Victoria Day in Canada set. All songs involve queens, kings, royalty, whether by band, song title or mention in lyrics. My track-by-track tales follow the bare-bones list.

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1. The Beatles, Her Majesty
2. The Kinks, Victoria
3. Sex Pistols, God Save The Queen
4. The Who, The Acid Queen
5. Aerosmith, Kings And Queens
6. The Doors, Queen Of The Highway
7. Van Morrison, Queen Of The Slipstream
8. David Bowie, Queen Bitch
9. T. Rex, Planet Queen
10. Bob Dylan, Queen Jane Approximately
11. The Rolling Stones, Jigsaw Puzzle
12. Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Queenie
13. Bruce Springsteen, Mary Queen Of Arkansas
14. The Flying Burrito Brothers, High Fashion Queen
15. The Byrds, Tiffany Queen
16. Dave Edmunds, Queen Of Hearts
17. Jethro Tull, Queen And Country
18. Stephen Stills, Black Queen
19. Queen, The March Of The Black Queen
20. Queen, Great King Rat
21. Queen, White Queen (As It Began)
22. Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell
23. Steely Dan, The Royal Scam

My track-by-track tales:

1. The Beatles, Her Majesty . . . One of the first if not ‘the’ original, or at least arguably best known, hidden track on a rock music album, the closing – after a break of silence – 23 seconds to the Abbey Road album. Originally, it wasn’t listed on the original vinyl I still own but subsequent physical releases do show it on the track list. Yes, perhaps played best in context of the full side two medley on the original vinyl album but I’ve played the medley in full before, Her Majesty specifically fits my theme so I deliberately chose this route, an I think perfect short intro to . . .

2. The Kinks, Victoria . . . My traditional show opener each year on Victoria Day. Last year I went with a live version from the 1980 release One For The Road, issued as a document of the tour in support of the 1979 studio album Low Budget. Back to the original studio release I go this time. It was the lead track on the 1969 album Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). While it’s a well-known Kinks song, it did only moderate business on the singles charts – anywhere from the top 70 to top 40 depending on country – except for in Canada, where nationally it was No. 33 but No. 9 in Toronto, on AM radio station CHUM‘s top 30 list. A major, influential AM radio station at the time along with its FM counterpart, CHUM-AM is now a sports radio station.

3. Sex Pistols, God Save The Queen . . . It was loved, it was loathed, it was banned by the BBC. Its legacy – and that of its parent album, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols, is lasting.

4. The Who, The Acid Queen . . . From the rock opera Tommy, released in 1969. Also covered by, among others, Tina Turner, who played the character in the 1975 movie.

5. Aerosmith, Kings And Queens . . . No obvious hook yet a driving, almost doom rock hypnotic piece from the 1977 album Draw The Line, fitting perfectly with the subject matter. To quote lead singer Steven Tyler, from the liner notes to 1991’s Pandora’s Box set:

“I’ve always had a fancy to do songs about anarchy and the church and the government. . . The band comes up with the licks, and then the music talks to me and tells me what it’s about. This one was just about how many people died from holy wars because of their beliefs, or non-beliefs. With that one, my brain was back with the knights of the round table and that shit – I do a lot of fantasizing.”

Kings And Queens was the second single released from Draw The Line, after the title track. It managed only No. 70 on the charts but it’s a popular Aerosmith song, regularly played in concert and has appeared on several compilations albeit in edited single release form, a minute shorter than the album version with many of the guitar parts removed. The album version is ‘the’ one, I’d suggest. A fun – and pretty accurate – take on the track that I read somewhere once: It’s grandiose and medieval — like Queen if they were from Boston and did harder drugs.

6. The Doors, Queen Of The Highway . . . One of those great Doors’ deep cuts, kinda country, jaunty, bluesy, great playing, all apparently about lead singer Jim Morrison’s up and down relationship with longtime girlfriend Pamela Courson. It’s from the 1970 album Morrison Hotel, which I played in full back in February but one should always be open to more Doors, I say, and the song fits this show’s theme.

7. Van Morrison, Queen Of The Slipstream . . . Ethereal and poetic and thus appropriate since it’s drawn from Van The Man’s 1987 album Poetic Champions Compose. It was released as a single in the UK but didn’t chart but then it doesn’t have the immediacy of most singles, beyond which, Van couldn’t care less, he just does what he does, says, writes, sings, thinks and always has, pleases himself – and discerning fans. As he said in 1994, a quote reproduced in the preface to the 2002 oral history biography Van Morrison: Can You Feel The Silence, by Clinton Heylin: “I never, ever said that I was a nice guy.” Maybe not. He’s blunt, direct, often caustic and even seemingly intolerant but geez he’s made lots of nice, beautiful, amazing music but that can be the thing with many creative people: they may not ‘properly’ express themselves interpersonally, may come across as aloof, distant, whatever. But read, listen to or observe their art and you’ll find their unvarnished essence unleashed in often deeply open and emotional ways that they themselves perhaps wish they could more easily impart in social situations.

8. David Bowie, Queen Bitch . . . Propulsive riff from Mick Ronson on this apparent tribute to The Velvet Underground in general and, specifically, that band’s lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Lou Reed. It’s from Bowie’s 1971 album Hunky Dory which also contained tribute tracks to the artist Andy Warhol and Song For Bob Dylan. I like most if not all Bowie, but early Bowie is truly brilliant.

9. T. Rex, Planet Queen . . . T. Rex just had a unique sound. And in many ways a precursor to the ‘industrial’ genre, I’ll posit, looking back and listening to – as I often do – this late 1960s into the 1970s band cut short by the car accident death of leader Marc Bolan in 1977. Whether it’s the production, the arrangements, Bolan’s vocals and guitar, I find it intoxicating. This one’s from the album Electric Warrior, which gave the world the hit single Get It On (retitled Bang a Gong (Get It On) ) in the US. Like, say, the band Free with its big North American hit single All Right Now but little business from elsewhere in the catalogue, like Free, T. Rex was so much more than that one North American hit single.

10. Bob Dylan, Queen Jane Approximately . . . From Dylan’s 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited which featured arguably his signature song (but truly impossible to pick I’d suggest) Like A Rolling Stone. Queen Jane has been compared to Like A Rolling Stone although it’s been suggested Dylan goes easier on the subject of his ire but, frankly, I just enjoy the music, the playing, and Dylan’s forever distinctive vocals. As I’ve repeatedly said to people who suggest he’s a lousy singer: Perhaps, it’s obviously a matter of taste but he’s the best singer of Bob Dylan songs there ever was or could be. It just simply works and even though there’s many great covers of Dylan tunes, nobody can match his delivery to the extent where, sure, you listen to the music but he almost impels you to listen to the always at least interesting lyrics. Dylan’s to me a sort of hand-me-down I didn’t ‘get’ at first when my older brother by eight years introduced me to him. Then I introduced him to my sons who, at first, were like me and didn’t ‘get’ him. I recall my elder son saying “Dad, he’s got one song (Like A Rolling Stone).” Then, later, “OK, Dad, he’s got more songs…”

11. The Rolling Stones, Jigsaw Puzzle . . . Speaking of Dylan, it’s been suggested that this tune from Beggars Banquet, lengthy lyrics and a ‘story’ song of sorts, is influenced by Dylan and that may be true or at least worthy of consideration. For me, it’s just a great Stones’ song and, thanks to the immortal lyric “There’s a regiment of soldiers. standing looking on, and the Queen is bravely shouting, ‘What the HELL is going on?’ ” it fits into the ‘royalty’ set.

12. Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Queenie . . . A, naturally given the instrument he most played and was known for, piano-driven Jerry Lee version of the normally guitar-driven Chuck Berry song done by many including the Rolling Stones in a live version on the 1970 Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out! document of their 1969 tour.

13. Bruce Springsteen, Mary Queen Of Arkansas . . . From his first studio album, 1973’s Greetings From Asbury Park N.J. A slow, acoustic country-ish song, apparently about a drag queen.

14. The Flying Burrito Brothers, High Fashion Queen . . . Short, sweet, fun rockabilly written by Bryds associates and one-album member (Sweetheart Of The Rodeo) Gram Parsons and original Byrd Chris Hillman, from the second Burritos album, Burrito Deluxe, released in 1970.

15. The Byrds, Tiffany Queen . . . Nice mid-tempo rocker from the latter-day Bryds lineup of the perennial Roger McGuinn (guitar, vocals), Clarence White (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Skip Battin (electric bass, piano, vocals) and Gene Parsons (drums, guitar, harmonica, pedal steel guitar, banjo, vocals) on the 1971 release Farther Along. The Byrds’ latter-day stuff tends to get short shrift from critics still perhaps wedded to the early days of Turn! Turn! Turn! and so on including the band’s various covers of Bob Dylan tunes, but lots of quality music and performances throughout the catalogue.

16. Dave Edmunds, Queen Of Hearts . . . From Repeat When Necessary, the 1979 album which got me into Edmunds via songs like his cover of the Elvis Costello tune Girls Talk, Graham Parker’s Crawling From The Wreckage and this one, by American musician/songwriter Hank DeVito that became a top 10 hit for Juice Newton in 1981.

17. Jethro Tull, Queen And Country . . . Uniquely and typically Tull. Offbeat orchestral arrangement, not immediate like the hit single Bungle In The Jungle from the parent album, 1974’s War Child, but as with much Tull it embeds itself upon repeat exposure.

18. Stephen Stills, Black Queen . . . Great finger-pickin’ acoustic folk blues from Still’s 1970 album Stephen Stills which featured his hit single Love The One You’re With.

19. Queen, The March Of The Black Queen . . . First of three from Queen, natch, in such a ‘royalty’ set. This one, from Queen II, 1974, launches a segment featuring the operatic, progressive hard rock of early Queen.

20. Queen, Great King Rat . . . Galloping rocker from the 1973 self-titled debut album.

21. Queen, White Queen (As It Began) . . . And back to Queen II, as it ends for the Queen mini-set.

22. Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell . . . Monumental title track to the 1980 album, Sabbath’s first with Ronnie James Dio replacing Ozzy Osbourne on lead vocals. It’s an album I couldn’t help but get into as the DJ in a pub I worked in, putting myself through college, played it (and Ted Nugent’s Double Live Gonzo! and British Steel by Judas Priest) to death and thankfully so. Great album with lyrics appropriate to a ‘kings and queens’ show and, perhaps, harkening back, years later, knowingly or not, to Aerosmith’s Kings And Queens I played earlier in the set:

“The world is full of kings and queens
who blind your eyes and steal your dreams
it’s Heaven and Hell . . . ”

23. Steely Dan, The Royal Scam . . . Which royalty may well be, a scam. I tend to think so, accidents of birth providing privileged place in society and all of that while others revel in its reality. That’s fine. The song isn’t even about royalty or the monarchy, it’s about immigration but the title fits tonight’s tale. Besides which, musically it’s one of my favorite Steely Dan tunes, the dark title track to the 1976 album, so here you go.