My Playlists

This playlist is another one chocked full of some of my favorite alternative, traditional, and outlaw country tunes. As the name of the playlist indicates all of these acts are based in Texas. I kick things off and wind things off with Waylon. In between, you'll find the old, Bob Wills, the new, Owen Temple, the traditional, Butch Hancock, and the alternative, Michelle Shocked. Great songwriters, like Townes Van Zandt and Kris Kristofferson, are represented. All of these songs are in regular circulation on my Sansa and I hope you give them a try and enjoy them as well.

1. Lukenbach, Texas (Back To The Basics Of Love) - Waylon Jennings
2. Are You Listenin' Lucky? - Joe Ely
3. Nobody's Girl - Reckless Kelly
4. That's Right (You're Not From Texas) - Lyle Lovett
5. Mustang Burn - Jack Ingram
6. The Road Goes On Forever - Robert Earl Keen
7. Lost Highway - Owen Temple
8. If I Needed You - Townes Van Zandt
9. Leavin' Texas - Jerry Jeff Walker
10. Poncho And Lefty - Willie Nelson
11. Georgia On A Fast Train - Billy Joe Shaver
12. Guitar Town - Steve Earle
13. Faded Love - Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
14. Help Me Make It Through The Night - Kris Kristofferson
15. The Ride - David Allan Coe
16. Murder (Or A Heart Attack) - Old 97's
17. Texas Cookin' - Guy Clark
18. Quality Of Mercy - Michelle Shocked
19. Walking On The Moon - Hugh Moffatt
20. Welcome To The Real World - Butch Hancock
21. Black Snake Moan - Jimmie Dale Gilmore
22. (Hey Baby) Que Paso - Texas Tornados
23. Beautiful Texas Sunshine - Doug Sahm
24. Dallas - Flatlanders
25. T For Texas - Waylon Jennings

For this week's playist I'm trying something a bit different. I'm using Rhapsody's suggestions to find some new music. On most albums it gives you a choice of 1 to 5 recommended albums that it thinks you might like. Let's see where this 'long tail' journey takes me over the usual 25 tracks.

The first stop, suggested on the My Rhapsody page, is the Leave The Sad Things Behind by Paula Frazer. I picked No Other from it. Her sound is dream pop with a touch of alt-country and this song has some good fuzz guitar on it.

From there it took me to Ryan Adam's Love Is Hell Part 2. I picked Please Don't Let Me Go from this alt-country star

Next up is Desert Rose by Sting. I picked the title song since I like the hypnotic rhythm of it.

Beth Orton's Daybreaker came up next and I picked one of my favorites from it, This One's Gonna Bruise, a melocholy acoustic number.

From a list of so-so choices I picked someone I hadn't heard before, Jason Mraz's Waiting For My Rocket To Come album. I selected I'll Do Anything, a good poppy song with a little of reggae beat.

Following this I selected Travis' The Invisible Band and Flowers In The Window. I didn't like it at first but it kind of grew on me.

A number of Brit-Pop groups got offered up at this point so I decided to go with a known quantity, Coldplay's Yellow. I like the dreamy melocholy of this song.

Next, Echo and the Bunnymen's Heaven Up Here got the call. I listened to A Promise but it wouldn't be something I'd add to my long term playlist.

Siouxsie and the Banshees Kaleidoscope was my next pick and I selected Trophy from it. Dark and punky goth, I liked it.

After this, I chose Lords Of The New Church self titled album and their hit Open Your Eyes, a synth punk political anthem.

I had to pick The Ramones' All The Stuff (And More), Vol. 2 next to move back toward terra firma. I added to I Just Want To Have Something To Do to the list.

Another New York act, Lou Reed, followed with his box set Between Thought & Expression and I picked a favorite from it, Rock And Roll Heart.

I went with Mott the Hoople's The Ballad Of Mott: A Retrospective and their cover of Sweet Jane, another favorite song of mine.

From here I went to the indie punk of The Make-Up's Joy Of Sound from their of  In Mass Mind album. Then Slant 6's Inzombia came into view. I picked Babydoll from this gothy punk album. Neither of these were quite to my taste.

The Misfits compilation Collection II was my next pick and I chose Attitude from it. Now that's more like it.

Down By Law's Blue album came up next and I played Looking For Something. I liked this one too.

Social Distortion, one of my favorite groups, Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell was up next and I picked one of my absolute favorites, Cold Feelings, for the list..

Oddly, the funk metal of Orange 9mm and their Tragic album was a choice. I picked the title cut. Not quite my cup o' tea but a little rap goes down better with good heavy guitar.

From here I went on to the guitar heavy sounds of Living Colour and their Cult of Personality. That's one hot guitar solo.

Clutch and their Anthems, Anecdotes And Undeniable Truths followed. I picked Milk Of Human Kindness, a very dark song with Cookie Monster vocals. Ugh.

Next, Alice in Chains self-titled album was up and I picked Heaven Beside You from it, their hit ballad.

The Afghan Whigs' Gentlemen album was my next pick and I went with Debonair as the song. I like their well constructed songs with an indie/punk touch. I dropped this album on my player for further listening.

After this I tried out the experimental rock of Boss Hog and their song I Dig You. Weird stuff with cheap guitar sounds, interesting but it might be hard to listen to.

I wound the journey up with Hole's Live Through This and their grunge anthem, Violet.

1. No Other - Paula Frazer
2. Please Don't Let Me Go - Ryan Adams
3. Desert Rose - Sting
4. This One's Gonna Bruise - Beth Orton
5. I'll Do Anything - Jason Mraz
6. Flowers In The Window - Travis
7. Yellow - Coldplay
8. A Promise - Echo and the Bunnymen
9. Trophy - Siouxsie and the Banshees
10. Open Your Eyes - Lords Of The New Church
11. I Just Want To Have Something To Do - The Ramones
12. Rock And Roll Heart - Lou Reed
13. Sweet Jane - Mott the Hoople
14. Joy Of Sound - The Make-Up
15. Babydoll - Slant 6
16. Attitude - Misfits
17. Looking For Something - Down By Law
18. Cold Feelings - Social Distortion
19. Tragic - Orange 9mm
20. Cult Of Personality - Living Colour
21. Milk Of Human Kindness - Clutch
22. Heaven Beside You - Alice in Chains
23. Debonair - Afghan Whigs
24. I Dig You - Boss Hog
25. Violet - Hole

This set has several of the key artists that influence my guitar playing and that others say they hear in my playing. Of course, I can't come close to playing as well as these folks but they inspire my playing and I give it a good try, even if I fall short. Roy Buchanan is probably my biggest influence and one that most people hear in a lot of my playing. Chuck Berry is another one people mention, probably because I favor double stops. Dickey Betts is another one that people mention that they hear in my playing as is Jeff Beck. The others here are ones I enjoy and have some influence on my playing, including Scotty Moore who backed Elvis and Luther Perkins who backed up Johnny Cash.

1. Sweet Dreams - Roy Buchanan
2. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
3. Duane's Tune - Dickey Betts
4. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
5. Sun Medley - Danny Gatton
6. Cause We've Ended As Lovers - Jeff Beck
7. All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
8. Samba Pa Ti - Santana
9. Just Because - Elvis Presley
10. Buckaroo - Buck Owens
11. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
12. Give Me Back My Wig - Hound Dog Taylor
13. Trouble, Trouble - Otis Rush
14. Frosty - Albert Collins
15. Call Me The Breeze - Lynyrd Skynyrd
16. I'm Lookin' For Someone To Love - Buddy Holly
17. Ball And Chain - Social Distortion
18. Chinese Rocks - Johnny Thunders
19. Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile) - Santana
20. Changes - Jimi Hendrix
21. I Ain't Superstitious - Jeff Beck
22. Blues Newburgh - Danny Gatton
23. Blue Sky - The Allman Brothers Band
24. Carol - Chuck Berry
25. The Messiah Will Come Again - Roy Buchanan

This set contains a mix of some of my favorite harder rock songs including classics from some of my all time favorite acts as well as some new songs from more recent indie acts. I won't go into a lot of detail on them this time around but I do begin and end with one of my favorite groups, Social Distortion. Enjoy rockin' out to them.

1. Cold Feelings - Social Distortion
2. Ace Of Spades - Motorhead
3. Nothing - The Bricks ATX
4. Personality Crisis - New York Dolls
5. Chinese Rocks - Johnny Thunders
6. Here I Am - Supersuckers
7. Normal Like You - Everclear
8. I Can't Shake It - Melvins
9. Nearly Lost You - Screaming Trees
10. Jeremy - Pearl Jam
11. Would? - Alice in Chains
12. Big Empty - Stone Temple Pilots
13. Kick Out The Jams - MC5
14. See No Evil - Television
15. 1959 - Patti Smith
16. Debaser - Pixies
17. Outta My Way - Damone
18. Where They Wonder - Horrorpops
19. Molly's Chambers - Kings Of Leon
20. Split Myself In Two - Meat Puppets
21. Teaser - Pentagram
22. Acceleratin' - Turbo A.C.'s
23. Shiverin In The Corner - The Amazing Royal Crowns
24. Hitchhiker's Holiday - Janis Figure
25. Place In My Heart - Social Distortion

This set is a collection of Alt-Country songs that reflect the wide range of this genre. I decided to start off with three cover songs that show the kind of spin pop songs can go through in the Alt-Country blender. Next we have some of the staples of the genre, such as Uncle Tupelo and it's spin-offs, Lucinda Williams, and Whiskeytown. After that we go into more of a rootsy rock/pop vein with Eric Ambel, Bottle Rockets, and others. Following afterward are some neo-traditionalist tunes by Blood Oranges and Freakwater. For the next few tracks I kind of mix it up between the beautiful, Niko Case, Kelly Hogan, and Tift Merritt, and the bizzare, Joe Henry and Split Lip Rayfield, and the pop-ish, Old 97's and Honeydogs. I wind it up with a blast of three cowpunk-ish songs that show the intersection of country and punk rock.

1. To Love Somebody - Blue Rodeo
2. Baba O'Riley - Waco Brothers
3. Sweet Jane - Cowboy Junkies
4. Two Angels - The Jayhawks
5. Windfall - Son Volt
6. I'm Always In Love - Wilco
7. No Depression - Uncle Tupelo
8. Crazy About You - Whiskeytown
9. Car Wheels On A Gravel Road - Lucinda Williams
10. Shake Some Action - Eric Ambel
11. Blue Canoe - Blue Mountain
12. Waitin' On A Train - Bottle Rockets
13. Gathering Flowers For The Master's Bouquet - Blood Oranges
14. Right Brothers - Freakwater
15. You Make It Easy - Golden Smog
16. Like She Was A Hammer - Joe Henry
17. Murder (Or A Heart Attack) - Old 97's
18. Hold On, Hold On - Neko Case
19. Used To Call Me Baby - Split Lip Rayfield
20. (You Don't Know) The First Thing About Blue - Kelly Hogan
21. Virginia, No One Can Warn You - Tift Merritt
22. Rumor Has It - The Honeydogs
23. My Heart Still Stands With You - Jason & The Scorchers
24. Ring Of Fire - Social Distortion
25. Rock-N-Roll Records (Ain't Selling This Year) - Supersuckers

This set includes some great well known and unknown rockabilly tracks from the 1950's artists who got the ball rolling. Of course, I had to have Elvis kick things off. I picked some rockin' tracks from Buddy Holly and Rick Nelson since they also have calmer, more pop, numbers. Particularly check out James Burton's hot solo on Milkcow Blues. Another one of my favorites is Joyce Green's Black Cadillac, her only solo song release but one that gets covered often by modern female rockabilly acts. Ronnie Self is another one of my favorite, yet obscure, late 50's talents. His body of remaining recorded work is small but showed an incredible range of talent. It's too bad he burned out the way he did. Hasil Adkins, the more-or-less inventor of punkabilly is represented. I've also thrown in a number of lesser known Sun acts as well that show just what got missed when the world turned away from "guitar music" for a few years before the Beatles invaded.

1. Mystery Train - Elvis Presley
2. Breathless - Jerry Lee Lewis
3. I'm Looking For Someone To Love - Buddy Holly
4. Milkcow Blues - Rick Nelson
5. Crazy Legs - Gene Vincent
6. Let's Have A Party - Wanda Jackson
7. Black Cadillac - Joyce Green
8. Red Headed Woman - Sonny Burgess
9. Number Nine Train - Dale Hawkins
10. School Of Rock 'N Roll - Gene Summers
11. Roll Roll Train - Hasil Adkins
12. Ain't I'm A Dog - Ronnie Self
13. Her Love Rubbed Off - Carl Perkins
14. C'mon Baby - Buddy Knox
15. Red Hot - Billy Lee Riley
16. Tear It Up - The Johnny Burnette Rock 'N' Roll Trio
17. Twenty Flight Rock - Eddie Cochran
18. Get Rhythm - Johnny Cash
19. Hop, Skip And Jump - The Collins Kids
20. Did We Have A Party - Billy Brown
21. Rumble - Link Wray
22. Hurricane - Joe Maphis
23. Come On Little Mama - Ray Harris
24. Red Cadillac And A Black Moustache - Warren Smith
25. Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee - Malcolm Yelvington

These are some of my favorite blues songs. It's a good all-round mix of new and old, acoustic and electric.

1. John The Revelator - Son House
2. Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped The Devil) - Robert Johnson
3. Dust My Broom (Solo Acoustic) - Freddie King
4. Stone Crazy - Buddy Guy
5. Crosseyed Cat - Muddy Waters
6. Built For Comfort - Howlin' Wolf
7. Rockin' and Rollin' the Blues - Magic Sam
8. I Ain't Drunk - Albert Collins
9. Give Me Back My Wig - Luther Allison
10. Somebody Loan Me A Dime - J.B. Hutto
11. Further On Up The Road - Roy Buchanan
12. Baby What You Want Me To Do? - Otis Rush
13. Low Down Dirty Shame - J.B. Lenoir
14. I'd Rather Go Blind - Koko Taylor
15. I Let My Daddy Do That - Rory Block
16. I'm Gonna Bake My Biscuits - Memphis Minnie
17. Masterbation Blues - Candye Kane
18. Shave `Em Dry - Lucille Bogan
19. Stoop Down, Baby - Eddie Shaw And The Wolf Gang
20. St. James Infirmary - Bobby "Blue" Bland
21. Have Mercy - Shemekia Copeland
22. Grits Ain't Groceries - Little Milton
23. Reconsider Baby - Lowell Fulson
24. Johnny Gone - Johnny Copeland
25. T-Bone Shuffle - Albert Collins