For My Friend Trip On His Fiftieth Birthday

Today marks a milestone for my writing partner. It was exactly one half-century ago that he arrived in the world, more or less simultaneously with the birth of the rock and roll era, and I don’t think it was mere coincidence. The man was made for these times.

As some of you know, despite undertaking this venture together for nearly a year, Trip and I have never actually met. Kindred spirits, we’re bound by common interests – rock and roll, college hoops, our families – despite being separated by half a continent and half a generation. Still, I feel like I’ve known him forever, and as this day approached, I thought hard about how to best commemorate it.

There’s a moment in High Fidelity when Rob, looking for purpose after his break-up with Laura, decides to arrange his albums autobiographically, in the order in which he bought them. “I pull the records off the shelf, put them in piles all over the sitting room floor,” he says, “look for Revolver, and go from there; and when I’m finished, I’m flushed with a sense of self, because this, after all, is who I am.” I have endeavored to do something similar for Trip, who, despite a far greater domestic contentment than Rob, has found deep meaning in the soundtrack of his life.

What I’ve come up with is 100 songs spanning 50 years. One song from 1957, the year of Trip’s birth, one from 2007, and two from each year in between, arranged chronologically. No artist appears more than once, and that includes artists in different incarnations. Uncle Tupelo isn’t here because Wilco and Son Volt are, and Rod Stewart’s presence ensures The Faces’ absence. The hope is to account for as broad a range of expression as possible in the limited space allowed.

The goal also is to reflect Trip’s sensibilities as accurately as possible, without respect to any historical rock orthodoxy. That’s why Badfinger’s “No Matter What” made the cut for 1970, and Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” did not (Van was but one of many regrettable casualties; earlier this week, and too late for inclusion, I learned the special place David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream” holds for Trip). Still, if anything, the songs cling too close to consensus. There are not nearly enough of the sorts of bubble-gummy one-hitters that he so notoriously loves.

Trip is already intimately familiar with most of the music here. Any effort to capture the man without “In My Life” or something from Every Picture Tells a Story, Late For the Sky or My Aim Is True would fail. So the obvious choices are here, and from about 1965 to 1986 or so, I think I’ve pretty much nailed him cold. But I’ve taken a certain artistic license with some of the rest, in those years in which I’m not so certain, and have given my best interpretation of the man. Does he love “This Song” by Ron Sexsmith? I don’t know, we haven’t talked about it; I’m not even sure he knows the tune. But it seems like one that he’d love, and I’m willing to wager he does.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll catch a flight to Philadelphia, where I will present the collection to Trip in person. And after catching sets by Bob Mould, Cracker, Fountains of Wayne and the Fratellis, we’ll make our way to a watering hole, where we will hoist a pint or two to birthdays and friendship, and perhaps to Craig Finn and Feargal Sharkey. And when the next round comes, we’ll hoist one to you in thanks for sharing this space with us.

(Special thanks to our friends Mary Z. and Lou P. for their input on song selection, and to Lou for the ridiculously fantastic cover designs)

Based On a True Story: Fifty Years of Trip McClatchy

Disc One

1957
Buddy Holly and the Crickets – Not Fade Away

1958
Chuck Berry – Johnny B. Goode
Little Richard – Good Golly Miss Molly

1959
Ray Charles – What’d I Say
Chan Romero – Hippy Hippy Shake

1960
Barrett Strong – Money (That’s What I Want)
Everly Brothers – Cathy’s Clown

1961
Dreamlovers – When We Get Married
Elvis Presley – Little Sister

1962
Booker T & the MGs – Green Onions
The Drifters – Up on the Roof

1963
Kingsmen – Louie Louie
Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire

1964
Beach Boys – Don’t Worry Baby
Kinks – All Day and All of the Night

1965
Beatles – In My Life
Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come

1966
Bob Dylan – Visions of Johanna
Otis Redding – I’ve Been Loving You Too Long

1967
The Who – I Can See For Miles
The Doors – Soul Kitchen

1968
The Band – We Can Talk

Listen to "We Can Talk"

Disc Two

1968
Jimi Hendrix Experience – All Along the Watchtower

1969
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon Rising
Velvet Underground – Pale Blue Eyes

1970
Badfinger – No Matter What
Jackson 5 – The Love You Save

1971
Joni Mitchell – A Case of You
Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells A Story

1972
Rolling Stones – Loving Cup
Stevie Wonder – Superstition

1973
Gram Parsons – Return of the Grievous Angel
Sly and the Family Stone – If You Want Me To Stay

1974
Big Star – September Gurls
Jackson Browne – Late for the Sky

1975
Patti Smith - Gloria
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run

1976
Graham Parker and The Rumour – Fool’s Gold

Disc Three

1976
Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop

1977
Elvis Costello – (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
Television – Marquee Moon

1978
Cheap Trick – Surrender
David Johansen - Frenchette

1979
Undertones – Teenage Kicks
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Here Comes My Girl

1980
The Clash – Clampdown
The Jam – Going Underground

1981
X – The Once Over Twice
Pretenders – Message of Love

1982
Marshall Crenshaw – Mary Anne
Richard and Linda Thompson – Shoot Out the Lights

1983
R.E.M. – Radio Free Europe
The Plimsouls – A Million Miles Away

1984
U2 – Pride (In the Name of Love)
Replacements – Answering Machine

Listen to "Answering Machine"

Disc Four

1985
Run-D.M.C. – King of Rock
The Smiths – How Soon Is Now?

1986
Steve Earle – Someday
Dwight Yoakam – Guitars, Cadillacs

1987
Prince – I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
John Hiatt – Have A Little Faith In Me

1988
The Persuasions – Soothe Me
The Waterboys – Fisherman’s Blues

1989
The Pixies – Here Comes Your Man
De La Soul – Say No Go

1990
Sinead O’Connor – The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance
Neil Young – Days That Used To Be

1991
Matthew Sweet – Girlfriend
Nirvana – In Bloom

1992
Los Lobos – When the Circus Comes
Freedy Johnston – Trying to Tell You I Don’t Know

Disc Five

1993
Liz Phair – Divorce Song
Urge Overkill – Sister Havana

1994
Oasis – Cigarettes and Alcohol
Pavement – Gold Soundz

1995
Son Volt – Windfall
Ben Folds Five – Alice Childress

1996
Buzz Zeemer – Break My Heart
Wilco – I Got You (At The End of the Century)

1997
Whiskeytown – Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight
Old 97’s – Barrier Reef

1998
Lucinda Williams – Drunken Angel
Lauryn Hill – Every Ghetto, Every City

1999
Fountains of Wayne – Amity Gardens
Beth Orton – Stolen Car

2000
Marah – Point Breeze

Listen to "Point Breeze"

Disc Six

2000
PJ Harvey – You Said Something

2001
Alejandro Escovedo – Velvet Guitar
Ron Sexsmith – This Song

2002
Bright Eyes – Lover I Don’t Have to Love
Beck – The Golden Age

2003
Jesse Malin – Wendy
White Stripes – Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine

2004
Rilo Kiley – Portions For Foxes
Drive-By Truckers – Carl Perkins’ Cadillac

2005
New Pornographers – Sing Me Spanish Techno
The Hold Steady – Banging Camp

2006
Scott McClatchy – Burn This
The Format – She Doesn’t Get It

2007
The Ike Reilly Assassination – When Irish Eyes Are Burning