The Other CD

 Posted by
Dec 222008
 


There’s no sense in doing this half way. I’d like to hear suggestions for one 20-track CD, on the crucial high points of rock and roll/popular music from 1930 until 1969. For the purposes of placating the Robert Johnson contingency, the ’20s will be (great) grandfathered into the ’30s. Other than that, the ground rules remain the same:

1. We’ve got 20 tracks to fill.
2. Each decade has to be represented by at least three tracks.
3. No single band gets more than two tracks.
4. Nominate one track at a time, then wait for a “second” on your motion. Seconded nominations will move to the official track list, but may be bumped by a veto of more than three specific counter-votes.

I going to go out on a limb and suggest the ’30s and ’40s are easier to fill that the ’90s and the ’00s from the previous disc.

I will leave you guys to fight over Beatles songs and I’ll start with “What a Little Moon Light Can Do,” by Billie Holiday (1935).

I look forward to your responses.

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  36 Responses to “The Other CD”

  1. Hank Fan

    Great idea. I love the old stuff. I second Billie Holiday and nominate “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Hank Williams.

    (I haven’t commented here in a long time because the system wouldn’t let me log in. Then I finally got the bright idea to re-register with a new e-mail address. Glad to be back, hopefully to stay for awhile.)

  2. hrrundivbakshi

    Woddy Herman’s “Four Brothers.” If popular music is made better by talented artists taking artistically challenging music and bringing it to the masses *without making it suck*, then “Four Brothers” did that with the often difficult idiom of “bop.” It was, uh, “pop bop.”

    Here’s a mediocre version from 1985, shortly before Herman died, pretty much penniless for having stuck to the unprofitable big band model long after its sell-by date:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUhnGNHQEFA

  3. hrrundivbakshi

    “Four Brothers” would be 1940s. Interesting how its release date (1947) was right around the time Hank Williams was starting to come into his own. The fact that those two artists were at their creative peak at roughly the same time is pretty amazing, given the vast stylistic difference between them.

  4. BigSteve

    Including the 20s allows me to suggest Bessie Smith’s Downhearted Blues and Louis Armstrong’s Muskrat Ramble (not sure if that’s a Hot Five or Hot Seven recording).

    I also nominate Duke Elligton’s Take the A Train from the early 40s. And the Mississippi Sheiks version of Sittin’s On Top of the World from 1930.

    [I know I’ve violated the ‘one track at a time’ rule. Sue me.]

  5. Mr. Moderator

    I’ll second the Hank tune. (Good to have you back, hank fan!)

    I’d like to nominate The Temptations’ “My Girl” for this expanded, deluxe edition list.

  6. BigSteve

    Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys’ Stay All Night, Stay A Little Longer from the mid 40s.

    This is going to be harder than the other selection, especially the 50s and 60s.

  7. Hank Fan

    I second the Bob Wills song and throw out another Louis Armstrong track for consideration: West End Blues

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6COgkqy1UU8

    Trivia: The introduction contains every note in the 12-tone chromatic scale.

  8. I knew you’d be in on this Big Steve. Now where’s Al? I thought for sure he’d be trying to load this disc up with Francis Albert Sinatra.

    I could have gone for Take Me Back To Tulsa by Bob Wills but I’ll second Stay All Night.

    I’ll second My Girl as well.

    I nominate Ann Cole’s version of Got My Mojo Working (1956)

  9. and Killing Floor by Howlin Wolf

  10. sammymaudlin

    Love the Hank. Do we need both Hank and Wills? Just askin’. Not counter-votin’. Yet.

    I nominate Caldonia by Louis Jordan for the 40s.

  11. sammymaudlin

    I second Killing Floor.

  12. Mr. Moderator

    I nominate the song that best exemplifies the objectives of rock ‘n roll, “Satisfaction.”

  13. trolleyvox

    I’d like to nominate the Count Basie Orchestra doing “One O’Clock Jump”

    have at a vid:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpPehptG3yw

    Oh, or wait, I’d like to nominate the Duke Ellington Orchestra doing “One O’Clock Jump”

    http://www.last.fm/music/Duke+Ellington/_/One+O%27clock+Jump

    Oh hell, I can’t decide.

  14. trolleyvox

    I nominate the Jimi Hendrix Experience covering Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”. A two birds with one stone kind of deal.

  15. Mr. Moderator

    I’ll second Jimi’s “All Along the Watchtower,” but that doesn’t excuse us from getting a Dylan tune on this CD. How about “Positively 4th Street”?

  16. 2000 Man

    I second Satisfaction.

    I nominate Big Joe Turner’s Shake Rattle and Roll.

    Are we giving up on the other one?

  17. sammymaudlin

    I was going to stay out of the 60s but I’ll step in to second Positively 4th Street. Possibly my favorite Dylan song.

  18. BigSteve

    I veto Satisfaction, unless it’s the remastered version where you can hear the acoustic guitar.

  19. Mr. Moderator

    I’ll second “Shake Rattle and Roll” – the Big Joe Turner version.

    What’s next, BigSteve, you’ll only allow me to nominate the studio version of the VU’s “Rock ‘n Roll” with the restored 4 measures of guitar chords?

  20. Any room for Bloodshot Eyes by Wynonie Harris?

  21. mockcarr

    Gene Krupa can verily be described as ROCKING in Sing Sing Sing by Benny Goodman’s band in 1937. A little more powerful than Louis Prima’s original.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9J5Zt2Obko

  22. BigSteve

    I’m ok with West End Blues over Muskrat Ramble. It just seems like Pops should be on there somewhere.

  23. I nominate Mr. PC by John Coltrane and
    Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash

  24. Late to the party here but I am ready to load up Sinatra. How about Cheek To Cheek for the uptempo Frank and I’m A Fool To Want You for the ballad Frank.

    I gotta veto Positively Fourth Street. I’ll venture that there’s no bigger Dylan fan than me on this list (or Sinatra fan for that matter) so it’s not an anti-Dylan thing like certain others but that song wouldn’t even make my top 100 Dylan songs.

    I’ll be back with the other 100 later.

  25. Hank Fan

    Is it too obvious to nominate Like A Rolling Stone? Probably, but I’ll do it anyway.

  26. Hank Fan

    Incidentally, Like A Rolling Stone is the most critically acclaimed song of all time sccording to the highly entertaining statistical compilation shown at http://www.acclaimedmusic.net.

    Go there to find all kinds of lists of best albums and songs by artist, year, decade, etc.

    The rankings are based on information gleaned from thousands of critics lists. It’s pretty interesting stuff for a music nerd.

  27. 2000 Man

    Using the powers of my Exile on Main St. Jukebox EP, I veto BigSteve’s Satisfaction veto and threaten to sic the Cool Patrol on anyone who tries unveto my veto veto. So long as it’s not the instrumental outtake, either mix is just fine. It’s just too important a song to be vetoed.

    I’ll nominate Oh Boy by Buddy Holly, too.

  28. I’ll second Oh Boy and Ring of Fire.

  29. Mr. Moderator

    Ella Fitzgerald’s version of “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” may be my favorite pre-rock-era pop song, so I’m nominating that one.

  30. Mr. Moderator

    My favorite song for all of the ’50s: The Platters’ version of “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”

  31. I’ll second The Platters’and nominate The Drifters’ “Up on the Roof”

  32. No bigger Dylan fan, eh? I’ve got the tattoo! On my arm for all the world to see, by golly! (I’m messing with you, Al.)

    I’m going to completely steer clear of the whole Beatles/Dylan thing. I might weigh in later, but BOTH “4th Street” AND “Rolling Stone” are very worthy indeed.

    I have some more, but I’ll follow the rules and only nominate one song: “That’s All Right, Mama” by E.P.

    TB

  33. Mr. Moderator

    “Up on the Roof” right back atcha, Dogg! Seconded.

  34. 2000 Man

    Smoke Gets In Your Eyes is awesome. Y’know what else is awesome? I Only Have Eyes For You by The Flamingos. How come no one can do those kind of songs anymore without sucking all the testosterone out of anyone that listens?

  35. BigSteve

    Are we still doing the seconding thing? I Only Have Eyes For You rules. I’ll second that any day.

  36. Geez, aside from Satisfaction, I don’t think we’ve had any 60s stuff , so I’ll say:

    And Your Bird Can Sing – Beatles
    Please Please Me – Beatles
    Mr Soul – Buffalo Springfield

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