Spitball Army

If you’ve ever spent the Thanksgiving holiday away from family, spent the day travelling, or just plopped yourself down like a slug on the sofa all day, there is something for you to identify with in Ray Davies’ “Thanksgiving Day.”

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Bing doesn’t realize all the good fortune right under his nose. He’s finding it easier to mope around the inn, crooning and feeling sorry for himself. “You could melt her heart like butter…if you’d only turn on the heat,” says Mamie. You tell him, sister! At the very least, we – as viewers – get a great song out of the predicament.

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The Smothers Brothers were a blast, a blast back to the past. John Pizzarelli, while a talented musician and quite able entertainer, was apparently not who most of the people in attendance had come to see.

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This morning, friend Mae Robertson e-mailed me a link to a column authored by Mary Chapin Carpenter in The Washington Times. In her column, Chapin writes about the Liberty Mutual TV commercial that features Hem’s “Better Days,” and draws parallels between the subtle messages of the commercial and the ideology of the current political season, specifically Barack Obama’s oratory at the Democratic National Convention.

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I was left dangling at the end of a recent post, wanting to illustrate a musical description with an audio clip, but not being able to find it. Many thanks to the overactive online music community for this one.

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“All I’ve got is precious time,” W. Axl Rose sings in the title song of Guns N’ Roses’ new album, and he must be well aware of how that line sounds now. Mr. Rose, 46, the only remaining original member of Guns N’ Roses, needed 17 years, more than $13 million (as of 2005) and a battalion of musicians, producers and advisers to deliver “Chinese Democracy,” the first album of new Guns N’ Roses songs since 1991.

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The singer/songwriter sued McCain in August after the Republican candidate for the highest office in the land used his song, “Running on Empty,” in a campaign commercial that targeted Obama’s energy plan.

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I also have a really soft spot for Cornershop’s “Good Shit,” if only for its unabashed positive vibe. “Good shit’s all around, good people / Don’t let it get you down, good people / Good shit’s all around, it’s all around.” Repeat. Repeat. And if four-letter words aren’t your thing, the song’s got a groovy cross-cultural shang-a-lang beat going on that I know you won’t be able to resist.

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Chili in a bowl

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Speaking of No Depression, I was really sad when they “folded” late last year. Not only was their bi-monthly publication consistently interesting and well-written and filled with good humor and enthusiasm, but the small staff was a joy to deal with, from a retailer’s viewpoint.

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