Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)

Subject: Origins: Looking for a KFAT classic
From: GUEST,Estacio
Date: 13 Mar 04 - 11:12 PM

So I have a question ('been in my head for about 15-years) only a true Fathead would know the answer, or even understand the question. There was a song, played infrequently -- heard it maybe twice -- about dancing naked around a banana tree ( . . . in the rain? . . . during a full moon? . . . in courtyard in New Orleans? . . .don't know . . . I'm kind'a fuzzy on the details). Solo male voice, languid acoustic guitar, thought maybe it was early John Prine, but no could find. All leads welcome.

Anyways,

Estacio

Subject: RE: Looking for a KFAT classic
From: johnross
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 12:42 AM

It's Ramblin' Jack Elliott's "912 Greens". It appears on several of his records, including "Legends of Folk" on Red House, "Young Brigham" or Reprise (reissued later as "Me & Bobby McGee" on Rounder), and "Kerouac's Last Dream" on Folk Freak (reissued on Appleseed).

I believe the Rounder and Appleseed titles are in print on CD.

Subject: RE: Looking for a KFAT classic
From: GUEST,fatpyg
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 02:58 AM

Righr-o about Ramblin' Jack. Give me a little history about KFAT. I'm familiar with KPIG and we recently got a local KPYG which brings their signal a bit further south. Incredible Independent radio, itself a dying breed.

Subject: RE: Looking for a KFAT classic
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 14 Mar 04 - 04:50 AM

For the UK folkies - the references above relate NOT to animal husbandry but in fact to peanut farming, in particular to the K-Nuts you enjoy in your pub with a pint of the best. They are different varieties of peanut: KFAT is the traditional one, KPIG are the jumbo peanuts, and KPYG are the same but genetically engineered so that they grow already covered in yoghurt.

I like to help out in these cross-cultural exchanges.

Subject: RE: Looking for a KFAT classic
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Mar 04 - 11:13 PM

Is it featured in the Musical Stage version of "Buddy?"

Subject: RE: Looking for a KFAT classic
From: Dave Swan
Date: 21 Mar 04 - 10:38 AM

Stay tuned fatpyg, I'll rally the remaining fatheads in the neighborhood and I'll bet I can get back to you with a history. I don't know much about the history of the station, though I was a dedicated listener. Great talent, great play list. As you say a dying breed of independent radio.

D

Subject: RE: Looking for a KFAT classic
From: GUEST,Estacio
Date: 25 Jun 05 - 06:30 PM

Thanks for the info on Ramblin' Jack; you've made an 'ol fat head very happy. BTW, you can link to continuous replay of KFAT 1975-1983 by way of KPIG presents KFAT. I pick it up on ShoutCast:

http://205.188.234.129:8026

and listen via itunes.

The Best,

Estacio

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 03:05 PM

I was going through the "unanswered requests" database, and this one was on the top of the list. I found two versions of the "song" on Spotify, but I think I'm going to resist the temptation to post the "lyrics." It's a typical
Ramblin' Jack recitation. I can't quite tell if it's boozy or just spaced-out, but I have to say I enjoyed it.
Still, I see no value in transcribing it. Nobody other than Ramblin' Jack could do one like this.

But it's worth a listen. It's classic Ramblin' Jack.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: pdq
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 03:56 PM

Here is some more about...

                                              the late/great radio station KFAT

Perhaps we need a perma thread so people can post songs that made KFAT famous (or close to it)?

BTW, "Homerun Wille" and "The Okies and the Mexicans" (actual title was "Salinas") are by Larry Hosford. He did several records after leaving the rock group Snail, but those two songs are not on them.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: PoppaGator
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 04:36 PM

I don't doubt that y'all are correct about the official title being "912 Greens," but I remember (distantly) that 912 was the ADDRESS of a house he visited in New Orleans, specifically on a French Quarter Street. I thought it was titled more along the lines of "912 Toulouse," "912 St. Peter," or maybe "912 Dauphine."

It has been a long time since I heard the song, but I'm pretty sure that the lyric includes the address, even if the address is not the actual title of the song.

What does "greens" refer to? The vegetation in the courtyard ~ banana trees, elephant ears, etc.?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: Mary Katherine
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 05:15 PM

If it's the song I think it is, and I haven't heard him sing it in years, or maybe decades, it's about Ramblin' Jack visiting his pal Billy Faier at Faier's house in New Orleans, which was on Toulouse St. But the title was, or is, 912 Greens; if it was 912 Toulouse St., that would be somewhere around Burgundy or Rampart and Toulouse, right?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: PoppaGator
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 05:18 PM

Ah, very perceptive MK! Sounds about right; next time I have to drive into or near the Quarter, I'll check that.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: GUEST,what about the lyrics for this song
Date: 20 Apr 10 - 09:47 PM

what about the lyrics for this song ? I can't seem to find them easily.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: GUEST,Ken Brock
Date: 20 Apr 10 - 10:59 PM

For some reason I have always thought that "Greens" was a play on the usual "Blues" in a song title. Stringsinger should be able to shed some light on this.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 01:34 PM

You might enjoy either of these 2 videos at YouTube.

I think this is the better one:

Ramblin' Jack Elliot: 912 GREENS and DON'T THINK TWICE, IT'S ALRIGHT.

Here's the other:

Ramblin' Jack Elliott: SAN FRANCISCO BAY BLUES and 912 GREENS.

I get the impression 912 GREENS is the type of story that never gets told quite the same way twice. It resembles Arlo Guthrie's ALICE'S RESTAURANT MASSACREE in that it's a long narrative spoken over a guitar accompaniment, ending with a very short "song." It's shorter, though, and not so funny.

He does explain that the incident described in the story took place at 912 Toulouse St, New Orleans. He never explains where "Greens" comes from.

Here's the entire "song":

Did you ever stand and shiver
Just because you were lookin' at a river?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: GUEST,Billy Faier
Date: 12 Dec 10 - 11:28 PM

OK folks, here's the straight poop. Jack was visiting me at my place on 912 Toulouse Street in New Orleans in 1953. One day he made up this little tune on his guitar and said he was gong to call it the 912 Blues after my address. I pointed out to him that it wasn't a blues;
different chord structure. I suggested he call it the 912 Greens after the banana trees that grew in the patio outside. It predated Arlo's Alice's Restaurant by many years. Billy Faier

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: GUEST
Date: 03 May 12 - 11:02 PM

Billy Faier...you rocked this banjo pickin girls fedora right off my head with that comment. Made my day!!! ;-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: GUEST,In Search Of
Date: 30 Apr 13 - 06:01 PM

If indeed that really was Billy Faier (& y'all should check his website, regardless) who posted above AND if he might read the following question, I'd like to know. Today there is no marked address for 912 Toulouse St. - the addresses go from 910 to the next marker of 918. There is a a structure along the sidewalk with a locked gate. However, if you walk over to the opposite side of the street and look back, it's obvious there are some apartments with a courtyard but they have obviously been gentrified in the years since the song was lived out. My question is: was the apt courtyard reached from Dauphine Street? It must have been - nothing else fits the song's lyrics.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: GUEST,Guest - Chas.
Date: 04 Aug 14 - 12:47 PM

It took me nearly 30 years to find this song. Back in the late 60s hung out with some bluegrass hippie style folks. I remember sitting around on the floor (and latter laying around) listening to this most beautiful, song poem visualizing the tales of beat generation troubadours...

When I moved to the left coast used to occasionally hear this song on KPIG and later on KFAT. For years I searched for the song "912 Toulouse St." Eventually discovered that it was 912 Greens!

I was too young to be a beatnik and too old to be a hippie!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Aug 14 - 05:44 PM

A friend of mine, a folksinger who is an admirer of Ramblin' Jack, told me that this is the only song that Ramblin' Jack ever wrote. Can anyone confirm or disconfirm this?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: Mark Ross
Date: 05 Aug 14 - 08:11 PM

Jack also wrote this one;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdr6rVzgSvc (Cup of Coffee)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 912 Greens (Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
From: GUEST,Lou
Date: 20 Mar 24 - 12:14 PM

MK, He says in the song that the only way he ever knew to get to that place was a back alley fence - watch out for that rusty nail!

I heard him do it in 1971 at the Lion's Share in Marin County on a bill with Van Morrison. I still have the tape, I was the sound person there.