My band’s playlist

 

You know that event over the weekend I mentioned attending back here? It was a fund-raiser for Hand Middle School over at Gallery 701. And while a lot of folks did come up and converse with me about newspaper business, our dialogue was somewhat constrained by the fact that it was hard to talk over the sound of the band.

The band was a group of local lawyers who call themselves The Sugardaddys, as in the candy. That, of course, is not nearly as cool a name as what one of the band members told me they thought about calling themselves, which was “Lawyers, Guns and Money.” That band member, by the way, was bassist James Smith, also known for his nonmusical work at the S.C. House and in Afghanistan with the National Guard.

The band was pretty good, and in fact their opening number was one I think I’ll add to my band’s playlist — The Band’s “The Weight.” That song would fit right into my band’s ouevre, or idiom, or what have you.

Oh, you don’t know about my band? Well, it’s just in the planning stages, where it’s been since about, oh, 1971. The thing is that first I’ve got to come up with a cool name for it. I mean, you’re not going to see me settling on something like “Sugardaddys” just to move things along. No, I’m taking my time; I want to get this right. For awhile there I was sort of enamored of “Wireless Cloud” as a name, but I’ve moved on. Suggestions are welcome (up to a point). I may end up with the one that a friend suggested many years ago, after inadvertently learning my first name: “Donnie B. and the All-Night Newsboys.”

But I did draft a preliminary playlist of cover songs a couple of years back. I meant to post it on the blog, but didn’t get around to it or something. I ran across it the other day, and here it is:

  • Don’t Look Now
  • Can’t Be Too Long
  • Paint It Black
  • I’ve Just Seen a Face
  • Simple Kind of Man
  • Bring It On Home
  • Mustang Sally (but only if I can line up the Commitmentettes)
  • Knocking on Heaven’s Door
  • Hard-Headed Woman
  • Soldier of Love
  • Lawyers, Guns and Money (hey, it was on the list before James mentioned it)
  • The Pretender
  • Desperado (Don’t know how this got on here)
  • One More Cup of Coffee

This list, now that I look back on it, is WAY incomplete and poorly thought-out. For instance, as I say, I don’t know how Desperado got on there (watching too much Seinfeld, maybe). If I went with anything Eagles-related, it would have to be Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry.” And when it comes to Beatles covers, I’d do “I Should Have Known Better” way before the one listed above — or “Eight Days a Week.”

And this doesn’t even get into my original material (perhaps mercifully).

Anyway, once the name is set and the playlist is all worked out, I’ll see about trying to line up some actual musicians. Oh, and a manager. Don’t be bugging me with gig requests; that’s for the manager to deal with. All in good time.

15 thoughts on “My band’s playlist

  1. D

    Eagles(blah)related? Tom Waits’ “Ol ’55”-Best thing they ever did was make America’s latter-day Walt Whitman a little money-

    Ol ’55 might also be a good name for the band(considerin’)or as a(sorta)tribute to The Band and the paper yer editing-The State I’m In
    I’ll play synth/kybrds,but you gotta do this ignored quintessential 80’s classic-

  2. Weldon VII

    You know, I laughed when you left
    But I only, I only hurt myself
    Come on and bring it to me
    Bring your sweet lovin’
    Bring it on home to me.

    Long years ago, when I ordered my first set of albums from the Capitol Record Club, “Bring It On Home To Me” was on an Animals record I ordered, along with “House Of The Rising Sun.” I fell in love with “Bring It On Home To Me.”
    One of the vinyl discs was Rubber Soul, and “I’ve Just Seen A Face” was a song there that really brought it to me.
    Of course, so was “Norwegian Wood” and every other song on the album.
    Funny your playlist should include two songs from my first set of records.
    Me, I’d go with “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” for the Beatles en route period. But that’s because I can play a pretty decent version of it on the piano.

  3. Brad Warthen

    Actually, you know what, Weldon? I almost typed “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” but went with “Eight Days a Week” instead.
    Have you ever heard the Elvis Costello cover version? Very good.

  4. penultimo mcfarland

    Haven’t heard Elvis Costello do “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”, but here’s hoping I do.
    Even bad versions of Beatle songs please me.
    You know you’re middle-aged when TV commercials provide your musical turn-ons by reprise.
    On a Costello note, I have been humming “My Brave Face” a lot lately. That’s McCartney/Costello.
    Of course, I had been humming “I’ve Just Seen a Face” before your post here, too.
    It’s a small world, like it or not.
    Is that a spinet or an upright in the background behind you and your V? What brand is it?

  5. Brad Warthen

    It’s an upright, and it’s about 90 years old. We bought it used (not as an antique, just as “used”) back in about 1983, when my oldest child started taking lessons.
    I’ll have to look at the brand when I’m at home sometime. I should know it. It’s like the less-expensive brand owned (or once owned) by some more prestigious-sounding maker, like Baldwin or something. I just don’t recall at the moment.

  6. penultimo mcfarland

    I made a fireplace out of an ornate upright so old it wouldn’t hold tune for a week.
    Here’s hoping yours isn’t a Wurlitzer (a Baldwin subsidiary that could very well be called the Wal Mart of pianos.
    Good for piano lessons. Not too spiffy for concerts.
    Our church piano is a Wurlitzer. Muddy.
    Of course, Wurlitzer could have been better way back when than it is these days, but you know how it is with 90-year-olds — their worlds get pretty small.
    But back to the music. I was trying to find Clemson basketball on TV the other night, tried to punch in 649 to see if it was on Fox Sports South, but hit 849 instead.
    Lo and behold, Paul McCartney Fireman Raid on XM, all Paul McCartney all the time.
    You guessed it: Tonight they played “I’ve Just Seen a Face” and “My Brave Face” practically back-to-back.
    It’s a small world after all.

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