Revolutionary Spirit- Playlist
Check out our latest Garlic and Roses playlist to get you through the January blues
"Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You" Jimmy Rushing - The one and only Mr. 5x5 captures all of the nuances, charm, and seduction of this Jazz Age standard. I feel very comfortable saying Tom Waits heard this at an impressionable age.
"Where Will I Be" Emmylou Harris - Tomes have been written about the power of Emmylou's voice, yet still not enough. Her earnest, desperate, yet never out of control vocal delivery perfectly combines with the moodiness exuding from Daniel Lanois' production. It drips with swamp, mystery, and magic. This one will haunt you.
"Revolutionary Spirit" The Wild Swans - This under-the-radar post punk anthem soars with energy and youthful determination. Wake up in a strange, industrial English city, disoriented last night's music and chemicals. Wild Swans gets you out of bed and back onto that bleak, Thatcher-era dance floor.
"It Tears Me Up" Percy Sledge - The title says it all. The deepest of deep soul, the heartiest of heart eyes. Only in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
"Treat Me Like a Saturday Night" Joe Ely - A defining character of Austin, TX's progressive country music scene, along with his bandmates Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock, the first real assessment of their Flatlanders material is literally titled "More a Legend Than a Band." He also toured with the Clash, driving across Texas and the midwest teaching them about America. The two Joes (Strummer/Ely) bonded for life and you can hear Ely whooping it up in Spanish on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?." We lost Joe Ely in December 2025 but we will always have Saturday night.
"There's A Family" The Vulgar Boatmen - I'm not in Memphis (unfortunately), and it isn't December. This is Pittsburgh in January, and it's raining. If the Feelies grew up listening to Otis Redding and Arthur Conley instead of Lou Reed and The Velvets (though Boatmen are certainly Velvets fans too). These songs and lyrics contain whole lives of people who feel warm and real, complicated and sad. Rarely can a 3 minute pop song make me laugh, and tear up, by a turn of phrase or the subtle entrance of a viola. The world is starting to catch on this band, finally. It only took about 35 years. Worth the wait.
"Tendency to Riot" Sarah Borges - Time to let it rock again. Coming out of the Boston-area in the last decade or so, Sarah puts on a helluva rock show with her kick-ass band and her personal, funny banter. She has been one of my favorite shows to see every chance I get. Her songs are brilliant, memorable, and unique. Just like her. Go see her and her band, you will not be disappointed.
"Just A Little While To Stay Here" George Lewis - This Traditional with a capital 'T' gospel song has been recorded countless times by innumerable artists including Mahalia Jackson, George Lewis himself recorded it probably a dozen times. Something about this one really got to me and I have spent this winter scouring record bins to find any/every version I can. The lyrics are beautiful, comforting, and powerful like the best of gospel music. Lewis' clarinet and the horn section reach a glorious, chaotic crescendo at the end. We should all be so lucky to go out like that.
