Switching things up for Sunday with Sisson today. It's not about health or diet or anything like that. It's about music.
I love almost all types of music. In another life I would have been a musician, probably a DJ. I played jazz sax (alto, tenor, and baritone) through high school. Today, I can competently drum along with Gene Krupa on "Sing, Sing, Sing" or Dave Grohl on "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I can hang word for word with Ludacris on “Roll Out,” and I sang “Mack the Knife” in front of several hundred Japanese businessmen at the unveiling of a Pioneer Karaoke machine in Tokyo in 1988.
So, it’s a diverse range. Play me some EDM, country, reggae, even show tunes, and I’m all in.
I appreciate the deep visceral sensations that music evokes in me. I moved to California in 1978, drawn by Bob Seger’s “Hollywood Nights.” (He headed west 'cause he felt that a change would do him good; I recently headed east for the same reason.) Journey's “Don’t Stop Believin’” carried me through some dark times in my thirties, and it still plays in my head almost daily. Freddie Mercury and Monserrat Caballé singing "Barcelona" brings tears to my eyes every time.
I am often asked what song best represents my generation, coming of age in the 1960s and ’70s. There was a time I felt that it might best be defined by “American Pie,” but I was also a hard-core bellbottom rocker, and I can’t overlook the fact that “Stairway to Heaven” became a generational anthem for many of us even to this day. (I saw Zeppelin’s first live USA performance of it.) On the other hand, if you are from my era and from the South, you would have a legitimate claim to argue for “Freebird” as your anthem.
I have had a few “favorite” songs over the years, but they change over time. Lately, I was reminded of how moved I am by one song that I seem to come back to year after year. It’s one that many of you have probably never heard, and I hope that you’ll take the time to listen to closely. It was written by Eugene McDaniels in 1967 and has been recorded by over 250 artists, but it was first introduced at the Montreux Jazz Festival by Eddie Harris and Les McCann in 1969. The song is “Compared to What.”
If you stop and think about what’s going on in the world today, and what was happening in the late 1960’s, you’ll see that, unfortunately, a good many of the same things remain unresolved. The lyrics speak to much of that (then and now), and yet the song has a catchy, swinging, jazzy, almost uplifting effect. The passion and anguish in Eddie’s sax and in Les’s voice feel as powerful today as they did 55 years ago. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
I can’t listen without being moved to take action on something immediately, whether it’s writing this piece or going for a hike. And for that reason, I’ll pick this as my all-time favorite… and I reserve the right to change my mind.
So? What’s your favorite song today, and why?
