"EULOGY"

[Another beautiful lyric from L.E. Leone—enjoy!]

EULOGY


He used to be alive, and now
Now: this. Don’t look!
Close your eyes. Some of you
Gathered here may remember how
He
Stirred the molecules in the air he walked through
Or used
words
to convey meaning.
Yes, I loved him too, and it’s hard
                  to imagine
                  the word “paisley,” for example,
                  dying with him. The way
                  that he said “paisley”—and so
                  many other words.
So many words, indeed, that it could be said that he
                  knew a language. That’s saying something!

The way that he reached into his pockets
                  whenever he needed a thing that he kept in his pockets.
Keys. His wallet. Loose change.
Lip balm. Or, in earlier times, perhaps,
A comb or condom. All of these things he touched,
                  as he touched our lives.

Sometimes he said, “What time is it?”
Once, I remember, we passed
                  each other on the street. “How are you?”
                  he said. We all
Probably, have had similar encounters.
                  Have a nice day.
                  I take it black.
                  Goodnight.
                  There’s room for one more.

Other examples are of shirts he wore,
Things he read on the toilet and how
                  exactly
The bathroom smelled afterwards.
What was for dinner? (lunch? breakfast?)
Where he sat on the bus.
Cookbooks he looked at.
A mattress on which he left an
                  imprint, changed the nature of the springs
Empty shaving cream bottles he threw away.
                  (recycled?)

Or how about the little lines and specks
    that moved routinely across his eyeballs?
And who among us will ever see a shoe
    string without reflecting
    that his shoes had shoe strings.
Which he tied
                  every
                                    single
                                                      day.

Yes, my friends,  his friends,
Life is a gift, it is clear because he made it clear to us, and death
                  is the ribbon.
He’s dead. You can open your eyes now.

Our friend is a ribbon.

L.E. Leone
© 2011

“Poor Lazarus”

Hope you’re ready for the Monday Morning Blues—yes, the new week is upon us already.  After a weekend off, I’m hoping to come back to Robert Frost’s Banjo rejuvanted & ready to go.

Today’s song is something a bit different—“Poor Lazarus” is sometimes described as a “spiritual,” but is more likely a “field song” or a work song that was sung by groups a capella in the midst of their daily tasks.  In fact, in 1959 Alan Lomax made a recording of the song by one James Carter & other prisoners at the Mississippi State Peniteniary; this recording was later used in the 2000 film, O Brother, Where Art Thou.  Various versions of the song have been covered by Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, the Carolina Chocolate Drops (an a capella version featuring Rhiannon Giddens) & others.

Given the title, you might expect “Poor Lazarus” to be Biblical, but the song doesn’t refer to either of the Gospel stories involving a character named Lazarus.  In fact, the story comes from Alabama:

Another "bad man" was an Alabama turpentine worker named Lazarus. According to the legends he worked and lived in the piney wood mountains of northern Alabama working in the turpentine mills. Some dispute over pay caused Lazarus to tear up the place and "walk the table," a practice of jumping upon the dinner table at the factory and walking it's length placing one's foot in every plate. He then broke into the commissary and stole the payroll. This would, of course, cause a riot, and for this action the "High Sheriff" was called in the arrest "Poor Lazarus." The sheriff sent out his deputies and they cornered Lazarus "up between two mountains" where they gunned him down. They hauled his remains back to the commissary where they laid him out and sent for his family but he apparently died before they could get there.

from the page James "Sparky" Rucker: BULLIES, BADMEN, and the BLUES

My version is accompanied by guitar—my Regal resonator tuned to Drop D but capoed at the third fret to make the sounding key F—however, as I typically do with the drop D tuning, I tend to play the D chord as neither fully major nor minor (but definitely shaded toward the latter).  There’s also a quick jump to the A chord (again, neither major nor minor).  I had a lot of fun doing this one, but it’s a workout in some ways.  Hope you like it!

Homegrown Radio – Caroline Pond – 1/21/11

Happy Friday everybody!  We’re celebrating the day here on Robert Frost’s Banjo with music from a terrific musician, Caroline Pond.  Ms. Pond has been performing & touring for over 15 years, & is the front woman for Snake Oil Medicine Show.  She also plays with an old time band called Tater Diggers & shares a band with Ami Worthen(from Mad Tea Party)  called Sugar & Spice. Caroline started playing violin at age 7 years old & has been playing ever since.  Singing & playing ukulele are also gifts that she shares across the world.

I'd also recommend checking out Ms. Pond's delightful blog, Caroline Pond's Earth Adventures.

You can find cds from Snake Oil Medicine Show & the Tater Diggers on CDBaby (follow the links on the band names). 

Let's see what Caroline has to say about today's song:

The second song is called Freedom Song written by Luc Reynaud.  He wrote it for the children of the Hurricane Katrina disaster when he was in New Orleans.  Jason Mraz discovered this song, and he sings it too—and he went to Africa for the Free The Slaves foundation and heard kids sing this song.  It's so sweet that I wanted to sing it too.

This is "just" Caroline Pond & ukulele; it's a total delight.  & as an added bonus you can check out last week's song, "Fall On My Knees" in case you missed it (Caroline singing & playing fiddle).  I'm very impressed with Caroline Pond's musicianship & it's been a real treat to have her on Homegrown Radio.  I'm hoping to feature another of Ms Pond's songs next week, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, please enjoy "Freedom Song"!

Buckets & Wishes & Crossroads #2

When I left you yesterday, Eberle & I were thinking about trips to visit the Mississippi Delta & Nevada & other points east & west.  As I explored the concept of “bucket list,” travel was a big theme.  In today’s conclusion, travel only is mentioned in the final entry, but that’s an important one.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’d love to hear comments about your own fulfillment lists or “bucket” lists as you will.  I’m also curious as to how your lists may have evolved.  I for one know there are items on the list the past two days that wouldn’t have been there a few years back—as well as items that I would have included then that don’t seem so important now.

There’s also a song by the great Townes Van Zandt at the end—the title for item 10 comes from his composition “The Catfish Song.”

6)    IT’S GREEK TO ME: In my youth, I had quite a bit of potential as a philologist, as the British term it.  I was accomplished in French, had a solid background in Latin & became absorbed in classical Greek.  I also studied Old English (Anglo-Saxon) & loved translating the poetry of both that robust language & Greek.  Sadly, I’ve let all these go completely except for French, where I can still hold my own as a poetry translator (tho I’d no longer have much capacity as a speaker).  But I’d like to get back into these languages, especially Greek—& I sometimes hear the call of the great Anglo-Saxon poets, too!

7)    'LET ME IN - LET ME IN!': I think of myself as a well-read fellow—a pretty good swath of “the great books,” as well as fairly extensive forays into some of literature’s more obscure corners.  But I suppose most of us have a weak spot, & mine is the 19th century.  I have a good grasp of the Romantic poets, & a pretty solid footing in Dickens (whose writing I love); I also have read most of Wilkie-Collins (to go a bit toward the obscure, not to say, bizarre, side), but there are a number of “big” 19th century novels that I’ve neglected—none bigger than the novel from which the quote is taken, Wuthering Heights.  Considering that Eberle read this novel annually for years, I think I must take it up, & soon!

8)    THE PIANO HAS BEEN DRINKING, NOT ME: I don’t think as much about performers as people I have to see before I shuffle off this mortal coil, but there have been performers I regret missing—Townes Van Zandt is definitely one of those, as is Dave Van Ronk.  I’ve never seen Tom Waits perform, & considering what a huge influence his music has had on my life, that’s an omission I’d like to set to rights before either Tom or I fade away.

9)    SMOKESTACK LIGHTNIN’: The railroad features prominently on this list, & not least of my wishes is to get back to the N-scale model railroad Eberle & I started in the winter of 09-10.  Right now, the project is in limbo for any number of reasons, not least of which is our current constrained economic circumstances.  But I have to have faith that this will improve, & both Eberle & I have been excited about this project.  Saty tuned!

10)    YOU’LL NEED ALL YOUR MEMORIES: I’m ending on a serious note—a item that combines the possible with the unlikely.  A Facebook friend has been suggesting off & on that a few of us make a pilgrimage back to Charlottesville, the scene of our 1980s MFA adventures—“pilgrimage” is my word, not hers.  I came to the decision very recently that I do want to do this, tho again, for economic reasons, it’s not a possibility in the near future.  My time in Charlottesville was formative, & like any formative experience, it had its share of turmoil & wounds, as well as moments of creative joy.  I was part of a creative community the likes of which I won't experience again, at least in terms of people gathered together in one place. 

I returned to Charlottesville once, in 1996, but I think at the time I was still keeping the experiences I’d had in the 80s at arm’s length (at least).  For a variety of reasons, I believe I’m more prepared to be in that environment & maybe find some healing & resolution.

Related to this, there are friends from my past—some from Charlottesville & some from even further back—that I would really like to see in this world (the only world I know of).  I’ve been so fortunate over the past few years to re-connect with a number of old friends, some of whom I got the chance to see on my cross-country trip last year.  I think there’s a good chance that I’ll see more of these old friends along my road—in at least one case, I’m hopeful that will happen before too many months go by.  But there are a handful of people who have been very important to me who are no longer a part of my life.  In one case, the separation goes back to the late 1970s.  I would love to see these people, but I realize in some cases, the possibility of this is slight. 

In yesterday’s post I mentioned that one of the points of the so called “bucket list” is a sense of being “completed.”  A part of me says: "how can I be completed if I don’t somehow have a chance to see these people who were so important to me, but who left my life under problematic circumstances."  Perhaps the answer is that there is no completeness without some heartache.  At least that’s what I tell myself today—my opinion may be different tomorrow.  But the truth is, however any list does or doesn't work out, overall my life has been & continues to be a gift.



PHOTO: The Blue Moon Diner in Charlottesville—repository of many memories, both for good & ill.

Buckets & Wishes & Crossroads #1

Am I correct in assuming that the term “bucket list” entered the lexicon with the 2007 film of the same name?  I can’t say I’m a big fan of the term itself, but the concept behind it seems both interesting & valuable. 

Of course, the “bucket list” concept embraces two seemingly contradictory notions of self— one, the idea of a continual striving that maintains vitality of spirit & gives us ongoing purpose, & two, the notion that some collection of achievements will be necessary for us to believe we have completed our selfhood. 

We all think about these things, & those of us who are traveling north of age 50 may think about them in a different way than those who are a ways to the south of us, age-wise.  After all, depending on our health & other cirucmstances, we are entering a period of time when these things should be attended to—“time & tide” wait for no one. 
 
Last year, I got a chance to cross one thing off the list—a cross-country road trip that took me thru all four time zones in the continental US as well as thru 22 states (all told, I visisted exactly half the states in 2010 by the time all was said & done.)  I also got a chance to see some old friends with whom I’d been out of touch for years—such reunions will always be high on any such list for me.

But there are more—over the next two days, I’ll explore a list of 10 I came up with the other evening—with brief commentary.  I’d love to hear about your own wishes!

1)    TOUR SPIEL: This is probably wish #1 for me.  Because I entered the life of a performing musician in middle age, I missed the experience of crossing the country playing music at various stops on the way that so many of my friends had.  Now, I’ve undergone enough cross-country trips to know this is not an easy thing (tho last year's journey was my most extensive in some ways, I’d already been coast-to-coast a few times in the past).  I do long to do this at least once, & this is probably something that also needs to be high on the list because of practical/logistical considerations. 

2)    WHERE THE SOUTHERN CROSS THE DOG: This next wish combines two: a long passenger train trip & a visit to the Mississippi delta region where so much of the music that I love originated.  Amtrak does swing thru this region on its City of New Orleans train out of Chicago.  This is essentially an Illinois Central route, an important line that figured in lots of old blues songs, & also, as far as the actual stretch in Mississippi goes, it’s close to the old Yazoo & Mississippi line—the “Yellow Dog” from the line about “where the Southern cross the Dog.”  If this trip could be extended to New Orleans, then two items could be crossed off—I’m chagrined to admit that I’ve never been to the Crecent City.

3)    THE LOWER 48: When I was born in 1956, there were 48 states—Alaska & Hawaii both became states in 59.  & at this point, I traveled in 46 of the “lower 48” states.  The two I’ve missed? Michigan & North Dakota.  I feel compelled to visit them both at some point.  Michigan has the added attraction of the best music store I know, Elderly Instruments in Lansing, which I’d love to see—& also some blog/Twitter friends that I’d be happy to meet.  

4)    I'LL LET YOU BE IN MY DREAMS IF I CAN BE IN YOURS: As regular readers here know, I’ve long toyed with the idea of Eberle & I collaborating on music for some of my poetry, & that’s still an item high on my list (Eberle is interested too).  This may or may not involve my book The Spring Ghazals & may or may not involve some vaguely planned & much belated “release party” for the book some time this year.  I hear harmonium myself—actually, my musical role is more unclear to me in this regard, tho I will say it’s one thing that’s kept me from selling both of my electric guitars.   I’m also thinking pretty often of writing songs, but that seems a separate project to me, one that would definitely involve new lyric material.  I think the project with Eberle would involve background settings.  Will keep you all posted when more develops!

5)    I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING, & I KNOW WHO’S GOING WITH ME: I’m cheating a bit on this one, because it actually involves three separate trips, all of which Eberle & I have discussed as excursions we’d like to take together.  Actually, we also want to take the train trip to Mississippi together, but I put that in its own category because that’s a real odyssey.  These three trips are all in the west, so I’m putting them together.  1. Tour the Idaho desert with Eberle.  Eberle has regaled me for years with stories of Bruneau Dunes, Murphy & Craters of the Moon.  Some spring time we have to make it down there for a good long weekend of exploration.  2. The Badlands: I got to visit the Badlands & the Black Hills last year toward the end of my road trip & I was blown away.  I also thought the whole time how much Eberle would get caught up in those places.  We must go! 3. The Marietta Wild Burro range southeast of Hawthorne, Nevada.  We often travel thru the ex-military desert town of Hawthorne on our way to the LA area, & we always mean to check out this wild burro range.  Next time for sure.  If the trip also included a stop in Death Valley, California, neither of us would complain!

Check back tomorrow for 5 more, & please do comment on your own if the spirit moves you.  Hope you enjoy the video too—it explains my first heading with a great song from one of my all-time favorite bands.







PHOTO: Where the Southern Cross the Dog—intersection of the Southern & Yazoo rail lines in Moorhead, Mississippi.

Will the Real Ruby Tuesday Please Stand Up?

Remember when rock music was kinda bad & dangerous?  Of course, at its best, it still can be.  But, for better or worse, much of what’s now marketed as “classic rock” has become an institution—a strange twist, because so many of the classic rockers railed against institutions.

One of the ways this change seems most apparent is the trend to use rock songs in commercials.  Now, I don’t begrudge someone trying to make a buck off his/her music—
I certainly try to do so!—but can you hear a song the same way after hearing it in an ad?  At that point, has a good song become a “jingle?”  Has it been somehow triviliazed & sanitized, or does it still retain its original power? 

Seems like a fair question, especially as the boomers age & their music—60s && 70s rock—becomes a sort of cultural soundtrack.  As a cultural soundtrack, those songs have a lot of mojo, but in many cases, that mojo seems to be put to “commercial” use (pun intended).  Here’s a very short & select list of “classic rock” songs that have been put to the use of making “the man” (in the man’s guise as corporation) more bucks:

Come Together-The Beatles: AT & T Wireless    
Rock & Roll-Led Zeppelin: Cadillac    
Pink Moon-Nick Drake: Volkswagen (admittedly, a special case, as Mr Drake has been gone for a number of years—& the fact that in the month following the commercial's first airing more Drake records sold than in the previous 30 years is not a bad thing)
Young Americans-David Bowie: Fidelity Investments    
Baba O'Riley (aka Teenage Wasteland)-The Who: Hewlett Packard (this seems particularly ironic)
Sunshine of Your Love-Cream: Touch of Gray Hair Color    
You Can't Always Get What You Want-The Rolling Stones: Coca Cola  
    
Speaking of the Rolling Stones—like the Who, bad boys par excellence in their heyday—we also have the Ruby Tuesday chain of restaurants.  Now I actually like that song —at times in my life, the song has had meaning that is quite separate from associations with buffalo wings or burgers.  Is there any way for a song to come back after its title is used for a restaurant franchise?

Apparently so:  check out the video below, in which the late Vic Chesnutt restores heart, soul, guts, lungs & other vital organs to “Ruby Tuesday,” a song he covered often in his career.  Mr Chesnutt’s version won’t appeal to everyone, but to my mind it’s transcendent.  By the way, the volume is very low thru the first verse but comes up to normal when the whole band enters for the first chorus.



The photo of a Ruby Tuesday restaurant is by Wiki Commons user Ildar Sagdejev (Specious) Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. & is published under the Creative Commons

“Black Snake Moan”

It’s the Monday Morning Blues!  & yes, if you have any knowledge of US roots music, you’re saying, “What gives?  This is supposed to be Jimmie Rodgers month, & he sure didn’t sing 'Black Snake Moan.'"

& you’d be right, of course.  But I claim the bloggers’ prerogative to change horses in midstream, as it were.  Fact is, while being a bit on the housebound side due to the weather conditions here in Idaho, I’ve tried to put the time to good use by concentrating on that recording project I’ve been putting off for ages.  In a way, the Monday Morning Blues songs for November & December really jump-started the project, even tho I’ll probably be using only a few of those tunes at most on the finished CD.  But the fact is, even in a full-on Idaho January, I have only so much time to record, & the Jimmie Rodgers’ songs I’d been thinking of really didn’t fit with the overall plan—I probably will use “T.B. Blues,” however.  So far, I have at least a dozen songs that I’m satisfied with in terms of performance.  I’m still working on mastering the tracks.

Today’s selection, “Black Snake Moan” is a tune by Blind Lemon Jefferson, one of the biggest blues stars of the 1920s.  He came up as a street singer, but became quite popular on the strength of 79 singles recorded between 1925 & 1929 (the year he died, aged only 35 or 36).  It’s recorded using my Goldtone resonator tuned in open D (of course) & capoed up to the key of E; no slide—just fingerstyle.

Hope you enjoy it!