A Summer Dies in Houston
Sitting in traffic. In the rain. On Congress Avenue in Austin. After a day in Houston. The windshield wipers undulated as a Ryan Adams song screeched to an end on the rental’s car’s cheap stereo. The car smelled like french fries from a Whataburger or a taco from Buc-ee’s. I can’t remember.
All I could think about was what just happened. For roughly four hours, I’d sat through bumper-to-bumper traffic returning to Austin from Houston, where somewhere in the middle a small fender bender lead to a nine car pile-up spreading across four lanes of highway. I didn’t mind waiting out the inevitable delay. My day was made when I got to sit and listen to music — my music — much of it created in the land that stretched between the two Texas cities of my current — and very temporary — residence. I found myself allowing the shuffle function of my mobile device to take over, and in the process uncovering a slow devolution into something slightly resembling The Blues. It was a Blues worth wallowing in, for I knew on the other side of those blues was a crack of sunshine, and the day, well, she weren’t over yet.
1) Ryan Adams – When The Summer Ends
2) White Denim – Come Back
3) Stevie Wonder – I’m Wondering
4) Chuck Berry – Nadine
5) L.C. Cooke – The Lover
6) Tom T. Hall – Shoeshine Man
7) Tammy Wynette & George Jones – Something To Brag About
8) Steve Earle – Little Sister
9) Cat Stevens – Maybe You’re Right
10) Paul Simon – The Obvious Child
11) Robert Plant And the Strange Sensation – All The King’s Horses
12) Shuggie Otis – Sweet Thang
13) Connan Mackasin – I’m The Man That Will Find You
14) Warren Zevon – Accidentally Like A Martyr (Unreleased)
15) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Into My Arms
16) Chuck Berry – Blues #1
17) Emmylou Harris & Willie Nelson – One Paper Kid
18) Steely Dan – Midnite Cruiser
19) Steve Winwood – Take It As It Comes
20) Randy Newman – Back On My Feet Again
21) Vince Gill – One More Last Chance
22) Dire Straits – The Bug
23) Marley’s Ghost with Old Crow Medicine Show & Cowboy Jack Clement – It’s All Over Now
24) Dire Straits – Water of Love
25) Joe Henry – Grave Angels
26) Luluc – Small Window
27) George Jones – The Selfishness in Man
28) Lyle Lovett – White Boy Lost In The Blues
29) Ryan Adams – Tired of Giving Up
Bonus:
30) Albert King – Call It Stormy Monday (Live at Montreux)
31) Mississippi John Hurt – Coffee Blues (Live)
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