I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground

I love the song “Rock In The Sea” by Shocking Blue, which incorporates some of the lyrics and spirit of the old mountain tune “I Wish I was A Rock In The Sea,” first recorded by the folklorist Bascom Lamar Lunsford.

Rock In The Sea- Shocking Blue

As a fruit tree salesman, Lunsford travelled extensively through North Carolina and traded traditional tunes with his customers and acquaintances.

I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground- Bascom Lamar Lunsford

Jackson C. Frank borrowed from the song as well, incorporating later verses of the song into his song “Kimbie,” from his eponymous 1965 album.

Kimbie- Jackson C. Frank

A few years ago, Marianne Faithfull sang Kimbie for her Easy Come Easy Go album.

Kimbie- Marianne Faithfull

Greil Marcus wrote of the song in his book Lipstick Traces:

Yeah, what he said. That’s basically why I like this song and those it inspired.

Also, moles are practically blind, survive on earthworms and mice, and are non-existent in Ireland.

December

My New Orleans Public School kindergarten report card. Same as it ever was.

This has been a nutty year, filled with lots of sorrow which I worried I might never get over. But I did. Or at least, I’m out of the tunnel, and I amazed by my own resilience or whatever it is.

Of course, music is the panacea, and I’ve found a lot of music to dig this year. So I’d like to share this mix with my readers. Including but not limited to: Cher covering The Kinks. Young Michael Jackson tackling the complexities of love. Arthur Russell writing yet another love song to his boyfriend. Jonathan Richman lauding the arcane, which is what I do here a lot of the time.  Hope you enjoy.

Track list:

All This Crazy Gift Of Time- Kevin Ayers 3:46

Shake Sugaree -Elizabeth Cotten 5:03

Nobody Wants A Lonely Heart- Arthur Russell 2:26

I Hear Your Heart Singing- The Gun Club 3:57

Norwegian Wood- Peter Walker 4:16

Brother, Father, Sister And Mother- Tim Maia 3:17

I Go To Sleep- Cher 2:48

Old World- The Modern Lovers 4:01

The Creator Has A Master Plan- Louis Armstrong 4:07

Isn’t It A Pity- Nicky Thomas 5:20

The Way Things Ought To Be- Julie Covington 2:51

Golden Circle- Terry Callier 3:38

Dreaming- Polystyrene 3:48

A Groovy Kind Of Love- Diane & Annita 2:01

Nobody Sees Me Like You Do- Yoko Ono 3:33

It’s What You’ve Got- Pete Dello 3:16

You Keep Me-The Index 3:04

Raining In My Room- Swell Maps 1:44

In The Courtyard Of The Stars- Nirvana (UK) 2:36

Morning Glow- Michael Jackson 3:35

Dear God Please Help Me- Marianne Faithfull 4:29

End Title John Barry- The Black Hole OST  (2:28)

Gentlebear Mix- December 2009

Thanks for stopping in.

Sad Songs They Say So Much

147 years ago today, the Civil War Battle of Ball’s Bluff went down in Virginia. It was a defeat for the Union, and resulted in the only death in the battlefield of a U.S. Senator, Colonel Edward Dickinson Baker. 

Today is my birthday, in itself no big deal except that I’m 33, the age when Jesus bit it. I don’t think I’ve been receiving any messages from God concerning a higher calling, thankfully. I’d be content to lead the rest of my life drinking whiskey, Michelob Ultra, or Coors, and writing this stupid blog. Also, making love and/or having sex with an attractive partner. I jest. 

I’ve made a mix of some of my favorite songs. They’re all kind of a drag. I like to spend some part of my birthday contemplating my existence for the past year; I guess this is it. Disclaimer: I am not suicidal. 

Here is the mix, clocking in at  01:09:33. (MP3 REMOVED BY REQUEST)

Sad Songs Say So Much

 

Track listing below, with corresponding pictures and video, which I hope you enjoy. 

“Vanity of vanities..“- James Mason, from Book of Ecclesiaistes

 

Dust-Filled Room– Bill Fay

In the dust-filled room she wished that the cigarette could last forever…

 

Flying On The Ground– Neil Young

… But if crying and holding on, and flying on the ground is wrong, then I’m sorry to let you down- but you’re from my  side of town, and I’ll miss you.

 

Picture Of Our Torn Up Praise– Phosphorescent

I won’t be alone, I won’t be waiting by the phone, I won’t be dreaming of you dreaming of me, anyway…

 

Looking For A Friend– David Blue

I never really had a friend of my own, I once I had a woman, I thought we were close.

 

First Girl I Ever Loved– Incredible String Band

Well I never slept with you, but we must have made love a thousand times…

 

Beware of Darkness– George Harrison

Watch out now, take care, beware of falling swingers…

 

Big Louise– Scott Walker

In a world filled with friends, you lose your way…

 

Blues Run The Game– Nick Drake

When I’m not drinking, baby, you are on my mind…when I’m not sleeping, you know you’ll find me crying…

 

I Watched My Dreamworld Crumble– Hank Williams

You promised, darling, that we’d never part…

Angel Cake & Wine– Hoyt Axton

I’m born to dine on angel cake and wine, and nothing ever shined on me…

 

Love Is Just A Four Letter Word– Joan Baez with Earl Scruggs, in his living room

Yes, I know now, traps are only set by me…

 

Seems Like Old Times– Diane Keaton, from Annie Hall

…and it’s still a thrill to have my arms around you.

 

I Don’t Know Where I Stand– Fairport Convention

Picked up a pencil and wrote ‘I love you’ in my finest hand, wanted to send it, but I don’t know where I stand.

 

Send In The Clowns– Frank Sinatra

I thought that you’d want what I want, sorry my dear.

 

It Was A Very Good Year- Frank Sinatra

It was a very good for year for city girls who lived up the stair, with all that perfumed hair… and it came undone, when I was 21.

 

Still I Dream Of It– Brian Wilson

A little while ago, my mother told me Jesus loved the world. And if that’s true then why hasn’t he helped me to find a girl, and find my world…

Rich Kid Blues– Marianne Faithfull

Love’s just a story, a story without words. Words are almost never seen and never even heard.

 

Baby Blue– 13th Floor Elevators

The empty-handed painter from your streets is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets…

 

Myself When I Am Real– Charles Mingus

Beware of Darkness

Marianne Faithfull has really tested the limits of her body and mind. When I read her auto-biography I really couldn’t believe she was still alive- she had verged on death so many times. Broken English was her first album I listened to, when she was already in the third incarnation of her career. I had no idea at the time that she had once been a sweet songbird, and that drugs and a particularly nasty bout with laryngitis had forever changed her voice. It became crackling, deep-timbred, weathered. Though her music had always been tinged with sadness, on Broken English she was sad and really angry. Full of regrets. She was only 33. 

She was discovered at age 17 by Andrew Loog Oldham, the Rolling Stones’ producer, who put out her first records, which were pop-folk affairs. After that she tried out acting and became Mick Jagger’s girlfriend, in the process becoming a serious cokehead, and later, heroin-abuser. By the time she and Mick split in 1970, heroin had become her muse. A producer found her on the streets and she recorded the album Rich Kid Blues (1971), but it was not released until 1985. This is a great lost album. I have a real penchant for pedal-steel guitar. The lyrics really make you feel like you’re mired in some deep, dark heroin-haze. Here’s two great cuts off Rich Kid Blues.

Rich Kid Blues

Beware of Darkness

Marianne was missing in action for a lot of the early-seventies, but here she is in 1973 with David Bowie in a television special, singing “I Got You, Babe” while wearing a nun’s habit. 

Here’s Marianne looking pretty spent in 1974.

The next album, the country-tinged Dreamin’ My Dreams (1975), was released to some fanfare, though she was still going through relationship and drug hell, living in a cold-water squat.  Here’s two great tracks off it (this album was tweaked and re-released a couple of years later as Faithless). 

That Was the Day (The Coke Came to Nashville)

Dreamin’ My Dreams

It wasn’t until Broken English in 1979 that she caught up with the mainstream again. The album’s punk and reggae influences, as well as her sexually-charged lyrics brought her new fans. Here’s a video of her in 1980 singing (lip-syncing?) “The Eyes of Lucy Jordan,” certainly the sunniest song on Broken English. 

Also off of Broken English, her singing John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero.”

Working Class Hero

 

The synthesizer-heavy album A Child’s Adventure (1984) is probably my favorite. Many of these songs were co-written or written by Barry Reynolds, who she’d also collaborated with on Broken English. The top track off this record has got to be Reynolds’ Times Square. Might this be the most depressing song ever? This must be what it’s like to be a total drunk who’s given up on life in a derelict hotel in Times Square before Guiliani cleaned it up for the tourists. The last line is about dying while you’re gaining your senses, waking up in a hotel room staring at the ceiling. 

Times Square

Barry Reynolds did a version of “Times Square” for his solo album I Scare Myself  first in 1982. I prefer Marianne’s, but here’s his.

Times Square

I guess this is sort of a “Marianne Faithfull: The Drugs Years” posting.

Beware of darkness.