Today's Random Ten

Today's random ten playlist from the iTunes via 8Tracks...

• "Good Hearted Woman" by Yonder Mountain String Band (4 stars) - From the second volume of the live Mountain Tracks series, is a fun jam/bluegrass romp. Love their live shows better than their studio albums, and they're all about posting every show online. Buy yourself a couple if you enjoy this one.
• "Song for Whoever" by Beautiful South (4) - This is a live version of their phenomenal, spectacular song that was a big hit when I was in Scotland. The writing all over their songs is subtle, brilliant, and far darker than the sunshiny lyrics suggest. If you've never heard of them, do yourself a favor and check out Carry on Up the Charts.
• "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" by Johnny Cash (3) - Cash is a great interpreter of songs, but his voice sounds misplaced here, largely because, I think, the Patrick Skye version with which I first became familiar. It's a heartbreaking tale of 'Drunken Ira Hayes', one of the men who helped raise the flag over Iwo Jima and who died in 'two inches of muddy water'. Great song...okay version
• "Whiskey from the Field" by Pat Kilbride (4) - Ah, the joys of poitín...there are so many Irish and Scottish songs dedicated to it, and this is certainly one of the better. From the quality collection Jug of Punch.
• "Star Spangled Banner/Purple Haze/Instrumental" by Jimi Hendrix (2) - This thing - from the remastered, extended Woodstock released a few years back - is a mess. It goes on and on for almost fourteen minutes. In concert, at Woodstock, stoned, maybe this would have been impressive, but I'm not so sure. I'm deleting it.
• "It's All Been Done" by Barenaked Ladies (3) - Pretty enough...fun enough...
• "Crucify" by Tori Amos (4) - I remember Amos's Little Earthquakes album fondly. It's a rough, emotionally raw work, but it came out when I was in high school, and I listened to it pretty solidly through college. I remember it playing in The Girl's college apartment.
• "Private Eyes" by Hall & Oates (3) - This is just fun.
• "Sarah" by Ray LaMontagne (3) - Meh...LaMontagne's voice is pleasant and easy going enough, but this is just pretty background music.
• "Why When Love is Gone" by The Originals (3) - Motown is my go-to choice to play in my classroom on open house and conference night. Older white people (the parents of kids I teach) and black people both like it. Everybody likes it. So I'm always looking for a little Motown variety. This album, A Cellarful of Motown, is just that kind of album: a few minor hits from slightly more obscure artists than just the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Smoky Robinson.