Armadillo Brillo

Have I ever told you how much I love this beauty? Leo's debut, from back in '69. Released on John Fahey's famed Takoma label, and for obvious reasons also known as the Armadillo album. Here's a taste of the magic of the 6 and 12 strings therein: a 'prayer for the demise of the canoe and the radar trap without which Federal prisons will have to be rebuilt to accommodate prepubescence', as the liner notes rightly claim.

Leo Kottke - Crow River Waltz

Passing By

"Baby, my love will follow you, as the years go passing by..." Which basically means I'm wishing you a very funky 2012, dear readers.

Albert King - As The Years Go Passing By

The Zombies - This Will Be Our Year

The Rumour - Frozen Years

Leo Kottke - The Driving Of The Year Nail

Patti Smith - My Blakean Year

Howlin' Wolf - How Many More Years

A Sailor´s Life...

...it is a merry life. That fado about Portuguese sailors in the post below made me think of other songs about that romantic but slowly disappearing profession. So while it seems that everybody else is busy blogging Christmas ditties (I won´t, promise...) here´s a six pack of delicious sailor songs for you. All hands on deck, lift the anchor, and hoist the main sail. The Titanic sails at dawn.

The alternative bluegrass trio Bad Livers tells all about Pee Pee The Sailor, in a hilarious Butthole Surfers cover. Anyone got the original btw? Never could track it down. Sandy Denny shines in Fairport Convention´s beautiful lament A Sailor´s Life, and master picker Leo Kottke finds a sailor´s grave in the strangest of places.

The Detroit Cobras do the marinero rock, while Tim Buckley goes way out there with some stellar vocal improvisation on Starsailor. Bob Dylan, in a rare live performance from ´92, relates of a female sailor. "In her jacket blue and trousers white, just like a sailor neat and tight, the sea, it was the heart's delight, of the female rambling sailor..." Heave ho!

Bad Livers - The Adventures Of Pee Pee The Sailor MP3

Fairport Convention - A Sailor´s Life MP3

Leo Kottke - The Sailor´s Grave On The Prairie MP3

Detroit Cobras - Hey Sailor MP3

Tim Buckley - Starsailor MP3

Bob Dylan - Female Rambling Sailor (live in Perth ´92) MP3