Bono curated an identically-titled playlist, and was good enough to say that my work on this blog had inspired it. Shortly thereafter, Larry Mullen, Jnr. asked me, under Bono's auspices, to curate a playlist with an identical theme. It's an honor and a pleasure to do just that herewith.
From A Jack To A King; Ned Miller: I was an intense, little kid (shrugs). This and Hank Williams's "Kaw Liga" would form the template for how country music should sound.
Help!; The Beatles: No kid should identify with this. John Lennon's first primal scream.
Down In The Boondocks; Billy Joe Royal: Yup. But, he could admit it.
I Never Loved A Man (The Way That I Love You); Aretha Franklin: Someone had gone through the same thing. SOMEONE HAD GONE THROUGH THE SAME THING!!! Wuthering Heights, way down home.
Easy For You To Say; Linda Ronstadt: The queen of "He done me wrong" claps back, and it is magnificent.
The Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn; Emmylou Harris, feat. Ricky Skaggs: Her careworn emotionalism. His intricate harmonizing. If I couldn't sing like this, I knew I would die.
One Way Donkey Ride; Sandy Denny: Arrived in my life just as I was ready to admit these things were true.
Bury My Lovely; October Project; The critics who dismissed this were lucky they hadn't lived it. Finally, someone told the emotional truth.
Drowning Man; U2; A song and a savior that held me aloft in a dark time.
In God's Country; U2: I felt like they and I were the only ones who saw. No one else said a thing.
Oh, Yoko!; Without Nicky Hopkins' transcendent country boogie, this would have been just another silly love song. This painting with music was one of the most musical things Lennon ever did. Marks the first time I ever looked at album credits to find out who on God's green earth ...?
Awaiting On You All; George Harrison: George had found religion, and he pulled the rest of us into the circle to rejoice right along with him. What a rush!
Gold Dust Woman; Fleetwood Mac: Not rock, not pop. Bill Monroe would have called these the "ancient tones".
Come To Jesus; Mindy Smith: Where death of all kinds is simply something to get through, Mindy Smith suggests a companion. The song I needed after I lost the best friend I ever had.
Biko; Peter Gabriel: Be a witness, is all. Be a witness.
Charming; Jonatha Brooke: "No knowledge is too much to bear in the end"? Brooke lies with every word, and knowing that she's lying is the most comforting thing ever.
Cup Of Loneliness; George Jones: There's talking about it, and there's living it. Guess which one this is.
Ain't That Peculiar; Marvin Gaye: Just talking about it was enough to liberate you with gospel fervor.
Sin City; The Flying Burrito Brothers: A requiem for 1968.
Christine's Tune; The Flying Burrito Brothers: It's not misogyny if they're evil. Also, what Sneaky Pete Kleinow does with pedal steel should have been enshrined in some hall of fame or other, ages ago.
Worried About You; The Rolling Stones: The Black Hats transcended their publicity machine and, Lord, did we need it.
You Don't Have To Cry; Crosby, Stills, and Nash: The Woodstock Generation pauses for some grown-ass shit. Ouch!
Expecting To Fly; Buffalo Springfield: That feeling when they were planning their escape the minute they got there, but they were the most beautiful thing you had ever seen.
Pretty Boy Floyd; Bob Dylan: The bite with which Dylan sings this would wake anybody up. At least, it should.
Pretty and High; The Roches: Forget "I Am Woman". This is feminism, unbound.
Down The Dream; Maggie and Terre Roche: Primed the pump for my Celtic music obsession. See also: Telephone Bill from the same record.
Today; Jefferson Airplane: #RelationshipReality. It's harder than you think.
Mandolin Wind; Rod Stewart: #RelationshipGoals. It's easier than you think.
Handbags and Gladrags; Rod Stewart: I don't know. That little girl may have needed a warning, but she deserved every bit of this chamber-folk sunshine. Some of the best work Stewart and composer/arranger Mike d'Abo ever did.
Debris; Faces: Ronnie Lane seemed always to be crying and laughing in equal measure, so it was left to Ian McLagan to do the crying on guitar and keyboards both. Some of the most unsung blue-eyed soul backup ever.
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