what's on your iPod?

What I've been listening to lately, as if anyone cares. Got the latest Tom Petty, "Traveling Companion," from iTunes just before leaving CH. Good, solid album, especially the first track, "Saving Grace." I actually bought the video for that one. I really like it, simple black and white shots of the band playing the song with their shadows cast upon a white screen behind them. Middle aged rockers doing it right and looking like guys you would want to hang out with. Tom Petty is going to be one of the few big name rockers to grow old gracefully, like Neil Young and Johnny Cash. Speaking of Cash, his cover of Blind Boys of Alabama's (though they probably weren't the first, but the only version I know, from "Spirit of the Century," a must-have as far as I'm concerned) "Run on for a Long Time," has been in heavy rotation at the college station here. Great percussion, and some sort of ringing sound, while John intones "well goodness gracious let me give you the news..." I usually have to pull the car over and just soak this one in. When I heard that he was nearly blind and in a wheel chair when the album was recorded, I thought, what a shame, if that album sucks it will mess up his legacy. I listened to a few samples on iTunes and was unimpressed. But "Run on" carries some weight and grace, and though he slurs it a little, he conveys strength from a man looking directly into cosmic time.
On a lighter note, I downloaded and enjoyed "Morning Wood," by the Rugburns. This is an album that I have wanted since I first heard "My Boyfriend" back in the mid-nineties. It's college-age humor, but still funny to me. The songs are melody-strong and well-put together. A little too much so, actually, since a few of them, such as "Pit Bull," "Hitchhiker Joe," and "Holliston Street," got stuck in my head for a few evenings one week and just about drove me crazy. Everyone should try the Rugburns at least once. If you want to start with the best, just treat yourself to a taste, start with "My Boyfriend" and "Me and Eddie Vedder."
Generally speaking, I am bored with the 2713 songs on my iPod, and the cds are all packed away. I have a Smithsonian recording of black banjo players of North Carolina on the way from Amazon, so that will create some excitement. I have also been working on appreciating silence, which is altogether different here than it was back home. It gets REALLY quiet here, especially out in the wilderness, with no highways or airports nearby.