Summer Solstice: Shady Groove Podcast 136
Back here at The Shady Groove, we like to celebrate the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The Summer Solstice is here! From now until September, days will get gradually shorter. So lets enjoy these long, fifteen hours days while we can. And this year, this week we have a very special podcast with a Very Special Guest DJ; my man Nick Demsak. So sit back, relax at the pool with a cold one, and enjoy the sweet sounds of summer. Happy Solstice from the Shady Groove.
Here are the sunshine drenched tracks that were included:
Michael Franti – The Sound of Sunshine ++ War – Summer ++ Sly & The Family Stone – Hot Fun In The Summertime ++ Sublime – Doin’ Time (Uptown Dub) ++ Avett Brothers – At the Beach ++ Don Henley – Boys of Summer ++ The Allman Brothers Band – Soulshine ++ Mungo Jerry – In the Summertime ++ The Yardbirds – White Summer ++ G. Love & Special Sauce – Rhyme for Summertime ++ DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – Summertime ++ The Beach Boys – Good Vibrations ++ Summer Salt – Give My Heart a Little Break ++ Zac Brown Band – Toes ++ The Gourds – Moon Gone Down
Not so Secret Track – Eddie Spaghetti – Sundowner
It’s Christmas Time: A Very Merry Podcast 134
Here we are again. Candy canes and mistletoe. Christmas lights and presents. Holiday Cheer!! You know what I’m talking about. Seems like it starts earlier and earlier every year. But I love it; and you’ve got to love it. Its that time of year when we’ve got to embrace the crazy. Lean into it. Breathe deeply, practice gratitude. Make a vow to count your blessings every day. Our brains and bodies cannot be mad, angry, frustrated or depressed when we are in Gratitude.
And you know what I’m grateful for? All of you, loyal Shady Groove listeners. Thanks for your support. There’s a ton of podcasts out there and you chose to listen here. You chose to listen to yours truly ramble on; to wax poetically and basically give you a self indulgent mixtape of my favorite tunes of the time. I hope you enjoy it. So, as we move into the new year and prepare to make it through the holidays, bust into the liquor cabinet or wine cellar, pour yourself a tall one. Pop on the Shady Groove Christmas Podcast.. or break out your Xmas vinyl, throw it on the turntable and let yourself slip into Christmas. Cheers.
Here are the hap hap happiest tracks that made the cut:
(Opening Credits) The Muppets – Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas ++ Elvis Presley – Santa Claus Is Back In Town ++ Johnny Cash – Blue Christmas ++ Loretta Lynn – Country Christmas ++ George Jones and Tammy Wynette – Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus ++ JD McPerson – All The Gifts I Need ++ G. Love & Special Sauce – Christmas Baby ++ Robert Earl Keen – Merry Christmas From The Family ++ Stevie Wonder – What Christmas Means to Me ++ Donny Hathaway – This Christmas ++ Soul Saints Orchestra – Santa’s Got A Bag O’ Soul ++ Otis Redding – Merry Christmas Baby ++ The Beatles – 1969 ++ Lynn August – Christmas By The Bar-B-Que ++ Bessie Smith – At The Christmas Ball ++ Brenda Lee – I’m Gonna Lasso Santa Claus ++ Kenny Rogers – Kentucky Homemade Christmas ++ The Qualities (Sun Ra) – It’s Christmas Time ++ Booker T. & The MG’s – Jingle Bells ++ Eagles – Please Come Home For Christmas ++ The Gourds – Yes Yes Yes ++
Throwback Thursday – Podcast #132
Man, do we have a special edition podcast for you this week! This was by far the most fun we’ve ever had making a podcast. We’ve got some guest hosts on board, helping me curate the tasty cuts that were included. Here’s how it went down; a couple of my oldest and closest friends and I sat down in Brooklyn for a couple of hours (and a couple of choice beverages) and got a chance to reminisce on the ‘good ol days’. We called it Throwback Thursday. A collective three minds thinking back to the days when we first felt the freedom of driving. Driving around the winding country roads of Northwest New Jersey, blasting CD’s from our Alpine sound system (or whatever stock radio system was there at the time). For us, this was the mid to late-nineties. Compact discs ruled as the preferred choice of musical playback format and rock ‘n roll and grunge-rock were blazing trails to create some of the best music of the time. So, as we talked and drank and ate, we thought about driving around in our cars (1974 Ford Maverick we called ‘The Mav’, 1980 something Subaru Outback dubbed ‘The Buru Warrior’, and 1987 Toyota Xtra Cab Pickup we called ‘The Yota’) and what we were playing at the time. It was from those conversations that this great mix-tape/radio show/podcast was created. Thanks to my guest hosts Tino and Phil for the nostalgia, great conversation and lots of laughs.
These are the tracks that made the cut:
Weezer – My Name Is Jonas ++ Sublime – Doin’ Time ++ Beck – The New Pollution ++ Rage Against The Machine – Know Your Enemy ++ The Black Crowes – Twice As Hard ++ CAKE – Daria ++ Cream – Tales of Brave Ulysses ++ Stone Temple Pilots – Crackerman ++ The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Crosstown Traffic ++ AC/DC – If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It) ++ The Doors – Five To One ++ Wyclef Jean – Guantanamera (feat. Refugee Allstars) ++ Fuel – Shimmer ++ Everclear – Santa Monica ++ Live – I Alone ++ Red Hot Chili Peppers – Sir Psycho Sexy ++ Pearl Jam – Porch ++ The Offspring – Self Esteem ++ Bush – Comedown ++ Third Eye Blind – Graduate ++ The Wallflowers – 6th Avenue Heartache ++
Summer Sounds: Podcast 131
It’s been a little while, but The Shady Groove is back with a completely new mix of hot grooves, cool tunes, and smooth vibrations for your listening pleasure. Crank up the volume, roll the windows down and cruise..
Here are the soulful summer-sound tracks that were included :
Nathaniel Ratliff & The Night Sweats – Shoe Boot ++ G. Love & Special Sauce – Honor and Harmony ++ Sturgill Simpson – Keep It Between The Lines ++ CAKE – Italian Leather Sofa ++ Dawes – Feed The Fire ++ The War on Drugs – Baby Missiles ++ Jim James – No Secrets ++ Summer Salt – Rockaway ++ Bob Marley & The Wailers – Guava Jelly ++ The Clash – Revolution Rock ++ Elvis Costello – Watching The Detectives ++ The Allman Brothers Band – Back Where It All Begins ++ Dire Straits – Once Upon A Time In The West ++ Blitzen Trapper – Country Caravan ++ Father John Misty – Well, You Can Do It Without Me ++ Alabama Shakes – I Ain’t The Same ++ Titus Andronicus – Real Talk ++ Karl Blau – Where Ya Goin’ Papa ++ The Gourds – (The New Way Of) Grievin’ & Smokin’ ++
Under the Covers with The Shady Groove: Podcast #130
We’re back with another of the famous Theme-Time Radio shows from The Shady Groove. Today we go under the covers and explore the righteous genre of cover songs. I absolutely love when bands cover other bands. It is the highest form of flattery for a musician. Its the ultimate tribute. I love to see the variety of different directions an artist can take in recreating a favorite song. And then there’s the good, bad, and ugly. Some covers can rival or even surpass the original. Some can not even come close to being as good as the original. Either way, its an entertaining genre that will continue to delight forever..So enjoy this edition of The Shady Groove Podcast. Listen loud, sing along, have fun. Live it, love it!
Here are the songs that were played (original musician in parentheses):
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan) ++ Derek & The Dominos – Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix) ++ The Wood Brothers – Angel (Jimi Hendrix) ++ Susan Tedeschi – Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (Bob Dylan) ++ Sturgill Simpson – In Bloom (Nirvana) ++ Nirvana – Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Leadbelly) ++ Jack Johnson – Badfish/Boss DJ (Sublime) ++ Trombone Shorty – On Your Way Down (Allen Toussaint) ++ Carolina Chocolate Drops – Hit ‘Em Up Style (Blu Cantrell) ++ Harry Nilsson – Everybody’s Talking’ (Fred Neil) ++ The Beatles – Twist and Shout (Phil Medley and Bert Berns, The Top Notes) ++ Aretha Franklin – Respect (Otis Redding) ++ Talking Heads – Take Me To The River (Al Green) ++ Otis Redding – Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke) ++ The Allman Brothers Band – Statesboro Blues (Blind Willie McTell) ++ Levon Helm – Tennessee Jed (Grateful Dead) ++ Grateful Dead – Mama Tried (Merle Haggard) ++ The Black Crowns – Hard To Handle (Otis Redding) ++ Bob Dylan – Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (Reverend Gary Davis, Eric Von Schmidt) ++ The Rolling Stones – Wild Horses (Gram Parsons) ++ Cake – I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor) ++ Fugees – Killing Me Softly With His Song (Roberta Flack) ++ My Morning Jacket – It Makes No Difference (The Band) ++ The Gourds – Gin And Juice (Snoop Dogg).