This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By- "Joe HIll"- Don't Mourn, Organize!
A "YouTube" film clip of Paul Robeson performing "Joe Hill"
In this series, presented under the headline “Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By”, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here.
Joe Hill Lyrics-A. Robinson
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, alive as you and me. Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead" "I never died" said he, "I never died" said he.
"The Copper Bosses killed you Joe, they shot you Joe" says I. "Takes more than guns to kill a man" Says Joe "I didn't die" Says Joe "I didn't die"
"In Salt Lake City, Joe," says I, Him standing by my bed, "They framed you on a murder charge," Says Joe, "But I ain't dead," Says Joe, "But I ain't dead."
And standing there as big as life and smiling with his eyes. Says Joe "What they can never kill went on to organize, went on to organize"
From San Diego up to Maine, in every mine and mill, Where working men defend their rights, it's there you'll find Joe Hill, it's there you'll find Joe Hill!
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, alive as you and me. Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead" "I never died" said he, "I never died" said he.
No Limit-Take Three
From The Pen Of Frank Jackman
He, Roy Bluff, then could have had
his pick of whatever woman caught his fancy, caught his eye, or caught his momentary
fashion interest. Reason: Roy Bluff, a guy who had scrabbled and scrambled hard
for a long time finally hit his stride, finally got the big pay-off for all
those lonely half-filled rooms, all those small make-shift café stages, all
those dank church basements replete with intermission homemade baked goods sold
to help defray coffeehouse expenses, all those play louder than the drunks at
midnight, when his brand of hip-folk-rock became a craze around the turn of this
century. Got his big ass break when Dave Beck, the big recording producer for
Ducca Records, happened to need a midnight drink, maybe two, and heard him at the El Segundo Café in Long
Beach and gave him a shot.
Of course being a record contract
singer anything, a concert artist anything women started giving him their keys,
or whatever else they had to offer back then, in order to say they had been
with the rising music star Roy Bluff for one night (maybe two but Roy was
moving fast, fast as fast as a man could to catch the rising wave). By the way
Roy’sreal name was Ronald Smith, but
the performance stage, musical performance, ah, concert artist stage, and maybe
the whole world, was filled to the brim with Smiths just then and so one night
earlier in his career, one night after a drunken fight brought on by some
loudmouth cursing his music in a Memphis bar, the Be-Bop Club over off Beale, he
“christened” himself with that manly name despite losing that fight, losing it
badly to a smaller wiry man, So it wasn’t that he was agile, handsome or
beautiful, if a man can be beautiful in this wicked old world, as much as that
he had a certain serious jut-jawed look borne from out in the prairies, a kind
of cowboy look, that appealed to women, lots of women. Yes, on that basis he
had run through the alphabet with such catches, blondes, brunettes, red-heads,
especially a couple of wild sisters, college students, young professionals,
slender, not so slender, yeah, the whole alphabet to fill his dance card and
share booze, dope and whatever was at hand, sometimes, as to be expected,
getting out of hand. Hell, he liked it, loved it for the while he was on edge
city.
Until she came along. Until she,
Laura Perkins she, to give her a name, although he called her “sweet angel,”
called her sweet angel when he was having one of his better moments, had gotten
under his skin, gotten the best of him. And wherever the winds would take them,
or not take them, she would always get under his skin, that was just the way it
was almost from the first, and he accepted that sometimes with a sly grin and
sometimes with daggers in his eyes.
Right then, right that
pre-performance moment as he prepared his play-list in his head, he was in a
sly grin mood and so, as he set himself up for the day’s work, actually night’s
work since he was giving a concert later that evening, he was going through the
maybes. The maybes being a little game that he, previously nothing but a
love‘em and leave ‘em guy, played with himself trying to figure out just how,
and the ways, that she, one Laura Perkins, got under his skin. And so the
maybes it was.
The first maybe was that Laura was
not judgmental, not in a public sense anyway, and not in any way that would let
him know that she was. She had given him a lot of rope, had accepted his excuses,
his frailties, and his rages against the night (although she tried like hell to
temper them). Roy laughed to himself as he thought about the circumstances under
which they had met and he knew deep down that, publicly or privately, that judgmental
was just not the way she was built.
Christ, as Roy thought back to that
first night, he had just got into one of the ten thousand beefs that he got
into when he was drinking back then. He was working his first major tour, major
in those days being working steady and working in small concert halls and large
ballrooms throughout the country (no more dank basements and crowded cafes, not
for Ducca recording artist Roy Bluff). Some customer at the famous Hi-Lo Club
in Yonkers who didn’t like his song selections told him about it, told him
loudly. Roy, having been drinking (and smoking a little reefer) all day, responded
with a brawl, getting, as usual the worst of it, when Laura walked in with a
girlfriend. Laura did not really know who Roy was but her girlfriend, Patty
Lyons, dear Patty, had heard his first album and was crazy to see him in person
and so she had persuaded Laura to tag along.
She gave Roy a look, a look that
said yeah I might take ride with that cowboy (laugh, cowboy from Portland up in
Maine, Maine born and bred), an instant attraction look, and Roy, bloodied and
all, gave one back, ditto on the attraction look. Later, just before he started
his second set he asked the waitress what Laura was drinking, he then had a
drink sent to her table, and she had refused it, saying that if he wanted to
buy her a drink then he had better bring it to the table himself.
Yeah, yeah that was the start. After
he had finished the set he did bring that drink over. She never asked him about
the fight, about the cause of it, or even about how his wounds were feeling but
rather stuff about his profession and the ordinary data of a first meeting. All
he knew now was as close as he had come a few times afterward that was the last
time he fought anybody for any reason, fought physically anyway.
Maybe it was that at the beginning,
not the beginning beginning, not that first night when after his set was
finished he brought that drink over to her table (and to be sociable one for
her girlfriend too) but after he had gotten used to her, had been to bed with
her and she had said one night out of the blue, that he was her man (she had put
it more elegantly than that but that was what she meant) and that she would
pack her suitcase if she was ever untrue to him. Funny, he was still then
grabbing whatever caught his eye before she said that, and what guy who was
starting to get a little positive reputation in the music business wouldn’t
grab what was grab-worthy. But after that he too silently and almost
unconsciously took what they later called the “suitcase” pledge although he
never told her that, never took her he took the pledge, it just kind of
happened.
Maybe it was that Laura would refuse
the little trinkets that men give women, hell, she wouldn’t even accept roses
on her birthday. She only wanted a quiet moment alone with him away from the
helter-skelter of his public life. One night when he and she had been smoking a
little dope and she was “mellow” and ready to shed a little of her private
thoughts she had told him about a man, an older man (older then being
twenty-five she being eighteen at the time, but more that she was unworldly or
really not ready to accept the wicked old world on harsher terms and so
malleable) who had lavished her with gifts, money, some jewelry (later found to
be some reject stuff) only to confess one night that he was married and as part
of that package had beaten her up as he walked out the door after she had
called the whole thing off. She said if what they had wasn’t good enough
without trinkets then they were doomed anyway and she would not want reminders
of that failure around.
Maybe it was as they grew closer, as
they got a sense of each other without hollering and as his star started rising
in the business after his first big album hits, that she tried to protect him
from the jugglers and the clowns (her words), the grafters, grifters, drifters
and con men (his words) who congregate around money as long as it is around.
Better, she protected him against the night crawler critics and up- town
intellectuals who gathered around him as they saw him as their evocation of the
new wordsmith messiah and who were constantly waiting, maybe praying too if
such types prayed, for him to branch out beyond the perimeters that they, yes,
they had set for his work, for his words. Waiting to say “sell-out.”
Maybe it was the soothing feeling he
got when after raging against the blizzard monster night of the early years, those
bleak years right after the turn of the new century, on stage, in his written
down words, after hours in some forsaken hotel room town, nameless, nameless
except its commonality with every other hotel room, east or west, she softly
spoke and made sense of all the things that he raged against, the damn wars,
the damn economy, hell, even his own struggling attempts to break-out of the
music business mold and bring out stuff on his own label.
Maybe it was the tough years, the
years when he was still drinking high hard sweet dreams whiskey by the gallon,
still smoking way to much reefer (and whatever else was available, everybody
wanted to lay stuff from their own personal stash on him, some good, some bad,
very bad) when she took more than her fair share of abuse, mental not physical,
although one night, a night not long before he finally crashed big time and had
to be hospitalized, he almost did so out of some hubristic rage, she waved him
off when he tried to explain himself. She said “let by-gones be by-gones” and
that ended the discussion.
And maybe, just maybe, it was that out in the awestruck thundering
night, out in the hurling windstorms of human existence, out in the slashing muck-filled
rains, out, he, didn’t know what out in, but out, she was, she just was…
*Folk Music For Aging Children- The Music Of Judy Collins And Friends
In
Honor Of The 50th Anniversary (Plus) Of The Folk/Rock/Blues Artist
Tom Rush At The Rockport Music Center (Massachusetts ) On August 30 & 31
2013
A "YouTube" film clip of Judy Collin perfroming Ian Tyson's "Someday Soon".
CD Review
Wildflower Festival, Judy Collins, Eric Andersen, Tom Rush, Arlo Guthrie, Wildflower Records, 2003
Okay, just when you thought there could not possibly be any more country folk, urban folk, suburban folk, folk rock, rock folk, semi-folk, or quasi-folk music from the folk revival of the early 1960 to review here I am again reviewing some of the stars of that time-in their dotage. Well, maybe not dotage, but we are all, including Judy Collins, Eric Andersen, Tom Rush, and Arlo Guthrie, getting a little long in the tooth, and no one can dispute that hard fact. The real question is whether the artists in this compilation still have it, at least for those of us in that dwindling, graying, arthritic, prescription-needing folk audience that fills the small church basement “coffee houses” on this planet. And they do. Still have it, I mean.
That said, this little Wildflower Festival setting in 2003 provided Judy and her guests with a chance to show their stuff, new and old. Now, for those who have heard Judy Collins sing back in the day the question is why she did not challenge Joan Baez for the “queen” of folk title. She had the voice, the style, and the looks (ya, that WAS important, even then) to do so. I have been running a “Not Joan Baez” series and will deal with that question there at some other time but her work here is pretty good, especially her well-known cover of Ian Tyson’s “Someday Soon”. Eric Andersen, who I have already looked at in a “Not Bob Dylan” series hold forth on his “Blue River”. Tom Rush, ditto, on “The Remember Song”. Finally, Arlo, whom I have covered in relation to his father’s, Woody Guthrie, music “steals” the show here with his storytelling, notably the kid’s story, “Mooses Came Walking”.
Someday Soon Ian Tyson
There's a young man that I know whose age is twenty-one Comes from down in southern Colorado Just out of the service, he's lookin' for his fun Someday soon, goin' with him someday soon
My parents can not stand him 'cause he rides the rodeo My father says that he will leave me cryin' I would follow him right down the roughest road I know Someday soon, goin' with him someday soon
But when he comes to call, my pa ain't got a good word to say Guess it's 'cause he's just as wild in his younger days
So blow, you old Blue Northern, blow my love to me He's ridin' in tonight from California He loves his damned old rodeo as much as he loves me Someday soon, goin' with him someday soon
When he comes to call, my pa ain't got a word to say Guess it's 'cause he's just as wild in his younger days
*Once More Into The Time Capsule, Part Two- The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s-Eric Von Schmidt
In
Honor Of The 50th Anniversary (Plus) Of The Folk/Rock/Blues Artist
Tom Rush At The Rockport Music Center (Massachusetts ) On August 30 & 31
2013
Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Eric Von Schmidt performing "Joshua's Gone Barbados".
CD Review
Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001
Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD. Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:
Disc Two: Dave Van Ronk on “He Was A Friend Of Mine” and You’se A Viper”, The Chad Mitchell Trio on “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream”, Hedy West on “500 Miles”, Ian &Sylvia on “Four Strong Winds”, Tom Paxton on “I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound”, Peter, Paul And Mary on “Blowin’ In The Wind”, Bob Dylan on “Boots Of Spanish Leather”, Jesse Colin Young on “Four In The Morning”, Joan Baez on “There But For Fortune”, Judy Roderick on “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?”, Bonnie Dobson on “Morning Dew”, Buffy Sainte-Marie on “Cod’ine” and Eric Von Schmidt on “ Joshua Gone Barbados”.
Eric Von Schmidt on “Joshua Gone Barbados”. As a good historical materialism of the Marxist tradition I am very wedded to the idea that ideas, movements and the like do not just spring forth in pristine nature but are conditioned by a whole series of prior events. Figuring out the important ones that drive history has been a life-long occupation. What has required less time is the knowledge that certain folk personalities like Dave Van Ronk (and the members of New Lost City Ramblers) were waiting in Greenwich Village when the young aspiring folkies were heading to Mecca.
There were other “hot” folk spots as well, with their own local town-greeters. In the case of Cambridge by the banks of the old Charles River and adjacent to that citadel of folk wisdom, Harvard University, that task was done by, among others, Eric Von Schmidt. Bob Dylan makes reference to Eric in one of his early albums. How about that for cache? I have written elsewhere about Eric’s role I only need to note here that there are two other songs that could have been included here: his cover of “When That Great Ship When Down” (about the Titanic, naturally); and, his own “Light Rain” are good examples of the kind of energy that was around in those days.
******
Sunday, March 11, 2007 Joshua Gone Barbados. Eric Gone, Too.(v2)
JOSHUA GONE BARBADOS. ERIC GONE, TOO. (Version 2)
Eric von Schmidt, a painter and folksinger, died February 2, 2007 in Connecticut. Bob Dylan wrote of him that “He could sing the bird off the wire and the rubber off the tire, he can separate the men from the boys and the note from the noise". But why should that be of interest to people in St. Vincent? Because his most recorded and most famous song, "Joshua Gone Barbados", is about an incident that happened near Georgetown:
"Cane standing in the fields getting old and red Lot of misery in Georgetown, three men lying dead And Joshua, head of the government, he say strike for better pay Cane cutters are striking, Joshua gone away.
Chorus: Joshua gone Barbados, staying in a big hotel People on St. Vincent they got many sad tales to tell.
Sugar mill owner told the strikers, I don't need you to cut my cane Bring in another bunch of fellows, strike be all in vain. Get a bunch of tough fellows, bring 'em from Sion Hill Bring 'em in a bus to Georgetown, know somebody get killed.
And Sonny Child the overseer, I swear he's an ignorant man Walking through the canefield, pistol in his hand But Joshua gone Barbados, just like he don't know People on the Island, they got no place to go.
Police giving protection, new fellows cutting the cane Strikers can't do nothing, strike be all in vain And Sonny Child he curse the strikers, wave his pistol 'round They're beating Sonny with a cutlass, beat him to the ground.
Chorus 2:There's a lot of misery in Georgetown, you can hear the women bawl Joshua gone Barbados, he don't care at all.
Cane standing in the fields getting old and red Sonny Child in the hospital, pistol on his bed I wish I could go to England, Trinidad or Curacao People on the Island they got no place to go.
Once More Into The Time Capsule, Part Three- The New York Folk Revival Scene in the Early 1960’s-Tom Rush
In
Honor Of The 50th Anniversary (Plus) Of The Folk/Rock/Blues Artist
Tom Rush At The Rockport Music Center (Massachusetts ) On August 30 & 31
2013
A YouTube's film clip of Tom Rush performing Joni Mitchell's "Circle Game"
CD Review Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Revival Boom, 1950-1970, various artists, 3CD set, Rhino Records, 2001
Except for the reference to the origins of the talent brought to the city the same comments apply for this CD.Rather than repeat information that is readily available in the booklet and on the discs I’ll finish up here with some recommendations of songs that I believe that you should be sure to listen to:
Disc Three: Phil Ochs on “I Ain’t Marching Anymore”, Richard &Mimi Farina on “Pack Up Your Sorrows”, John Hammond on “Drop Down Mama”, Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band on “Rag Mama”, John Denver on “Bells Of Rhymney”, Gordon Lightfoot on "Early Morning Rain”, Eric Andersen on “Thirsty Boots”, Tim Hardin on “Reason To Believe”, Richie Havens on “Just Like A Woman”, Judy Collins on “Suzanne”, Tim Buckley on “Once I Was”, Tom Rush on “The Circle Game”, Taj Mahal on “Candy Man”, Loudon Wainwright III on “School Days”and Arlo Guthrie on “The Motorcycle Song”
Tom Rush on “The Circle Game”. Joni Mitchell wrote it. Tom Rush sings it. That is enough for me. Except I think we have to expand the number of verses to cover later times (after 20)...and to keep slowing those circles down. Please!
"Circle Game"-Joni Mitchell
Yesterday a child came out to wonder Caught a dragonfly inside a jar Fearful when the sky was full of thunder And tearful at the falling of a star Then the child moved ten times round the seasons Skated over ten clear frozen streams Words like, when youre older, must appease him And promises of someday make his dreams And the seasons they go round and round And the painted ponies go up and dawn Were captive on the carousel of time We cant return we con only look behind From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game.
Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town And they tell him, Take your time, it wont be long now Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down And the seasons they go round and round And the painted ponies go up and dawn Were captive on the carousel of time We cant return we can only look behind From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game
So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty Though his dreams have lost some grandeur Coming true Therell be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty Before the last revolving year is through. And the seasons they go round and round And the painted ponies go up and down Were captive on the carousel of time We cant return, we can only look behind From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game
*Songs For Aging Children- The Songs of Tom Rush- An Encore
In
Honor Of The 50th Anniversary (Plus) Of The Folk/Rock/Blues Artist
Tom Rush At The Rockport Music Center (Massachusetts ) On August 30 & 31
2013
A YouTube film clip of a more mature Tom Rush performing Joni Mitchell's Urge For Going.
CD Review
The Very Best Of Tom Rush: No Regrets, Tom Rush, Sony, 1999
If I were to ask someone, in the year 2010 as I have done in previous years, 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, Tom Rush, 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 Tom Rush as well. I do not know if Tom Rush, 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 (and strong baritone) voice to fit the lyrics of love, hope, and longing that he was singing about at the time. This was period when he was covering other artists, particularly Joni Mitchell, so it is not clear to me that he had that same Dylan drive by then (1968).
As for the songs themselves I mentioned that he covered Joni Mitchell in this period. That is represented here by a very nice version of Urge For Going that captures the wintry, got to get out of here, imaginary that Joni was trying to evoke about things back in her Canadian home. And the timelessness and great lyrical sense of No Regrets, as the Generation of ’68 sees another generational cycle starting, is apparent now if it was not then. The covers of fellow Cambridge folk scene fixture Eric Von Scmidt on Joshua Gone Barbados and Galveston Flood are well done. As is the cover of Bukka White’s Panama Limited (although you really have to see or hear old Bukka flailing away on his old beat up National guitar to get the real thing. Unfortunately it is not on YouTube). Finally a more recent very mellow River Song (1999) to round out the tracks. This is the classic Tom Rush play list. Get It.
Urge For Going Lyrics Joni Mitchell Lyrics
I awoke today and found the frost perched on the town It hovered in a frozen sky, then it gobbled summer down When the sun turns traitor cold and all the trees are shivering in a naked row I get the urge for going but I never seem to go
I get the urge for going When the meadow grass is turning brown Summertime is falling down and winter is closing in
I had me a man in summertime He had summer-colored skin And not another girl in town My darling's heart could win But when the leaves fell on the ground, and Bully winds came around, pushed them face down in the snow He got the urge for going And I had to let him go
He got the urge for going When the meadow grass was turning brown Summertime was falling down and winter was closing in
Now the warriors of winter they gave a cold triumphant shout And all that stays is dying, all that lives is getting out See the geese in chevron flight flapping and a-racing on before the snow They've got the urge for going, and they've got the wings so they can go
They get the urge for going When the meadow grass is turning brown Summertime is falling down and winter is closing in
I'll ply the fire with kindling now, I'll pull the blankets up to my chin I'll lock the vagrant winter out and bolt my wandering in I'd like to call back summertime and have her stay for just another month or so But she's got the urge for going and I guess she'll have to go
She gets the urge for going when the meadow grass is turning brown And all her empire's falling down
A “Blues Mama” For Our Times Encore- The Blues Of Maria Muldaur
In
Honor Of The 50th Anniversary Of The Formation Of The Jim Kweskin
Jug Band Celebrated At Club Passim (Club 47 back in the day), Cambridge On
August 29 & 30 2013
CD Review
Sweet Lovin’ Ol’ Soul, Maria Muldaur, Stony Plain Records, 2005
I have often noted that when white women cover blues songs done by the old classic black singers like Memphis Minnie, Bessie Smith, Big Mama Thornton and the like some undefined ingredient is missing. Call it "soul" or the "miseries" or whatever you like but somehow the depths of a song are generally not reached. Not so here, as Maria Muldaur presents the second of an anticipated three albums covering some great classics of old time barrel house blues. (The first album was "Richland Woman's Blues", taking the title from a song by Mississippi John Hurt so you know Maria is reaching for the blues roots, no question).
Bessie Smith's "Empty Bed Blues" sticks out as do her duos with the legendary Taj Mahal. Blind Willie Johnson’s classic religiously-tinged “Take A Stand” and Bessie Smith's (with Clara Smith) “I’m Going Back” get their proper workout. The big highlight though (and a very necessary “re-discovery”) is the tribute to Memphis Minnie, “She Put Me Outdoors”. And a very necessary “discovery” of the very hard times, hard hustle and hard knocks of the female blues singer, “Tricks Ain’t Walkin”. More needs to be said on that question. As Maria points out in her liner notes some of these songs here are ones that she wanted to do earlier in her career but was either talked out or could not do justice to then. But now Maria knows she has paid her dues, I know she has paid her dues, and you will too. Listen.
Blues Lyrics - Mississippi John Hurt Richland's Woman Blues All rights to lyrics included on these pages belong to the artists and authors of the works. All lyrics, photographs, soundclips and other material on this website may only be used for private study, scholarship or research.
Gimme red lipstick and a bright purple rouge A shingle bob haircut and a shot of good boo'
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' your horn If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone Come along young man, everything settin' right My husbands goin' away till next Saturday night
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone Now, I'm raring to go, got red shoes on my feet My mind is sittin' right for a Tin Lizzie seat
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone The red rooster said, "Cockle-doodle-do-do" The Richard's' woman said, "Any dude will do"
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone With rosy red garters, pink hose on my feet Turkey red bloomer, with a rumble seat
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone Every Sunday mornin', church people watch me go My wings sprouted out, and the preacher told me so
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone Dress skirt cut high, then they cut low Don't think I'm a sport, keep on watchin' me go
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone
*Songs For Aging……Jug Band Music Aficionados
In
Honor Of The 50th Anniversary Of The Formation Of The Jim Kweskin
Jug Band Celebrated At Club Passim (Club 47 back in the day), Cambridge On
August 29 & 30 2013
CD Review
Washboard Slim& The Blue Lights: Jug Band Music For The 21st Century, Jugabilly Records, 1996
Yes, I know I have spent many, probably too many hours, on this endless folkie tour. Christ, now I am touting the virtues of jug band music. Well there is a method to my madness. I have recently, with no regret, featured the individual later work of Jim Kweskin, Maria Muldaur and Geoff Muldaur from the old Jim Kweskin Jug Band of the 1960s . They set the standard for this of music. That standard included use of some homemade instruments (like a washtub) and off-beat lyrical compositions (some might maintain inane compositions but we will not quibble). They also, in turn worked off the standards set by earlier jug bands like the Cannon Jug Band and the famous Memphis Jug Band. So there are some traditions here.
All of this is by way of saying that the jug band under review, Washboard Slim and the Blue Lights, have some pretty good forbears. Although I do not believe that jug music now, like some people believed in the 1960s, is the wave of the future in alternative music it nevertheless has a pretty good pedigree. And it is fun. That appears to be the case wit this group as well. From 1950’s teen love takes off in a big way with the likes "Tunnel of Love” and “Big Hunk Of Love” to classic jug like “Washboard Wiggles” this is just for fun. Kweskin and his crew set the modern standard but these folks know the milieu. Nice.
Outrageously, Bradley Manning was sentenced today to 35
years in prison - a sentence meant to carry a chilling message to anyone
considering future exposures of government illegalities. Bradley’s lawyer David
Coombs held a press conference immediately following the announcement where he
shared a profound letter written by Bradley Manning which will be delivered to
the White House asking for a presidential pardon. He also recounted that when
faced with the sentence, Bradley Manning spoke with integrity and composure:
“I’m going to get through this” he said.
In response to this travesty of justice, Amnesty
International and the Bradley Manning Support Network launched a White House
petition today calling for Bradley Manning’s sentence to be commuted to time
served. We must accumulate 100,000 signatures in the next month. Please share
this petition widely!
Coinciding with the campaign to pardon Bradley Manning,
a new website has been launched inviting people to show their support by
submitting a photo holding a “Pardon Bradley Manning” sign, along with a
personal message. View
photos and submit your own here.
Lawyer David Coombs
reads powerful letter by Bradley Manning
The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of the
concern for my country and the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of
9/11, our country has been at war. We have been at war with an enemy that
chooses not to meet us on a traditional battlefield. Due to this fact, we’ve had
to alter our methods of combatting the risk posed to us and our way of life.
I initially agreed with these methods and chose to
volunteer to help defend our country. It was not until I was in
Iraq and reading secret military reports on a daily basis that I
started to question the morality of what we were doing. It was at this time that
I realized that our efforts to meet the risk posed to us by the enemy, we had
forgotten our humanity. We consciously elected to devalue life both in Iraq and
Afghanistan. When we engaged those that we perceived were the enemy, we
sometimes killed innocent civilians. Whenever we killed innocent civilians,
instead of accepting responsibility for our conduct, we elected to hide behind
the veil of national security and classified information in order to avoid any
public accountability.
In our zeal to kill the enemy, we internally debated
the definition of torture. We held individuals at Guantanamo for
years without due process. We inexplicably turned a blind eye to torture and
executions by the Iraqi government. And we stomached countless other acts in the
name of our war on terror.
Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally
questionable acts are advocated by those in power. When these cries of
patriotism drown any logically based dissension, it is usually an American
soldier that is given the order to carry out some ill-conceived mission. Our
nation has had similar dark moments for the virtues of democracy—the Trail of
Tears, the Dred Scott decision, McCarthyism and the Japanese-American internment
camps—to mention a few. I am confident that many of the actions since 9/11 will
one day be viewed in a similar light. As the late Howard Zinn once said, there
is not a flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.
I understand that my actions violated the law. I regret
that my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States. It was
never my intent to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people. When I chose to
disclose classified information, I did so out of a love for my country and my
sense of duty to others.
If you deny my request for a pardon, I will serve my
request knowing that some time you have to pay a heavy price to live in a free
society. I will gladly pay that price if it means we could have a country that
is truly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all women
and men are created equal.”
Bradley's family also responded to
the sentence through David Coombs:
"We are saddened and disappointed in today's sentence.
We continue to believe that Brad's intentions were good, and that he believed he
was acting in the best interests of his country.
We would again like to thank his extraordinary defense
team for their tireless efforts on his behalf, and of course we want to thank
Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network and the thousands of
supporters around the world who have stood with Brad throughout this
ordeal.
Please know that his fight is not
over."
Help us continue to
cover 100% of Bradley's legal fees! Donate
today.
Carry on Dr. King’s legacy this Labor
Day by marching for farmworker justice! This weekend, don’t forget tell
Publix that it’s time to join the Fair Food
Program!
Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, a march
that has rightly gone down in history as one of the greatest actions for social
justice of the 20th century. Much was written about the march over the past
several days (one excellent piece from the New York Times on the “Lasting Power of Dr. King’s Dream Speech” really is a must
read), including many reflections on how far the country has come, or has left
to go, in the area of racial justice.
But lost in much of the coverage was the fact that the massive gathering in
Washington was called the “March for Jobs and Justice,” and the
marchers’ demand for economic justice was every bit as urgent as their
call for racial equality. And while there is an argument to be made that we as
a nation have made progress — incomplete as it may be — on racial injustice
since the time of Jim Crow, it is much harder to make the case that we have made
any significant economic progress — if any at all — since Dr. King told us
about his dream. Wealth inequality is at an all time high, and more Americans
live in poverty today, or teeter on the edge in a demoralizing state of
insecurity, than ever before in the modern history of the country.
So this weekend, what better way to celebrate Labor Day — and to honor the
legacy of 1963′s March on Washington — than to return to the streets and demand
economic justice for some of this country’s hardest working laborers, Florida’s
farmworkers? What better way, indeed, than to join us for the big Labor Day Weekend of Action!
Accordingly, we here in Immokalee kicked off the action bright and early
Thursday morning in Venice at the opening of a brand new Publix — and we hope
you can join the CIW women’s group and other allies at upcoming actions this
weekend!
We Need 100, 000 Signatures-Sign The On-Line Petition-President Obama Pardon Private Manning - Free Chelsea Manning- The Heroic Whistle-Blower Formerly Known As Bradley Now!
Note that this image is PVT Manning’s preferred photo.
On August 22, 2013 David Coombs announced that as of that date Private Bradley Manning, the unjustly imprisoned heroic Wikileaks whistle-blower soldier, wants to be called Chelsea and to be referred to by use of the feminine pronoun. How this change affects the language used in campaigns after the Amnesty International/Private Manning Support Network’s petition to President Obama remains to be seen but for now we will use Pardon Bradley Manning. Here is a link to announcement-
The draconian 35 years sentence handed down by a military judge on August 21, 2013 marks a new focus on the campaign to free Private Manning. The central theme of the day and of the new campaign is –“President Obama Pardon Bradley Manning.”An immediate task is to begin organizing around the call by Amnesty International and the Private Manning Support Network to sign an on-line petition directed to the President. The goal is to get 100,000 on-line signatures by September 20, 2013 to make our case loud and clear. All pardon petition efforts should focus on the on-line petition to send that message as one voice.
Below is a link to the Amnesty International/Private Manning Support Network to sign the on-line petition. The process is a little more cumbersome than other such petitions, including having to set up an account with an e-mail but since they (and you know who the they are (first letter N) have all our e-mail addresses anyway push on. This is for Chelsea (Bradley).
Private Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning has access to an extensive lending library at Fort Leavenworth. You could simply write PVT Manning a letter describing a particular book, and suggest that she request it from the library.
You can purchase a book from either amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com and have one of those two online retailers send that book directly to PVT Manning at Fort Leavenworth.
Be aware that you can not mail the book, or any other item of value, to PVT Manning.
PVT Manning will only be allowed a small number of books in her possession at any given time, so a large number of books would be an unwanted complication. Consider sending only one book at a time, unless you are in direct communication with her and fulfilling a specific request.
For anything to be delivered to PVT Manning, it MUST be sent to “Bradley E. Manning.” Books or letters sent to PVT Manning’s preferred name, Chelsea Manning, will likely be returned undeliverable.
Bradley E Manning
89289
1300 N Warehouse Rd
Fort Leavenworth KS 66027-2304
Veterans For Peace strongly opposes U.S. military
intervention, whether direct or indirect, in the war that is
currently raging in Syria.
U.S.
military aid to rebels in Syria only deepens the suffering and increases the
casualties among the Syrian people. It destabilizes the region and risks
escalating the conflict into a regional war. It violates the U.N. Charter and
international law. There should
be no U.S. military intervention in any form, including a so-called “no-fly
zone,” which would be a direct act of military aggression. Only the Syrian
people can decide who should govern Syria. Veterans
For Peace calls for an escalation of diplomacy, not war. We call for a
ceasefire from all combatants in Syria. We call for urgent diplomacy to stop the
bloodshed and address the humanitarian crises in Syria and among Syrian refugees
in neighboring countries.
Please
take action and make your voice heard! Let’s stop a US
attack in Syria before it starts.
Sign this
petition and help spread it through social media!
Call the
White House at 202-456-1111 or the Switchboard at
202-456-1414
Call
your elected Representatives and Senators in their State or
District offices (they are on recess) – Demand NO military intervention in
Syria. Use this
link to find the phone number:
Organize
a peaceful protest, march, vigil at your local
communities (city hall, federal building, etc.) anytime this week, call for "NO
attacks on Syria!"
If the
U.S. attacks Syria, organize local actions, after the attack
begins, either 6PM on same day if the attacks begin during U.S. day time (local
Syria evening time), or 5PM the next day if the attacks begin during U.S.
evening time (local Syria day time)
No U.S. Attack on Syria - Rally at Park Street, Saturday, August 31 at 1:00
p.m.
When: Saturday, August 31, 2013, 1:00
pm Where: Park St. T station Entrance • Park & Tremont
Streets • Boston
A US attack on Syria would be a dangerous escalation of the Syrian conflict
and only create more destruction and loss of life. US military intervention
could possibly spiral into a major regional war including US forces. Only a
cease fire leading to political talks among Syrians will resolve the crisis;
more violence simply makes things worse and a political solution more
difficult.
The use of chemical weapons is a grievous crime to be dealt with by
international law, not war. While the US claims humanitarian concerns, the
real motivation is maintaining strategic dominance in the Middle East, US
corporate interests and safeguarding oil supplies.
The international community should find neutral ways to provide humanitarian
assistance for the Syrian victims and refugees, and work with the Syrian
government and opposition to convene an international conference working towards
a cease fire and political process. Everyone involved, including women, should
have a seat at the table, but the Syrians must decide the political arrangements
in their own country.
UJP urges everyone in the peace and progressive communities to continue to
take actions such as writing letters and op eds, signing petitions, lobbying
congress and joining street protests to stop further escalation of US
attacks and possible widening of the Syrian conflict into a regional war
In case of an attack, we call for an emergency protest at 5:00 pm at Park
Street, the day of the attack if it is before noon or the day after if the
attack as after noon. (Check the UJP website for final information, justicewithpeace.org).
--- United for Justice with Peace
Cosponsors and Endorsers: Committee for Peace & Human
Rights, Boston UNAC, International Action Center, ANSWER Coalition, Mass. Global
Action/encuentro 5, Massachusetts Peace Action, Come Home America-Boston
Chapter, American Iranian Friendship Committee, Massachusetts Liberty Movement
(Liberty Clubhouse), Green-Rainbow Party, Women's International League for
Peace & Freedom - Boston, Community Church of Boston
