Like most people, I get tired of listening to the same songs and need some variety. Unfortunately, I just don’t like the popular stuff coming out these days. So I’ve been plumbing the depths of music archives, in particular Freegal.com. Freegal (Free + Legal) is a service for libraries and their patrons. Our county library has a subscription which allows its users, e.g. me, so sign in with their library cards and stream or download songs. The archive is mostly from Sony Music and is paid for through your library, i.e. taxes. It doesn’t carry the new stuff, but that’s fine with me. So below is a list of stuff I have retired (but may bring back some day) from my mp3 playlist and stuff I have added. I last did this a year ago, so you can compare if you like;
Retired songs
| A Real Slow Drag | Scott Joplin |
| Above My Head, I hear Music In The Air | Gas House Gang |
| Beat Me Daddy | Andrews Sisters |
| Blue Champagne | The Manhattan Transfer |
| Chicken Chowder | The Ragtime Skedaddlers |
| Coffee Rag | Trebor Tichenor |
| Colonial Glide | Trebor Tichenor |
| Country In My Genes | The Broken Circle Breakdown |
| Daydream | The Lovin Spoonful |
| Deep River Blues | Doc Watson |
| Dill Pickle Rag | Ludwig Boeckmann |
| Don’t Tell Your Monkey Man | Eubie Blake |
| Easier Said Than Done | The Essex |
| Eubie’s Boogie | Eubie Blake |
| Freight Train | Peter, Paul & Mary |
| From Four Until Late | Dr. John |
| I Ain’t Got Nobody | Judy Carmichael |
| I’m Blue (Gong Gong song) | The Ikettes |
| Kilakila Slack | Raymond Kane |
| Lollipop | The Chordettes |
| Mule Skinner Blues | The Fendermen |
| NutRocker | B. Bumble & the Stingers |
| Old Hymns | The Gas House Gang |
| One Fine Day | The Chiffons |
| Over In The Gloryland | The Broken Circle Breakdown |
| Pretty Woman | Roy Orbison |
| Put Your Brakes On | John Campbelljohn |
| Quarter to Three | Gary US Bonds |
| Rescue Me | Fontella Bass |
| Ring of Fire | Johnny Cash |
| Runaway | Del Shannon |
| Someone To Love | Buddy Holly |
| Something Doing | Craig Ventresco |
| Spirit In The Sky | Norman Greenbaum |
| Squeeze Me | George Gershwin |
| Statesboro Blues | Roy Bookbinder |
| Sunny Afternoon | The Kinks |
| Take your burden to the Lord | Prairie Home Companion |
| Tequila | The Champs |
| The Double Eagle | The Country Gentlemen |
| The Midnight Special | The Weavers |
| Distant Lights | Trebor Tichenor |
| Turkey Knob | The Country Gentlemen |
| Walk (Back to Your Arms) | Tami Neilson |
| Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On | Jerry Lee Lewis |
Added
| Aint Nobodys Business | Taj Mahal |
| AlStricker_SaintLouisBlues | Ed McKee, etc. |
| Aunt Hagars Blues | Doc Cheatham, Sammy Price |
| Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar | Commander Cody |
| Boogie Woogie | Hot Little Mama |
| Buffalo Gals | The Northquest Players |
| Can’t Let Go | Alison Krauss and Robert Plant |
| Cold Mornin Shout | Craig Ventresco and Meredith Axelrod |
| Dont Mind | Patty Griffin, Craig Ross |
| Don’t You Leave Me Here | Guy Davis |
| Down By The Riverside | Henri Herbert, etc. |
| Down the road a piece | Chuck Berry |
| Ezekiel Saw The Wheel | Delta Rhythm Boys |
| Five Foot Two Charleston | The Charleston All Stars |
| Get Up And Boogie | Silver Convention |
| Going to Chicago blues | Doc Watson |
| Goldenrod Stomp | Trebor Tichenor |
| Great July Jones | Cisco Houston |
| Harry Lime Theme | Gary Potter |
| How Far From God | Sister Rosetta Tharpe |
| I Ain’t Living Long Like This | Emmylou Harris |
| If Love Hurts | The Uppity Blues Women |
| Jug Band Music | Lucinda Williams |
| Just Strollin | Bob Crosby |
| Just Walk On In | unknown |
| Kansas City Stomp | Butch Thompson |
| Lonesome Road | The Quebe Sisters |
| Longhairs Blues Rhumba | Ethan Leinwand |
| Low Down St Louis Style | Ethan Leinwand |
| Monday Morning Blues | Mary Flower |
| Motherless Children | Lucinda Williams |
| My Creole Belle | Ed Gerhard |
| Nine Pound Hammer | Ludwig Boeckmann |
| Nitty Gritty Mississippi | Ry Cooder |
| Old Louisiana Style | Ethan Leinwand |
| Pratt City Blues | Ethan Leinwand |
| Red Wing | Glen Campbell |
| Rhapsody Rag | Winifred Atwell |
| Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay | Danny and the Juniors |
| Rock That Boogie | Commander Cody |
| Saint Louis Blues Stricker | Ed McKee, etc. |
| Sammy Price Boogie Woogie 2 | Orange Kellin, etc. |
| Slow Blues with Stride | Ethan Leinwand |
| St Louis Boogie | Memphis slim |
| Stompin’ One For Sonny | Ethan Leinwand |
| Sunburst Rag | The Ragtime Rags |
| Sweet Georgia Brown | Henri Herbert, etc. |
| Take Me to the River | Lisa Biales |
| Tico Tico | Jose Gomes De Abreu |
| Trouble With My Lover | Alison Krauss and Robert Plant |
| WorriedBlues | Doc Watson |
You may have noticed I retired Beat Me Daddy Eight to Bar by the Andrews Sisters and added the same song by Commander Cody. The basic song is one of the all-time great boogie woogie tunes, and I’ve listened to the Andrews Sisters version for decades, but it’s time to get a more rock-oriented version. It’s still boogie woogie at heart. There may be some other songs like that, especially St. Louis Blues. I have at least five different versions of it and added two more this year. They’re very different. I retired one Doc Watson song and added two more.