A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's selection: Jane - "Jane Session" - 1974
German "kraut rock". Jane was formed in 1970. This cut is off their third album, Jane III - "a scorching guitar blowout"
Wiki describes Jane as "Playing a melodious synthesis of symphonic hard rock, that has occasionally been compared to Pink Floyd"
Not sure I agree with that description, particularly "compared to Pink Floyd" but I like a fair amount of their stuff. This cut is a dual-guitar instrumental.
A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's selection(s): Albert Farrington "Long Way To Tipperary" - 1915 Murray Johnson "Pack Up Your Troubles" - 1916
The guns fell silent at 11:00AM, November 11, 1918. Until 10:59AM, the battle raged on. The Meuse–Argonne battle was the primary involvement of US troops in the war, lasting from Sept 1918 to 10:59, Nov 11.
All their weary marches done, all their battles fought and won.
Long Way To Tipperary
Written for English music halls in 1912, it was adopted as a British marching song during WWI.
It's a long way to Tipperary, It's a long way to go. It's a long way to Tipperary, To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye, Piccadilly, Farewell, Leicester Square! It's a long long way to Tipperary, But my heart's right there.
Pack Up Your Troubles
The song was written in 1915 by George Powell under the pseudonym George Asaf. It was written as a morale booster, encouraging recruitment. Its popularity was such that it became a favored marching song for British troops in WWI.
Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag And smile, smile, smile. While you've a lucifer to light your fag Smile boys, that's the style What's the use of worrying It never was worth while So, pack up your troubles in your old kit bag And smile, smile, smile.
Both songs are strongly identified with WWI although the popularity of both went well beyond the war and into the 21st century.
A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's selection: James McMurtry "Vague Directions" - 1990
James McMurtry (1962 - ) is the son of the author of Lonesome Dove.
This place you say you're looking for That's a place I used to know Don't know the number of the road But I can tell you how to go
Head on down 'till the pavement ends Used to go back there now and then I used to know it like the back of my hand When I was just a boy
This place you say you're looking for It's a good ways off the track It'd take a quarter tank of Firechief Just getting there and back
And of course there wasn't no pavement then Once you got yourself around that bend There wasn't nothing but the whistling wind When I was just a boy
And the light shines long ago On the cold December snow And the river runs on through the (golden) past I can see it in the bottom of the (whiskey) glass
Ain't seen you around here before You kin to someone I know What was your mama's name Before she moved away
Did she tell you about that place up there Did she show you how to curl that hair A grown man would have never dared When I was just a boy
This place you say you're looking for Might have washed out with the rain It might not be there anymore It might not be the same
But if you find it won't you let me know If I weren't so poorly I'd surely go Don't you know I used to love it so When I was just a boy
It's not a road anymore, just a path through the woods that have taken over. The old bridge is washed out near where we used to park and ... Even the abutments are gone.
For that matter, so's the bar with the whiskey glass.
And so is she ... and her name gone with her. From when I was just a boy.
A sample of some obscure – and some maybe not obscure – tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today’s selection: T Bone Burnett "Shut It Tight" 1983
T Bone (Joseph Henry) Burnett was a guitar player for Dylan in the '70s, worked on several movie soundtracks, and produced the Alison Krauss/Robert Plant collaboration on "Raising Sand". Along with all the other work he has done: more producer than performer.
Shut It Tight is off the album "Proof Through The Night"
I don't like to win but then again I hate to lose And in between is something I can't stand I don't care what you think and I hope that you approve I am just an ordinary man
Sometimes I want to stop and crawl back into the womb And sometimes I cannot tell wrong from right But I ain't gonna quit until I'm laid in my tomb And even then they better shut it tight
A sample of some obscure – and some maybe not obscure – tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today’s selection: Grateful Dead "China Cat Sunflower I Know You Rider" 1982
Live at the Oregon Country Fair: "Springfield Creamery Presents The Second Decadenal Field Trip" in Veneta, just west of Eugene.
I liked Eugene back in those days. Crazy was fun then, not dangerous. Times change.
The concert took place on August 28 - I overlooked this fact when I went to post this.
I was at this concert. Drove up from Reno with my girlfriend of the time in a beater 1964 Chevy pickup.. Sat with friends in the booth next to Ken Kesey's. Wish I remembered more of the concert; there was no option for leaving off the "special sauce" at the food booths. Trouble is, those funny cigarettes have been known to cause this effect often known as "the munchies".
Brownies are good. The special sauce wasn't bad either.
Truck blew a rod on the way home; of course I was taking the road less travelled. Contacted our friends in Eugene and spent a few days with them while the truck was being repaired.
An adventure is something you don't want to be doing while you're doing it.
But a memorable time overall. Good and bad at the same time; one of the straws that broke apart my first not-marriage ... but that's a different tale for a different time.
A sample of some obscure – and some maybe not obscure – tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today’s selection: Hevia "Busindre Reel" 1998
Crank this one up. Yee-haw! Bagpipes in a Celtic reel. Starts slow.
José Ángel Hevia Velasco - professionally Hevia - was born in 1967 in Asturias, an autonomous region on Spain's northern coast. The Busindre Reel is probably his best-known composition.
