Under the Covers with Jay…
31 Days of Brannan – Day 7
(A bit later than I wanted – technical issues)
Today’s Playlist – Landslide and Super Bass
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Errata – So I had technical issues of a major sort with my web hosting site. I couldn’t get it to respond or wouldn’t even serve up additional pages or the WP admin site. I was beside myself. Luckily the support team responded rather quickly and acknowledged that the server was having issues. They corrected it but it was well past my bed time to post.
SO, this is the post I was going to put up yesterday. So we’ll get two for today to make up for the technical fubar.
Jay is rather well known by his fans for his careful selection of cover material. All artists do it from time to time – putting their spin on classic tunes we all know and love. When Jay does it they truly do gain a new life of sorts. Not that they take away from the classics, it’s not that at all. Jay’s respectful enough to leave the lingering sentimentality of the song to caress your ear and remind you of times long past. Things that you thought were buried but with his dulcet tones they come swimming back.
Such was the case for me when he covered Landslide. Like many of my generation (I was around when Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks were exploding on the scene back in the 70’s), FM and Nicks were monumental in the soundtrack from my life back then. Nicks in particular reminds me of my friend Crystal. She was into wicca back in the day and hell, that rumor swirled around Nicks like the fringed shawl she would use on stage. She was a very magical act to behold. I listened to all of the classic bands back then – Heart, Queen, Boston, Journey, Styx, The Mac and Stevie. But Stevie was special in my mind. Probably because Crystal’s whole outlook on her music drove that for me.
We were in high school, dealing with all of the social cliques and unwritten but oft remembered laws that govern that microscopic enclave we called academia. For me, being gay and fairly obvious about it in the late seventies and early eighties was no easy thing to burden. Crystal was my get away. I was over her house quite a bit in those days. We did what most teens did… we played songs and we sang our hearts out – probably because we were both in choir (how gay can you get for a high school boy, right?).
Rhiannon, Go Your Own Way, Dreams, they were all on our playlists in our head in those days of vinyl. And kids, let me tell you NO digital file can compare with an analog recording – forget what the marketers and the tech geeks say – vinyl rules.
Anywho, so when Jay released this little cover on his youtube channel, I was over the moon to hear it. His rendering of the song is quite emotive for me – recalling those days so long ago and the naiveté that permeated my teen years. My senior year was another story altogether – but I’ll leave that for another time.
So Jay – yeah, thanks for taking me back, though I am fully cognizant that that wasn’t your goal, it was the unintended effect on my part. I got sentimental for those days. Recalling that boy so long ago and the heady, romantic ideals I had about what being with a boy would be like.
But a lot of your songs do that for me. They take me back. Just as emotive as those sentimental favorites. Probably why Rob Me Blind (along with your entire catalog) is constantly playing in the car. They are my new classics, my new sentimental favorites.
And I sing them with no less sentimentality than Landslide or Dreams. Denmark and Rob Me Blind have just as prominent a place as those songs did from my past. Rob Me is my new soundtrack for this stage of my life. And I couldn’t be happier…
And now for something completely different… SUPER BASS
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Just my giggle moment from Jay. I love that he can go there and take us along for the ride.
The Always, Then & Now Tour…
Sidebar: I bought my Deluxe Package from Jay Brannan’s store for the tour he’s embarking on now. The cost of the deluxe package is $40 and you get quite a bit for it. There are other packages as well. But that isn’t why I did it. I did it because I truly feel indebted to this man of words and music. I am enriched by his musical musings and experiences. I am emboldened to discover that I am not alone in my dreams and fears. And for that I will always support him and do what I can to spread the word.
The deluxe tour package from Jay Brannan’s merchandise store – get this or many other offerings from his site.
Please check out his site with links for his upcoming shows. I am definitely a late comer to the Brannan bandwagon whenever he pulls through my city. But now that I am going this year, I am making it a goal never to miss when he swings through town. I hope you take advantage of the opportunity as well. Also be sure to check out his web store at the following link.
- Jay’s Website – jaybrannan.com
