Elmore James was born in 1918 in Richland, Mississippi and was playing the Diddley bow and any form of a guitar he could find by the age of 12. After he served in World War II as a Coxswain, James returned to Mississippi and started working at his brother’s electrical shop. While there, he devised a powerful electric guitar sound, using parts from the shop and two Dynasonic pickups placed in a way that captured more low tones from the instrument. His embrace and use of technology helped him stand out from the other guitarists of the day, as his sound was considered much more lively and expressive.

“It Hurts Me Too” was originally written and performed by the late Hudson Woodbridge aka Tampa Red in 1940. It’s now considered a classic, and has been recorded hundreds of times. This wasn’t even Elmore James’ first version, but it was his best. Maybe it was the production or the drumming, it’s just so damn thick and I love it.
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James would die a handful of months later, but this song found its way to the charts and is a great swansong for such a legendary musician. 

With spring finally in full swing and COVID restrictions lifting, I thought this song would bring some smiles to some faces. Originally released in 1997 on their major label debut ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down, “Every Day Should Be a Holiday” found an even larger audience after it landed on the There's Something About Mary soundtrack a year later.
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I’ve always loved this song. It’s the perfect getaway track for a Sunday drive; it’s upbeat, catchy, and short enough to spin again. It was also a welcome refrain from the overpopulated grunge music that was pouring out from the Pacific Northwest at the time.

​Happy Mother’s Day!

While learning about psychosis and neurosis in a Health Education class, a friend leaned over to guitarist John Byrne and whispered: “You know what would be a great name for a song? Psychotic Reaction!” The title fit perfectly with the lyrics Byrne had been thinking of that day, and some months later he and his bandmates recorded what would become a top #5 hit in the summer of 1966.

I’ve always adored this song and its schizophrenic feel. Half of the track is one of the thickest grooves ever laid to wax, a groove that pays perfect homage to Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters. And in the other half, you have a confusing psychedelic aside with lyrics lamenting young unrequited love.
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The Count Five were rushed into the studio to record an album and capitalize after the success of this single. The album and following singles didn’t do well, and they broke up in 1969. They would reunite for a couple of concerts over the years before Byrne passed away in 2008. I always wondered what they would have been like had they not been rushed to record, and were given the leeway to take their time developing their sound instead.