Spitball Army

Birmingham Magazine‘s online music column recently proposed a playlist that would take listeners on a journey through the South.  In addition to posting their list, they opened up for reader submissions.  I posted one – a long one – but left out good ol’ Tennessee.  I also found, while compiling a list from my music library, that I hadn’t many songs to represent the Carolinas…what is up with that?  Surely there are a bunch of them out there!

Amyway, here is my complete playlist.  I’ve gone back in and corrected my Tennesseean omisseean.  A few of the more difficult-to-find tracks are included for your listening pleasure.  Feel free to share your lists, long or short, and to question my choices…I am prepared to discuss and defend every one of them!

“Put Me on the Trail to Carolina” (1960) – The Louvin Brothers
[audio:Louvin_Brothers___Put_Me_on_the_Trail_to_Carolina.mp3]
“Blue Ridge Mountains” (2008) – Fleet Foxes
“At a Dixie Roadside Diner” (1940) – Duke Ellington
[audio:Duke_Ellington___At_a_Dixie_Roadside_Diner.mp3]
“When It’s Sleepy Time Down South” (1959) – Billie Holiday
[audio:Billie_Holiday___When_Its_Sleepy_Time_Down_South.mp3]
“Georgia on My Mind” (1930) – Hoagy Carmichael
“Back to Georgia” (1972) – Loggins & Messina
“Love Shack” (1989) – The B-52’s
“The Southern Thing” (2002) – Drive-By Truckers
“Oh Atlanta” (1974) – Little Feat
“Alabama Rain” (1973) – Jim Croce
“Hey Mr. Cotton Picker” (1953) – Tennessee Ernie Ford
[audio:Tennessee_Ernie_Ford___Hey_Mr_Cotton_Picker.mp3]
“I Heard the Voice of a Porkchop” (1928) – Jim Jackson
[audio:Jim_Jackson___I_Heard_the_Voice_of_a_Porkchop.mp3]
“Fried Okra” (1968) – The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
[audio:Watts_103rd_Street_Rhythm_Band___Fried_Okra.mp3]
“Gulf Coast Highway” (1988) – Nanci Griffith
“Shrimp Boats” (1951) – Jo Stafford
[audio:Jo_Stafford___Shrimp_Boats.mp3]
“Angel from Montgomery” (1974) – Bonnie Raitt
“Birmingham Sunday” (1964) – Joan Baez
“Birmingham” (2003) – Patty Larkin
[audio:Patty_Larkin___Birmingham.mp3]
“Sparrows Over Birmingham” (2003) – Josh Rouse
“Alabama High-Test” (2008) – Old Crow Medicine Show
“Tennessee” (1992) – Arrested Development
“Tennessee Border No. 2” (1963) – Homer & Jethro
[audio:Homer_and_Jethro___Tennessee_Border_No_2.mp3]
“Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy” (1949) – Red Foley
[audio:Red_Foley___Chattanoogie_Shoe_Shine_Boy.mp3]
“Coat of Many Colors” (1971) – Dolly Parton
“Lebanon, Tennessee” (1995) – Ron Sexsmith
“5000 Country Music Songs” (2008) – Ry Cooder
“Nashville” (2004) – David Mead
“That’s How I Got to Memphis” (1993) – Ben Vaughn
[audio:Ben_Vaughn___Thats_How_I_Got_to_Memphis.mp3]
“Memphis, Tennessee” (1963) – The Beatles
“Memphis, Tennessee” (2008) – Mason Jennings
“Elvis Presley Blues” (2001) – Gillian Welch
“MLK” (1984) – U2
“Hot Barbecue” (1966) – Jack McDuff
“Down in Mississippi” (2007) – Mavis Staples
“Back to Tupelo” (2004) – Mark Knopfler
“Tupelo County Jail” (1958) – Webb Pierce
[audio:Webb_Pierce___Tupelo_County_Jail.mp3]
“Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi” (2001) – Jim White
“Oxford” (1993) – Alejandro Escovedo
“Cotton Fields” (1963) – Odetta
[audio:Odetta___Cotton_Fields.mp3]
“Talkin’ Casey Jones” (1966) – Mississippi John Hurt
[audio:Mississippi_John_Hurt___Talkin_Casey_Jones.mp3]
“Jackson” (2002) – Hem
“Roll On, Mississippi, Roll On” (1931) – The Boswell Sisters
[audio:Boswell_Sisters___Roll_On_Mississippi_Roll_On.mp3]
“Dixie Lily” (1974) – Elton John
“Walkin’ to New Orleans” (1960) – Fats Domino
“Down to New Orleans” (1985) – Mason Ruffner
[audio:Mason_Ruffner___Down_to_New_Orleans.mp3]
“I Put a Spell on You” (1956) – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
“Take Me to the Mardi Gras” (1973) – Paul Simon
“When the Saints Go Marching In” (1987) – Tuts Washington
[audio:Tuts_Washington___When_the_Saints_Go_Marching_In.mp3]
“City of New Orleans” (1972) – Arlo Guthrie
“Bus to Baton Rouge” (2001) – Lucinda Williams
“Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight” (1978) – Emmylou Harris
“The Last Mile of the Way” (1964) – The Soul Stirrers