Posting

I haven't found much of interest to post about lately. In a desperate effort to get re-engaged, I'm going to start a couple of series of posts.

One of them, which I'll try to make a regular Sunday event, will be an album-by-album review of my popular music collection. They won't be full-blown reviews, like I've done in the past; mostly I'll just talk about why I bought the album, which songs I like (and why), and which I dislike (and why). Some of my albums overlap quite a bit - my Gene Pitney albums, in particular, after my long search for the missing half-dozen songs - and I'll try not to be repetitive with those.

The other... Well, I'm just going to chat about my research. I'm spending a lot of time thinking about quadrilaterals lately, and these posts will lay out some of the basic ideas of the subject, some of the tools I'm using, and some of the questions I'm looking at. Nothing heavy-duty, and certainly nothing cutting-edge. These will be somewhat more erratic in timing, going up when I'm in the mood.

The main hope is that I'll get back in the habit of posting, and maybe of coming up with interesting things to say. We'll see how it goes.

Sunday Music: 2nd To None, Elvis Presley

(I'll be going through my albums, in these posts, in alphabetical order - or, rather, the version of alphabetical order imposed by WMP.)

Album Title: 2nd To None, Elvis Presley

Why I Bought It: I only had one Elvis album, and I didn't have "Blue Suede Shoes" or "Kentucky Rain". This was an impulse buy.

What I Like (Boogie): "Promised Land". This was originally a Chuck Berry song, and I have Chuck's version too, but I prefer this one. It's a lively song about a rather difficult cross-country trip, involving several different modes of transportation. "The 'Hound broke down and left us all stranded in downtown Birmingham..." Honorable Mention: "King Creole".

What I Like (Uplifting): "If I Can Dream". In the mid-'60s, Elvis did a few political, or at least socially conscious, songs. This is, to my mind, the best of them, with a rough-voiced Elvis exhorting the audience to hope.

What I Like (Teary): "American Trilogy". This is a medley: a mournful version of "Dixie", a rousing "Battle Hymn of the Republic", and a melancholy folk song, "All My Trials". My family has Southern roots, and much as I despise the perpetrators of the Slavers' Rebellion, something in me still responds to "Dixie". Elvis' version of the Battle Hymn is remarkably good, and "All My Trials" somehow manages to bind the two together. Honorable Mention: "Don't Cry, Daddy".

What I Don't Like (Stupid): "Rock-a-hula Baby" and "Bossa Nova Baby". Two songs about dancing; the titles pretty much say it all. I suspect that they originated in Elvis' films; maybe they make sense in context, but not as standalones. ("Viva Las Vegas", which does have such an origin, is much better, I think.)

What I Don't Like (Icky): "Little Sister". Do we really need a song about a guy who, dumped by the older sister, moves on to sister #2?

Overall: A thoroughly mixed bag. When I get around to rating songs for WMP to draw on in creating playlists, some of the songs here will definitely get top rank, but most will not.