Any Major Thanksgiving
A long-time friend of this place recently contacted me about ideas for a radio playlist of songs for Thanksgiving. Well, even if that holiday is American, and therefore not one I celebrate, I thought that there could be a good mix of songs about being thankful.
And this is such a mix. It kicks off with two songs that riff happily about Thanksgiving (well, one is an instrumental but you”ll know why it”s the opener), and it closes with a couple of tracks that take a more nuanced approach to the holiday.
In between, there are lots of songs about being grateful about all manner of things other than white people in funny hats coming to take land that didn”t belong to them. And I didn”t consider songs about the epicurean side of things, so no songs about pumpkin or apple pie, nor about cold turkey.
As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-cooked covers. PW in comments. And if you are thankful for this mix, leave a comment there.
1. Vince Guaraldi Trio – Thanksgiving Theme (1973)
2. Johnny Cash – Thanksgiving Prayer (1994)
3. Big Star – Thank You Friends (1975)
4. Sly & the Family Stone – Thankful n’ Thoughtful (1973)
5. Sam & Dave – I Thank You (1968)
6. Bobby Womack – Thank You (1969)
7. Earth, Wind & Fire – Gratitude (1975)
8. William DeVaughn – Be Thankful For What You Got (1974)
9. Ronnie McNeir – I’m So Thankful (1972)
10. Bobby Powell – Thank You (1973)
11. Pat Lundy – Friend Of Mine (I Wanna Thank You So Much) (1973)
12. Donny Hathaway – Thank You Master (For My Soul) (1970)
13. Maze feat. Frankie Beverley – I Wanna Thank You (1983)
14. Crusaders feat. Joe Cocker – I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today (1981)
15. Andrew Gold – Thank You For Being A Friend (1978)
16. Statler Brothers – Thank You World (1974)
17. Kris Kristofferson – Thank You For A Life (2006)
18. Charlotte Kendrick – Thank You (2007)
19. Drive-By Truckers – The Thanksgiving Filter (2011)
20. The National – Thanksgiving Song (2012)
GET IT!Â
(The corrupted file posted Tuesday morning has been replaced)
PW = amdwhah
Seems to be a different password this week . . .
My 2 desert island xmas albums are A Christmas Gift For You + George Winston’s December, which opens with Thanksgiving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yhpDzsz2ps [he also did an album of Vince Guaraldi songs].
Uh, thanks!
I, too, seem to be having trouble with the password.
I give thanks for this list! I’m surprised that you didn’t include Ray Davies’ “Thanksgiving Day”. Come to think of it, Ray isn’t American, either, but it still belongs.
Thanks for this share.
But the password does not work. Please advise.
Most appreciated.
Thanks, pburton
Love all your mixes and shares. Thanks again.
And another thing . . .I’m joining the ever expanding chorus of anxious followers of this blog who are asking for the correct password! I guess you have to say “Please, Please, Please” before you can say “I’m So Thankful”!
Sorry about the file: it wasn’t the password but a file corruption. I’ve re-upped the mix with a working file: http://www76.zippyshare.com/v/vdYLJhc2/file.html
I always say that the standard customer “care” apology of, “Sorry for the inconvenience” is code for “Fuck you, you complaining shithead”. But in this case I can sincerely say that I apologise for the inconvenience. I hope re-downloading will be worth the it.
Apologize? For a brief delay in delivering free stuff? Hardly necessary. And thanks again.
No apologies necessary! We’re just a bunch of impatient a-holes. Love all around!
Nice feelgood factor on a lot of those tunes. As it’s a mix about thanks, I guess I’d better say – er- thanks!
My last, final, ultimate (maybe) thought on the matter: Besides “Thanksgiving Day” (whose lyrics are about as Turkey Day specific as it gets-and should be on next years’s Vol 2), you’ve missed two other songs, Adam Sandler’s “Thanksgiving Song” and the most famous T-Day song of all-time, “Jingle Bells” (though we never really sing it until after today). Originally, written for a Thanksgiving music program it has become the most popular Xmas song ever, even though there is not a single reference to Christmas anywhere in the lyrics! (Oh, and today’s the day to watch or listen to “Alice’s Restaurant”.)
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I want to say, well, thanks, especially for going out of your way to accommodate people whose holiday you don’t even celebrate. Great mix, as usual!
I made a “Thanksgiving carol” mix a few years ago because I was sick of Christmas carols. I think we overlap on only one song–the Vince Guaraldi. If anyone has any burning desire to listen to it, the Mixcloud link is below.
https://www.mixcloud.com/kmbone/thanksgiving-carols-at-the-spinet/
Oh, that mix looks lovely! Thanks for sharing, Kathy.