The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #168747   Message #4075989
Posted By: Lost Chicken in High Weeds
19-Oct-20 - 12:55 PM
Thread Name: brains grow roses / geese angel lovers
Subject: RE: brains grow roses / geese angel lovers
Very much appreciated thus far, everyone!

>For other weirdness, how about The Wind and the Rain

Indeed, I have been learning that one and actually working on my own re-write. I discovered it in 1996 when I just happened to notice the Jerry Garcia and David Grisman album 'Shady Grove' and was curious enough to read the back to see what it was. The notion of this "rock star" guy doing traditional folk with a mandolinist (I'd never heard of Grisman at all at that point) just struck me as interesting enough to buy and try...and was stunned upon listen.

As a child in the 70s, around 3 or 4 years old, my mother had gotten me a little Sears blue jean pattern record player and some Peter Pan label children's 45s. I was immediately enthralled with "I've Been Working on the Railroad", "Rock Island Line", "Pick a Bail of Cotton", and a few others, none of which I knew to be "folk" or even what folk or any other sort of music was at the time, other than church singing, pretty much.

Then in 2000 I noticed the 'Anthology of American Folk Music' that had been sitting on the wall at a record shop, and got curious, read the box, saw that it wasn't in any way related to the 60s "folk", bought it, and joined the ranks of "changed lives".

Anyway, I'm particularly drawn to ones featuring a bit of weirdness. Not necessarily "spooky", just strange, supernatural, or otherwise vividly outside the norm imagery, and Wind and Rain was the most striking to me from the SG album, though I've only recently taken to learning it, and noticed some things I felt called to "straighten out" for myself in the lyrics in the process.