Music Diary, Vol. -75


For the rationale behind this mad effort, explanations here. The full series of Music Diary posts are here. The full playlist is above, also here.

Week of Aug. 1-7, 2022

LYRICS: John Prine, "Hello in There"
SONG: Der Rosenkavalier has always had a “hold my beer” quality for me, as if Richard Strauss had been mistaken for the other Strauss one time too many and was like, “You want a Strauss waltz? I got your Strauss waltzes right here.” True or not, the results are glorious.

LYRICS: Loretta Long (Raposo), "Nearly Missed"
SONG: 
The pioneering early '70s all-woman rock band Fanny has a ton of great originals you should definitely check out, but this blazing cover makes a great intro, not least because it rocks harder than the Beatles original.

LYRICS: U2, "Gone"
SONG: 
"Alabama Song" was an English-language song stuck into an otherwise German-language Brecht & Weill songspiel (later an opera), so it's a unique pleasure to hear it in French, in this version by Catherine Sauvage, where it sounds quite at home.

LYRICS: Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks (Johnny Mercer), "I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)"
SONG: 
“Don’t Worry Baby” is still my favorite pre-Pet Sounds Beach Boys cut, but yesterday I happened to catch this great Brian Wilson ear-bender, which he originally wrote for the Ronettes. The III7 chord on “Why don’t you kiss her” just slays me.

LYRICS: Harry Guardino (Sondheim), "Everybody Says Don't"
SONG: 
I stumbled on the Hawaiian music duo Hapa when I was looking for more by Gabby Pahinui, and found this breakneck elaboration of one of his signature tunes. Slack key guitars have seldom sounded so taut.

LYRICS: Squeeze, "In Today's Room"
SONG: Not my favorite Cibo Matto song but it’s up there: An infernally catchy groove as always, with teasingly funny-but-serious lyrics about love and regret…and then the distorted electric guitar drops, followed closely by a tuba. Irresistible.

LYRICS: Laura Nyro, "Save the Country"
SONG: 
I must credit this sneakily weird Bobbie Gentry/Glen Campbell duet for introducing me to the under-appreciated songbook of the great Margo Guryan, who in this tune manages to make intimacy sound both precious and dangerous.

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