San Diego Edition

1. Fakin' It- Simon & Garfunkel

• "I'm such a dubious soul, and a walk in the garden...wears me down, tangled in the fallen vines, pickin' up the punch lines, I've just been fakin' it, not really makin' it." My favorite Simon & Garfunkel album would have to be "Bookends" despite the brilliance of the group's follow up and final studio album "Bridge Over Troubled Water". What "Bookends" lacks in "Greatest Hits" material (there is some) it more than makes up for with gem after gem. Songs like "Fakin' It", "Save The Life Of My Child" and "At the Zoo" are great songs that showcase the duo at their best. Most bands split up too late, years after they've run out of material. These guys were getting better with each album.

2. I'm Yours- Jason Mraz

• "Well open up your mind and see like me, open up your plans and damn you're free, look into your heart and you'll find love love love love. But I won't hesitate, no more no more, it can not wait, I'm yours." It's hard to imagine anything being better than LeAnn Rimes but "I'm Yours" topped "How Do I Live" to set the record for the longest run on the Billboard "Hot 100" chart at over 70 weeks. The song first appeared on an iTunes-only EP released in conjunction with Mraz's 2nd commercial full length album "Mr. A-Z". The song would disappear only to re-emerge (re-recorded) as the lead single to the follow up album "We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things". "I'm Yours" lost out to John Mayer's "Say" for the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Grammy in 2009 despite being the biggest song from that year. Perhaps as a make up Mraz was given that award in 2010 for his song "Make It Mine". The original version of "I'm Yours" (now labeled as a demo) is once again available on iTunes. After seeing how this song has been embraced internationally it dawned on me that this is one of the great pop songs of all time.

3. Jesus Gave Me Water- Sam Cooke

• "...Jesus gave me water, I want let his praises swell, Jesus gave me water, Jesus gave me water, Jesus gave me water, and it was not in the well." Before Sam Cooke was Sam Cooke he was a teenage member of the gospel outfit The Soul Stirrers. "Jesus Gave Me Water" is from Sam's 1st recording session with the group when he was just 19. The results are wonderful. Given the content of the Soul Stirrers music Gospel may be the best tag but this music is 50's doo-wop at it's finest...they just happen to be singing about Jesus. "Jesus Gave Me Water" has made it way onto a number of Sam Cooke compilations including "Portrait Of A Legend 1951-1964" which has to be the authoritative single disc greatest hits collection. That being said, "Jesus, I'll Never Forget" to me is a much better Sam Cooke/Soul Stirrers song. It was used in the Cohen Brothers film "The Ladykillers". The less we say about that movie the better.