5 Singles for a Rainy Day

Today was laundry day and since everything (archive-wise) is closed on Saturday there's not much to do today. It's also pouring rain outside. So here are 5 tracks for a rainy day. Since I certainly have my d'ruthers I'll try to keep it to songs you might not know, even if you know the artist.

Christy Moore - "Little Musgrave." Whether solo, or with Irish supergroup Planxty this is a soft, mellow song that has a great melody. A song about infidelity and retribution. Timeless themes, which is evident that the lyrics come from a 17th or 18th century poem (or something along those lines). The story is in the clip. Check it out.

Wake The Dead - "Sugaree." Originally a Hunter-Garcia song, this band plays Dead tunes with Celtic arrangements and instruments. Very cool.

Paul Pena - "Center of Asia." Paul Pena was an amazing individual and songwriter. He wrote the original "Jet Airliner," the song made famous by The Steve Miller Band. Pena was blind and taught himself Tuvan throat-singing. The documentary Ghengis Blues documents his trip to Tuva, where Paul wrote and performed this song.

Eric Clapton - "Over The Rainbow." Sure, I know what you're thinking - the Lunchbox has gone soft. But Clapton does a great version of this classic. I remember seeing him on the Reptile tour at the Palace of Auburn Hills. He finished his set with a blistering "Sunshine For Your Love" then came back for an encore, pulled out a stool, grabbed an acoustic guitar [at least I thought at the time. Looking at the above clip it's actually a hollow body electric, but that's a mere formality], and played this jazzy version of "Over The Rainbow." I was floored. It was pure genius. A version is available on the live album "One More Car, One More Rider."

Pearl Jam - "Thumbing My Way." I'm most familiar with the version from "Live at Benaroyal Hall" but the original is on "Riot Act," which I understand might not be one of their best records. I think it's fine though. Regardless, this is a great song.

So there you have it. By no means a "Top 5" a la High Fidelity, but a good list for what it's worth (not the Buffalo Springfield song, of course).