Recently, McCain and Obama offered their top ten songs. Interesting lists (McCain lists ABBA. TWICE!) but pretty shy on Ol' Timey music. My favorite joke so far has been the wag who wondered that McCain didn't have more music from his youth (you know, like Gregorian Chants)...
Hey, I happen to like Gregorian chants, myself.
The lists:
Obama:
1. Ready or Not, Fugees
2. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
3. I'm On Fire Bruce, Spingsteen
4. Gimme Shelter, Rolling Stones
5. Sinnerman, Nina Simone
6. Touch the Sky, Kanye West
7. You'd Be So Easy to Love, Frank Sinatra
8. Think, Aretha Franklin
9. City of Blinding Lights, U2
10. Yes We Can, will.i.am
McCain:
1. Dancing Queen, ABBA
2. Blue Bayou, Roy Orbison
3. Take a Chance On Me, ABBA
4. If We Make It Through December, Merle Haggard
5. As Time Goes, Dooley Wilson
6. Good Vibrations, The Beach Boys
7. What A Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
8. I've Got You Under My Skin, Frank Sinatra
9. Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond
10. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, The Platters
You know, "Take a Chance on Me," might make a good campaign theme song for McCain...
Anyway, that led to Geoffrey offering his own list of top ten albums and he invited others to opine similarly. And so, here are my Top Ten Albums of all times (or at least how I'm thinking today). In no particular order...
1. Birds Fly South, Zoe Speaks
(Zoe Speaks WAS a duo from here in Kentucky. The duo - Mitch Barrett and Carla Gover - have since gone their separate ways and each are making wonderful music alone and in various other configurations. Still, their Zoe Speaks albums were all fantastic and worthy of checking out.)
2. A liturgy, a legacy and a ragamuffin band, Rich Mullins
(Giving a nod to my Contemporary Christian Music days - still, I think Mullins' album holds up in any context. Unfortunately, Mr. Mullins left this world much too soon. His was one of the greatest concerts I've ever attended.)
3. Tanglewood Tree, Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer
(Great album. Period. Poetry in motion.
Dave Carter has, sadly, passed away all too young and too soon. The good news is that Tracy Grammer is still plugging away.)
4. Wrecking Ball, Emmy Lou Harris
(Emmy Lou. Nuff said)
5. World in Motion, Jackson Browne
(A bit dated, but great political soul-searching and rabble rousing)
6. Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman
(I don't think her subsequent albums were as great as her first one here, but this one is simply great.)
7. Legend, Bob Marley
(A best-of album, and a great collection)
8. O Brother Where Art Thou, soundtrack
(If soundtracks can be included - and in my list, they can be - this would be one to consider. Not a bad song on here. Plus it resurrected a genre and became a phenomenon, which is not true for most music I like. Also inspired, the related "Down from the Mountain Tour" album and in a similar vein... no wait...)
9. Cold Mountain, soundtrack
(I was going to throw this in with the previous item, but decided it needed its own entry - a great soundtrack)
10. Old Crow Medicine Show, OCMS
(These guys are just fantastic, bringing an energy and joy to bluegrass music that makes it feel contemporary - and they have a new album coming out soon!)
Do you have a top albums list? Or just a list of favorite songs?
12 comments:
Maybe it's because I'm from New Orleans, but McCain is the only straight guy I've ever heard of that listed "Dancing Queen" as one of his favorite songs.
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
I wholeheartedly agree with the selection of "Tanglewood Tree" as a top ten best album of all time. Brilliant songwriting, and expertly performed by Dave and Tracy.
Dave and Tracy could do no wrong, in my mind. Thanks for stopping by logchaninman.
I like Tracy Chapman's work, although it's been years since I've listened. I'm not really a musical person, so I only have a list of favorite songs, not albums:
1. "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers. If I had the talent to be a musician, this is the sort of song I would like to play.
2. "Dear Jessie" by Madonna
3. "Foolish Games" by Jewel
4. "Stay" by Lisa Loeb
5. "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks
6. "Crash" by the Dave Matthews Band
7. "The Freshmen" by Verve Pipe
8. "Nothing Lasts" by Matthew Sweet
9. "Unforgiven" by Metallica
10. "Jeremy" by Peal Jam
Paulo Nutini...These Streets
Foo Fighters...Skin And Bones
Rusted Root...When I Woke
My Morning Jacket...Okonokos
Bruce Springsteen...Nebraska
Ben Sollee...Learning To Bend
Chip Andrus... Let It Rain Down
John Mann... Hands On The Pavement
Norah Jones... Come Away With Me
To Cover The Bases:
Bob Dylan... everything
Led Zepplin...most of everything
Coldplay... most of everything
U2... about half of everything
2 guilty pleasures:
Kiss...Kiss Alive
Peter Frampton... Framptom Comes Alive
"I Am Willing" Holly Near
"Hallelujah" k.d.lang
"Is It For Freedom" Sara Thomsen
"Patriot's Game" Hank Woji
"Devils and Dust" Bruce Springstein
"Mary" Patti Griffin
"People Look Around" Catie Curtis
"Soul of a Man" Wise Old River
"Rich Man's War" Steve Earle
And finally anything by Teledude1972 (on YouTube)
Man, what an interesting group of songs/albums. Many of which, I must say, I am wholly unfamiliar with. That'll give me something to investigate.
Hi Rob!
And, for those of you not familiar with him - you should definitely check out Louisville native up-and-comer Ben Sollee.
He's very interesting and unique. He plays rock/folk/blues/jazz cello. But forget images of orchestras. He uses the cello like a guitar, like a drum, like a piano. It's very invigorating to watch.
And beyond that, he's a great song-writer.
Thanks for the heads up, Rob.
Dan, thanks for the little link. I shall do what is long overdue and add you to my blogroll (I need to clean house in that place, anyway!!).
I like the varieties of musics represented by your commenters. As for McCain being straight and liking "Dancing Queen", doesn't that very fact kind of call the whole "straight" thing in to question?
Just saying, and of course there's nothing wrong with that, either.
Dancing Queen!? Say it ain't so. But I do like "Take a Chance on Me" for obvious reasons.
Here are my top 10, but not necessarily in Order.
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - U2
Achtung Baby - U2
Joshua Tree - U2
The Life Pursuit - Belle and Sebastian
Sea Change - Beck
Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple
The Chess Hotel - The Elms
Glow - The Innocence Mission
All That You Can't Leave Behind - U2
Empire Records Soundtrack - nice sampling of mid-90s alternative tunes.
Coldplay didn't make the list, but "Shiver" may be one of the best songs ever.
I'm hopeful that the question was more specific than just "top ten songs." Like "top ten Americanish songs from recent cultural memory" or "top ten songs you listen to when you don't want to think about anything much." Broad musical context is missing entirely from the lists of the wannabe leaders of the free world.
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