With all of the funky weather lately, I thought I'd write something tonight with a meteorological theme. So here are a list of classic songs that have to do with weather, the seasons, and cool stuff like that.
Autumn Leaves
Cannonball Adderley. If that isn't one of the coolest jazz names, I don't know what is. From Cannonball's 1958 album entitled "Somethin' Else" this song had an all-star lineup. You know it's a good lineup that has Miles Davis as second string.
Best listening: Later on in Autumn getting close to winter while walking down a tree-lined sidewalk. There really needs to be a chill in the air, and overcast conditions are a bonus. It is, in a phrase, a pleasant melancholy.
Stormy Weather
A tear-jerker if there ever was one, the late great Etta James belts out this gem. If you hear this and you don't feel anything, check your pulse: you may be dead. There are not many songs which capture heartbreak better than Stormy Weather, and not many singers who could relay that anguish better than Etta. Truly a masterpiece for the forelorn.
Best listening: July during a wicked thunderstorm. You know how some thunderstorms are nice and refreshing, but some of them are sad, dreary, and depressing? The latter is the storm we're looking at. Nice and soft over good speakers while gazing longingly out the window and into the night.
Marshmallow World
Oh sure. It's easy to be complimentary towards winter when your main hang out is, oh, I dunno, Las Vegas. Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra laugh it up for everyone in this version of Marshmallow World. While normally I would consider this a Christmas song, I think it's really more of just a straight good-natured, well-meaning winter song. Winter doesn't have to be a miserable time of year. Also, I can see what people saw in Sinatra, but I have no idea what Martin had that was that exciting.
Best listening: Before Christmas, I would say before it gets overplayed in malls, on TV, and everywhere else. Preferably on a nice, snowy day with a temperature just below freezing and not a breath of wind.
April In Paris
I ask you, are their any cooler album covers than this one? "THEY SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE!" it boldly proclaims. What couldn't be done? A twenty piece accordion band! This is one of those ideas that you can file under "this is crazy enough that it just might work". Now, some people cringe at the thought of one accordion in a band. Worse yet, two. But what do twenty accordions sound like? Like this performing one of Basie's signature tunes April in Paris, complete with a few "One More Time"s.
Best listening: Everything about this song and this album is rather unhinged (did you notice the gorilla on the cover?) so I would say that the best time to listen to it is when strolling around outside in early spring on a gorgeous day when you feel the sun shining down on you after a long, frigid winter and you're just giddy with excitement that spring has finally sprung.
Moondance
You know, autumn is my favourite time of year. A lot of people see it as the time of year where the world is dying around them and that it's going to be a long, long time before the world seems alive again, but I see it differently. It's as much about renewal as it is death, and it can be as romantic as any other time of year. The leaves look gorgeous, it's neither too hot nor too cold, and the kids are in school again. Van Morrison sees this opportunity for romance as do I.
Best listening: October, of course, on a clear, crisp, quiet night. Preferably not alone.
Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White
You wanna talk "swagger"? Billy May (not Mays) and Les Baxter team up to give this classic some serious swagger. From the trumpet feature in the second half of the song, to the arrangement as a whole, the song oozes bravado.
Best listnening:The sun's shining, the birds are singing, the buds are opening, the first flowers are blooming, the snow's all gone for good and you're feeling ready to take over the world. Either srutting or skipping is acceptable, but one or the other is mandatory.
Evergreen
They're broken up now, just within the last year actually, but Faithless has been putting together nifty tracks like this one since 1995. Sometimes upbeat, sometimes haunting, always evocative this British group is as easy to listen to as any in the past twenty years.
Best listening: This song works best during the choirs of winter. Pick the coldest day you can find, just the slightest breath of wind, at night. A great song that embraces the hard core of seasonal depression.
Summertime Blues
So what is it with bad ass 50's rockabilly heroes dying young? While on tour in England in 1960, young Eddie Cochrane died as a result of a car accident at the tender age of 21. So many great rockers died so young in his generation. It's real sad. As a sidenote, though, what do Cannonball Adderley and Eddie Cochrane have in common? Album names. Eddie also had an album called "Somethin' Else". Who's the copycat? Eddie, but not by much. His "Somethin' Else" was released just a little over a year later in July of 1959.
Best listening: On a hot, muggy, sweaty day during the dog days of summer. Especially if you feel like The Man is keeping you down. And you gotta work late.
Blue Autumn
In keeping with the "blue" theme, here's something nice and chill. The first two Autumn songs were pretty jazzy, so let's slow it fown with something a little more electric. The song is Blue Autumn from Alpha's 2004 album Stargazing. I tried not to make all of the autumn songs melancholy, but one couldn't hurt. It almost makes a whole year of blue, actually. Kinda sad.
Best listening: That point in time where summer's over and you realize that it's all downhill from here. Everything's brown, cold, and there's no snow yet, trapped in seasonal limbo.
On A Sunny Day
So what we have here is the pairing of Alex Puddu, the the Italian, and Morten Varano, the Dane. As an act together from 1997 - 2003, they toured the world with their brand of... I dunno what to call this. Disco. Funk. House? Latin, maybe. Rock? House? I dunno. It's a little bit of everything. It's a serious mishmash of styles that made for some seriously interesting tracks.
Best listening: Late spring, on one of those amazing days where you get through a few cold days, open the front door and feel the sun glaring out at you saying, "Don't worry. Summer's right around the corner."
Midnight in Moscow
You know, Russia and Canada have a lot in common, at least as far as climate is concerned. Midnight in Moscow? Midnight in Edmonton? Not much difference. So as a closing hymn to tonight's list of seasonal songs, here's an instrumental from across the sea that speaks a common the common language of winter.
Best listening: Midnight on a cold night walking through a city street. A mix of crunching snow, frosty breath, long blue shadows on banks of hard white banks that have had months to form. Streets and sidewalks covered in a layer of thick ice, a sometimes gentle, sometimes unforgiving breeze gusting. The moon plays a game of peak-a-boo as the clouds pass by on your way back to your nice warm bed.
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