The Rules: I reset the play counters for all the songs currently on my iTunes. Then at the end of every week, I check to see what the top five most played songs are. Whatever happens to be in this top five are then presented in order here from most played to least. If I have posted a particular song in the past, then I will bypass that song and post the next in line. If one artist dominates the list, then I will write about that artist in lieu of a Top Five list.
TheFrontloader.com is growing and I have all of you to thank! Thank you for taking the time out of your day to visit, and please keep on spreading the word! There’s still so much to share and discuss here… we all look forward to creating lasting, relevant content for you all to enjoy… thank you!
This week’s Top 5 list is the first that contains something non-musical. You’ll see it when you get to it…
I guess I was on a Led Zeppelin kick this week… either that or a Jeff Buckley kick. Either way, it adds up to good music. I don’t remember where I got this version of Buckley doing Zeppelin, but it’s a great listen. Jeff Buckley, who is known for his delicate sound, lends his voice to one of the heaviest Zeppelin songs in this rare recording of “When the Levee Breaks.” I think he does a great job, but it’s Jeff Buckley, after all.
I don’t have much info on this recording other than it’s from a collection called “Rarities from NYC.” I believe it’s a bunch of unreleased material from his album Grace and demos from My Sweetheart the Drunk. I’ll see what I can dig up and make a note to post this collection at a future date for all you Buckley fans out there.
Buckley’s untimely death in 1997 (age 31) definitely cut off an immensely promising career. His album Grace is a must-have for any music collection.
If you don’t got it, get it. If you got it, play it. If you don’t got it and you get it and then you got it so you play it, then you are awesome and deserve a cookie. I prefer oatmeal raisin.
For now, enjoy his tribute to Zeppelin.
Amazon Search: Jeff Buckley
Your Dig-It Download:
Download: When the Levee Breaks
Ok, this next track isn’t a song… it’s a stand-up routine by one of America’s most celebrated comics, George Carlin. I needed a good laugh this week and kept listening to this routine off his Complaints and Grievances album. Even though I am a God fearing man, there’s something about his logic here that makes perfect sense. I love it when Carlin reduces ideas and concepts down to their basic meanings. He’s got a knack for it, and it always makes for some good times.
It was a sincere blow to the comedic world when Carlin passed away this last June. I never did get to see his Fox sitcom “The George Carlin Show.” Any of you out there catch it when it was on? What was it like? I know it didn’t last very long… was it that bad?
I highly doubt the Fox network would have let him go off like he does in his stand-up routines, so I bet he felt like his hands were tied behind his back. No worries, though. He made it up for a great job on Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Cars.
Amazon Search: George Carlin
Your Dig-It Download:
Download: Why We Don’t Need 10 Commandments
My first exposure to Stevie Wonder was unfortunate. The first song I think I ever heard from him was his 80’s hit “I Just Called To Say I Love You.” The only reason I dug the song was that the entire song was done on synthesizers, or so I was told. Yes, I was a big synth-nut as a child. Images of the Yamaha DX-7 were plastered on my walls.
Anyhow, when I discovered Stevie Wonder’s “golden era,” which meant everything except “I Just Called To Say I Love You,” I was fascinated with just how much talent this guy possessed. I mean, how could someone be THAT talented?
Seriously. He’s frikkin’ TALENTED.
I’ve since forgiven him for “I Just Called To Say I Love You,” but I do think that is one of the greatest song titles ever conceived… it’s right up there next to “I Just Called To Say I Would Like An Order Of Kung-Pao Chicken, Some Fried Rice, And Some Egg Rolls As An Appetizer.”
His 1972 album Talking Book is one of my favorite Wonder albums (as opposed to Wonder Bread HAHA!) because of the excellent keyboard work. “Maybe Your Baby” utilized the Clavinet as many of the other songs on the album did. For some reason, though, I lean towards this song for that Clav sound than the more popular hit, “Superstition.” “Maybe Your Baby” is just a bad-ass song. Check it, dig it, and groove it.
Amazon Search: Stevie Wonder
Your Dig-It Download:
Download: Maybe Your Baby
I found this live version of The White Stripes‘ “Hotel Yorba” in my iTunes the other day. This particular recording was done for John Peel’s Peel Sessions. I am always amazed on how full The White Stripes sound even though they are just a guitar/drums combo. I’m guessing this performance was recorded around 2001 to promote their album, White Blood Cells. “Hotel Yorba” was the first single off off that album. This country-influenced song takes its title from the actual Hotel Yorba that was located in Detroit, but has since been converted into government-subsidized housing. The song hit the UK charts and peaked at #26, paving the way for their next single, the hit “Fell in Love With A Girl.”
I’ll admit that there are times when I prefer these live bootlegs of The White Stripes to their album recordings. The White Stripes are part of the garage-indie-sound revival, which actually begs for the rawest sound possible. This performance here of “Hotel Yorba” is so much livelier than that of the album cut. Sure, there’s the difference in instrumentation (the album cut had an acoustic guitar), but it just feels more subdued compared to this Peel Sessions performance.
Just my two cents, for what it’s worth… and that would be two cents.
Amazon Search: The White Stripes
Your Dig-It Download:
Download: Hotel Yorba (live)
Neil Young has quite a few amazing bootlegs floating around. This performance of “Cowgirl in the Sand” comes from a classic bootleg titled “Goin’ Back to Canada.” This show was recorded on January 19, 1971 in Massey Hall located in Toronto, Canada. Young’s manager, Elliot Roberts, calls this “The best show Neil ever played.” According to Richie Unterberger of All Music Guide, “More than for its collector appeal, however, the album’s worthwhile for its artistic excellence, capturing Young’s songs in their most intimate and unadorned settings, his voice at his most expressive and personal, and his writing at a crest achieved by few other composers.”
I am a huge fan of acoustic performances for many reasons, the main being, as Unterberger states, the intimate setting. I’ll get around to posting the entire bootleg at some point as it is definitely worth hearing whether you’re a Neil Young fan or not.
For now, enjoy this performance of “Cowgirl in the Sand.” In a show at the Royal Festival Hall on February 27, 1971, Young explained that the song is “about the beaches in Spain. I’ve never been to the beaches in Spain. It’s just my idea of what it’s like over there.” Sweet.
Amazon Search: Neil Young
Your Dig-It Download:
Download: Cowgirl in the Sand (live acoustic)
Thank you again for reading! We hope you’ve dug the articles this week… check back this weekend to see if something new has popped up!
Spread the word!
Popularity: 2% [?]
Lovely list my friend! George Carlin is a welcome addtion in my opinion! He was a comic GENIOUS!!!!
Great post! Thanks for the downloads!
got to say your latest top 5′s have been pretty much stellar.
Carlin: TOTAL genius. You nailed his appeal: he got down to the essence in a few words. Superb writing. And today’s comics think they’re so cleverly radical? Most of them don’t know radical. Or clever. Carlin was both – while never losing his humanity. He celebrated the absurd, the ridiculous, the fallible, and the mundane that is part of being an Everyguy.
Stevie: from the sublime to… that song you mentioned (hearing nails on chalkboard)
Neil: nice. I’ll buy him a “clara” and tell him about the beaches in Spain.
Stripes and Jeff – looking forward to hearing. Anyone who can whip out a good version of “When the Levee Breaks” is worth hearing.
You be on a roll. Keep it up.
The white stripes song is having problems. It wont let me download it. Hmmm I will try again later. Thats what it says to do hehe!!
That he was… that he was.
Is it working now?
Jeff Buckley’s version of “Levee” kinda makes me think of Jack White, ya know? VERY COOL, thank you very much. I like peanut butter cookies, FYI.
Thanks for the George Carlin bit!! What a loss – he was BRILLIANT. I was lucky enough to see him live not once but twice, and what always struck me (other than what you point out, his knack of breaking things down to their basic ideals) was how he always tied his show together…usually whatever he started talking about at the beginning of the show is what he would end with, and while his audience is laughing in often shocked disbelief (and closet agreement) he’s actually making a POINT and making people think. There’s not too many people, comedians or otherwise, who can do that. Anyway, RIP George Carlin, thank you for including this clip!
The Stevie Wonder song is pretty cool! I don’t own a single Stevie Wonder album, but I have quite a few of his songs on my computer….my favorite of his is “You Haven’t Done Nothing” – kinda funky like this one you posted – so I guess maybe I better check him out a little closer….
THE WHITE STRIPES!! YAY!! That’s all I have to say about that!
Thanks for the Neil Young song as well!! My sister’s a huge fan, she got me to listen to “After the Gold Rush” which is now one of my favorite albums, and he’s one who has withstood the test of time – in fact, I think his delivery of his songs now is even more poignant than when he wrote them, if that makes sense. Anyway, this version is great, thanks!!