# Loudon Wainwright III on iTunes--your input, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375 "2004-11-17T23:37:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/1 "2004-11-17T23:37:32Z")
My lovely and thoughtful wife just gave me an iTunes gift card today, and I want to get a couple things I’ve had my eye on, but other options always took precedence over. One of those is getting one of Loudon Wainwright’s albums to see if it is worth getting more (Why Loudon Wainwright? A long story starting with John Prine, heading to Steve Goodman, and somehow ending up here). Since iTunes music store doesn’t have any compilations available, I am going to get one of the albums (they currently have 6 available for album purchase). Looking for any input, but what I want to get is one that best exemplifies his music, and of course, is entertaining. So, here’s what they have: So Damn Happy I’m Alright Fame and Wealth A Live One (I generally dislike live albums, and don’t want to start with one) Album III Unrequited Any input is appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/2 "2004-11-17T23:54:32Z")
I really don’t know Loudon Wainwright’s music so I can’t give much input, but I saw him on Conan once and he did a song about his son called Rufus is a Tit Man I would _love_ to get a recording of that song but I don’t think an official recording exists. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/3 "2004-11-18T01:19:29Z")
I’ve got “Rufus” on an old LP somewhere, so it’s definitely been recorded. of the one’s you list, the only one I know is “Fame and Wealth” which is pretty good. “Reader and Advisor,” the first cut is decent, and so is “Ingenue” and “IDttywlm” (though I forget what that stands for.) I think Wainwright’s really gifted. His best is “Album III” which features “Dead Skunk,” a classic. I’d start there. ---
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/4 "2004-11-18T01:23:47Z")
**bienville** , just so you know, there are two version of that song on the ‘Unrequited’ album, a live version and a previously unreleased studio version. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/5 "2004-11-18T03:48:32Z")
I’ve been a fan of Loudon for over 30 years, though mostly from his earlier stuff. Album III is certainly a great place to start. I’d also suggest “Social Studies,” with the absolutely brilliant, “Tonya’s Twirls.” Loudon is one of the best live performers I have ever seen. There is a video of his concert on the Kennedy Center website – search for his name in the Milleneum Stage performance area. You won’t be disappointed. It’s not odd you got to him through John Prine. Back when Loudon was starting out, he joked that he was a member of the “New Bob Dylan Club” with Prine, Bruce Springsteen, and Elliot Murphy, all of whom were being billed, for one reason or another, as the new Bob Dylan. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/6 "2004-11-18T04:57:34Z")
Elliot Murphy? ELLIOT EFFING MURPHY?!?!? Been a while. Probably haven’t listened to “Aquashow” in a good 28 years. Oughta dig it out now that my turntable is back in working order. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/7 "2004-11-18T05:02:43Z")
Speaking of Prine, heard a fellow who taught a class at the Old Town School of Folk Music tell of this postman who walked into his class with the first four songs he had written (let’s see if I can recall them), “Sam Stone,” “Paradise,” “Angel From Montgomery,” and “Hello in There.” Like a grand slam his first at bat. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/8 "2004-11-18T07:47:40Z")
Of your list I know ‘Im Alright’ which I really like - so it looks like you cant really go wrong. Although it’s not there, I’d recommend ‘History’ too. ---
**Author:** ![todd33rpm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@todd33rpm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/todd33rpm)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/9 "2004-11-18T11:07:55Z")
_So Damn Happy_ is also a live album, but it’s a really good one, and the one I’d recommend as the A album of the list. First of all, it’s the longest of the albums listed, to the tune of around 70 minutes if I recall. Second, it’s got the best version of “Tonya’s Twirls” because of his intro. Third, a couple of good guest shots, with Richard Thompson on guitar. fourth, it covers the emotional range, with a couple of good tearjerkers in addition to the lighter side. Although it’s live, it’s the closest to a latter-day greatest hits we have, covering the nineties pretty well, and Loudon is really much more in his element when he’s interacting with an audience, IMO. _I’m Alright_ is his divorce album. Great piece of work, if a little dark as well as funny. A good studio starting point. If you’re picking individual songs, I’d take “Dead Skunk” and “Muse Blues” off _Album III_…the album overall didn’t do much for me, and I think he’s still kinda feeling his way in at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/10 "2004-11-18T13:28:27Z")
Yeah, LW III is one of my high school artists, specifically _Unrequited_, although I haven’t heard that all they way through since about 1982. Definitely the one to get if you must get only one, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/11 "2004-11-18T13:40:29Z")
Do any of those have “The Swimming Song”? I like this song but I only know the Fairport Convention version on “Old, New, Borrowed, Blue” and would love to hear Loudon’s version. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/12 "2004-11-18T13:42:14Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Elliot Murphy? ELLIOT EFFING MURPHY?!?!? Been a while. Probably haven’t listened to “Aquashow” in a good 28 years. Oughta dig it out now that my turntable is back in working order. I’m surprised _anyone_ remembered Elliot Murphy. 🙂 Aquashow was a great album, but he sort of vanished after that. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/13 "2004-11-18T14:53:16Z")
I thought so, too, but [he’s taken 26 albums](http://www.elliottmurphy.com/discography/), two short story collections, and a novel to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loudon-wainwright-iii-on-itunes-your-input-please/275375/14 "2004-11-18T16:14:49Z")
LW3 is quite the talent. But he’s too idiosyncratic (and confessional) to make it truly huge. For a good collection you should try ‘So Damn Happy’. It’s a live show and it’s really good.