Thursday Thirteen (Vol. 13)

Thirteen Songs I would have on my iPod if I was going to be stranded on a desert island with an inexplicably constantly charged iPod (you know Steve Jobs has it in the hopper...to be released soon after the anticipated iPhone).

These songs have to be not just great, but the type of music that is going to continue to inspire and bring new meaning, even on the 5,736,454th listening. And a challenge to my blog readers who were UNDERWHELMING in their response to my plea for a resurgence of handwritten notes, let me know what ONE tune you would add to my list...and maybe I'll bring you along. I am pretty sure I have a readership that would consider time on a desert island (even with me) a gift!

If you have a brief moment after reading my TT, please look at This Blog's for Casey. I have gotten some incredibly cool responses and they have really brightened her day.

1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills & Nash. Listen to this on your iPod and you will find David Crosby in the middle of your brain with Steven Stills and Graham Nash in either ear. It's poetry. It's a brilliant melding of three distinct songs with three distinct voices. And for those who went to St. Lawrence University or worked in Lake George, NY in the early 80's...memories of Ed Moynihan and/or Masters & Moynihan.
2. Smooth - Carlos Santana with Rob Thomas. Every riff, every note, every beat of this song makes it something to listen to over and over. Carlos Santana has been brilliant and genre-bending for decades. His decision to collaborate with some of the new artists of the era in Supernatural is nothing short of genius!
3. Reflections - Diana Ross & The Supremes. I remember cranking up the opening notes of China Beach just to revel in the inescapable beat and message of the Motown sound. Plus I can work on learning all three parts of the harmony and do my own little karaoke without offending anyone (the island's deserted, remember?)
4. Imagine - John Lennon. Liberal Democrat...it keeps shining through this week. I share Lennon's image, his dream...but I guess I lack his intense belief that one person with a vision can make a difference. I want to live in the world of Imagine.
5. Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway) - Billy Joel. There simply MUST be a Billy Joel song on here because his music winds its way through my high school and college years and has continued to speak to me through adulthood. Seeing him walk out as a surprise at the end of opening night of Movin' Out in Ft. Lauderdale brought tears to my eyes. This song captures it all for me if I must only choose one.
6. We've Got Tonight - Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. This song has the ability to make me 17 again, with a boyfriend with a car and the world at my feet. I had no awareness of my good fortune and bright future...but had the unshakeable knowledge of the happiness that great rock and roll can give a teenager in a small town.
7. Feel Like a Natural Woman - Carole King. I don't know how to choose one Carole King song. She is so much more than Tapestry, but on the other hand Tapestry is so much what she is and what she was for us in the late '70's. Aretha may have done an amazing rendition, but Carole King WROTE it! And sings it in a way that I will never tire of hearing.
8. Moondance - Van Morrison. This may be one of the more commercial successes of Van Morrison...but it captures a love affair I had with a musician who idolized Van Morrison and made me understand the magic and artistry of his music. Brown Eyed Girl is another favorite...who can tire of that tune?
9. Ain't Too Proud to Beg - Temptations. The Motown sound that I love elicits memories of the dance scene in The Big Chill, a seminal movie for our generation even though it was about the generation before us. Is there anyone who doesn't want to dance around the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner when they hear this song?
10. I Fall to Pieces - Patsy Cline. Patsy Cline has the most beautiful voice and the most emotional delivery of any singer....ever. In my next life I want to sing this song half as well as Patsy. And on my desert island I will be practicing over and over and over again! With no one to tell me, "Hush, you're no Patsy Cline!"
11. Kind of Blue - Miles Davis. OK, I get one album. I went into a record store one day and said to the kinda cute guy there that I wanted to have some jazz in my collection, but didn't know where to start. He handed me this CD. I later read a write-up in Entertainment Weekly that said, "Kind of Blue, the answer to the question, What is Jazz?"
12. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road/Tiny Dancer - Elton John. Cheating again...sorry. Goodbye Yellow Brick road as an album was a masterpiece. As a song, resonates as much today as 33 years ago when it was released. But you have to throw in Tiny Dancer just because of the universal need to sing along like the cast of Almost Famous.
13. Hotel California - Eagles. What does it mean? What visions does it bring into your head? How did you feel when you listened to it stoned? It's all part of the magic of this song. It could be a movie...but I'm glad it's not!

Di

P.S. Please do NOT perpetuate the rumor that is permeating the blogosphere that Mr. Linky and I are having a blog affair. But he really does rule the internet IMHO. I stupidly overwrote last week's TT with this week's and he not only found it in his archives or whatever it is that he has over there in Linky Land, but sent it to me in HTML so I didn't even have to cut and paste my header!!!

P.P.S. Don't forget to click here for Casey!