1: Earl Scruggs with Billy Bob Thornton – Ring Of Fire ~ SpottedRichard
Randy Scruggs heard Billy Bob’s album and called him to come talk to his dad about recording a Johnny Cash cover for the album Earl Scruggs and Friends. You may or may not like this “hick-hop” influenced version of the Johnny Cash song, but kudos to Earl for pushing the envelope all the way.
2: Iron & Wine – Belated Promise Ring ~ ToffeeBoy
Iron & Wine are one of the acts that I’ve ‘discovered’ through LastFM’s similar artists feature – I think that Sufjan Stevens was probably the link – and although I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve heard, they’ve never really grabbed me. A bit samey – a bit monotonous – one-dimensional. Good lyrics, good stories but not enough in the musical cupboard for my liking. And then I heard this song and I can’t stop listening to it. It starts off at a good steady pace and just keeps going right to the end, spreading harmoniously melodic joy on its way. Hope y’all enjoy it too..
3: The Wailers – Bus Dem Shut (Pyaka) ~ AlBahooky
I came to the magic of Bob Marley late on and first heard this on the ‘Songs Of Freedom‘ box set. Here he is with Peter Tosh & Bunny Wailer, pre – Perry & Island as The Wailers with a sublime melodic lightness to counterpoint the consciousness lyrics as enlightened by Robert Christigau : ”Bus Dem Shut (Pyaka),” “bus” meaning “bust” and “pyaka” meaning “liar.” - nuff niceness!
4: Tracy Chapman – Subcity ~ bishbosh
Compassion, empathy, a social conscience… All qualities greatly undervalued in rock and pop, IMHO. 20-odd years later, this still sounds depressingly timely.
5. Everything But The Girl – Don’t Let The Teardrops Rust Your Shining Heart ~ Zalamanda
From the lushly orchestral album, “Baby, The Stars Shine Bright“, this always makes me think of a sad and lonely knight whose armour is at risk of rusting – as well as his heart. I love EBTG’s use of lyrics.
6: Aretha Franklin & Mary J. Blige – Never Gonna Break My Faith ~ Tincanman
Not hard to tell why Aretha was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame this spring. This song about struggling to understand a random fatal shooting is the most powerful gospel duet I know.
Here’s Tin’s Billy Bob Thornton interview.
A big Thank You to everyone who has send in these and other songs. If you have more, PLEASE! Send your juiciest worms plus a line or two per song on how you got hooked: to either earworm@tincanland.com or a wormhole near you. Thank you.
I know, I know! (But only because I looked it up.)
Well don’t keep it a secret, TFD. Extra Spill points if you can say what debillitating condition he has which might hamper him in his profession.
Well, I could, but wouldn’t that be cheating rather? Plus, I can’t see a connection with this week’s list.
Actually, you got special Spill points for noticing that in fact, he is not on this weeks list. I did a last minute change and he got bumped for the purposes of playlist continuity (sorry DSD), but I forgot to change the picture – my bad.
Be prepared for a treat in a few weeks, because it’s a really wonderful song. Danny suffers from tinnitus, apparently, which makes his abilities all the more amazing.
I knew that! And he used to have PTSD apparently. And the band is Embrace.
Danny suffers from tinnitus…
Poor sod. There’s so many who want to be more like me and of course never will. I should start a foundation to help, but part of being me is not having much money. And being selfish.
Hi Toffeeboy, I’d have said the same about Iron and Wine until I saw him live at the End of the Road a couple of years ago. He’s a mesmeric live performer.
Mesmeric sounds good! Thanks…
E by gum, lass. Tha’s collected a reet gradely set this week.
Earl Scruggs & Billy Bob Thornton. Really liked this. It reminded me of some of the stuff Robbie Robertson put out.
Iron & Wire. A new name to me and a very pleasant discovery.
Bob Marley. Great!
Tracy Chapman. Along with Joan Armatrading, Tracy was one of the few 80s acts that I really liked. I thought she was very underrated. This is my pick of the week.
Everything But The Girl. Another Tracy!. I used to like listening to their stuff in the 90s. Never bought any, but always found them good to listen to.
Aretha & Mary J. Powerful stuff here. Just think, if it hadn’t been for Jerry Wexler persuading Aretha to sign for Atlantic, she might have disappeared without trace as a so-so jazz singer with CBS.
I doubt either Aretha or Mary J had a hand in writing this. If you print out the lyrics it’s a powerful sermon, and handing it to Aretha is a no brainer. The surprise is the Mary J bit. She’s an awesome, awesome talent but also a fruitcake and full of herself, so how this came off is a mystery to me.
If you listen closely you can hear how grudging respect makes this work. At times they compete, at times they support each other, and at times they both start off on an idea and one backs off. It’s a song about unresolved faith; a perfect duet would be wrong and they both get that.
The sets are getting a bit stronger as in more songs that stand on their own than curiousities, so good for us.
If I was giving out a hug this week, it would be to AlBahooky for the early Wailers. People forget Bob Marley was but one of three lowly Wailers. He became an international superstar and left Tosh in his shadow with charisma. But ’twas Bunnie (the forgotten Wailer) who was the brilliant composer.
Earworms is a very hug-friendly zone, so you can do that hearty back-slapping guy hug thing here, no probs.
Oh and I put a clip of Billy Bob from a CBC interview in the box. Remember that line from Man on the Moon, about Andy Kaufman goofing on Elvis? Andy was a great comic; Billy Bob’s a partier who gets a job.
Dropbox is down at the mo. I’ll add a link a bit later.
Billy Bob:
“Willie Nelson has a pretty eclectic audience. Everybody from bikers to old people. Canadians are reserved.”
“You wouldn’t say that to Tom Petty, would you?”
“I play cosmic cowboy music.”
Brilliant!
Eh? Say what?
It’s in the video (linked in the post).
Oh, sorry – didn’t notice. Well, he’s quite right, obviously.
if you want droll, nothing beats George Harrison’s reply to a reporter asking him about meeting the Queen.
Reporter: “Musta been a thrill meeting the Queen”
George: “Musta been.”
In haste:
1. Like the instrumentation; think I prefer Johnny C’s vocal.
2. Ooh, this is lovely. A bit Simon & Garfunkel, I thought. Nice. I shall be listening again.
3. I think I’ve mentioned before that Marley’s ubiquity does my head in. That lazy shorthand for ‘look, our beach bar has a cool, laidback vibe’. But I’d never heard this track before and – consequently – enjoyed it greatly. It was indeed cool and laidback!
4. Me again.
5. Always been one of my favourite pop voices. Another Tracey who expresses empathy and compassion – albeit on a more microcosmic level than the one above. Beautiful.
6. Yep, two great voices. Nice.
Poor bish, off to the library again…
Yup… x
Hurry back! x
Hi all. I think I’m back. A completely wiped and re-installed PC with all Security and anti-spyware etc. dumped in favour of one new co-ordinated package (won’t say whose in case the hackers are reading); seems to be working so far. However, I haven’t re-installed DropBox, or even copied back onto the PC my music collection yet, so bear with me.
Re Embrace – dunt wurree tha’self, SR, lass. It’ll still be just as life-affirming a ‘worm when it does put in an appearance. Shane, to the best of my memory, is the only Spiller that I know is familiar with the particular version, and he’s, um, not the biggest Embrace fan in the world!
Listening now; loving it so far.
Glad your not mad! It’ll be worth the wait.
And DSD and Mitch: Is it “talk broad Yorkshire week”? Am I missing something here?
wb DsD. I nommed Put A Little Aside in your honour over on the mothership this week. Was a little reluctant too knowing my other noms woud be filling the first 9 spots,,,
Good to see you back !
I’m having a nice time with this set and a cheeky Monday glass of wine, after a long day in London. Helen is watching Emmerdale after a long day as the only present parent. 100% hit rate this week, and perceptive comments all round. Thanks everyone !
Have you sent any ‘worms in, DP? You should. We’d love to hear ‘em!
Er… not recently. I’ll think on it, thanks for the nudgety nudge..
You’re so good at commenting – only fair you get a chance to get some (hopefully complimentary) comments back!
Though this is my first visit to Earworms for a couple of months, so I’m a bit inconsistent, if not dilletante !
Best playlist in quite while! I’ll agree with Tinny re. the songs standing on their own but I must take issue with ‘lowly’ plus I can’t agree re. Bunny’s songwriting talents, Bob was the absolute greatest songwriter, he wrote pretty much everything on the ten Island albums that followed the original Wailers breakup and much before. And they all still stand as international greatest hits!
And I’ll echo much of what Mitch said.
It might be that banjo that gets me but I liked the Scruggs/Billy Bob cut, not a huge fan of Country but this one connected.
Iron & Wine – new name to me but a nice shuffling track.
Wailers: So glad that someone had the sense/taste to include BMW, it would have never occurred to me. Vocal harmony trios go back a long way in Ja. there’s hundreds of ‘em. this is a rare chance to hear the teachings of Joe Higgs taking root. Nice cut, thanks AlBah.
Tracy Chapman: Love her but this cut is a new one for me. My sentiments exactly! Mr. Cameron should listen to this one, not that it would register.
Everything: This was OK but I could see how it might cause me to nod off. Unknown to me, might improve with age,
Aretha et al: I get the feeling that there’s a bit too much competition there, either would have been great but together it doesn’t quite work, needs some more listens.
I’m a fellow tinnitus sufferer, too much time in front of those big JBL’s
I get the feeling that there’s a bit too much competition there
My feeling is the competition was unintended when the partnership was mooted, but makes the song. Aretha’s character is trying to come to terms with a random loss and Mary J is operatically hinting that Aretha settles on faith too easily.
In hindsight you could construct this, but I think the Aretha duet was suggested and Mary J went along with resentments and it worked in a way none of the participants understood.
1. I think this works well – always hard to pull off a cover version when the original artist’s voice is so recongnisable.
2. I’m still in love with this track. Makes me smile a silly smile – I particularly love the ‘toy’ piano solo…
3. What’s not to love about this?
4. I know I should like TC – everything about her is good, good, good. But, I have to say that I’m not a fan of the wobbly voice! Nice song though…
5. One of my favourite tracks by one of my favourite artists. Love Tracey’s voice, love the lyrics. Just beautiful!
6. OK – these people can sing. I’d have to listen to it a few more times before I could really say that I love it.
Another excellent playlist, oh spotted one!
In briefs:
Earl Scruggs and Billy Bob Thornton – Liked it – prefer country without the beats but a sterling effort at musical integration.
Iron and Wine – Had never heard of but loved it. Reminded me of Belle and Sebastian a bit.
Wailers – Brilliant. Love them best when Pete Tosh and Bunny were still on board.
Tracy Chapman – I only have her first album (on cassette) so this was new to me. Good one.
EBTG – I have never been a great fan of these two but I did enjoy this one a lot.
Aretha and Mary – As a contrast I do like both of the singers but I can’t connect with this tune at all. Sorry I will give it a few more listens in case it grows on me.
it’s a little know but abused tune.
Was used for the movie Bobby {Kennedy} but cavalierly because it is an estate/neighbourhood mother’s coming to terms with a son’s wrong place, wrong time death. The song does itself sour into racial politics, which devalues it.
I’m convinced it’s best listened to as a Mom’s plight. Listen to those first first lines:
My Lord….
I have read this book so many times
She’s tried to raise her kids right. Made them do their homework, etc. And then this happens. So she says Fuck You Lord, as we all would, then begins to resume comfort in her faith. I wouldn’t. But if it happened to me, I guess I’d want to be able to.
1. I rarely pass comment on my own submissions but on this one I love the instrumentation. Earl’s banjo is excellent, the guitar and fiddle lovely, but it’s the electric fiddle drifting in and out of the piece and most apparent toward the beginning and the end that get me every time.. And it’s a lesser track on the album.
2.This is a lovely track, and I do like some of Iron & Wine’s stuff. It’s soothing but with a bit of something extra.
3.Most excellent. As I think was said some time back, something got lost in the commercialization of the Wailers and it’s definitely present here. A jaggedness sortof.
4.I can’t help but admire Chapman for her powerful voice, punchy songs and earthiness. This is a very good example of her work.
5. Tracy Thorn and EBTG did do some lovely stuff and her voice is quite beautiful and I do like this ballad very much. It IS lush and romantic.
6. I love Aretha and I love gospel. Mary J.does add something to the song. Does it spoil it? No, I don’t think so. While its interesting that MJ would get into a musical ego struggle with the Queen of Soul, I can concentrate on the sentiments of the song without getting overly distracted. It’s a gut-wrencher.
I really liked all the the tracks this week and I agree with people who say it is one of the nicest playlist ! ! !
I really love Tracey Chapman and would love to see her live but she has only come to Japan once a long time ago so maybe it will be impossible. I really love her voice and this is beautiful track.
I really liked the first one by Earl Scruggs and Billy Bob Thornton. I love the banjo for some reason. . . . ummm . . ..maybe because it reminds me of a shamisen ! ! ! In the album Golden Grapefruit by Love Psychedelico they use it in all the tracks and it like holds the album together and gives it a really nice theme and unusual theme.
The Wailers was a really nice summer track and a real earworm ! ! !
Everything But The Girl – Don’t Let the Teardrops Rust Your Shining Heart I found this a really nice track and it makes a nice thoughtful contrast to some of the more high powered emotional tracks in the list. I liked the simple arrangement and her voice is really great.
Iron & Wine – Belated Promise Ring also reminded of Simon and Garfunkel but it is a really nice song and I love these mid tempo ballads but they are really hard to do well, but this is a really great example and I loved the piano part. It really added something special to the arrangement.
I really loved Aretha Franklin & Mary J. Blige – Never Gonna Break My Faith. I really enjoy gospel when it has the big soul influence like this. I love the way they express their feelings and emotions in this track and arrangement is really great. Maybe this was my favourite, but it was hard to pick one this week.
Thank you SR for a really great list ! ! !
Really strong set this week. It’s always nice to hear Bob Marley stuff that isn’t from the “best of” collections, and I didn’t know that Iron & Wine song either (I kind of agree with ToffeeBoy’s feelings – I have a couple of albums which I like but sometimes seem to drift into mere pleasantness).
For those of you who are excited that this is a strong playlist, I’m delighted that you think so. There are a couple more coming up in the very near future that I will be very interested in your reactions to!
I don’t expect to slide into the role as effortlessly as Zalamanda did, nor to do such a wonderful job. (Am I the only one missing her pictures and playlists already?)
This is a learning curve for me, and if you don’t like what I am doing, or don’t think things I am trying are working, please speak out in the comments or email me. Or perhaps in a few weeks we can (all Spillers) have a discussion on the direction you would like Earworms to take under my stewardship. Do you like it fine just how it is? Do you want to clarify anything? Change anything? Please think about it, and let’s all talk soon!
I like the way you’re doing it very much! And I also like all this week’s songs, and hope to get round to saying so properly, but at the mo I’m trying to watch Wimbledon, get ready for Paris, and do the housework all at the same time…
Ta, TFD, but hold yer horses; it’s early days yet and my auditory experiments have barely begun. *cue manic cackle*
OMG…
Bit late to this one, sorry.
Sometimes I wish I wasn’t allergic to country music, but I am, so track one wasn’t for me. I like Iron and Wine, but only really, really love his first album, which features a banjo, but isn’t country. Nice to hear a new one, there’s a great bit of footage of him playing some of his newer songs in the old way
4AD session- Iron and Wine
Bob Marley is always welcome, not a fan of Tracey’s voice, got a file not found for Zala’s choice, not sure why and whilst I can appreciate the talent of the last two ladies, not my bag. Nice mix though and always interesting to hear the selection.
EBTG is playing fine on my laptop, but I checked the code and it’s okay. Hopefully it was a temporary aberation.
I’ll go and find it at the dropbox.
You don’t need to! Just click on the title of the song and it’ll download! I didn’t know that til Zala told me when I took over.
That Billy Bob Thornton – interviewers’ nightmare, or what? Ring Of Fire – really good – liked the banjo and the fiddle, and BBT’s growling is very charming.
Belated Promise Ring: I’d sort of heard of Iron & Wine without really knowing what I knew. [What is this new trend for artists to give themselves names as if they were a band? I find this confusing. Are they doing it on purpose? The Streets, Phosphorescent, my own nemesis Example...Frankly I wish they would stop it.] Yes, lovely! Like the sound, like the tune – have to look up more stuff.
Bus Dem Shut: ah, that’s great. I could listen to the Wailers all day.
Subcity: never heard this one before – I love her voice. What’s happened to her? I’ve not heard anything about her lately.
Don’t Let The Teardrops Rust Your Shining Heart: what a brilliant title! It reminded me of the Tin Man though (no, not you, tinny), not a knight. Love it.
Never Gonna Break My Faith: I really enjoyed hearing the two divas from different generations singing together. Lovely stuff.
Thanks to the earworm-finders and to the playlist-creator.
I feel exactly the same way about Iron&Wine. I bought the first album but never really fell in love with it, but this was a great track.
Other than that, the Wailers was the only other one that got my head bobbing this week, but I enjoyed listening to all of them anyway!
Splendid list. Particulary fond of Mary & Aretha, but I enjoyed all of them.
I forgot about Earworms this week – haven’t been well – and the Spill is a bit tumbleweedy at the moment. So here I am on Sunday night looking for some music and wondering where the week went when wow! A great bunch of songs all come along at once. I like everything this week tho’ Iron and Wine has to be the favourite. Verging on Ozark Mountain Daredevils in tone, I think. Thank you everybody!