Some Useless Information to Fire Your Imagination

The other day, in my current state of nagging frustration, I found myself drinking coffee pre-dawn in my kitchen listening to the ipod on shuffle and contemplating what lay ahead for another day. Just then, "No Satisfaction" by Black Mountain came up and reentered my consciousness after a lengthy absence. "Oh yeah, " I thought. "How is it that Steve Jobs always knows what I need to hear?"

No Satisfaction = Frustration.
Thanks for reminding me.

The ipod is insidious in it's ability to pull things out of the air - like a vague or general horoscope that's been programmed by you. Maybe I'm just impressionable, or find it hard to ignore coincidence. Satisfaction is the humblest and most realistic of aspirations. It is way below the spiritual quest for enlightenment, transcendence, serenity, bliss or whatever it is we try to strive for in our lives - or maybe it's all the same. In frustration, we find these states to be transitory or just out reach. Here's some songs that look at the notion of what satisfaction is or more often is not, and what that feeling is if we don't get what we want. So, with that said, "let's light up your town and get things happening"

Download:

"No Satisfaction" mp3
by Black Mountain, 2005.
available on Black Mountain

"Satisfaction" mp3
by Ken Boothe, 1968.
available on Freedom Street

"What I'll Do For Satisfaction" mp3
by Johnny Daye, 1967.
available on The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968

"I'll Be Satisfied" mp3
by Don Covay, 1965.
available on Mercy!/See-Saw

"Just To Satisfy You" mp3
by Waylon Jennings, 1969.
available on The Essential Waylon Jennings

"Dissatisfied" mp3
by Sonny Boy Williamson, 1957.
available on Down and Out Blues

"Unsatisfied" mp3
by The Replacements, 1984.
available on Let It Be

"I Can't Be Satisfied" mp3
by Muddy Waters, 1947.
available on The Definitive Collection

"Satisfied Mind" mp3
by Jonathan Richman, 1992.
available on Jonathan Goes Country

"Uptight / Satisfaction" mp3
by Stevie Wonder with The Rolling Stones, 1972.
available on Keep Your Motor Runnin'
bootleg

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BONUS
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"You Can't Always Get What You Want" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1968.
available on Could You Walk On Water
bootleg - different stereo mix

Elvis 1969

In the very first post here on the Boogie Woogie Flu, we listened to some records that more than likely Elvis had in his record collection. Today we'll do the same, with a few of the tracks Elvis recorded on The Memphis Record in 1969 - the greatest recordings and best batch of songs he cut outside of his Sun sessions. Elvis, fearing he'd lost his vitality with the younger portion of the record buying public, returned to Memphis to make this record with the very hot American Studio house band, produced by "Chips" Moman. Neil Diamond had been at American the previous year to record "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show"and "Sweet Caroline." Dusty Springfield would be in after Elvis (I think) to record Dusty In Memphis, as were a cavalcade of other stars preceding and following Elvis's sessions including Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Dionne Warwick, The Box Tops, James Carr and B.J. Thomas. They were churning out the hits. The Memphis strategy worked for Elvis and he had three top ten hits from this record, including "Suspicious Minds" which was his first #1 since 1962. So, let's boldly spin the axis of Elvis and listen to some tracks from The Memphis Record, some artists who recorded these songs first, and the some post-Elvis versions.

Please enjoy.

Download:

"Any Day Now" mp3
"Suspicious Minds" mp3
"Long Black Limousine" mp3
"I'm Movin' On" mp3
"Gentle On My Mind" mp3
"True Love Travels on A Gravel Road" mp3

Elvis Presley
from The Memphis Record, 1969.
Buy at Amazon or at your local independently owned record store.

Download:

"Any Day Now" mp3
by Chuck Jackson
available on The Very Best of Chuck Jackson 1961-1967

"Suspicious Minds" mp3
by Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, 1976.
available on Wanted! The Outlaws

"Long Black Limousine" mp3
by Wynn Stewart, 1958.
available on California Country

"I'm Movin' On" mp3
by Hank Snow, 1950.
available on RCA Country Legends

"Gentle On My Mind" mp3
by Glen Campbell, 1967.
available on Gentle On My Mind

"True Love Travels on a Gravel Road" mp3
by Nick Lowe, 1994.
available on The Impossible Bird

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Bonus:

Yet another (and maybe the best) version of Joe South's classic, also recorded at American Studio with "Chips" Moman and company. Brenda Lee recorded the great country soul LP Memphis Portrait there on the heels of Dusty In Memphis. Pick it up if you can find a copy.

"Walk a Mile In My Shoes" mp3
by Brenda Lee, 1970.
available on Memphis Portrait
Out of Print

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For more on American Studio in Memphis TN,
check out the Soulful Music blog.