THERE'S BRANDY WHEREVER YOU GO

One of my all time favorite mixes, featuring a series of "story" songs in my mind - including the killer 1-2-3 punch of Joe Henry (from which the mix title was lifted), the Pogues, and Tom Waits. The tunes are arranged "chronologically" - Paul Kelly's excellent 'Making Gravy' tells us it's December 21, Van announces that December 23 has arrived and snow covers the ground, Shane and Kirsty recount a memorable Christmas Eve, Everything But The Girl lets us know that the 25th is here, and John Prine and Steve Goodman remind us that it passes just like that. For you sensitive types, Joe Pernice (fronting his late great band The Scud Mountain Boys) cusses a few times during the opening track, and I get a wee bit political with the last two songs, but it's my blog and my holiday mixes, so too bad.

A Ride - Scud Mountain Boys
Making Gravy - Paul Kelly
Don't Miss You At All - Norah Jones
Tuesday Morning - The Autumn Defense
Just Like Christmas - Low
So Much Wine - The Handsome Family
I Wanna Roo You - Van Morrison
River - Joni Mitchell
Every Grain Of Sand - Emmylou Harris
Firewood - The Waxwings
Little Girl Blue - Nina Simone
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald
Short Man's Room - Joe Henry
Fairytale Of New York - The Pogues
Postcard From A Hooker In Minneapolis - Tom Waits
The Christmas Song - Vince Guaraldi
Twenty-Fifth Of December - Everything But The Girl
Souvenirs - Steve Goodman & John Prine
Peace, Love, and Understanding - Elvis Costello
Dreamed I Saw Soldiers - Neil Halstead

Download these songs as a zip file here, or stream the songs in the player below: