Title Fight: "Come On In"

Illustration of fuchsias from The Floricultural Cabinet and Florist's Magazine vol. 19, 1851

So "Come On In" is a pretty generic song title, and there are a ton of songs out there called "Come On In", but I thought it would be kind of funny to pit soft-rockers the Association against Delta bluesman (and brief '90s hipster icon) R.L. Burnside. I could just have easily gone with the great "Come On In" by Bonniwell's Music Machine, but that wouldn't have been as funny.

R.L. Burnside started playing the blues in the '60s and kept on doing it until his death in 2005, and his rhythm-heavy take on juke joint blues is great if that's the sort of thing you're into. In the late '90s, though, he got dragged into the indie music spotlight by working with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and producer Tom Rothrock. The only Burnside record I ever bought was a weird mix of live recordings and remixes called Come On In (I'd heard a track from it on a CMJ sampler), but my favorite thing on the collection (by far) was a live solo take of the title track, a traditional blues song. Burnside plays a cool blues riff that follows his expressive singing of the melody - it's a nice exercise in simplicity, recorded well.

On the far side of the musical spectrum, we have the Association's "Come On In". The opening track to their fourth album Birthday (their "psychedelic album") is built on a bouncy bassline and a steadily-building vocal arrangement with lots of the sunny harmonies that the Association was known for. The song doesn't have much in the way of substance, but the layering of the vocals on the final chorus is one of my favorite Association moments, and it's enough to give the Association the edge in this match-up.

I don't necessarily like what it says about me that I prefer soft-psych silliness to gritty delta blues - I really DO like that Burnside track. I should probably go back and give Burnside's blues albums a chance (i.e. not his weird remix albums from the late '90s), but I think I may just be hardwired to prefer post-Beatles guitar pop. I kind of hate myself now - so much for this being a hilarious "odd couple" match-up.

Winner: THE ASSOCIATION

"Come On In" by the Association

"Come On In" by R.L. Burnside