First Responses for YOUR Playlist

Yes, there's Dylan, Van, Kinks and Patti but also a good number of surprises and the lesser known. Enjoy! More tomorrow.

Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books and now writer/director of award-winning films. He was the longtime executive editor of the legendary Crawdaddy. His newsletter remains free when you subscribe. His film “Atomic Cover-up” became free via Kanopy this month and the current “Memorial Day Massacre: Workers Die, Film Buried" remains free on the PBS site. Both have companion books.

Well, I opened a can of worms—gummies?—yesterday when I suggested that folks pick a song they love as a candidate for a Readers Playlist for this newsletter. Thankfully, dozens did and no doubt more will be arriving. I had cautiously promised to pick a dozen or so that really got to me for today’s newsletter, but now I see that this will span at least one more day, maybe more. So keep those tunes comin’ in.

Most took seriously my advisory that you did not have to name your “all-time favorite song” but could pick something more obscure or quirky or recent. I was surprised how few “classics” were promoted, though we did get, for example, “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty, “We Love You” by the Stones and “Angel from Montgomery” by John Prine, among others. But there was a startling number of bands or individuals I’d never (or barely) heard of, and to be fair, a Desmond Dekker was more likely to appear than Bob Marley. Someone even put forward a local street musician.

Note: Some picks were eliminated because a link would not work here or the promoter picked several songs, not one, or simply named a favorite artist without a song selected. Candidates arrived via the Comments section and email.

Anyway, here are a few I have selected to elevate today, with an eye on mixing a few big names and some not so well known. Enjoy. More tomorrow.

Let’s open with one of the earliest entries, circa 1939, from Andy Kirk and His Clouds Of Joy, “Floyd's Guitar Blues.” Robert Mitchell (no relation) notes its influence on the great Chuck Berry 1957 B-side instrumental “Deep Feeling” and Fleetwood Mac’s 1968 “Albatross.”

Gospel with guitar picking from the same era or even earlier, “I’ll Be Rested (When the Roll Is Called),” by Blind Roosevelt Graves, suggested by Thom Hickey.

Blues shouter and guitarist Charlie Parr may blow your mind here on “Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down,” thank you, Gary Hack.

Loved this tune, and message, picked by Jeremiah Teague, who hailed “most any song written by Ben Bullington...Darrell Scott covers this one.” Classic: “Country Music, I’m Talking to You.”

At the other end of the fame scale, this Mark Knopfler (from his tour with Emmylou Harris) on the Dire Straits’ classic, “Romeo and Juliet.” Says contributor Nancy, “The outro alone, with that little 3-note motif from Bennett, is worth the price of admission.”

The great Holly Gleason writes, “If God were going to take all music, and said to me: because you are faithful, you may keep one song.” Her pick: "Why Don't You Quit Leaving Me Alone," sung by Rosanne Cash. It was written by Benmont Tench who has fine version himself.

A subscriber named Warren writes, “Always a Kinks fan since seeing them my senior year in HS opening for the DC5. ‘Till the End of the Day’ became their traditional show opener and when my brother and I went to see them a few years later at Lincoln Center we waited for those first 3 power chords and yelled out ‘How do you feel?’ Ray paused and held his arms up high in an embrace of the crowd and then started the song over. So I guess he heard us. That was also the show where he fell backwards into a speaker stack but kept singing from the floor. I'll bet you were there!” My answer, yes, and I wrote about it here.

Patti Smith’s “Peaceable Kingdom,” live, with Tom Verlaine, paid tribute to Rachel Corrie, who died trying to stop an Israeli tank about to knock down a Palestinian’s home in Gaza. A timely pick by reader “BmG.”

For Daniel Rubin, “First thought, best thought. Van back in the day,” with “Fair Play” from cult classic Veedon Fleece album.

Back to the modern country ground, someone IDed as “Hysdavid” turned me on to the Be Good Tanyas, from 2000, with “Only in the Past.”

Jeff Makos chose this early instrumental from the legendary Robert Quine with Fred Maher.

Kevin Dunn picked one of our favorite Texans, Joe Ely, and this rocking live 1999 version of “Workin’ for the Man.” I saw him do this live acoustic at our favorite folk club just about this time.

I’m not as high on Dylan’s late (2006) career “When the Deal Goes Down” as subscriber Mark Stricherz, but here it is, with a cute Scarlett Johanssen video. Says Mark, “An amazing sentiment from the master dealing with an individual's end of life moment and that journey shared with another.”

Singer/guitarist Evie Sands was introduced by Johnny Cash on his show in 1969. Nancy Alenier comments, “Evie Sands is one of the most talented and underrated (unknown) soul singers of my generation. Merrilee Rush reproduced her original version of ‘Angel of the Morning’ note-for-note, and Sands’ association with Chip Taylor’s music should have been legendary.” YouTube link won’t work here directly but you can click here and find it. You won’t be sorry. Plus: a longer vid with Evie at little later in life.