transcendent cuts
Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 10:49 am
Bear with me...
I was painting the attic floor and thinking about tunes, and I pondered a few recordings that are my favorite, "best song ever" kinda cuts. I was wondering why a few really stand out to me, and whether other folks have the same feeling about certain tracks. Not your favorite song by your favorite band stuff, but individual recordings that seem to be delivered from another plane entirely, regardless of whether the bands make your top 50 list or not...
Maybe a couple of examples will help here:
Since I was a kid, my number one example was The Flamingos' I Only Have Eyes For You,
but it was eventually joined by The Shangri-Las' Out In The Streets,
and then I realized there was, in my mental map of music, some recordings that really transcend my normal expectations of good music.
I know off the top of my head a pile of Curtis Mayfield and Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone (and Ornette and Mingus... and Stooges and Ramones... and so many others') cuts that are in the gray area and could almost make the list on a good day, but I think in reality those are just really amazing songs that I love, not otherworldy to me like the two examples above.
So, I'm asking if you will share one or a few tracks that, for you and by your own individual estimation, meet that magical criterion. If you're so inclined, spend a few minutes thinking about recordings that make your head spin and convince you that the sordid experiment of human existence was really worth it after all, then post them. I know there are some good ones floating around in OSGers' brains, and despite our obviously shared tastes, I bet there's a chance for all of us to learn about a pile of amazing new-to-us tunes.
But mostly because I want to find out about some for myself.
I was painting the attic floor and thinking about tunes, and I pondered a few recordings that are my favorite, "best song ever" kinda cuts. I was wondering why a few really stand out to me, and whether other folks have the same feeling about certain tracks. Not your favorite song by your favorite band stuff, but individual recordings that seem to be delivered from another plane entirely, regardless of whether the bands make your top 50 list or not...
Maybe a couple of examples will help here:
Since I was a kid, my number one example was The Flamingos' I Only Have Eyes For You,
but it was eventually joined by The Shangri-Las' Out In The Streets,
and then I realized there was, in my mental map of music, some recordings that really transcend my normal expectations of good music.
I know off the top of my head a pile of Curtis Mayfield and Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone (and Ornette and Mingus... and Stooges and Ramones... and so many others') cuts that are in the gray area and could almost make the list on a good day, but I think in reality those are just really amazing songs that I love, not otherworldy to me like the two examples above.
So, I'm asking if you will share one or a few tracks that, for you and by your own individual estimation, meet that magical criterion. If you're so inclined, spend a few minutes thinking about recordings that make your head spin and convince you that the sordid experiment of human existence was really worth it after all, then post them. I know there are some good ones floating around in OSGers' brains, and despite our obviously shared tastes, I bet there's a chance for all of us to learn about a pile of amazing new-to-us tunes.
But mostly because I want to find out about some for myself.