WARMER MIXTAPES #1667 | by Robert Neale Lind [Bob Lind]

Photo by Henry Diltz

 1. The Sons Of The Pioneers | Cool Water
This is totally subjective, of course. I first heard it when I was six years old when I used to raid my parents' collection of 78s. All the songs they liked were mushy Love songs by tight-ass pretty boys and over-made-up women (Jo Stafford, Vaughn Monroe, Bing Crosby...). I liked the feel of Music even at that age. But smarmy romance lyrics held no appeal for a 6-year-old kid. It was all Come back I miss you. or You're my honey pie. Yuck! Then one day I put on this song about two guys dying of thirst in the desert. Holy shit! This was something I could get my baby teeth into. That bridge: Keep a-movin', Dan! Don't you listen to him, Dan! He's a devil, not a man! And he spreads the burning sand with water. Whoa! And that irresistible echo-y refrain Cool... (Water!)... Clear (Water!)... Water, water, water. Later on, after getting my heart and balls broken a few times, I came to appreciate the power of Love songs. But hearing this song, at that age gave me my first awareness of how song lyrics could fascinate, touch and excite the soul.

 2. Gato Barbieri | Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile) (Carlos Santana Cover)
There are very few songs about which I can say I never get tired of this. Even my favorite records eventually reach the point of diminishing returns. After continued play, I get to the point where I anticipate what's coming and no longer hear it. For some reason, this record ALWAYS thrills me. No lyrics at all. Just that expressive, passionate tenor sax pouring out of a totally alive soul. Even that thumpy repetitive do-nothing bridge SHOULD be boring, but somehow it's not. What an experience.

3. Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald | On My Own
There's no adequate words in my vocabulary to express what this record does to me. The slick Music biz execs are fond of saying the perfect ingredients for a hit are Song, Producer and Artist. I guess that's right. But this record has an indefinable something that lifts it past the sum of its magnificent parts. The Bacharach/Sager song provides LaBelle with something worthy of those astonishing pipes. McDonald's gruff-but-warm counterpoint and the powerful build of the track make me care about what those sad words are saying. And when they sail out into the stratosphere on that release about three and a half minutes in, it triggers an explosion that detonates all resistance to the naked truth of the lyrics.

4. Danny O'Keefe | You Look Just Like A Girl Again
There's something about Danny's music that always makes me feel I'm being offered entry to an intimate, secret place where not everyone can go. On the surface, some of his songs are too cryptic, some are too on-the-nose and clever. But somehow none of their blemishes keep me from feeling what he's inviting me to feel. He casts a spell with his writing and none of the seeming imperfections keep me out of his heart. This song, to me, is his best: A man reassuring his woman that she's still young and beautiful to him despite the years [she] cannot hide. It's easy to write about Hot New Love. But to evoke the emotions of a couple who has walked a long road of Life together, that's hard to do. And that bridge: Oh these tender moments... That we hang our dreams upon... Were we ever really children?... And are we now so far beyond? How many marriages would still be together if more husbands had said these simple words to their wives?

5. Jr. Walker & The Allstars | What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) 
Such an exciting record. I love those fall-on-your-knees-and-profess-your-love tunes. And Walker really pours it out. The words are simple and compact. No Shakespearean eloquence here, just a simple declaration of Desperate Desire. And I like the way he takes it as far as he can go with his voice, then gives up and lets his sax do the talking. (Gonna blow for you. And Gonna blow again for you...)

6. Bob Dylan | Mr. Tambourine Man 
I don't get most Poetry. It's either too fluffy and flowery for me or, worse, it's phony and pretentious. From what I understand, poets are supposed to communicate something that prosaic language can't say. A few do it (Bukowski, Ted Kooser, Sharon Bryan at her best....). But most of it is, to me, just tiresome gibberish. I call it The Emperor's New Art Form. But when I first heard this, I got it. Back then, I was fond of staying up for days at a time on amphetamines. I knew that feeling of moving, dreamlike, through a world that exists somewhere between Sleep and Wakefulness. And when I heard this song, I knew Dylan knew it too.I remember thinking, Ah! So THIS is what Poetry is supposed to do. Without nailing it down with direct description, every image, every line is pointing to something I know. One word that comes to mind is generous. Dylan was talking to me personally with his finger touched to his lips as if to say, Shhh! I know you know about this, but let's not tell a lot of people about it. It still gives me the shivers when I hear it.

7. Judie Tzuke | For You
Oxford defines the word ethereal as extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world. That's the precise description I'd give to this finely wrought piece. I've never heard a more unique record -- Judie and her co-writer Mike Paxman and their producer Lem Lubin weaving and twisting those fragile melody lines into a fully fleshed out harmonic unit. It's all A Cappella for the first minute. Then the subtle string lines start sliding in unobtrusively and build to a tender, Classical-sounding Instrumental bridge. This is a Baroque piece that rivals Bach.

8. Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel | For Good (Live) (Wicked Original Soundtrack)
This touching song happens at the end of the play. It's an expression of the hard-won friendship of two strong but very different women who have been joined in a common cause. They've both had to bend and change, but they've grown and become closer because of what they've been through together. Of course all this is clear from the lyrics and it's most powerful when it's heard in the context of the play. But even hearing it alone, without knowing the entire backstory, the strength of it comes through. Is there a better, more succinct way to say it than this: "I don't know if I've been changed for the better. But because I knew you, I have been changed for good."

 9. Kool And The Gang | Joanna
Guilty pleasure #1. In just about every interview I do, the reporters ask me What's your advice to new songwriters?. I always say I have no right to advise anyone about songwriting. But I suggest you take care with your lyrics. Don't just throw in words that fit. Make them mean the most they can. So how can I justify loving this absolutely horrible song? I can't. It's one of those unexplainables. Can you find a more crass and basic hook than Joanna, I love you. You're the one for me!? Some indefinable quality in it moves me and makes me feel and remember those stirrings of New Love. I know it's dumb, but when I hear it, I can't help but jiggle and wiggle.

 10. Bob Lind | The Outsider's Dream
Guilty pleasure #2. This is probably against the rules -- at least it should be. At best it's shamelessly immodest for an artist to list one of his own tunes as a favorite. So okay, arrest me. I justify it by asking myself, If I heard this and didn't know it was me, would it still move me? The answer is yes. I believe it's poignant and well-written and my singing is adequate to carry the impact. But Jamie Hoover's production is at least half of what I love about it. He found the secret of the song and, without adding anything ostentatious, brought the meaning home. All the players are wonderful and Dave Hubbard playing the signature line is just devastating. When I sent Jamie the demo, I had a wimpy synth flute playing that line. I didn't realize how pussy it sounded until Jamie suggested it ought to be voiced by a tenor sax. That made a huge difference. And Dave's solos -- in and out -- intensify The Loneliness I've built into the lyrics. I'm proud of this one.