I was putting together this list and I randomly discovered that all but one of the artists were classified as “blue-eyed soul.” (Which is just another way of saying white folks singing black folks music.*) So I moved poor Anthony Hamilton to another list, named this one “Blue-Eyed Soul,” felt bad for a moment about segregating my playlist, let laziness win over racial harmony and moved on with my life.
Enjoy.
(ALSO? Enjoy the fact that I finally figured out how to work the damned Grooveshark player AND the fact that we are debuting one of many of the brand-spankin’ new banners Lizzie and Isaiah have designed for us. And it’s not even your birthday….)
It Hurt So Bad – Susan Tedeschi
Sweet baby Jesus, y’all don’t wanna know how many times I played this on repeat in my room and hollered out the lyrics. You know that scene in Bridget Jones’s Diary where she’s all drunk and belting out “All By Myself”? Yeah…that might have happened with this song. Except I was probably drunk off Seven & 7’s…actually I most definitely was drunk off of Seven & 7’s. 2006 was a weird year…
Love is a Losing Game – Amy Winehouse
I can’t even make a joke about this one. Despite her place as a punchline for so many years, I really and truly believed that Amy Winehouse would pull out of her downward spiral and become amazing again. It still pains me that she didn’t…
Let Me Leave – Marc Broussard
I have no idea how I got Marc Broussard’s album, “Carencro,” but it’s one of my desert island albums. It’s also one of the few albums that Jethro and I agree on, so it makes for good driving music so there are less road trips conversations like this:
“God, really, Jethro? The Wall again?”
“I need something to counteract all your booty music.”
“It is SMOOTH R&B…how ’bout you put in some more Nickel Creek, that’ll put me to sleep and you don’t have to hear me bitch.”
“Or I can put in some more of your moaning and wailing girl music, like that damn Dixie Chicks “Let him fly” song you always have on repeat…”
“That is a PATTY GRIFFIN song, the Dixie Chicks COVERED IT!!”
“Whatever, it’s still crap.”
“YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH, BLASPHEMER!”
We don’t travel often.
Can’t Make You Love Me – Bonnie Raitt
As much as I love Tank and Boyz II Men, their cover versions of this do not hold a candle to Bonnie. And anyone who says otherwise will need to meet me outside, after school, by the bike racks.
Someone to Love – Jon B.
I HAD to throw this one in. Oh, 90’s R&B, I love you to bits. Jon B was not particularly handsome or spectacularly talented, but he sounded like Babyface and that was enough for me.
Let It Be Me – Ray Lamontagne
This is another one of the artists Jethro and I agree on. His music is like Tom Waits music for me; when I hear it I automatically get in a certain frame of mind. But whereas Tom makes me feel like I should be on a bar stool, poking at my ice with a little red straw and wondering what the hell I did with my life; Ray makes me feel like I should be driving in the rain, pulling over on the side of the road for no reason and just staring out the window, watching as the fat drops fall.
Or something. I might be getting too maudlin here and should say something vaguely funny.
Balls.
*One day we might have a conversation about racial terms, commonly accepted norms and self-identifying. Today is not that day.
Kind of a Mess 
The only thing that I have to say about this is that Tom Waits makes me feel the exact same way…but I mean that in the most amazing way possible. He is my all time favorite, and I came across his music when I was in a place in my life where I often did find myself sitting on a bar stool contemplating my state of affairs. I heart him soooooooo much.
YES. It sounded very depressing, but both Tom and Ray give me the feeling of being sort of down, but mostly reflective and introspetive…
What’d you think of Scarlett Johansson’s Tom Waits album? I was not that impressed….
I actually never listened to it. From what I heard form others it was a total destruction of his music, and I didn’t want to knock ScarJo down from her pedestal in my mind. I love them both seperately, but I don’t think I could ever bring myself to listen to it!
However, I am ridiculously excited for his new album that comes out in October. It comes out three days after my wedding!!
Then you can listen on your honeymoon and be ever more blissed out! 🙂
Yeah, I’m not SO into Tom that it scarred my soul, but I’m super glad it never caught on. I’d hate to think someone would hear one of the songs and go, “Hey, who’s that GUY singing ScarJo’s song?” BLECH.
Even worse…if they thought HE was the one making it sound bad!
I plan on drinking to much and dancing around on my honeymoon with my mister while listening to the new album. It makes me happy just thinking about it!
Maudlin! Balls! You handled that so gracefully 😉
Also: Susan Tedeschi is making me think of Janis Joplin. Good pipes.
I aim to be all class.
And YES, she has great pipes! She does a killer version of Angel from Montgomery… She’s married to Derek Trucks from the Allman Brothers and they have a side band called Tedeschi Trucks Band. (I know this because I about crashed my car trying to get to my phone to use my Shazam app when I heard them sing “Bound for Glory” and I was all, “ZOMG, I KNOW THAT VOICE!”
The Grooveshark player, all the pretty, and the song choices make me smile. Happy Friday!
Ah, yes, early Amy was delcious. Sad there will be no more.
Oh, you have knock-down-drag-out-road-trip-music-wars, too? I thought it was just me and my hubby. As in, I dread car trips together because I think “what are we going to listen to?!”
We have about three artists/groups that we really both enjoy, but everything else is a fight. I will grit my teeth and listen to whatever he puts in (no, I don’t think Jerry Garcia can carry a tune much, and did you REALLY follow the Dead around on tour for an ENTIRE YEAR?!), but heaven FORBID he sit through an entire album of my choosing. I even suggested a book on tape during our last trip to even the playing field and got evil death eyes. WOMP.
rant over. for better or for worse, right?
GASP ~ a blue eyed soul list sans Teena Marie, Michael McDonald, Lisa Stansfeld & I say this last one begrudgingly…Joss Stone?! Hmmm, I’m chalking this up as our first disagreement & leaving it at that… we’ll be BFF’s.again before school starts…or by my next comment! ; )