1. Roll Over Beethoven (Single Version)- Chuck Berry

• "You know my temperature's risin', the jukebox's blowin' a fuse, my heart's beatin' rhythm and my soul keeps singin' the blues, roll over Beethoven...tell Tschaikowsky the news" In 1997 Chess Records celebrated it's 50th anniversary by releasing greatest hits compilations from it's stable of legendary artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Eta James and Chuck Berry. "Roll Over Beethoven" is just one of the many gems from the Chuck Berry hits package "His Best, Volume 1". The song is an early anthem for rock itself. Few artists help define the sound of rock and roll as much as Chuck Berry. It's hard to overstate the influence of his distinctive guitar work. John Lennon was quoted as saying "If you had to try to give rock 'n' roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry". The Beatles would pay homage to Berry by recording "Roll Over Beethoven" on their sophomore LP "With the Beatles"....they do a nice job with it (they are the Bealtes after all) but even the Fab Four can't touch the original. Hail, hail rock n roll.

2. Everything Is Not Broken (live)- John Mayer

• "That nature rains, on flames we've made, should tell you everything's not broken." "That you could be, oh here with me, tells me everything is not broken, no everything...is not broken, if everything's not fine." "Everything Is Not Broken" is an unreleased song that John Mayer began performing in concert shortly after the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Like "Covered in Rain" the song is a reaction to the events of that day. The song was first performed on 9-17-01 in Birmingham Alabama. I caught John Mayer in concert at the 9:30 club in Washington DC six days later (at the tail end of a whirlwind best weekend ever) and the song was included in the show. The lyrics for "Everything Is Not Broken" would change over time as it was performed as a work in progress as much as anything else. "Covered in Rain" would see the light of day on a pair of official live CDs issued in 2003 and 2004 but "Everything Is Not Broken" remains a rarity.

3. Untitled- DJ Shadow

• "Maureen's got five sisters, they all got ass, one of 'em has eyes as big as jolly ranchers, beautiful girl, she's a beautiful girl." This untitled cut from DJ Shadow's debut "Entroducing" features spoken word from MC Lyrics Born over the instrumental song "Grey Boy" by the soul/funk band Human Race. It marks one of the few times that original material is used in the album that is comprised almost entirely out of sampled music. The song itself is only 25 seconds and serves as a light hearted segue between the more serious "What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4)" and "Stem/Long Stem/Transmission 2"- a song that contains my favorite musical moment from the entire album. "Stem/Long Stem/Transmission 2" samples "The Madness Subsidies" by Pekka Pohjola which features a mellow trance inducing/hypnotic/other-worldly keyboard loop. The sound is so amazing DJ Shadow brings the sample back later in the LP on the song "Midnight in a Perfect World". Getting back to "Untitled", if you find yourself with a girl who has ass and eyes a big as jolly ranchers you've got yourself a keeper.

1. When I Fall (live)- BareNaked Ladies

• "Can't look below me, or something might throw me, curse at the windstorms that October brings." "I wish I could step from this scaffold, onto soft green pastures, shopping malls, or bed, with my family and my pastor and my grandfather who's dead." On occasion guitarist Ed Robertson would handle lead singing responsibilities for the BareNaked Ladies. "When I Fall" is one of those occasions. Originally featured on the "Born on a Pirate Ship" album and later on the live "Rock Spectacle" (pronounced speck-tack) "When I Fall" finds Robertson singing the tale of a high rise window washer behind a beautiful acoustic guitar riff. This particular version comes from the band's 1st live concert performance since the departure of long time lead singer Steven Page. The "Barenaked Ladies Live at Universal Studios 3-7-09" album was available for free on the band's website and featured a number of shaky vocal moments, but "When I Fall" sounded about as good as ever. It closed that particular show and I'd imagine when the band resumes regular touring it would serve that role most nights.

2. 42 (live)- Coldplay

• "Those who are dead are not dead, they're just living in my head." "You thought you might be a ghost, you didn't get to heaven, but you made it close." Coldplay made the live "LeftRightLeftRightLeft" album available to fans who caught their last tour as a CD and those who didn't attend a show had the opportunity to download the songs from the band's website. The studio version of "42" comes from the hugely successful "Viva La Vida" album. The band is obviously radio friendly, but "Viva La Vida" has a few songs (42, Life in Technicolor) that fit well within the concept/flow of the album that wouldn't work as well as stand alone radio songs. "42" is made up of 2 musical movements in four sections. The 1st part is a mellow ballad built around Martin's vocals, piano and strings, the next section is an up tempo instrumental, the 3rd part features a catchy pop chorus and the final section a refrain of the beginning of the song. I'm not sure what the song is about lyrically but it's clear that Martin had salvation (or a lack thereof) on his mind when writing "Viva La Vida". "You didn't get to heaven but you made it close" and "I know Saint Peter won't call my name" being the best examples.

3. Crosseyed- Brendan Benson

• "My friends think you're ugly, mmmm they don't see what I see, I love my crosseyed baby your secret's safe with me." "I'll never tell about what I found out, about a crosseyed girl who can surely make you shout." Brendan Benson started off with a bang in 1996 with his album "One Mississippi" even if no one was paying attention. "Crosseyed" is one of many great songs from the alt rock singer/songwriter's debut. I was able to pick up a free copy of "One Mississippi" over ten years ago while doing an internship at a rock station in Philly and it remains one of my favorites to this day. The hard to find demo version of "Crosseyed" is available on a limited CD re-release of "One Mississippi" as well as on the even harder to find "promo-only not for sale" "Well Fed Boy Demos" vinyl LP....which I have framed on my wall. When you are a collector these types of items are invaluable. The movie Ghost World hit the reality of the collector mentality dead on. Steve Buscemi plays Seymour who is based on real life collector R Crumb- Seymour: "You think it's healthy to obsessively collect things? You can't relate to other people, so you fill your life with stuff... I'm just like all these other collector losers." Amen.

Late Night Edition

Staff Notes: 3 strikes 5000 recently doubled our number of followers (from 1 to 2). Very exciting times here at the blog. We know however that there are other frequent readers out there. Perhaps some of them are famous musicians...I'll elaborate. I was looking at a few celebrity playlists on iTunes, which is a pretty cool feature of the site/store. Specifically I was checking out the musical recommendations from Hall and Oates. In his playlist created on Oct 26th, John Oates (the one with the 'stache) called Patty Griffin "ethereal and earthy". If that assessment sounds familiar to you it may be because on August 15th this blog described Rachael Yamagata's sound on the song "Don't" as "both earthy and ethereal." I'm flattered to know that Oates (and maybe Hall) are fans of the blog.

1. Me Just Purely- Brendan Benson

• "This is only temporary, these songs are my worst habits, my looks and my skin and my temper and this town, this place I call my home well it's me just purely." In 2006 Brendan Benson gained some mainstream notoriety as "the other guy" in the band The Raconteurs, with "the guy" being Jack White of the White Stripes. This minor breakthrough came 10 years after the release of his debut solo masterpiece "One Mississippi" which was a commercial failure. I've lost count of the number of people who I've talked up "One Mississippi" to...usually describing it as "the best album you've never heard". "Me Just Purely" is a mid tempo acoustic number with minimal (lo-fi) production, relying largely on the outstanding hooks, lyrics, melodies and harmonies which at times soar. Power pop maestro Jason Falkner co-wrote a number of songs on the album and his imprint is audible. I very recently caught Brendan in concert at the World Cafe in Philadelphia. "Me Just Purely" was requested but was not performed. Luckily, "One Mississippi" songs "Sittin' Pretty" and "Crosseyed" made the cut. The Cardinals (as in Ryan Adams & The Cardinals) Brad Pemberton played drums for Brendan at the show...word came yesterday that Cardinals bassist Chris Feinstein passed away. R.I.P. Chris.

2. Up Around the Bend- Creedence Clearwater Revival

• "You can ponder perpetual motion, fix your mind on a crystal day, always time for a good conversation, there's an ear for what you say. Come on the rising wind, we're goin' up around the bend, yeah." There is a certain Beatles quality to most CCR songs. The feel is very different with the raspy force of John Fogerty's vocals and the down home grit that defines the sound of the band. But in both cases we are talking about brilliantly crafted pop songs that last about two or three minutes often built around a few basic chords. These songs are brilliant in their simplicity. "Up Around the Bend" gives us a distinctive CCR guitar riff, a solid groove and Fogerty's vocals- do we need anything else? In case you do this song has hand claps as well (a lost art). I have a friend that always wants me to play/sing "Who'll Stop the Rain" in order to hear me do my best "Fogerty" vocals. Who am I to deny her? For your enjoyment here is the one of the great CCR pop culture references from the Big Lebowski:
• Younger Cop: And was there anything of value in the car?
• The Dude: Oh, uh, yeah, uh... a tape deck, some Creedence tapes, and there was a, uh... uh, my briefcase.
• Younger Cop: [expectant pause] In the briefcase?
• The Dude: Uh, uh, papers, um, just papers, uh, you know, uh, my papers, business papers.
• Younger Cop: And what do you do, sir?
• The Dude: I'm unemployed.

3. Dumb (Unplugged)- Nirvana

• "My heart is broke, but I have some glue, help me inhale and mend it with you, we'll float around and hang out on clouds, then we'll come down and I have a hangover...have a hangover." The "MTV Unplugged in New York" album brought us live acoustic versions of a number of classic Nirvana songs. In many cases hearing these songs in a different context gave them a new feel. In the case of "Dumb" it doesn't sound all that different from the original studio version, which is fine. "I think I'm dumb, maybe just happy" is brilliant at best and clever at worst. Nirvana helped define the grunge era in the early-mid 90s. Kurt Cobain's suicide forever cemented the bands legacy, giving them what most would consider a legendary status. It also deprived listeners of hearing how the band might have grown/changed through the years as popular musical tastes and styles fluctuated. Would their sound evolve over time (Metallica) or would it largely remain the same (AC/DC)? Another unfortunate consequence of the band's early demise is that it left us with a fairly sparse catalogue of material- Philadelphia radio is currently playing the same 5-10 Nirvana songs into the ground. Maybe this is why I rarely flip on the radio.

1. Bob Dylan's 49th Beard (Live)- Wilco

• "And I'll stop along the way, and it's then I'll think of you, and I'll wonder if you knew, how I got blue when things got weird, and I started growing....Bob Dylan's beard." In 2003 to supplement the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (recently named the 3rd best album of the decade by Rolling Stone) Wilco released the 6 song EP "More Like the Moon" on their website. The EP featured a number of unreleased songs including "Bob Dylan's 49th Beard". This particular version of the song comes from the Bridge School Collection, Volume 1 compilation. "Bob Dylan's 49th Beard" finds Wilco Front man Jeff Tweedy in folk rock mode. The song is built around acoustic guitars, lyrics and backing harmonies...his band mates take a backseat. If you enjoy this song I'd recommend Jeff Tweedy's "Sunken Treasure: Live in the Pacific Northwest" DVD, a collection of live recordings from several Jeff Tweedy solo shows. The songs from the DVD can be downloaded into mp3s- it's just a simple "137 step process" that involves uninstalling, downgrading/installing, uninstalling, upgrading/reinstalling Quicktime on your computer. Well worth the effort.

2. Dissident- Pearl Jam

• "She had to turn around, when she couldn't hold, oh...she folded...A dissident is here, escape is never, the safest path, oh, a dissident, a dissident is here." Do you remember where you were in 1993? If you were anywhere within earshot of a radio you were probably listening to songs like "Daughter', "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter in a Small Town" and "Dissident" from the Pearl Jam album "Vs." You may have enjoyed these songs so much that you took to wearing flannel shirts and showering less frequently. Personally speaking I was enjoying the hell known as "high school" in 1993 in what could best be described as a high school "built like a prison" (if I may paraphrase the BareNaked Ladies). "Dissident" like just about anything else from Pearl Jam stands the test of time; the song sounds fresh over 15 years later. If i listen to this song a few more times I may go looking for some flannel.

3. Festival of Flowers - Tish Hinojosa

• "Just the two of us hand in hand, gathering armfuls of flowers, the sun rose high above us, we left our cares behind us." "I'll remember this day forever -our festival of flowers, those short moments in our lifetime when we were one with nature." In 1998, Appleseed Records (based in West Chester, PA) released a star studded tribute album to the great folk singer songwriter Pete Seeger. "Festival of Flowers" is covered beautifully by Tish Hinojosa and features both English and Spanish lyrics. Stylistically the song is probably best described as "Tejano Conjunto" (feel free to look that up). "Festival of Flowers is built on Spanish style acoustic guitar, strings and accordion . I once tried to teach myself accordion after getting an old accordion from a girl i was friendly with (read between the lines) and buying a "teach yourself the accordion" book. The book was a total sham. My dreams of seducing women with an accordion remain unfulfilled.

1. Snake Bit Again- Anders Osborne

• "I did it again, now I'm busted and blue, I know I pushed you too hard, and I'm losing you." "I know my luck is bound to change real soon, aww somehow the trouble doesn't always win in the end...I was snake bit again." I used to be friendly with a nurse in Annapolis Maryland...we had some common interests including music, alcohol and adult situations. She was goodly enough to make me a small bundle of CDs including "Ash Wednesday Blues" by Anders Osburne which features "Snake Bit Again". I was goodly enough to take her to see Charlie Hunter at the Rams Head Tavern so I think we're even. "Snake Bit Again" brings funk with a gospel organ, horns and wah-wah guitars. Lyrically it's a down and out tale, the kind most people can identify with. The jazz, soul, funk sound on "Snake Bit Again" highlight Anders New Orleans roots. "Who' dat?" "Anders" "Yea, you rite!"

2. Intro (New York State of Mind)- DJ Green Lantern

• "Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood, hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood, but I’m taking a greyhound on the Hudson river line-I’m in a New York state of mind." DJ Green Lantern mashes up the Beastie Boys on "New York State of Mind", a mixtape that puts new beats behind classic Beasite songs and features other MCs (Ludacris, Biggie Smalls, Busta Ryhmes) alongside the B-boys. Any fan of the Beastie Boys will enjoy hearing classic songs like "Pass the Mic", "Hey Ladies" and "Sure Shot" reinvented. For me hearing "Body Movin" over Special Ed's "I Got it Made" is a special treat. "New York State of Mind" highlights one of the great strengths of hip hop- the inherent flexibility of the art form. A hip hop remix is only limited by the imagination of the DJ. As Rakim once said, "Even if it's jazz or the quiet storm, I hook a beat up and convert it in a hip hop form".

3. Trouble Man- Marvin Gaye

• " (I) Come up hard, baby I had to fight, took care of my bid'ness, with all my might." "There's only three things that's for sure, 'taxes, death and trouble, 'oh!" In 1972 Marvin Gaye scored the soundtrack to the blaxplotation film "Trouble Man". The jazz album is mainly instrumental and is best known for the title track which found it's way onto a number of Marvin Gaye greatest hits compilations. With Issac Hayes scoring "Shaft" in 1971 and Curtis Mayfield scoring "Superfly" in 1972 the blaxplotation era was at it's zenith. For Gaye, the offer to score the film was an opportunity to compose jazz and for a time delay a true follow up to the massively successful "What's Going On" (1971) LP. "Trouble Man" was a musical step to the side and an interesting one at that. The title song has a slow menacing groove and the silky smooth vocals that made Marvin a legend. "Trouble Man" creates a real mood and it's inclusion in the hit film se7en was well done.