On a musical tour of the Western United States, Gordon Lightfoot discovered a highway sign that read, “Carefree Highway.” The words on the sign led Gordon to write a song about a carefree lifestyle and a lost love.
Lightfoot put the lyrics away in the glove compartment of his car. Eight months later, Gordon wrote the music for “Carefree Highway” after almost forgetting about the song. Wouldn’t you know that the song became one of Lightfoot’s biggest hits?
Here’s my cover.
Tom Paxton released “The Last Thing On My Mind” in 1964 on his album, Ramblin’ Boy.” The inspiration for the song came from Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan’s versions of “He Was A Friend of Mine.” This lost love ballad became one of Paxton’s biggest hits. He is also known for his protest songs against the Vietnam War and other social injustices. (What Did You Learn In School Today?)
“The Last Thing On My Mind” was one of the first songs I learned some forty years ago when I started playing the guitar. This is the first time I’ve released my cover publicly. The themes of the song include friendship, loss, and the passage of time.
Here’s my cover.
John Fogerty wrote “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” about his brother, Tom Fogerty, who left Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1971 at the apex of the band’s popularity. The departure of his brother was a sad time for John.
Eventually, the hurt healed, and the meaning of the song changed. In Fogerty’s own words, “This song was originally written about a very sad thing that was going on in my life. But I refuse to be sad now. These days, this song reminds me of my little girl, Kelsy, and every time I sing it, I think about Kelsy and rainbows.
“Have You Ever Seen the Rain” is another song that emerged unexpectedly from my subconscious. The song bounced around in my head until I played it. Here’s my cover.
Bob Dylan recorded the first version of “Tomorrow Is A Long Time” in 1962. He didn’t release it until 1971 on his “Greatest Hits Album.” Oddly, Ian and Sylvia were the first recording artists to release the song in 1963 on their album “Four Strong Winds.”
The song is about longing for a loved one, specifically Suze Rotolo, who Dylan dated from 1961 to 1964. It is widely believed that another Dylan song, “Girl From The North Country,” is also about Rotolo.
Here’s my cover.
Relationships, and especially love relationships are difficult. Here’s my cover of “I Thought I Was A Child,” a song about the universal search for love and Browne’s admiration of the wisdom of an older woman.
In her brief lifetime, which was cut short by Leukemia, Kate Wolf became a major influence on the folk scene with songs like “Give Yourself to Love,” “Across the Great Divide,” “Green Eyes,” “September Song,” and many more. Kate’s audience has continued to grow since her unfortunate passing. As an example, I found her late in my life. Here’s my cover of “Green Eyes.”
“Girl From The North Country” is another one of those songs that popped into my head from out of nowhere. I can’t decide if it’s a message from the Beyond or just a little piece of my subconscious rising like a sunspot from the deep layers of my skin with aging. Whatever the case, “Girl From The North Country” is one of Dylan’s earliest recorded songs, written in England in 1961 and released in 1963. Listening to it now, I find the ballad enchanting.
As a young adult, I followed Dylan’s work tangentially only because it was prominent in the mainstream. Lately, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for Dylan’s music and the man himself. I’ve covered several Dylan songs in this blog, including “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “My Back Pages,” and now this one.
“Girl From The North Country” is a beautiful ballad recounting a lost love. Many believe the woman in the song is Suze Rotolo. At the time, Dylan had just dropped out of college to pursue his musical career in New York City. Rotolo had just graduated from high school and entered the Greenwich Village folk scene. Their first meeting took place at the First Riverside Church concert in New York City. Dylan described the meeting in his memoir: “Cupid’s arrow had whistled past my ears before, but this time it hit me in the heart, and the weight of it dragged me overboard.”
Eventually, the couple lived together in Greenwich Village and then grew apart when Dylan went to England, and Rotolo went to Italy to continue her education.
After some time passed, Dylan went to Italy to find Retolo. At the same time, Rotolo returned to New York City. The couple finally reunited and lived in Dylan’s apartment until their final breakup.
The album cover of Dylan’s second album, Freewheeling, features Dylan and Rotolo walking arm in arm down a Greenwich Village street.
Here’s my cover.
Born to Jewish Hungarian parents in Brooklyn in 1941, Paul Simon grew up to be one of the foremost musicians of our time. He is best known for his albums with childhood friend Art Garfunkle, but I believe Simon’s solo work is where he really shines.
“American Tune” is a fine example. With its melody, guitar picking, lyrics, and overall artistry, the song comes together as a masterpiece. “American Tune” expresses the recording artist’s political disappointment in the early nineteen-seventies. The nineteen-sixties bloom of racial equality, love, and peace had already blossomed and faded.
While my favorite recording artists continued to produce heartfelt, meaningful, and exquisitely beautiful folk and folk rock music, America’s social and political evolution stalled. With the election of President Richard Nixon in 1972, the glowing hope and ideals of the prior decade receded into the background.
Paul Simon artfully captures the undercurrents of this period in this remarkable song. Despite its melancholy tone, I am deeply moved by the beauty of the words and music.
“American Tune” popped into my head unexpectedly and without warning. It literally came “from out of nowhere.” I think it did because we are about to take another evolutionary backward step under the Trump administration.
Please enjoy my cover of Paul Simon’s moving song.
Nanci Griffith introduced her third album with its title song, “Once in a Very Blue Moon,” on the Austin City Limits TV show in 1984. She sang to a live audience with her typically bold and beautiful voice, which continues to endear this singer/songwriter to millions of people around the world after her passing.
This poignant song could easily sound sad, but not the way Nanci performs it. With her crystal-clear voice, it actually sounds uplifting. A quality comes through Griffith’s songs. It sounds to me like “nothing will ever get me down.” I’m sure Ms. Griffith endured many hardships and obstacles in her life, but she always came out on top. I dedicate my cover to the memory of this inspiring woman.
The Incredible String Band burst onto the folk music scene in 1966 with the release of their first album, aptly named “The Incredible String Band.” As an avid lover and consumer of folk, I had never heard anything like their songs. The band started out as a trio composed of Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson, and Mike Heron. Williamson and Heron composed most of ISB’s music. Palmer eventually dropped out, replaced by other musicians and the girlfriends of Williamson and Heron.
Signed by Electra Records, the group produced seven albums for the label, most notably their first four, which included “The Five Hundred Spirits or the Layers of the Onion” and “The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter.”
Through intermittent tours and appearances at prestigious venues like the Albert Hall, The Incredible String Band gained worldwide fans and international recognition from their humble beginnings in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Listen to Mike Heron’s lilting, whimsical “Painting Box” to get a sense of The Incredible String Band’s multifaceted musical range. Here’s my cover.
Heart Banter by David Gittlin 