Thursday, May 21, 2009

SONGS THAT MAKE ME FEEL GOOD

I don’t have an ipod, but since my oldest son, Miles, got me some speakers, with a bass component for it, that hook up to my laptop, I’ve finally begun putting my CDs on my computer. I play them on shuffle so I’m always surprised at what pops up while I’m writing or doing things around the apartment.

I notice some recordings make me burst out in a big smile when they start playing, and some even get me dancing in my chair or as I move around my place.

So, last night, for my falling asleep (I’d say back asleep, but I don’t want my caring friends to worry that I don’t get uninterrupted sleep much) alphabet list, I thought I’d try to remember songs that make me smile and even dance when they come up in the shuffle randomness.

AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSTIVIE, Johnny Mercer
BIRTHDAY, Bjork (when she was the lead singer for The Sugarcubes)
CHERISH THE DAY, Sade
DESAFINADO, Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto
EVONCE, Thelonious Monk
FOUR IN ONE, Thelonious Monk
GOOD DAY SUNSHINE, The Beatles
HYPOCHRISTMUTREEFUZZ, Eric Dolphy
I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU, Clifford Brown & Max Roach + (in concert)
JUKEBOX SATURDAY NIGHT, Glen Miller
KALAMAZOO, Glen Miller (with Tex Benecke vocal lead, just the sound of his voice always makes me smile)
LEAN BABY, Frank Sinatra
MILKCOW BLUES BOOGIE, Elvis Presley (from The Sun sessions)
NITA’S RAMBLE/THE FLAMING SHILLELAGH/THE THUNDER REEL, Celtic Thunder (three tunes played together by the original group written by Terence Winc and with him on squeezebox and his brother Jesse on bodrahn (or however you spell that Irish drum)
ONE FLIGHT DOWN, Norah Jones
PEOPLE GOT A LOTTA NERVE, Neko Chase
Q (I don’t have anything recorded that starts with this)
RETRUN TO ROAN INISH (Mist Covered Mountain/Shores of Lough Gowna), Maire Breatnach (from the soundtrack)
SYEEDA’S SONG FLUTE, John Coltrane
TALKIN’ NEW YORK, Bob Dylan
UNDER YOUR SKIN, Luscious Jackson
V (or this)
WHEN I WAS YOUNG, The Animals
X (or this)
YOU’RE GONNA MAKE ME LONESOME WHEN YOU’RE GONE, Madeleine Peyroux
ZOMBIE, The Cranberries (okay, not a happy song, but the way Dolores O'Riordan sings it, especially when she repeats the title with that gritty throaty snarl, it somehow makes me smile, maybe because she’s calling out some jive perspectives)

8 comments:

Butch in Waukegan said...

Quinn the Eskimo ~ Dylan?

Lally said...

I thought it was "The Mighty Quinn" but speaking of Dylan I realized too late I do have "Queen Jane Approximately" and "Visions of Johanna" for Q and V, both of which I love but totally forgot.

Curtis Faville said...

I seem to have given up rock music sometime back in the mid-1970's. Vampire Weekend has a few good tracks, though. They remind me of the spirit of the Sixties.

Anything by Poulenc or Mompou or Chabrier can make me sad-happy instantly. Bach and Telemann and Handel can make me feel very dignified and glad to be alive. Copland and Thomson make me feel patriotic--a very suspect emotion. But then, Credence and The Band had that effect on me, too.

"Put me in, coach, I'm ready to play, today."

Billie Holiday singing Autumn in New York. Or almost anything by Ellington. Presley's songs are always too short--I'm always wanting them to go on.

Ever heard the Sinatra Mobile Fidelity recordings? The vinyls are unbelievable.

Miles Kind of Blue.

Beatles Black Bird Singing

Cripple Clarence Lofton doing his two vintage versions of the Dirty Dozens on a tinny upright

Maria Callas doing La Boheme

Glenn Gould playing anything at all

Yo-Yo Ma doing the Bach Unaccompanied for Cello

Just a few bonbons

Anonymous said...

Moondance, Van Morrison
Into the Mystic, Van Morrison
Sweet Thing, Chaka Khan
Rocky Road to Dublin, The Chieftains with Mick Jagger
The Girl from Ipanema, A Gilberto
I've Got you Under My Skin, F Sinatra
Summer Wind, F Sinatra
Fanfare for the Common Man
West Side Story, L Bernstein
Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
Put a Ring on It, Beyonce
Most of Sinead O'Connor
The Bells of Dublin, the Chieftains Christmas CD
Fables of Fabius

Lally said...

Ditto to all of the above. Just didn't come to mind that night. In fact, almost everything I have on my computer now can make me smile when I hear it, and it includes most of what Curtis and Anonymous listed. Good taste folks (or at least taste I can identify with).

Unknown said...

You forgot the Proclaimers Sunshine on Leif(?), or almost any other of their tunes.

Lally said...

Thanks for reminding me Cait. I haven't even gotten to putting them on my computer yet (in fact I've got tons of CDs still to go).

fsinatra said...

Frank sinatra !
great man,my family like Frank Sinatra