Monday, August 6, 2007
Paging Mr. Sandman
Yes, another voice making itself heard here at Barstool Mountain. I'm Sean, one of the judges on the original panel. My usual homes are Deadly Tango and the Malt & Barley Chronicles, but I've been meaning to chime in here more frequently.
Today's contribution is a song that I remembered too late to make it part of the entire judging process therefore leaving it just outside the Top 100. Treat Her Right was a leading light in the rebirth of the Boston blues-rock scene in the late 1980s. Mark Sandman and Billy Conway went on to be the driving forces behind Morphine, who went on to have a good deal more success outside of Boston (though they never quite clicked for me).
THR's trademark sound was dark, swampy, languid, and thick. Their first big hit on Boston radio was this selection, I Think She Likes Me (#113) It takes a social interaction at the local tavern into unexpected (though not unfamiliar) territory, and is well worth your time.
Treat Her Right: I Think She Likes Me (mp3)
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Honkytonk Angels
Music to follow, but first an announcement.
As many of you have noticed, since you most likely came here from there, my main site, Big Rock Candy Mountain has had a few...problems...over the past week. I got hijacked, and Blogger has completely cocked up the situation. The site is now on it's fourth owner, and is a virulent site. Please do not go there anymore (you may notice I'm not providing a link). Luckily, I've managed to recover the blog itself, and moved it to a new address, Big Rock Candy Mountain (www.therealbigrockcandymountain.blogspot.com). The name's still the same, the content is still the same, but the address is slightly different. I have given up trying to recover the original URL. It's been an exercise in futility. If you have linked to me at the old address, please update your links. The link to Big Rock Candy Mountain on the sidebar has been updated also, so you can now click on it with confidence. I'll have a new, real post up on Friday. I'm sorry for the inconvenience this has caused anyone.
Now, on to the music.
Fats Domino's "Whiskey Heaven" came in at #66 on the Big Rock Candy Mountain/Barstool Mountain Top 100 Drinking Songs List. It's been moving up my personal favorites list for awhile now.
Essentially Fats doing Country, the song lopes in a lazy rolling piano and steel guitar haze. I think it's virtually impossible for Domino's voice to actually twang, being a boogie woogie R&B man, but his phrasing is dead-on honkytonk bar ballad. It's a swell little number, finding that spot of paradise in a bottle. It also features one of my favorite lines in song: "Flyin' high with honkey-tonk angels in whiskey heaven."
Every afternoon when I wake up
I say a little prayer and I drink up
I thank the lord for driving me home
Once more
There's an open bottle on the table
And an empty bottle on the floor
Last night I thought I'd died
And I went to Whiskey Heaven
You know the sun never shines in Whiskey Heaven
It rains Jack Daniels all the time
There's a price you pay, hang overs everyday
Flyin' high with honkey tonk angels in Whiskey Heaven
There's a run down bar, it's a open all night
When me and my friends can get tight
Underneath the neon lights
In Whiskey Heaven
Well we drank a little beer and wine
We stay drunk most of the time
We're always raisin' hell all night
In Whiskey Heaven
You know the sun never shines in Whiskey Heaven
It rains Jack Daniels all the time
There's a price you pay, hang overs everyday
Flyin' high with honkey tonk angels in Whiskey Heaven
Flyin' high with honky-tonk angels in Whiskey Heaven
Flyin' high with honky-tonk angels in Whiskey Heaven
The song was featured in the essential box set From Where I Stand: The Black Experience In Country Music.
Skaal!
Fats Domino: Whiskey Heaven (mp3)
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