Monday, April 29, 2013

Facebook music

This is my take on a recent Facebook post. The source indicated that there were 16 songs that any person age 50 or older needed to own. I took issue with most of the items. What follows is my selection of a better song by the same artist, or of a different artist (or a few) who serve the purpose better--the purpose being, an overview of several decades worth of music.

1.      In My Life – The Beatles || Let It Be

2.      Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley || Not Fade Away or That’ll Be the Day (Buddy Holly); or La Bamba (Richie Valens)

3.      God Only Knows – Beach Boys / OK

4.      Crazy – Patsy Cline / OK

5.      For What It’s Worth/Stop Hey What’s That Sound – Buffalo Springfield || Spirit in the Sky (Norman Greenbaum)

6.      He Stopped Loving Her Today – George Jones || King of the Road (Roger Miller)

7.      C’est La Vie/You Never Can Tell – Emmylou Harris || same song, by its author, Chuck Berry!!

8.      You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC || Back in Black or Highway to Hell

9.      Hotel California – Eagles || SO melodramatic…instead: Taking Care of Business (BTO)

10.  Landslide – Steve Nicks || The Chain (Fleetwood Mac)

11.  Gangsta’s Paradise – Coolio / OK but—only one for rap?—maybe Mama Said Knock You Out or Rock the Bells (LL Cool J); Lose Yourself (Eminem); In Da Club (50 Cent); F*ck tha Police or Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A.); Paid in Full (Eric B. and Rakim); Fight the Power (Public Enemy); The Message (Grandmaster Flash); Gin & Juice (Snoop Dogg); or Push It (Salt-N-Pepa)—or at least two of these, maybe LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, and Grandmaster Flash? Along with Coolio?

12.  Little Green – Joni Mitchell || Carey or Both Sides Now

13.  A House Is Not a Home – Dionne Warwick || This Guy’s in Love with You (Herb Alpert), if you really want to go down that road

14.  Lately – Stevie Wonder || Higher Ground or Boogie On Reggae Woman or Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing or Superstition or You Haven’t Done Nothin’ or I Wish

15.  Harvest Moon – Neil Young || Born to Run (Springsteen) or One (U2)—or both

16.  Once Upon a Time – Frank Sinatra || Summer Wind—if Sinatra really needs to be here at all