Happy Solstice everyone! (Yesterday, whoops.) Summer’s officially here and I can tell because every time it hits 3PM I’m covered in a layer of slime like the banana slugs of my alma mater. Despite my complete in ability to handle heat, I’ll soon be moving to even warmer climates, so it’ll only get worse from here.
Oh well. We’ve got a real slew of summertime hits for you today, sticking to classics to keep that warm vintage feeling. Like a Kodak picture of a June 8PM. I’ve been toying with the idea of making these playlists a little longer going forward but for this week we’re keeping it as breezy as I’d like the days to be.
John Fahey - The Portland Cement Factory At Monolith California
This piece is just ethereal. I found this while searching for inspiration for a project I was working on and it completely took my breath away. John Fahey is an extremely amazing guitarist. It absolutely is evocative of the location it is named after, but more broadly it reminds me of summer road trips taken with friends. Waking up early after camping out off the side of the road and then driving around aimlessly while the sun comes up looking for what you’re going to do, or even just a nice view to look at for a while.
Sly & The Family Stone - Sing A Simple Song
Rest in peace to a real one. I actually just watched the documentary that came out about Sly a couple weeks ago while I was bedridden and even though I already loved a lot of his tunes, my appreciation for The Family Stone only increased. It reminded me that even though while I’ve been alive Sly Stone’s music is now considered absolutely classic, it was really musically inventive for the time and was making moves across genres that not a lot of people had done yet. Plus, it’s just so fun. All the panned vocals and little riffs coming in and out keep you fully engaged and feeling the music. So thank you to Mr. Stone for giving us all this wonderful music, and reminding us the power of a simple song.
Frank Zappa - Song of Mr. Green Genes
I find Frank Zappa pretty inscrutable as a dude and unpredictable as a musician. This sounds like it’s supposed to be the theme song for a 70’s cop show or something. If I played this back to back with “Valley Girl” I don’t think most people would know it was the same guy. I also really appreciate that the album is called “Hot Rats”. Relatable. But that album art… he’s so creepy… and the song is like nine minutes long? Get out of here Frank Zappa you’re scaring me.
The Travelers - Last Date
I feel like there’s a lot of lip service paid by songs to first dates and the beginning parts of falling in love, and sure, there’s a lot of breakup songs. But I was taken with the specific idea of a “Last Date”. The idea of two people who are on the verge of breaking up but still on a date, and that specific feeling of romance and melancholy blending together is so compelling to me. I feel like it’s an underexplored concept and the style of the 60’s instrumental rock band really captures the nostalgia of looking back on a date you didn’t know was your last.
The Ventures - Grazing in the Grass
I think it would be pretty fair to say that The Ventures are the instrumental band from the 60’s. I’ve been a fan since high school, and they recorded so much there’s still plenty of records of theirs I haven’t heard yet. Sort of by design, it’s good background music for a party, and this song in particular makes me feel like I’m at some swingin’ party up in the Hollywood hills circa 1968. It’s groovy but inobtrusive. Also makes good writing music.
The Beach Boys - Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
Another shoutout to a real one. I don’t think I need to go into detail about the incredible impact Brian Wilson had on all of music forever. Plenty of people in the last week have done a better job eulogizing and paying tribute than I ever will. But I will say: If you’ve never listened to Pet Sounds all the way through, go do that as soon as possible. Get a good pair of headphones. Put both of them on. Go sit outside and watch the sun go down in the evening. Like yes, I know that it may seem redundant at this point to say that Pet Sounds is one of the greatest albums of all time but it really is just that good. I sometimes forget it myself and then when I end up throwing it on while I’m out on a drive or a walk or whatever I always go “Oh yeah. This is a masterpiece of modern music and completely changed the way people make albums forever. Huh.”
And god, the songs on this record are just timeless. It’s one of those fucked up things where because it was so influential we take for granted to actual emotions being expressed in the songs but when you’re really in the headspace songs like “Don’t Talk”, “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” and “Hang On To Your Ego” can devastate you. And that last one is an outtake! The alternate version that they didn’t think was good enough for the record is just as good if not better than the finished song! It’s all so good and I’m rambling at this point. “You Still Believe In Me” makes me cry pretty much every other time I listen to it, it’s haunting. God Pet Sounds rocks. Anyway!
King Crimson - I Talk To The Wind [Duo Version]
Possibly the sickest album art ever? In The Court of the Crimson King is another album that people talk a lot about that you think is going to be overhyped but then it so isn’t once you finally listen to it. Go check it out. I promise it’s worth the time.
I guess there’s a lot of instrumental music on this summer playlist… Maybe it being too hot to move makes me want good music for sitting and looking.
The Lovin’ Spoonful - (Til I) Run With You
I found this song through the YouTube algorithm, and I just had to click on it because what the hell is this album art? Two naked people are racing a lion? How did they take this photo? Whose idea was this? How much did they pay these people to do this? Sure, sure, the song is fun and groovy and just the right amount of corny.
Frank Zappa - Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
Hey now this is a pleasant little jazz tune! Makes me think about warm summer evenings at a friends- hey wait a minute. Frank Zappa? How’d you get back in here? Shoo! Shoo! Go on, git!
Bailey’s Nervous Kats - First Love
Another instrumental rock/pop song from the 60’s. I’m not sure if The Ventures spawned this genre completely or if they were just the group with the most success, but there’s some really compelling singles that came from this wave of acts. I like this one as a complimenting tune to “Last Date” because it also has that nostalgic feeling of looking back in retrospect at something, but this time it’s your first real love. I don’t know, I think it’s a commendable feat to conjure up emotions and imagery with nothing but a title and an instrumental song. It’s not easy to do: I get bored easily.
Arlo Guthrie - Living In The Country
One year, Arlo Guthrie came to my hometown and was playing a concert on my 15th birthday. My mom asked me if I wanted to go and I had no interest or knowledge about Guthrie’s music outside of my dad playing “Alice’s Restaurant” every year at Thanksgiving. In hindsight I kinda wish I had gone because I’m sure it would have been a beautiful show, but at the time, if I had gone, I know I would have been really bored the whole time. Kind of a paradox, no?
The Kinks - Stop Your Sobbing (Stereo Mix)
The Kinks are a band I could absolutely go on and on about, because I think they are extremely underrated and underappreciated in the classic rock canon, but I won’t go into that here. I found out last time that Substack apparently has a character limit. Who knew? Anyway, this song is not one of theirs I hear all that often and it is such a bop. And at only two minutes? That’s a tight pop song. And it gets stuck in my head so easily.
The Beach Boys - Passing By
Okay, one more Brian Wilson glaze for the road. Wilson considered Friends his second solo album after Pet Sounds, but because it wasn’t as groundbreaking as it, Friends gets mentioned a lot less often these days. It’s still a good record folks!!! Brian Wilson knows how to compose and arrange, damnit! It’s not perfect like Sounds, but there’s something fun about the simplicity and folksiness of this record. This song especially is beautiful in how simple it is. The drifting vocal harmonies over a steady drum beat evoke driving through a small town in the middle of nowhere and looking at the people out your window, and you know I love a good organ.
Anyway, that’s the tracklist for this week. Next week’s may be longer, we’ll see. RIP Sly Stone, RIP Brian Wilson. Thank you both for passing by.
