24 November 2025 (Special Edition) - Jimmy Cliff - Many Rivers To Cross

It was announced this morning that famed Jamaican singer the Honourable Jimmy Cliff OM, who had a career that started in the early 1960s, passed away today - from a seizure followed by pneumonia.  He was 81 years old.

That title refers to the Jamaican Order of Merit, an award celebrating great achievement by their citizens or by others that have had a huge impact on Jamaica in the sciences, arts, or any other endeavor.  He was the only living reggae musician to receive that honor. 

His career was full of hits and accolades, including this one, which he originally wrote and recorded in 1969.  Others - most notably Annie Lennox, UB40, and Cher - made this song into a much bigger hit that Cliff did (it was a French hit, oddly, a place where he had a lot of hits).  He certainly had much bigger hits.  

I chose this one as a fitting tribute because of this heartfelt and well-received performance from the 2003 Glastonbury festival.  

His voice and his passion will be missed. 

24 November 2025 - 311 - All Mixed Up

Did you know 311 were from Omaha?

And that THIS was actually both their biggest pop and airplay hit song, not "Down"?  Yep, it got more airplay in 1996.... although, let's face it, they both got a fairly large amount. 

I always kind of had a soft spot for 311, and even though I wasn't a fan of reggae, I liked this reggae-infused song quite a bit.  

The song - written by Nick Hexum and SA Martinez - gets its title and theme from an early Elvis Presley interview, where he described himself as "All Mixed Up" over his fame. Seriously/

The band is still together and largely unchanged. In fact, they did a pretty excellent Tiny Desk Concert at the NPR studios last year....on March 11th, by the way... and this made me realize something I didn't really notice prior...

The song is a duet - between the two songwriters (Martinez is wearing the jean jacket and bald head, with Hexum taking lead). How did I not realize that?

21 November 2025 - Kansas - Carry on Wayward Son

OK, this one's a little on the nose. 

Kansas, the band, is right from the state capitol of Topeka, founded in 1854 (that's the order, guys. Order of founding of the state capitol.  Now you know). 119 years later, a band called White Clover - which would become Kansas - formed there.  

This song, from their fourth album - 1976's Leftoverture - would serve as the lead single and the band's first top 40 hit, peaking at #11.  Written by guitarist Kerry Livgren, who wrote a LOT of the band's earlier music, it was the last song recorded for the album.  Livgren described the song as autobiographical and as being "beamed down to him" - foreshadowing a preachier sound that would follow his being born again in 1979.   

Anyway, this is one of the greatest classic rock songs ever written.  Fight me. 

AND THE WORD "MY" DOES NOT APPEAR IN THE TITLE!!!!!

Fifty years on, Kansas persists.  

This performance from 2009 features original vocalist Steve Walsh, who still has it (he did NOT when I saw him a few years later, but from what I could tell, it was an off night).  He would retire from performing in 2014, but he gave it everything he had until the end.

Kansas has had a few vocalists since Walsh left, (although Ronnie Platt since 2014) but still, they tour.  And they sound really good.

They even sounded good in 1982, after Steve Walsh left the first time - and John Elefante (chosen because he didn't take issue with Kerry Livgren's turn to Christian music) took over as vocalist.

20 November 2025 (Special Edition) - The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored

Yeah, breaking the format for one post, because there's no way to fit him in.   

Mani, the stage name of Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassist Greg Mounfield, has passed away.  And, we really hadn't explored The Stone Roses or any of the Madchester scene yet, but now, looks like we're doing this. 

Mani wasn't a founding member of the Stone Roses, but he was a member for both its breakthrough in the late 1980s and their reformation in the early 2010s - which means his bass was key to defining their trippy, mellow rock sound that was so well respected for a short while.  

This was the first song on their debut album and an early single, and was a modern rock hit in the US and a pop hit in the UK and elsewhere.

The big surprise came in 2011, when they reformed after a 20-year hiatus.  That's Mani on bass, too.  

I am genuinely sad about this one.  He will be missed terribly. 

20 November 2025 - Neon Trees - Everybody Talks

When it came to Utah, you almost got more Carmen Rasmussen.  

Instead, you get Provo-based Neon Trees, best known for this song.  Now, this was by no means their only hit - they previously had a top 20 hit with "Animal" - but it is their biggest, peaking at #6 in the US in 2012 and becoming a recognizable hit worldwide. 

Primary vocalist (and songwriter) Tyler Glenn wrote the lyrics, and it had a real hidden meaning.  His ex-girlfriend had spread rumors that Glenn was gay....

.... which he WAS, but even when this song was released, he was not out of the closet yet.   He is now, and happy, and I could not be happier for him.  And, he got a great song and a story out of it. 

It's been awhile since I shared one of these, but remember when Taylor Swift used to bring out guests?

Newark, NJ.  Not Utah.  But still.  It's cool.  

It's also cool that Tyler Glenn is as sassy as Taylor Swift. 

But I happen to like the band's Guitar Center session the best.  The pregnant pause at about 1:20 is just..... joyous.

19 November 2025 - Soundgarden - Outshined

I'm not a monster.  Of course I'm gonna do a second Washington post and do one of those giants of grunge.

And of course I chose Soundgarden, mostly because of their recent Rock and Rock Hall of Fame induction. 

This song, written by Chris Cornell, was their crossover hit that put them on mainstream rock radio's radar.  One of the flagship singles from their 1991 Badmotorfinger album, the song is written in 7/4 time, which musicians are out there saying "wow, that's weird" to, and the rest of you are going "whatever". 

This video was set in a steel mill, and the band absolutely hated it despite its success - but this is what we've got. 

But all of my fans in Canada who watched MuchMusic probably don't recognize that video - which played a lot on MTV - because there is a yellowish-tinged video for this song that was played in Canada.   

So, we've got this, too. 

But THAT video was really THIS alternative video without a blue filter.

Seriously.  

So, we've got THIS, too.

What we no longer have is Chris Cornell, who passed away in 2017.

And, Soundgarden officially broke up in 2017 when he did pass.  However, the surviving members have reformed with a new vocalist - Shaina Shepherd - as Nudedragons, and yes, that's an anagram for Soundgarden.

They ain't bad.  

But she ain't Chris Cornell.

19 November 2025 - Mudhoney - Suck You Dry

Mudhoney - formed from the ashes of Green River - were among the godfathers of the grunge sound in Seattle, with their debut single "Touch Me I'm Sick" being their early defining single.

This song was from their 1992 third album and major label debut, Piece of Cake.  You can tell they didn't try very hard on this one - but still, the songs were energetic and fun and exciting and..... grungy.  This was the big single that got a lot of MTV airplay before grunge faded away with the demise of another band that shall remain nameless. 

Mudhoney didn't fade away, though.  They kept making grunge music and they kept playing.  This performance - on Seattle station KEXP in tribute to Sub Pop Record's silver jubilee - finds the band playing this song.... on top of the Space Needle?

The acoustics weren't bad, honestly.