Rough Guide to Bill Callahan

There’s no musician I’ve listened to more over the past two years than Bill Callahan. From his solo work of the past decade to his earlier work as Smog, there are few songwriters who have moved me more.

This post includes two mixes: the first is a mix of my favorite Bill Callahan songs. The second is a mix that Bill Callahan made as a reward for a Kickstarter project to make a documentary about him.

The Best of Bill#

01 “Bathysphere” — Wild Love (1995)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=jjB3c4woT20%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

02 “I Feel Like the Mother of the World” — A River Ain’t Too Much to Love(2005)

03 “Cold Blooded Old Times” — Knock Knock (1999)

04 “Honeymoon Child” — Woke on a Whaleheart (2007)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2bWuZMSWigg%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

05 “Hit the Ground Running” — Knock Knock (1999)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XR95X2-uzdo%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

06 “Our Anniversary” — Rough Travel for a Rare Thing (2010)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=JVQt6JC1Hdk%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

07 “The Wind and the Dove” — Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle (2009)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mYQVZu4Uj-8%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

08 “Rock Bottom Riser” — A River Ain’t Too Much to Love (2005)

09 “Dress Sexy at My Funeral” — Dongs of Sevotion (2000)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=pI-9fGEgAcY%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

10 “Day” — Woke on a Whaleheart (2007)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KJLPDmpd28g%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

11 “I Break Horses” — Kicking a Couple Around EP (1996)

12 “Too Many Birds” — Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle (2009)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NELhSc7Ve3U%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

13 “Sycamore” — Woke on a Whaleheart (2007)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5AFbwnQiq_0%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

14 “Let’s Move to the Country” — Knock Knock (1999)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=i9KcVRwRfkk%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

15 “Your New Friend” — Kicking a Couple Around EP (1996)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=WD4pBgSWJn4%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

16 “The Sing” — Dream River (2013)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=96xpXS3hbec%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

17 “The Breeze/My Baby Cries” — Loving Takes This Course — a Tribute to the Songs of Kath Bloom (2009)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=–tb6nc5l_4%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

18 “Riding for the Feeling” — Apocolpyse (2011)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=yYg6eIH7qR8%3Fwmode%3Dopaque%26enablejsapi%3D1

Bill’s Mix for Backers#

A Kickstarter project to produce “Apocalypse,” a tour documentary about Bill, offered a handmade mix from Bill. Twenty-one people, myself included, backed for it. This mix he made is below. Two songs especially worth noting: Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross” (a beautiful, waterlogged song you could live in) and Jimmy Webb’s epic “Land’s End/Asleep on the Wind.”

01 Dion, “Your Own Backyard”

02 Sizzla, “Rise to the Occasion”

03 R Kelly, “How Did You Manage”

04 The Osborne Brothers, “Cuckoo Bird”

05 Fleetwood Mac, “Albatross”

06 Snooks Eaglin, “Lipstick Traces”

07 Vybz Cartel, “Smuggler”

08 Carly Simon, “Safe and Sound”

09 Jimmy Webb, “Land’s End/Asleep on the Wind”

10 Marvin Gaye, “God Is Love”

If you enjoyed these songs, please take a moment to pick up some of Bill’s records direct from Drag City. You won’t be disappointed.