The Daily Independent compiled a list of the 100 best songs recorded in Arizona

When you think of the best recording hubs in the country, Los Angeles probably comes to mind. If you’re into country music, then Nashville ans Atlanta for hip hop.

But, Steve Stockmar is here to argue: Arizona has its own rich history of recording music. In fact, so much so that he and a team of panelists compiled a list of the top 100 songs recorded in Arizona for the Daily Independent.

Stockmar is the Independent’s entertainment editor. He’s been in Arizona for more than 30 years writing about the arts community in the state. And, he told The Show, coming up with this era-spanning list was no easy task.

Full conversation

STEVE STOCKMAR: It came about just from listening to songs, which I do anyway. And I try to find and collect obscure stuff just cause it's fun for me in a nerdy way. And I think, I can't remember the song that sort of sparked the idea, but it was a gradual thing. All of a sudden I had like nine or 10 songs I had never heard before, and I realized that they were recorded here.

And I said, well, that's an interesting sort of thing to follow and started deliberately looking for songs that I did not know. And it just, there were so many, I couldn't believe it. And we had actually started out of it being a top 50 list. We thought that would be a good round number. ... We could kind of include different eras, different decades, different genres. And there was so many, I think after about two or three months we were well over 60 and still finding stuff. So it became obvious, well, let's be kind of ambitious and maybe we can get 100 out of it. And, and we did. In fact, there were some that we couldn't use.

Steve Stockmar

LAUREN GILGER: OK, so let's talk about a few that stand out to you. We clearly can't get to all 100 here, but one I wanted to ask you about is No. 4 on your list, and it's by the Sun City Girls, right? Tell us about this.

STOCKMAR: Well, they're just weird.

[“SPACE PROPHET DOGON” BY SUN CITY GIRLS PLAYS]

It was really important to us to include every genre and every decade, so rock and roll, great jazz community throughout the years in Phoenix. Country, so many genres, hip hop.

I don't know if there is a genre for the Sun City Girls except punk. But very unique in that the songs I was familiar with the Sun City Girls even before this, but learning about the backstory about how they recorded it. And I did reach out to, one of the brothers from the band, Richard Bishop, who's up in the Pacific Northwest now, and also found an old interview with him from about 10 years ago. And just to hear that they recorded it in the front room of a house across from Gammage in Tempe. You've got to be kidding me because the music is wild. There's 20-some instruments on the record. It's very weird, very avant-garde, but super cool, too.

GILGER: Yeah, OK, let's talk about another song on the list and just before that, No. 3 on the list is “Summertime” by the Pistoleros. This is an Arizona band a lot of people have heard of. They were a big deal for a while there early on in the aughts. Why this song first of all?

STOCKMAR: You know, that's a great question. Of course, everybody does know about the Pistoleros and their amazing records, their history in the Valley.

And I, it, it just sort of seems to me maybe I'm wrong, but it was sort of a perception that there was always kind of a, a dark side to anybody talking about them or writing about them, because, of course, the tragedy when we lost Lawrence and the brothers sort of were hot and cold with their relationship.

I didn't want to go into that so much. I think it's been chronicled very well. So it was a deliberate effort to kind of take a positive spin, and this song just absolutely fit the bill.

They had kind of reunited. Their vibes were all great. They were obviously making great music. And I think ‘"ummertime” just captured that part of the Pistoleros that, hey, let's remember, they were a lot of fun, really talented. We don't always have to think about some of the harder times that they had.

GILGER: Yeah, that's, that's a nice way to look at it. I'm gonna skip way down on the list because there's a song you wanted to talk about in the blues genre called “Out on the Road” by Jimmy Rodgers. Tell us about this one.

STOCKMAR: I mean, we put, we put in the article, anyone who's a blues fan, and I certainly am, we owe so much to Bob Corritore, he — not only just owning the Rhythm Room and bringing so many bands to town. He's told me that when bands come in to play the Rhythm Room while they're in town, he makes sure to book some recording time.

I mean, we're talking legendary blues musicians, and he has such a vast catalog, Bob does, of these artists that have come through town and at one point, I think it was the early ‘90s, Jimmy Rodgers came through and just what can you say about him?

He's, he wrote and recorded for Chess Records in the '50s and he was there throughout, the fact that Jimmy Rodgers here in town is great enough, but Bob brought him into a studio and they cut the song “Out on the Road,” which Jimmy had written and recorded himself in 1952 for Chess Records.

And it was part of the album that Bob called All Star Blues Sessions, and there was a song when Bo Diddley was in town and Pine Top Perkins, and it is a stunning collection of some of the most legendary blues artists who have come through town, and Jimmy Rodgers, that the fact that they re-recorded his old song from Chess Records, I think.

Those Lowdown Blues

Every Sunday night for the past 40 years, Bob Corritore has dedicated himself to hosting Those Lowdown Blues.

GILGER: It was just a great selection, yeah, and recorded right here with our own, KJZZ's own Bob Corritore, I should say.

STOCKMAR: Definitely.

GILGER: All right, well, we have to talk about the No. 1 song on the list, obviously since it is No. 1. This is “Rebel Rouser” from Duane Eddy. Tell us how you chose this. Why No. 1 for this one?

STOCKMAR: You know, I think we kind of were working with that as No. 1 from the beginning. It just captures Phoenix. It was so influential to rock and roll. It was way bigger than just, well, this was recorded in Phoenix. It influenced all the guys from the British invasion, so it really had a huge impact.

I couldn't imagine what could be more of a No. 1 hit than that in terms of its Arizona beginnings and it was recorded here and how far it reached, and I told our editor Patrick O'Grady early on, I said this, this has got to be No. 1. Someone's gonna have to drive a stake through my heart for this to not be No. 1.

But we're open-minded enough to think, well, maybe there's some other interesting backstory that might maybe bump it up, but I — we just didn't think anything could. It was, it was just a perfect Arizona song.

GILGER: Yeah, so let me ask you about that because a common thread in all of this is, I mean, the requirement that it's recorded in Arizona, not necessarily Arizona artists, but recorded here.  What did you notice when you were compiling this about some of these songs? Like, was there something about the recording process here or some of these that were written here and about Arizona that felt very of this place?

STOCKMAR: You know, I — that's a great question. I think it's easy to sort of get stuck in Phoenix because of the size of it, but throughout the whole state is represented. And there are songs, well, like from Flagstaff, as far, as far south as Bisbee, that are also great and we didn't wanna over, we didn't want it to be a Phoenix list, that's for sure. There's a lot of Tucson representation because of the, the amazing talent in Tucson.

But really all over the state, I, what does our list span 68 years, of the people were just, have always been making super interesting, super creative, super cool music that each of them had a backstory. And so I was really impressed by just the diversity throughout the whole state is by no means just a Phoenix list.