Good morning.
October is almost over. It felt like this month both flew by and also as if I’d always lived in October and will never not live in October. Maybe that’s how it goes when the temperature drops from the triple digits and you begin to ease into a warm, Texas fall.
Some things that happened this month:
House sat and watched a golden retriever named Barkley for two weeks.
Found a place to live in Austin that has a screened in porch and is a convenient place to bike and walk around town from.
Started thinking vaguely about planning a wedding.
Spent a lot of time talking to dealerships about buying a car.
Saw an old friend for one night in a town about 30 minutes outside of Austin
Spread a lot of compost around my fiance’s parents’ yard
Had my heart broken by the 2023 Philadelphia Phillies
I also got into the swing of writing these blogs again. Feels good to write them. I have no goal or actual audience in mind and something about that is nice.
Here’s a new playlist for you. I’m trying something a little different this month. I’m adding a bit of commentary for each track. Maybe you’ll like it—or maybe you won’t care either way.
See you next time.
“Long Flowing Robe” by Todd Rundgren - Ask me what my favorite Rundgren song is and I’ll tell you “One More Victory.” Ask me what his best song is and I’ll tell you “Long Flowing Robe.” Everything is in there.
“Bad to Me” by Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas - I listened to a podcast about the songs John Lennon and Paul McCartney gave away. This is one of them. A Lennon song if there ever was one. Imagine being tapped into whatever he was tapped into from 1963 through 1970.
“Woman” by Peter and Gordon - Continuing the theme, this was one McCartney wrote and gave away. Imagine being tapped into whatever he was tapped into from like 1966 through 1978.
“Goodbye” by Paul McCartney - Another song McCartney gave away. This one Paul wrote in that 1968-1971 period when he was untouchable creatively. Story goes he forgot he wrote this song until a Scottish boat captain reminded him in the 1990s. What a life.
“Goodbye” by Mary Hopkin - Paul gave the song to Mary and produced her album. The genius slaps his knee like a genius to provide percussion throughout the entire track.
“Burn On” by Randy Newman - Nothing says October baseball like Randy Newman’s song about Cleveland. And nothing says October baseball like having your heart ripped out around Halloween.
“Are We Still Friends?” by Tyler the Creator - I hear Tyler the Creator songs out in the wild and am always stunned at his range. This song is dope.
“Take the Money and Run” by Steve Miller - Heard this one on the car radio. I think we’re finally at a place where we can admit Steve Miller was just good. Sure, he’s pretty one note, but there are certainly worse things in the world than a Steve Miller song. This one is everlasting fun.
“Johnny Strikes up the Band” by Warren Zevon - My old friend played this when I saw him. He’s the one who showed me how good Zevon was.
“Hold My Life’ (Ed Stasium Mix) by The Replacements - Read about the release of the stripped down mix. Played this song loud in the open air while spreading compost. The sound was tremendous.
“Miles and Miles” by the Heavy Heavy - I know nothing about this band, but if I hear a song with driving, hypnotic guitar and yearning, yelling lyrics on the radio while I’m driving in a car you know I’m going to be on board.
“TLC Cagematch” by MJ Lenderman - Read about this album on AllMusic.com. Don’t know anything about this guy. The title caught my eye because I love wrestling. Was a nice surprise that the song is as good as it is.
“Far Away and Near” by The Shinglers - Heard these guys promoting their new album on a local radio station. They played some new songs that aren’t on Spotify yet. I listened to their first record and liked the whole thing.
“Honky Tonk Women” by The Rolling Stones - The Stones are fossilized under so much time, pressure, and rock at this point that this one has kinda become forgotten.
“Hot Do” by Jesper Siliya Lungu - Read about this Zambian rock compilation on AllMusic. My favorite song on the record.
“No Second Thoughts” by Tom Petty - Local radio station was playing Tom Petty Music for 24 hours on October 20th in honor of Tom Petty’s birthday and I heard this one. Petty’s hits do his deep catalog and inventive songwriting dirty. This gem is from his second album.
“Drunk and High” by Florry - You want to play Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere-style country rock? Fine, I’ll listen to and enjoy it every time.
“Never Been Any Reason” by Head East - Just classic 1970s rock. If synthesizer work, slow-thinking riffs, and warbled vocals like this don’t get your blood pumping, I don’t know what to tell you, friend.
“Nu-Grape” by Hiss Golden Messenger - A group whose catalog has pretty much escaped me. But the local radio station was promoting this record hard in October. A dash of Grateful Dead and a dash of blue eyed soul. This is a jam.
“Better Somehow” by Hannah Georgas - Listened to this album while driving in Italy in September. This track taps into some of what Christie McVie was onto. Really nice chorus.
“Until I Found You” by Stephen Sanchez - Romantic and old-timey sounding. Nice for the twilight or the early dark.
“Stoplight Kisses” by The Cactus Blossoms - Everley Brothers style rock somehow never gets old even though it sounds old. People will make music like this forever.
“One of These Days” by Mikaela Davis - Another one I learned about from AllMusic.com. Wonderful song. See if you can keep your knees from buckling when the slide guitar swoons into the chorus.
“1975” by Gene Clark - The last track on one of my favorite albums of all time. When I was in college, I once told a girl that this record was the sound of my soul. Man, was I fun to be around. How did I ever make it to 38?
“The Future’s Not What It Used to Be” by Mickey Newbury - This has the best use of rain effects on any song. One of the best opening series of lines ever: “I left Decatur hell-bent to forget, bought a ticket to Skowhegan, Maine. I wound up in Seattle, so drunk and so rattled. Thought I’d caught the wrong train.” By the time you’re that far it feels like you’re so drunk and so rattled. When Newbury says, “And then I met a lady…” his voice hits this strange ethereal plain for a half a second that kills me every time. And any song with the line “Somebody told me, she was in town—I found out today” is going to be gold in my book. An evocative song about failure, regret, and compassion that has its way with you every time.