7/4/2012

The Band -- "Across the Great Divide"

When I think of American bands, The Band is the first one to come to mind -- even though most of the band's members hailed from Canada. No matter.  They understood America, the part of America that matters.  The sound on this track, as on many others from their eponymous second album, is an amalgam of everything you can find in American music, in all of its genres, and yet it never sounds generic. There's a certain kind of talent that goes into pulling that off.

7/3/2012

Althea & Donna -- "Uptown Top Ranking"

Joe Gibbs produced: this was Althea & Donna's one great recording.  It splits the difference between funk and reggae, with memorable results.

7/2/2012

Elvis Presley -- "I Forgot to Remember to Forget"

Elvis was a great entertainer, never more so, to my mind, than at the beginning of his career.  Here's a relatively innocuous novelty ballad that the King made unforgettable.

7/1/2012

The Clash -- "Kingston Advice"

Unexpectedly, a song about the homeland of reggae by a band that was constantly dabbling with reggae -- yet there's no reggae sound at work here.  Nevertheless, one of my favorite tracks from Sandinista!  The sound is powerful without being easy, derivative, or too reliant on blunt force.  For some reason, The Clash never played this one live, to my knowledge.  They should have.