The Bop Shop 4.6.24 -John Trudell-

john trudell, “bone days”

from: bone days, 2001

“Bone Days, bone days
The great search for truth
Every meaning has a meaning
Dark and light have their reasons
Live and learn are the seasons

Bone days, bone days
With all that’s left motions of everydayness
and thoughts that won’t leave
Leaving behind another sameness

Bone days when all that’s gone brings life to your knees
You don’t know what to pray
So you keep making please

Bone days when all that’s gone brings life to your knees
Bone days
You don’t know what to pray
So you keep making believe

Bone days, bone days
What love has to do
Could be no more than karma paybacks
or karma rewards
Parts of wants, parts of swords
Bone days in the great need
There is no more enough everywhere
Chasing the chase
Holding and taking play rough

Bone days the promise is the line
Someone want to hear
But if the truth is seeing and
nobody’s living here

Bone days, bone days
Covering the night and
The tears of the stars
And the way memories run
Every ending has just begun

Bone days
The promise is the light
Someone’s wanting heal
Bone days
What if the truth is seen
And nobody’s living here
”

— John Trudell

A fascinating man who seems to have put himself in the middle of major political, social and artistic events involving the struggle for Native American rights from the mid 1960’s til his death in 2015. But I want to put “Bone Days” front and center for your perusal. His spoken delivery is so searchingly relaxed propelled by poetic unanswerables. Hypnotic talk, wily music, wilderness imagination peyote ceremony pilgrimage wandering!

Ms. Duras

“ “When the past is recaptured by the imagination, breath is put back into life.”
”

— Marguerite Duras

The Bop Shop 4.5.24 -Lisa O'Neil-

lisa O’Neil, “rock the machine’

from: heard a long gone song, 2018

“I’m losing will, love
My hands are soft as cotton gloves
Machine has eaten up my job
My meaning, my cause
Machine with the strength of a hundred men
Can’t feed and clothe my children
Can’t greet a sailor coming in
Or know of desperation
I shovel coal down Spencer’s dock
I took your dear into wedlock
And you did bear us a beautiful flock
River rock the machine down on the docks
River rock the machine until it stops
Oh low Liffey, show me gold
Like a heron I will go
Oh roaring Liffey when you’re high
Like a cormorant I will dive
In the Galway glow at night we rise
We’re gold enough to win back time
We’re gold enough to win back the pride
River rock the machine until it dies
Today, dear, I’m unemployed
Before I spoke, you read my eyes
I feared of nothing or no one
But I feel old and I’m so young
I miss the graft, I miss the boys
I plead for purpose in the void
Time is inward, ticking tighter
I wish my load was a mountain lighter
I shovel coal down Spencer’s dock
I took your dear into wedlock
And you did bear us a beautiful flock
River rock the machine down on the docks
River rock the machine until it stops
Oh low Liffey, show me gold
Like a heron I will go
Oh roaring Liffey when you’re high
Like a cormorant I will dive
In the Galway glow at night we rise
We’re gold enough to win back time
We’re gold enough to win back the pride
River rock the machine until it dies
River rock the machine down on the docks
River rock the machine until it stops
”

— Lisa Catherine O'Neil

Stunning historico-poetic anthem, aimed direct hit manifesto- like at the targets that enabled a hard life of labor in the port of Dublin. Ms. O’Neil has connected deeply with her voice, one that conveys her placid distaste for the machinations of class. “River rock the machine until it dies.” Quite a stunning photo essay juxtaposing a spinning web of contradictions.

Captain Beefheart

““You can tell by the kindness of a dog
how a human should be””

— Captain Beefheart

The Bop Shop 4.4.24 -Derek Gripper

derek gripper “folon”

from: saturday morning in boston, 2019

Derek is a South African guitarist whose playing emulates the sound of the kora, though a little less so on this beautiful recording of a tune by Malian singer, Salif Keita than on many of his recordings of solo kora music.

-Alan West-

“In the past

In the past, no one questioned to you
In the past, no one questioned to me
In the past, that’s how it used to be
In the past, whatever happened
In the past, no one wanted to know

People who had suggestions to make
People who could think for themselves
People who were hungry
In the past whatever happened
In the past, you could not speak about it.

Today, you are supposed to take part
”

— Salif Keita

Malian singer-songwriter Malif Keita

““You know, if you wanna call everybody, one thing you have to do is to call them with music. To tell you the truth, music is everybody’s name””

— Salif Keita

The Bop Shop 4.3.24 -Bascom Lamar Lunceford-

bascom lamar lunceford, “dry bones”

from: Harry Smith, Anthology of american folk music,1952

“Old Enoch he lived to be three-hundred and sixty-five
When the Lord came and took him back to heaven alive

I saw, I saw the light from heaven
A-shinin’ all around
I saw the light come shining
I saw that light come down

When Paul prayed in prison, them prison walls fell down
The prison keeper shouted, “Redeeming Love I’ve found”

I saw, I saw the light from heaven
Shinin’ all around
I saw the light come shining
I saw the light come down

When Moses saw that a-burning bush, he walked it ‘round and ‘round
And the Lord said to Moses, “You’s treadin’ holy ground”

I saw, I saw the light from heaven
Shinin’ all around
I saw the light come shining
I saw the light come down

Dry bones in that valley got up and took a little walk
The deaf could hear and the dumb could talk


I saw, I saw the light from heaven
Shinin’ all around
I saw the light come shining
I saw the light come down

Adam and Eve in the garden under that sycamore tree
Eve said to Adam, “Satan never tempted me”

I saw, I saw the light from heaven
Shinin’ all around
I saw the light come shining
I saw the light come down”

Sam Amidon

Had the great pleasure recently of experiencing the music curator Sam Amidon. You have his preservationist electro-noire attitude to thank for resurrecting this classic done by the folklorist, fiddler Bascom Lamar Lunceford, from North Carolina. The artist, experimental filmmaker, bohemian, mystic, record collector, hoarder, student of anthropology and a Neo-Gnostic bishop Harry Smith is responsible for including it in his groundbreaking, indispensible collection, Anthology of American Folk Music. See below a new kickin’ biography chronicling the wild life of Mr. Smith.

Harry Smith #12 “Heaven and Earth”

““I try to bring people together. I’d seen myself sort of turning into a derelict, and I didn’t know what to do. Every move I made seemed to be wrong... But the reason, as I say, is that I try to fill all the moments that God, whatever that is, that... infinitely small immensity that draws all things together by thrusting them apart...””

— -Harry Smith-

Mr. Smith

The Bop Shop 4.2.24 -Karen Carpenter & Ella Fitzgerald

Karen carpenter & Ella fitzgerald, “medley”

from: music, music, music, tv show, 1980

On May 16 , 1980 ABC aired “The Carpenters : Music, Music, Music “.

Nelson Riddle and his orchestra provided the instrumental backup.

Two Of  the greatest vocalists of the 20th century performing together.

What a treat !

-Linda Freedman-

““I stole everything I ever heard, but mostly I stole from the horns.””

— Ella Fitzgerald

The Bop Shop 4.1.24 -Johnny Dowd-

johnny dowd,”hope”

from:is heaven real? how would i know, 2023

“I had a date – for a quarter to eight
It’s midnight – she must be running late
The bar is empty – except for me
That’s when the bartender – had an epiphany

Another beer, another shot
Some folks say I drinks a lot

Johnny, she stood you up – she’s played you for a fool
Now you’re just sitting on your barstool – trying to play it cool
It’s time to go home – It’s time to go to bed
It’s time to get that stupid girl – Out of your head

Well I hear what you’re saying – but one more round
Maybe later – she’ll come back around
Hope springs eternal – that what I believe
Good night, bartender – it’s time for me to leave

I went to my car – had a final cigarette
Something told me – don’t leave yet
She may appear – as if in a dream
She may be part – of Gods grand scheme”

— J.D.

Here’s an under-the-radar punkcountry balladeer that will get under-your-skin if you’re not careful. He straddles the fine line between poetry and blasphemy while toying with genre and convention. Texas roots, but an Ithica, NY fixture for many years.  Creative, talented bandmates, including his sister on backup vocals. 

-Bill Boehm-

“But we are not alone, and everything needs expounding all the time ... in the presence of extraordinary actuality, consciousness takes the place of imagination.
”

— -Wallace Stevens-

Mr. Stevens

The Bop Shop 3.31.24 -Warren Zevon-

warren zevon, “ourselves to know”

from: Life’ll kill ya, 2000

“We left Constantinople in a thousand ninety-nine
To restore the one True Cross was in this heart of mine
To bring it to Jerusalem and then sail home to Rhodes
We took that holy ride ourselves to know
We took that holy ride ourselves to know
Everyone got famous, everyone got rich
Everyone went off the rails and ended in the ditch
But we had to take that long, hard road to see where it would go
We took that holy ride ourselves to know
We took that holy ride ourselves to know
Now if you make a pilgrimage I hope you find your grail
Be loyal to the ones you leave with even if you fail
Be chivalrous to strangers you meet along the road
As you take that holy ride yourselves to know
You take that holy ride yourselves to know”

— W.Z.-

We go down the rabbit holes on the Bop Shop as songs come across our path that may contain relevant information geared up and waiting to assist us through human conundrums. As the Palestinian/Israeli conflict rages, up pops a song from the late Warren Zevon’s catalogue detailing the bumpy ride of the Christian crusaders. Too bad how those most heavily armed with unwavering ideologies and armaments operate in seas of ill- fitting projectioneering!

Mr. Behan

““Every man, through fear, mugs his aspirations a dozen times a day.””

— Brendan Behan

The Bop Shop 3.30.24 -Mike Heron-

mike heron, “flowers of the forest”

from: smiling men with bad reputations, 1971

“Sweet love the words that made you cry
They came from one that don’t have love like we do
Even if you’d give him all your sweet love
Probably turn his back and walk away,
Lookin’ for a trick and he wouldn’t understand
That you just want to stretch out your hand
You know he’s closed himself to all the grief and pain that he can’t stand
And he’s bound his heart with an iron band
Come dry your tears like the sun dries the rain

Deep is the river running through my life
Full shines the sun upon it
The girl I love swims there all day long
You know she is bright as the flowers of the forest

The tender tears in your smiling eyes
They meld me right to my soul
We have to part now for a while
But our lives will cross for ever
You’ll bless every place you pass through
So much good in all you do.
I can’t understand how anyone could hurt you so bad
So sad to see them hide from what they are
Me I know you like I know the song in my soul
It’s gonna be all right, it’s gonna be all right

Deep is the river running through my life
Full shines the sun upon it
And the girl I love swims there all day long
You know she is bright as the flowers of the forest
You know she is bright as the flowers of the forest

Swim on, girl
Let the sun shine down on you
Swim on, girl
Swim on, girl
”

— Mike Heron

Producer Joe Boyd was able to pull together an incredible list of musicians to participate in the first solo album for the Incredible String Band’s Mike Heron. On Flowers of the Forest, Richard Thompson delivers some of his best work, Dave Mattacks provides outstanding percussion, and the ISB’s Rose Simpson is on bass and while Steve Winwood is listed on organ, I find it hard to detect. Outstanding playing is provided by the Velvet Underground’s John Cale, but not on this tune.

-Alan West-

Listed below are the personnel on Smiling Men With Bad Reputations

·  

Mike Heron - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica

·       John Cale - Bass , Guitar , Vocals, Harmonium , Piano , Viola , Vocal Arrangement, Brass Arrangement

·       Dave Mattacks - Drums

·       Rose Simpson - Bass

·       Richard Thompson - Guitar

·       Steve Winwood - Organ

·       Pete Townshend - Guitar

·       Keith Moon - Drums

·       Ronnie Lane - Bass

·       Elton John - Piano

·       Jimmy Page - Guitar & slide guitar

·       Simon Nicol - Guitar

·       Dave Pegg - Bass

·       Gerry Conway - Drums

·       Tony Cox - VCS3 Synthesizer

·       Pat Donaldson - Bass

·       Dr. Strangely Strange - Backing Vocals

·       Sue Glover - Vocals

·       Mike Kowalski - Drums

·       Sunny Leslie - Vocals

·       Dude Pukwana - Saxophone , Piano , Horn Arrangement

·       Gerard Dott - Arrangement

·       Liza Strike - Vocals

·       Heather Wood - Vocals

·       Vemu Mukunda - Veena

·       Mohana Lakshmipathy - Veena

·       Vshailendra - Tambura

·       PR Money - Mridangam & Morsing

·       Gordon Huntley - Steel guitar

The Bop Shop 3.29.24 -Hatfield and the North-

hatfield and the North, “Licks for the ladies”

from:hatfield and the North, 1974

“Now it’s time to finish your wine -
Try to sing a sober song after all that din
And even though we may be having quite a laugh,
Bashing bass and drums is really rather daft
Compared to harmonies - although they may sound twee,
They’re really what my lady friend can relate to -
And her mate too...
Just in case you think it’s a waste
In the end, choosing notes to see if they make friends
A D-sharp minor flattened 5th will go to see,
Dotted crotchets usually divide by three
We don’t really know now exactly what we mean,
Still we had the gist of it till the chords changed...
Unexpectedly... an interesting thought came over me
I’d feel better somewhat wetter, drinking tea in the sea,
And dream of you - and your nice black knickers...”

— Richard Sinclair

Almost criminal to extract a single piece from such an organically perfect song cycle, but this one captures a ballad from one of the greatly underrecognized vocalists of the British “progressive scene,” Richard Sinclair. He was the founding impulse behind the band Caravan but left a few delicasies behind on the sotted plains. Here his voice is pacific, effortless, each word quietly coordinated with the electric piano uncovering some personal resolution. There are two great Hatfield and the North records with this piece emanating from the first recorded for Virgin in 1974.

Mr. Sinclair

The Bop Shop 3.28.24 -Rufus Thomas-

rufus thomas, “walking the dog”

from: walking the dog, 1963

“Baby’s back, dressed in black
Silver buttons all down her back
High, low, tipsy toe
She broke a needle and she can’t sew
Walkin’ the dog
Just walkin’ the dog
If you don’t know how to do it
I’ll show you how to walk te dog
Asked a fellow for fifteen cents
See the fellow he jumped the fence
Jumped so high he touched the sky
Never got back till the fourth of July
Walkin’ the dog
Just walkin’ the dog
If you don’t know how to do it
I’ll show you how to walk the dog
Come on now, come on, come on
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
Tell me, how does your garden grow?
You got silver bells and you got cockleshells
Pretty maids all in a row
Walking the dog
Just a walkin’ the dog
If you don’t know how to do it
Show you how to walk the dog
Come on now, come on, come on
Oh oh, just a, just a, just a walkin’
Just a, just a, just a walkin’
Just a, just a, just a walkin’
Oh yeah, if you don’t know how to do it
I’ll show you how to walk the dog, oh
Just a, just a, just a, just a, just a, just a walkin’
Just a, just a, just a, just a, just a, just a walkin’, oh”

— ?R.T.

At the high school dances of the time, this little number was a staple among those of us who belonged to the “back ain’t got no bone club'‘ groovin as we were across the sawdust covered floors. Indispensible Memphis Stax classic. Please note the epic whistle style!

The Bop Shop 3.27.24 -Current 93- (Black Ships Ate the Sky) Shirley Collins-

current 93 “Idumaea”

from: black ships ate the sky, 2006

Black Ships Ate the Sky is a 2006 album by the UK-based musical ensemble Current 93. The album features numerous guest vocalists, such as Anohni, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Marc Almond, and Shirley Collins. It features nine versions of the 1816 Appalachian tune “Idumæa,” with lyrics of a 1763 Methodist hymn by Charles Wesley, each featuring vocals by a different artist. The album was issued in digipak packaging, with a 56-page booklet containing liner notes, lyrics, photographs, and credits. 

-wiki-

Here, Ms. Collins, the doyenne of the British folk Renaissance, resurrects a seventeenth century diving rod as a pivotal portal into this amazing project. Still with us at the age of 88, I would direct you to her stunning catalogue of work and her most recent recording from 2023, Archangel Hill. Thrilling to have her continuing to operate in the ever expanding world of song.

“And am I born to die?
To lay this body down!
And must my trembling spirit fly
Into a world unknown?

A land of deepest shade,
Unpierced by human thought;
The dreary regions of the dead,
Where all things are forgot!

Soon as from earth I go,
What will become of me?
Eternal happiness or woe
Must then my portion be!

Waked by the trumpet sound,
I from my grave shall rise;
And see the Judge with glory crowned,
And see the flaming skies!

Editor’s Note: There are conflicting records of this songs content, so Ms. Collings version deviates from what is listed here.”

— Charles Wesley, 1763

The Bop Shop 3.26.24 -Moby Grape-

moby Grape, “8:05”

from: moby Grape, 1967

                Peter Lewis – rhythm guitar, vocals

                Jerry Miller – lead guitar, vocal

               Bob Mosley – bass, vocals

                Skip Spence – rhythm guitar, vocal

                Don Stevenson – drums, vocals

Harmony was big in the late 60’s. The list is endless, but to name a few: The Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, the Fifth Dimension, the Impressions, the Association, the Hollies, the Beatles, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Zombies, Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel, the Turtles, the Temptations, etc. etc. 8:05 presented the softer side of one of San Francisco’s great sixties groups, Moby Grape in just a little over 2 minutes of tender pleading.

-Alan West-

“Eight-oh-five
I guess you’re leaving soon
I can’t go on without you
It’s useless to try

To love you would be so good
To keep you would be so wonderful
Here is my heart that I give
It’s all that I have

Please change your mind
Before my sunshine is gone
Do you think you could try?
Do you think you could try?
Do you think you could try?

[Guitar Solo]

Please change your mind
Before my sunshine is gone
Do you think you could try?
Do you think you could try?
Do you think you could try?

Please understand how I feel (See it through)
Until I can prove it to you
Don’t fill my world with rain
You know your tears
Will only bring pain in my heart

Eight-oh-five
I guess you’re leaving, goodbye
”

— Stevenson & Miller

The Bop Shop 3.25.24 -Sean Rowe-

sean rowe “spiritual leather”

from: madman, 2014

“Toes that dent the sand
Melancholy feelings
I am still your man
Feeling is believing
Wars come into my dreams
They needle me awake.
Ooh the road is long
And wider than forever
I hope we’re that strong
Spiritual leather.
Time, she was never such a friend
She never cried for me.
Time, she was never such a friend
She never waits for me.
What is the answer to every question
What is the reason for every direction
If we burn the answer for our protection
Would that be ok?
The sun is filled of lies
Promises and laughter
Now I can’t be that wise
But I have seen the after.
Slow, slow, that mamma down,
I wanna get back home,
Slow, slow that mamma down,
I gotta get back home.
What is the answer to every question
What is the reason for every direction
If we burn the answer for our protection
Would that be ok?”

— S.W.

This song just glows with “it.” Mr. Rowe in a most empathetic, caretaking, baritone voice. The beautiful concept of spiritual leather, brimming with the strength of steel. And the completely adorable melody that drapes itself around the song. Sean is a naturalist who knows how to stay alive if he was stuck in the woods. It can be done if you know what you’re doing. If you know what you are doing imagine how much more is possible. Spiritual leather could be how you stay alive in the woods of time.

The Bop Shop 3.24.24 -Kacy & Clayton-

kacy & clayton, “how to fight lonliness”

from: ep

“How to fight loneliness
Smile all the time
Shine you teeth til meaningless
Sharpen them with lies

And whatevers going down
Will follow you around
Thats how you fight loneliness
You laugh at every joke
Drag your blanket blindly
Fill your heart with smoke
And the first thing that you want
Will be the last thing you ever need
Thats how you fight it

Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time
”

— Jeff Tweedy

Kacy Anderson and Clayton Linthicum are second cousins from Northwestern Saskatchewan who were the “next big folk thang” a few years back. They have not taken their foot off the gas petal continuing to deliver some compelling work. Here we find their cover of the Wilco classic “How to Fight Lonliness.” Clayton’s guitar solos even approach the heart wrenching sonorosity of a Richard Thompson. If you investigate them more deeply, find acknowledgments of 60’s Bleeker St. artists like Richard & Mimi Farina and Ian & Sylvia. A beautiful retooling of the folk catalogue.

Their most recent lp cover “Plastic Bouquet” w/ Marlon Williams

The Bop Shop 3.23.24 -Flamin Groovies-

flamin groovies, “slow death”

from: live tv show, 1972

I first heard this song on my car radio. Car radio is probably the best way to hear a hot new Flamin’ Groovies’ song. But I was driving through Hoboken (don’t ask) listening to WFMU almost a half century after its release. 

Did the Groovies one up the 1970’s iteration of The Rolling Stones? Or was Slow Death one of the inspirations for Exile on Main Street? Does it really matter, Bop Shoppers? Listen on small speakers until they start to distort and treasure the ear worm. 

-Neil Glassman-

“I called the doctor
In the morning
I had a fever
It was a warning
She said “There’s nothing I can prescribe
To keep your raunchy bag of bones alive”
I got some money left for one more shot
She said “God bless you” I said “Thanks a lot”
It’s a slow, slow death
I called the preacher
Holy, holy
I begged forgiveness
That’s when he told me
He said “There’s nothing I can prescribe
To keep your raunchy bag of bones alive”
I got some money left for one more shot
He said “God bless you” I said “Thanks a lot”
Slow Death
I’m set to mainline
A hit of morphine
It’s set to mainline
It’s like a bad dream
Slow death—eat my mind away
Slow death—turn my guts to clay
It’s a slow, slow, slow death”

— Roy Loney

The Bop Shop 3.22.24 -Mark Knopfler & Emmy Lou Harris

mark knopfler & Emmy Lou Harris “all the Roadrunning”

from: all the roadrunning, 2006

“All the Roadrunning” is the centerpiece of the only collaboration between these two legendary performers. It uses the roots of some Irish melody to chronicle the world weariness of being a performer. At a higher level it fits into a song cycle made in response to the 9/11 tragedy. Ironic that given the expansive grip of such a international tragedy, that so few artists have chosen to address it. Though we extract single songs for you to experience on The Bop Shop, I would encourage you to listen to this record in its entirety given the electronic resources at our disposal.

The Bop Shop 3.21.24 -Traffic-

traffic, “dear mr.fantasy”

from:mr. fantasy, 1967

“Dear Mr. Fantasy play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy

You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that you break out in tears
Please don’t be sad if it was a straight mind you had
We wouldn’t have known you all these years

Dear Mr. Fantasy play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Dear Mr. Fantasy play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy

You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that you break out in tears
Please don’t be sad if it was a straight mind you had
We wouldn’t have known you all these years, hee think about it
”

— Jim Capaldi

Not yet 19-year-old Steve Winwood banded together with three 22 year olds in 1967 (Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason) and formed the group Traffic. Dear Mr. Fantasy is from their first album. A song by Dave Mason, Hole in My Shoe, which was never performed live was considered too poppy/commercial for the other members and ultimately Mason left the band. The influence of psychedelia is evident in this song whose lyrics were by Capaldi and music by Winwood and Wood.

-Alan West-

The Bop Shop 3.20.24 -Vernon Reid-

vernon reid, “time”

from: Known unknown, 2004

For guitar players “shredding” refers to sustained passages of extremely fast runs. John McLaughlin and Eddie Van Halen can (or could) shred with feeling and in context, enhancing the experience of the song. Others seem to use shredding as an athletic display of skill. 

Vernon Reid can shred just as nice as you please, but all his playing is infused with soulfulness: his shred is like Charlie Parker’s flights and John Coltranes “sheets of sound” — expressions of freedom in music.

(Vernon gets the writing credit, but this is pretty obviously an instrumental take on Sly Stone’s song of the same name from There's a Riot Goin' On.)

-Charlie Blaum-

The Bop Shop 3.19.24 -Eugene Chadbourne-

eugene chadbourne, “honey don’t”

from: there’ll be no tears tonight, 1980

Eugene Chadbourne

Avant-garde improvisation and country and western music may not be obvious candidates for genre blending but Eugene Chadbourne’s love of both made him the perfect person to undertake this 1980 project. With a young John Zorn and a few other like-minded downtown NYC players they reshape this Carl Perkins tune in an affectionately bent direction. Chadbourne went on to a career of countless collaborations with jazz, rock, and country players.

-Maury Martin-

“Well, how can you say you will, when you won’t
You tell me you do, baby, when you don’t?
Let me know, honey, how you feel
Tell the truth now is love real
Ah-hah, oh honey don’t, well honey don’t
Honey don’t, no honey don’t, hey honey don’t
Say you will when you won’t, ah-hah honey don’t
Well, I love you, baby, and you ought to know
I like the way that you wear your clothes
Everything about you is so doggone sweet
You got that sand all over your feet
So ah-hah, hey honey don’t, honey don’t
Well honey don’t, ah-hah honey don’t, honey don’t
Say you will when you won’t, ah-hah honey don’t
Well, sometimes I love you on a Saturday night
Sunday morning you don’t look right
You’ve been out painting the town
Uh huh baby, been stepping around
So ah-hah, hey honey don’t, well honey don’t
Honey don’t, honey don’t, well honey don’t
Say you will when you won’t, ah-hah honey don’t
Well well, honey don’t, oh honey don’t
Yeah honey don’t, honey don’t
Say you will when you won’t, ah-hah honey don’t”

— Carl Perkins

Mr. Perkins

40 plus lps from Mr. Chadbourne and counting, the above from 1989

The Bop Shop 3.18.24 -Circus Maximus

Image of the famed 6th century Roman chariot racetrack

circus maximus, “wind”

from: circus maximus, 1967

“
You say that once knew for sure
But now you’re walkin’ into shore to wonder*
The more you learn the less you know
The more you move the more you go to nowhere*
You ask a bird as she flies by
Just where she’s at she says, where the wind blows*
Ask her by that what she means
She says she doesn’t know
But as she flew away she seemed to say

[Chorus]
The wind is love is the wind
Wind is my love
Who knows the wind
Who knows my love
Where blows the wind
The wind is my love

You say you staggered to your room
Sleep by day and plot by noon
Your conscious plight
Pack your dreams, you move away
Decide to eat and live by day
And leave the night
City sun blinks in your eyes
You shade your face and realize
A lonely crowd
Then at once you feel the smile
And then the ice warm air moves by
She says the breeze provokes her sigh

CHORUS

You say you found another spring
Another joy or human thing
Called lovers
You play your role as a comedy
Refreshing well the tradgedy
Your living
Lovers shore, or so you say
Like the wind love blew away
But as she left she seemed to say

CHORUS”

— Bob Bruno

Vocalist Bob Bruno’s band Circus Maximus carried this chilled jazz remnant from late night progressive radio into forever 1967. None other than Oneonta, N.Y.’s Jerry Jeff Walker was in the band. It stands up in the wind of time with a convincing convincingness. Pretentiously earnest and its late and dark, later than you usually stay up, as you’re listening ruminating about your place in the universe. Relaxation and a sense of everything is going to be all right just almost eases its way into the picture.