the past or will be in the future.  At least for me!

So there you go, me sharing a little of my birthday with you.  Enjoy and come over later for some cake and ice cream.

Great music awaits!

Tune In Tuesday: 6/29/10

Welcome back for yet another installment of Tune In Tuesday. 

Music’s connectivity varies by person but I believe that there is some resonating emotional cord that is struck when we are truly touched by the music.  While I appreciate the complexity of the instrumentation, I tend to gravitate to the lyrical aspect of music.  While this is not always etched in granite, it holds about 90% of the time.

Today I am going to go back a few years and highlight some albums that are indelibly etched in my fabric for various and sundry reasons.

Under the Table and Dreaming

Dave Matthews Band

This was the first studio album from Dave and the band and was a really musically liberating sound.  The combination of guitar, bass, violin, saxophone and drums just sounded so fresh in the early 90’s.  The vibe from the music was so upbeat that you couldn’t help but move while listening to it. 

This album was in heavy rotation during college and began a twenty year relationship with the band.  I’ve seen them live several times and own all their studio albums as well as the majority of the live albums. 

Key Tracks: The Best of What’s Around, Typical Situation, Jimi Thing, Ants Marching, What Would You Say

Singles (Soundtrack)

Various Artists

This is the best soundtrack to come out in the 90’s and may very well be the greatest soundtrack of all times.  I realize that is a really bold claim and I’m ok with that.  I’m a rebel!

This album captured Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, and Smashing Pumpkins on one album before they reached the collective conscience of the country.  The album went platinum and really caught the buzz of the Seattle grunge scene.  In addition to the great songs from the soon to be huge bands, there were several key tracks from stalwart Seattle bands such as Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone.

Key Tracks: Drown, Chloe Dance/Crown of Thorns, State of Love and Trust, Breath, Birth Ritual, Would

And Justice for All

Metallica

This was my heavy metal musical baptism and bible in the latter part of my high school years.  I was really into classic rock and when this album came out I could not get enough.  The guttural growls of James Hetfield, the relentless drumming of Lars, and just the all out anger of the sound was so intoxicating.  As a recalcitrant teen, this was my anthem.  As I’ve gotten older, I have learned to appreciate the level of skill that they possess as a band of musician and how they helped define the genre.

Key Tracks:  Dyers Eve, One, The Shortest Straw, Blackened

Green

R.E.M.

Green was R.E.M.’s sixth album but was their major label debut.  This album was also the debut of Peter Buck’s mandolin which would help define the band’s sound on subsequent albums.  The album had such a different sound from their previous albums.  Stipe’s singing is more deliberate and clear and the lyrics run a range of emotions. 

Key Tracks:  Stand, You Are the Everything, World Leader Pretend, Orange Crush, I Remember California

Full Moon fever

Tom Petty

This was Petty’s first venture into solo territory even though he had collaborations with his Heartbreakers and a Wilbury or two.  The album has a cleaner almost crisp sound compared to some of the earlier Heartbreakers albums.  Helmed by Jeff Lynne (Traveling Wilbury’s, Electric Light Orchestra) the album is solid with no real weak tracks. 

Key Tracks: Runnin Down a Dream, Free Fallin’, Love Is a Long Road, I Won’t Back Down,

Joshua Tree

U2

This is my all time favorite U2 album.  They had not quite blown up into the biggest rock band in the world but were well on their way.  Each track is unyielding in musical bliss and twenty plus years later, it plays like a greatest hits album.  The album is sonically heavier than their previous albums and is their foray into the influence of the blues. 

Key Tracks: With Or Without You, Running To Stand Still, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, Trip Through Your Wires

Great music awaits!

You should be listening to Temple of the Dog!

One of the albums that are in rotation this week is Temple of the Dog.  I’ve owned the album for close to twenty years and I never seem to grow tired of it.  I realize part of that is the nostalgia for the time in which the album was released, part of it is the musical energy and excitement that was breaking out in the Seattle music scene, and part of it is that it is just a really great album.

So, with that in mind, you should be listening to Temple of the Dog!

Temple of the Dog is the grunge super group that is only a super group because of what the members of the group became later in their career.  In reality, Temple of the Dog is a fortuitous union of friends who are paying tribute to their dead friend. 

Andrew Wood died of a heroin overdose in 1990 and was widely revered in the Seattle area for his work as the lead singer of Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone.  Andrew was friends with Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) and band mates with Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard.  Chris Cornell began writing a few songs as a tribute to his friend and enlisted the help of Wood’s former band mates to help with the recording of the songs. 

As the recording processed continued, the band line up was filled out with the addition of drummer Matt Cameron (Sound Garden & Pearl Jam) and guitarist Mike McCready (Pearl Jam).  The addition of Eddie Vedder was a bit of a fluke as he just happened to be in town to audition to be the lead singer in a band called Mookie Blaylock which later became Pearl Jam.

Temple of the Dog was recorded in 15 days and produced by the band.  The album was released in April of 1991 and the name is a reference to a line in a Mother Love Bone song called “Man of Golden Words”.

The album received decent reviews and sold around 70,000 copies upon release.  As Soundgarden and Pearl Jam exploded on the musical scene, the album received new life and the single “Hunger Strike” was released and a music video was put in heavy rotation.  The album ended up selling over a million copies and was among the top selling 100 albums in 1992.

The album has a less frenetic pace than some of the earlier material that either band recorded and at times is a bit more harmonious.  “Hunger Strike” is a phenomenal duet between Cornell and Vedder and “Wooden Jesus” is one of my favorite songs from the album. 

In the nearly 20 years since its release, there have only been a handful of appearances by Temple of the Dog.  Cornell has played some of the material while on tour with Audioslave as well as his solo tours.  As recently as 2009, he joined Pearl Jam on stage and sang “Hunger Strike” which sparked rumor and speculation of a 20^th anniversary reunion tour. 

Great music awaits!