recipe for another mixtape

thisun i call "always on my mind," because it's a bunch of stuff of varying vintages -- much of it from the time when i could still remember the words to songs, also a lot of guitar noise that i like -- that continually intrudes in my consciousness.

eric ambel - "always on my mind." i know this song from the willie nelson versh, but roscoe recorded this and included it on his odds-and-sods garbagehead cd. my buddy geoff in philly pulled my coat to his music, and i got to see him with the yayhoos at poor david's a few years back.

deep purple - "listen, learn, read on." from the book of taliesyn by the "mk I" lineup that's the only one i really like. the fuzz bass solo on this is awesome.

deep purple - "the bird has flown." the song i always think of when i'm walking home from work, for some reason.

terry reid - "without expression." the man who said no to fronting led zeppelin and deep purple. i love his singing. reo speedwagon did a cover of this that was nowhere near as good.

flamin' groovies - "have you seen my baby." i used to sing this in an abortive attempt at a band with nick girgenti. there are reasons why some bands never get out of the garage. love the groovies' versh of this randy newman song, though, from their teenage head album.

jefferson airplane - "young girl sunday blues." from after bathing at baxter's, which paul williams saw as the culmination of the byrds/butterfield/lovin' spoonful period in american rock. i love the way the guitar solos over the bridge the first time, then the singers take it the second time.

otis rush - "double trouble." the cobra recordings are his greatest work. i got hip to 'em reading st. lester in the village voice. i love the way he sings the line "some of this generation is millionair-es."

small faces - "song of a baker." from ogden's nut gone flake. having mousy ronnie lane sing lead on this crunching rocker was genius.

the remains - "hang on sloopy" / "why do i cry" / "aint that her." a triple shot of the boston band that opened for the beatles, from a session with the remains, which they recorded early in the morning after playing an all-night club gig. maybe the best of the nuggets-era "garage" bands.

mike watt - "drove up from pedro." a sweet song from his "wrestling record." with nels cline.

elvis presley - "blue moon." from the sun sessions. not "blue moon of kentucky;" rather, the rodgers and hart chestnut the marcels more famously recorded and eric clapton plagiarized for the beginning of his "sunshine of your love" solo. when el starts keening, he sounds like a ghost from history like hank senior or robert johnson -- which he is now, of course.

deep purple - "emmaretta." i stole lots of blackmore's licks from this song, and my sweetie digs it, too.

lou reed - "baton rouge." tinged with regret, an atypical song from uncle lou's great, underappreciated ecstasy album.

jefferson airplane - "won't you try/saturday afternoon." another baxter's song, with lyrics about about the human be-in.

mike watt - "maggot brain." another from the "wrestling record," the funkadelic classic redone with j. mascis and bernie worrell.

terry reid - "silver white light." self-explanatory.