Songs of The Day: Irma Thomas – Ruler of My Heart, and Otis Redding – Pain In My Heart

Possibly my favorite performance of an Allen Touissant composition, Irma’s original recording even tops Otis’ variation.

It’s Jay Reatard’s birthday

It’s been five years since Jay Reatard’s untimely death, and I still don’t see a worthy successor to the Punk throne. Jay feverishly cranked out releases, starting with his band the Reatards, in the late 90’s, and continuing with bands like Lost Sounds, Nervous Patterns, Angry Angles, Destruction Unit and his voluminous solo output. I was buying any and all product with his name attached to it, from his label/distributor Shattered, and that of Lost Sounds partner Alicja Trout’s, Contaminated, as quickly as they released it. Any shows that I could make, I did, meaning that I caught him on seven different occasions between Lost Sounds, Reatards and solo gigs, and, man, he’d get so worked up on stage you’d think he was gonna combust. Maybe I’m just not paying enough attention anymore, but I’ve since to stumble on anyone whose work got me so amped, and trust me, I would love to find someone worth it. Lost Sounds are my favorite band of the 2000’s, btw.
I’m gonna start with what is probably my favorite Jay cut. Definitely my solo fave. Plus the Paris, Texas clips accompanying it are great










His great Go-Betweens cover, the flip of the I Know A Place single

And i really love his Beck cover, too




and closing with a live version of I Know A Place, done double time and still awesome

Happy birthday, Furry Lewis

Some great footage of Furry, including this set that starts out with Kassie Jones

And I’d never seen this Leon Russell and friends performance, with Leon joining Furry for Furry’s Blues