Artist	Song
rod stewart	"the killing of georgie, pts. 1 & 2"
tom waits	"tom traubert's blues (four sheets to the wind in copenhagen)"
van morrison	"into the mystic"
janis joplin	"maybe"
gladys knight & the pips	"midnight train to georgia"
al green	"i'm still in love with you"
prince	"i could never take the place of your man" [single version]
rod stewart	"mama you been on my mind" [bob dylan cover]
tom waits	"downtown train"
bruce springsteen	"rosalita (come out tonight)" [live]
bonnie raitt	"i can't make you love me"

Comment:

this is a mix i made for my mother's birthday, oddly enough, as she hits the big five-oh tomorrow (friday). while she may seem an unlikely candidate for a mix, i had to get rather creative with my birthday gift for a variety of reasons - not least, that i'm dead-broke (i don't even have the cash to see the new scorsese film, or to buy the new beck album). so i settled for making her a mix, & i plan on a big dinner tomorrow night - made by yours truly.

i tried to use alot of artists that i know she loves, & that i also like, so that we can bond over the music together: lots of raspy- & rough-styled vocalists, some blues, soul & R&B styled artists, & an uptempo, sugar-coated, pure pop prince song in the middle to break up the monotone (it actually makes for a great contrast). while this may seem short, the springsteen track alone is nearly eleven minutes, the first two rod stewart & tom waits tracks are nearly seven minutes a piece, & most of the other songs run over or around the five minute mark - so this ends up being a little under an hour in length. mostly all of these artists are die-hard favorites of my mother's (prince & bonnie raitt being her particular favorites, though rod stewart & janis joplin are up there too), but the tom waits i figured i'd throw in as a surprise. for years she's been asking me who "that voice" belongs to, showing some real interest in him, but never working up the motivation to check into any of his music. so i did her the favor of putting two songs i knew she'd be familiar with through rod stewart's covers, to sort of give her a little step-up.

at any rate, this will be something she plays in her car on her way to & from work, so hopefully it remains a consistent play for her. i actually enjoyed putting it together, so hopefully she has a great birthday & a little stroll down memory lane with me to these songs. the title is from the van the man track.

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