Songs of pure joy

[John A Arkansawyer]

Play along with me and list the first 10 songs you can think of that give you unadulterated joy:

Here are mine. How about yours?

"Jackie Wilson Said I'm In Heaven When You Smile", by Van Morrison (I could do this whole list with just him, you know)
"When The Ship Comes In", by Bob Dylan
"Rosalita", by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
"Giant Steps", by John Coltrane
"Stay All Night", by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
"Take the Skinheads Bowling", by Camper Van Beethoven
"Rock and Roll", by the Velvet Underground
"18 Wheels of Love", by the Drive-By Truckers
"Gloria/In Excelsis Deo", by Patti Smith
"Master Blaster (Jammin')", by Stevie Wonder

P.S. Anyone listing "Street Hassle" will get a big smile from me as I think how much Ellen Willis would have approved of that.

[tinnitus photography]

Spacemen 3 - walking With Jesus
Mogwai - 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong

[Barely_Oakely]

In no particular order:

"Baba O'Reilly" - The Who
"Mona Lisa's and Mad Hatters" - Elton John
"Tangerine" - led Zeppelin
"Across the Great Divide" - The Band
"The Weight" - The Band
"Disco Break In" - The Beastie Boys
"Damnit" - Blink 182
"Wild Horses" - The Rolling Stones
"Tangled Up in Blue" - Dylan
"Don't Stop Me Now" - Queen

[John A Arkansawyer]

I thought of "Roadrunner" by the Modern Lovers, "Uh Oh, Love Has Come To Town" by Talking Heads, and "Just Like This Train" by Joni Mitchell later on. I'm not sure what I could bump to get them off.

[beantownbubba]

"Brown Eyed Girl" was the first thing I thought of but no doubt "Jackie Wilson" would have been close behind. As you say, Van could easily hold all 10 spots.
I might have thought of "Born to Run" first but saw your mention of "Rosalita" and you can't go wrong w/ that.
"Build Me Up Buttercup" by the Foundations
"Proud Mary" - CCR
"Superstition" - Stevie Wonder
"Good Vibrations" - The Beach Boys
"Hard Day's Night" - The Beatles
"My Old School" - Steely Dan
"Houseparty" - J Geils version
"My Girl" - The Temptations (and approximately 40 other motown hits)

[beantownbubba]

Of course once you start down this path, it's pretty hard to stop. Just a few more:

"Blue Sky" - The ABB
"Werewolves of London" - Warren Zevon
"California Dreamin;" - Mamas & Papas; George Benson
Perhaps a slightly lesser known Van Morrison tune - "Wavelength"
"American Pie" - Don McLean
"Jumpin Jack Flash" - The Rolling Stones
"Take Me to the River" - Al Green; Talking Heads
"Rockville" - REM
"MY Way" - Frank Sinatra
"I Wanna Be Sedated" - The Ramones

[dime in the gutter]

dueling banjos



as an aside, it's only one banjo.

[John A Arkansawyer]

"I Wanna Be Sedated" - The Ramones

It was hard to resist "We're A Happy Family", but I did. I don't know why.

[beantownbubba]

dueling banjos



as an aside, it's only one banjo.

Take that back, dime, or squeal like a pig.

[dime in the gutter]

whatever. it makes me dance.

[Duke Silver]

Off the top of my head...

Teenage Wristband, The Twilight Singers
New Morning, Dylan
Everybody Needs Love, DBT
Joy to You Baby, Josh Ritter (it's even in the title!)
Frankie's Gun, Felice Brothers
X-Mas Curtain, MMJ

[Tequila Cowboy]

Ziggy Marley- Dragonfly
Bob Marley- Kaya
Replacements- Kiss Me On The Bus
Sugar- If I can't Change Your Mind
The Staple Singers- I'll Take You There
Ben Harper- Amen, Omen
Bob Dylan- Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Wilco- Heavy Metal Drummer

[allisonsdc]

Bhindi Bhagee - Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros
First Tube - Phish
New York, New York - Ryan Adams
Rock 'n' Roll - Lou Reed
How Mountain Girls Can Love - String Cheese (or whoever)
Southbound - Allman Brothers
Sugar Magnolia - The Grateful Dead
It's Gonna be a Long Night - Ween
3-Minute Rule - The Beastie Boys
Beast of Burden - The Rolling Stones

[allisonsdc]

Ziggy Marley- Dragonfly
Bob Marley- Kaya
Replacements- Kiss Me On The Bus
Sugar- If I can't Change Your Mind
The Staple Singers- I'll Take You There
Ben Harper- Amen, Omen
Bob Dylan- Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Wilco- Heavy Metal Drummer

Kaya would be the next on my list. Or maybe Easy Skanking

[Duke Silver]

"Joy" is a tough one to nail down. Thumbing through my collection, there's a lot of sad bastard music that makes me happy. Gonna have to think about this some more.

[beantownbubba]

Ziggy Marley- Dragonfly
Bob Marley- Kaya
Replacements- Kiss Me On The Bus
Sugar- If I can't Change Your Mind
The Staple Singers- I'll Take You There
Ben Harper- Amen, Omen
Bob Dylan- Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Wilco- Heavy Metal Drummer

Kaya would be the next on my list. Or maybe Easy Skanking

I could easily go w/ pretty much the whole Legend album

[John A Arkansawyer]

Replacements- Kiss Me On The Bus

I Will Dare could be on my list.

The Staple Singers- I'll Take You There

When we had a discussion about adding some gospel to our choir's repertoire, this and Freedom Highway and If You're Ready (Come and Go With Me) were what I sent in as my suggestions. Oh, and this:

[John A Arkansawyer]

I could easily go w/ pretty much the whole Legend album

Which is probably the most concise and cogent criticism of that album I've ever heard. (That's not a slam at you, by the way. Far from it.)

[LBRod]

[tinnitus photography]

listen to this...this is what i want played at my funeral.

[Tequila Cowboy]

A couple from the jazz world

John Coltrane- My Favorite Things
Dave Brubek- Take Five

[Tequila Cowboy]

I could easily go w/ pretty much the whole Legend album

Which is probably the most concise and cogent criticism of that album I've ever heard. (That's not a slam at you, by the way. Far from it.)

I kinda get where you're going here. The compilation has too much yin and not enough yang? I love that record, maybe the only greatest hits record I do, but if that's what you meant I don't disagree.

[John A Arkansawyer]

I could easily go w/ pretty much the whole Legend album

Which is probably the most concise and cogent criticism of that album I've ever heard. (That's not a slam at you, by the way. Far from it.)

I kinda get where you're going here. The compilation has too much yin and not enough yang? I love that record, maybe the only greatest hits record I do, but if that's what you meant I don't disagree.

More or less. People get one aspect of Marley, just like they get one aspect of Martin King. There's more there than peace and love and good vibes. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But you should always see the man in full.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

In regards to Legend, I've also met plenty of people that own that record but their knowledge of reggae and Marley sometimes doesn't seem to extend far beyond that (if at all). It'd be like listening to Elvis or the Beatles and limiting your exposure to rock n' roll to just those artists. I've never understood it myself.

[John A Arkansawyer]

In regards to Legend, I've also met plenty of people that own that record but their knowledge of reggae and Marley sometimes doesn't seem to extend far beyond that (if at all). It'd be like listening to Elvis or the Beatles and limiting your exposure to rock n' roll to just those artists. I've never understood it myself.

And then just knowing 1 or Elvis' 40 Greatest. Or even both of them.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

In regards to Legend, I've also met plenty of people that own that record but their knowledge of reggae and Marley sometimes doesn't seem to extend far beyond that (if at all). It'd be like listening to Elvis or the Beatles and limiting your exposure to rock n' roll to just those artists. I've never understood it myself.

And then just knowing 1 or Elvis' 40 Greatest. Or even both of them.

I have friends that are much more well rounded musically than myself but when I first got into reggae (which was via Marley in the late 70's and early 80's) it opened up the floodgates to tons of other artists as well as the various offshoots of reggae such as ska, rock steady, calypso, mento, etc. My appreciation for reggae also opened my ears to a variety of different kinds of music from around the world, which is one area where my music collection is seriously lacking. I have some stuff by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (who I was introduced to from the Dead Man Walking soundtrack) and Tinariwen (Robert Plant and Buddy Miller were the tipping point) but I could stand to expand my horizons there as well. I've also heard stuff by Fela Kuti, Afrika Bambaataa, Youssou N'Dour ("In Your Eyes"), Sun Ra and "King" Sunny Adé that piqued my interest but I've never done much exploring there. That's not even getting into stuff like jazz (which I've only started to explore thanks to WSHA at Shaw University) and big band or some of the music my parents listened to like Sinatra. So much music, too little time.

[Zip City]

"So Happy Together" - The Turtles
"Southern Cross" - CSN

[Iowan]

[Iowan]

In regards to Legend, I've also met plenty of people that own that record but their knowledge of reggae and Marley sometimes doesn't seem to extend far beyond that (if at all). It'd be like listening to Elvis or the Beatles and limiting your exposure to rock n' roll to just those artists. I've never understood it myself.

Reggae is a style of music I enjoy at times, but don't strongly relate to. I don't own much reggae beyond Bob Marley (a little Toots & The Maytals would be the extent), and that's enough to whet my whistle for it. If I ever felt myself more strongly drawn to it, I would dig a lot deeper.

I can totally see where someone who was really into something else would have a similar take on rock, or any other genre. There's only so much time on this planet, and preferences vary.

[Iowan]

In no particular order:

"Baba O'Reilly" - The Who
"Mona Lisa's and Mad Hatters" - Elton John
"Tangerine" - led Zeppelin
"Across the Great Divide" - The Band
"The Weight" - The Band
"Disco Break In" - The Beastie Boys
"Damnit" - Blink 182
"Wild Horses" - The Rolling Stones
"Tangled Up in Blue" - Dylan
"Don't Stop Me Now" - Queen

These seem like curious selections, given the thread topic.

I strongly agree with the rest of your selections.