Sunday, March 09, 2008

Pacific Ocean Mix

This is a mellow mix, with a definite West Coast feel, inspired by the Oakland deejay/producers Sorcerer and Hatchback (who also work together as Windsurf).
The mix opens with a great Leon Russell song from 1979, (long after he had became a minor star as a result of his work with Joe Cocker, Delaney and Bonnie and George Harrison) called "Back to the Island." This song is not at all like the rhythm and blues based-material that Russell usually wrote and performed. It has a very laid-back, spooky feeling to it, which makes it perfect to lead off a mix called Pacific Ocean Mix. (It has been covered by Jimmy Buffet and Toots and the Maytals, and I actually thought I would use the Toots version, but it but it is jumpy and skittish rather than subversive, mellow and swinging.)
Among the other highlights is "White Lies," by Grin, featuring Nils Lofgrin before he began his long solo career. "White Lies" was a minor hit around the time of "Horse with No Name," and it has some of the same feel, only it's a thousand times better.
Newer bands featured include the Skygreen Leopards, the National Lights, Warm Morning (from Italy) and Stars of Track and Field.
The mix ends with Mark Knopfler's theme from the film Local Hero, probably one of my favorite film scores of all time (and one of my favorite films.)
Here is the complete track list:
"Back to the Island" Leon Russell
"Hawaiian Island" The Sorcerer
"Floating" Nobody and the Mystic Chords of Memory
"White Lies" Grin
"Pacific Standard Time" Pete Krebs
"Outdoor Games" Magic Arm
"Bad Weather" Poco
"The Skies Turn Black" Fireflies
"Gentle On My Mind" Glen Campbell
"Your Rocky Spine" Great Lakes Swimmer
"Riverbed" National Lights
"Sentimental Lady" Fleetwood Mac
"Fantastic" Stars of Track and Field
"White Summer Daydream" Warm Morning
"Sail Around the World" David Gates
"Wildfire" Michael Martin Murphy
"The Horses" Rickie Lee Jones
"The Homeless and the Hummingbird" Alaska In Winter
"Head Over Heels" Blue Rodeo
"Hard to Say" Dan Fogelberg
"Going Home (Theme from 'Local Hero')" Mmark Knopfler

Pacific Ocean Mix

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fantastic, brother. I remember listening to Wildfire over and over again back in the early seventies in my parents' stationwagon. It kept me on the brink of tears.

Robin said...

Thanks for the compliment. Keep reading, keep listening!
Robin