The hits keep coming…
5. Light My Fire – The Doors (1967)
I like lots of songs for lots of reasons and this one’s got plenty. Fun organ, powerful vocals, guitar gymnastics and “fire” becomes a two-syllable word. I have also done a word exercise with the family for years that resembles “see how many words you can rhyme with”, in this case “fire.” And The Doors do a weird and wonderful job with “no time to wallow in the mire” and “funeral pyre.”
4. The Weight – The Band (1968)
I’ve referenced artists flying under the radio radar a couple times during my earlier musical rambles. The Band fits that category and once again it’s been an enjoyable ride through their catalog as I put this post together. With the passing of Garth Hudson earlier this year, all the original members are gone. What a blend of voices on this one as they relate choices, consequences, and the resulting loads we bear. And what a hook for a chorus as it packs some heft, befitting of “The Weight.”
3. Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry (1976)
This song was awesome for a nine-year old and it remains awesome close to fifty years later. And that’s my original 45 in the picture above. A brief bit of searching on the internet put the price of a 45 record at $1.49 in 1976. I suppose that was a fair amount of cash for a nine-year old kid that could have also been invested in quite a few packs of baseball cards. In this case, “dancing and singing and moving to the grooving” won out over a possible Willie Stargell, Johnny Bench or Nolan Ryan.
2. Summer Breeze – Seals & Croft (1972)
As I type this up, the days are getting longer, and summer is officially less than a month away. However, with Memorial Day in the rearview mirror and another year in the books for Julie and those we still have in school, isn’t it really summer already? And as far as summer songs go, this one is tops. While the lyrics don’t specifically reference any of the following, this song brings back memories of swimming pools, baseball games, cookouts, campouts, sleepovers, and “not a care in the world.”
1. Can’t Find My Way Home – Blind Faith (1969)
I’ve always dug this tune, and it is an example of how songs strike you in different ways in different moods or circumstances. During this listen on the ride to the fishing hole it brought back a funny fishing memory. Once upon a time, me, Brent, and a couple of the Junk brothers (John and Mark) were on our way to a Victoria area strip mine, Green Oaks, for the first time. We’d received directions from the Knox College baseball coach, Tim Heimann. Something like “take Fremont Road until it ends and take a right”. Well, that road has so many turns, and we took the wrong right, got lost and were nowhere in the neighborhood. Fast forward forty years and I can get to those strip mines on multiple roads from various directions, perhaps even with my eyes closed. But there was a time when I was in the situation of I “Can’t Find My Way to the Fishing Hole.”
Two more fishing reports and ten more trip tunes to go to get caught up. Talk to you later. Troy