Top Ten Of The Week-Crabb's Favorites

For the past 10 years I've been doing this loving hobby of posting 10 songs from my player in hopes of educating the masses that there's much more out there than the usual overplayed Cumulus Corporation Crap or Clear Channel, but it has called upon my attention that the total of songs I have posted over the years have exceeded the total approved songs for both Corporate guerrillas.


I'm not exactly sure if I can post a total top ten songs that I would want with me on a deserted island.  I hate repetition even on my favorite songs or favorite bands.  We only have so much time left to deal with the things we like anyway.  I know for a fact that even when I turn in this all time 10 faves that I will leave one or two off just because I didn't think of them at the time of compiling this list.  But then again, your taste may vary.  To pick 10 from 7 decades of rock and roll?  Hard to do, but I hope for the most part whatever makes this list comes from varying bands and albums that made an impression on me.  I certainly don't expect this to make the all time top ten most viewed, the viewer tastes won't allow that although The Mexican Jumping Beans blog has blown up the charts and now the all time best top ten for views.  To which The Loud Jets aka MJB thank you for your support.

But even the novelty of us getting 3300 views last month is done, hell I haven't even cleared 100 views on any day since the 12th.  So I guess it's back to the usual 2000 views once again. But anyway, time for this week's 10 songs of favorites plus a volume 2 and a volume 3. And that's it!

I'm sure the majority of these ten songs have appeared on various top tens over the years and so be it. But in the great event that if anybody cares what my all time faves are, this is as close to my soul that you'll ever get.

1.  Bo Diddley-Bo Diddley  1955  Certainly Chuck Berry figures in great rock and roll but Bo always had a distinctive sound that made you associate with the artist himself.  If there wasn't Bo, there would be no Townedgers or rock and roll for that matter, I'd be probably a Conservative Racist Pro gun CEO owning a few Congressmen in my wake but thank your lucky stars I was more into the spinning of 45s and the hippie dippy way.  If Elvis is the king of rock and roll, Bo Diddley is Jesus, walking on the water saving people's souls in favor of rock and roll.  Even Bob Dorr would have to agree on that one.

2.  My Girl Josephine-Jerry Jaye 1966  Growing up listening to AM radio in the 1970s still enabled us to hear once in a while songs that Cumulus would never consider playing on their precious 400 tunes which means you youngsters would have to seek out You Tube to hear some of the fun stuff that was presented to me.  My life was always music related to the point that if I heard a cool song on the radio, I would drag my little rocking chair and rock out to the songs.  Eventually I had to get a bigger rocking chair since I broke the damn thing after 15 years and too many pizzas to boot.  This is Memphis rock from a unknown rockabilly later country star that had a few singles on Hi and then Mega, but for pre Ramones three chords and the truth, Jerry made me a rabid fan of this song to which record I wanted so bad that I traded a CD of Kingdom Come to the guy at Rock N Bach for this scratchy 45.  Yes my influences still remain The Who, Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley but Jerry Jaye is another of my cult faves that nobody ever heard about. Rockabilly coolness.

 


3.  Blood-Big Back Forty 1997  In the perfect world, BB40 would be highly regarded like the the rest of the Americana music that was part of the magical 90s.  Even in this day and age, not everything that came out was manufactured by the numbers Corporate rock, a lotta great albums and bands fell by the wayside and can be found in the local cheap bins.  A classic album is anything that YOU want it to be and not what Rolling Stone or Spin touts, usually their tastes are like bubblegum, pleasant at first but the taste wears off and it's pretty bland.  Nevertheless, I bought Bested, BB40's only album for 7 bucks at Best Buy when it came out and it really took hold on me and managed to get to see them make their way here in 98 when they opened for The Honeydogs and even had the man himself Sean Beal next to me jamming out to the Honeydogs after they finished their set.  Hey he's one of us, a fan of music to the point that he would hang with the fans afterwards.  Sad to say, they never made it far, since Polydor got sold off in that infamous 1998 buyout which started the Universal giant label but every song off Bested is a classic to the point that I bought another copy just to have in the car for long driving trips.  Imagine my shock and surprise while down in Arizona and outside a steak place they were playing the radio and this song came on.  That made me stop and take a listen to it.

4. World's Looking Lonely-Volebeats 2005  What is the perfect sound of a pop song you ask? Beats, melody and a style that last through the ages I would say and even in this fairly new century we still have a good example of power pop, from a band that has members of Outrageous Cherry in it, they channel their inner Byrds/Flaming Groovies with this heartbreaking number that can give visions of Tom Petty to boot.  It takes a lot for me to remember bands in this day and age but once hearing this song I really wanted this record but could never figure out the band's name till I found a different record by the same group at another record store. But the power of Amazon.com enabled me to finally score the album Like Her to which I knew nothing about.

5.  Love's Made A Fool Out Of You-Bobby Fuller 4 1965  There were two of the most finest and influential musicians that ever came out of Texas, one was Buddy Holly and like Bo Diddley if it wasn't for Buddy I'd be doing something other.  The other was Bobby Fuller and he pretty much extended the Buddy groove to make his own, of course he covered I Fought The Law and got a big hit and almost does a straight to the version done by the Crickets without Buddy Holly.  Example number two of the perfect pop song.  Everybody should have an Bobby Fuller CD in their collection.

6. Don't Tell Me Your Troubles-Don Gibson 1963  If you're looking at the lack of hard rock bands here, don't despair too much on that, a lot of these lesser known songs have more influence on me in my favorite songs ever, but then again it's hard to dwell on only 10 and not take everything into consideration.  Don Gibson was the best dark songwriter that I ever came across in my youth, my folks had a chewed up copy of I Wrote A Song which had Don revisit some of his earlier stuff and I always liked this remake better than the original.  Of course Patsy Cline had a big hit with Sweet Dreams, your parent's Love Will Tear Us Apart. Too bad she didn't live long enough to do a complete album of Don's songs, I would have brought that one too.

7.  The Last Time-The Rolling Stones 1965  This is probably the most played song here on the top ten list but hey I like it fine.  The Stones at their most Garage Rock Best.  Keith Richards can make anything simple sound extreme.

8.  Rolling And Tumbling-Dr Feelgood 1976  Pub rock, there's so many great bands of that era to speak of, Ducks Deluxe, The Pirates, Eddie And The Hot Rods, later day Searchers of course Rockpile figures greatly into this too, it's hard to pick one, but I decided to go with this Wilko Johnson guitar led band that made some super cool albums in the mid 70s before Johnson left. Of course Pub Rock eventually mutated into punk rock but you really can't tell the difference.  It's all still in your face although I think that Pub Rock had more of a blues influence than the punk rock that The Clash or Sex Pistols would figured into and it would break out a year later.

9.  Shake-Otis Redding-1967  The live version that was the B side to You Don't Miss Your Water, this is soul music at its finest.  One of those 9 cent records that my mom brought home and knew nothing about till I put it on the player and then proceeded to wear the damn thing out. The complete version is on The Stax/Volt Revue Live In London album that Atlantic reissued in the 1990s to which I scored a copy at the old BJ's Records.  Was the 1960's the best time for music ever?  Seems that way to me.

10.  Tallahassee Lassie-Freddy Cannon  1959  And just like that we come to the 10th and final installment of Crabb's Favorites and yes I know I have left so many out that we haven't even scratched the surface.  I think out of all the songs listed, that this one demented me forever into thinking that rock and roll is the way to go and anything else should be left in the dust.  This is one of the songs that turns your head around and go WOW What the hell was that?  And where can I score a copy?  Alas, the version that our 45 was a two minute edit, I found a much better copy of same song with a extra verse thrown in to make it a complete 2 and half minute song instead of the 2:05 of the original Swan 45.  I'm guessing Freddy made have pioneered power pop with this song.  And we're all for the better of it.

Crabb's Favorites Volume 2:

11. Peggy Sue-Buddy Holly 1957
12. Don't You Worry My Little Pet-The Teddy Bears 1959
13. Pictures-Len Price 3-2011
14. Good Times Bad Times-Led Zeppelin 1969
15. Gas Girl-Bottle Rockets 1993
16. Gonna Send You Back To Walker-The Animals 1964
17. Cherry Cherry-Neil Diamond 1966
18. Let Your Love Flow-The Bellamy Brothers 1976
19. Keep A Walkin- Sam & Dave 1962
20. Slow Turnin-John Hiatt 1988

It still seems like I haven't even begun to tab all the faves that I know and love.    And so let's do a third and final installment of Crabb's Favorites and call it a day before the next top ten arrives.

21.  You're Gonna Miss Me-13th Floor Elevators 1966
22.  Rust Belt Town-The Randy Cliffs 2002
23.  Baby, Don't You Do It-The Who 1972
24.  Back Again-The Townedgers 2002
25.  Love's Closing In On Me-Tommy James & Shondells 1966
26.  You Better Check Yourself-Soul Brothers Six 1966
27.  I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better-The Byrds 1965
28.  Alison Road-Gin Blossoms 1992
29.  Peter Gunn-Duane Eddy 1960
30.  After You Came-The Moody Blues 1972

Robert Christgau gives us his best of 2012 here: http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/The-Dean-s-List-2012/ba-p/9707