My Thermos

George Ivan Morrison aka The Belfast Cowboy aka Van The Man turns 63 today.

Van - you're a legend, a master, a poet, an amazing songwriter, and one of my all time favorites. Your 40+ year career has taken me on a musical journey like no other artist. You, seemingly without effort, transcend genre and consistently produce music that is soulful, soothing and inspirational. The world is indeed a much better place because of your contributions, and for that I thank you.

Happy Birthday



Outstanding photo via Art Siegel

Have you heard Johnny A yet? Here is a great one from his terrific, and highly recommended, "Sometime Tuesday Morning" release.

Enjoy!

This week's mission: Top 5 Goodbye Songs

Bye Bye Love - The Cars

I still enjoy this first Cars LP quite a bit. The latter stuff, mmm, not so much.

Goodbye Girl - Squeeze

I wanted to name my cats Difford and Tilbrook, only partially successful. Glenn is one heck of a guitar player as shown in this clip I discovered back in Feb '07

49 Bye-Byes - Crosby Stills & Nash

I've never counted them to see if it's really 49, but a great song anyway.

She's Leaving Home - The Beatles

It's The Beatles.

Goodbye Cruel World - Pink Floyd

Goodbye cruel world
I'm leaving you today
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye all you people
There's nothing you can say
to make me change my mind
Goodbye

The sudden cut to silence is chilling. I still get goosebumps when I listen.

What's on your list?

(via Music Memoirs)

Today's Mission: Google or use a photo from your collection of something that involves your summer. Then tell us what music figured in the most on your summer playlist this year.

This summer has mostly been full of work but we did get a chance to see a couple of shows, so my chosen photo is a pic I took at the Gov't Mule show at Skyline Stage. It's a crappy photo, but it's the best of the lot.



So my summer playlist of course contains this show in heavy rotation. I downloaded it from a friendly taper at etree.org a day or so after the show but if not still available, you can always pick up a high quality mix available direct from the band at MuleTracks (or contact me via the form here and time permitting, I'll make arrangements to send you a copy - it's free!!)

Also getting a lot of play this summer:

The Blizzard of 78 - Where Life Hangs : I've written about them before and am still enjoying. I hear their next release is in mixing as we speak.

Jackie Greene - Sweet Somewhere Bound : Not his latest but the one I seem to keep going to. A Thing Called Rain is brilliant.

World Party - Goodbye Jumbo : A personal favorite. Some prefer Private Revolution but I could never figure out why.

Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus : The best hot day, have a picnic, tap a keg album ever.

What's playing for you this summer?

Taj may very well be the coolest guy on the planet.



Hope everyone has a happy Monday!

SB

This week's mission: Top 5 Bands That You Wish You Could See Live

In thinking about compiling my list, I decided that there were a number of different ways to approach this, the most obvious being those bands that I wish I could have seen - but didn't have the opportunity.

While I certainly could compile such a list, I decided to go literal and stick with the current tense. Bands that are still touring that would be at the top of my wish list.

1) Gov't Mule - I never get tired of seeing these guys live. Sure, we saw them just a little over a month ago but I could handle another show about now. In fact, they are playing at the amazing Red Rocks Amphitheater on Aug 31 and I certainly wish I could be there. The fact that they change up the setlist every night makes sure I never see the same show twice.

2) The Allman Brothers Band - Again, a different show every night means I can never get enough of this band. They are in Chicago next week and it looks like we may get the chance to go after all. I've lost count of ABB shows I've seen, but they still are in my top 5 to see whenever I get the chance.

3) Paul Weller - He doesn't get to the states often enough for me and it doesn't look like his upcoming House of Blues show is an option for us. I'm a huge fan but never had the chance to catch a live show. I really must remedy that.

4) Joe Jackson - One of my favorite live performers. I've seen him in various incarnations / band configurations over the years and have never been disappointed. Always a must see if I can.

5) Paul McCartney - Oddly, his show is the same every night but I still can't imagine ever tiring of it. I've been fortunate to see Sir Paul many times - check out how "For Just One Moment" he changed my world.

SB

(Via Music Memoirs)

Today's MuleDay brings with it a great cover of Mountain's Mississippi Queen from 1999. The Leslie West / Mountain influence on Warren and Mule is obvious so it's cool to see them pull out this old favorite for a spin.



Not my favorite Mountain song, but probably their most famous. Is there a better guitar player than Warren Haynes? I don't think so either...

SB

Related:

A clip of how not to cover Mississippi Queen. It's Yuckey.

A clip of the original Mountain version from 1970. It's less yuckey than the Zakk Wylde, but it's still sort of a yuckey version.