Linen Shirts & Lemonade
I’d like to resurrect the slow dance.
Yes, I know. It’s not really dead, but its prominence at casual social gatherings among my friends and loved ones has diminished continually throughout my life. I recall a time as a young boy seeing couples at backyard barbecues swaying their hips between sips from a bottle of Bartles & Jaymes or a tall, gold can of Coors, the light butt taps in time on pastel-colored madras shorts and flirty sundresses, the meeting of the eyes, the widening of the smile, the soft nuzzle, and then the emphatic twirl.
Affectionately called “Linen Shirts & Lemonade,” this is a mix of tunes that comprised much of my summer, a summer spent soaking up my last days as a Chicagoan, strutting my way through Mississippi, boot-scooting across the southern United States, bobbing along the rushing Colorado River waters, spinning my legs and my dizzy head up a Vail trail, and driving — oh my, the driving — all over California. As I was compiling them for you to enjoy at your Labor Day weekend festivities, I came to realize many of these songs rekindled that swaying late-summer yard party that I miss so much. Listen. You can hear it: arriving to the buzz of a cocktail hour that’s louder than the croak of a cicada field, hitting the dance floor hard with a skip in your step and your hands in the air, and then searching into the dark of night for your sweetheart to tell her that you love her and then give her a nice firm turn and careful dip. And after you have wound your way down a moonlit road, you stand with her in the doorway, unsure if those are the stars in her eyes or the shine of affection. You end the night with a kiss, salty and sweet and better than any dessert created by man or God. Sunday Candy.
Thank you for continuing to follow my playlists. And thank you to all the laborers who keep this country working as well as it does. I hope this mix, Linen Shirts & Lemonade, truly does aid in your enjoyment of a much-deserved day off.
Linen Shirts & Lemonade on Spotify
- Shel Silverstein – Hug o’ War
- Patrinell Staten – I Let A Good Man Go
- Soul Survivors – Expressway to Your Heart
- J.J. Jackson – But It’s Alright
- Skyy – Call Me
- 3rd Bass – The Gas Face
- Poor Righteous Teachers – Rock Dis Funky Joint
- Gang Starr – Step in the Arena
- John Holt – Sister Big Stuff
- The Kinks – Picture Book
- Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers – Mr. Saturday Night
- Eric Clapton – Can’t Let You Do It
- Wilco – Someone to Lose
- Angel Olsen – Shut Up Kiss Me
- Margaret Glaspy – Emotions And Math
- Manu Chao – Bongo Bong
- Three Dog Night – Shambala
- Shake Russell – Troubles
- Grateful Dead – Fire On The Mountain
- Old & In The Way – Wild Horses
- Van Morrison & Brooks Arthur – Sante Fe / Beautiful Obsession
- Bill Withers – Sweet Wanomi
- JJ Grey & Mofro – Tupelo Honey
- Faces – Love Lives Here
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – No Reason to Cry
- Doc Watson – Deep River Blues
- Dave Rawlings Machine – Sweet Tooth
- Willie Watson – Bring It With You When You Come
- Paul Simon – Peace Like a River
- Whiskeytown – Everything I Do
- Joe South – Games People Play
- Tony Joe White – I Want You
- Paul Revere & The Raiders – Powder Blue Mercedes Queen
- Junction – Sorcerer
- The Guess Who – Ramblin Gamblin Man
- Marcia Griffiths – Here I Am Baby
- Vulfpeck – Back Pocket
- James Taylor – Day Tripper
- Donny Hathaway – Magnificent Sanctuary Band
- The Cannonball Adderley Quintet – Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
- Isaac Delusion – Midnight Sun
- Loudon Wainwright III – Hollywood Hopeful
- Vince Bell – Sun & Moon & Stars
- Gene & Debbe – Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye
- George Harrison – Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
- Bob Wills – Stay All Night (Stay A Little Longer)
- Josh Garrels – Farther Along
- Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment – Sunday Candy
You can find the whole thing, Linen Shirts & Lemonade on Spotify and Apple Music.
