Whooping Llama

Another musical gift to the interwebs…a spiritual gift, if you will. I’m putting up all three LPs by the Harold Family (the southern gospel group my dad, his siblings, and their dad had back in the ’70s). I’ll add album art when I can get it scanned.

The Harold Family - Gospel on the Move

The Harold Family - The Gospel Ship

The Harold Family - Come to the Water

Neil Young had it right—only love can break your heart. There’s no feeling like heartbreak and it sucks any time of the year…but when Valentine’s Day rolls around (with all the flowers and chocolate and heart-shaped Tums) it’s practically unbearable. So, for those who’ll spend the 14^th all by their lonesome, I’ve compiled my top 5 list of the unrequited love songs. Turn ‘em up, sing along, and let it out. President’s Day will be here before you know it.

1. Bob Dylan – “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”

Bob Dylan is the king of unrequited love songs, at least in the rock and pop world. When he went through a nasty divorce in the mid-‘70s, the man wrote an entire album of them (1975’s Blood on the Tracks). Still, this one is his best. Recorded for The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and written about the girl that appears on the front cover of the album with him, this song finds Bob acting indifferent. His words betray him. Deep down he’s bitter, he’s hurt, and he’s leaving.

2. The Rolling Stones – “Love In Vain”

I had to include at least one blues tune. Written by Robert Johnson (you know, the one who sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads), “Love in Vain” is chock-full of loneliness and heartbreak…like all good blues songs. Add to that Mick Jagger’s vocals and Keith Richard’s serpentine slide guitar and you’ve got rock and roll gold. 

3. Derek and the Dominoes – “Layla”

Everybody knows the song, but I doubt many know the story behind it. George Harrison was married to model and photographer Pattie Boyd, and Eric Clapton fell in love with her. Clapton, a good friend of Harrison’s, stole a name from a Middle Eastern folk tale about two lovers kept apart by another man (in the story, the girl’s father) and proceeded to dedicate an entire album to his “Layla.” Clapton eventually got the girl, though…and George was the best man at the wedding.

4. The Band – “It Makes No Difference”

“It Makes No Difference” breaks my heart every time I listen to it. The Band was blessed with three killer lead singers: pianist Richard Manuel (my personal favorite), drummer Levon Helm, and bassist Rick Danko. Danko takes the majority of vocal duties on this one, and his trademark warble lends a desperation to this song that is unsurpassed. In a world of Avril Lavine, Shania Twain, and Nickelback, it’s sometimes difficult to remember that Canada once produced good music.

5. Hank Williams – “Half as Much”

And what would a list of unrequited love songs be without at least one country song? Incomplete, that’s what. I almost picked the Hank Williams song about the wooden Indian that pines for another inanimate Native American…but come on, aren’t we all tired of hearing that same old story? This Curely Williams song has been covered tons of times in a bunch of different ways, but the original performance is the definitive one. Order another round and put this one on.

I love the old Frank Loesser standard “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” particularlly the cover cut by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan. A couple winters ago, iTunes showed it’d listened to that song a couple hundred times. It has some special meaning to me* and besides that, it’s just a really pretty song. So imagine my delight when I found this little jem: a parody sung by Homer and Jethro (with assistance from none other than June Carter).

Put some records on while I pour.

Homer and Jethro (featuring June Carter) - Baby, It’s Cold Outside

*My girlfriend/love of my life/soulmate really loves the movie Elf, and Zooey Deschanel’s character croons the song in a shower scene while Buddy the Elf is outside listening…which is not nearly as dirty as I just made it sound. Watch the movie.

I searched and searched and searched, but to no avail. It is impossible to find Ralph Stanley’s “I’m Willing to Try” online. iTunes doesn’t have it, and neither do the….ahem…less legitimate sources for digital audio. Apparently the song has been a regular in Dr. Ralph’s live set, but he only recorded it once (on his 1983 album Child of the King). Rebel Records hasn’t released Child of the King on CD yet, so my only option was to order the original LP. I pulled the audio off the record using a nifty converter box and Audacity, and below you’ll find a link to the fruits of my labor. Enjoy.

Ralph Stanley - I’m Willing to Try

Here’s a song by Amy Winehouse, not available for download (at least not on iTunes). This one’s a cover of the old Phil Spector song “To Know Him is to Love Him.” Really cool.

Amy Winehouse - To Know Him is to Love Him

Lastly, but certainly not leastly, is this: Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge doing a Janis Joplin medley performed live at the 2005 Grammys. Doesn’t Joss Stone remind you of Janis? I mean, without all the drugs of course. The sound quality sucks, and I apologize but this is the best I could find. If anyone out there in Internet land has a better version, please comment and lemme know. This used to be offered on iTunes as a charity single, but alas, not any more. Captain Zack Sparrow to the rescue! (Pirate, get it…..arrgh.)

Joss Stone & Melissa Etheridge - Cry Baby/Piece of My Heart

I wish you the best in your own musical travels. Peace and love, children.