Four Thieves?

It just dawned to me that the Avett Brothers' Pretend Love from their 2006 album Four Thieves Gone sounds an awful lot like Weird Al's I Was Only Kidding from his 1992 album Off The Deep End.

Has anyone else noticed this?

I guess it seems a lot like the minor difference between Garth Brooks's Beer Run and Todd Snider's Beer Run which was determined to be different enough to not warrant giving Snider credit for.

While we're at it: doesn't Ska favorite Skankin' Pickle's I Missed the Bus sound a lot like Kriss Kross's I Missed the Bus?

Unearthed Spring Mix

I've played this playlist repeatedly for the last week. Thought I'd share it

1. Hard To Concentrate, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium
2. Just Breathe, Pearl Jam, Backspacer
3. Solitary Man, Johnny Cash, American III: Solitary Man
4. Fearless, Pink Floyd, Meddle
5. Redemption Song, Johnny Cash, Unearthed: Redemption Songs
6. Hold On, Tom Waits, Mountain Fresh Tracks
7. Driftin Through, Lindisfarne, Here Comes the Neighborhood
8. Fotunate Son, Todd Snider, Peace Queer
9. Devil's Right Hand, Johnny Cash, Unearthed: Trouble On My Mind
10. Do Ya Love, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Stay Human
11. Out Loud, Dispatch, Gut the Van
12. We Don't Stop, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Everyone Deserves Music
13. New Year's Day (Ferry Corsten Extended Radio Mix), U2 and Ferry Corsten, War (Deluxe Edition)
14. Glory of True Love, John Prine, Fair and Square
15. Working Class Hero, John Lennon, Plastic Ono Band
16. If God Will Send His Angels, U2, City of Angels
17. I Won't Back Down, Johnny Cash and Tom Petty, American III: Solitary Man
18. Heart of Gold, Johnny Cash, Unearthed: Trouble on My Mind
19. We Shall Be Reunited, Patty Griffin and Emmylou Harris, Downtown Church
20. Prairie Wedding, Mark Knopfler, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Sailing to Philadelphia
21. One, Johnny Cash, American III: Solitary Man
22. Golden, My Morning Jacket, KMTT New Music Sampler 2004
23. High Cost of Low Living, The Allman Brothers Band, Hittin The Note
24. Subdivisions, Rush, Chronicles
25. Solitary Man, Johnny Cash and Tom Petty, American III: Solitary Man

I tried to do this on imeem which became MySpace but I couldn't find all the songs.

Slightly Stoopid Blog

Thursday night, over a couple of beers, Marcos says to me, "I love every single song on Gomez's first three albums."

That's a bold statement, I replied. I couldn't think of any three studio albums by one artists where I loved every song on the album. My first thought was Van Morrison. But looking over my library he only makes the cut if I consider live albums. Then I wagered that Ozomatli had at least three albums where I loved every song. Again, turns out only if I consider live albums. If Marcos had said four I wouldn't be writing this.

Luckily I'm a fanatic about the statistics in my music library (play count, skip count, rating). And, apparently beer doesn't give me clairvoyance. Considering only studio albums, it turns out there are artists--four--who have three albums where I love every song on the album. The results surprised me. I'd hoped for some Talking Heads or something chic. Alas.

Looking at the list now, how could I forget the masters? Looks like I'm a die hard 'classic' rock fan still.

I should've realized Rusted Root would make the list though they disappointed me when I last saw them at the Fillmore. The fact that they sampled Neil Young's guitar when they covered his song left a bad taste in my mouth despite the rest of the well-performed set. Yet obviously I love their stuff.

The biggest surprise: Slightly Stoopid. Digging back through their earlier releases has really been a joy.

The List

Bruce Springsteen

Born in the USA

Born to Run

We Shall Overcome

Led Zeppelin

I

III

IV

Rusted Root

Cruel Sun

Welcome to My Village

When I Woke

Slightly Stoopid

Closer to the Sun

Everything You Need

Slightly Not Stoned Enough To Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid

Awesome Skynyrd Cover Album

I picked up the album Under The Influence: A Jam Band Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd on a whim last month. It's been in my CD changer ever since. New purchases have entered the changer and left and Under the Influence remains.

D Vlad Hippy's negative review on Amazon.com stunned me. I agree that Les Claypool's "They Call Me The Breeze" sounds less than stellar. It's the only track on the album I dislike. Vlad's correct that JJ Cale wrote the song. In defense of the album, though, most would associate it with Skynyrd, which justifies it's existence on a Skynyrd tribute album.

Galactic's "Saturday Night Special" has a great groove. Of course, Gov't Mule's "Simple Man" really jams. How could it not. Hiatt's "The Ballad of Curtis Loewe" and Drive By Trucker's "Every Mother's Son", rival or outdo Skynyrd themselves. "The Ballad of Curtis Lowe" has become my newest favorite Hiatt song.

I also dig the North Mississippi Allstars rendition of "Whiskey Rock a Roller" and the Yonder Mountain String Band's "Four Walls of Raiford". I find myself skipping through to listen to "Every Mother's Son," "Simple Man" and "Four Walls of Raiford".

In total contrast to Vlad, I find the Blues Traveler's version of "Freebird" to be a perfect sounding Blues Traveler song. When I hear it I forget that it's not even their song. Popper kicks ass on the mouth harp. There's no way to deny that greatness.

I could do without Big Head Todd's "Sweet Home Alabama". On the other hand, The Disco Biscuits bring a fresh, original funkiness to "Gimme Three Steps". Likewise, Particle jams out keeps a true Skynyrd feel with a fresh sound for their rendition of "Workin for MCA".

Buy the album. Heck, buy 2. Give one to a friend.

The Fillmore

I had the good fortune to see Tracy Chapman at The Fillmore in San Francisco last night. Tracy and her three band mates delivered a soulful, nostalgic show that had the audience screaming and dancing with pleasure. Her funkified ending to "Give Me One Reason" brought the house down, as did her punk paced cover of "Proud Mary." Her cover of Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" inspired awe. She delivered a barrel-full helping of her greatest hits like "Change" and "Talkin About a Revolution."

I have to say that no other venue compares to The Fillmore. Here are 10 reasons why

1. Free apples.
2. Artists want to be there. Chapman mentioned several times how relieved she was to be back in San Francisco and how comforting it was to be back home, playing at such a historic venue.
3. So many great live albums have been recorded there. From my collection, Ozomatli and Lucinda Williams come to mind first. The Grateful Dead's Live-Dead compilation of 4 nights at The Fillmore in 1969 goes down as one of the greatest live rock albums of all time. Artists feel inspired there by the souls of Jerry Garcia, Bill Graham, John Lee Hooker and Janis Joplin still living there.
4. It's so easy to get there from the South Bay. Just get on the 101 , turn left on Geary, and park when you get to Fillmore.
5. There's always parking on Geary. On the street. For free.
6. It's across the street from John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom Room.
7. There's tons of delictable food on Fillmore and the food in the Fillmore bar is great and affordable. Plus you get to eat under all those historic, priceless psychedelic concert posters. Last night we stumbled into Kati's Kitchen around the corner. I highly recommend it. Sure it's theme is that trite word--fusion--that I hear way too much in SF, but, hey, generalities are true in general for a reason, right?
8. Everyone dances all the time at The Fillmore because there's no seats. And this makes the artists play better because they look out and see an audience digging their music.
9. Free concert posters handed out after selected sold out shows.
10. And the guy who says, "Welcome to The Fillmore," when you walk in always makes me smile. Especially right before I grab a free apple.

More Great Shows

In the last two weeks I caught both Ozomatli and the Indigo Girls shows again. Many of my friends know and love Ozomatli. They are out of this world good.

The same friends giggle and give me a quizzical look when I tell them I also went to see Indigo Girls. I don't understand--the Indigo Girls have such incredible talent. Very few performers sound better than their studio album when they perform. The Indigo Girls always do, even songs they first recorded 20 years ago. They harmonize perfectly and consistently. They both are master guitar players. They write their own material, songs that have become hits over the course of two decades. They are in a league that very few musicians reach. As Kim Ruehl wrote on About.com, "They still have a hauntingly impressive grasp on their mad skills as polyphonic harmonizers."

So I remain confused why my friends deride them. Give me insight between black and white.

Greatest Going Home Song Ever

All evening I've pondered: What is the greatest Going Home song of all time? After hours and hours of thought (equivalent to microseconds of thought for the average person) and a bit of ipodding, I think I have an answer.

Here's the top four, in no particular order

1. "Sloop John B" by the Beach Boys
2. "Homeward Bound" by Simon & Garfunkel
3. Aimee Mann and Michael Penn's cover of The Beatles' "Two of Us"
4. "Comin' Home" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
5. "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel
   

What do you think?