Boomer Top 5

Top 5 songs about a day of the week

1.     Monday, Monday, The Mamas and the Papas

2.     Stormy Monday, the Allman Bros.’ version of a blues classic by T. Bone Walker

3.     Sunday Will Never Be the Same, Spanky and Our Gang

4.     Friday on My Mind, The Easybeats

5.     Manic Monday, Bangles

Honorable mention: Come Monday, Jimmy Buffett; Tuesday’s Dead, Cat Stevens; Tuesday Afternoon, Moody Blues; Eight Days a Week, The Beatles

 

Hmmm, Monday is, not surprisingly, everyone’s least favorite day. Monday, can’t trust that day.  Harsh.  In Stormy Monday, we are eager for the eagle flying on Friday. (That was before direct deposit.) And in the Easybeat’s one-hit wonder classic: “Monday I had Friday on my mind.” (With one of the great overlooked guitar riffs of Sixties rock, and wonderful youtube, as you'll see.)

 

Wednesday and Thursday get short shrift, whatever that means.

 

We have a soft spot for Sunday Will Never Be the Same, a wonderful pop song. (They had another hit with I Want to Get to Know You, with an amazing vocal bridge and weird, dreamy ending, and the lead singer went on to take Cass Elliot’s place in Mamas and Papas reunions.)

 

Sorry, we just can’t include Captain and Tenille’s rainy whatevers, not with that sailor’s cap of his. Ditto Saturday in the Park by Chicago, which, while with its merits, is too emblematic of Chicago’s soft rock evolution. We are just too in love with Chicago’s early stuff, as you will see. The Bangles? Oh c’mon, walk like an Egyptian and admit you like them.

 

We were sorely tempted to put the Allmans first; their Stormy Monday, especially the live version on Live at Fillmore East, is a swoony, heady, sonic rollercoaster of a song, but we admit to a major Brothers bias. But we truly do love the Mamas and Papas song – the opening, the harmonies, and the complete stop-and-start near the end. Cool song.

Top 5 songs that name a bunch of cities

1.     Truckin’, The Dead

2.     Dancin’ in the Streets, Martha and the Vandellas

3.     I’ve Been Everywhere, Johnny Cash (not ruined even if it is in that heavy rotation hotel commercial)

4.     The Heart of Rock n’ Roll, Huey Lewis and The News

5.     Willin’, Little Feat (… if you give me: weed, whites, and wine)

 

Trying to think of all the cities named in these songs is like trying to name the Seven Dwarfs; you always forget one or two. Songs about the road have a great tradition in rock, pop, blues and country. It is the life most musicians choose to endure, or have to. Other artists do, too, including authors.

Janet Fitch’s top 5 songs about being on the road

Janet is the author of White Oleander, a very powerful novel which became an Oprah Pick and movie. Being out the road is something authors know all about. They don’t exactly play rock arena gigs, but still, it’s a time of motels and melancholy.

1. Homeward Bound, Simon & Garfunkel (a beautiful, beautiful song)
2. Stay, The Zodiacs (I love the Jackson Browne version, too)
3. Truckin', The Dead
4. Blue Motel Room, Joni Mitchell (one of her least known songs)
5. Back in the USSR, Beatles (….had the paperback upon my knee….)

Top 5 songs about an American city

1.     Walkin’ in Memphis, Marc Cohn

2.     (Stuck Inside of Mobile with the) Memphis Blues Again, Bob Dylan

3.    LA Woman, The Doors

4.     House of the Rising Sun, Eric Burden and The Animals

5.     Dirty Water, The Standells

Honorable mention: City of New Orleans, Arlo Guthrie (written by Steve Goodman); Wichita Lineman, Glenn Campbell (such an oddly poignant and beautiful song); a gumbo of songs about New Orleans; Allentown; Bill Joel; Detroit Meltdown, J Geils; San Francisco Nights, Eric Burden, and, the Winslow, Arizona mention in Takin’ It Easy! 

We might have our first argument here, as Dylan fans will scream that he should be # 1.  Look, Dylan is SO good, he has entire books just about him; give Marc Cohn this spot, and here he is live (m'am i am tonight!). It is a wonderful song. The Animals song doesn’t have New Orleans in the title, but the first line is so memorable, we had to include it. We have to make note here that Galveston actually has two songs about it, due to its precarious penchant for attracting storms: Glenn Campbell’s Galveston and Tom Rush’s What a Mighty Storm, which wasn’t a hit but is one of the great folk songs of its time and worth a listen for the amazing slide guitar. Eric Burden, a white bluesman from Newcastle, England, could’ve been a second time for Monterey, one of the definitive pop festival songs of our time, but we’ll save that one.   

As for Dirty Water, my Boston friends would have me put that at # 1, and even on my own, I am sorely tempted. Check out the youtube. Another great rock guitar riff.