Family Time

It is Sunday so it is time for some uplifting music.  I hope you are had a fun weekend with your family.  Here is a nice little song from Ziggy Marley.

Ziggy Marley (feat. Judah Marley) - Family Time

Bringing Wine to a Dinner Party

We are heading over to friends for a dinner party tonight so I had to go buy some wine to bring.  The new release of Bogle's Phantom is out so I bought a couple bottles.  If you have not had Phantom before it is a great wine you should try.

Here are a few songs about wine that you should check out as well:
The Replacements - Red Red Wine
Eric Burdon - Spill The Wine
Kevin Kerby (Mulehead) - Cheap Red Wine
Otis Redding - Champagne and Wine
Elvis Costello - Down Among The Wine And Spirits

Elvis will be in Dallas at Nokia on Sept 2nd

Backyard Tire Fire

I liked the Lawyers, Guns, & Money post so much that I wanted to post more Backyard Tire Fire.  The Bloomington, IL based band has a great roots sound that you should check out.  They are currently touring to Midwest so you might want to go see them if they come to your town.

Backyard Tire Fire - Shoulda Shut It (The Places We Lived)
Backyard Tire Fire - How The Hell Do You Get Back Here? (HearYa Live Session)
Backyard Tire Fire - Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young cover)

Under The Covers

This week I am posting a couple of Warren Zevon covers.  Backyard Tire Fire is a roots americana band, Magnolia Electric Company is a bluesy rock band and David Lindley is a talented musician who has been around forever.  All of these along with Warren Zevon are worth checking out.

Backyard Tire Fire - Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Magnolia Electric Company - Werewolves of London

David Lindley & El Rayo-X - Werewolves of London

Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London

Yo La Tengo

Yo La Tengo is an interesting band that you might have heard before.   They have a new album 'Popular Songs' being released on September 8th.  Here are a some new tracks along with older tracks.  You should check them out.  I think Matt is a fan because he burned me a disc that had a Yo La Tengo track.

Yo La Tengo - Periodically Double or Triple (Popular Songs)
Yo La Tengo - Here To Fall (Popular Songs)
Yo La Tengo - Mr. Tough (I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass)
Yo La Tengo - You Tore Me Down (Fakebook) - This is a Flamin' Groovies cover.
Yo La Tengo - Can't Seem To Make You Mine (Camp Yo La Tengo)

All Day Singing with Dinner on the Ground

My Dad used to tell us when he was growing up in Arkansas that church would sometimes be a full day. They would go to church then go to a park where there would be gospel singers with a full dinner to end the festivities. He referred to this as 'all day singing with dinner on the ground'.

With this in mind, I am going to attempt to post a spiritual or uplifting song every Sunday.

Johnny Cash - Daddy Sang Bass

Circle Beard

I was in Cincinnati visiting David & Gina today. As you can see in the picture, David is sporting facial hair. David said his friend told him that he did not have a goatee but a vandyck. I never heard of a vandyck so we looked it up. A vandyck consists of a turned up mustache and goatee that do not connect, so it turns out David actually has what is commonly called a 'circle beard'. It was a great visit although there were quite a few chuckles about the Kenny Rogers circle beard.

Here are some some songs about hair:

The Cowsills - Hair

Charlie Daniels Band - Long Haired Country Boy

David Alan Coe - Long Haired Redneck

Pavement - Cut Your Hair

The Temptations - Let Your Hair Down

And a little Kenny Rogers:

Kenny Rogers - The Gambler

Under The Covers

Since Elvis was remembered on the anniversary of his death on Sunday, I thought it was appropriate to post a cover of his song 'Suspicious Minds'.

My Morning Jacket - Suspicious Minds

Fine Young Cannibals - Suspicious Minds

Elvis

Elvis Presley died on this day in 1977 at the age of 42. If you rearrange the letters in Elvis' name it spells 'LIVES'. Long live the King!

Elvis Presley - Polk Salad Annie

Elvis Presley - Milkcow Blues Boogie

Elvis Presley - Guitar Man

Suspected Wrigley Beer Tosser Turns Himself In

(photo via Deadspin.com)

On Wednesday night at Wrigley Field a Cubs fan in the Bleachers thru a full beer on Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies. The beer tosser escaped that night when security apprehended an over exuberant fan who they mistook as the perpetrator. Johnny Macchione of Bartlett, IL turned himself in the following day. The 21 year old college student is being charged with a count of battery and a count of illegal conduct within a sports facility.

The Cubs were getting beat 12-3 at the time so it had no impact on the game.

(photo via Deadspin.com)

(photo via Deadspin.com)

Songs about drinking beer and the Cubs:

Eef Barzelay - I Wasn't Really Drunk

The Handsome Family - Drunk By Noon

The Replacements - Beer For Breakfast

The Two Man Gentlemen Band - Fancy Beer

Steve Goodman - Go Cubs Go!

Guitar legend-inventor Les Paul R.I.P.

Guitar legend-inventor Les Paul died today at the age of 94. To say the least, he was very key to the rise of rock 'n' roll. The Who's Pete Townshend and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page along with others made Gibson's Les Paul six string their guitar of choice.

The Who - Young Man Blues

Led Zeppelin - Black Dog

Drive-By Truckers

Drive-By Truckers is a band that some of you probably already know about. They are a southern rock band that have made a name for themselves and spawned a couple of solo acts. Jason Isbell abruptly left the band in 2007 to start his own solo career and Patterson Hood just released a couple solo albums. The band's latest venture has been touring with Booker T. and serving as his back-up band. Here are some tracks from all of them. You should get their music because it is well worth it. The DBTs are coming to the Dallas House of Blues Oct 28th.

Drive-By Truckers - Two Daughters And A Beautiful Wife (Brighter Than Creation's Dark)

Drive-By Truckers - When The Pin Hits The Shell (Decoration Day)

Drive-By Truckers - The Day John Henry Died (Dirty South)

Drive-By Truckers - Zip City (Southern Rock Opera)

Jason Isbell - Grown (Sirens of the Ditch)

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - No Choice In The Matter (Seven-Mile Island)

Patterson Hood - The Assassin (Killers and Stars)

Patterson Hood - Pride of the Yankees (Murdering Oscar (and other love songs))

Patterson Hood - I Understand Now (Murder Oscar (and other love songs))

Booker T. - Native New Yorker

Under The Covers

This week's cover song is Sam Cooke's 1963 hit, 'A Change Is Gonna Come'. Otis Redding & Aretha Franklin covered this song. Bettye LaVette, a great soul singer who has just recently been discovered by larger audiences after 40 years, covered the song. My favorite cover is by Ben Sollee, a young cello player from Lexington, KY.

Otis Redding - Change Gonna Come

Aretha Franklin - A Change Is Gonna Come

Bettye LaVette - A Change Is Gonna Come

Ben Sollee - A Change Is Gonna Come

Here is the original:

Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come

Lemon-aid Stand

The kids had a lemonade stand yesterday in front of the house to raise money for the SPCA. They had quite a few people stop so it was productive and lots of fun.

The lemonade stand reminded me that we still have a lot of summer heat left.

Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime

Here is the video from the song. You gotta love the sideburns and the guy blowing in the bottle.

Lucero

Lucero is a band I have been listening to a lot lately. They are a hard rockin' band that hails from Memphis, TN. They have a new album, "1372 Overton Park", coming out soon which you can pre-order and stream some tracks on their web site. These guys are worth checking out.

Lucero - What Else Would You Have Me Be?

Lucero - Little Silver Heart

Lucero - Here At The Starlite

Lucero - My Best Girl

What a great line: "I take you out at night, buy you cigarettes and whiskey drinks..."

Beastie Boy Recovering from Cancer

If you have not heard yet, the Beastie Boys' Adam 'MCA' Yauch recently had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in his parotid gland. He is recovering from the surgery and will begin radiation treatments soon. All touring is on hold while MCA goes through his treatment. It seems just like yesterday when 'Fight For The Right (to party)' was released.

Beastie Boys - Fight For The Right

Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies

Beastie Boys - She's Crafty

Beastie Boys - Too Many Rappers (feat. Nas)

Under The Covers

This week's cover song is Bruce Springsteen's 'I'm On Fire'. The first cover is by A.A. Bondy, a folk singer that is worth checking out. The next cover is by Bat for Lashes, another band worth checking out with a lead singer who sounds a lot like Kate Bush. The third cover is by a band called Coltrane Motion. I like the cover but, to be honest, I do not know much about them except for the fact they hail from Chicago.

A.A. Bondy - I'm On Fire

Bat for Lashes - I'm On Fire

Coltrane Motion - I'm On Fire

Here is the original version:

Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire

Happy Tomato

Ann was a guest blogger for her friend Shari Lidji's blog, Rotten Bananas. Ann has a great post, Happy Tomato, about tomatoes and the all the great stuff you can make with tomatoes. She included a recipe for tomato pie which I was lucky to sample. Please check out her post.

Ann did all the photos as well.

Guy Clark - Homegrown Tomatoes

'Real tomato ketchup, Eddie?'

More TV

We are starting to get into the new HBO series 'Hung'. It is a pretty funny show. It is about a high school teacher/coach from Detroit who is down on his luck so he becomes a male prostitute. The real reason I am posting is because there is an awesome Black Keys song in the opening credits.

Black Keys - I'll Be Your Man

Family Dinner

We finished off a great day with a wonderful family dinner. I grilled fillets and Ann made mashed potatoes along with a nice green salad . It was nice to sit down as a family with good food and conversation. Here is some of the music we were listening to durning our dinner.

Jack Johnson - Banana Pancakes

Lyle Lovett - If I Had A Boat

G. Love - Missing My Baby

English Beat - Ranking Full Stop

Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof

Joss Stone - Dirty Man

Blitzen Trapper - Gold For Bread

Willie Nelson - Whiskey River

Rolling Stones - Walking The Dog

Bob Marley - Duppy Conqueror

It is incredible it is August already. Please visit the blog often, post your comments, become a follower, and pass it on to your friends.