Paul McCartney and Fats Waller

Phil writes: It would be very hard to write a Valentine's song as great as Steve Earle's sublime 'Valentine's Day' but this effort of Paul's shows he can still turn out a very good song:




There's a decent version of 'I'm going to sit right down and write myself a letter' on McCartney's new album 'Kisses on the bottom' which takes its title from the Fats Waller song. I think, though, that the original has even more to offer:

"Linger on, your pale blue eyes" (song from the BBC Radio advert/trailer)

Joe writes: The BBC make such great trailers advertising themselves, especially when they draw on the songwriting of Lou Reed. The current trailer for BBC Radio features a man moved to tears firstly by The Velvet Underground's Pale Blue Eyes, and then by a football commentary as Blackpool gain promotion to the Premier League.

For the original underground band, The Velvet Underground sure had some great tunes.

Zane Lowe is playing Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez

Joe writes: It's a choice of Lana Del Rey who is being interviewed. It sounds amazing on Radio 1 (as it does everywhere else one might hear it). Bob Dylan is so great he even inspires other artists' finest work.



Also here is Lana Del Rey's second best track National Anthem:

Etta James

Joe writes: I listened to all the Etta James tracks that Richard Williams wrote about in The Guardian, but I have to say I don't think any of them are as good what her two biggest hits until Avicii sampled her.

At Last is a top 40 hit in the UK for the first time this week:

I Just Wanna Make Love To You (originally the B side to At Last) was a hit in the nineties of the back off a Diet Coke advert:

Laura J Martin - Doki Doki

Joe writes: Just heard Laura J Martin for the first time. This is an instrumental flute track but very infectious and quite unlike anything else I've heard recently.



Different instrument, different vibe but I was reminded of Devil In The Kitchen by nineties Canadian fiddler Ashley MacIsaac:

And this hypnotic track The Diamond Mountain by Sharon Shannon & Friends:

D'Banj - Oliver Twist

Joe writes: Dance track from Africa that could be a hit in the UK and elsewhere.

Chiddy Bang and Steve Greenberg's Best of 2011

Joe writes: Legendary American record label boss Steve Greenberg has once again published his best of the year list, containing many of my favourite tracks of 2011 plus quite a few I'd never heard before.

It also contains one track I've been meaning to blog, the new Chiddy Bang single Ray Charles which has a chorus (written by Sam Hollander) that lights up the radio every time it's played.

Billy Joel - Lullaby

I could understand someone feeling this is over-sentimental, particularly with the dodgy video, but I think it's a real gem.  There's no doubt that he's written a number of truly memorable songs.

Bowie's 65th birthday

Phil writes:  As this is currently being celebrated, it seems appropriate to pay tribute to an innovative and very influential artist.  Not so long ago, Joe and I were saying what a great album 'Ziggy Stardust' is.  I believe it has a higher proportion of great songs than almost any album you can think of. I'll just concentrate on three. The opening track, 'Five Years' is, like so many Bowie songs, quite unlike any other song you can think of and some of the lines and images live on in your brain for many years (believe me!).  And then there's 'Rock 'n' Roll Suicide' with its brilliantly pithy portrayal of someone right on the edge who by the end of the song may well have been saved from suicide.  I never tire of 'Ziggy Stardust' which might almost be said to be a new kind of rock music.

Miriam Makeba - Khawuleza

Joe writes: Thanks to MrBedosey for drawing my attention to this track via a comment on my YouTube channel. Like Nongqongqo (To Those We Love), it's from the album An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba, but this version was is from a 1966 Swedish TV show and is followed by a moving interview and another track.

Fields of Gold - Eva Cassidy

Phil writes:  I caught a bit of an extended Radio 2 interview with Sting.  I was reminded of this version of possibly his best song, surely one of the greatest covers ever.

This Masquerade - The Carpenters

Phil writes:  I've been listening to a lot of Carpenters stuff recently  -  another favourite of my wife Sue's.  Karen Carpenter does have a unique, and wonderful, voice (Rumer sounds a bit like her, as everyone remarks).  This Leon Russell song is maybe not the greatest they ever recorded but it does show off her voice superbly and it contains the killer lines:  'We tried to talk it over but the words got in the way'.
 

On Raglan Road from the In Bruges soundtrack

Joe writes: I recent saw the film In Bruges which features the song On Raglan Road over a key scene.

The version used on the film is by Luke Kelly of The Dubliners who first set the Patrick Kavanagh poem to the tune of the traditional song The Dawning Of The Day. I prefer Van Morrison & The Chieftains' take, from the album Irish Heartbeat which my dad has written about before. I love the bit where Van whispers. In fact, the entire vocal performance is incredible.



Here they are performing it on the BBC:

Christmas Records

Joe writes: Obviously the best Christmas record ever is Fairytale of New York and the best Christmas album ever is the Phil Spector one.

Here are three less obvious choices

3) Christmas Song - Dave Matthews Band. From the Platinum Christmas album which also contains two other really good Christmas originals by Dido and R Kelly. Maybe I'll post those next year.



2) O Tannenbaum - The Vince Guaraldi Trio. An essential purchase at this time of year is the A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. This is the opening track - a jazz piano trio version of the tune also known as The Red Flag isn't obviously Christmas-y, but the whole album really is.


1) A Kind Of Christmas Card - Morten Harket. Great uplifting track from former A-Ha frontman that should have been a massive hit. Shades of All The Young Dudes.


(update of post originally from 3/12/2007)

Marvin Gaye - Sunny (Mercury Edit II)

Joe writes: The song is better known in its Boney M version. Marvin is better known for many other songs. But it's a great song and a great vocal performance which survives this re-edit.

Marvin Gaye - Sunny - Mercury Edit II by Mercury (Switzerland)

Lou Monte - Dominick The Italian Christmas Donkey

Joe writes: Amarillo by Tony Christie was a modest hit in its day, but a huge UK no. 1 in recent years. Dominick The Italian Christmas Donkey wasn't a hit in its day, but it will be the Christmas no. 2 in the UK this year. Sadly the lesson in both cases is that no-one makes music with these qualities anymore, so these tracks stand out from everything else around them.

Incidentally, Lou Monte did have two novelty hits in America but neither of them were as good as this.

I really like the new Band Of Skulls single Bruises

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zanelowe/2011/12/hottest_record_-_band_of_skull.html (posted by Joe)

Closing Time by Semisonic

Joe writes: Dan Wilson, formerly of Semisonic, co-wrote the song of 2011, Someone Like You by Adele. Here's Semisonic's finest moment Closing Time. When you watch the video and listen to the song, you will understand why Dan now writes songs for other people rather than being a rock star himself.

Richard and Linda Thompson

Joe writes: I wrote about my favourite Richard Thompson songs a while back, but that was before I knew Walking On A Wire by Richard and Linda Thompson



buy from Amazon

Here's a live version:



(update of post originally from 07/06/10)

Elizabeth and the Catapult - Thank You for Nothing

Phil writes: A link to this was tweeted by Mike Scott of the Waterboys when he was recently in New York. It's a very good song, and Elizabeth has a great voice, reminiscent of Martha Wainwright.