Daily songs for January

One reason I extended "December" into January by four songs (because I certainly could have done three and possibly could have done five) was that there were twenty-seven artists featured in Legends, Icons, & Rebels: Music That Changed the World.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/01/native-american-heritage-month.html

I probably did enough complaining about Bob Dylan in that post, so I won't harp on it now. 

For each artist there were five songs mentioned, but then sometimes other things were mentioned too; perhaps there was a biographical connection or one album stood out. For my purposes, that led to extra listening with The Beach Boys, Carole King, and Joni Mitchell.

Most of the artists were pretty familiar, especially the songs mentioned. That being said, I had no idea that the original version of "Hard to Handle" was by Otis Redding and that The Black Crowes version was a cover. I associate Redding with slower songs, but I guess with "Try A Little Tenderness" I could have known.

In the description of The Beatles, Robertson writes that you know the words even without actively listening, like it's "musical air". I realized how true that was when song titles I thought I did not know at all ended up being very familiar songs.

They are still not my favorites, but I am capable of realizing when something is important, and even well done, regardless of my own appreciation. 

And there are some pretty good ones on the list.

There were certainly things I didn't know. One of the most encouraging was that a lot of these musicians, while known for some way in which they broke new ground, were also good about mentoring other musicians and sharing.

Generally I tried to use a musician's "best", and maybe best known song, so this list in some ways does not reflect the learning. 

For example, Hank Williams has a song, "Move It On Over", about getting the dog to make room when coming home late gets you in the doghouse. I had never heard it, or heard of it, and yet it was very familiar, with a clear influence on Bill Haley & His Comets' "Rock Around the Clock".

Still, I used “I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry”.

I was a little surprised that while there was a mention of the opening riff on "Johnny B. Goode", there was no mention of it coming from "Ain't That Just Like a Woman" from Louis Jordan, also one of the Legends.

Of course, Jordan was in there as "The Jukebox King", with so many hits, that wasn't even one of his main ones. Maybe Robbie didn't know. I only know it because of Wikipedia. Also, that riff specifically is more Carl Hogan.

So, while I did not love everything I listened to, there was a lot of interesting stuff, and stuff I will return to.

Also, the next listening material I pulled from a book was more annoying, though I still learned from it.

Sometimes that's all I can ask.

Daily songs"

1/5 “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry
1/6 “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash
1/7 “Respect” by Aretha Franklin
1/8 “She Loves You” by The Beatles
1/9 “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
1/10 “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley
1/11 “Not Fade Away” by Buddy Holly
1/12 “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell
1/13 “Georgia On My Mind” by Ray Charles
1/14 “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley
1/15 “People Get Ready” by Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions
1/16 “Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)” by Billie Holiday
1/17 “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard
1/18 “I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry” by Hank Williams
1/19 “My Way” by Frank Sinatra
1/20 “What's Going On” by Marvin Gaye
1/21 “So Far Away” by Carole King
1/22 “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke
1/23 “Caldonia” by Louis Jordan
1/24 “Wouldn't It Be Nice” by The Beach Boys
1/25 “They Can't Take That Away From Me” by Ella Fitzgerald
1/26  “I Got You” by James Brown
1/27 “Crazy” by Patsy Cline
1/28 “These Arms of Mine” by Otis Redding
1/29 “Mona Lisa” by Nat King Cole
1/30 “Higher Ground” by Stevie Wonder
1/31 “Blowin' in the Wind “ by Bob Dylan