Blowin' Free

Introduction

Mackenzie Davis has just given me an excuse to create a playlist inspired by the wind. The concept can spread into many areas and Wishbone Ash's "Blowin' Free" immediately sprang to mind but I hope to bring a lot of unexpected tunes into this playlist, which you may or may not enjoy.

This is Mackenzie's challenge, if you want to read more and maybe even put one together yourself.

So the playlist

Wishbone Ash - "Blowin' Free" from Argus

I have already written at length about this song, and it is my favourite Wishbone Ash song. I do suggest that you give it a listen, but if you want to read a significant amount of my thoughts on it, check out this piece.

Blue Öyster Cult - "Divine Wind" from "Cultosaurus Erectus"

I often drop into this album sor songs and always love the cover which s a detail from "Behemoth's World" by Richard Clifton-Dey.

In the eighties, there was an attack on the American way of life when the Iranian government took 52 US citizens hostage. There weren't many songs written about the crisis, but there was extreme anti-Iran sentiment in America.

Blue Öyster Cult guitarist Buck Dharma took a different approach when he wrote this song dealing with the misguided patriotism of many Americans.

"It's not one of those bomb, bomb, bomb Iran songs. There is a song like that that's popular in the States. In a way it's more to do with America than Iran. I was annoyed when the hostages were taken but I could see how the Iranians would justify it. When you know everything that's bad in our country, the fact that we have the capacity to destroy, that we screw up Third World countries when we could be helping them economically, our greed with oil, the things expected as a right... maybe if the Iranians really think we're evil, the devil, then perhaps we are. We could be rushing headlong into Armageddon."

Thomas Dolby - "Windpower" from "The Golden Age of Wireless"

I've been listening to a lot of Thomas Dolby recently and love this slab of frightening eighties electronic noise that just steamrolls over the listener. A true piece of Windpower complete with a shipping forecast playout.

Daniel Lanois - "Where The Hawkwind Kills (Gold Top Edition)" from "Acadie"

You may have heard of Daniel as a producer and collaborator, but the reverb drums on this are amazing, absolutely stunning. The album is full of Franglais lyrics, but the sound on this is monstrous.

Take a listen, I believe you will be impressed.

Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - "The Dust Blows Forward and the Dust Blows Back" from "Trout Mask Replica"

Possibly the most out-there album you will ever hear and this is a tiny example with Don Van Vliet singing unaccompanied. If you dare listen it is a truly amazing experience but at a party, it will empty the house.

Hawkwind - "Wind of Change" from "Hall Of The Mountain Grill"

This starts with a heavy blowing wind before an organ takes us into an almost choral new-age intrumental, but I love thi salbum and thi spiece too, and you get "wind" in the band name and song title.

Neil Young - "Like A Hurricane" "from American Stars 'n' Bars"

Neil Young's guitar is always amazing and I have been told I sound like him, which is a compliment that I will happily accept. This is eight minutes of amazing music that I cannot stop.

"You Are Like A Hurricane

There's Calm In Your Eye"

If you do want to compare me with Neil there are two videos below from my YouTube Channel.

Thank you so much for reading and listening.

"Love Is A Rose"

"Rockin' In The Free World"