Bill Frisell Songs

I wanted to create my own copy of my favorite Bill Frisell compositions over the years; a sort of mix disc(s) of my own "Best of Bill." These are just the guitarist's own compositions. I left off any of his covers of pop, rock, country or jazz standards - and any of his many beautiful adaptations of traditional themes. I also focused solely on discs appearing under the guitarist's own name.

I was surprised how much I ended up with - and how much more that could have been considered. These really are my favorites of the bunch. There are probably many others worth considering and some may say these are obvious choices. But it just goes to show how artfully, melodically - and, often, memorably - Bill Frisell puts a beautiful song together. His tunes are usually quite lovelier than one would ever expect from such an edgy guitarist - or from someone who isn't known excplicity as a composer.

There are undoubtedly some songs left out here that I would like to have included and alternative versions others may prefer. But I try to note the alternative versions of these tunes that are available elsewhere below. Check it out - and let me know what you think:

BILL FRISELL
SONGS I

1. Rambler from Rambler (ECM, 1985), also performed by Bill Frisell on Ginger Baker's Going Back Home (Atlantic, 1994).

2. Lonesome from Lookout For Hope (ECM, 1988), one of my earliest Frisell favorites, was also performed on Gone, Just Like A Train (Nonesuch, 1998) and included below.

3. Rag from Is That You (Elektra Musician, 1990), also performed on This Land (Elektra Musician, 1994) and Live (Grammavision, 1995).

4. Amarillo Barbados from This Land (Elektra Musician, 1994).

5. Keep Your Eyes Open, an utterly wonderful piece of work from Nashville (Nonesuch, 1997), also performed on the 2008 DVD Solos (Songline, 2004).

6. Pipe Down from Nashville (Nonesuch, 1997), also performed - excellently! - on East West (Nonesuch, 2005).

7. Family from Nashville (Nonesuch, 1997), also performed by Bill Frisell with Jim Hall on Hemispheres (ArtistShare, 2008).

8. Verona from Gone, Just Like A Train (Nonesuch, 1998).

9. Egg Radio from Gone, Just Like A Train (Nonesuch, 1998), also performed on Bill Frisell Quartet (Nonesuch, 1996) and the download-only Further East Further West (Nonesuch, 2005).

10. Lonesome from Gone, Just Like A Train (Nonesuch, 1998), also on Lookout For Hope (ECM, 1988), included above.

11. The Pioneers from Good Dog, Happy Man (Nonesuch, 1999).

BILL FRISELL
SONGS II

1. Where Do We Go? from Blues Dream (Nonesuch, 2001).

2. What Do We Do? from Blues Dream (Nonesuch, 2001).

3. Coffaro's Theme from Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001), also performed on Bill Frisell Quartet (Nonesuch, 1996). The 1996 version can also be heard on the Finding Forrester soundtrack (Sony, 2000).

4. Strange Meeting from Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001), also performed by Bill Frisell on Rambler (ECM, 1985), Strange Meeting by Power Tools (Antilles, 1987), This Land (Elektra Musician, 1994) and Live (Grammavision, 1995).

5. I Want To Go Home from The Willies (Nonesuch, 2002).

6. Good Old People from The Intercontinentals (Nonesuch, 2003).

7. 1968 from Unspeakable (Nonesuch, 2004).

8. Worse and Worse from Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian (Nonesuch, 2006).

9. Monroe from Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian (Nonesuch, 2006), seemingly a Frisell favorite, also performed on Good Dog, Happy Man (Nonesuch, 1999), the download-only Further East Further West (Nonesuch, 2005) and the woeful History, Msytery (Nonesuch, 2008).

10. Opening Theme from All Hat (EmArcy, 2008).

My heartfelt thanks to David Orton and his wonderful Bill Frisell Song Finder Page for much of the detail above. Also, Bill Frisell's own masterful site contains much great information - plus a way to order much of his music that can't be found elsewhere!