5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #24

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week is a feature I run on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective on Sundays/early hours of Monday morning where I pick out 5 tunes that I think are notable and tell you a bit about them. The point is to give you some rocking music to help you deal with your weekday blues. You can either listen to one each day, listen to them all at once, or any other combination that you feel. As long as you can get through the week without the man getting you down, that's all I care about. Without further ado, here are the 5 tracks I've picked out for this week:

1.  Maybellene, by Chuck Berry

Ahhh.... 1950's rock n' roll at its finest. Nothing gets more classic than an upbeat electric guitar boogie about drag racing cars down a country road. Plus, there is a pretty ear pleasing guitar solo for an era where the concept of guitar as a solo instrument was not particularly widespread yet. In my opinion Chuck Berry always was the true King of Rock n' Roll instead of Elvis Presley. Elvis might have done a lot of things first, but that doesn't mean he did them best. All that being said, Maybellene is a blast from the past and is a fun way to augment your sunny afternoons driving with the top down.

2. Binge and Grab, by Buckethead

If the electric guitar is something that truly appeals to you, I could not any more highly recommend the works of Buckethead. He may seem strange because he always wears a mask and bucket on his head, but his guitar chops will quickly win you over. Binge and Grab features him at his most shredding AND melodic. Despite the lack of vocals it is still a very followable song. The melodies, riffs, and guitars solos really do make up for there not being a singer; as is the case for most of Buckethead's works. This is a great driving at sunset kind of tune.

3. Seesaw, by Joe Bonamassa and Beth Hart

For their 2011 collaborative album Seesaw modern blues guitar extraordinaire Joe Bonamassa and powerhouse blues vocalist Beth Hart covered the Aretha Franklin classic Seesaw. Hart does a fantastic job of keeping the soul and passion of the original alive in this cover. You can tell she is giving it everything she's got. Bonamassa while not in the forefront of the song comes busting in with a smooth bluesy guitar solo that absolutely tears things up in the sexiest way possible. It compliments the mood and feel of the tune perfectly.

4. Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?, by Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa was always known for being one of the most out there and eccentric musicians to ever live. He had a lot of musical aptitude and creativity to back all of that up. One of the prime examples of this is his tune Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?. The song is about exactly what you think it's about. It's pretty funny. However, there is some legitimate musical composition behind it that makes it more than just something a pothead would sing at a party. Side note: Zappa was absolutely against drugs and alcohol, so they were never a factor in his song writing. All of those crazy lyrics were just him being him.

5. Love is All, by Roger Glover/Ronnie James Dio

Many of you know the fabled Ronnie James Dio for being the single greatest metal vocalist to ever live. However, he didn't always do such heavy dark music. In fact, there is one song he sang in his early career that is one of the single warmest and happiest songs I have ever heard. In 1974 Dio contributed vocals to a project former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover concocted that featured dozens of talented musicians called The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast. It was a concept album based on a children's book of the same name. Dio sang 3 songs on it; one being Love is All. It is a parade-esque hippie song of pure love, joy, and celebration. You wouldn't think Dio would sing of such things, but he did. Have a listen for yourself.