BEST MUSIC: 2014, with Music Players!

T E M P L E S

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ALL THE
REAL MUSIC!

Swipe away all those trendy-indie
'Best Music' lists that taste like envelopes!

These jams will displace your cabeza
and unloose your caboose!

Shortcut to Music Players:
• BEST ALBUMS: 2014
• COOL SONGS: 2014
• BEST REISSUES: 2014

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B E S T
N E W
A L B U M S :
2 0 1 4

BEST ALBUMS 2016
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

This music player has songs from the following albums, in the same order.

• The Shakers, "A Whole Lotta Shakers"
MerseyBeat.
Perfect early-'60s jangle pop made now.

(See also: The Beatles, The Spongetones, The Kaisers)

• Temples, "Sun Structures"
Psyche Pop.
1967 was so lush that its sonic possibilities are still expanding in new acts.

(See also: Flaming Lips, Jacco Gardner, Claypool Lennon Delirium)

• The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, "Midnight Sun"
French Baroque Pop.
Sean Ono Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl take up where Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin left off.

(See also: Jacques Dutronc, La Femme, French Boutik)

• Cibo Matto, "Hotel Valentine"
Indie Eclectic.
Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda return, blenderizing every style into smart pop you can dance to.

(See also: Beastie Boys, Super Junky Monkey, eX-Girl)

• Tackhead, "For the Love of Money"
Timeless Funk.
The Rap/Industrial pioneers return with an album of classic cover songs.

(See also: The Pop Group, Adrian Sherwood, Living Colour)

• Pixies, "Indie Cindy"
Alt-Rock redux.
The return album for the hargingers of Alternative Rock.

(See also: Sonic Youth, Breeders, Nirvana)

• Thee Oh Sees, "Drop"
Prog Psyche.
In the sense of progressively mercurial with sliquid chops.

(See also: Primus, Ty Segall, Meatbodies)

• Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings, "Give the People What They Want"
Classic Soul.
Real Soul for right now.

(See also: Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, Durand Jones And The Indications)

• Stephen Rennicks, "Frank" (soundtrack)
Experimental Rock.
Michael Fassbender and The Soronprfbs tearing it all up to collage something new.

(See also: Syd Barrett, Captain Beefheart, Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom)

• The Love Me Nots, "Sucker"
Garage Rock.
Gutpunch guitarz, screaching farfisa, and righteous yowl.

(See also: Thee Headcoatees, Motobunny, The Darts [U.S.])

• Karl Hector And The Malcouns, "Unstraight Ahead"
German AfroBeat.
A slippery combo zoomeranging through German Prog, Psyche, and African Funk.

(See also: Fela, Antibalas, Warsaw Afrobeat Orchestra)

• The New Pornographers, "Brill Bruisers"
Pop 2.0.
If catchy Pop were math, this smart band is doing calculus with it.

(See also: Sloan, Spoon, Neko Case, A.J. Newman)

• Calibro 35, "Sogni Di Gloria" (soundtrack)
Italian Soundtrack.
The band who sounds like '60s-'70s Cinecitta soundtracks makes an actual soundtrack.

(See also: Ennio Morricone, Danniele Luppi, Guess What)

• Kandle, "In Flames"
TripHop 2.0.
Kandle Osborne makes cinematic moodscapes, both seductive and eerie.

(See also: John Barry, Portishead, Unloved)

• St. Vincent, "St. Vincent"
Indie Rock.
Annie Clark keeps reinventing what you can do with modern approaches to alternative songcraft.

(See also: Anne Peacock, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Angel Olsen)

• Lee Fields and The Expressions, "Emma Jean"
Classic Soul.
That perfect sound from the early-'70s, fresh as oxygen.

(See also: Bobby "Blue" Bland, O.V. Wright, Bobby King and Terry Evans)

• La Sera, "Hour of the Dawn"
Lofi Power Pop.
This time, Katy Goodman's (Vivian Girls) side-project radiates with slashing fuzz and glowing harmonies.

(See also: Tacocat, Las Robertas, Bleached)

• Morgan Delt, "Morgan Delt"
Psychedelicatessen.
Sharp tunes, mindwarp atmospherics, and a timeless odyssey.

(See also: Black Moth Super Rainbow, Fay Hallam, Caleb Landry Jones)

• Dum Dum Girls, "Too True"
Lofi Pop.
The lofi garage seems more shiny, cleaner, and hooky this time around.

(See also: The Jesus And Mary Chain, Transvision Vamp, The Raveonettes)

• Rival Sons, "Great Western Valkyrie"
Classic Rock.
Huge blues-rock riffs with Viking vocals and Paul Bunyan stomp.

(See also: Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Wolfmother)

• Kae Tempest, "Everybody Down"
HipHop Next.
The smartest Rap album yet made, telling a cycle of intricate short stories that quietly become a mosaic novel told out of sequence. No one has done that before, and few could match.

(See also: Flannery O'Connor, Jack Kerouac, Nikki Giovanni)

• Curtis Harding, "Soul Power"
Psyche Soul.
Gritty as Pickett, smooth as Cooke, varied as Whitfield, fearless as Sly.

(See also: The Temptations, The Black Lips, Black Pumas)

• The Black Keys, "Turn Blue"
Psyche Soul.
Relaxing sidelong off of the Blues swagger, our duo go on a blissful and soulful holiday.

(See also: Pink Floyd, The Undisputed Truth, The Shelters)

• Vashti Bunyan, "Heartleap"
Ethereal Folk.
Vashti made a classic folk album (1970), returned timeless with another in 2005, and now bows out with this lovely song cycle.

(See also: Linda Perhacs, Sandy Denny, Weyes Blood)

• Liam Bailey, "Definitely Now"
Soulful cornucopia.
A sandy singer from Engand at home in any style, always passionate and moving.

(See also: Roy Harper, Paul Weller, Michael Kiwanuka)

• Beverly, "Careers"
Noisy Pop.
Frankie Rose and Drew Citron go sidebar with a solo outing, with guitar hooks and upbeat drums.

(See also: Vivian Girls, The She's, September Girls)

• Wilko Johnson And Roger Daltrey, "Going Back Home"
Maximum R'n'B.
Wilko Johnson (Dr. Feelgood) and Roger Daltrey (you know Who) go back to R'n'B basics and kick the paint right off the walls.

(See also: The Animals, The Pretty Things, The Bluesbreakers)

• Ibibio Sound Machine, "Ibibio Sound Machine"
World Electro.
Sounds like the best AfroBeat TechnoFunk Electroclash band from the '80s that should have existed, and now does.

(See also: The Lijadu Sisters, William Onyeabor, Fantasma)

• Danielia Cotton, "The Real Book"
Blues Rock.
Danielia is one of the toughest Blues guitarists and soulful singers around, and this collection of cover versions expands her breadth.

(See also: Shemekia Copeland, Samantha Fish, Thornetta Davis)

• Jim Noir, "Finnish Line"
Beat Pop.
Canny popsmith goes full late-Beatles in his latest exploration.

(See also: The Moons, Diamond Hands, Sitcom Neighbor)

• The Absolude, "The Silence Between Two Steps"
Mod / Garage.
Japanese quartet turns this go-go club inside out.

(See also: The Jikens, The Midnight TV Programs, Bigmama Shockin' 3)

• Lake Street Drive, "Bad Self Portraits"
New Soul.
Catchy songs, acerbic wit, brassy vocals, and grab-bag grooves sound like a 1973 band recorded a bit too smoothly in 1979.

(See also: Bonnie Raitt, Leon Bridges, Mayer Hawthorne)

• Goat, "Commune"
WorldBeat Psyche.
A mysterious Swedish collective, churning out psychedelic epics with all the percussive rhythms on the planet at once.

(See also: the drummers of Burundi, Can, Kikagaku Moyo)

• Linda Perhacs, "The Soul Of All Natural Things"
Angel Folk.
Like Vashti Bunyan, Linda released a classic Folk album in 1970 that everyone missed. A growing cult following across time has brought her back, with more angelic harmonies.

(See also: early Joni Mitchell, Julianna Barwick, Weyes Blood)

• Young Fathers, "Dead"
Indie Word.
Scottish trio go beyond Alt-Rap to vistas of electronica, abrasion, and ambient.

(See also: Chocolate Genius, Kae Tempest)

• Noura Mint Seymali, "Tzenni"
Desert Blues.
An actual Mauritanian griot, the singer soars in shifting tones over quick-step rhythms.

(See also: Oumou Sangaré, Tinariwen, Les Amazones d'Afrique)

• St. Paul And The Broken Bones, "Half The City"
New Soul.
The Alabama army brashly flexes their Muscle Shoals, with smokey vocals, blast horns, and bounding grooves.

(See also: JC Brooks And The Uptown Sound, Nathaniel Rateliff And The Night Sweats, Kyle Lacy)

• The Grits, "Make A Sound"
Garage-y Soul.
Hickory-smoked funkiness with strung snarl and touches of TripHop electronics.

(See also: Morcheeba, Ikebe Showdown, Seratones)

• Cambodian Space Project, "Whiskey Cambodia"
Cambodia Psyche.
Produced by famed psyche-soul guitarist Dennis Coffey, these party-stompers exude groove from a whole new angle.

(See also: Ros Sereysothea, Dengue Fever)

• Kelis, "Food"
Are And Be.
As chameleonic as Janelle Monae without the press, the chef graduate concocts refreshment out of traditional ingredients.

(See also: The Neptunes, TV On The Radio)

• Lana Del Rey, "Ultraviolence"
TripPop.
No one-hit wonder, Lana emerges as a fully-rounded songwriter of moody melodies and arch wit.

(See also: Tori Amos, Portishead, Fionna Apple)

• Elephant Stone, "Three Poisons"
India Psyche.
Rishi Dhir (The High Dials) spliffs psychedelia with it natural ancestor, Indian classical, to waft on tripscapes.

(See also: George Harrison, Ananda Shankar, Mien)

• Deerhoof, "La Isla Bonita"
Algebraic Pop.
Like candy wrapped up in a tesseract box, more happy melodies refracted into new dimensions by every style that's ever happened.

(See also: Captain Beefheart, Guerilla Toss, White Denim)

• The Bots, "Pink Palms"
Alt Rock.
The young Lei brothers branch out, going beyond garage thrash-outs into Indie territory.

(See also: Bad Brains, Yeah Yeah Yeahs)


• Beck, "Morning Phase"
Indie Folk.
After an absence, Beck makes a spiritual bookend to his "Sea Change" (2001). This time the introspective Folk is mellower, warmer, quietly more optimistic.

(See also: Nick Drake, Serge Gainsbourg, Julie Byrne)

• Flying Lotus, "You're Dead"
Abstract HipHop.
If Coltrane was 'sheets of sound', mixmaster Steven Ellison torrents sheets of noize. Complex maelstroms of dub, avant jazz, EDM, and hiphop, this time with special guests like Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington.

(See also: Gettovetts, Nephlim Modulation Systems, Thundercat)

• Quilt, "Held In Splendor"
Psyche Pop.
The trio finds themselves, advancing their dreamy folk with fresh dynamics and varied range.

(See also: The Mamas And The Papas, Daughters Of Albion, Melody's Echo Chamber)

• Weyes Blood, "The Innocents"
Choral Folk.
Natalie Mering is unique, creating new beauty. She builds Folk foundations into stately madrigals, soaring on ambient waves.

(See also: "Songs To Aging Children Come", "Both Sides Now", "Orinoco Flow")

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C O O L
S O N G S :
2 0 1 4

All the REAL MUSIC
beyond the box!

Nevermind Gloss Pop, Stepford Idols, Karaoke Choruses ("woh-oo-oh"), Ego Brats, Emo Prats, Plinky Folk, Brittle Bombast, Vegas Country, Smug Thug, Mope Noodling, De-mixed Throb, and Robot-o-Tune schlock! >

Here's the
D R E A M
J U K E B O X !
Party out with more bounce to the ounce
than a bounce house!

COOL SONGS 2014
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.
This jukebox is sequenced into groups of sound, instead of randomly.
All the songs elasticize their genres.
Get your groove on in this sonic order.:
Rockabilly! Surf! Beat! Garage!

Psyche! Classic Rock! Glam! Alt-Roots!

Blues! Soul! Funk! World!

Africanarama! Riot Grrrl! Alt-Rock! Electro!

Alt-Rap! Cinematic! Cover Songs!

The She's; Tinariwen;
Flying Lotus; 'Frank'

12 hours of mind-spasmic, elastic-ass music, featuring the following fine folks in this exact order!:

• Rockabilly! • Pike Cavalero, JW Jones, Dex Romweber Duo, Imelda May, Lee Bains III And The Glory Fires, Black Lips, The Coathangers.

• Surf / Girl Group! • Beverly, The She's, Allah-Las, The Concussions, The Terrorsaurs, and Bell And Sebastian

• Beat / Garage! • The Beat Rats, Blaire Alise And The Bombshells, The Shakers, The Muffs, The Absolude, Nikki Lane, La Sera, The Fleshtones, Miss Chain And The Broken Heels, The Love Me Nots, MotoBunny, Las Aspiradoras, King Tuff, Reigning Sound, and Suzi Chunk + Groovy Uncle.

• Beatlesque / Psyche! • Quilt, Angel Olsen, The Proper Ornaments, Marianne Faithfull, Linus Of Hollywood, New Electric Ride, Temples, Hangabouts, Doug Tuttle, Morgan Delt, Jim Noir, Paul McCartney, The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger, Doug Gillard, The Soronprfbs feat. Michael Fassbender, Foxygen, FREEMAN, Tame Impala, Gruff Rhys, Triggerfinger, Meatbodies, The Flaming Lips, Elephant Stone, Blues Pills, and Ex Hex.

• Classic Rock / Glam! • Rival Sons, Liam Bailey, Sallie Ford, Lenny Kravitz, Thee Oh Sees, Electric Wurms, Burning Palms, Electric Wizard, Gong, The Oath, The Socks, The Budos Band, Decoders, and Goat.

• Alt-Roots! • The Secret Sisters, Father John Misty, Vashti Bunyan, Linda Perhacs, Weyes Blood, Beck, Lana Del Rey, Moses Sumney, Jesca Hoop, Neil Young, Lanie Lane, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Hozier, and Sharon Van Etten.

• Blues! • The Preatures, She Keeps Bees, Gary Clark Jr, Andrea Schroeder, Jack White, Thorbjørn Risager, Vintage Trouble, Benjamin Booker, The Holmes Brothers, Bobby Rush, Jarekus Singleton, Lucky Peterson, The Claudettes, and Naomi Shelton And The Gospel Queens.

• Soul! • Eden Brent, Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings, D'Angelo, The Black Keys, Lee Fields And The Expressions, Metronomy, Avery*Sunshine, St. Paul And The Broken Bones, Lake Street Dive, Aloe Blacc, Flearoy, Wilko Johnson, Curtis Harding, and Janiva Magness.

• Funk! • Ava Luna, Analog Son, The Getup, Shawn Lee, The New Mastersounds, Cibo Matto, The Ting Tings, Big Ol' Dirty Bucket, Earphunk, Kung Fu, The Grits, Rock Candy Funk Party, Frank Deruytter, Freekbass, Elizabeth Shepherd, Mingo FishtrapKelis, Damaged Bug, and Joan As Police Woman.

• World! • Hollie Cook, Toumani Diabaté, Glenn Tilbrook, Olga Bell, Noura Mint Seymali, The Cambodian Space Project, and Toulouse Engelhardt.

• Africanarama! • Tony Allen, Sinéad O'Connor with Seun Kuti, Seun Kuti, Eno • Hyde, Ibibio Sound Machine, Karl Hector And The Malcouns, Tune-Yards, Wildbirds And Peacedrums, Kasai Allstars, Tinariwen, and Goat.

• Riot Grrrl! • The Reprobettes, Girlpool, Shonen Knife, Slutever, Bleached, Arum Rae, The Love Me Nots, Sleater-Kinney, Ex Hex, and The Pack a.d.

• Alt-Rock! • Pixies, Majestico, Deerhoof, Band Of Skulls, Dum Dum Girls, The New Pornographers, The Bots, St. Vincent, Liam Finn, The Julie Ruin.

• Electro! • Damien Jurado, OOIOO, Moon Duo, Cold Specks, and Damaged Bug.

• Alt-Rap! • Kae Tempest, THEESatisfaction, Sleaford Mods, Prince, Young Fathers, Courtney Barnett, and Flying Lotus.

• Cinematic! • The Soundcarriers, Shawn Lee, Jakob Skøtt, Timber Timbre, Groovy Uncle, Caro Emerald, Kandle, Cold Specks, Little May, Calibro 35, Sabina, Whitehorse, La Sera, and Bear McCreary.

• Cover Songs! • List = Original By / Cover Artist
Songs are sequenced in the chronological order of the Originals.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins / Annie Lennox • The Chantays / Bill Frisell • Chuck Berry / The Shakers • Jimmy Hughes / JD McPherson • The Beatles / The Cactus Blossoms • The Beatles / Bob Dylan • Bob Dylan / Kočani Orkestar • The Beatles / The Flaming Lips, ft. Miley Cyrus + Moby • Gene Clark / Miriam • Linda Lyndell / Jessica Mauboy • The Small Faces / La La Brooks • The Rolling Stones / Danielia Cotton • Black Sabbath / Brownout • "Willie Wonka" / Primus • John Lennon / Orenda Fink • The O'Jays / Tackhead • The Spinners / Devon Allman • Paul McCartney + Wings / Rapper's Delight • Bootsy's Rubber Band / Funkadelic • The Rolling Stones / The Mighty Mocambos, with Afrika Bambaataa, Charlie Funk, and Deejay Snoop • Suicide / Anna Calvi • Tears For Fears / Lucius • Peter Gabriel / The Brand New Heavies • Ty Segall / Nick Waterhouse

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B E S T
R E I S S U E S :
2 0 1 4

Quality is timeless.

"Many have forgotten what we came here for
Never knew or had a clue so you're on the floor
Just growin', not knowin' about your past
Now you're lookin' pretty stupid while you're shakin' your ass!"
-Public Enemy (1986)


BEST REISSUES 2014
by Tym Stevens
This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

This music player has songs from the following albums, in the same order.

• 1960s •

• Phil Phillips, "Sea Of Love: The Collection" (late '50s-early '60s)
He sued his shady publishers, and his album went unreleased... until now.

• Bob Dylan and The Band, "The Basement Tapes: The Bootlet Series, Vol. 11" (1967)
An offical expansion of the famed sessions, which changed his career, ignited theirs, and shifted everyone from Psyche to Roots.

• Barbara Lynn, "Here Is Barbara Lynn" (1968)
Texas Blues guitarist and Soul singer's classic album.

• George Harrison, "The Apple Years 1968-75" box set
The albums from the first half of George's solo years, with added tracks.

• Various Artists, "I'm Just Like You: Sly's Stone Flower 1969-1970"
The great Funk singles Sly produced for acts like Little Sister, Joe Hicks, and 6ix.

• 1970s •

• Led Zeppelin, "Led Zeppelin I", "Led Zeppelin II", "Led Zeppelin III", "Led Zeppelin IV", "Houses of the Holy" (1969-1973)
Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove!
New remasters of the albums, supplemented with alternate versions of each album composed of unused takes.

• Donny Hathaway, "Never My Love: The Anthology" (1970s)
The soulful piana man getting props.

• Victor Brady, "Brown Rain" (1970)
An Acid Rock album of various styles, centered around a steel drummer.

• Miles Davis, , "Miles at the Fillmore: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 3" (1970)
The big bang of Fusion, live and mutating.

• Lee Moses, , "Free And Easy" (1971)
Unsung Soul man gets some spotlight.

• Various Artists, "SOUL JAZZ Records Presents: New Orleans Funk 3" (1970s)
With its syncopated rhythms and rollicking spirit, New Orleans Funk is vital and unique.

• Elton John, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (1973)
One of Rock's most essential and successful double-albums.

• Wings, "Venus and Mars" (1975), "At the Speed of Sound" (1976)
New remasters of McCartney's band. The unsung "Venus and Mars" finds him crossing "Abbey Road" with Prog Rock verve.

• Various Artists, "PUNK ON 45: Sick On You! One Way Spit! After the Love and Before the Revolution, Vol. 3: Proto-Punk 1969-76"
Another volume proving Punk was a direct child of all the trash rock movements before it.

• Various Artists, "Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1" (soundtrack)
The smart and fun film got much of its bounce from this canny soundtrack of '70s classics.

• Various Artists, "Angola Soundtrack: The Unique Sounds of Luanda 1968-1976"
African rock bands, who lasted longer here while movements in sister nations succumbed to oppression.

• Wire, "Document and Eyewitness" (1979, 1980)
A reissue of the rare 'fourth' album, a live recording in which the band played exclusive songs that didn't get captured in the studio.

• 1980s •

• Grace Jones, "Nightclubbing (1980)
THE Grace Jones record, with covers of Bill Withers, Iggy Pop, Sting, and Marianne Faithfull.

• Cybotron, "Enter" (1983)
Original School Electro, with cut-up beats and vocoders galore.

• Plasticland, "Plasticland" (1986)
Garage Psyche from subversive punks parallel to the Paisley Underground.

• Public Enemy, "It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back" (1988), "Fear of a Black Planet" (1990)
The apex of the best Rap band of all time.

• Pixies, "Doolittle 25: B Sides, Peel Sessions, and Demos" (1989)
A deluxe remastering and expansion of the essential Pixies album.

• 1990s, 2000s •

• Soundgarden, "Superunknown" (1994), "Echo of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across the Path" (1990s)
The essential album, plus a new 3-disc retrospective of rarities, live, and unreleased songs.

• The Jayhawks, "Rainy Day Music" (2003)
Americana Rock at its finest, with sterling melodies and stirring harmonies.


© Tym Stevens

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"A splendid time is guaranteed for all!"

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See also:


• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2025
• BEST MUSIC: 2025
• BEST COMICS: 2025

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2024
• BEST MUSIC: 2024
• BEST COMICS: 2024

· BEST MOVIES + TV: 2023
• BEST MUSIC: 2023
• BEST COMICS: 2023

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2022
• BEST MUSIC: 2022
• BEST COMICS: 2022

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2021
• BEST MUSIC: 2021
• BEST COMICS: 2021

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2020
• BEST MUSIC: 2020
• BEST COMICS: 2020

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2019
• BEST MUSIC: 2019
• BEST COMICS: 2019

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2018
• BEST MUSIC: 2018
• BEST COMICS: 2018

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2017
• BEST MUSIC: 2017
• BEST COMICS: 2017

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2016
• BEST MUSIC: 2016
• BEST COMICS: 2016

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2015
• BEST MUSIC: 2015
• BEST COMICS: 2015

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2014
• BEST COMICS: 2014

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2013
• BEST MUSIC: 2013
• BEST COMICS: 2013

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2012
• BEST MUSIC: 2012
• BEST COMICS: 2012

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2011
• BEST MUSIC: 2011
• BEST COMICS: 2011

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2000-2010
• BEST MUSIC: 2000-2010
• BEST COMICS: 2000-2010


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• TWIN PEAKS: Its Influence on 30 Years of Film, TV, and Music!, with 5 Music Players!


• The Real History of ROCK AND SOUL!: The Music Player Checklist


_______________

• THE CANON 1: 50 Books That Created Modern Culture, with Music Player

• THE CANON 2: 50 More Books That Created Modern Pop Culture, with Music Player

• THE CANON 3: 50 Recent Books That Created Modern Culture, with Music Player

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ROCK Sex: "Use Me" - Bill Withers > Grace Jones > Jagger/ Kravitz > D'Angelo

ROCK Sex shows how a great song keeps its kick while taking on the flavors of each new artist.

Here's the Funk classic "Use Me" as an example.

_______________
Bill Withers is one of those people whose songs are so cool they always come back around: "Lean On Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Lovely Day", and "Two Of Us".

But besides perennial ballads, Bill could kick out some lean mean Funk with songs like "Who Is He And What Is He To You?", "The Same Thing That Made Me Laugh", and this stone classic.

BILL WITHERS -"Use Me" (1972)



Fred Wesley was the secret architect propelling The JB's behind James Brown, and the Horny Horns for Parliament/Funkadelic. This guy can say more with his saxophone than a hive of telemarketers.

FRED WESLEY -"Use Me" (1972)



Surprisingly, one of the first versions was by LIZA MINELLI, cruising on the heavy cred of the film CABARET, and she puts it to great use.

LIZA MINELLI -"Use Me" (1973)



Here's Jazz singer Kimiko Kasai finding it user-friendly.

KIMIKO KASAI -"Use Me" (1975)



As is her wont, Grace Jones upends everything over a slinky Reggae groove from Sly & Robbie.

GRACE JONES -"Use Me" (1981)



Mick Jagger did an inspired version of it with Lenny Kravitz, joined by his old friend and everyone's MVP, Billy Preston, on the funky clavinet.

MICK JAGGER And LENNY KRAVITZ -"Use Me" (19893)



Aaron Neville makes a fresh cruise with the groove in this moody video that lets us enjoy New Orleans before it got Bush-whacked. I like how he sings how his brother tried to talk sense into him and then you hear his actual brother Cyril ad-libbing along.

AARON NEVILLE -"Use Me" (1995)



D'ANGELO was another heir apparent to '70s Soul in the 1990s (along with Lenny Kravitz, Terence Trent D'Arby, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Dionne Farris). Here he is on a great musicians jam show with an alarmingly stellar backup band.

D'ANGELO + Friends -"Use Me" (live, 1998)



Fiona Apple has said she only listens to Classical and The Beatles, but clearly she's heard more than enough to shake her thang here.

FIONA APPLE -"Use Me" (live, 200?)



Ida Sand finds some new angles for Jazz, Blues, and Soul in hers.

IDA SAND -"Use Me" (2007)



From left field, Pete Yorn and the band Kinky (Mexico) make fine usage of Pyschedelia and Electronica.

PETE YORN And KINKY -"Use Me" (2008)




"Yeah, I want to spread the news
That if it feels this good getting used
You can keep on using me till you use me up!"


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• FUNK, The True History: 1970-1974, with 3 Music Players!


• Bill Withers > Me'shell Ndegeocello > Queen Pen

• "Exile On GRRL Street", Or How THE STONES Can Tribute Riot Grrrls Tributing Them!

• LADIES FIRST: "Demolition Man" - Grace Jones > The Police > Sting

• "Nightclubbing" - Iggy Pop > Human League > Grace Jones > Nine Inch Nails > Oasis


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "Sing A Simple Song" - Sly Stone > Jimi Hendrix > James Gang > P-Funk > Chili Peppers > Public Enemy

Today is SLY STONE's birthday. I love him like the sun in the sky.

If I said what I really feel about this guy, we'd be here all year. So let's keep it simple. SLY & THE FAMILY STONE invented Funk as you know it, and rewrote Rock, Jazz, Dance, and Rap forever afterward.

> -SLICE TONES: Sly Stone & His Infinite Influence!,
with 5 Music Players

But today, let's follow how one single tune -"Sing A Simple Song"- relays that sonic baton beyond all boundaries to this very day.

_______________

S I N G
A
S I M P L E
S O N G



"Sing A Simple Song", and the album STAND after it, defined the new super heavy Funk that superceded Soul. The trademark descending "yeah yeah yeahs..." are sung by sister Rose Stone.

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"Sing A Simple Song" (1968)



Here's New Orlean's finest to extend the funky vamp.

THE METERS -"Sing A Simple Song" (1969)



Here's they are again to extend the same song again into a new song with a winking title.

THE METERS -"Same Old Thing" (1969)



Now welcome the Dutch Indo sisters Bianca, Stella and Patricia Maessen, putting some sitar sting in it.

THE HEARTS OF SOUL -"Sing A Simple Song" (1969)



After having a hit covering Sly's "I Want To Take You Higher", Ike And Tina give the funky women some with this wholecloth rewrite.

IKE AND TINA TURNER -"Bold Soul Sister" (1970)



The guitar rhythm of "Sing A Simple Song" gets abstracted by JIMI HENDRIX here, and then played explicitly at the 0:30 minute mark.

BAND OF GYPSIES -"We Got To Live Together" (1970)



Here's Joe Walsh getting some more power strut out of that guitar riff (0:27).

THE JAMES GANG -"Funk #49" (1970)



Here's an ultra-Funky Reggae gloss on it.

THE MEGATONS -"Funk The Beat" (1970)



Sly's longtime running partner Billy Preston takes the title of the song and cheekily crosses it with the sentiment of Melanie's "What Have They Done To My Song, Ma".

BILLY PRESTON -"I Wrote A Simple Song" (1971)



It is the framework of this production by Sly-acolyte Norman Whitfield, a cover of Motown label-mate Edwin Starr.

THE TEMPTATIONS -"Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On" (1972)



HERBIE HANCOCK takes the guitar vamp and flies into the future of Jazz Fusion with it.

HERBIE HANCOCK + HEADHUNTERS -"Sly" (1973)



Kerrie kicks it out like the whole Family all by herself on this rockin' cover.

KERRIE BIDDELL -""Sing A Simple Song"" (1973)



George Clinton and the P-Funk mob borrow the descending "yeah yeah yeahs" for the chorus of this interstellar groover.

PARLIAMENT -"Unfunky UFO" (1975)




That Space Funk approach permeates this first HipHop cover of the original, including some uncanny impersonations of bassist Larry Graham.

WEST STREET MOB -"Sing A Simple Song" (1982)



P-Funk's Punk/Funk proteges borrow the "yeah yeah yeahs" for their chorus, too.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS -"Behind the Sun" (1986)



Another P-Funk disciple, PUBLIC ENEMY collages parts of it all the way through this protest jam. ("Sing A Simple Song" is also central to their "Party For Your Right To Fight", and is used again in several other songs.)

PUBLIC ENEMY -"Brothers Gonna Work It Out" (1990)


"Sing A Simple Song" has been sampled by over 400 artists, including Grandmaster Flash, Big Lady K, Stetsasonic, Digital Underground, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Mellow Man Ace, Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, Stereo MC's, TLC, Prince, A Tribe Called Quest, Ice-T, EPMD, Arrested Development, The Pharcyde, Common, Cypress Hill, Me Phi Me, Paris, Run-DMC, Del the Funky Homosapien, Erick Sermon, KRS-One, 2Pac, MC Solaar, Soul II Soul, Björk, Michael Jackson, Lenny Kravitz, Alanis Morissette, Barry Adamson, Masaki Sakamoto, DJ Shadow, The Beatnuts, Musiq Soulchild, and Snoop Dogg.


Bringing the familial full circle, here's D'Angelo, Chuck D, and Isaac Hayers covering the song with the original remixed in.

D'ANGELO, with Chuck D and Isaac Hayes -"Sing A Simple Song" (2005)



Here's Staten Island's THE BUDOS BAND with a killer remake of the song channeling Fela along the way!

THE BUDOS BAND -"Sing A Simple Song" (2005)




"I'm livin' livin' livin' life with all its ups and downs
I'm givin' givin' givin' love and smilin' at the frowns
You're in trouble when you find it's hard for you to smile
A simple song might make it better for a little while!"



© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• FUNK, The True History: The 1960s, with 3 Music Players!

• SLICE TONES: Sly Stone & His Infinite Influence!, with 5 Music Players

• Sly Stone's "I Want To Take You Higher" And Its Unending Influence!, with Music Player!

• "If You Want Me To Stay" - Sly Stone > Bootsy Collins > Red Hot Chili Peppers > Prince > Nikka Costa


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: A Music Player Checklist

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