By: Malcolm Gauld

December 26, 2022

As Duke Ellington titled his autobiography, Music is My Mistress.  While I love what I do, any fantasies that might wander into my brain involving  possible job changes always seem to involve music: e.g., performer, promoter, critic, roadie, etc.

Each year around this time, I steer my blog away from educational stuff and serve up favorite songs of that particular year. I used to do “Top 10” lists, but these days it’s more of a hodge-podge of stuff that happens to have struck my fancy. If you prefer grooving while reading, click on “Little Malcolm’s 2022 Skidoo” playlist on Spotify to hear 50 2022 songs representing a range of genres. A brief description of about 20 of them follows. First, Little Malcolm’s Song of the Year:

Song of the Year: “Good To Be (Home Again)” by Keb Mo. Off Good to Be…
Looking back over the past 68 years, 2022 was, hands down, the toughest one yet.  Thanks, Keb, for giving me a “go-to” song to reach for on both bad and good days.  And thanks for reminding me that “it’s good to be here… it’s good to be anywhere.”  (Having lost my all-time favorite, irreplaceable, no pretension, no sarcasm, no judgments listening partner in 2022, I needed a great song in his honor. H, this one’s for you.)  “My old barber shop is still goin’ strong. But it’s too damn bad, my hair’s all gone. And it’s good to be here. It’s good to be anywhere. It’s good to be back, good to be home again. It’s good to be you. It’s good to be me. It’s good to be young, good to be old. Good to be home again.”20 More In No Particular Order:

1. “Grow Together” by Greensky Bluegrass. Off Stress Dreams — Bluegrassy. Tight. Make that, Very Tight. “No matter how far we’ve come. Still the same thing on my mind. That we can grow old together. If we can find the time.”
   
2. “Crooked Tree” by Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway. Also tight. Also in that country, bluegrassy vein. “Oh can’t you see? A crooked tree won’t fit into the mill machine. They’re left to grow wild and free. Oh I’d rather be a crooked tree.”
     
3. “Love is Selfish” by Jack White. All White Stripes and no solo music makes Jack a dull boy?  “Love is such a selfish thing. It’s always crying, ‘Me, me, me.’ And it’s always trying to mess up all my plans.”
   
4. “Better Than Any Drug” by Lola Kirke — After chronicling a risque tour of drug options, Ms. Kirke settles on the ultimate high: love. “Oh, I think I’m in love. Oh, I think I’m in love. Because you feel better than any drug. Oh, I think I’m in love.”
   
5. “Black Leaves” by KIRBY — KIRBY’s got a bit of a Macy Gray meets Valerie June thing going on. (Fun Fact: She and June both hail from Memphis.) It’s good. “God made woman with an iron hand.  Raised her up on heaven’s land.” Speaking of Macy Gray…
   
6. “Beauty In the World” by Macy Gray. Off The Sell Out — Something about that distinctive voice.  “Stop and smell the flowers. And lose it in sweet music and dance with me. ‘Cause there is beauty in the world. So much beauty in the world.”
        
7. “Hooray Hooray” by Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder. Off Get On Board – The Songs of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee — Two old pros serve up an album that would no doubt bring a smile to the faces of Messrs. Terry and McGhee themselves. So great to see these two reunited. (Anyone out there remember their mid-60s collaboration The Rising Sons?) More than a few times I have found myself rehearsing this vocal while cruising down the road with the volume turned up, way up. “Hooray, Hooray, the women is killing me. And if you don’t believe it, wait around here and see.”
     
8. “Here We Go Again” by The Waterboys — I don’t know, these guys may be an acquired taste. But I like ’em. “Here we go again, one more time around the bend. The more that things appear to change, the more they seem to stay the same.”
     
9. “In Texas With A Band” by Brennen Leigh w/Asleep At The Wheel — If you like that Texas Swing thing, this is your song. Ms. Leigh and AATW’s Ray Benson are perfect together!  “If I only had one final wish, I’d make it my demand to play once more to a sawdust floor in Texas with a band.”
      
10. “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” by Delbert McClinton.  Off Outdated Emotions — Delbert may have stopped touring after hitting his 80s, but he can still carry a song with his signature style.  Pretty sure that John Lee Hooker would be all “Dimples” over this cover. “Please, Mr. Bartender, listen here. I ain’t here for trouble, so have no fear.”
         
11. “The Sky is Falling” by Daryl Hall & John Oates. Off Marigold Sky — Whatever happened to Hall & Oates?  Still making (good) music is what happened. “Gotta turn my back on the feeling. So, I can face the world.”
    
12. “Gettin’ By” by Steve Earle — A half-century has passed since my Hyde classmate Jeff Jennings introduced me to Jeff Walker’s eponymous “debut”album. (There were like 3 or 4 albums before it!) A few listens triggered a transition in my teenaged thinking from making fun of country music to holding it in high respect. No one better than Steve Earle (IMHO, the best songwriter of the 80s) to give new life to a JJW classic. “Just gettin’ by on gettin’ by is my stock-in-trade. Livin’ it day by day. Just pickin’ up the pieces wherever they fall.”
     
13. “In Water” by Bay Ledges — Yeah, yeah, front man Zach Hurd ’99 is my nephew.  But, Hey, can 1M monthly Spotify listeners all be wrong?!? And if you want to see and hear for yourself, hurry and buy tickets to his 4/30/23 show at Red Rocks (CO). “But everything is clear, When you’re standing next to me. Just fall into the water, And we’ll wash away what we don’t need.”
          
14. “Town & Country” by Loudon Wainwright III — On the one hand, Loudon Wainwright has never gotten the full acclaim and respect he deserves. On the other, he just keeps making music. (Maybe he knows something we don’t?) Anyway, something in this song appeals to the lifelong Mainer in me who, perhaps ironically, loves the city.  “Well, I’m in the city and the sirens are screaming. All day and night long, 24/7. I’m on a mission, I’m in the city… I can hardly believe I’m here.”
      
15. “Tryin’ to Move On” by Freedy Johnston — Speaking of withheld acclaim and respect, if you know me, chances are you have rolled your eyes over my “Shoulda’ Been Huge” list. It includes the likes of Karla Bonoff (“The Poor Man’s Linda Ronstadt”) and NRBQ (“The Greatest Band You Never Heard Of”). Near the top of the list is this guy. I’ve been a fan since 1994 when I bestowed “Album of the Year” honors (Anyone out there remember Malcolm’s Monthly?) on This Perfect World.  (30+- years later it still holds up.) 2022 was a prolific year for Freedy. In fact, in addition to this tune, I had three others in my regular listening rotation — “Madeline’s Eye”… “Darlin'”… “There Goes a Brooklyn Girl” — so I decided to include them all here. (Hey, it’s my  blog.)  This song is an ode to a (his) musician’s life on the road “The first thing is I break my neck, pickin’ up my last check. Then I totaled the rental car, backin’ it into the hotel bar.” 
    
16. “Look Up!” by The Harlem Gospel Travelers.  Off Look Up — If there is a modernized, gospel, doo-wop music genre, these guys own it.  So: catchy, upbeat, uplifting, and inspirational. “You’ve got to raise your gears above the haze. And find yourself to better days. And if you set your heart, you’ll find your star. And be on your way-ayy-ayy. Look up!”
    
17. “Nashville Tuesday Morning” by The Band of Heathens — I like these guys. They come from a long line of solid Austin-based bands. Great musicianship. “I promise when I come home soon, we’ll turn a Nashville Tuesday morning Into a Sunday afternoon.”
    
18. “Stay Now” by Joel Lyssarides (w/Niklas Fernqvist & Rasmus Blixt).  Off Stay Now — Raised my jazz game this year. Discovered this haunting, captivating <3-minute around mid-year. Kept coming back to it.
       
19. “Blip Blop” by Ray Collins’ Hot Club. Off For the Ones  with the Blues —  These guys make me think of my parents during their high school years in 1940s suburban Boston. I imagine them playing hooky from school, going into the big city, fast-talking their underaged way (that would be Dad) into a jazz club, and hearing something that might have sounded like this. 
    
20. “Get Out of This Mood” by Samara Joy. Off Linger Awhile. — Staying with the my-parents-in-1940s-Boston-jazz-thing let’s say Ella or Sarah were rumored to be in town. Then, when my parents sit down, Samara Joy appeared instead and did a live version of this album. Neither they nor anyone else would leave. They’d end up clapping for an encore.  This might be my album of the year. Hard to believe that Ms. Joy is only 23. Keep an eye on this one.  (I’ve also included “Social Call” on my 2022 Skidoo playlist.) “Can’t get out of this dream. What a fool to dream of you. It wasn’t part of my scheme. To sigh and tell you that I love you.”

Any list involves the sin of omission. Even with the inclusion of 30 songs in addition to the aforementioned 21, it’s inescapable.  Those 30 songs include tried-and-true musicians like Louis Armstrong, Jeff Back, Clapton, Graham Parker, Oscar Peterson, Ben Sidran, Tom Waits, and Wilco as well as newcomers like 8 Ball Aitken, David Finck, Angela Strehli, Tuba Skinny, and Luke Winslow-King. And there are others. (Wait, there’s that sin of omission again.) Anyhow, just listen and remember, “It’s good to be here. It’s good to be anywhere.”

Onward, Malcolm