Tuesday Tunes 296: Six

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This week Tuesday Tunes marks its own milestone. Six years ago – to the day – I made my first ever post with this title, and a great blogger, Thom Hickey, suggested that I made it a series, so you have him to blame for the fact that this is still going! If you look back to that first one, you will see that it was a tentative toe in the water, with just two tunes on offer, both from favourites of mine. That day was in itself a milestone in our country’s history as, the previous evening, BoJo the Clown, who was masquerading as our Prime Minister, finally did what had been blindingly obviously needed for weeks and put the country into its first Covid lockdown. In my response to Thom I said I might do this for the duration of the pandemic and see where it took me, and six years on I’m still doing it!

So much has happened since then, both in this country and the wider world, most of it for the worse, I think. But one constant in my life has been music, and from my being an occasional player of songs Tuesday Tunes has come to define my blog. I started out more than thirteen years ago posting about mental health, and whilst that is still an important topic for me the music has rather taken the front seat. It seemed obvious to me that the best way to mark this anniversary was with a set of six tunes: tunes with six in their title and, of course, in number. So here we are.

Most of these songs will, I think, be unknown to many, but together they make a cracking set of tunes, though I would say that, wouldn’t I! Let’s get off to a rousing start – audio only, I’m afraid:

That was, as the clip showed, The Georgia Satellites with Six Years Gone. They are an American Southern rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, who achieved mainstream success with their 1986 self-titled debut album, featuring their best-known single Keep Your Hands to Yourself, which peaked at #2 in the US and #69 in the UK. Two more albums followed – Open All Night (1988) and In the Land of Salvation and Sin (1989) – before they went on hiatus in 1990. They have since returned and are still going, but with only one original member still in the lineup: lead guitarist Rick Richards. I had all three of those albums, and they were great. This is a track from the third, In The Land Of Salvation and Sin, which was released in October 1989 and reached #130 in the US. This wasn’t taken as a single, though. It is typical of the album as a whole, though my favourite track on it is this one, a masterpiece of building up a song with a great recurring riff.

There are loads of versions of this next tune, but I’m going with the first one I heard, which is still a favourite. Sorry, but it’s another audio only one:

That was, of course, Taj Mahal with Six Days On The Road. I first heard this on one of the CBS sampler albums, Fill Your Head With Rock, a double album released in 1970 with an amazing cast list over twenty three tracks. Taj Mahal included this on his third album, Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home – itself a double album, with an electric record and an acoustic one, released in 1969. Six Days on the Road was written by Earl Green and Carl Montgomery, and was made famous by country music singer Dave Dudley, who took it to #2 on the US Country chart and #32 on the Hot 100 in 1963. I prefer Taj Mahal’s version, though I also like the one by Steve Earle.

I was convinced that I had played this next one before, but can find no trace of it. So this is long overdue, as I have loved this song for years:

Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Six O’Clock News was a track on her debut album, Failer, which came out in September 2002 but only charted in her homeland, at a lowly #82. She is one among many musicians who was introduced to me by the UK national treasure “Whispering” Bob Harris. Having heard this and a couple of other tracks on his radio show I bought the album and wasn’t disappointed. This was released as a single and made #15 on the US Adult Alternative Airplay chart: I think it deserved far better!

This next one is much more recent:

CMAT – Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson to give her full name – is an Irish singer-songwriter, also known for her political activism. The Guardian newspaper wrote of her music, “Her songs are mournful yet accessible, emotionally literate and cleverly crafted, but, crucially, with a huge sense of humour.” She has released three studio albums, If My Wife New I’d Be Dead (2022), Crazymad, for Me (2023) and Euro-Country (2025), all of which reached #1 in Ireland. Tree Six Foive is a track on the most recent of those, which came out in August 2025 and in addition to its success in Ireland reached #2 in the UK. It was shortlisted for the 2025 mercury Music Prize but lost out to Sam Fender’s People Watching – a worthy winner, it has to be said. I found CMAT from one of YouTube’s recommendations, which clearly recognise my taste for female singer-songwriters, and have enjoyed listening to a lot of her music. Recommended, if you liked this one.

From the fairly new I’m going back into ancient history for my next tune. Well, the Seventies, anyway:

Six Blade Knife was a track on Dire Straits’ eponymous debut album, which was released in June 1978 and made #5 in the UK, and did well in many other countries, including the US and Canada, in both of which it peaked at #2. It sold 2m in the US, 600,000 in the UK and 400,000 in Canada – not bad for a hitherto unknown band! The album was boosted by the success of Sultans of Swing as a single – #8 in the UK and #4 in the US. I loved the band and that album from the outset, and it is one of my great regrets that I never got to see them play live in their heyday, though I did see them in a small venue before they broke big.

I’m closing this celebration with another rocker, from a band I’ve come to really enjoy in the past few years since I first came across them. In a rather neat – if unintended – piece of symmetry I’m closing where I began, with a band from Atlanta, Georgia:

Blackberry Smoke, with Six Ways To Sunday, the opening track on their third album, The Whippoorwill, which was released in August 2012 and made #30 in the UK and #40 in the US, as well as some high placings in the more specialist charts. Again, they are a band I first heard on Bob Harris’s show, and I really like them. No pretensions, just good, honest southern country rock, and above all they are fun.

That’s it for my little celebration. Will I still be doing this in another six years’ time? Who knows? I hope so, but the future is an unknown land – I might not still be here, and nor might any of us if Numpty has succeeded in blowing up the world by then. (I can be so cheerful sometimes, can’t I!) On a better note, I would like to thank everyone who has read, liked, commented on this and any of the previous 295 posts in this series. You are what keep me coming back for more, as there wouldn’t be much point in talking to myself, would there! I have another milestone to plan for in four weeks’ time, with some different themes in the meantime, so I hope to see you again for those, and for my other offerings.

Have a great week, and take care 😊

42 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 296: Six”

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  2. I sampled them all, and all are pretty good. I like the voice of Georgia Satellites and some of their other songs. But I listened to Six Ways to Sunday (the last one) all the the way through. I really liked this song and their sound, and I can’t remember hearing of them before 🙂

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  4. This post has reminded me that I had the Taj Mahal album mentioned, and had almost completely forgotten about it. It was ‘borrowed’ by a friend, and he in turn lent it to a ‘friend’ I didn’t know. It was never seen again, and I had only owned if for a couple of weeks. Thanks for that reminder, Clive.

    Best wishes, Pete.

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  6. Clive, what an eclectic mix of six. I love that you mentioned the Georgia Satellites. Speaking of eclectic, one of my favorite TV series is the bizarre “Six Feet Under.” Keith

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  7. My favorite this week was the one by Dire Straits, the only one I remember hearing before. A good week overall, as I enjoyed five of the six. The only one I wouldn’t give a second listen to was by Taj Mahal.

    I’ve been blogging for over six years now, so you must have started Tuesday Tunes a little bit after I started, Clive. I seldom miss a week. Thank you for reminding me of some old favorites over the years and for introducing me to some artists and groups I had never heard before.

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    • Thank you, Pete, I’m pleased you enjoyed almost all of these. Having chosen the theme to mark my anniversary I found a distinct lack of mainstream songs for it, but was pleased with these as a set.

      Yup, six years to the day since the first of these, and I’m grateful for your loyal support since we found each other’s blogs. Happy to have made those musical introductions and reminders 👍

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    • I really like what I’ve seen of CMAT and may play more from her. The similarities between the two Atlanta bands, twenty years apart, struck me as I was listening to these in preparation for the post.

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  10. Music is a good form of healing the body, mind, and soul. Keep Tuesday Tunes going, Clive, ’cause you really rock it! You’re so right I did not know any of these “six” themed song titles. It was quite nice to sample them all. While none of the songs bowled me over, the discovery of new vocalists like CMAT interesting. I’m certainly going to YT to sample more of her music. hanks for joining the 4M party and here’s hoping you have a boogietastic week, my friend!

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    • Thank you for your kind words, Cathy. I’m not planning on stopping any time yet!

      I knew it was a risk playing a set of ‘unknown’ songs but I like them all, so why not! I’m pleased you like CMAT. She’s more ‘pop’ than my usual taste but I like her style and her songs are good. Try the Jamie Oliver one 👍

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  11. Congrats and Happy Blogversary, Clive! A tasty treat of six-themed tunes this Tuesday! I’m familiar with Georgia Satellite’s “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” but not today’s “Six Years Gone”; I quite enjoyed them back then but had no idea they were still around. Bill was a fan of Taj Mahal so I’m well-acquainted with them. And of course, Dire Straits will always be a favorite. As predicted, I didn’t know the other three and enjoyed their songs. Blackberry Smoke has that home-grown Southern sound we’re familiar with from some other groups in that genre. A terrific tribute to six years of Tuesday Tunes! 🥳♫😎

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  12. Congratulations on 6 years of running Tuesday Tunes. I look forward to it every Tuesday. There is always a great selection and you have introduced me to many new to me musicians. Thanks for entertaining us!!

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