Felsen Loves You: Summer Vacation

Hello Dear Lovelies:

Ohhh we had a rowdy good time last week in Benicia at the Rellik Tavern. Dear Rellik staff and patrons. I sincerely apologize for standing on the bar top. Twice. Rock and Roll is my enabler, it makes me do reckless and stupid things in service of the audience’s need for a sacrificial lamb/village idiot. Also, apologies for excessive volume. The bar man came up with his OSHA issued dB meter and informed us that we were registering around 110 dB (about as loud as standing next to a lawnmower in use. oouch. sorry bout that.) As I’ve mentioned, we’re gonna be taking some time off. I guess the spirit to throw down mightily one last sweet time was strongly with us that night. The good people liked it though and that only acted as a further enabler for reckless musical behavior.

(photos by Erinn Terry)

OK so now that it’s summer vacation, I’ve been thinking about you. If we were in high school, I’d make you a mix tape. So…here goes. How bout a few tunes to listen to while the band is on holiday? It'll be like being in our van barreling down the highway, each band mate getting a turn at being DJ. My turn. Arthur, look at those horsies out there!

I first heard this tune via CAKE's cover version. This song makes me real sad. Not sure why. Maybe it's all those many miles I/we have driven all over the country far from home. I like the sad songs the best. I'm that kid who arrived at the party with the Joy Division record and took the needle off the Cyndi Lauper album. You'll probably laugh, but here it is.

The story goes that Don Gibson wrote this tune the same day that he wrote “I Can’t stop Loving You.” Not a bad day's work! Neil Young reinvented the tune and added a whole other layer of sad. You can't fake that.

The groove on this one is so laid back and woozy. It feels like you're on pain medication. It kinda makes you feel bad in a good way AND it sounds great in the car. Extra Loud.