Here you go all - I've copied in Sting's comments about each song on his
playlist. Enjoy!
-Tim
The Dock of the Bay ?添ou can稚 get better than Otis Redding.?
Hideaway ?This was my guitar album ?I learned every song note for note.
Eric [Clapton] was taking and reworking ideas from people like Freddie
King. When I played guitar with the Blue Turtles band I could work
through clich駸, but I知 no blues guitarist.
Sweet Baby James ?You cam scratch the surface of my songs pretty
lightly, and you値l find someone who wanted to be James Taylor at the age
of fourteen. He痴 also a brilliant and ridiculously underrated guitar
player and blessed with a voice that could melt ice caps.
Rope Ladder To The Moon ?I was actually more keen on Jack痴 work after he
left Cream, especially this superb record. Jack had a certain formalism
that attracted me ?he wasn稚 just a plodder. Here was a bass player who
sang ?which is impossible ?and had a jazz sensibility. I finally had a
role model to look up to.
The Wind Cries Mary ?I loved Jimi痴 harder stuff, but this showed a much
gentler and deeper side of him. I recorded a version of this with John
McLaughlin, and I致e never worked with such an extraodinary guitarist.
His musical intelligence is just off the scale.
Subterranean Homesick Blues ?I think this was one of the first videos I
remember seeing. I bought the original 45. I love this song. I love the
lyrics even though I never knew quite what they meant. It痴 a great song,
and he痴 a great guitarist and he really inspired me.
So What ?I play 鉄o What?by Miles Davis almost once a week because I find
it stimulating intellectually to hear those guys exploring the range of
their talents. You can hear their personalities come through so early. A
wonderful conversation between instruments.
Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy ?Basically an exercise in demi-semiquavers we
used to do in my old band Last Exit. I remember doing a gig with a big
band and we supported Return To Forever. I had never seen anything like
it,
Smells Like Teen Spirit ?The energy of the Sex Pistols liked with a
brilliant sense of melody, Kurt used considerable musical intelligence
to carefully construct statements that sounded offhand. Link that skill
to powerful energies and you致e got something unique. I just wish that he壇
seen music as a way to heal his soul. I do think he would have gotten to
that point eventually.
Big Bottom ?Ow more black could it be? None more black.
The Ghost Of Tom Joad ?The great thing about Bruce is that he痴 exactly
as he seems, a great man. On The Ghost Of Tom Joad, I realized very
quickly reading the lyrics that he壇 upped the stakes. I think it痴 the
best record he痴 done.
Shaking the Tree ?I first met Youssou with Peter several years ago when
we worked together on an Amnesty tour. Both of them have such
extraordinary voices and Peter has done a lot to promote world music in
general and that should be acknowledged as it痴 been a one man crusade on
his part.
Paper Sun ?I loved the band Traffic for their way of creating a musical
universe without these boundaries, because whether it痴 country, pop,
gospel, heavy metal, or classical music, it痴 all a single language, a
code.
Tempted ?One of my favorite songs that I never wrote was 禅empted,?and I
did actually cover it. It痴 a great song, and Chris Difford and Glen
Tilbrook are great songwriters, and Squeeze was always a great band, and
it was nice to cover it.
