Robert Palmer – The Art of the Mixtape

Doin’ It Right In The Land of 1000 Dances, A Mixtape

Art of the Song presents Doin’ It Right In The Land of 1000 Dances, a free mix for your downloading pleasure! Perfectly calibrated to get those hips shakin’ and feet tappin’, play this on your speakers and get ready to dance the night away! If you’re feeling lucky, just click the picture for the download, or wait til after the tracklisting to click the link below.

Please note that it’s a zip file, and won’t have the proper track order, but if you put all the songs on your itunes, then click the Doin’ It Right In The Land of 1000 Dances.m3u file, iTunes does the work for you. Now that’s what I call Doin’ It Right!

Doin’ It Right In The Land of 1000 Dances :

1. Hang Fire – The Rolling Stones
2. Coming Back to Me Baby – James Carr
3. Pressure Drop – Robert Palmer
4. Keep On Movin’ – King Tuff
5. Doin’ It, Right – Cheers Elephant
6. Hit and Miss – The Tins
7. 100 Yard Dash – Raphael Saadiq
8. Black Snake – Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
9. Soulless- Fake Problems
10. I’ve Got To Convince Myself – Allen Toussaint
11. Morning Crimes – Theme Park
12. Caught Me Thinkin’ – Bahamas
13. Fantasized – Robert Cray
14. Happy Pills – Norah Jones
15. Land Of 1000 Dances – Wilson Pickett
16. Shotgun – Jr. Walker & The All-Stars
17. Ophelia (from The Last Waltz) – The Band
18. Act Nice & Gentle – The Black Keys
19. The Night Before – The Beatles
20. Please Be It – The Generationals
21. Hold On! I’m Comin’ – B.B. King & Eric Clapton

Doin’ It Right In The Land of 1000 Dances.zip

Summer Gems 2012: A Mixtape

To grab the mix, either click on the image or the text.

Track-listing:

1. Peoples – Cheers Elephant

2. The Fritz – Cruiser

3. The Walk – Mayer Hawthorne

4. Everyone Knows – Vacationer

5. This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) – Talking Heads

6. Milk – Theme Park

7. The Hale Bop – Mystery Jets

8. She’s So Scandalous – Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

9. Fletcher – Blitzen Trapper

10. Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder

11. Skin It Back – Little Feat

12. Carrying The Torch – Generationals

13. My Baby Is The Real Thing – Allen Toussaint

14. Come On Sock It To Me – Syl Johnson

15. Got To Be Some Changes Made – The Staple Singers

16. Scratch My Back – Otis Redding

17. Knock On Wood – Eddie Floyd

18. Blackmail – Robert Palmer

19. Ain’t Gonna Stop – Natural Child

20. Greatest Hits – Mystery Jets

21. If You Let Me Be Your Anchor – Dawes

(Image Courtesy of We Are Handsome)

“Fine Time” is the album’s steller track (only because “Pressure Drop” is a cover) with a false start and Palmer’s vocal count in starting this absolutely burning groove. While the tempo may be slower, the band matches the intensity of the arrangement on “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley” with every player in top form, like coals on the fire, constantly smoldering, the organ coming to a peak with a great solo while the funky rhythm section (the drums are a highlight here) never trying to steal the spotlight. It’s truly Palmer’s vocal performance however, that turns this song into a classic, swooping in and out of the arrangement, not only holding down the groove but taking it to new heights. If you loved Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley, this is a must have. Check out the full post on Robert Palmer’s Pressure Drop here and download “Fine Time” and “Trouble” as a bonus below.

Fine Time- Robert Palmer

Trouble- Robert Palmer

Robert Palmer’s Lost Oeuvre Part II: Pressure Drop (1976)

Pressure Drop, the follow-up to 1974’s Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley would find Robert Palmer at an interesting crossroads in his career as despite the great craftsmanship on his previous LP he was still vastly unknown outside of the NYC music scene. As a result, Pressure Drop was not as cohesive as an album due to the desire to be more commercial. Unfortunately for Palmer, 1976 was a time where schmaltzy and breezy arrangements were in high demand and despite his best efforts this makes the album quite dated. However, the highlights on here stand up along with the best of Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley, from the title track (a cover of the famous Toots & The Maytals tune), to the slow burn of “Fine Time” as well as the rollicking “Riverboat” and “Trouble”,it’s quite clear (even from the album cover) that Palmer and his crack session band of Little Feat and the Muscle Shoals Horn Section and even James Jamerson (the bassist of Motown fame) have a whole lot of fun.

Continue reading Robert Palmer’s Lost Oeuvre Part II: Pressure Drop (1976)