Last Thursday was Thanksgiving, that most American of holidays. It’s a day when you gather together with your family, give thanks for what you have, and remember those not as fortunate as yourself. And stuff yourself with food until you stagger from the table in a daze.

I probably should have done a Thanksgiving post last week so folks could listen to these songs during the meal, but it honestly didn’t occur to me to do a Thanksgiving post until I was in my post-feast coma. Our meal was pretty traditional, in fact here’s what the menu looked like.

Cor Mutsers & Patrick van Gerven “Lumpy Gravy” (Frank Zappa)
I insist on gravy with my turkey and mashed potatoes. It’s non-negotiable. Mrs. Freak doesn’t eat gravy and has in the past tried to accommodate my desire with bottled gravy from the store, which is only marginally better than no gravy at all. But this year our neighbor (the same one who provided the mashed potatoes noted below) made some delicious gravy and all was good with the world.

Beyond the sublime doo-wop cover by the Persuasions, most covers of this song are either jazz arrangements or surf guitar workouts. But this fiddle arrangement is pretty tasty.

The Emotions “Mashed Potatoes” (James Brown/Nat Kendrick and the Swans)
Mrs. Freak does many things well, but making mashed potatoes is not among them. This year they were provided by our neighbors and they were wonderful.

“(Do The) Mashed Potatoes” was in instrumental by James Brown that was released under an alias for contractual reasons. This version owes a heavy debt to Link Wray.

Railcars “Dreams” (The Cranberries)
I grew up eating the cranberry sauce that slides out of a can. So did Mrs. Freak, even though her mother took pride in making elaborate meals. Go figure. But since we’ve been hosting Thanksgiving dinner Mrs. Freak has been whipping up a delightful cranberry sauce from scratch. And for that I’m mighty thankful.

This sure isn’t an inoffensive pop song like the original. It’s all distortion and feedback. Quite the improvement in my book.

Bob Gallo “Turkey In The Straw” (Traditional)
We had turkey. Vast amounts of turkey. We’ll be eating turkey sandwiches for weeks. But everybody had their fill, which was the point.

There is a metric crapload of bluegrass/fiddle covers of this tune. This one stands out because of the cheesy synthesizers and hollow sounding drum machines. It’s a robot hoedown!

Humble Pie “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” (Ray Charles)
Pie is a featured dessert at Thanksgiving, probably more so than any other holiday. Some parts of the country favor pecan pie, but we had my mom’s otherworldly pumpkin pie.

Humble Pie’s version of the Ray Charles classic is fun, loose, and a little sloppy. Good attributes for a song, not so much for a pie.