The MJ Show #135 - John Mayer - Born And Raised

My favourite contemporary artist is back with a new album. In my opinion...over the last one decade...he has been the only artist who I feel makes great ALBUMS. Not singles...but great complete albums!

I'm fairly certain that I've heard more of John Mayer over the last few years than any other artist...and I'm fairly certain that statistic won't change in the years to come :)

Here it is then. His brand new album: Born And Raised.

Listen to it here...but be good boys and girls...and go and buy a copy of it. You won't regret it :)

1. Queen of California

2. The Age of Worry

3. Shadow Days

4. Speak for Me

5. Something Like Olivia

6. Born and Raised

7. If I Ever Get Around to Living

8. Love Is A Verb

9. Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967

11. Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey

12. A Face to Call Home

13. Born and Raised (Reprise)

14. Fool to Love You

Right then...it is now time for me to say take care and have a nice day! :)

This is your Musicman...Mihir Joshi...signing off!

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The MJ Show #118 - John Mayer & Keith Urban - CMT Crossroads

Thinking of John Mayer's new album got me started on some of his older material and then I remembered his two appearances on CMT Crossroads!

CMT Crossroads is a television show broadcast on Country Music Television and Palladia that pairs country music artists with musicians from other music genres and I think it's one of the coolest concepts on television in America! :)
The concert that I'm featuring in this episode was the second time John Mayer appeared on CMT Crossroads. This gig, with Keith Urban happened on 18th June 2010.
One of my favourite live shows ever  was John's first appearance on CMT Crossroads, when he played with Brad Paisley, who is possibly my favourite contemporary country artist after George Strait.


Here are a few of the songs from John Mayer and Keith Urban's CMT Crossroads taping:
(I'll show you his songs with Brad Paisley in another episode soon! Maybe even tomorrow) :)

If Ever I Could Love

'Til Summer Comes Around

Sweet Thing

Perfectly Lonely

Gravity

Faith

How good was that eh? :)

Right then...it is now time for me to say good night...take care! :)
This is your Musicman...Mihir Joshi...signing off!

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The MJ Show #117 - I'm back and so is John Mayer

It's been a long long time since I put up a new episode but I'm glad to be back on The MJ Show and I can't think of anyone that I'd want to feature on the show more than John Mayer! :)

John Mayer is back with a new studio album, his 5th to be precise. He's releasing it on 22nd May...so that's just about a month away! The album is called Born And Raised and I'm really excited about it. He's the one artist over the last decade who has never failed to impress and excite me. Can't wait to see what he brings in this one.


He has produced this record with Don Was, who has previously worked on albums by Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King and the Rolling Stones.
David Crosby and Graham Nash contributed guest vocals on the title track and session keyboard man Chuck Leavell – best known for his work with Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers Band and the Stones – is featured throughout the set.

Here are some officially released videos preceding the album launch.

Video for Shadow Days

Video for Video Games

And here's a complete album preview!

And finally...here's an exclusive interview with Don Was

Can't wait for this to come out.
I've got loads more action on the site for you soon!

Right then...it is now time for me to say...take care...and have a nice day! :)
This is your Musicman...Mihir Joshi...signing off!

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The MJ Show #27 (John Mayer - Battle Studies)

Okay, I HAD to do a special on this album. It's one of the newest albums in the market and in my opinion it's without a doubt one of the best albums I've heard...well since, John Mayer's last album, Continuum.
The man is gifted. He's an INCREDIBLE songwriter, singer and indubitably one of the finest guitar players of this generation for sure.

This album, like the others before it, take you through another phase of John's life.
I had the pleasure of talking with John after Continuum...you may want to see how that went here:
Interview with John Mayer on www.emusicpost.com

I would LOVE to pick his brain about Battle Studies as well but well, since that might take a while, I'll just let you hear the album right here! :)
I'm not going to tell you why I love a song or what it is about. I want you to discover that for yourself...but what I will do today is give you a few words from each song. My favourite words from it or some words that you can sing along :) Hope you like the album as much as I do.

So here goes...

1st Song - John Mayer - Heartbreak Warfare
Clouds of sulfur in the air
Bombs are falling everywhere
It's heartbreak warfare
Once you want it to begin
No one really ever wins
In heartbeak warfare


2nd Song - John Mayer - All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye
I love you more than songs can say
But I can't keep running after yesterday

Why you wanna break my heart again
Why am I gonna let you try

When all we ever do is say goodbye


3rd Song - John Mayer - Half of My Heart
You can hear Taylor Swift towards the end of this song on the studio version of the song. She doesn't have a very big part...but it's nice, the little part that she has. Really nice :)

Half of my heart's got a real good imagination
Half of my heart's got you
Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you
That half of my heart won't do


4th Song - John Mayer - Who Says
This was the first single from the album. I love the official video of the song...it's on youtube and all over Vh1 but I thought I'd give you a live version of the song instead.

Who says I can’t get stoned, plan a trip to Japan alone
Doesn’t matter if I even go, who says I can’t get stoned
It’s been a long night in New York City
It’s been a long time since twenty-two
I don’t remember you looking any better
But then again I don’t remember, don’t remember you


5th Song - John Mayer - Perfectly Lonely
One of my favourite songs from the album. Sorry. Couldn't resist telling you that :) LOVE this song! :)

Nothing to do, nowhere to be.
I sip a little kind of free
Nothing to do, no one but me
That's all I need

I'm perfectly lonely
I'm perfectly lonely
I'm perfectly lonely, yeah
'Cause I don't belong to anyone
nobody belongs to me.


6th Song - John Mayer - Assassin
Okay, this is another one of my favourites from this album. I dare you to listen to this song and NOT love it. Impossible! What a song! :)

You get in
You get done
And then you get gone
You never leave a trace or show your face
You get gone

Should have turned around
And left before the sun came up again
But the sun came up again

I was a killer, was the best they'd ever seen
I'd steal your heart before you ever heard a thing
I'm an assassin and I had a job to do
Little did I know that girl was an assassin too


7th Song - John Mayer - Crossroads
John Mayer loves doing covers and he does them so well! Here's a classic. A Robert Johnson classic to be precise. This was a song that was covered by so many artists...but one of the MOST famous covers was by Cream.
I think it was inevitable that John should do this one too right? Well, in my head it was :)
If there was one Robert Johnson song that John would have picked I would have a bet a lot of money that it would be this one. Not just because its such an awesomely iconic song...but also because the original Slowhand (Clapton for those who may not have known that nick name of his) did this one too. That being said, Slowhand Jr. had to give it a shot right? :)
(That's a Rolling Stone magazine reference by the way. RS nicknamed John that in an issue where they featured him along with John Frusciante and Derek Trucks in a story about the "New Guitar Gods". Very apt I would say...wouldn't you?)

I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
Asked the lord for mercy, said help me if you please

I went down to the crossroads, tried to flag a ride
I went down to the crossroads, tried to flag a ride
No one seemed to know me, everybody passed me by

You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown
You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown
That I'm standing at the crossroads, I believe I'm sinking down

Check out this INCREDIBLE live video of the song! :)


I have to give you a couple of bonus tracks :) Here you go!

Bonus Song - Robert Johnson - Crossroad Blues


Bonus Song - Cream - Crossroads


8th Song - John Mayer - War of My Life
My favourite song on the album. I mean my #1 song on this album! This is it!

I've got a hammer
And a heart of glass
I got to know right now
Which walls to smash

I got a pocket
Got no pill
If fear hasn't killed me yet
Than nothing will

I'm in the war of my life
I'm at the core of my life
Got no choice but to fight til it's done
So Fight on, fight on everyone, so fight on
Got no choice but to fight til it's done


9th Song - John Mayer - Edge of Desire
This is another incredible song. Brilliant music. See, this is what I love about a John Mayer album. You can't just have one favourite song. They all grow on you. Become your friends. You want to spend time with each one at a different point of time...or in a specific mood. Brilliant song this.

Young and full of running
Tell me where's that taking me?
Just a great figure 8 or a tiny infinity

Love is really nothing
But a dream that keeps waking me
For all of my trying
You still end up dying
How can it be?

Don't say a word, just come over and lie here with me
'Cause I'm just about to set fire to everything I see
I want you so bad I'll go back on the things I believe
There I just said it, I'm scared you'll forget about me


10th Song - John Mayer - Do You Know Me
It's just the strangest thing
I've seen your face somewhere
An early evening dream, a past life love affair

Do you know me at all?
Do you know me at all?

In all my reverie
I thought I felt us there
A feather in my hand, a flower in your hair

Do you know me at all?
Do you know me at all?


11th Song - John Mayer - Friends, Lovers or Nothing
This one could have been in Continuum I think...maybe he thought it up back then...but decided to keep it for his new album. I don't know what...but the music...it's...well, a continuum of...umm...Continuum :)

Think we'll never fall into
The jealous game
The streets will flood
With blood of those who felt the same

Friends, lovers, or nothing
You see
There can only be one
Friends, lovers, or nothing
We'll never an inbetween
So give it up


12th Song - John Mayer - I'm On Fire
This one was a Bruce Springsteen song originally. I did say John covers songs really well right. Hell I even did a special with his best covers. (Remember It was Episode #9. Check it out if you've not seen it already.)
Here's exactly what I'm talking about. This song isn't on the CD.
It is apparently an "iTunes bonus track version" so us poor Indians don't get it officially. Well, that's never stopped anyone has it. Here it is...a fabulous live version of the song.


Sometimes it's like someone took a knife baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley
Through the middle of my soul
At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
And a freight train running through the
Middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
I'm on fire

Oh LORD! What a song! "Oh oh oh oh I'm on fire!"


Bonus Song - John Mayer - I'm On Fire (Studio Version)


Bonus Song - Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire



So why lyrics today? Why?
Well because they deserve to be read. So much music these days is about the rhythm and the beat and how it makes you move on the dance floor. You could be singing "I like shit. I like crap. I even like to take a nap."
If you sing it to a great beat, get some brilliant asses in the video and shake em like you just don't care...you've got a fucking hit on your hands.
That however is NOT really music. Oh it makes money and it's got rhythm. It has a little music in it. But it's not MUSIC. It doesn't connect with your soul. It makes your body move...not your mind.

John Mayer now, this man, he can touch your soul, move you in ways you didn't think was possible.
Don't just listen to his music. Read what he has to say. There are so few poets these days. This man is one though. Through and through.

A hundred years from now, it's very likely that he will be looked upon as one of the finest musicians of this generation. I would not be surprised at all. I think the man has totally earned it :)

I'm biased a bit? Well why the hell not!
a)It's my show! :) My opinions.
and b)Honestly now. Listen to the man. Am I wrong?

For the love of God, music and all good things in this universe go BUY the album! The man deserves to have thousands of his albums in people's houses :)

Right then. That's it for tonight :)

Good night and take care. :)

This is your Musicman Mihir signing off :)

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The MJ Show #9 (Best covers by John Mayer)

In my opinion, John Mayer is one of the most incredible artists of this generation. I don't know another guy who can write songs, sing em and play the guitar like this man can. I had the awesome pleasure of interviewing him a couple of years ago after Continuum came out.
(You can read that here if you like: http://www.emusicpost.com/II14.html)

Now with his new album "Battle Studies" out...Mayer fever hits me again.

His new album will be a complete discussion which we'll have very soon.
But right now, I wanted to show you why this man is so awesome. Check out some covers he's done. INCREDIBLE is the word :)

1st Song - John Mayer - Free Fallin' #TheMJshow
From his live album/dvd - Where The Light Is. Here's a Tom Petty classic done in John's inimitable style.


2nd Song - John Mayer - I'm On Fire #TheMJshow
Here's John's take on a Bruce Springsteen classic. I believe this is a bonus track on his new album "Battle Studies"


3rd Song - John Mayer - Message In A Bottle #TheMJshow
I know he loves Sting. Here's a version of "Message in a bottle" that I love. This was from a live album/dvd called "Any Given Thursday"


4th Song - John Mayer - Crossroads #TheMJshow
Another song from "Battle Studies". His nod to the great Robert Johnson, Clapton and Cream I think :)
Here's a kick ass live version of the song.


5th Song - John Mayer - Bold As Love #TheMJshow
What guitar player doesn't like Hendrix. Here's John doing a great song originally by Hendrix. This song featued on Continuum as well.


6th Song - John Mayer - Lenny #TheMJshow
Another guitar player who's always in top 5 list for most guitar players is probably Stevie Ray Vaughn. Here's John taking on a SRV track. This is again from the "Any Given Thursday" dvd and is one of my favourite performances on the album. The other song I really really love was a song called "Covered In Rain". You see this song and Covered In Rain and you know why he's considered one of the finest blues guitarists around.
Here, see Lenny/The Man On The Sire


7th Song - John Mayer - Inner City Blues #TheMJshow
Not a very well known song I'll admit. Its a Marvin Gaye song that he put out a live album called "As/Is". Brilliant as anything else he's done.


8th Song - John Mayer - I Don't Need No Doctor #TheMJshow
A Ray Charles song gets Mayerified! Here's a live performance from the "Where The Light Is" live album


9th Song - John Mayer - 83 #TheMJshow
Though this is his song, I love how he uses Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" in the start of this song. Brilliant! Again from the fabulous "Any Given Thursday" live album.


10th Song - John Mayer - Everyday I Have The Blues #TheMJshow
John takes on a blues standard. This is a song that has been done by pretty much every big name in the blues biz. 


11th Song - John Mayer - Old Love #TheMJshow
One of my favourite songs ever by Eric Clapton gets done by two great contemporary artists - John Mayer and Brad Paisley. DO see this!


12th Song - John Mayer - Start Me Up #TheMJshow
John does a Rolling Stones classic!


13th Song - John Mayer - Human Nature #TheMJshow
In my opinion the greatest cover he has done and honestly the only real tribute song at Michael Jackson's Memorial Ceremony. I'll admit it, I had a few tears in my eyes when I saw this. This song shows the true musical genius of both Michael Jackson and John Mayer. Notice...one is MJ...the other is JM :) I like coincidences like these :)
Incidentally, I've always loved the fact that I'm MJ too :) (Mihir Joshi just in case you were wondering. Musicman Mihir is not my real name...nor do I ask everyone to call me that all the time. Heh :)


The number 13 is kinda special to me. I love John Mayer...which is why I chose to keep 13 songs in this playlist, instead of 10 or 20 as I've done in the past :)
Just thought I'd let you know why there are just 13 songs...not more and not less :)

That's a wrap!
Good night and take care!

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