What I'm Listening To: Hippy Shit

For some reason I got struck by the spirit of Haight Ashbury this week and downloaded four very Haight songs.

The first was the Jefferson Airplane's "It's No Secret." I bought their greatest hits about twenty years ago, along with Metallica's "And Justice For All." My mom had taken me to the Warehouse at 41st Ave in Capitola, and she looked at my CD's and said, "Really?" She was surprised to see me veering away from punk rock. It would be another ten years before I got into Dylan, so she had a ways to wait before we could swap albums.
"It's No Secret" is an awesome little pop number. I put it on a mixtape to my high school sweetheart.

It's No Secret - Jefferson Air...

Then I downloaded TWO Grateful Dead songs: "Shakedown Street" and "Casey Jones." My future father-in-law loves the Dead, and he's always playing "Shakedown Street" when I go visit them. It's a catchy song, and I like that farting bass. I'm still embarrassed to own it.

Shakedown Street - Grateful De...

I also downloaded "Casey Jones." I love the chorus of this song, and I own "Workingman's Dead' on vinyl, but I've never been able to finish the song. I think because I don't smoke pot.

Casey Jones - Grateful Dead

Finally, I downloaded Sly and the Family Stone's "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey." I had heard a version with Perry Farrel and Ice T, but I wanted to hear the original. It's kind of heavy.

Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey -...

So yeah, hippy shit.