Category: folk music

Categories
acoustic guitar artists Arts & Entertainment folk guitar folk music profiles

John Prine Encore: Day Is Done


“Day Is Done” is a simple song about a clandestine relationship. Since very little has been written about the song, it is difficult to pinpoint its exact meaning. It could be about two married adults having an illicit affair. The lyrics and tone, however, indicate a relationship between two adolescents forbidden by parents or society.

The drawings on the album cover of “Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings,” where the song is one of the tracks, tend to support the theory of a prohibited young love.

In “Day is Done,” Prine has written a charming little song with universal implications. Many of his songs deal with the intricacies of human relationships and are laced with Prine’s subtle sense of humor. Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings was John’s fourteenth album. Released in 1995, it is another example of the artist’s exploration of the human condition.

From humble beginnings, John Prine came a long way in his fifty-year career. He won Grammy Awards and was posthumously inducted into the Country and Folk Music Hall of Fame. What struck me, however, is this early recollection of his career. It is taken directly from Prine’s official website:

“Prine still remembers the first three songs he performed on any stage: Sam Stone, Hello in There, and Paradise. With humility, he recalls, “I sang those three songs and people just sat there and looked at me. I thought, ‘Wow, those are really bad.’ They wouldn’t even applaud.”

Things changed dramatically when a young journalist named Roger Ebert dropped into a Chicago folk club for a beer while John was on stage. Ebert wrote a glowing review of Prine’s performance in the Chicago Sun-Times which essentially launched John’s career.

Here’s my cover of “Day Is Done.”

Categories
artists Arts & Entertainment folk music humor music

John Prine: I Remember Everything


John Prine began his professional career as a mailman in Illinois. He went on to become one of America’s most beloved singers and songwriters. If you are a fan of Folk and Country Music, then you know John Prine. His music was a blend of humorous lyrics about love, life, current events, and songs recounting melancholy tales from his life. Prine was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death in 2020 from complications of COVID-19.

“I Remember Everything” was the last song John wrote. Published posthumously, it’s a simple yet moving song looking back on a life well-lived.

Prine may have had a premonition that his life was coming to an end. If that is the case, then “I Remember Everything” is John’s epitaph, which he characteristically wrote himself. Here’s my cover.

Categories
acoustic guitar artists Arts & Entertainment folk guitar folk music

Dylan Cover: Mr. Tambourine Man


Bob Dylan wrote and recorded the original version of “Mr. Tambourine Man,” but The Byrds’ electrified folk-rock version shot it to #1 on both the US and UK charts. The song hadn’t been released when The Byrds learned it from a demo Dylan gave to their manager, Jim Dickson.

Dylan released Tambourine Man in March 1965 on his Bringing It All Back Home album.

What is “Mr. Tambourine Man” about? On the surface, this tambourine man is a wandering musician whose music has captured Dylan under its spell. The song is considered by many to be about drug experiences, with lines like “Take me for a trip upon your magic swirling ship” and “Take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind.” Phrases like these suggest a marijuana or LSD trip. Dylan is famously close-lipped about explaining his songs, but in his 1985 Biograph compilation album, he revealed that “Mr. Tambourine Man” is not about drugs. Instead, he said the song was inspired by a backup folk musician named Bruce Langhorne, who played a large tambourine in one of Dylan’s recording sessions.

To me, the song’s poetic images are like impressionist paintings. The melody is haunting and mesmerizing. The song stands alone as a true work of art. Here’s my version.

Categories
artists Arts & Entertainment folk music music

Dylan Cover: My Back Pages


“Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

These lyrics and the refrain popped into my head a few mornings ago. This sort of thing has been happening to me frequently these days: Long-forgotten songs resurfacing. It may be a function of the aging process, or it might be the universe talking to me. I kind of hope it’s the latter.

In the 1970s, a group called the Bryds covered a few Bob Dylan songs. They made songs like Mr. Tambourine Man and this one popular. The Bryds’ cover of Mr.Tambourine Man went to number one on the US charts, and their cover of My Back Pages went to thirty. I may have never listened to My Back Pages had it not been for The Byrds. By the way, Roger McGuinn and The Byrds are credited with starting the Folk Rock Revolution. And they inspired Bob Dylan to go electric.

In 1964, Dylan released his fourth album, “Another Side of Life.” Around this time, he began to distance himself from his earlier songs. He claimed his earlier work was not about politics. Instead, it was about universal themes and not individual political issues. In “My Back Pages,” Dylan lambasts himself for his authoritarianism and arrogance.

Moving forward, Dylan’s music focused more on individual consciousness and personal freedom. He is remembered more for his music from 1965-1970 than his earlier work.

To me, the lyrics at the top infer that we tend to think we know it all at a young age. I know that I did. As we age, we gain more wisdom and realize that we know less than we thought we did. This understanding opens us to learning more when we admit that we know little in comparison to what is out there. To be open to learning without imposing pre-existing ideas is to become more pliable and, therefore, young.

Here’s my cover of this powerful song.

Categories
acoustic guitar Arts & Entertainment folk music music

Cat Stevens: Wild World


Cat Stevens wrote and recorded quite a few hits at the Zenith of his career in the 1960s and 1970s. Stevens is an exceptionally talented artist. His songs began to climb the charts in his native England when he was only eighteen. There is a recurring theme in Stevens’ work about leaving home to go out into the world. In Stevens’ words:

“Wild World has to do with leaving, the sadness of leaving, and the anticipation of what lies beyond. There is a criticism sometimes of my music that it’s kind of naïve, but then again, that’s exactly why people like it. It goes back to the pure childish approach of seeing things almost for the first time.”

I’ve covered several of Stevens’ songs on this blog, including “On the Road to Find Out,” “Fill My Eyes,” and “The Wind.” I’m a huge fan. Stevens’ songs still inspire me some sixty years after their release. Here’s my cover of another popular CS song: “Wild World.”

Categories
acoustic guitar Arts & Entertainment folk music music

Back On The Street Again


Steve Gillette released his first album in 1967 titled simply “Steve Gillette.” Top-heavy with folk ballads and original songs, I thought the album was a strong debut. Gillette had already established himself as a noteworthy songwriter when Ian and Sylvia, a top Canadian folk duo, included “Darcy Farrow,” a song Gillette co-wrote, on their 1966 album “Early Morning Rain.”

I still own Gillette’s debut album and listen to it occasionally. Despite all of this fanfare, Steve Gillette never became a household name. Some say Gillette’s obscure status is the result of his emergence towards the end of the folk music boom. I don’t buy the idea. For reasons unknown, some people never make it to stardom, no matter how much they want it. Gillette wanted it, but his music failed to resonate with audiences broadly enough to make him a bonafide star. He made several more albums and eventually married Cindy Magnuson. To this day, the duo continues to tour relentlessly and make a modest living with their music.

There are those who did make it big in the sixties, like two of my folk/pop favorites: Jackson Browne and Gordon Lightfoot. Still, Gillette has left us with a number of original and memorable songs. “Back On The Street Again” is one of them. Here’s my cover.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment current events Economy folk music

Dylan’s Words Echo Still


Bob Dylan wrote “When the Ship Comes In” in 1963 and released it on his “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ” album in 1964. Dylan was in an angry mood when he wrote the song after a hotel clerk refused him a room, thinking the artist was a deadbeat. Dylan finally scored a room after Joan Baez verified his good character. The song is violent and vengeful, but it is also hopeful. The song’s lyrics hint at a vision of a better world built on the ideals of an enlightened generation.

Sixty years have passed since the song first appeared. Aside from a more inclusive social fabric and our ever-advancing technology, I wonder if the times have changed that much. Dylan’s words still ring true in a world where:

  • The cruel and inhuman war in Ukraine rages on.
  • The leading Republican candidate faces numerous indictments for fraud and other misdeeds.
  • The US President’s son faces charges of selling access to his father, and the President may be implicated.
  • Selfish Aramco raises oil prices despite the devastating effect it will have on the world economy.
  • Oil companies make token gestures toward clean energy while sitting on their hands and raking in hundreds of billions in profits from the sale of fossil fuels.
  • Billions of people continue to live under dictatorships and go to bed hungry every night.
  • The clock is running out on Global Warming.

We need the social conscience and action of a generation of young people like the one we had in the sixties. Instead, we have a malaise of complacency and ignorance today with too few bright spots in between. But it’s not too late. “When the Ship Comes In” came to me in a dream. It came, literally, from out of nowhere. It must have come to me for a reason. Maybe Dylan’s resounding words will spark something in us. Here’s my cover.

Categories
artists Arts & Entertainment folk music music

The Summer Side of Life


“Summer Side of Life” is the lead-off song from a 1972 Gordon Lightfoot concert in London, England. The song kept rolling around in my head until I decided to learn it and post it here.

Ostensibly, the song is about a young man who returns from the Vietnam War and mourns a lost love and possibly his war experiences. It’s a song about before and after, and maybe two sides of life. After the first two verses, I find the lyrics to be somewhat impenetrable. So, I can’t say for sure what the song is about, but it speaks to me about the difference between youth and old age.

I’d love to have my youth back with my current perspective and the freedom to follow my bliss, as Joseph Campbell says. Wouldn’t it be lovely to have decades to develop ourselves and our abilities without the distraction of economic necessity? Ahhh…if it could only be so.

It’s been fun learning this song. I hope you enjoy it.

Did they really make a Canadian stamp imprinted with a portrait of GL as a young man?

Categories
artists Arts & Entertainment folk music profiles

Folk Legends Ian & Sylvia


Ian Tyson began making a living as a rodeo rider. After breaking an ankle in a spill, Tyson began playing the guitar. As things turned out, rodeo riding was not to be his destiny. Tyson went on to become a famous Canadian folksinger and songwriter. After spending an evening with Bob Dylan, Ian wrote his first song, namely “Four Strong Winds.” It is widely recognized as one of the best folk songs ever written.

While singing in clubs and on college campuses, Tyson met Sylvia Fricker. The duo began singing together and eventually became known throughout North America as Ian & Sylvia. After some time on the road, the duo decided to go to New York to seek a manager and a record label. They succeeded. Vanguard Records released their first album titled “Ian and Silvia” in 1962. The couple married three years later. Ian & Silvia, along with Gordon Lightfoot, are the most popular folk and pop recording artists to emerge from Canada.

“Four Strong Winds” is another song about lost love, but I find great beauty in the words and the melody. I hope you can too. The song is usually strummed, but I’m using a finger-picking method. Here’s my cover.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment folk guitar folk music music

The Beauty of the Bells


Have you heard of Steve Gillette? If you were alive in the 1960s and liked folk music, there’s a chance the name rings a bell. Gillette never reached the top of the charts, but he’s a very talented singer/songwriter. Many of his songs have been performed by artists you have heard of, including John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot, Ian and Sylvia, Nanci Griffith, and Linda Ronstadt.

The Bells in the Evening appears on Gillette’s debut album released in 1967. The album, simply titled “Steve Gillette,” stands as one of Steve’s finest recordings. “The Bells” is a bittersweet (actually sweet bitter) song of love blossoming in the spring and fading away in the fall. It’s a song full of immense joy and sorrow that combine in a mixture of incredible beauty. The song is also replete with imagery. When you listen, what images come to your mind?

I’ve revisited “The Bells of the Evening” adding some embellishments and the sound of my new guitar. Here’s my cover.