Jail: He’s in the Jailhouse Now

Whistler’s Jug Band, date unknown

Blind Blake: He‘s in the Jailhouse Now

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On February 15, 1928, Jimmie Rodgers went into the studio and recorded In the Jailhouse Now. The song became a country classic. Webb Pierce would later take the song to #1, and Johnny Cash also recorded it, among many others. For a tribute album to Jimmie Rodgers, the song was recorded by Steve Earle.

All of which is fine, but there’s one little problem. Jimmie Rodgers didn’t write the song, and he wasn’t the first to record it. The earliest known recording, from 1924, was by Whistler‘s Jug Band, under the title Jail House Blues. This is the version of the song that Blind Blake recorded in 1927, as He’s in the Jailhouse Now. Notice that Blake’s version also preceded Jimmie Rodgers. Now Rodgers was a great artist, but this was another case, so common in those days, of white businessmen ripping off black artists. I don’t know if the song was brought to Rodgers by his handlers, or if he knew its origin, so I don’t hold him to blame. But I am glad for this chance to set the record straight. And what became of the first man who decided to rip off a black artist without giving credit? I hope the title of this post says it all.

Jail: I Shall Be Released

Jerry Garcia Band: I Shall Be Released

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I could get lost in this song. The mournful vocals, the defiant lyrics, the curly-cues of cascading notes emanating from Jerry Garcia's guitar on both of his lengthy solos. It all works for me. Many have tackled this song, and some have excelled, but this version, this is the one for me.

As for the song itself, what can one say? It is one of Dylan's simplest, yet more effective songs. Three short verses, and not a wasted word. Nominally about a wrongfully imprisoned man, but thanks to covers by the likes of Joan Baez and others, it almost immediately became a metaphor for any and all injustice and repression. It is perhaps his most powerful song.

Jail: For My Lover

Tracy Chapman: For My Lover

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There are many songs which make extravagant, even obsessive, declarations of love. Tracy Chapman’s For My Lover is the only one I know of where the singer is willing to go to jail for him. In a 1988 interview in Rolling Stone, Chapman made a connection between this song and Mountains of Things. She explained it this way:

One thing that really concerns me is a sense of balance. You know, when you’re talking about material things, it’s where those things fit into your life. Then, with relationships, too, how do you position yourself in relation to other people ? It’s a fine line sometimes, trying to hold on to yourself and your own identity and either being lured into having other people define them for you or having the things around you define them for you.

Jail: Blue Wing

Tracy Grammer: Blue Wing

[purchase] - scroll down to Book of Sparrows EP

One of the things I appreciate about the acoustic folk genre is that some of my favorite artists also choose a few cover songs to sprinkle into their repertoire... and they're usually obscure gems - I have fallen in love with many a song, only to discover it's not an original... and then go happily in search of yet another new songwriter to collect and enjoy their catalog...

After Dave Carter died, Tracy Grammer put out a few CDs of his unreleased material... and then set about recording stunning tunes by some of her contemporaries - her version of Tom Russell's Blue Wing is gorgeous and haunting, and the tattoo becomes a metaphor for freedom, despite prison bars...

Jail: Attica Blues

Archie Shepp: Attica Blues

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"If I had the chance to make the decisions, every man could walk this earth on equal conditions..."

On September 9, 1971, inmates of the Attica Corrections Facility in New York State rose up in response to the death of George Jackson, the famous Black Panther radical who had recently been fatally shot by correction officers while trying to escape from San Quentin. The prisoners of Attica demanded better living conditions - one shower a week and one roll of toilet paper a month anyone? - in their overcrowded jail, where all the wardens were white and the majority of the inmates either black or Puerto Rican.

After four days of negotiations, state police took back control of Attica prison under order of then Governor Nelson Rockefeller, which resulted in the deaths of nine hostages and twenty-eight inmates. The New York State Special Commission on Attica would later state that ´with the exception of Indian massacres in the late 19th century, the state police assault which ended the four-day prison uprising was the bloodiest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War´.

In outraged response, free jazz giant Archie Shepp wrote the steaming Attica Blues, which remains an amazing piece of music long after the smoke of the prison riot has lifted. Do check this one out even if you´re not really into jazz or the avant-garde, as Attica Blues has more in common with the hard-hitting funk and soul of Sly & The Family Stone or Funkadelic than one would expect from a jazz cat.

Retrospective: The Aristocrats

Neil Young: Old King
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Taj Mahal and Toumani Diabate: Queen Bee
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The Kinks: She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina
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Stevie Wonder: Sir Duke
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I've mentioned numerous times here that I used to have an weekly web radio show, FiL With Sound. I played a mix of old and new music, and was fond of themed sets (and sometimes themed shows.) It ran for two years, and somewhere in the middle of it, I discovered Star Maker Machine.

I occasionally played songs on the show that I found on SMM, and it helped give the appearance that I had a bigger, more diverse music collection than I actually had. At some point, I decided I wanted to join in on the fun, but not being a writer, I started playing my own version of Star Maker Machine on the show. I would make a four- or five-track set out of songs that fit the previous week's SMM theme but had not been posted. I did some digging through my playlists, and discovered that the first time I did this was on November 18, 2008. The previous week's theme had been "The Aristocrats", so that's what my first SMM set was about.

The songs I picked to play that day were perhaps not the most adventurous of choices, but this was an important step in the journey that lead me to become a contributor here. And really, if there's a better song than "Sir Duke" out there, I've yet to hear it.

Retrospective: I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

Cowboy Junkies: I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

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This post is dedicated to Paul (a Hank Williams fan of the highest degree), for the vision and start-up of Star Maker Machine - synchronistically, the day Boyhowdy invited me to contribute a guest post (late-October 2008) was the day *after* I had just been laid off from my job of 19 months. SMM was just what I needed... just when I needed it: a validating reassurance of my self-worth - the economy might be crumbling... but if there's one thing I know, it's music... d*mmit (stomps foot!)...

I then made a point of reading back through the archives (starting with the Days of the Week theme, April 2008) to familiarize myself with the contributors, content and style of writing (such an enjoyable time) - however, what I also discovered was that the blog began in another incarnation a few months before that, in early-February 2008...

I adore the diversity of the submissions: the vintage... the techno... the country... the metal... the rock... the rockabilly... the Celtic... the world... etc., in addition to my comfort zone of folk, and I think our strength has been in our differences - our readership honors them all... and it feeds my personal learning and growing process too...

I realize I'm wordy... and I personalize everything... and I tend toward a Pollyanna mindset - however, my love of songs is deep and passionate and fulfilling, as is evident in all of my fellow (and sister) Star Makers as well...

I just wanted to send out my appreciation to those of you who started and evolved the SMM concept... and to those who segued from readers to contributors - whether you still post or have stepped back for one reason or another, your passion for the music is evident... and it is a joy to follow the historical stepping stones... as well as attempt to continue the tradition...

Retrospective: Songwriting

Jeff Buckley: Hallelujah

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It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth,
the minor fall, the major lift
the baffled king composing Hallelujah.

My absolute favorite theme to write for, here on Star Maker Machine? No question about it: Songwriting week.

The task was to address the process of song craft - to switch from speaking of sound and sense to attend to the development process from which music springs forth. And man, did it get intellectual in here. Our small hearty band of bloggers took to the task like a pack of starving college professors trying to prove their readiness for tenure. Several of us even emerged with highly specified sub-themes, focusing on a particular aspect or type of the songwriting process; I myself cranked out three lengthy posts on songwriting through adaptation of existing texts, as befits a coverblogger who spends his days teaching communications and culture, and his nights considering the folkways.

There were less posts that week, as it turns out - this was back when we were at it fast and furious, averaging well over 30 posts per theme, but the sheer work it required to crank out the type of depth and detail that the theme demanded resulted in but 17 entries on our logsheet. And the songs are long-gone, of course. But for sheer chutzpah and analytical depth, the writing is not to be missed. Head back into the depths of 2008 for more.

Retrospective: Tangerine Speedo

Caviar: Tangerine Speedo

Oh, what an image and song to be posted not only once, but TWICE. But alas, this was a favorite moment for me. It was September of '08 and the theme was clothing. It seemed harmless enough, until mid-week when there was an absurd amount of female flesh appearing in the pictures that went along with the posts. There were body parts sticking out every which way (due to the songs in question and their subject matter) and even the guys were starting to think it a bit much.

Then an e-mail went out about it, how a few here were starting to feel bad about the objectification going on. Being the only active female participant at that time (I think), I felt it my duty to say or do something, so I countered it with some beefcake action. There aren't many songs that allow for such things, but thank goodness for Caviar's ode to the cabana boy "Tangerine Speedo". The original post for it is here. The whole experience that week was one of encouragement and fun, and it felt good to be a part of that. I was glad I was here to be able to give that other side of the story and have it accepted so graciously.

The song is silly (but catchy), and it was before anyone told me about the unwritten "no songs since the millennium" rule, so it wouldn't have made the cut happening now, but oh, it was a funny week. Most of the sexy lady pictures and posts have since disappeared, so sorry to those who might try going back for an eyeful, you'll have to settle for beefcake.

Retrospective: Burning Hell

R.E.M.: Burning Hell

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Patterson Hood: Burning Hell

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Although I visited Star Maker Machine from day one... my first post here didn't come until July 9th of 2008.

I was a little scared when I was told that my first week was something called "Hell Week." I had a brief flashback to my college days and wondered what sort of horrors would be foisted upon the newbie in his first week on the team. Then it was explained to me that "Hell Week" was merely the theme for the music that week and not some hazing ritual designed to make me "worthy." I felt a lot better.

That week, I chose to submit the song "Burning Hell" from the R.E.M. b-sides compilation Dead Letter Office. That post was the first thing I ever wrote for a blog (although I think it was actually posted after my first post at my site). I had no idea what I was doing, so I just followed the templates provided for me. I couldn't believe how simple it was.

That post gave me the courage I needed to finally get up off my butt and start my own site. I don't know that I ever would have started A Fifty Cent Lighter & A Whiskey Buzz if it wasn't for Star Maker Machine. That's why my initial post here was also my favorite moment*.

Today, I'm re-sharing that original R.E.M. song along with a cover by Patterson Hood from an R.E.M. tribute album.

*A close second to my favorite moment was this post by bowhowdy. That was the moment that really let me know that I might actually be doing something right with this whole blogging thing. The fact that another contributer here had such nice things to say really stopped me in my tracks. To boyhowdy, I want to say thank you again.

Retrospective: The Dutchman

The first thing I wanted to celebrate in my history with Star Maker is the folk-blogger sub-group. Not that we have ever given ourselves a formal title, and certainly not one so clunky. But there are three of us, and when we want to post folk music here, we often check with each other to see who will take the song. And we often find that it was a good thing we asked. In considering what song to post for this, I saw only one option: The Dutchman. Let me explain.

Michael P Smith: The Dutchman

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It all began when Susan joined us. She and I quickly discovered that anything by Joni Mitchell was a duplication risk. Later, we added Dar Williams, and sometimes Tracey Grammar to the list. But during Silly Songs week, I posted a song by Steve Goodman. I had always assumed that Goodman had written The Dutchman, and blithely said so. Susan set me straight in the comments. The song is actually by Michael P Smith, and later that week, Susan introduced me to his work by posting The Princess and the Frog. That song has become a favorite in my family. So, even though The Dutchman was never posted before on Star Maker, it is my first choice for this theme.

Steve Goodman: The Dutchman

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Alert readers will have noticed that I said there were three folk bloggers here. The third is Boyhowdy. If you have ever visited his own excellent blog, Cover Lay Down, you know that he specializes in folk cover songs. (If you haven’t visited there, you really must do so as soon as you finish with this post.) So, now that I know that Steve Goodman’s Dutchman is one of the greatest folk covers in history, it seemed all the more appropriate to start this week with the song. Boyhowdy and Susan, thank you so much for your friendship. I can’t wait to see where it takes us next.

Retrospective: Looking For The Heart Of Saturday Night

Tom Waits: Looking For The Heart Of Saturday Night

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My first post on SMM was as a guest on March 8th, 2008. I had no idea what I was getting into! As time has passed I have been surrounded by bloggers who are much better writers than I am and who have much deeper music libraries than I do. But, even though I feel outclassed most of the time, I cherish my opportunity to occasionally contribute here. I'm so happy to have been a part of something so positive, open-minded, and spirited. Thank you, Paul, for the initial invitation to join.

It may be so obvious that it doesn't even need to be said, but my favorite moments from my time here have been when I have been introduced to music and artists who I had previously either not known about or who I had ignored.

I knew a guy in high school who was really really into Tom Waits. I hated that guy! Because this particular Tom Waits fan was such a distasteful human being, I never gave Tom Waits himself a chance. That all changed on April 11th, 2008 when Paul wrote about Waits here on this blog. I found the song he posted to be so compelling and so beautiful that I immediately began the process of filling out my own Tom Waits collection.

I'm so glad to have been introduced to him as an artist. He is one of my favorite discoveries of the last several years.

Thanks for the introduction, Paul - and thanks to all of my blogging colleagues for Starmaker Machine.

Morning/Retrospective: Sunday Morning

Margo Guryan: Sunday Morning

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Margo Guryan's Sunday Morning - a pleasant sixties pop-fluff track from 1968's Take A Picture, which easily predates barely postdates the Velvet Underground track of the same name - was the very first song posted at Star Maker Machine, two years ago to the Sunday. It was brought to us by our beloved founder, Paul, who described Guryan both aptly and tersely, calling her "a 1960's style Lilly Allen (but a bit more refined)."

This coming week, in honor of our second birthday, we'll be featuring similar looks back at our current contributors' favorite moments. I've got plenty of favorites to offer, myself - beloved themes, favorite posts, songs that changed my life, and more - but I just couldn't resist calling back to our very first post as the perfect kick-off, like sticking a birthing room picture on the first page of the baby book.

Happy Birthday, Star Maker Machine. May you continue to serve as a haven for all of us.

Morning: Chelsea Morning

Joni Mitchell: Chelsea Morning

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"Chelsea Morning" is one of my favorite early Joni Mitchell songs - it appears on her 1969 album Clouds...

From Wikipedia:

The song was inspired by Mitchell's room in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The inspiration for the first verse comes partly from the distinct décor of her apartment. While in Philadelphia, Mitchell and friends had made a mobile from shards of colored glass they had found in the street and wire coat hangers, which filtered the light coming into her room through the window and created the "rainbow on the wall". During coffeehouse performances of this song in the late 1960s, Mitchell explained that the famous stained glass was rescued from the salvaged windows of a demolished home for unwed mothers.

Although she is speaking to a lover, I think ultimately this is Joni's love song to the experience of living in the city - as the verses unfold, her description of the sights, sounds and smells is rich and vibrant and delicious:

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I knew There was milk and toast and honey and a bowl of oranges, too And the sun poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses Oh, won't you stay, we'll put on the day, and we'll talk in present tenses

Morning: Through the Week Edition

Sometimes a week just gets away from you. Here it is Saturday, and I haven't had a chance to post anything yet. As I try to get out the door for a family gathering, I'll keep the yakking to a minimum and celebrate a week's worth of mornings.


The Move: Mist On a Monday Morning

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We'll start on Monday, with a dark bit of British psychedelia from The Move.


Badfinger: Sweet Tuesday Morning

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On to Tuesday, with a somber-sounding songs with surprisingly upbeat lyrics from Badfinger.


Simon and Garfunkel: Wednesday Morning, 3AM

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A song that would have been appropriate for last week's theme, too.


The Roland Kirk Quartet: April Morning

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OK, here's where my conceit falls apart. I could not find a Thursday morning song, so I'll substitute "April Morning", since we're now in April, and the first of the month was a Thursday. Plus, all that introspective folkie stuff earlier in the week was getting a little old.


Chris Hickey: Friday Morn'

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Some sad-but-resilient singer-songwriter Americana to finish out the work week.


Eels: Saturday Morning

[purchase]

It's the weekend! Time to rock out with the Eels.


The Velvet Underground: Sunday Morning

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There are several good Sunday morning songs, but this is one of my favorites.

Morning: Morning Dew

Bonnie Dobson: Morning Dew

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Einstürzende Neubauten: Morning Dew

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"Take me for a walk in the morning dew my honey, take me for a walk in the morning sun my love... You can´t go walking in the morning dew today, you can´t go walking in the morning sun today...." Bonnie Dobson´s Morning Dew has long been a favorite of mine. Her apocalyptic post-nuclear folksong from 1962 has been covered many times, most notably by Fred Neil and by Tim Rose, who falsely claimed a writing credit while he was at it.

But nothing beats the treatment German noisemeisters Einstürzende Neubauten gave it in 1987. Listening to their intense interpretation, you can almost picture that desolate, barren landscape after the smoke of the big blast has finally lifted... Berliner Blixa Bargeld, also a valued part of Nick Cave´s Bad Seeds at the time, plays his guitar like it´s a scythe and whispers Dobson´s tale of doom as if his life depended on it. "What they were saying all these years is true, ´cause there´s no more morning dew..."

Morning: February Morning Drive

David Francey: February Morning Drive

[purchase]

I would like to thank Kat of Keep the Coffee Coming for introducing me to the wonderful music of David Francey. I’m not including a link to Kat, because, as I write this, her blog is off line. If anyone has more information about this, please leave it in the comments. Thank you.

David Francey grew up to age 12 in Scotland. At that point, he and his family relocated to Canada. The Francey family loved going for Sunday drives and exploring their new country, and Francey continued these explorations as an adult. February Morning Drive reflects this. Each verse is a little painting, setting a different scene encountered on one of these rides.

The purchase link above is for Amazon’s Canadian site. The album is also listed on the US site, but at collectible prices. Of course, the price at the link I have provided is in Canadian dollars.

Morning: Hills of Morning

Bruce Cockburn: Hills of Morning

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I first heard of Bruce Cockburn in 1979, when I read a review of Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws in Rolling Stone. I was intrigued, but I didn’t get the album at the time. I got his next one, Steeling Fire. I believe Dragon’s Jaws was the first Cockburn album to become available in the United States, and Stealing Fire marked his breakthrough with American audiences. What took us so long?

Hills of Morning comes from Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws, and is the closest thing to a title track. What is the song about? By 1986, even Cockburn couldn’t completely remember. Here is what he said at that time:

Phil Catalfo: What I want to get to here, is how some of that is reflected in some of your songs in a way that is really quite exhilarating, I think, to the listener who may be Christian or not. One song in particular I'm thinking of is from an album called Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws. The song is called "Hills of Morning" and that song has always fascinated me and I wish you'd tell us something about it, how, where that song came from. Perhaps we could listen to it in a moment.

BC: Yeah, I'll keep it short because I can't remember very much about where it came from, at this point, it's a while back. Generally that whole album reflects probably the closest I've been able to come to expressing that particular kind of spirituality. The album was influenced partly by the fact that during the period that songs were being written I read all of the works of Charles Williams, who is an English writer with a particularly pronounced ability to describe spiritual things in very vivid terms. Most of his books are novels. They're sort of mystery novels almost, that deal with different elements of the occult, but bringing it around to a Christian point of view. And his own particular experience seems very strange. There's a sense of depth of being in those novels that is really both disturbing and thrilling at the same time. Anyway, that kind of pervaded the writing of the songs because the books were so much in my head at the time. But it's also the ... it was my own experience too that it was ... you know part of being a Christian is kinda getting to know Jesus. I mean you hear, again the TV guys are very quick to talk about a personal relationship with Jesus, and so on. It's a little unclear exactly what they mean by that. My own experience was that I felt that I was having a ...

Phil Catalfo: A personal relationship?

BC: A personal relationship, yeah, with a kind of ineffable being who was certainly no one other than Christ, who would occasionally put thoughts into my mind, and so on, you know, that were very clear, although the voice was a very quiet one and you had to listen for it. But it also sort of, after a while it got familiar enough, and I'd also without wanting to ... without getting into sort of being irreverent ... I kinda felt that that familiarity was something that should be encouraged, and talked about, in a way. So, you know, you hear in this song "a bunch of us were busy waiting" ... I sort of imagined myself being a street person in first century Jerusalem. And, here we are we're all sitting around in the street ...

Phil Catalfo: Pitching pennies ...

BC: In effect. Rolling bones, or whatever they did. That sort of led to the development of this song.

- from Bruce Cockburn interviewed by Phil Catalfo, "Music That Matters" programme, New Dimensions Radio, San Francisco, California,15 July 1986.

Before I found this quote, I found myself thinking of the Fool in the Tarot deck. The fool is open to new experiences, as he sets off heedlessly into the world. Is he foolish or wise? For me, it fits with this song.

Morning: Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise

Art Pepper: Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise

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Art Pepper (´25-´82) was the west coast king of the alto saxophone. His career consisted of many highs. Some of these were related to his art, the others to heroin. Do yourself a favour and pick up a copy of his extremely candid autobiography Straight Life for all the sordid details. A great read, it puts the excesses of many a rocker to shame.

Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise was originally a song from a twenties operetta. Pepper reworked it to fit his needs, assisted by Miles Davis Band heavyweights Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, plus Conte Candoli on trumpet. You can find it on Gettin´ Together!, the follow-up to his undisputed masterpiece Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section.