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February 21, 2006
TT: The Terry Teachout Workout Tape
Ever since my untimely visit to the hospital, I've been spending an hour each day at the neighborhood gym, most of it pulling vigorously on the handle of a rowing machine. Inspired though I am by the passionate desire not to die just yet, I find virtually all heart-healthy activities to be brain-numbingly tedious. Enter my trusty iPod, which now contains 2,893 songs, many of which are suitable for exercise-related purposes. Instead of letting it play at random, I've drawn up a series of playlists of songs to which I listen avidly while tugging away at that damn handle. Each list consists of a dozen or so items, chosen for their brisk tempos and plucked from my computer in strict alphabetical order.This is List No. 1:
- Count Basie, "9:20 Special" (with Coleman Hawkins on tenor saxophone)
- Del McCoury, "1952 Vincent Black Lightning"
- Fats Waller, "Ain't Misbehavin'" (from the soundtrack of Stormy Weather, with Benny Carter on trumpet and Zutty Singleton on drums)
- Jim and Jesse, "Air Mail Special" (the bluegrass version, not the jazz version)
- Jimi Hendrix, "All Along the Watchtower"
- Vassar Clements, "Avalanche" (from Will the Circle Be Unbroken)
- Fats Waller, "Baby Brown"
- The Beatles, "Back in the U.S.S.R."
- Louis Armstrong, "Beau Koo Jack" (with Earl Hines on piano)
- Blue Öyster Cult, "Before the Kiss, a Redcap"
- Erin McKeown, "Bells and Bombs"
- Nickel Creek, "Best of Luck"
Posted February 21, 2006 12:00 PM
