The Chris Myers Top 5

Okay, I'm not going to fool around today. My song descriptions will be long enough as it is. Here's my Top 5 of all time.


Bowling Green (written by Terry Slater & Jackie Ertel, as performed by Glen Campbell, 1967)



If you're a song and you want to find the quickest way to my heart, make sure its named after a girl or a town, and you'll already be halfway there. I'm not too sure who had the biggest hit with this song, but I've gotta believe it was Glen Campbell. The Everlys do a fine version of the song, but Campbell owns this. I don't know that I like too many songs that have a bendy acoustic guitar riffing throughout the whole thing, but the bendy stuff in this song is pure intoxication. Whoa nelly! The harmony vocal is so understated and perfectly executed that its the sorta thing that takes a dozen listens before you even realize its there. Its what you associate with Simon & Garfunkel or Steven Tyler...not Glen Campbell, necessarily. Biggest shocker about this song? Neko Case does a cover of it and it sorta sucks.

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If Not For You (written by Bob Dylan, as performed by George Harrison, 1970)



This recording is proof positive that the performance is so much more important than the songwriting. Give me the name of any Bob Dylan or Tom Waits song and I'll name you someone who performed it better. Have you heard Dylan's "Nothing Was Delivered"? Try the Byrds' version. Waits' "Old '55"? The Eagles. Dylan's original version of INFY is fine, but the Phil Spector co-produced Harrison version launches this song into Top 5 material for me. Its not even that Harrison gives the ultimate vocal take. Its still fairly wonky. Its not as crooked as Dylan's, but it arguably has a lot more soul. And then there's the production. The rhythm acoustic, the slide guitars, the harmonica, the organ, the piano...everything fits perfectly without ever feeling cluttered. And the way the song builds on top of itself with each verse is something that I use when modeling most of my recordings. Its the perfect cure for solving the case of a song that might seem too repetitive. It was 2000 when I first listened to this album and halfway through this song, I knew for sure that George had the best post-Beatles career. Perhaps my love of cover songs could be traced back to this one? That is if I could find a way to discount "Smokin' In The Boys Room." If you ever date me, I'll probably want this to be "our song."

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Your Bright Baby Blues (written and performed by Jackson Browne, 1976)



Jackson Browne was a slow-burner throughout my early years. I got to hear a lot of him in my mom's car as a kid. You might be pick up on a pattern here. "Running On Empty", "Somebody's Baby", "Doctor My Eyes"...these were the ones I liked as a kid. Otherwise, my mom would play a lot of his more recent work, which I thought sorta sucked and prevented me from exploring deeper. Then I heard "The Pretender," which floored me with how many appropriate "-ender" words a guy could use in a single chorus. Then I realized that he co-wrote the Eagles' "Take It Easy," another one of my favorites. Everything culminated with "These Days" (made more popular by Nico) and this one, "Your Bright Baby Blues." This is the moment when JB became one of my favorite wordsmiths. He's got plenty of clunkers, but when he's on, he's WILD! Just like "These Days," this song is one zinger after another. These are the sorts of lines that kick me in the gut everytime I hear them. And not to beat a dead horse...its not just about the songwriting. His performance just totally sells the song. He means everything he's putting out there. You might think its corny, but I think its perfect. I'd list out some of my favorite lines, but I swear to God, its the whole fucking song.

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Mr. Natural (written by Barry and Robin Gibb, as performed by the Bee Gees, 1974)



Wikipedia calls this one a "rock-and-roll infectious tune" and I can't say it much better than that. Mom's car, hated this artist as a child, etc. To become a Bee Gees fan, you must first decide that they're disco bullshit. Second, discover that their early stuff is pretty great British pop rock. And then you slowly tiptoe album by album up to Saturday Night Fever, at which point you decide that its actually all pretty awesome. This song was released on the cusp of the disco changeover, and its truly a rock-and-roll infectious tune, all about crying in the rain and looking happy on the dance floor. It was only upon watching the video for this song that I realized that Robin sings the first verse and Barry sings the second. The Brothers do this quite a bit and I never pick up on it until I actually see them performing. Non-duet multiple singer songs are some of my favorites. The song is fun. I don't need to dissect it any further.

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I Don't Know How To Love Him (from Jesus Christ Superstar: Original London Concept Recording, written by Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber, as sung by Yvonne Elliman, 1970)



Mom, car-rides, etc. When I grew into my rebellious teenage years, we re-imagined a modern adapation with Chris Cornell as Jesus Christ and Corey Glover from Living Colour as Judas Incidentally, Glover later did take on this role, but I never got to see it. I've seen the musical countless times, and although its solid through and through, its really the first half of the soundtrack that's truly a masterpiece. My mother never liked the Mary Magdalene love songs for whatever reason, so as a kid, I was more into the Judas stuff...."Strange Thing Mystifying," "Damned For All Time/Blood Money," etc. But with time, I couldn't follow suit anymore. Whether its my propensity for lady singers or simply for love ballads, I couldn't deny that "Everything's Alright," "Could We Start Again?" and this song were the true greats. Beyond this soundtrack and her work on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, I couldn't tell you anything about Yvonne Elliman. Its odd that I haven't explored her more, because what I've heard is some of the most beautiful lady-singing that I have ever heard. Perhaps the fact that she's singing this song to Jesus will enhance or dehance the experience for some, but I tend to listen to it as just a love song and it breaks my heart everytime. This performance is ten times better than the movie soundtrack version. The arrangement, the drum part, the weird flute thing. After the instrumental break at 2:25, listen to her sing "I never thought I'd come to this" and tell me it doesn't send shivers down your spine. The way she meanders on "this" is pure emotion. Total awesomeness. Favorite song of all time.