Czahr’s Summer Playlist for Project 3
Years ago I made a mixtape for friends called Summer and it contained, of course, songs about summer. It was one of the most well-recieved mixes I ever made and I always wanted to make a Summer 2. This playlist is a mix of songs from that first mix tape as well as other songs I've soaked up since then and plan to put on another mix, if and when I ever get around to making it. Summer isn't my favorite season (Spring/Fall tied, Summer, Winter is how I roll) but there are a lot of excellent songs out there dedicated to the season, and it’s summer now.
This playlist begins with an often overlooked Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass track that Herb sings on - something that didn't happen often. I've been listening to the TJB since high school. Back then, as a prank, I would put on one of my parent's TJB records right before friends would come over so I could enjoy their "What the fuck are you listening to?" reactions. Suddenly I realized I actually really liked it and it stopped being a joke. I didn't come across the TJB album Summertime until 1995 when I found the vinyl, still sealed, at a Salvation Army store in West St. Paul. Until the song Summertime, I had never heard a TJB song that had vocals. It kind of blew my mind, made me wonder what other TJB surprises there were, and kicked off a desire to find every TJB album on vinyl - which I succeeded in doing over the course of a few years (sounds easy because TJB is ubiquitous at thrift stores, but only the popular albums - it took forever to locate most of the releases from 1969-1973).
My friend Christian Fritz, who some of you probably know, turned me on to Lee Hazelwood in the early 00's. I had never heard of him. I also wasn't really familiar with Nancy Sinatra aside from These Boots are Made for Walkin', and even then I was more familiar with the Crispin Glover version of the song. Lee and Nancy's duets are filled with delicious 60's cheese. Like certain cheeses it's not something I'm always in the mood for but when I'm in the mood it is so good. Lee's deep, buttery voice works well with Nancy's slightly acrid and harder edged voice. Whether or not it was intentional, I have always viewed The Handsome Family's song Far From Any Road as an homage to Summer Wine.
"It's Summertime, and I can understand if you still feel sad." The Flaming Lips. What can I say? They're absolute heroes of mine in terms of lyrics, soundscapes, instrumentation, art installations and album packaging. It's Summertime is a simple and pretty little song from Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the album that had the great misfortune of following The Soft Bulletin. I like the album just as much as Soft Bulletin these days, but back when it came out the general consensus seemed to be, "I like it, but it's no Soft Bulletin."
Janes Addiction were so cool when I was in high school. Being a kid that went from listening to hair metal and thrash metal one summer to Bob Dylan/Beatles/Doors/Dinosaur Jr./Sonic Youth the next, Janes Addiction (and Faith No More) helped bridge that gap and fit perfectly into where my tastes were at the time. Summertime Rolls almost felt unremarkable back then. It was the song that sounded best high in a bedroom with friends, during those moments where everyone was pretty much done for the night and just sort of digesting munchies and staring into the abyss. Today it's my favorite Janes song.
The Tree of Forgiveness is one of John Prine's last albums, and he did it after having part of his lungs removed. After so many decades of creating great songs, he was still pretty much doing the same thing he always did right up until the end. Whether you like his stuff or not, it's inspiring. It's not really the performance or his singing that strikes me with Summer's End, so much as the melody and the lyrics. The melody gets stuck in my head and I've wanted to cover it myself. It's summer right now and we're still in the midst of Covid, which is what took John Prine's life. It seemed a fitting song to end the playlist with.
-czahr
