The songwriter shares the playlist that inspired tales of love, loss, and redemption, featuring raw, live takes and psychedelic storytelling.
Dear listener/reader,
Ahead, I have crafted a 10-song inspirations playlist for my recent EP, Hank Lemon & The Last Shots.
I will give a little bit about each song, why I picked it, what I like about it, and how it impacted certain aspects of my songwriting throughout this extended play. Thanks for checking it out and I hope you enjoy!
Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan
I just love the way this rolls. The drums are like the motor of an old mustang jangling down the freeway. I love the way the rhyme scheme flows, every verse has it’s own scheme, AAAABB, CCCCBB, DDDDBB, so on and so fourth.
I tried to do this same thing in Hip Spot Cafe. Each stanza has a different scene with it’s own rhyming tone. However, the final stanza in each ends with a line that will rhyme with “Cafe”.
For instance, in verse 2: “They got burgers, breakfasts, and udon / Bubble Tea and Earl Grey / They’re selling artwork up on the walls, down at the Hip Spot Cafe“
Get Up Early – Mr. Sam & The People People
My rock band, Naked Giants, came up in the University of Washington house show music and art scene. Sam Gelband (aka “Mr. Sam”) was in a band called Honcho Poncho at that time.
We played many shows together and would jam out with them on frozen February Sunday mornings. Sam’s songwriting has always been a huge influence on me.
Around COVID, he picked up his life in Seattle and drove down to New Orleans. The music he has been putting out recently is fantastic.
I can not recommend it enough. I can remember listening to this album on cassette tape in my basement and then picking up my guitar and writing “When You Tell Me You Love Me”.
Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream – Bob Dylan
I remember the first time I heard this song I was cooking dinner at my parents’ house. Around verse 3 or 4 I found myself curious about every word. I found it so psychedelic and cinematic, I fell in love with this song form.
Just a long ramble that sounds poetic and uses epic imagery to draw analogies about the state of America at that time. The way he delivers lines like “Food was flying everywhere, I left without my hat” gave me inspiration on my vocal delivery in Hip Spot Cafe.
Beeswing – Richard Thompson
This song’s setting, landscape, and storytelling was a large part of the inspiration for “Gold Can’t Buy Love or Peace of Mind”. I wanted a tune that talked about isolation, longing, falling in love, and getting dumped/ghosted, and growing from that.
“Beeswing” to me is a masterclass in this type of story told. Richard Thompson has been a massive influence on me since I was in high school. I grew up hearing my dad play his tunes all the time.
New Morning – Bob Dylan
This tune’s intro was probably running around in my head when plunked out the first chords of “A Song” for the first time. I had just listened to this album (of the same name, New Morning) for the first time, and was falling in love with it’s songwriting and stripped down production.
“Sign on the Window” is my go-to “favorite Dylan song” when people ask me. I wanted to have a tune that was like New Morning but a bit more jacked up and ready for dancing in a field at a warm summer twilight.
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
Grateful Dead – This song is one of my favorites from their live sets. I love how the outro jam opens up and it feels like the sun has just come out from behind a cloud.
This vibe was behind my direction for the guitar solo in “Gold Can’t Buy Love or Peace of Mind”. Expertly performed by Gianni Aiello.
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat – Bob Dylan
Again, I just love the way he crafts together verse. “I asked the doctor if I could see you / It’s bad for your health he said / I disobeyed his orders / I went to see you but I found him there instead / I don’t mind if she ignored me but I sure wish he’d take that off his head / Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat”.
I just love how he can wrap up a commentary on a materialistic society with getting over an ex. Saying multiple things while being clever and not too on the nose is something I strive for in my writing. I also love that all these early Dylan songs were done without overdubbing.
The EP (Hank Lemon & The Last Shots) has live bass, drum, and electric guitar takes, and “Hip Spot Cafe” is 100% live take with no overdubs.
It’s All Over Now Baby Blue – Link Wray (written by Bob Dylan)
This version of this song totally rocks. Talk about a foot stomper. This tune makes me wanna learn how to ride a motorcycle and move to Arizona.
Link Wray’s arrangement here was a big inspiration for my tune “Field Notes”. I wanted something that just moved along like mesas through the car window on a road trip.
29 #Strafford APTS – Bon Iver
I love Bon Iver. I am, after all, a millennial, what can I say? This album totally blew my mind when I first heard it. It was a rainy night, I remember I was biking home through Belltown and Eastlake in Seattle.
This song came on and everything I knew about “folk music” changed. My softer song “See You There” was definitely influenced by this tune. I brought in the soft saxophone sounds and upright piano as a nod to this track.
I get to flex my falsetto voice a bit too, which I’d say Justin Vernon really inspired me to not be afraid of.
Meet On The Ledge – Fairport Convention
This was my reference track when mixing “Gold Can’t Buy Lover or Peace of Mind”. I wanted that kind of starkness in the first verse and the hi hat pattern is a total rip from this recording.
I love the sing-a-long-ability of this chorus, and I’ve noticed a similar thing happens when I perform “Gold Can’t Buy…” at shows.
I hope this 10 song playlist has given you some new context and insights into my EP, “Hank Lemon & The Last Shots”.
I’ve really enjoyed putting this together and getting to reconnect with all these inspirations for my songwriting and recording approach. Thanks for reading and listening!
Words by Henry (or ‘Hank’ to some).
