The Kentucky Derby on Saturday provided the reason we heard the first two tracks on this show, and the Stones tune combines a bit of country twang with a sad story, so that's how we made the jump to Mary Gauthier. Her excellent new disc will be available in a few weeks; she was put up for adoption by her mother immediately after being born, and she has written an album's worth of songs that are autobiographical in nature. It's intense stuff, but beautiful as well, and the one we heard has some nice brass accompaniment that brought to mind the Elvis Perkins tune from his last disc that has a brass band wandering on by about half-way through. From there it was on to Peter Case having difficulty forgetting somebody from his past followed by Inara George struggling with her own relationship issues, which left us with Yo La Tengo covering a sort-of Bob Dylan love song to close the circle.

The Bruce Springsteen tune that opened this section came to mind after I heard the instrumental track that followed from the new Broken Social Scene disc; early on somebody in the band yells "Let's go" (or something similar, I've forgotten for the moment precisely what it is), which is certainly a Springsteen-like thing to do. The Arcade Fire song also has a similar exhortation near the beginning, and it shares the same propulsive rhythm as well. From there David Bowie maintained the forward momentum, as did Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 from their latest disc. A little bit of backwards voice at the end of that one paved the way for the Beatles with John Lennon singing backwards on the fade, and then we heard Oasis showing their love of the Fab Four to finish up.

I haven't been all that much of a Merle Haggard fan over the years, but I did find some tracks on his new disc that I liked, including one that seemed to work well into John Doe and the Sadies covering an older Haggard tune. From there it was on to another Jason & the Scorchers as we make our way through their latest disc; this time we heard one that conjured up an old Neil Young tune. That led to a couple of duets on Don Gibson songs: Rosanne Cash and Bruce Springsteen followed by M. Ward assisted by Lucinda Williams (on a tune that's probably best known through Neil Young's version). Completing the set was a track by Wilco from their last disc that I overlooked for awhile into an old chestnut from Simon & Garfunkel, which kind of brought us back thematically to where we started.

The final portion of this program grew out of the Quadron track, which brought an old Sly & the Family Stone track bobbing to the surface when I first heard it. The Sly track came out of one from the new Mose Allison disc to start, and although it was a bit of a stretch stylistically, I was happy with the end result. The Quadron tune introduced some strings to the mix, which is how Jens Lekman entered the picture with his obvious fondness for '70s Philly Soul. Then we heard Bryan Ferry's very enjoyable cover of a Wilson Pickett hit from the Stax days in the '60s, which was followed by Spoon locked into a groove from their latest. As we neared the end the rhythm was still predominant, although Joseph Arthur added some hazy layers to soften it a bit, which paved the way for the Books featuring Jose Gonzalez on an old Nick Drake tune to bring down the curtain.

Here's the complete playist.

NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
BOB DYLAN . . . . . All The Tired Horses . . . . . Self Portrait
THE ROLLING STONES . . . . . Dead Flowers . . . . . Sticky Fingers
MARY GAUTHIER . . . . . Sideshow . . . . . The Foundling
ELVIS PERKINS . . . . . Send My Fond Regards To Lonelyville . . . . . Elvis Perkins in Dearland
PETER CASE . . . . . I Hear Your Voice . . . . . Beeline
INARA GEORGE . . . . . Bottlecaps . . . . . Bottlecaps
YO LA TENGO . . . . . Fourth Time Around . . . . . I'm Not There

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND . . . . . Badlands . . . . . Live: 1975-85 (3CD)
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE . . . . . Meet Me In The Basement . . . . . Forgiveness Rock Record
ARCADE FIRE . . . . . No Cars Go . . . . . Neon Bible
DAVID BOWIE . . . . . A Better Future . . . . . Heroes
ROBYN HITCHCOCK & THE VENUS 3 . . . . . Sickie Boy . . . . . Propellor Time (Dig)
THE BEATLES . . . . . Rain . . . . . Past Masters (Remastered)
OASIS . . . . . To Where There’s Life . . . . . Dig Out Your Soul

MERLE HAGGARD . . . . . I’ve Seen It Go Away . . . . . I Am What I Am
JOHN DOE AND THE SADIES . . . . . Are The Good Times Really Over For Good . . . . . Country Club
JASON & THE SCORCHERS . . . . . Days Of Wine And Roses . . . . . Halcyon Times
NEIL YOUNG . . . . . Don’t Cry No Tears . . . . . Zuma
ROSANNE CASH AND BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN . . . . . Sea Of Heartbreak . . . . . The List
M. WARD AND LUCINDA WILLIAMS . . . . . Oh Lonesome Me . . . . . Hold Time
WILCO . . . . . Country Disappeared . . . . . Wilco (The Album)
SIMON & GARFUNKEL . . . . . America . . . . . Bookends

MOSE ALLISON . . . . . Everybody Thinks You’re An Angel . . . . . Way of the World
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE . . . . . If You Want Me To Stay . . . . . Essential Sly & Family Stone
QUADRON . . . . . Average Fruit . . . . . Quadron
JENS LEKMAN . . . . . Sipping On The Sweet Nectar . . . . . Night Falls Over Kortedala
BRYAN FERRY . . . . . Midnight Hour . . . . . Street Life: 20 Great Hits
SPOON . . . . . Out Go The Lights . . . . . Transference
JOSEPH ARTHUR . . . . . Dream Of The Eternal Light . . . . . Crazy Rain
THE BOOKS FEATURING JOSE GONZALEZ . . . . . Cello Song . . . . . Dark Was the Night

Here's another one from Simon & Garfunkel

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