Heart

It’s night time in the big city
The last train from Overbrook pulls into the station
A man runs out of excuses. “Here we are smack-dab in the middle of February, so we’re gonna talk about that fist sized muscle that lies in your chest, right behind and slightly to the left of the breast bone. Just sittin there between your lungs. It’s a remarkable organ; it works hard for you 24 hours a day.”

The Singers and Songs

  • Solomon Burke
    Home In Your Heart
  • The 101’ers
    Keys To Your Heart
  • Billie Holiday
    Good Morning Heartache
  • Jerry Butler
    He Will Break Your Heart
    “Not just a nice man, but also a Chicago city alderman. Musically aware, politically aware.”
  • The Everly Brothers
    Brand New Heartache
  • Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins
    Melt Your Heart
  • The Million Dollar Quartet
    That’s When Your Heartaches Begin
  • Billy Bunn and His Buddies
    That’s When Your Heartaches Begin
  • Ron Sexsmith
    Secret Heart
  • Little Richard
    Directly From My Heart
    “It’s difficult to carry a secret love, and the ramifications can affect your entire life. I prefer just to sing about love; Little Richard agrees with me. Here’s one of his greatest songs. The Quasar of Rock and Roll, Little Richard…”
  • Irma Thomas
    Ruler of My Heart
    “When Otis redid it he called it ‘Pain In My Heart,” and he took a writing credit. Toussaint successfully sued, and the song went back to being written by Naomi Neville.”
  • Van Morrison
    (Straight To Your Heart) Like A Cannon Ball
  • The Jewels
    Hearts of Stone
  • Erma Franklin
    Piece of My Heart
  • The Yardbirds
    Heart Full Of Soul
    “Or as I call em, the Chickens”
  • The Coasters
    Zing! Went the Strings Of My Heart

The Other People and Players

  • Jimmy Page
  • Henry Heimlich
    "...who invented the maneuver."
  • Paul Winchell
  • Ptolemy XIV
  • Julius Caesar
  • Antony and Cleopatra
  • The Sex Pistols
  • Mick Jones
  • The Clash
  • Joe Strummer
  • St. Valentine
  • Alan Toussaint
  • Nelson Eddy
  • Jeff Beck
  • Carl Perkins
  • The Ink Spots
  • Jerry Lee Lewis
  • Chet Atkins
  • Judy Garland
  • Tammy Wynette
    “You know, it’s funny, I got an email recently from a listener, and they said they’d been listening to a lot of Tammy Wynette, and they thought that she sounded a lot like Little Richard. Well I thought they were crazy, but hearin that song I got an idea what they were talking about!”
  • Charlie Parker
  • William Shakespeare
    From Jail: "Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
    Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
    Can be retentive to the strength of spirit;
    But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
    Never lacks power to dismiss itself." From Time: "It's better 3 hours too soon, than 1 minute too late." From Fools: "Helluva cat"
  • Johnny Cash
  • The Rolling Stones
    "Of course they took Irma's song "Time is on My Side" and had a little hit with THAT!" In reference to "Time is on My Side": "I've always been partial to Irma's version."
  • Otis Redding
  • Curtis Mayfield
  • Elvis Presley
    "Cleaned up that naughty 'One Night' and hit big with it" “the swivel hipped rockabilly cat”

The Other Songs and Albums

The Books and Poems

The Movies and TV Shows

The Places

  • Shelby, MS
  • Ponchatoula, LA
  • Sunflower, MS
  • Chicago

Record Labels