The Not-Pop Jukebox

In reposting from five years ago, I keep finding playlists that I created in Grooveshark that have all disappeared into an abyss never to be seen again. They included as many as forty versions of or thematically related songs that I spent hours curating. Ring of Fire was one of the first, and it was blessedly short!

Happily, the song and its covers have not paled over time. My family still sings it at full volume when shuffle blesses us with a version. Here's hoping the rest of my recreations go as smoothly! Here's the original post and the new video playlist with the addition of the actual original from Anita Carter and a couple of other great burning covers (don't miss DragonForce and don't look for Coldplay--this is the Not-Pop Jukebox, you know).

I feel that I should start with a disclaimer that I don’t watch American Idol. I do, however, like many of Johnny Cash’s songs and Ring of Fire in particular. It caught my eye that one of the contestants performed a very unusual version of that song last night and the wildly varying opinions led me to watch the video.

While I wasn’t crazy about the arrangement, the many posts and comments that I read expressing the opinion that Johnny Cash was spinning in his grave made me go looking for even more versions of Ring of Fire. I suspect that The Man in Black would have given the contestant a hearty pat on the back for taking such chances rather than being offended by the unusual interpretation. Of all of the country stars whose songs he could have chosen, I think Cash is the most likely to enjoy such a creative rendition.

Consider these versions of Ring of Fire, most of which were recorded while Mr. Cash was still alive (and, for the better-known acts, almost certainly with his permission). Try Grace Jones’ reggae-tinged version, Ray Charles’ soulful cover, or Blondie’s punk-country take on it. I’ve included Johnny Cash himself at the end (he's at the beginning, now), for a reminder of how it originally sounded. There’s a bit of nasty language in the Social Distortion cover, so if that will upset you then you may want to skip it.

If anyone can give Sean Kingston some flavor, can prove that the man would sound the same in front of a frenetic set of fiddles as he does a drum machine, it’s Fissunix. That’s precisely what the DJ has done with this Mashup of the Month: taken the R&B idol and backed him with the country-fried electro madness of Rednex and their take on Cotton-Eyed Joe.

If anyone happens to have a picture of Mr. Kingston sporting a beat-up cowboy hat and a pair of boots, I’d love to have it. This song practically demands one, particularly if it somehow gives the impression of his being at a hoedown.

As always, you can download the Mashup of the Month for free, this time from the official Fissunix web site. Here you can see a mockup of the picture I'm picturing, if that isn't too redundant. I think all of this Rednex is shrinking my vocat...uh, vocan...er, vocaz...my words. I'm off to read a dictionary. Let me know what you think!

Yet again, I'm bringing you an odd introduction to a band via a song that really doesn't well-represent their sound. No-One Will Believe Me When I'm Dead has a country vibe, enhanced by the mouth harp and the slight twang. It's a conspiracy-theory sort of tune, but for all that it really does give you the idea that The Phoenix Foundation has something to say.

And so I'm sharing a romping, stomping number from what's mostly a solid indie band because if anything will induce you to find more from The Phoenix Foundation it's No-One Will Believe Me When I'm Dead. Don't believe me? Have a listen!

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.

For a lineup you never thought you'd see, unless you happened to see the show, boogie up your Friday with Willie Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Kid Rock getting a Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On. While this isn't vocally the best version of the song I've heard (or listened to tonight), it more than makes up for it in energy and sheer number of horns. For a Friday, what more do you need?

[Note: They take a little break after 3 1/2 minutes but then they wail right back into with with full Jerry Lee Lewis piano hammering and brass blaring. It's worth it to wait through the interlude.)

Only Willie Nelson could convincingly sing a song explaining how he doesn't want to get drunk but that he must. Okay, Albert Collins might have pulled it off as well but the fact of the matter is that he didn't. Mr. Nelson gave us I Gotta Get Drunk and made us want to buy him a beer...or at least I do. Seriously, don't you think a night out with Willie Nelson would be amazing?

Whatever the case, you can't argue with his logic that there are more old drunks than old doctors, can you? And he can't let down all of those folks waiting to party with him, now can he?

I have a hankering to hear this one remixed over more instruments. Have a listen to I Gotta Get Drunk and let me know what you think, particularly if you know of a cover or remix that would make this an even better party song.

Some people might be ready for drinks and a night out, but I'm offering you instead a steaming heap of Jambalaya, chock full of bayou sass and made by everyone from Hank Williams to The Carpenters. Should that not be enough to tempt you I also threw in a crazy helping of Brenda Lee, the essential seasoning of Clifton Chenier with spoons in hand, and the unexpected flavor of Los Felinos.

"But," you say, "what about that well-known Cajun swingster, Harry Connick, Jr.?" He's in there, too, with a side of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Creedence Clearwater Revival to whet your appetite. Jeff Healey brings the bite of serious boogie and then The Residents balance the recipe with a creepy take on the whole concept.

All together I've assembled fourteen ingredients to make one enormous pot of Jambalaya (On the Bayou). Dip in and have a taste. I won't blame you a bit if you eat the whole thing, though this is one meal that will likely leave you starving when you've finished dancing your way through it. If I've missed your favorite cover, I'd love to know who performed it.

This whole enterprise stated when I discovered that David Byrne had covered Don't Fence Me In. Now, as a Bing Crosby fan, I knew the song by heart but I really grooved to the Byrne version of the song. Then...then my dears I discovered the Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald version.

Now, if you enjoy people who have a good time and know how to laugh at themselves, I can't possibly recommend that cover enough. But I still find Bing Crosby to have such an amazing voice that we can't do without his original, nor could we pass by the David Byrne take on Don't Fence Me In. And, naturally, I needed to find as many versions as I could.

You didn't think I'd leave you all out of it, did you? Of course I couldn't. And so I bring you ten versions of Don't Fence Me In, some of them more fun than others. IN addition to the ones I've already mentioned, you'll find Willie Nelson (natch), Harry Connick Jr., Chumbawumba (no, really), and James Brown (seriously, you can't make up this stuff).

Have a listen and, if you have a favorite I'd love to know which it is, particularly if it isn't here and I'm missing it. Honestly, I rather like the James Brown version. Who knew?

It's Friday and we need a song about drinking, but it's got to be fun. Handily for you all, I've got Two Bottles of Wine just for you. You get the wacky Jason Webley and Rev Peyton's Big Damn Band, together at last just like you always wanted. Okay, maybe you didn't but they certainly work well together. Enjoy your Two Bottles of Wine and, if you're of a mood, you can hear Webley's Drinking Song oom-pah it's way along on Grooveshark. It's more drunken and maudlin than fun, though. I imagine it'd make a great sing-along right at the end of the night, though.

Ha Ha Tonka not only has a fun name to say but they play some fun, country-fried, pseudo-bluegrass music. Usual Suspects details the story of a small-town Jezebel, a pretty tried-and-true subject but, by perhaps accidentally invoking the movie, it makes me picture Kevin Spacey trying to avoid the attentions of some overly made-up high school girl in a skimpy sundress.

Okay, I didn't until I made up that last part. I'm easily distracted today. At any rate, Ha Ha Tonka pulls of such lyrics as "100% I'm made of cotton, I shrink when I sink in hot water. That little girl, so hot she's scalding, ain't gonna be nothin' left of me."

As a metaphor that's pretty original. The driving beat behind it keeps you starting over, even though the song ends pretty much just like any other small-town girl story. If you like Usual Suspects have a jam to their cover of Red Meat's 12-Inch Three Speed Oscillating Fan or St. Nick on the Fourth in a Fervor.

To be fair, my kids like the Me First and the Gimme Gimmes version of Country Roads and they tolerate the John Denver original because they already know all the words. Seeing them sing along if it pops onto the muzac somewhere is truly a treat, particularly if there are some older folks around who still remember John Denver as that sweet boy and never realized he was high most of the time.

But I couldn't post Me First without John Denver, and then when I went to get them I bumped into Toots & the Maytals doing a great reggae version. Well, you know I couldn't stop at three so I started finding more.

I apologize in advance for the David Hasselhoff cover. I just couldn't resist (okay, you're right: I didn't try very hard). The Foggy Mountain Rockers have a pretty good groove going but the lead singer sounds like English is his second language, so bizarre is his accent. Heck, for all I know it is.

The jazzy version from Chick Corea et al sounds pretty much nothing like Country Roads, which makes it just about par for the course. The Olivia Newton-John cover makes you want to stab yourself in the eye with a pixie stick, so very sweet it is, while Ray Charles does a pretty weird country version that just leaves you shaking your head and wondering what meds he was on that day.

Naturally, Willie Nelson does a lovely job, as does Dolly Parton, at least after the shrieking banshee opening that she either stole from or inspired in Olivia Newton-John. And then there's Rednex. Yup, there they are, like Mannheim Steamroller taken over by hillbillies. Enjoy, all!

If only all of Delbert McClinton's music gave me rockin' horns, a chorus of backup singers, and the rest of the fun that Hammerhead Stew offers I'd have posted him a dozen times by now. The trick with Mr. McClinton is that you never know what a song is going to sound like when you give him a listen.

Sometimes it's country, sometimes more cajun-flavored, and sometimes a great semi-soul, rock-and-roll romp like this. But keeping someone guessing is a great way to keep them trying your music, right?

If you're not familiar with Delbert McClinton, have a listen to Hammerhead Stew and do search out more from him. And if you're already a fan, give me some more fun recommendations, would you?

Langhorne Slim lands somewhere between indie and bluegrass on the genre spectrum. Is there such a thing as alt-bluegrass? Whatever the label, I was introduced to him via The Way We Move and thus I expected him to stay much more on the banjo-and-horns, indie side of the coin. This is the sort of song that makes you get up and dance, barefoot in the grass, at a backyard barbecue.

Sadly, that scratchy voice doesn't translate well in a lot of songs. It tends toward a nasal, bluegrass-y sound that I don't particularly like. Langhorne Slim does, however, do a fair few songs that give you that "get up and move" vibe nearly as well as The Way We Move does.

If you like this one, try I Love to Dance and Rebel Side of Heaven, which offers the bonus of an interesting take on the afterlife. If I'm missing some other great songs, drop me a note and recommend them, would you dears?

Instead of a two-fer today I have a quad: four versions of That's a Pretty Good Love. We'll start with the romping, rollicking Big Maybelle herself, rocking the original. Then we'll go to a really mush-mouthed version from Charles Brown and a great rockabilly take on it by Little Feat. Finally, we'll round out our celebration of understatement with Roomful of Blues and their cover of That's a Pretty Good Love. For a Monday night, that's a pretty good line-up.

Whatever your opinion or Diana Ross's personal life, I doubt anyone could fault her peaches-and-creamy voice as the front woman for the Supremes. When people choose to tackle such an iconic song as You Can't Hurry Love they have to know that they're going to be subject to comparison with it.

Today, let's take the original hit and four covers. I'm afraid that, listened to in sequence, the Dixie Chicks suffer mightily in that comparison. The Stray Cats, on the other hand, took that twang and made it a central part of the song. In doing so, they changed the song entirely while still leaving it entirely recognizable. In truth, of the four newer versions it's Phil Collins, of all people, who sounds the most like Diana Ross! The Checkered Cabs tried to speed it up and turn You Can't Hurry Love into a ska-punk song but I don't think they succeeded.

But that's enough of my opinion. I want to hear from you, my dears! Have a listen and tell me whether you think the southern-fried ladies pull it off after all or if Phil's husky voice grates on your ears. And if you've got another version I'd love to hear it.

It's high time you all boogied down with Clifton Chenier. I haven't posted a single thing from him this year and here it's almost half gone! So for this lovely summer evening go Ride 'Em Cowboy and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow I'll have something a little more timely.

Last year Eilen Jewell put out a record titled "Queen of the Minor Key" that was an instant hit with me. Aurally it tastes like a combination of James Hunter and The Notting Hillbillies (whom, I now realize, I've never posted): humor and soul and a little savor of country beneath.

Upon hearing Bang, Bang, Bang, I immediately had to search for more. The idea of psychotic Cupid firing a shotgun at random into crowds entertains me perhaps more than it should. It's too short for a post, though, so I added Hooked, a love song that perhaps follows perfectly. Cupid has done his thing and love has bloomed unexpectedly.

If you go back to Eilen Jewell's earlier albums you get a lot more country with less soul. You still get a great voice, though. If you like Bang, Bang, Bang and Hooked try Shakin' All Over, too.

Did you know that Janelle Monáe could be even better? I know, Tightrope seems darned near perfect as it was released. But Party Ben found a way to improve it just that tiniest bit by marrying the lovely Ms. Monáe to Nancy Sinatra’s iconic These Boots Are Made for Walking.

And so I bring you today This Tightrope’s Made for Walking, a song guaranteed to get you out on the dance floor doing your best high wire act (or at least to subjecting your chair to some serious getting down). As with all Mashups of the Month, this one is available for free download from the Party Ben web site. Go get it and a whole lot more.

On a more-serious note, I feel like I have to be missing a lot of great bootie talent out there. If you know of some fantastic mashers I’ve missed—or if you are one—I would love to hear from you. It’s not that I don’t get enough mashup in my life, it’s that there’s no such thing. There has to be a legion of you out there I’m overlooking. Share!

Guess what I've got for you today, boys and girls? A rockin', stompin', howlin' song about a girl that drag races. If Smokin' the Boys doesn't get your butt out of that chair then there's not a blessed thing Audra May, The Almighty Sound, I, or anyone else can do to help you.

I'm not quite sure how to classify Ms. Audra Mae and the AS. Smokin' the Boys rocks but songs like Jebediah Moonshine's Friday Night Shack Party fall well into the rockabilly realm. But the songs on Soundcloud definitely don't fit that idea.

Bah, who needs labels? Click over to Grooveshark and Soundcloud for more Audra Mae & the Almighty Sound if you like Smokin' the Boys a tenth as much as I do. Then come back and let me know what you think.

Some songs exist in tandem, duos that seem incomplete without their other halves. For me, I Love a Rainy Night and Drivin’ My Life Away are just such a perfect pair. If I hear one I expect that it will be followed by the other.

In part that’s simply loving the rain and “windshield wipers slappin’ out a tempo”. This is where I pretend I’ve never adjusted the wipers to keep perfect rhythm with the song on the radio. I'm whistling innocently.

That's neither here nor there. For me Drivin' My Life Away and I Love a Rainy Night are like bookends. They complement each other perfectly. 'Way back when gas was cheap and my time was my own I used to love driving in the rain. These songs may well have had a lot to do with that. Let me know what you think: is this a perfect pair?