A couple of weeks ago I posted a piece for the Writer’s Workshop responding to the prompt of writing about luck. As you might have expected of me I took this as the opportunity to play a set of songs with either luck or lucky in their title – here, if you missed it. It struck me that this would be a good theme for a Tuesday, so here it is. A similar mix to the previous post, with one luck song and four lucky ones.

I’m starting with one I almost played last time, and as someone suggested it in the comments on that I thought I definitely had to play it:

Actually, that almost missed out a second time, as I was torn between the original and a superb acoustic cover version by Blackberry Smoke and Amanda Shires – here if you want to check it out. Just to make the comparison: Tom’s video was posted 11 years ago, and has 9.8m views, while the Blackberry Smoke one went up 6 years ago and has 18m views. They are not to be sneezed at, and I recommend them to you if you don’t already know them.

Tom Petty released You Got Lucky as a single in October 1982 and it then featured on his fifth album, Long After Dark, which came out the following month. The single peaked at #20 in the US and #30 in Canada, but didn’t make the UK charts. The album made #9 in the US, #17 in Canada and #45 in the UK. With a couple of exceptions which did far better, his albums have all charted moderately here, which I have always felt displayed a lack of taste on the part of the British record-buying public. He gave us a huge amount of great music, and I have all of his albums in a collection that began right from the outset. I still miss him – such a tragic loss.

My second song for today is one that you may well know from a cover version which did rather well in chart terms, but I’m giving you the original, by a guy I think is very underrated by the public but is highly thought of by his peers. This is Paul Brady:

Luck Of The Draw was, as I’m sure you know, the title track of a Bonnie Raitt album from 1991, but Paul didn’t release his own version until 2010 on his fifteenth album, Hooba Dooba, as you can see from the clip. I loved the Bonnie Raitt record, but have a preference for Paul’s version, which seems a little more heartfelt: you can just picture the woman he was writing about as a friend, can’t you, and his hopes and encouragement for her success. If you’re wondering where you’ve heard the phrase ‘hooba dooba’ before it is a slang term for surprise or amazement, originating as the catchphrase of George in the 60s cartoon series The Jetsons. Paul Brady has had a long career in music, going right back to the 60s when he was in an Irish folk band called The Johnstons. I bought one of their early albums and was lucky enough to see them in concert in early 1972 when they were the support act for Steeleye Span at Hornsey Town Hall in London, at the height of the power cuts caused by the miners’ strikes of the time. A memorable evening all round! He has written many songs which have been recorded by others: as well as Bonnie Raitt he has been recorded by the likes of Tina Turner and Santana, and is highly thought of for his songwriting by many, including Bob Dylan. I could go on at length about him as I have long been a fan, but will just say that you should really seek out more of his music. And for anyone missing Bonnie Raitt, here is her version of the song.

As regular readers will know I am a huge fan of Mary Chapin Carpenter. Here is one of her lighter songs:

I just love that video – so much fun being had by all. I Feel Lucky was released as a single in May 1992, and reached #4 in the US Country chart and #3 in the Canadian Country listings. It is a little unusual to have a video like this for one of her songs, which suggests that her record company was investing in her to do well with it. It then featured on her fourth album, Come On Come On, which came out the following month, peaking at #31 in the main US Albums chart, #6 on the Country list and #4 in the Canadian Country chart. The album is fantastic, stuffed full of great songs, and is still to date her best seller, at around 3m copies – not too shabby for a non-mainstream ‘country’ girl! Of course, I think of her as much more than that: like Paul Brady she is an incredibly good songwriter and has a wonderful way with words.

While I’m indulging myself in my favourites, how about another? Again, as regulars will know, I used to refer to this next singer as my guilty pleasure but I think that secret has long since bolted from the stables. Guess who? Yup:

As I have remarked before, Taylor Swift has been re-recording the albums she made for her previous record company after an acrimonious split, as a way of reclaiming her music. The Lucky One was a track on the second of those, Red (Taylor’s Version), which was released in November 2021. Whilst its sales weren’t as big as the first time round it still fared pretty well considering how many already had the original: this time it made #1 in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. Not bad! This track wasn’t released as a single in either version, but I was pleased to find a new video for it nonetheless.

I closed my previous post of luck songs with a classic by Emerson Lake and Palmer – Lucky Man. It seemed a good plan to do that again this time, though it is a case of different song, same title:

You might see and hear a similarity in style between The Verve and Oasis, who were contemporaries, and both were from the Greater Manchester area. The Verve were shorter lived, though, going through several break ups and reformations before finally calling it a day in 2009. Lucky Man was one of three huge hit singles from their September 1997 album Urban Hymns, reaching #7 in the UK though it only made the lower charts elsewhere, and not at all in the US, though it did make #14 on their Adult Alternative Airplay listing. The single has been designated Platinum in the UK, with over 600k sales. Urban Hymns topped the UK Albums chart, and also made #1 in New Zealand and Sweden. It peaked at #9 in Australia and France, #18 in Canada and #23 in the US, and has received countless Platinum awards, with an 11x platinum rating in the UK and even one in the US, amongst all of the others: it has sold an estimated 10m copies worldwide. It also won Best Album at the 1998 Brit Awards – one occasion when they actually got something right amongst the usual array of dross. I bought the album and played it to bits – it isn’t the most uplifting of records, but it has some great tracks.

That’s all for today, and as always I hope you have found something to enjoy in the set. I’ll see you again soon, possibly with the long overdue return of one of my occasional series, though I’m not sure yet. Stay tuned!

Have a good week, and take care 😊