Heritage: Joshua Redman

Joshua Redman: I Had A King

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Here's another example of the fruit not falling far at all from the tree. Joshua Redman, the brilliant free-form saxophonist, learned his craft at his father Dewey Redman's knee. Dewey was known for his solo free-form/bebop recordings as well as collaborations with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett, especially, as well as with Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, and Charlie Haden.

I treated you to a song by Joshua Redman (St. Thomas) during Saints week. This time I'm sharing a Joni Mitchell cover that he borrows and makes his own.

Heritage: Aoife Clancy

Aoife Clancy: Are You Sleepin‘ Maggie?

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Happy St Patrick’s Day! For the occasion, I wanted to present some Irish music. Shouldn’t be to difficult, right? After all, look at the on-line bio of almost any well known Irish musician, and it will say that they came from a musical family. The trouble is, most of those mothers and fathers were strictly amateur musicians. However, look at my artist’s last name. Yes, those Clancys. Specifically, Aoife’s father is Bobby Clancy of the Clancy Brothers. Love them or hate them, they have to be the best known Irish musical family. But Aoife is another matter. Her music is more rooted in the traditional sounds of Ireland, and she also uses a more modern folk sound. Aoife Clancy began her recording career as a member of Cherish the Ladies, and her solo work is just as beautiful.

Heritage: Anita Carter

Anita, Maybelle, June and Helen Carter

Anita Carter: Anita Carter – (Love’s) Ring Of Fire


[purchase]



Last week I featured an original of a song known better by its cover (“Bossa Nova Baby”), and this week’s theme invites another lesser-known original (those who know my little corner of the blogosphere will be aware of my love for those).

Anita Carter was part of the Carter Sisters, successor to the original Carter Family, the pioneers of country music. The Carter Family comprised A.P. Carter, his wife Sara and Sara’s cousin Maybelle, who by dint of her marriage to A.P.’s brother Ezra was also the sister-in-law to her fellow band members. They recorded for only nine years, from 1927-36, but left behind an immensely influential body of work, one that would help define country and folk. Maybelle was a groundbreaking guitarist: in her hands, the instrument made the transition from a rhythm to lead instrument.

The Carter Family broke up after A.P. and Sara divorced in 1936. Sara married A.P.’s cousin (really!) and moved to California. In 1938, Maybelle (still 29 years old) roped in her nine-year-old middle daughter June, and soon after her older daughter, Helen, who as an eight-year-old in 1935 already had appeared on stage with the Carter Family. Eventually youngest daughter Anita, born in 1933, joined the group which was alternately known as Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, or just the Carter Sisters, or the Carter Family. They performed together until the 1970s, and after Maybelle’s death reunited briefly in 1987, roping in June’s daughter Carlene.

In the 1950s Anita (who in the Carter Family played the stand-up bass) began to score solo hit singles. She also supported Elvis Presley tour (there were rumours of some kind of romantic relationship). More hits would follow sporadically, but Anita never hit the big time as much as did her sister June, who ended up married to Johnny Cash.

At the time when June was falling for Cash, she was regularly writing songs with fellow country singer Merle Kilgore. Kilgore later recalled Ring Of Fire being born the day June spoke to him about her love for Cash. While searching for an idea for a new song, the story goes, June remembered a letter she had received from a friend going through a divorce which described love as “a burning ring of fire”. The song essentially described June’s feelings for Cash. But it was Anita who recorded it, in November 1962. The song was only half-finished when Anita was ready to record it; June and Kilgore banged the rest together in ten minutes, fortuitously retaining the word “mire” from a provisional lyric.

Cash liked the song when he heard Anita’s record (as he well should) and decided he would record it. Deferring to his future sister-in-law, he waited four months before recording his version, with the famous Tijuana trumpets. His version was a hit, saving him from being fired by Columbia Records. Cash’s career revived to such an extent that he was later given a TV show, on which both Anita and Maybelle would feature frequently.

Maybelle died in 1979 at the age of 69; Anita died in June and Johnny’s home on 29 July 1999 at the age of 66.

Heritage: Martha and Rufus Wainwright

Martha Wainwright: Laurel & Hardy

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Rufus Wainwright: April Fools

[Purchase]

Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle were great folk singers in their own right. Sadly, Kate died last year, but Loudon still is going strong. The marriage between Loudon and Kate didn't last but the union left a lasting legacy nonetheless. Their children, Rufus and Martha, have become talented musicians on their own. Songwriting is obviously in their blood.

Martha's song "Laurel & Hardy" from her 1999 EP is about her brother Rufus and makes it clear that they have a close relationship, something that was probably fostered by their bitterness over their father not being around for most of their childhoods. Rufus is the more well-known of the two (at least so far), though, and has found much critical success.

After Loudon and Kate's divorce, Loudon had another child with another folk singer, Suzzy Roche, of The Roches. The child, a girl named Lucy, also has become a musician...as a bonus, here is a track of hers.

Lucy Wainwright-Roche: Chicago

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Heritage: Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis: In the Court of King Oliver

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I have the perfect album for this week’s theme. Standard Time Vol. 3 The Resolution of Romance is Wynton Marsalis’ tribute to his musical heritage. The album’s 21 songs form a sort of travelogue through the generations of jazz that inspired Wynton Marsalis. Naturally, the journey begins in New Orleans, Marsalis’ home town. In the Court of King Oliver is a Wynton Marsalis original, but it pays tribute to the first great New Orleans trumpeter, King Oliver.

Now, you may have noticed that this week is not about musical heritage but about family. Wynton Marsalis is the best known of six brothers, but three others are also jazz musicians. Branford is the saxophonist in the family, and the youngest brother Jason plays drums and vibraphone, and is just now starting to make a name for himself. Another brother, Delfeayo, has become a well known jazz trombonist, but he served as producer of this album. They all get it from their father. Ellis Marsalis made his first recording before the first of his sons was even born, in 1956. From there, Ellis Marsalis forged a dual career as musician and jazz educator. Ellis Marsalis is the piano player heard here, and father and son are both pictured above on the album cover.

Dance Moves -> Heritage: Bebel Gilberto's One Note Samba

Bebel Gilberto w/ Venicius Cantuaria: One Note Samba/The Girl From Ipanema

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Daughter of Brazilian singer-songwriters and composers João Gilberto, who is generally credited with inventing the Bossa Nova beat, and his wife Miúcha, whose career began at age 38 when her husband brought her in as a performing partner for his work with Stan Getz, Bebel Gilberto made her Carnegie Hall debut at just nine years old, singing alongside her parents and the inimitable Stan Getz. Today, she brings a perfect balance of modern beats and neo-classical portuguese style to her work, releasing remixes designed to appeal to the world beat market and her younger countrymen, and it works: this delightful samba is but one of several she has recorded, and to be fair, it's but one half of a medley of two of her father's signature tunes, both originally written by Antonim Jobim, but it showcases her style better than the ubiquitous and oft-sampled club remixes I also had sitting around.

As the daughter of musical royalty, Bebel's work also kicks off a week's thematic exploration of second generation musicians. Note that, as with previous artist-centric explorations, this week's posts will use artist names, not song names, in their titles.

Dance Moves: Waltz

Kyosuke Himuro: Waltz

[purchase]

After spending the evening watching the horrible news from Japan, I wanted to share something soothing, beautiful, and Japanese.

Kyosuke Himuro made his name in the 80s with fellow Boøwy bandmate Tomoyasu Hotei (of Battle Without Honor or Humanity fame). Since that band's demise, he's been a successful solo artist, leaning more towards the pop side of things. This English-titled song, Waltz, is a gorgeous ballad that really shows off his rich voice. Stylistically, he's a lot like George Michael, except he's not, you know, a creepy, entitled wanker.

Dance Moves: The Stroll, The Twist, The Limbo Rock, and The Cool Jerk

The Diamonds: The Stroll (1958)

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Chubby Checker: The Twist (1960)

[purchase]

Chubby Checker: The Limbo Rock (1962)

[purchase]

The Capitals: Cool Jerk (1966)

[purchase]


I know a few weeks ago, I opined that SMM wasn't meant to be the definitive resource for the weekly theme. But somehow, I just think that one of us has to chat about the raft of dances and their respective songs that blossomed in the late 50's and early 60's. Not that this list is at all definitive – it's just a few of the songs I really remember from those days.

One of the precursors to the boom in dance songs is the first song, a 1958 gem. I can't say I remember it exactly, but notice that photo up there? Well, that's yours truly in the frilly slip, along with my older sister and mother, doing my best at learning the Stroll, dancing along to American Bandstand on the TV.

The next song is much more vivid in my mind. I'm not sure if this was a universality, but in our suburban mecca, people actually did the Twist at weekend parties. I remember all the parents in the neighborhood twisting in our basement. And they did the Limbo, too---well, that was only possible, as far as I could tell, after a few of those funny-smelling highballs. Although we limbo'd a lot in school. It was the Macarena of the early 60s – everyone knew how it was supposed to be done, although the actual execution was wobbly.

Finally comes my personal favorite, the Cool Jerk. My sister bought me the 45 for my birthday (mostly because she knew she could "borrow" it whenever she liked.) I still own this 45, too. The top-notch Motown backing group, the Funk Brothers, provide the backing.

Dance Moves: Evangeline Waltz

Beausoleil: Evangeline Waltz

[purchase]

Every dance event I ever attended, after a high energy evening, always wound down with a slow dance. I imagine that this might also hold true for Mardi Gras, so here is a beautiful Cajun waltz to bring things to their natural conclusion. Evangeline Waltz is a traditional song. The liner notes say that this is a song of unrequited love, and I must believe it since I don’t speak French. If anyone who does can provide a translation, please do so in the comments. Merci. I must rely on the sound, and Beausoleil has never failed me yet.

Dance Moves: The Frug

Rilo Kiley: The Frug

[purchase]

Some songs don't lend themselves to over-detailed analysis. This 1999 song by indie pop group Rilo Kiley is one of those. Lead singer Jenny Lewis lists some things she can and cannot do, most of which are of passing value (I can make some mac and cheese), which stand in stark contrast to the fundamental thing she claims she cannot do: I cannot fall in love.

For what it's worth, I cannot do the Smurf either. I can, however, still do a passable frug and a damned good Freddie.

Dance Moves: Mardi Gras Mambo

The Hawketts: Mardi Gras Mambo

[purchase]

Darius recently wrote about the Meters, a precursor to the Neville Brothers formed in the late '60s. But their pre-history goes back even further, and this song is as good a starting point as any. The Hawketts' "Mardi Gras Mambo", featuring Art Neville on vocals, was released way back in 1954, but it remains a popular Mardi Gras anthem today. Indeed, I woke up this morning with this song in my head, and it seems like the most appropriate song to post on Fat Tuesday.

Dance Moves: Tango Atlantico

Joe Jackson: Tango Atlantico

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“You may think that this song comes too late.” So sings Joe Jackson on his 1986 album Big World. The song seems to be about the Falklands War, which was fought in 1982. Most of the songs about it came out in 1983, so you can see Jackson’s point. But in wars, soldiers are always left behind, as peacekeepers or advisors. These are who Tango Atlantico is about. Here in 2011, the United States is still fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both have gone on so long that the public has turned their attention to other things. To me, Tango Atlantico is also about our troops in those two countries. You don’t have to agree with the reasons these wars are fought to appreciate the sacrifices of our soldiers, who volunteered for this with the best of intentions. It seems that there is always a forgotten war being fought somewhere. So, Mr Jackson, your song does not come too late at all.

Dance Moves: Bossa Nova Baby

Tippie and the Clovers: Bossa Nova Baby

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Bossa Nova Baby has been unjustly regarded by some as a bit of a displeasing novelty number from an Elvis movie (1963’s Fun In Acapulco). Even Elvis is said to have been embarrassed by it. If so, he had no cause: it may not be a bossa nova — it’s too fast for that — but it has a infectious tune and a genius keyboard riff which begs to be sampled widely. Perhaps it was the lyrics which had Elvis allegedly shamefaced, but the lines, “she said, ‘Drink, drink, drink/Oh, fiddle-de-dink/I can dance with a drink in my hand’”, are not much worse than some of the doggerel our man was forced to croon in his movie career as singing racing driver/pineapple heir/bus conductor. Or perhaps Elvis was embarrassed by the idea of including a notional bossa nova number in a movie set in Mexico. So here we won’t revisit Elvis’ version of the song, but the original.

Tippie and the Clovers, who were signed to Leiber and Stoller’s Tiger label, recorded the song first in 1962 to cash in on the bossa nova craze. Apparently the composers preferred the Clovers’ version of Elvis’. These were the same Clovers, incidentally, who had scored a #23 hit with Love Potion No. 9 (also written by Leiber & Stoller and later covered to greater chart effect by the Searchers) on Atlantic in 1959.

(photo from farbror-sid.se)

Dance Moves: Little Black Samba

Grover Washington, Jr.: Little Black Samba

[purchase]

I have a handful of songs on my hard drive that I'm just waiting for the right theme to match, and this is one of them. I could have chosen among 66 other songs I've got with the word "Samba" in the title, but one look and I knew this would be the one. Its rhythm is so infectious and compelling that I'm having a hard time sitting still long enough to write this entry.

In 1980 when Come Morning was released, the saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., was at the peak of his popularity and was a key artist in the explosion of smooth jazz, a genre of jazz blended with funk, R&B, and pop. This song in particular celebrates the heavy African influence in Brazilian music in both lyrics (sung by the drummer Grady Tate) and rhythm (ably assisted by Eric Gale, guitar; Ralph MacDonald, percussion, and Steve Gadd, drums).

I like its cleverly punned title, too.

Doublespeak -> Dance Moves: Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha

Sam Cooke: Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha

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James Taylor: Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha

[purchase]

Things heat up a bit as we move from one title theme to another this week, leaving behind songs that use the same word twice to start a set of songs which mention dance styles or dance moves in their title. Yes, folks, it's a Star Maker Machine Dance Marathon, and if it works, I'm hoping it'll become an annual pre-spring event, marking the warming of the world with a bit of energy as we shake off winter with some dance floor moves.

Sam Cooke provides a solid transitional tune with his hot, humid, heavily rhythmic tribute to the Cha Cha Cha, a dance of Cuban origin often referred to doubly in American parlance; Sam's original is a worthy addition to the canon, and it'll certainly teach you how to do the moves, but it's James Taylor's 1991 version, off his sorely underrated Adult Contemporary album New Moon Shine, that brought me here: slow, sultry, languid, and aching with a kind of longing that Sam surely never envisioned, bless his heart.

Doublespeak: Nothing From Nothing

Billy Preston: Nothing From Nothing

[purchase]

Man, I love me some Billy Preston, so it was an utter shock to discover that not a single one of us has posted his work here at the Star Maker Saloon before today. The keyboard player's "Fifth Beatle" credentials are as strong as any for a reason, and it's here in spades in the perfect Saturday night jam.

So let's get it on, already: check out and turn up the frenetic powerhouse punch of that barrelhouse piano, the miles of horns, the effortless sexuality of that eminently recognizable tenor voice. Sure, you've heard it before - the song was featured prominently in both Elf and Be Kind Rewind, among other fine films - but I'll bet you a buck and a half you just can't help but throw your hands up and rejoice at a world where such utter jubilation can be brought by wire into your very own home.

Doublespeak: Funkadelic Edition

One of the many things I love about P-Funk mastermind George Clinton is his way with a song title. Though he's no Sufjan Stevens, he can get pretty wordy, which increases the chances of hitting a doublespeak candidate.

Here are three then, one each from the first three Funkadelic albums (my favorite part of the entire P-Funk discography, where the psychedelic/Hendrix influence was still pretty strong):

Funkadelic: I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody's Got a Thing

[purchase]

"I Got a Thing" starts us off with a fairly typical hippie sentiment: We're all different, but let's all just get along.

Funkadelic: Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow

[purchase]

"Free Your Mind" seems like it should be a plea to just let loose and have fun, but the music takes on a sinister feel, which makes you think twice about surrendering to the groove.

Funkadelic: You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks

[purchase]

"You and Your Folks" is basically a rewrite of "I Got a Thing", but it's a much better song. It also tempers the idealism with a bit of reality: "The rich got a big piece of this and that/The poor got a big piece of roaches and rats".

Of course, dissecting Funkadelic lyrics misses the point somewhat, so step away from your computer and shake that thang!

Doublespeak: When It’s Gone, It’s Gone

Bruce Cockburn: When It‘s Gone, It‘s Gone

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When I have posted songs by Bruce Cockburn before, I have tended to concentrate on his words. The man can be passionate and poetic, often in the same song. And Cockburn is an eloquent spokesman for the oppressed, as well as one of the best writers of songs of the spirit that I know of. Left out of those discussions has been the fact that Cockburn is also a very fine guitar player. Since When It’s Gone, It’s Gone is an instrumental, Cockburn’s prowess on the guitar is impossible to miss here. Actually, those same qualities of passion, poetry, and eloquence are found here as well. Cockburn is joined here by Edgar Meyer on bass, Mark O’Connor on violin, and Booker T Jones on organ. Each of these gentlemen is a master of his instrument, and all are much in demand as session players as a result. In such distinguished company, Cockburn more than holds his own. Liner note freaks will also appreciate knowing that this one was produced by T-Bone Burnett.

Doublespeak: Talk Talk

Talk Talk: Talk Talk

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Talk Talk: Time It's Time

[purchase]

There's so much doublespeak in this post that I'll have you seeing double!

Here is a pair of songs by the dual-named 80s synthpop group, Talk Talk. The first song is also called Talk Talk, which slots this band with the likes of Bad Company and Big Country – groups synonymously named with their first big hit. Talk Talk started out mining the same pop vein as that other dual-named 80s synthpop group Duran Duran, but by their third album, from which Time It's Time is taken, they've developed a complex, moody, almost oblique style, as if they're trying to channel Carl Orff with that choral stuff at the end.

Plus they have some of the coolest album artwork ever. What's not to like?

Doublespeak: Jump Jump

Garland Jeffreys: Jump Jump

[purchase]


The late ’70s and early ’80s were a great time for name-dropping in song. Tim Curry did it in the marvellous I Do The Rock, and B.A. Robertson in the 1979 hit Bang Bang. In this 1981 song, Garland Jeffreys goes walkabouts in Paris, referring to Victor Hugo (whose novel Les Miserables, not yet a musical, he’s presently not in a mood for), Rimbaud, van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne as he checks out the Venus de Milo and passes Notre Dame cathedral, inviting us to “jump jump” to all of these as a means of making the “great escape” from the mundanities of daily routine. Jeffreys dedicated the song to his friend John Lennon, a former art student who had been murdered a few months before the album was released.

The song is stuck away at the end of the superior side 2 of Jeffrey’s Escape Artist album, but nonetheless provides the inspiration for the title of the LP, which came with a four-track EP. Among the notable musicians guesting on the album are the E-Street Band’s Roy Bittan on piano and the late Danny Federici on keyboards, and their influence is reflected in the sound of the rock songs (less so, obviously, than they’d be on the reggae numbers). Others who appeared on the Bob Clearmountain-produced album include Lou Reed, the brass-playing Brecker brothers, Nona Hendryx and Linton Kwesi Johnson. One might think that Elvis Costello also chipped in, but it’s just Garland sounding like old Declan on this fine set.

Doublespeak: Seen and Not Seen

Talking Heads: Seen and Not Seen

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Doublespeak - the practice of using ambiguous language… in a deliberate attempt to disguise the truth

That is the definition from Dictionary.com. Our theme is not bound by it, and it probably should not be. But the word doublespeak seems relevant to the song Seen and Not Seen. The title suggests a pair of opposites which are present at the same time. That completely fits David Byrne’s meditation on personal appearance and reality. The song ends with a wonderful punch line, so listen for that.

Doublespeak: Mouth to Mouth Resuscitation

John Hartford: Mouth to Mouth Resuscitation

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John Hartford was a multi-instrumentalist, voice over actor, steamboat captain, and folk composer. He is one of the finest song writers in the folk style that I've ever heard. I don't know why he isn't more famous than he is.

Now, the mystery is that there is very little information on the vast internet about the featured song and the album that it comes from, Gentle On My Mind and Other Originals. Of course, Google searches for Gentle On My Mind return hundreds of references to Glen Campbell's smash hit cover of Hartford's song of the same name. But this wonderful album, being currently out of print, is only available on vinyl and is not even linked at all on Hartford's Wikipedia page. AllMusic provides the only review I could find, but the review is odd (e.g., Mouth to Mouth is referred to as a "chilling" song. Uh, I don't quite hear "chilling". Do you?)

Internet, you have disappointed me. I thought you knew everything.

Here's the bonus: There are two songs on Gentle On My Mind that match this week's theme. The other is the beautiful The Tall Tall Grass. Enjoy.

Doublespeak: Monday, Monday

The Mamas & The Papas: Monday, Monday

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Mondays stink, this classic hit from 1965 does not.

In fact, Mondays stink so much that I am in a rush to get to work on time and can't write more, but I felt if I was going to post this song this week, it needed to be today, for obvious reasons.

Doublespeak: Cold, Cold, Cold

Little Feat: Cold, Cold, Cold

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Little Feat’s Cold, Cold, Cold is a bluesy howl from the gut. It is also a song that may have been released before it was ready. The original version was on the 1972 album Sailin’ Shoes. Producer Ted Templeman may be the one who decided how it should be recorded. The song, in this incarnation, sounds like it was recorded inside a cave, and the distortion is not helpful. The performance is good, but Feat could do better, and it doesn’t quite hit it. Evidently, the band agreed. Two years later, they rerecorded the song in a medley with Triple Face Boogie for their album Feats Don’t Fail Me Now. This version is much better. But I have chosen a third version. This one is only available on a digital-only expanded edition of their live album Waiting For Columbus. The addition of the horn section tips this one over into the category of one of Little Feat’s finest songs.

The Hammond Organ -> Doublespeak: City, Country, City

War: City, Country, City

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If this is doublespeak week, then it seems logical that we'd have two transition songs, right? Not that I really meant to track down another organ-heavy tune, but this one just stood out for me when I listened to it again. I'm a big fan of War, a 70's funk/jazz band from L.A. (well, except for the inexplicable Spill the Wine, but I fault Eric Burdon more for that one). This 13-minute instrumental song is from what many believe is their finest album, 1972's The World is a Ghetto. It features Lonnie Jordan on the organ in what can be described as a deliciously rhythmic blend of Latin jazz and funk.

Enjoy, enjoy!

The Hammond Organ -> Doublespeak: Glory Glory

Al Green: Glory Glory

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Organist and songwriter Charles Hodges isn't necessarily a household name, but his work on the higher end of the Hammond keyboard is quite easy to pick out of a lineup, once you know what to listen for - or to look for on a label. In the same way that Booker T. was the in-house organist for Stax, the distinctive keywork of Charles Hodges, one of three brothers who comprised the core of the Hi Records Rhythm Section [featured above, with Charles standing in the center], can be heard on almost every record from the label during the sixties and seventies, including Ann Peebles' seminal I Can't Stand The Rain, and on many of Al Green's biggest hits, where he lends subtle support to the honey-voiced soul singer.

Our transition song this week isn't famous - it's a true deep cut from Full of Fire, in which the now-Reverend Green began to leave behind his tendency towards emotionally oozing love songs, choosing instead to explore his blossoming religious nature with a record heavy on the gospel soul. But it takes us quite deftly from last week's instrumental focus to a new thematic challenge, wherein we post songs which use the same word twice in their title.

The Hammond Organ: Refugee

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Refugee

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I didn’t really think I would be posting this song. Here it is, the end of the week. Surely someone would have mentioned Benmont Tench by now. But, they left it for me, so here goes.

Benmont Tench may be the best known Hammond organ player active in the music business today. I considered adding to this post work that he has done with Elvis Costello and Jackson Browne, just to name a couple, but I decided to keep it simple. Tench was a founding member of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, and the group doesn’t sound the same without him. Usually, he works as part of the ensemble, and he is a master of blending in and contributing to the overall sound. But Refugee features the organ a bit more than Tench’s other work, so I thought it was a good choice. The Hammond organ can make just as big a difference in the background as it does as the featured instrument, and you can here it both ways here.

The Hammond Organ: Yesterday

Una Valli with The Peanut Butter Conspiracy: Yesterday

[Out of print]

I have been reluctant to post this song, mainly because I am usually rather rubbish at identifying the instruments used in songs. When I like a sound, I spend little thought on whether it was made by a customised 4072 Hammond, somebody doing clever things involving a glass filled with pink sludge and a rare reed handpicked by naked maidens in the jungles of unexplored Indonesia, or on a computer. So, I at least think this splendid soul version of Yesterday from 1968 by South African soul singer Una Valli qualifies. It certainly features some sort of organ-like instrument. Possibly even a Hammond.

Had Valli not been from the pop backwaters of South Africa, from which only a few of many very talented artists have escaped, she would be highly regarded among soul fans. She might even have been a star, marketed as a white woman with as much soul as Aretha (and the hype would not have been easily dismissed).

Yesterday appeared on her LP Soul Meeting!!, on which she roped in the services of fellow South African soulsters The Flames and the Peanut Butter Conspiracy. It’s the latter that back Una on Yesterday, the unjustly reviled McCartney composition which has spawned thousands of risible covers. This is one of the few versions that show what a fine song Yesterday actually is.

Also check out Valli’s great version of Satisfaction, from the same album.

The Hammond Organ: King Kong

Odin: King Kong

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When I saw the weekly theme I immediately presumed we'd get Jimmy Smith and 70's progressive rock. Well, I was half right! I sorted through my own collection of Yes and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, but to be honest, I have a hard time telling where the organ leaves off and the synthesizers begin in most of those songs. I didn't want to embarrass myself by discovering that there was no organ whatsoever in my choice.

And then, just a few hours before the theme was announced, I came across a group and a song I'd never heard of before, and it fits the bill perfectly. Cool! So now we can learn about it together.

Odin was a European prog rock band formed in Germany in 1971. The Hammond organ player is German Jeff Beer, with Dutch guitarist Rob Terstall trading off the solos. They cut one album in 1972, and on the strength of it were invited by German radio station SWF to perform a live set. This song, a Frank Zappa cover, comes from that release. Have a listen to its glorious prog rock-ness.

The Hammond Organ: The Sky Is Crying / Tell Me Why

Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble: The Sky Is Crying

[purchase]

Los Lonely Boys: Tell Me Why

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This fave SRV tune, recorded in the Soul To Soul sessions and released posthumously, is a repost, originally brought to the fore for our Cry Cry Cry theme way back in the summer of '09. But since it's the organists' turn to shine, I've revived it, and coupled the song with this subtle summery B-side from Los Lonely Boys' self-titled 2004 album, which has subtle organ flourishes under almost every track.

The common element? The hands of the inimitable Reese Wynans, a legendary Hammond B3 player who got his start playing in a band alongside Dickie Betts and Berry Oakley before the latter artists joined The Allman Brothers, and who deserves his props for subsequent decades of solid studio and touring work in the blues and country worlds - as a member of Double Trouble and, more recently, with the likes of Buddy Guy, John Mayall, Ted Nugent, Brooks & Dunn, Joe Ely, Trisha Yearwood, Hank, Jr., and many more.

The Hammond Organ: Triplets

Hansson & Karlsson: Triplets

[purchase]

In 1966 twenty-three year old Bo Hansson played guitar with Stockholm blues rockers The Merrymen. He quit when the band was on the verge of a big break, and after seeing organist "Brother" Jack McDuff play the legendary jazz club Gyllene Cirkeln, he decided the Hammond was the only way to go. He got himself an organ and started playing solo gigs before he'd even learned how to play it. He soon teamed up with jazz drummer Jan Carlsson (yes, it's spelled with a C; the K in the bandname was a misprint) and the duo started playing wild, largely improvised gigs regularly at Gyllene Cirkeln, as well as other clubs around Scandinavia.

Their first and best album, Monument, came out in 1967 and made quite an impression. Jimi Hendrix jammed with the duo when he visited in Stockholm in the late 60's, a jam that was recorded but has never been released. There were plans for Hansson & Karlsson to join Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys, making it a two drummer band, but Hendrix died before anything came of it. But Hendrix did record a Hansson & Karlsson song, Tax Free, which he also played live occasionally. He wanted to record Triplets as well, but again that death thing got in the way.

After two more albums H&K went their seperate ways. Hansson made a few solo records (including his famed Lord of the Rings album) before leaving the music business entirely. Carlsson meanwhile, moved on to acting. In Sweden everyone knows him as "Loffe", which was the name of the womanizing character he played in the hugely popular mini-series Någonstans i Sverige. Following a one-off reunion tour in 1998 Hansson would occasionally do gigs with his protégé and fellow organist Eric Malmberg.

Bo Hansson died in 2010 at the age 67.

The Hammond Organ: Sophisticated Cissy

The Meters: Sophisticated Cissy

[purchase]

When I think of the sound of New Orleans, I think of great piano players long before I think of the organ. But one of the greatest bands the city has produced featured the organ on many of its songs, including hits like Sophisticated Cissy. That band was the Meters. In 1969, following a tour as a supporting player for his brother Aaron, Art Neville returned to New Orleans to form the Meters. Art was the organ and piano player, and the group was dedicated to instrumental funk. Sophisticated Cissy was the answer song to their big hit Cissy Strut. Presumably, the addition of the organ is what made her sophisticated.

Now maybe you know this history, or maybe you picked up on my clue, when I mentioned Art Neville and his brother Aaron. In time, the Meters would have shifts in their line-up, and they would add vocals. This laid the foundation for the Neville Brothers. But, if you want to hear New Orleans organ, those early Meters albums are the best place to look.

The Hammond Organ: Messy Bessie

Jimmy Smith: Messy Bessie

[purchase]

If you could only buy one organ-led jazz album, you'd be in quite a bind. For starters, there were two absolute masters of the genre: Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff. Smith started earlier and really made the organ a serious jazz instrument, so we'll give him the nod. But Smith recorded two stone-cold classics, Back at the Chicken Shack and Midnight Special (just two of the five albums he released for Blue Note in 1960), so which one to pick?

As it turns out, both albums were recorded at the same session, so you can't go wrong with either one. So with the flip of a digital coin, I've chosen Back at the Chicken Shack, represented here by the Smith original "Messy Bessie". It starts right off the the Hammond, which makes it perfect for this week's theme. Drummer Don Bailey, guitarist Kenny Burrell, and sax man Stanley Turrentine back him up with some of the down-home funkiness soul-jazz was known for, and everyone gets to stretch out on this 12-minute groove.

The Hammond Organ: Hope In A Hopeless World

Widespread Panic: Hope In A Hopeless World

[purchase]

Pops Staples: Hope In A Hopeless World

[purchase]

I went through a jamband phase the first time I went to college, and though my tastes tended to run towards less rock-oriented, more jazz and bluegrass-flavored jams such as those of Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident, and Phish, it was hard not to notice and respect the fervent, Allman Brothers influenced sound of Widespread Panic in the smoke-filled air. Their 1997 version of this pseudo-seventies anthem is rich with funk, and the distinctive sound of the Hammond organ features prominently.

Some sort of electric organ also features in Pops Staples' original, cowritten with Philly-based songwriter Phil Roy, coproduced with daughter Mavis Staples, performed with Mavis and a rich layered set of studio musicians, and released on the Grammy-winning album Father, Father when Pops was a still-spry 78 years old - it certainly could be a Hammond, as there's a Hammond player listed in the album credits, but the pinched and clearly electronic "pop gospel" sound which kicks everything off makes me less confident about make or model.

There's also a somewhat cheesy version out there from Britpop musician Paul Young, which hit the streets almost simultaneous with the Pops Staples original - it, too, features the Hammond, but it's so overproduced I decided to skip it. Still, completists can check it out on YouTube.

Oh, and TOTAL bonus points: Here's Widespread Panic live with Hammond and with Mavis on vocals, covering the song again live and unpurchaseable, from a 2002 show in Memphis, TN:

Widespread Panic ft. Mavis Staples: Hope In A Hopeless World [live]

The Hammond Organ: I Shot the Sheriff

Bob Marley and the Wailers: I Shot the Sherriff

[purchase]

Eric Clapton: I Shot the Sherriff

[purchase]

Eric Clapton established himself as a, perhaps the, guitar god with his work in Cream, Derek and the Dominos, and Blind Faith. So when he went solo, expectations were high. That’s why his version of I Shot the Sherriff was greeted with such derision and contempt by long-time fans. But was the song really such a departure? Consider: Clapton made his name with covers of classic blues songs, and part of his mission was always to encourage his fans to seek out the original versions and artists. With Sherriff, Clapton was asking his fans to do the same thing with Bob Marley and reggae. I would argue that reggae is a musical spiritual cousin to the blues. Both take a people’s grievances and provide a forum where they become a shared experience. Blues is more personal, while reggae is more political, but the communal experience is essential to both.

As for Clapton’s fans, there is no guitar solo in Sherriff. In fact, the only solo in either version is a brief organ solo at the end of the Marley. But, having said that, Clapton’s Sherriff sounds pretty good to me now. And, to the extent that it helped the world discover Bob Marley and reggae, I am grateful.

Songs From Poems -> The Hammond Organ: Tavern

Kris Delmhorst: Tavern

[purchase]

Kris Delmhorst's 2006 album Strange Conversation is an especially literary one, comprised entirely of songs based around or adapted from poems. The set includes a full range of performances, from full-on electrified folkpop to sultry singer-songwriter narratives, from dustbowl americana confessionals to soft, almost jazz-folk mood pieces, all of which hew close to the poetic moods established by the like of cummings, Byron, Browning, Whitman, Rumi, George Eliot, and other names generally less well known outside of the world of English Lit, making the album one of the true gems of any well-read audiophile's collection.

Like the album itself, this song - which varies not a whit from the original poem of the same name by American poet and feminist Edna St. Vincent Millay - is both ambitious and beautiful, made all the more so by the bluesy bass, brush drums, and organ which accompany Delmhort's whispered alto and deliberate guitarwork. It is also one of the few uses of the Hammond Organ I know which appear in the world of folk music. Expect plenty of Jazz, Blues, and Rock, especially from the 60's and 70's, and perhaps a few surprises to boot, as we feature songs which use the unique instrument in the week-to-come.

Songs from Poems: Sonnet 129

John William Davis: Sonnet 129

[purchase] John's website is down and further research shows no CDs are available on CDBaby or Amazon.com - if you want more information, drop me an e-mail at ozwoman321@aol.com and I can put you directly in touch with him!

I posted one of John William Davis' songs in my first few weeks as a Star Maker Machine contributor, waaaaay back in October 2008... and haven't shared anything of his since - shame on me!

Sonnet 129 is a musical rewrite of a Shakespeare sonnet, which actually should be Sonnet 130, to John's chagrin - regardless, it is a lovely interpretation of Willy the Shake's tongue-in-cheek ode to his lady, not waxing poetic like his literary contemporaries but honestly addressing her flaws while still professing his love...

SONNET 130

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Songs From Poems: Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Iron Maiden: Rime of the Ancient Mariner

[purchase]

Enough with these namby-pamby singer-songwriters, Star Makers. Let's rock!

Back when we did Discoveries week, I shared a photo of my mid-'80s college dorm room. Featured prominently on the wall was a poster for Iron Maiden's Powerslave album. I was quite the metalhead at the time, and Iron Maiden were in the upper echelons of my personal metal pantheon.

Iron Maiden's musical interpretation of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's epic was originally released on Powerslave in 1984, but I prefer this live version from the following year's Live After Death, one of the best live albums in the history of heavy metal.

More than twenty-five years later, I don't find myself listening to most of the metal I grew up on. But Iron Maiden, I can still listen to without--pardon the pun--irony. Their prog-rock arrangements always set them apart from their 80's hair-metal contemporaries, and for some reason Steve Harris' galloping bass lines never fail to get my blood pumping.

So carve out thirteen minutes of your life, put on your headband and tight trousers, and rock out! But remember my dear Star Makers, we're not as young as we used to be. Please practice safe headbanging.

Songs From Poems: No Storms Come

The Innocence Mission: No Storms Come

[Purchase]

When I was reading up on Victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins to prepare to write this post, I came across this line:

He is regarded by different readers as the greatest Victorian poet of religion, of nature, or of melancholy. [source]

This line struck me because the song I post is by The Innocence Mission, a band I could describe the same way. Both the band and the poet are devout Catholics, and they write often about the beauty and strength of the natural world, and do so in the most hauntingly beautiful and melancholic way.

The poem the song was taken from is called "Heaven-Haven: A Nun Takes the Veil". The poem (and song) itself says nothing religious, but talks about a longing for a place where things are always beautiful and never hard, and in that regard it is like Heaven. In Hopkins life, he seemed to struggle with his conflicting views between whether he could be a good Jesuit priest as well as a poet, and also was battling the conflict between his religious beliefs and (according to a number of sources) his sexuality. He died at a fairly young age of typhoid fever, only to have his poetry that was largely unpublished before his death, later praised as being ahead of its time.

Songs From Poems: Wild Nights

Brady Earnhart: Wild Nights

[purchase]

Wild Nights is a short poem by Emily Dickinson. There are three stanzas of four lines each, and no line has more than five syllables. But the poem has produced a great deal of spilled ink by those who have tried to interpret it. On the face of it, Wild Nights seems to be a burst of passion, but this does not jibe with Dickinson’s biography. So some critics attempt to explain that the poem is actually an expression of religious passion, while others theorize that Dickinson had a secret lover and debate his possible identity. I think it’s much simpler than that. Let me explain.

Emily Dickinson was not a very social person, and she became a recluse in later life. Far from having a lover, she did not even form close friendships. She grew up in the years before the Civil War, when various illnesses could claim a person’s life with startling suddenness. Dickinson lost an instructor at the academy she was attending as a teenager, and this seems to have affected her deeply. Dickinson seems to have resolved at that time, consciously or not, that she would not risk becoming to close to anyone, lest Death come for them. Some of the quotes I saw in researching this post suggest that Dickinson all but kept a tally of those she cared about who died as she grew older. Each death seemed to confirm for her the wisdom of not forming close bonds. So Dickinson’s relationships were mostly in the form of correspondence, and she was a prolific letter writer. What she knew of physical passion she read about in the works of Shakespeare and other authors. So, it seems to me that the poem Wild Nights is about the yearning for companionship. She mentions “wild nights”, but it’s not at all clear that she can imagine what they would be like. If anything, the wildness seems to be an external force, and the yearned-for companionship provides a haven from it.

I mentioned that the poem is a series of short bursts of words. One might expect a song made from Wild Nights to be loud and fast. But Brady Earnhart takes it slow, and his arrangement creates a cushion of sound. What comes through beautifully is that yearning emotion I spoke of above. You can hear another song from Earnhart’s latest album So Few Things here.

Songs From Poems: love is more thicker than forget

The Story: love is more thicker than forget

[purchase] / [read the poem]

The ever-lowercase e.e. cummings isn't the obvious choice for lyrical source material, even when his poems scan, as in the 4x4 series from whence this transformed verse comes. The language borders on cryptic abstraction, with voiced emotion and fragmented narrative taking the place of the more traditional verse structure which he learned from, and it tends to break funny between lines.

But Jonatha Brooke and Jennifer Kimball, in a coda from their debut duo pairing The Story, found their tendency towards playfully beautiful soaring and dischordant harmonies perfect for the piece, and for e.e. cummings' style overall, managing with just piano and two voices to create an incredibly successful environment for what is often a gorgeous yet difficult-to-fully-access poetic method. They do it so well, in fact, that as in the original poem, the pauses between lines speak as loud as the words themselves: the sparseness sings, and the self-referential imagery of love's extremity rises and fades with the cross and flow of these two voices into sky and sea and everything between.

Songs from Poems: Jerusalem

Mark Stewart & The Mafia: Jerusalem

[purchase]

Geoviki´s post on Jerusalem as interpreted by Billy Bragg made me remember another fine take on Blake: a dubby postpunk gem by former Pop Group singer Mark Stewart. Anthemic indeed.

Songs From Poems: Blake's Jerusalem

Glastonbury Tor

Billy Bragg: Blake's Jerusalem

[purchase]

The poem we know as Jerusalem is William Blake's 1808 preface to his longer epic, Milton: A Poem, and is based on a legend that Jesus Christ visited Glastonbury, England, during his lifetime. This visit is reflected in the four questions that begin the poem, and Blake's conclusion is that if true, it would have resulted in a temporary heaven on earth. It concludes with the exhortation to recreate this state once more in England. In other words, it's a poetic alternate-universe fanfic of the Bible.

The poem languished until 1916, when it was set to music, a move meant to encourage the British fighting spirit at a time when World War 1 wasn't going well (see also Darius' description this week of Yeats' Slouching Towards Bethlehem from the same time and place). Since then it has become enormously popular song in England, often used publicly as one of several unofficial national anthems. I have to say, it's turned into an enormous earworm for me ever since I decided to post it.

Billy Bragg includes this version on his overtly political 1990 CD, The Internationale. Bragg is an English socialist punk-folkie. As was Blake, by all accounts. Hearing this song in Bragg's pronounced East London accent is quite fitting, I think, especially the line about the "dark Satanic mills." Clearly, Blake wasn't much of a supporter of the Industrial Revolution.

Jerusalem by William Blake

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire;
Bring me my Spear; O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England's green and pleasant Land.

Songs From Poems: The Lady of Shalott

Loreena McKennitt: The Lady of Shalott

[purchase]

Alfred Lord Tennyson published his original version of The Lady of Shalott in 1832, but Loreena McKennitt takes her lyrics from Tennyson’s revised version from 1843. Tennyson is famous for his Idylls of the King, which was a series of poems inspired by Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur. Although The Lady of Shalott is a tale with Arthurian elements, it is not part of The Idylls of the King. In fact, the poem was inspired by an Italian telling of the story of Elaine of Astolat, and this version has several differences from Malory’s telling. Note too that, although T H White would later combine the characters, this is not the Elaine who was the mother of Galahad.

Tennyson presents a lady who is under a curse: she must view the world only through a mirror, and then weave images of what she sees. This curse was apparently Tennyson’s invention; it can be found neither in the Italian version nor in Malory. It is the element that makes the poem so fascinating. There have been many scholarly discussions over the years about what this signifies. For me, and I think for Loreena McKennitt as well, it is best left a mystery. I do enjoy the irony of one notion though. The lady in her weaving reminds me of the Fates in Greek myth. That would mean that the Lady of Shalott can control every destiny except her own.

Songs from poems: But for you who fear my name

The Welcome Wagon: But For You Who Fear My Name

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I didn't think I would be able to post anything this week, but when our just and true leaders lifted the restriction on songs from this century and said that Bible verses could be considered poems I found myself back in the game.

I bought Welcome Wagon's album because it was produced by Sufjan Stevens. His influence is obvious in every note of every song. (In fact no more than five minutes ago as I played this song before uploading it, my son said, "Is this Sufjan?").

All of the lyrics to this song are from two sections of the book of Malachi in the Old Testament (Chapter 4:2 and Chapter 3:17).

Songs From Poems: Mad Girls Love Song

Fisher: Mad Girls Love Song

[Purchase]

It's difficult to look at a picture, like the one above, of Sylvia Plath and imagine the darkness that must have been haunting her. Plath has become almost synonymous with her suicide by gas oven than by her impressive poetry and her semi-autobiographical novel, "The Bell Jar". Most of her work seems to have those shadows lurking though, the ones saying she was worried about her own mental health and that perhaps things weren't what they seemed in the pretty, intelligent co-ed and mother of two.

The poem "Mad Girls Love Song" was first published in the women's fashion magazine Mademoiselle back in 1953, having been written by Plath in college a few years previous. Considering its title, it was begging to be made into an actual song, and a number of versions have been made by different artists over the years. This version of the song, as recorded by the singer Fisher, was never released because they were unable to reach her estate for authorization. Instead, they changed a number of the lyrics (they're already slightly off in this version) and released it under the title "Sleepy Head" on the album linked for purchase above.

You can read the original poem text here.

Songs From Poems: Take This Waltz

Leonard Cohen: Take This Waltz

[purchase]

¡Ay, ay, ay, ay! Leonard Cohen´s admiration for Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca must have been huge, as he named his daughter Lorca Cohen in honour of the legendary Spanish poet. And later, Montreal's finest personally and expertly translated Lorca's poem Pequeño Vals Vienés as Take This Waltz, to be included on his surprisingly poppy '88 album I'm Your Man. I'm pretty sure that Lorca, whose death at the hands of nationalist militia in the Spanish Civil War is still shrouded in mystery, would have been proud.

"This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz,

With its very own breath of brandy and death,
Dragging its tail in the sea..."

As a bonus, here´s Cohen´s fine interpretation from Live In London (2008), complete with band introductions.

Leonard Cohen: Take This Waltz (live '08)

[purchase]

Songs From Poems: Now Touch The Air Softly

Peter Mayer: Now Touch The Air Softly

[purchase album]
[purchase poem]

Even to a cynical heart like mine, it seems appropriate to post this on Valentine’s Day.

Now touch the air softly, step gently, one, two ...
I'll love you 'til roses are robin's egg blue;
I'll love you 'til gravel is eaten for bread,
And lemons are orange, and lavender's red.

“Now Touch The Air Softly” (more formally known as “A Pavane for the Nursery”) is a popular wedding poem by William Jay Smith, the USA’ 19^th Poet Laureate. He was born in 1918 in Winnfield, Louisiana, and in his very long career has written for adults and children. I do not lay claim to great affection for poetry, but Smith’s style appeals to me, especially for its clarity.

Now touch the air softly, swing gently the broom.
I'll love you 'til windows are all of a room;
And the table is laid, And the table is bare,
And the ceiling reposes on bottomless air.

Smith has explained his style: “I believe that poetry should communicate: it is, by its very nature, complex, but its complexity should not prevent its making an immediate impact on the reader.” So when his poems dish out alliterations, I find that greatly preferable to impenetrable metaphor.

“Now Touch The Air Softly” has its fair share of metaphor, but its lucidity surely has helped its elevation to the canon of wedding poetry. Who’d preserve a dry eye as they survey the happy couple eagerly setting out on their mutual commitment with these words providing the dramatic, impassioned soundtrack:

I'll love you 'til heaven rips the stars from his coat,
And the moon rows away in a glass-bottomed boat;
And Orion steps down like a river below,
And earth is ablaze, and oceans aglow.

So it’s all the more unromantic to learn that Smith, who at almost 93 is still alive, ended his marital career with fellow poet Barbara Howe not in death doing them part, but in the legal construct of divorce.

“Great poetry,” according to Smith, “must have its own distinctive music; it must resound with the music of the human psyche.” And if the human psyche requires aid in that, folk singer Peter Mayer in 1999 put Smith’s poem to music – and most enchantingly so. Mayer, from Minnesota, has released nine albums independently and built up a fair following, but has yet to achieve a breakthrough. Read his brief bio and reviews of his work at www.petermayer.net/bio/.

So touch the air softly, and swing the broom high.
We will dust the grey mountains, and sweep the blue sky:
And I'll love you as long as the furrow the plough,
As however is ever, and ever is now.

(Photo from cape-town-weddings.com)

Songs From Poems: Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Joni Mitchell: Slouching Towards Bethlehem

[purchase]

“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.” It’s a very familiar quote. The original source is the poem The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats. The Second Coming was Yeats’ response to the trauma of World War I. In the United Kingdom, the so-called “great war” cast a long shadow. Well into the 1920s and beyond, there are cultural references to the war, and to the generation of young men who were lost in it or permanently emotionally scarred by it. As late as the 1980s, when Joni Mitchell adapted The Second Coming into her song Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Sting wrote about this lost generation in his song The Children’s Crusade. Yeats, in his first reaction to the war, equated the dark times to the precursor of the second coming as foretold in the New Testament.

In the 1980s, there were small wars, famines, and other troubles in the world. Joni Mitchell was becoming more aware of, and concerned about, these troubles than she had been in her youth. Her song Ethiopia is one sign of this. So that may be why Yeats’ dark vision resonated with her. Mitchell needed to modify the poem to make it work musically for her. She elongates some passages, and compresses others, and also changes some of the wording to fit her musical idea of how the poem should sound. For comparison, I have included the original poem below.

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
THE SECOND COMING

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?