My Itunes Playlist (If Itunes Carried Most of These Songs)

(Not Daniel "Deacon" Andreasen)

The sound you're hearing is bsmokedturkey typing me an email asking me to send him over the following mp3's. Now that the Sopranos are over (or at least the buzz following the final scene has died down, probably until the Emmys when they'll haphazardly imitate it a dozen times), I've been able to revisit downloads. A special tip of the engineers cap to 90.9 The Bridge, which is one of the best alternative music stations in the nation, for introducing a lot of these to me.

"I Understand (Just How You Feel)" - The Ink Spots

Song played at the end of the very underrated Steve Buscemi movie Trees Lounge. It turns out this is literally the only Ink Spots song you can't find on the usual download sites (although Elvis popped 20 percocets one day, ran some tape, and evidently sang a version of it from his bathtub, and that one IS available on Rhapsody). By the way, the more I think about it, Trees Lounge ended a lot like the final scene of The Sopranos (quick cut to black). The good news is you can get a used copy of the soundtrack at Amazon for under 4 bucks. It's even on CD. Who knew there was a soundtrack available for this movie? (Buscemi, who looks a lot like my Uncle Deacon now, really thought the end of the Sopranos was "Brilliant".)

"Down on Rodeo (Rhapsody Originals)" - Lindsey Buckingham

Lindsey's been in the news a lot lately, because even though Stevie Nicks won't write a tell-all about what a tortured genius the guy was, it turns out he had ANOTHER ex girl-friend who was ready to make some money off of their relationship. It's quite a book, Storms: My Life with Lindsey Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac by Carol Ann Harris. I guess I always knew Lindsey loved cocaine, but not THIS much. Great story about how he sat in Dick Clark's office at the American Music Awards and puked all over his floor and acted like nothing happened. Lindsey's got a lot more of Brian Wilson in him than people realize (although Mackenzie's brother Greg agrees with me in what an incredible guitarist he is). Turns out Lindsey would often play ALL the instruments on a lot of Fleetwood Mac stuff, become quite the physically abusive young man, and tease poor Stevie Nicks on stage in concerts following their breakup. The book got me interested in some of Lindsey's solo stuff, and he wound up doing 5 acoustic songs exclusively for Rhapsody. They're all good, but this is one of his new songs that I didn't get to hear on his recent tour. You're off the hook Bsmoked. Something you won't find in that book -- Lindsey was in Lincoln on that beautiful April day this past spring, but turns out that venue had horrible acoustics, and Lindsey packed up his shit and went home, claiming,

• "The venue clearly stated to Lindsey’s tour manager that Lindsey must use the existing sound gear as is. Even when Lindsey’s tour manager explained to the venue that the sound system in the building was not what was represented to Lindsey’s audio technicians when doing their "advance" on the show; they still refused to allow the additional gear to enter the building. Lindsey was at the venue when all of this went down and ended up returning to his hotel.This is the first time this has happened and Lindsey has been on tour promoting his new album "Under The Skin" since October 2006 and this is the first and only date that had to be canceled. Lindsey is very upset that his fans in Lincoln, NE will not get to see his show."

"Are You Alright?" - Lucinda Williams

From her great album entitled West, and yes, it's available on Itunes and worth your 99 cents. I wouldn't even know about this song if it weren't for the "Kennedy & Heidi" episode of The Sopranos (the one where Tony plays with Chrissy's nose), where the first 12 seconds of the song were used. You never even had a chance to hear the lyrics. I don't think there are any new books about Lucinda Williams, but she's in concert in Kansas City on Saturday night.

"All Night" - Sam Phillips

Turns out this little minx was a Christian recording artist in the '80's, but when the alternative scene took off, she said, "Fuck it, plug me in, there's no money in Jesus anyway." God's loss is our gain, and it turns out she even up and married T-Bone Burnett. And yes, her stuff is on Itunes.

"Razor Love" - Neil Young

How did I miss this one? Available from his "Silver and Gold" album, which is on both Rhapsody and Itunes. We should really appreciate Neil more than we do, but truth be told, he is one crazy fucker.

"Summer '68" - Pink Floyd

From the "Atom Heart Mother" album which was released in 1970, before they took off. Probably right about when that Syd Barrett when nuts and Roger Waters decided it was his show. The big reason I bring this one up, other than that I've been listening to it, is that it was one of those $1.29 songs on Itunes, as in, the quality is better than if you bought the 99 cent version. So what Itunes has now made official is that all of those compressed mp3's you bought for a buck weren't worth a shit, the sound and quality suffered, but now for 30 cents extra you finally hear your downloads they way you could on a remastered CD. Our man Bob Lefsetz has been begging for this shit for two years now. Don't think he hasn't written like 6 articles a day on this either.

"Jump Into the Fire (Full 7 Minute Version)" - Harry Nilsson

Harry Nilsson was John Lennon's favorite drunk. In fact, Lennon's infamous "Lost Weekend" became like a lost year because he had so much fun drinking Black Russians and the like with Nilsson. If you've ever seen old footage of the two of them together, you'd swear John never had a better time in his life than when Harry was stumbling on his arm. I wanted this song because of the way Scorsese used it in Goodfellas. Just the perfect marriage of music and film, and now it's a great interstate song, one you need to listen to cranked up and driving 85 in a 75 MPH zone. Harry drank himself to death by the way, but this song especially lives in. Available everywhere, including from those rat fucks at Itunes.

"Hang Me Up To Dry" - Cold War Kids

I can't even tell you anything about the Cold War Kids. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you about them. This song was one of those "Free Itunes Songs of the Week" way back when, and I never complain about the price on those things, so I gambled and won big. I do know they're a brand new band, but I guess Itunes free music selection aint like Dick Clark rating your song on the old American Bandstand now is it? Great track, I'm going to get into these fuckers more.

"Jeannie's Diary" - Eels

I just looked and this song has 28 plays in my itunes. Lefsetz told me about this one, and it's one catchy little ballad about a guy who says, "I don't have a chance at writing the book, I just want to be a page in Jeannie's Diary." Which reminds me, I'd like to be a chapter in the book of the woman who played Jeannie Sanders, Larry Sanders first wife. I had a thing for her, and she hasn't been in anything since.

"Oh, It Is Love" - Hellogoodbye

The sort of giddy little love song Paul McCartney used to always want to write when the Beatles first started. Play count on Itunes: Only 23, but moving up the charts. These guys are also proof that there are very few good band names left.

"Everybody Wants to Rule The World" - Don Henley

You read that headline correctly, and yes, it's THAT version of THAT song. Why on earth Henley's been covering this song in concert is beyond me. I mean, it's not like he doesn't have a big enough catalog of shit of his own to pick from. Henley's also covering Randy Newman on solo shows, but that's for another blog. You can't find this one anywhere, unless you request it from me and I'll send you the mp3 because this is what Cameron Crowe would call something that rhymes with the word Mootleg. The best part about it: It was obviously taped by someone in the audience, and as the song starts, you can hear a confused couple talking about Henley's song choice:

• "I didn't know he did this?"
• "Oh yeah. He did it with the Eagles."
• "No he didn't."
• (Pause) "Shit, you're right." (Long Pause) "This is fucking awesome."

Oh, and now the Eagles have their very own myspace page now. They're friends include quite a few extremely hot chicks, and a guy who looks like Jermaine Jackson circa 1984.