I listen to all kinds of music constantly, mostly on my I Phone, sometimes on the radio, sometimes on Pandora. It is part of the fabric of my life. As I have written previously on this blog, my tastes are all over the place. There are a few tunes that I enjoy listening to that are not very mainstream. These tunes often are not well known and not the most notable songs from a particular artist. I call them my guilty pleasures. I thought I would find some of these on You Tube and share them. I hope you could enjoy them as well.
I love Diana Krall and her sensuous alto voice. I like so many of her songs, but I chose this cover of the Eagles song of the same name. "Come down from your fences before it's too late."
Desperado -- Diana Krall
Beck is a performer born near where we used to live on Mt. Washington here in Los Angeles. He refuses to be pidgeonholed into a certain genre. This particular tune is one that I like to play for some of my Latino friends. This particular video lacks the charm of the original recording which I was unable to find online. "Que onda guero?"
Guero -- Beck
My college years were filled with The Carpenters. This tune was a cover of a Beatles song called Ticket to Ridef from their very first album. Richard Carpenter is a great arranger, and I love what he did with it. I really like singing along with this song. She was a young 19 year old when this tune was cut. "Think I'm gonna be sad!"
Ticket to Ride -- The Carpenters
The High Kings are an Irish group I have fallen in love with. This likely is a drinking song, as are a number of their songs, and it has a catchy melody. They are fun to listen to, and this is one of my favorite songs that they do. "1-2-3-4-5, hey!"
Rocky Road to Dublin -- The High Kings
This tune is one of their more well known offerings. But the Ramones are from the punk rock genre, and were punk rockers before most of the others punk rockers. Their music is full of energy and I like this song along with the fun I Wanna Be Sedated. Blitzkreig Bop was the first cut of their very first album. "He ho, let's go!"
Blitzkrieg Bop -- The Ramones
What would a rock music guilty pleasure list be without an offering from Weird Al Yankovic? Many of his tunes are guilty pleasures and have been for many years. Here is one of my favorites, a cover that got him in trouble with Coolio, the performer of the original song "Gangsta's Paradise." "We're gonna party like its 1699!" His lyrics are the bomb!
Amish Paradise -- Weird Al Yankovic
Steely Dan is a basically a two-man group that had a long list of jazzy rock songs. Their album Pretzel Logic is one of my favorites, and the bluesy title cut is one of my favorite tunes of the album. "Where did you get those shoes?" Walter Becker and Donald Fagan put out some great music!
Pretzel Logic -- Steely Dan
People my age are familiar with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Her Albert went on to form a record company with a friend Jerry Moss called A&M Records. In 1979-1980, he decided to go back into the studio (his own) and perform again. This instrumental cut, called Rise, is one of my favorite cuts from this really great album, in my estimation. I believe the woman in the video is Lani from Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 who became Herb's wife.
Rise -- Herb Alpert
One of the great super groups of all time was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Neil Young has had a great solo career, but I really like this particular not-to-wellknown tune about loved ones who have died from drug addiction. "Every junkie's like a setting sun."
The Needle and the Damage Done -- Neil Young
The film O Brother, Where Art Thou? was a great movie and this tune by Alison Kraus was a memorable song of a memorable baptismal scene. I really like this a'cappella tune. "Let's go down, come on down."
Down to the River to Pray -- Alison Krauss
This last tune is perhaps my greatest guilty pleasure of them all. In the late 60s and 70s, many rock groups did "theme albums." The idea is that the group would do a complete album around a given theme. Some of the more memorable theme albums of this era were Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles, Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, and Days of Future Past by The Moody Blues.
Perhaps the most bizarre and uncharacteristic LP of this theme album era was from The Osmonds. Known for light weight, bubble gum-type music, these Mormon boys from Utah decided to break out of the image they had been given to the degree that they could, and do a theme album about a doctrinal subject--The Plan of Salvation, trying to deal with existential questions such as "where did I come from," "why am I here," and "where am I going." The album is all over the place musically, very uncharacteristic of the music for which they were known. One of the last songs of this album dealt with the last days, the time Mormons believe that will preceed the coming of Jesus Christ again to the earth.
This song, named "The Last Days" is an edgy (for them) hard rocking work. It sounds very 70ish, but you have to hand it to them for making the attempt. I can't say that I really care for the album itself musically, but I like to listen to this interesting song by the five brothers from my tribe. "Nations take up their battle stations."
The Last Days -- The Osmonds
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