The Not-Pop Jukebox

This may actually be my longest post title, ever. The song's good enough to support one twice this length, though. I realized that, now that I'm finally getting around to making and posting videos for some of the songs I haven't been able to find on YouTube I should probably share them here as well as at Google+. Rather than start from scratch (any more than I already have) I thought I'd just embed the post here. Enjoy!

It's been quite some time since I shared anything from Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings but this brand-new video has me jamming to them all over again!

Today's songs all started with one that isn't even on it. I've not mentioned my love for spy music for some time but it's still there and a song like Undercover Agent for the Blues is right up that alley. Once I started down it, though, I thought I'd find more undercover songs.

Find them I did! While you get the Billy Joe White version of the original song (as I've never really been a fan of Tina Turner's voice), you can also listen to that ubiquitous 70s hit Undercover Angel as well as Snoop Dogg and Bootsy Collins going undercover for funk. Technically, Agent 13 doesn't have undercover as the first word in the title but I really wanted to include Undercover Ska and the song seemed to fit beautifully.

I've also included some rockin' Monster Truck, a little Two Door Cinema, and some badly-mastered Silver Bullet (are you still rapping back there? I can't hear you!) If that's not enough, I threw in OPM and their surprisingly enjoyable Undercover Freak. Have a listen to all nine and let me know if you've got a favorite undercover song that I missed.

I tend to think of Booker T Jones as I know him with the MGs: bluesy soul, heavy on the organ. His solo work, however, tends to be heavier (though, naturally, still chock full of the ol' Hammond). As a perfect example, have a listen to the funky instrumental groove called Potato Hole from the album of the same name. Technically "Potato Hole" isn't a solo album at all as Booker T fronts Drive By Truckers instead of The MGs, but that's just semantics, right?

Whatever the case, I know you can't resist a song title like Potato Hole, my darlings. Go ahead, click it. Have a listen. You know you want to.

Dan Penn is better known as a songwriter than a performer but his take on Memphis Women and Fried Chicken, which he co-wrote, may persuade you to wish he'd do more recording. It's a great, Southern-fried mess of organ and horns, a honky-tonk stomp blues that makes you get up and move...and want some fried chicken. I don't know that I ever wanted to go to Memphis before I heard this song but every time I hear it I get a hankerin' to visit the South. I hear there's cornbread and ribs, too. And pie with homemade iced cream. Dang, I'm hungry now.

Have a listen to Dan Penn singing the praises of Memphis Women and Fried Chicken. Do let me know if you like it and if you're craving some good, Southern food, too.

I know what you need, my darlings. You need some fat, juicy funk blues from Johnny "Guitar" Watson. But you don't need fluff like Miss Frisco (Queen of the Disco). Times are hard and you want to hear about how hard it is to find a job. And yet you still need to shake your booty.

Thus I bring you What the Hell Is This?, a song that combines the powerful funk of JG with a little modern social commentary. It also includes some of his peculiar lyricism, the sorts of things that make you say, "Hunh?" In this particular instance, it's the line about "running around the city like a chicken with a nickle" that particularly caught my attention.

If that's a little to heavy for this nigh-Friday evening, try Booty Ooty instead. What the hell, listen to all three!

As we get over Humpday, let's enjoy some wondrous proto-rock, some foot-tapping soul from the fantastic Big Maybelle. It's got some classic 50s saxophone and that twangy rock guitar that used to be all the rage, but it's also got Maybelle tinkling the ivories and her voice just made for what used to be called R&B before that turned into smooth jazz for the Top 40 crowd.

Enjoy Big Maybelle singing her Ring Dang Dilly off and hearken back to a more innocent time...at least as far as radio play went...and the hey day for Okeh Records. Let me know if it doesn't make you want to hunt down some bobby socks and dance the Jitterbug, because it sure does me.

For an old blues and jazz master like Taj Mahal, you don't always expect a huge sound. Luckily for you I'm here to share wild gems like Feets Don't Fail Me Now. You get Taj's great voice, a full choir, and horns. For those who like his roots sound it's a mighty switch but it's a song not to be missed.

In case you didn't realize, this is a cover of the Little Feat song Feats Don't Fail Me Now. Personally, I find this one a stellar re-imagining that stays true to both Taj Mahal's rambling spirit and the sound of the original. He recorded the song for a George Lowell tribute album in the late 90s, "Rock and Roll Doctor".

Whatever excuse the world found to get this cover made, I thank it heartily. I'll take any for a rollicking, romping tune that makes me get up and dance. Have a listen and let me know if you like it, too.

Here a rockin', brass-filled cover of Sugar Blues for you all of an evening. If you're unfamiliar with the song you can find covers by all sorts of folks but this one pushes all my happy buttons so I'm sharing it with you all. If you prefer another (or if you happen to know who recorded the original), please do let me know.

It's not everyone who can sing a charming song about a woman who's afraid of the number thirteen. Perhaps you should have expected that Jimmy Sutton's Four Charms would combine their powers to do so. Perhaps not. Whatever the case, have an old song that could never have been a hit because no one can spell Triskaidekaphobia. If you know of any other number phobia songs I'd love to hear them, though I'll be mighty surprised if you do.

As a tidbit, this is the same Four Charms that performed Hit That Jive, Jack so long ago (or sound like it, as "Flatland Boogie" was released in 2000). Triskaidekaphobia is the title track from their 2005 album. I've tagged this as "oldies" for the sound, not the actual age of the song.

After all of the offensive references to gold-digging women in music, I thought it fitting that we hear from some money-hungry men looking to be kept. Thus I offer you six versions of First I Look at the Purse.

Now, you won't be surprised by Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials or The Countours. You may, however, find yourself enjoyable taken with Rod Stewart's soulful take or the serious bluesy jam from the J. Geils Band. If you want an angry, growling take on it, try Nashville Pussy.

Have a listen to the whole set and let me know which you like best. I'm leaning toward J. Geils but there's so much jamming going on here that I can't quite decide.

I bring you, this evening, a song that I love but which--at the same time--makes me cranky. Cold Women with Warm Hearts shares the ethos of If You Want to Be Happy: find a woman other men won't want and she won't cheat on you.

Now that's an utter simplification of the message of Cold Women, but even while I'm jamming to the hardcore blues beat of it this niggling little voice in the back of my head keeps reminding me that songs that assume women are inherently unable to resist any man that hits on them are too prevalent and too frustrating. At least, in this case, it's about cold women with warm hearts and there seems to be some dedication to actual affection for the women in question, unlike Jimmy Soul's offensive but catchy tune.

The first time I heard this song it was Magic Slim & the Teardrops performing it but I've decided to share Albert King's version with you because, well, horns. Surely you know by know, my dears, that I cannot resist the horns. Toss in some great blues guitar and Albert King's rough-and-tumble voice and it's a guaranteed winner, as far as I'm concerned. So, for tonight, viola!

You, my cruel darlings, have been keeping secrets from me. You've let me go all these years without telling me about Sugar Pie DeSanto, you evil things. Now, I might punish you by withholding all of the fantastic music I listened to today but I'm not like that. Instead, I'm going to flaunt Soulful Dress, just like Sugar Pie is in the song.

For those of you who aren't in on the conspiracy, Ms. DeSanto has put out some of the best soul and bluesy funk I've enjoyed. She's been rockin' for sixty years but her biggest hits came in the 1960s. How do I know Etta James and not Sugar Pie DeSanto, you ask? I have no idea, but apparently they had a pair of big hits together. Clearly, I've not been reading the credits and liner notes carefully enough.

Whatever the case, I'm catching up now. I'll definitely be posting more, but if you're in the mood for some have a search. You can find her all over the web, though sparsely (sadly) at Grooveshark. And if you're one of those who's been keeping quiet about DeSanto, 'fess up with your favorite song of her.

Have you heard? Bongos Ikwue will have his first US release in February! It's likely you're not familiar with the talented and musically diverse Ikwue, but happily I'm here to help you understand how excited you should be to hear this news.

I've included the title track from the new album, Wulu Wulu. As an added bonus, it's a studio video so you can see it performed live. I dare you all to listen to it and not smile. It's a lovely mishmash of jazz, afrobeat, funk, and blues that you can't help but love. Sadly, I can't find previews anywhere of the rest of the album (and the official site is yet under construction) but I'll keep and ear out and bring you more, assuming the rest of the songs are as wonderful.

If you just can't wait, there are a few of Bongos Ikwue's older songs, mostly from the 70s, on Grooveshark. Features? Horns, guitars, and--naturally--Bongos.

Today is the anniversary of Stephen Foster's death, that pioneering gent so far ahead of his time that he tried to make a living as a songwriter and died, penniless and destitute, at the age of 37. Even if you have never heard of the man I guarantee you know at least one or two of his songs. He was that influential, eventually, he just couldn't make any money.

For today, let's have takes by well-known folks on Stephen Foster's well-known songs. I've started with a fantastic version of Old Folks at Home by Ray Charles titled Swanee River Rock. Then Taj Mahal's bluesy, harmonica-filled Oh, Susannah, Sam Cooke's soulful I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, and noddle around with Dave Brubeck and his quartet offering their take on Camptown Races. Finally, we come around full-circle to Louis Armstrong back on Old Folks at Homes.

Spare a thought for the music makers among us today and, the next time you download something that's "pay what you like", throw in an extra buck for them. You never know who's going to be the next lynchpin in the musical vocabulary of a country or even the world.

Warning to all easily-offended religious people: These are songs about Jesus in one way or another. Some of them are funny. Some are a wee bit more bitter. Commencing post in 3...2...1...

I thought that, it being Jesus Season or whatever you want to call a holiday timed to replace a pagan celebration despite historical...hold on...I'm smashing my soap box...let's try that again.

I found a bunch of songs in my collection and elsewhere that are, ostensibly, about Jesus. At the very least his name is featured in the titles. Because I'm feeling snarky, I'm amusing myself by posting them just before Christmas. If you choose only one song, make it Ministry's Jesus Built My Hotrod. If it's only two for you, include Tom Waits and his iconic Chocolate Jesus because nothing satisfies like a chocolate savior. Realistically, however, you should follow that up with Scanners and Jesus Saves. Trust me.

Please note that my inclusion of Soundgarden and Green Day in this list is in no way an endorsement of the music of either band. I am, however, recommending Robert Randolph and the Family Band, with Eric Clapton as they are here or without, though you probably could have guessed that by now. And you know Depeche Mode is in there somewhere. I mean, really, Personal Jesus: how could I exclude them?

If you have a favorite, non-religious Jesus song please do let me know! I'm bouncing to Ministry right now so I'm feeling much, much better.

Do you have any idea how long it's been since I shared some Taj Mahal with you people? Well, I do, and I think it's high time you got to enjoy some more. To that end, I'm bringing you today not only a song that Taj Mahal co-wrote in 1968 but three covers of that song by such luminaries as The Blues Brothers and Albert King.

She Caught the Katy (And Left Me a Mule to Ride) is one of those songs that fooled me when I first heard it. I presumed it was a blues standard and that most musicians would have recorded it at some point or another. Imagine my surprise at discovering that the song wasn't much older than I was!

To me, that's a mark of how timeless She Caught the Katy really is. Of course you can't blame a girl for presuming a song about riding a mule to be of a bygone era rather than hippy heyday, can you? No, you can't.

Regardless of its age, it's a song that has made its way into the blues lexicon, and deservedly so. Taj Mahal still does it best, in my opinion, but have a listen to The Blues Brothers, Albert King, and a rockin' take on it from Widespread Panic. Let me know what you think!

Rather than a memorial post when someone dies, today let's have a post on a living musician's birthday. I know many people don't like Tom Waits. Maybe it's the voice like Louis Armstrong on a five-day bender. Maybe it's the oh-so-caustic wit. But in dismissing him they miss out on gems like Step Right Up.

The song is a compilation of the sorts of pitches with which people have been targeted for centuries, many of them modern, infomercial tag lines but some you can picture an eighteenth-century barker calling out to passing long-skirted ladies and their top-hatted beaus. Well, not in Tom Wait's voice, perhaps. I don't think he'd draw a lot of takers, somehow.

Whatever the case, I'm posting Step Right Up in honor of his birthday. Here's hoping he's enjoying some cake or a slug of whisky...or both...right now.

I call this edition of You Pick the Winner "I'm a MaWoman". Today we pit a bluesy rock classic from Bo Diddley, I'm a Man, against Koko Taylor's down-and-dirty I'm a Woman. Have a listen to both and tell me, my dears, who does a better job representing his or her gender? Which is the better song overall? I love 'em both so I'm looking to you for guidance.