Blog Posts by Robert of the Radish

The music of The Band has had a big impact on a wide variety of musicians since their first album, Music From Big Pink. Eric Clapton, The Counting Crows, The Black Crowes, My Morning Jacket and Wilco all count The Band as a major influence.

Each member has been involved with a good number of projects outside of The Band, and this playlist is an attempt to bring many of them into a single playlist.

This list kicks off with The Band's best known song, "The Weight", and is followed by 9 more tracks, performed by a member of The Band as a solo artist, an artist The Band has backed, or another group that a member has been part of.

Also be sure to check out the newest Band tribute album Endless Highway: The Music of the Band featuring Death Cab For Cutie, Jack Johnson, Roseanne Cash,  Guster, Gomez, The Allman Brothers Band and many others.

Or better yet, go back to the source, and rediscover The Band.

The Band Family Tree Playlist

1. The Weight - The Band

2. Who Do You Love (Remastered

Over the last few years our country has suffered through some horrible coal mining disasters. This playlist highlights the long musical tradition of coal mining songs.

Coal mining has a long and distinguished history in America. The story of coal in is one of hardship and triumph. This black gold undoubtedly was the fuel that built America and the men who mined it worked under extremely hazardous and strenuous conditions. Many of those who entered the pits never returned due to slope failure, roof collapse, gas and explosions. Some of those that survived the hazards of the work itself only ended up victims of violent union busting that some coal companies practiced. And some lucky enough to survive this lived only long enough to suffer a slow death brought on by coal miners' pneumoconiosis or "the black lung", which is caused by inhaling coal dust.

The men that raised their families by doing the exhausting work of coal mining for very little pay deserve the respect of every free

Streets have a strong attraction for the songwriter.

After all, we all have memories of the streets we grew up on, or where our first apartment was located, or of a famous street in a favorite city. This playlist features the top 100 songs with a street name in the title, whether it's a street, road, avenue, boulevard or lane.

I had a few rules when selecting tracks for this playlist, the first being that it had to be an in-town or neighborhood road, highways and freeways were excluded. Also, the street name(s) had to be explicitly mentioned in the song title. Both real and fictional street names were acceptable.

The playlist includes world famous streets like Hollywood Blvd, 52nd St, Sunset Strip and Ventura Blvd as well as fictional ones like Fascination St, Love St. Thunder Road and Dirty Blvd. Clocking in at almost 8 hours, the compilation will take you down many roads and chances are good that you've lived on one of the streets in this list. 

I limited the list to 100 high

A hangover is the way our bodies punish us for hurting them with too much alcohol. There are a lot of good tips for avoiding a hangover if you're planning a night of drinking.  Some include:

1. Eat. Especially fruit as the fructose helps absorb alcohol.

2. Choose your drink wisely and drink high quality liquor. The cheap stuff contain impurities that can make a hangover much worse.

3. Take vitamin  B & C

4. Drink milk. It absorbs alcohol.

5. And most importantly, listen to your body

If you use these tips and still wake up in the morning with your friend Mr. Hangover, be sure to vist Hangover.net.

For my part, I've created this playlist to help you get through.

Music can make a hangover much easier to take. The key is low volume, acoustic or downtempo electronic instrumentation, a lack of drums and a steady plodding, free of steep dynamic changes. I have lovingly crafted this playlist with your well-being in mind. It's the perfect soundtrack for a hangover. Mellow, easy, soothing and

marcbolan.jpgThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that an average of 114 people die in car crashes each day in the United States.

Most of these fatalities are caused by drunken driving, speeding or a general disregard for safety. However, the victims also include those who are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Although we don't like to think about it, every time you get into a car you put your life at risk. Traffic deaths can affect every level of society, and that includes musicians, both famous and not. In fact, musicians are at greater risk because they must travel much of the time to make their living. Long days and nights on the road can be monotonous for the tour bus driver. Combine this with the pressure of making it to the next stop on time and the musician's reputation for hard partying and you have a recipe for disaster.

This playlist includes songs by artists who have lost their lives in automobile accidents.

Artists Killed By Automobile Accidents

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VH1's "The Greatest" series has created a substantial number of lists that are sometimes more fun for the controversy they create than the music they highlight.

The cable music channel has produced everything from the greatest 100 women in rock & roll to the top awesomely bad dirty songs. Any playlist of this kind is bound to have omissions and additions that upset large numbers of fans and yet we still can't help being attracted to them.

This playlist includes songs selected by VH1 as the "Greatest Dance Songs" in the history of recorded music.

Hosted by Paula Abdul, this episode sought to pick the top songs most likely to get you onto the dance floor. Even if you disagree with some of the picks in the list, it does offer over 7 hours of highly danceable music that can please the majority of guests at your next wedding reception, Bar Mitzvah or birthday party. It spans over 50 years of recorded music history and includes infectious grooves from many genres including disco, pop,

Steve Earle is one of a few decidedly liberal, and vocal, political activist country singers working today. And he's seen his fair share of trouble.

Earlier in his career he drew comparisons to Bruce Springsteen and showed great promise. In the early 1970's he moved to Texas where he fell in with Townes Van Zandt, Nanci Griffith, Lucinda Williams and Jerry Jeff Walker.  In 1975, Steve moved up to Nashville and met Guy Clark who helped him get a songwriting gig for a division of RCA. This playlist begins with "Desperados Waiting For A Train" from Guy Clark's first album. If you listen closely, you'll hear Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris singing background vocals.

Later, Steve released some rockabilly stuff under his own name, but it wasn't until 1986 that his first proper album for MCA called Guitar Town hit the streets.  It sold 300,000 copies and Mr. Earle was on his way.

After two more critically acclaimed albums, Exit 0 and Copperhead Road, his heroin addiction took control and he

Human beings have looked up to the night sky to ponder the moon since we first stood upright. For thousands of years it was a complete mystery, and even worshiped as a God. Today we know a heck of a lot more about this barren celestial body that orbits our home. And even though we've walked upon it's surface, it still continues to inspire us.

There are literally thousands of songs that have been written about, or inspired by the moon. No one has the time to listen to a comprehensive list of moon songs. So, to help cut the list down, I've filtered it by selecting only quality, acoustic-based tracks. This filtering helps create a consistent experience that lends itself well to the subject matter.

The playlist contains over 2.5 hours of music from many genres, but the acoustic guitars, pianos and strings tie it all together.

The Playlist:

1. Moonshadow - Cat Stevens

2. Harvest Moon - Neil Young

3. Pink Moon - Nick Drake

4. Jealous Of The Moon - Nickel Creek

5. Moon On My Shoulder -