Favorite Songs: #30 to #28

Ever since I learned to write things down, I've been making lists. And one of my favorite things is to make lists of my favorite things! Since beginning to follow popular music in the early-to-mid 1960s, I've rated and listed the music I liked. This has been going on more or less for over forty years now, with some gaps in there when I wasn't listening much to the radio. I've looked over my lists of hundreds of favorite songs over the years and picked out my "Top Thirty" list of all-time personal favorites, which I am going to reveal on this blog from time-to-time, going from #30 to #1. But since this is a "writing" blog, I will write some comments about each song as to what it means to me. This will be an ongoing project that I'll came back to from time to time. So, here we go with the first song:

#30 You by George Harrison (from Extra Texture, 1976)

When the Beatles hit the big time in America in 1964, people all around were asking each other, "Who is your favorite Beatle?" My answer then would be George Harrison. I liked his voice and his songs then. Two of my favorite tunes from 1964 were Happy Just to Dance with You and Devil In Her Heart, both sung by George. After the Beatles broke up in 1970, he came out with the blockbuster three-record album All Things Must Pass, which brought him both great artistic acclaim as well as very high expectations for his future works. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep up with those expectations and his later albums became successively less popular until several of them actually went out of print. Extra Texture was one of these. I never listened to most of the tracks on it, but I can say with certainty that if they were anything like You, then it would have been a better success. You was released as the promotional single to Extra Texture in 1976 and was a beautiful, emotional love song that made me feel happier after hearing it. George seemed to have two conflicting natures: on one hand, he tended to be reclusive in his private life, while on the other, he relished collaborating and "jamming" with other musicians on different projects. It was during those periods when he felt like he had to prove himself as an independent solo artist that, at least the way I see it, he showed the greatest strain in his recordings. But you would never know this from this wonderful track, You. By the way, Extra Texture is back in print, in CD-form, of course.

#29 Fall of the Peacemakers by Molly Hatchet (from No Guts, No Glory, 1983)

After John Lennon was shot to death in December, 1980, several artists who knew John well, such as Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Elton John, rushed in to write and record songs in his tribute. But, ironically, it took a died-in-the-wool rowdy Southern rock band like Molly Hatchet to pay the ultimate tribute with Fall of the Peacemakers, an unforgettable piece characterized by the repeating litany, "Stop the madness!" The somber mood is consistent throughout this lengthy song, which includes a long closing instrumental section after the singing is done. And this is one of the best closing instrumental jams I've heard, right up there on the same stage as the Allman Brothers' Rambling Man or Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird. But what I like most about Fall of the Peacemakers is that it accomplishes what it sets out to do: deliver a heartfelt sense of appreciation for John Lennon, anguish for his death, and deep concern for the epidemic of gun violence in this country. Sadly, recent events render this song very timely today.

#28 Living for the City (full version) by Stevie Wonder (from Innervisions, 1973)

Don't settle for the shortened radio-play version of this song: to get the full impact of the drama contained within it, you need to listen to the complete version as it was intended to be heard. Living for the City depicts the lives of a poor African-American family from Mississippi who only encounter hardship there because of racial discrimination. Their son moves to New York to make a better life for himself, and he .... well, you have to listen to the song to find out what happens. Stevie really lays it on the line in Living for the City and pours out his feelings about the racial divide and injustice in his beloved country. This is a very disturbing song that is bound to provoke the listener into reflection long after it ends. And his singing is incredible! How can anyone hold a note that long?

More favorite songs to come...