Tim's Top Five:
This is more cerebral than my usual list, because a "great" greatest hits album is different from just being the album with the best hits on it. The Beatles 1967-1970 or Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle, vol. 1 might well be among the ten best albums ever "recorded" under that criteria, but who needs to own them? There's simply not much reason for them to exist, since all the albums they choose from are all basically worth owning anyway (though Chronicle was my entree into CCR, so I'm not complaining). A truly great greatest hits album is really, to me, only achievable by an artist that you surely don't want to own all their stuff. So, typically, they're going to cover a lot of albums (The Essential Simon & Garfunkel is great and all, but it also represents about 75% of their output), they're not going to have a lot of weak points (sorry, The Essential Paul Simon).
1. Johnny Cash - The Legendary Johnny Cash - don't get me wrong. I like Johnny Cash. I might well love Johnny Cash, and there are probably albums out there that I should own - Live at Folsom Prison, for instance. But this adequately captures everything I know of Johnny Cash's work and I really enjoy most everything on here. Notable omissions: I don't know of any. The Girl With The North Country (w/ Bob Dylan) from Nashville Skyline?
2. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits
- The biggest problem with it is that it jumped the gun. Tom Petty put out one more decent album afterward, so it's missing songs from Wildflowers. After that, his work has been pretty disastrous, only a couple of songs worth hearing. There's some songs from Full Moon Fever that are worthy of inclusion, but weren't hits. So it's # 2. Notable omissions: You Wreck Me, Rebels,
3. Bruce Hornsby - Greatest Radio Hits
- I love Bruce Hornsby. Correction. I love this album. I'm not sure if there's really a whole lot of other Bruce Hornsby I like at all, the albums I've acquired add very little to my appreciation. The Way It Is is worth owning on its own. That may well be it. Notable omissions: Not anything I'm aware of. On the Western Skyline is the only other song I sort of know that I would put here.
4. Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits
- You know how people who hate the Ramones tell you all their songs sound the same? Well, people who really like the Ramones would tell you that most of their songs sound the same. And this catches just that necessary amount of diversity. I own several other Ramones albums, but other than a couple covers (Let's Dance and Palisades Park), there's not that much that's essential about Ramones or Rocket to Russia (and certainly less on Brain Drain). Notable omissions: probably Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) or Pet Sematary would top the list of songs I'm surprised aren't there. Neither is essential.
5. Marvin Gaye - Gold - You should own What's Going On. You just should. But really, the tracks that don't make it on Gold aren't the best anyway. And it captures some amazing early motown things (You're a Wonderful One, I'll Be Doggone, Stubborn Kind of Fellow), the Tammi Terrell duets, and downplays the career collapse of the 1980s pretty well. Of the Gold discs, I think it's the most essential (with the possible exception of the Motown - Gold), and it's pretty good throughout the 2 discs (Rolling Stones - Forty Licks has one great disc and one near disaster on disc 2 because it pretends the Rolling Stones were essential after 1980).
Honorable Mention - Elton John's Greatest Hits - if it had Tiny Dancer and Levon, it'd be in the top 5, as a reminder that Elton John was good before he became the favorite artist of everyone's mom in the 1980s; John Lennon: Lennon Legend - I can't put it on here because (1) I own the previously-issued John Lennon collection, this just has a couple more tracks, but it doesn't include "How Do You Sleep?", which is a shame. It would save you from owning Mind Games, Double Fantasy, and Rock 'n' Roll which...let's just say I can't see how they'd be very good (Rock 'n' Roll is an affirmatively tedious album); Neil Young - Greatest Hits - I can't put it on the top five because I do still want to hear things from Neil Young's early albums, but it really captures a lot of greatness and even gets the best CSNY song.
Showing posts with label johnny cash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label johnny cash. Show all posts
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Top 5 Songs About Jail/Prison
Tim's Top 5:
I don’t listen to much country music at all, which really limits the opportunity to hear jail-related songs that aren’t from Dr. Dre. Given that limitation, I really like the list that I have here, though I give you liberty to interpret it broadly to include any sort of police custody or punitive conduct by the state.
1) Care of Cell 44 – The Zombies – The opening track from the seminal and all-too-good album Odessey and Oracle [sic], it’s easily the bounciest and cheeriest song you’ll hear about a prison stay.
2) Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash - It’s hard not to put this at #1, but it’s really just too obvious.
3) Mama Tried – Merle Haggard (by way of The Old 97’s) - This is quintessential country storytelling. If there’s a better lesson to be had for parents that 1) their children’s acts aren’t necessarily attributable to them and 2) people who refer to their mother as mama are invariably homicidal maniacs, I’m unaware of it.
4) Jenny Was a Friend Of Mine – The Killers - Clearly the narrator of this song is in police custody for a killing, making it one of the finest police procedural songs in history. If only someone could write a song for the Miranda warnings.
5) Chain Gang – Sam Cooke - Sam Cooke wouldn’t ever serve on a chain gang, since he’d be shot to death before the police would ever get the chance to arrest him. That said, he still captures the basic ethos, if with less emotional weight than Paul Muni.
Honorable mention: “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley; “Trapped on Death Row” by Dr. Dre; “Prisoners of Love” from The Producers (non-musical version); “Doin’ Time” by Sublime (note: this song actually has nothing to do with jail or prison); “Jail Guitar Doors” by The Clash
Dan's Top 5:
Welcome back, Tim. I was beginning to think we'd lost you. Sucks about your injury, and I hope recovery goes well.
1. The Clash - I Fought The Law - This may even be my favorite Clash song, so I'm really surprised that Tim didn't mention it. My favorite part of the whole song is when the lyrics mention the "six gun" and there are six corresponding snare hits. Green Day deserves to rot in hell for their cover version. Cruel irony that Joe Strummer died first.
2. Dropkick Murphys - The Fields of Athenry - This one is an Irish tune originally from the 70's that documents the oppression exerted by the British on the Irish for attempting to survive during the famine of the late 1840's. Essentially, a man has stolen food and awaits a voyage on a prison ship to Botany Bay, Australia. It's a very sorrowful and reflective tale. So naturally, I feel its best treatment comes at the hands of the Dropkick Murphys. (It also gains points because it's not overplayed, as "Shipping Up To Boston" is)
3. Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues - No explanation needed. If you feel that there is a needed explanation, go watch Walk the Line.
4. The Killers - Jenny Was a Friend of Mine - Tim summed this one up perfectly. I'm really surprised at how well the content of a police interrogation can be put to music. Funny thing is, in all the years that I've listened to this song, I've never once considered the possibility that the narrator could actually have committed the crime.
5. Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock - Though Elvis was apparently the king of rock 'n' roll, I've never had an affinity for most of his work. This song is pretty much the lone exception. The conclusion of The Blues Brothers, quite possibly the only good SNL-based movie in history, earns this enough points that it should be higher. But I like the position of my other picks better, and I'm way too lazy to go back and change things.
Ryan's Top 5:
The time for being obvious is now.
1. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash - "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." Fucking top that.
2. Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley - Hello, my name is Ryan, today I write lists for Rolling Stone.
3. Jailbreak - AC/DC - This song, like many of their other songs, kicks ass.
4. Holloway Jail - The Kinks - I love the way the guitar sounds in this song. And I love simple songs where the theme is People-Taking-Babies-Away. See The Ramones' "The KKK Took My Baby Away."
5. Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy - I also like catchy songs. To-NIGHT there's gonna be a jailbreak...
I don’t listen to much country music at all, which really limits the opportunity to hear jail-related songs that aren’t from Dr. Dre. Given that limitation, I really like the list that I have here, though I give you liberty to interpret it broadly to include any sort of police custody or punitive conduct by the state.
1) Care of Cell 44 – The Zombies – The opening track from the seminal and all-too-good album Odessey and Oracle [sic], it’s easily the bounciest and cheeriest song you’ll hear about a prison stay.
2) Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash - It’s hard not to put this at #1, but it’s really just too obvious.
3) Mama Tried – Merle Haggard (by way of The Old 97’s) - This is quintessential country storytelling. If there’s a better lesson to be had for parents that 1) their children’s acts aren’t necessarily attributable to them and 2) people who refer to their mother as mama are invariably homicidal maniacs, I’m unaware of it.
4) Jenny Was a Friend Of Mine – The Killers - Clearly the narrator of this song is in police custody for a killing, making it one of the finest police procedural songs in history. If only someone could write a song for the Miranda warnings.
5) Chain Gang – Sam Cooke - Sam Cooke wouldn’t ever serve on a chain gang, since he’d be shot to death before the police would ever get the chance to arrest him. That said, he still captures the basic ethos, if with less emotional weight than Paul Muni.
Honorable mention: “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley; “Trapped on Death Row” by Dr. Dre; “Prisoners of Love” from The Producers (non-musical version); “Doin’ Time” by Sublime (note: this song actually has nothing to do with jail or prison); “Jail Guitar Doors” by The Clash
Dan's Top 5:
Welcome back, Tim. I was beginning to think we'd lost you. Sucks about your injury, and I hope recovery goes well.
1. The Clash - I Fought The Law - This may even be my favorite Clash song, so I'm really surprised that Tim didn't mention it. My favorite part of the whole song is when the lyrics mention the "six gun" and there are six corresponding snare hits. Green Day deserves to rot in hell for their cover version. Cruel irony that Joe Strummer died first.
2. Dropkick Murphys - The Fields of Athenry - This one is an Irish tune originally from the 70's that documents the oppression exerted by the British on the Irish for attempting to survive during the famine of the late 1840's. Essentially, a man has stolen food and awaits a voyage on a prison ship to Botany Bay, Australia. It's a very sorrowful and reflective tale. So naturally, I feel its best treatment comes at the hands of the Dropkick Murphys. (It also gains points because it's not overplayed, as "Shipping Up To Boston" is)
3. Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues - No explanation needed. If you feel that there is a needed explanation, go watch Walk the Line.
4. The Killers - Jenny Was a Friend of Mine - Tim summed this one up perfectly. I'm really surprised at how well the content of a police interrogation can be put to music. Funny thing is, in all the years that I've listened to this song, I've never once considered the possibility that the narrator could actually have committed the crime.
5. Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock - Though Elvis was apparently the king of rock 'n' roll, I've never had an affinity for most of his work. This song is pretty much the lone exception. The conclusion of The Blues Brothers, quite possibly the only good SNL-based movie in history, earns this enough points that it should be higher. But I like the position of my other picks better, and I'm way too lazy to go back and change things.
Ryan's Top 5:
The time for being obvious is now.
1. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash - "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." Fucking top that.
2. Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley - Hello, my name is Ryan, today I write lists for Rolling Stone.
3. Jailbreak - AC/DC - This song, like many of their other songs, kicks ass.
4. Holloway Jail - The Kinks - I love the way the guitar sounds in this song. And I love simple songs where the theme is People-Taking-Babies-Away. See The Ramones' "The KKK Took My Baby Away."
5. Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy - I also like catchy songs. To-NIGHT there's gonna be a jailbreak...
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