Notes on the Chet and Bernie Spotify Playlist

Mike Farley, C&B reader, did this playlist all on his own. Here, courtesy of him, are his notes on the project. (And WTAFP – no surprise – nailed yesterday’s C&B song trivia question – see the comments.)

Chet and Bernie Spotify Playlist and Book Collection Song Titles
C&B Books 1-14
Mike Farley V1 03/09/2024

“Chet and Bernie Tribute” Spotify Playlist
The Spotify Chet and Bernie Tribute V1 playlist comprises 16 songs:
1. Fourteen selections that are referenced in books 1-14 as described in Criteria, below.
2. Two songs that are not included in the books, “Surfin’ USA’” and “Pontiac Blues.”
The Playlist
1. ”If You Were Mine,” Billie Holiday. Roy Eldridge on trumpet
2. “Rock the Casbah – Remastered.” The Clash
3. “In-A-GaddaDa-Vida – Single [short] Version,” Iron Butterfly
4. “Death Don’t Have No Mercy’” Rev. Gary Davis
5. “The Sky Is Crying,” Elmore James
6. “Sway-2009 Mix,” The Rolling Stones
7. “It Hurts Me Too,” Elmore James, Chief Records version
8. “Lonesome 77203,” Hawkshaw Hawkins Artist per Peter A. suggestion.
9. “Done Somebody Wrong,” Elmore James
10. “Can’t Cash My Checks.” Jamey Johnson
11. “Sea of Heartbreak,” Jimmy Buffet/George Strait version
12. “Metal Firecracker,” Lucinda Williams
13. “Chain of Fools,” Aretha Franklin
14. “Song for Chet,” Bob Edwards, Peter Abrahams, Mitch Watkins
15. “Surfin’ USA,” The Beach Boys [Not in the books. My add because the list needed a surfing song.] 16. “Pontiac Blues – Live.” Sonny Boy Williamson and The Yardbirds [Not in the books. My add because Bernie should like it. Might hurt Chet’s ears ;-)]

Song Titles Listed in Chet and Bernie Books 1-14

The following collection of song titles is the source of songs included in the Spotify playlist.
Criteria
I recorded only the songs that meet the following criteria:
1. A specific song title is named, and
2. The song is played, sung, or heard by Chet or Bernie

A song is listed once per book, regardless of the number of times it was mentioned. The list may be incomplete due to oversights on my part.

The Song List, C&B Books 1-14
C&B#1, Dog On It
“Up a Lazy River”
“When It’s Sleepy Time Down South”
“Jambalaya”
“Hey Bo Diddly”
“Rock the Casbah”
“Rawhide
“Your Cheatin’ Heart
“Born in the USA
“Blue Moon” (Bompity Bompity Bompity Bomp)
“If You Were Mine”
C&B #2, Thereby Hangs a Tail
“If You Were Mine” Holiday/Eldridge
”Sway” Rolling Stones
“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”
“The Sky is Crying” Elmore James
“Mean Mistreatin’ Mama” Elmore James
”It Hurts Me Too” Elmore James
“I Got a Bad Feelin’” Elmore James
C&B #3, To Fetch a Thief
“He Stopped Loving Her Today”
“It Hurts me Too”
“Lonesome 77203”
“Born to Lose”
“A Tear Fell”
“Sea of Heartbreak”
“South of the Border down Mexico way”
C&B #4, The Dog Who Knew Too Much
“Parachute Woman”
“The Sky is Crying”
“Arriverderci Roma”
“Born to Lose”
“Crying Time”
“Death Don’t Have No Mercy In This Land”
“Bo Diddley”
C&B #5, A Fistful of Collars
“Once You Have Found Her, Never Let Her ago”
“Mr. Pitiful”
“Death Don’t have No Mercy in at his Land”
“Cry Me a River”
“Going Back to Greenville”
“Lonesome 77203”
“Can’t cash My Checks”
“Dead Flowers”
“Lonely Teardrops”
“Sea of Heartbreak”

C&B #6, The Sound and the Fury
“Baby Please Don’t Go”
“Metal Firecracker”
“Sea of Heartbreak”
“Death Don’t Have No Mercy”
“After You’re Gone”
“If You Were Mine”
C&B #7, Paw and Order
“Death Don’t Have No Mercy”
“If You Were Mine”
“The Road Goes on Forever”
“Delta Momma Blues”
“The Sky is Crying”
Sea of Heartbreak”
“Born to Lose”
“It Hurts Me Too”
C&B #8, Scents and Sensibility
No songs in this book that meet criteria.

C&B #9, The Heart of Barkness
“Song for Chet”
Many other music references, but no others that meet selection criteria.

C&B #10, Of Mutts and Men
No songs in this book meet criteria.

C&B #11, Tender is the Bite
“Death Don’t Have No Mercy”
“Devil in Her Heart”
“A Fool Such As I”
“I Was The One” (Elvis)

Bernie songs a snippet: “Hanalei Bay, Hanalei Bay, where the big breakers roll in all day.”
Not sure if that’s a real song, cant find it on Spotify or other sources with the “breakers” lyrics. (Note from Pete: Bernie is making up this one.)
I chose “Surfin’ USA” as a representative surfing joy song.

C&B #12, It’s a Wonderful Woof
“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”
“If You Were Mine”

Chet mentions “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” as what Bernie had been singing a lot lately (since spat with Weatherly, I guess).

Chet remembers a Mexico trip when Bernie sang “El Paso.”

C&B #13, Bark to the Future
No songs that meet criteria in this book.

One character mentioned the Chet song.
One character, Polly, made a reference to a Wayne Newton song about “tore your dress” regarding Bernie taking her to the prom. (Note from Pete: the song is Danke Schoen.)

C&B #14, Up on the Woof Top
“Death Don’t Have No Mercy”
“If You Were Mine”
“God Walks the Dark Hills”
“Eighteen Yellow Roses”
“Oh Susanna”
“The Barber of Seville.” (At end of ski run Figaro’s Leap, Bernie sings a few notes of Figaro’s Aria from “The Barber of Seville.”)
“Chain, Chain, Chain” (Chet describes hearing Bernie singing “Chain, Chain, Chain” after taking off chains on drive home for Christmas.)

FYI: Short Stories – No Songs That Meet Criteria

 

8 Comments on “Notes on the Chet and Bernie Spotify Playlist”

  1. I was able to print these most excellent notes. When I reread the series, I will refer to them to increase my appreciation (if that is even possible) of the musical motifs OFA so wondrously employs.
    BTW, welcome to all you Facebook friends who Pete directed to this site! It’s just one more way to enjoy being a fan!

    1. Good idea. Comments on the blog disappear after about 30 days so copy them now while you can. I copied this one to Pages and saved it in my C&B folder.

  2. Yes, the Surfin’ USA was needed due to the several mentions of such in Southern California. Still waiting for that short story. I know PA was in the San Diego region over a decade ago because I got several books signed at Mysterious Galaxy in La Jolla. He’s also been to L.A. more than once for book signings (although I have not). If PA stayed in La Jolla he may have watched them surfing at La Jolla Shores. There is surfing all along the Southern California coast all the way to the border, some beaches better than others.

    I’m not sure about Pontiac Blues as Bernie is strictly a Porsche man.
    There’s Driving in your Porsche Coupe by T.Rex
    Most are Rap songs but Janis Joplin did mention it in Mercedes Benz.

    I love the extended notes list.

    I am surprised that Bernie doesn’t listen to any earlier R&B or Big Band. I would have thought he would be familiar with at least one Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith or Robert Johnson. Especially when he is getting a little melancholy.

  3. I think at the beginning of the series, Bernie would be a fan of Marty Robbins old western ballads. Mom’s personal favorite is “Big Iron”.

    That is a wonderful list. I need Mom to save it for reference.

    Thank you, MikeF for your detailed work!

  4. Glad to see people are enjoying the notes!

    BTW, I chose “Pontiac Blues” for a number of reasons, including that it’s a personal favorite for skills and historical reasons, it fits with Bernie’s artist/solo expertise likes, and it fits with Bernie’s ideas of romantic love. AND, I owned a 1954 straight 8 Pontiac in my high school days, something of a “metal firecracker” once it got rolling ;-).

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