Friday, July 11, 2008

***Have You Ever Seen A .. The Songs of Jesse Winchester

CD REVIEW

Live From Mountain Stage, Jesse Winchester, 2001


If I were to ask someone, in the year 2008, to name a male folk singer from the 1960’s I would assume that if I were to get an answer to that question that the name would be Bob Dylan. And that would be a good and appropriate choice. One can endlessly dispute whether or not Dylan was (or wanted to be) the voice of the Generation of ’68 but in terms of longevity and productivity he fits the bill as a known quality. However, there were a slew of other male folk singers who tried to find their niche in the folk milieu and who, like Dylan, today continue to produce work and to perform. The artist under review Jesse Winchester is one such singer/songwriter.

The following is a question that I have been posing in reviewing the work of a number of male folk singers from the 1960’s and it is certainly an appropriate question to ask of Jesse as well. I do not know if Jesse Winchester, like his contemporary Bob Dylan, started out wanting to be the king of the hill among male folk singers but he certainly had some things going for him. A decent acoustic guitar but a very interesting voice to fit the lyrics of love, hope and longing that he was singing about at the time. Of course, the need to go to Canada as a draft exile from the Vietnam War perhaps cut across cut across some of those youthful dreams.

As for the songs themselves, many that evokes the Southern roots from which Winchester came. Eualie is evocative of that. Other nice touches are That’s What Makes You Strong and his patented Brand New Tennessee Waltz. But the one I have always liked personally, and here my roots show, is Yankee Lady. Hell, I once had a relationship with a woman like the one he describes in that little song. Didn’t we all (male or female), back then.

2 comments:

  1. Here are the lyrics to Yankee Lady so you can see for yourselves what I meant by the above comment at the end of the entry. Markin


    Yankee Lady

    I lived with the decent folks
    In the hills of old Vermont
    Where what you do all day
    Depends on what you want
    And I took up with a woman there
    Though I was still a kid
    And I smile like the sun
    To think of the loving that we did

    She rose each morning and went to work
    And she kept me with her pay
    I was making love all night
    And playing guitar all day
    And I got apple cider and homemade bread
    To make a man say grace
    And clean linens on my bed
    And a warm feet fire place

    Yankee lady so good to me,
    Yankee lady just a memory
    Yankee lady so good to me,
    Your memory that's enough for me

    An autumn walk on a country road
    And a million flaming trees
    I was feeling uneasy
    Cause there was winter in the breeze
    And she said, "Oh Jesse, look over there,
    The birds are southward bound
    Oh Jesse, I'm so afraid
    To lose the love that we've found."

    Yankee lady so good to me,
    Yankee lady just a memory
    Yankee lady so good to me,
    Your memory that's enough for me

    I don't know what called to me
    But I know that I had to go
    I left that Vermont town
    With a lift to Mexico
    And now when I see myself
    As a stranger by my birth
    The Yankee lady's memory
    Reminds me of my worth

    Yankee lady so good to me,
    Yankee lady just a memory
    Yankee lady so good to me,
    Your memory that's enough for me

    ©1970 Jesse Winchester
    From the LP "Jesse Winchester"

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  2. Here are the full lyrics for the song that I partially using for the headline for this entry. Markin


    Glory To The Day

    Have you ever stood at a real old water well
    And dropped a rock and listened while it fell?
    You're listening, listening while it fell.

    Have you ever watched a fire burn all night
    And the ashes cool just as the sky gets light?
    You're watching, the darkness growing light.

    Well, the real old water well
    Oh, that's your soul
    So silent and so deep inside its hole
    Its' answer, is so very far away.

    And the magic of the light
    Well, that's our way
    We'll mourn the nights
    We'll glorify the days
    So thank you, glory to our day
    Ummm, thank you, glory to the day.

    ©1972 Jesse Winchester
    From the LP "Third Down, 110 To Go"

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