Music Blog 9/4/2010

Football Rock by Jack Hammer (from The Coach Collection: Music Personally Selected by Hayden Fox, MCA, 1994)

Wow…music personally selected by Hayden Fox? That’s impressive. As opposed to what…music impersonally selected by Hayden Fox? Music selected by some MCA lackey assigned to find music he/she thinks Hayden Fox might like? And what I want to know is this: who’s responsible for selecting The Coach Theme? That’s bold…

Take Out Some Insurance by Jimmy Reed (from Blues Routes, Replay Records, 2010)

OK, so I first learned about Jimmy Reed from a Keith Richards interview I read decades ago. I thought Reed must be the coolest guy ever for the Stones to love him so much. So how does one explain the subject of insurance in a blues song? It’s all just so uncool. I mean, insurance…

Yea Alabama by The All-American Marching Band (from Fight On: The Greatest College Fight Songs, Laserlight, 1993)

Go, hogs, go…

Bow Down to Washington by The All-American Marching Band (from Fight On: The Greatest College Fight Songs, Laserlight, 1993)

Go, Huskies, go…

Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow by the Beach Boys (from SMiLE, unreleased circa 1967)

This is the song that according to its composer, Brian Wilson, was responsible for several fires in the neighborhood of Gold Star, the studio in which it was recorded. There are famous pictures of Brian and several studio musicians wearing fire helmets. This was among the factors that lead to the collection’s non-release. Wilson re-recorded much of the material for a 2004 version of SMiLE which is, in my opinion, a masterpiece that nearly occupies the same lofty realm as Pet Sounds.

Diamonds are Forever by Shirley Bassey (from The Best of Bond, Capitol, 2002)

…unless you play football while wearing them.

Long Trail by Tara Key (from Bourbon Country, Homestead, 1993)

Love the Tara Key. If you like this, I would recommend anything by Antietam, the Hoboken outfit which I had the pleasure of seeing play dozens of times.