Mudcat CD Orchid Liner Notes
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1. Mudcat Rag composed & played by JustaPicker (Michael Kaye) - 3:09
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2. All The Good People (Ken Hicks ©????, published by Folk Legacy Records)
Sandy Paton & Friends - vocals, instrumentals
This is a song for all the good people, All the good people who touched up my life.
This is a song for all the good people, People I'm thankin' my stars for tonight.
This is a verse for all the good women Who knew what I needed was something they had,
Food on the table, a heart that was able Able to keep me just this side of sad.
This is a song for all the good fellows Who shared up my time, some good and some bad.
We drank in the kitchen and shared no competition
Each knowing the other was a good friend to have
This is a song for all the good people, All the good people who touched up my life.
Some helped in small ways, and some helped in hallways
And some always told me you're doin' all right.
This is a song I sing for my lady, For my lady who puts up with me,
My ramblin' and roamin', my late night come-homin'.
She is the sunshine that flows down on me.
This is a verse for the pickers and singers
Whose songs and whose voices have blended with mine
On the back steps and stages, for hugs and for wages,
It's some kind of sharing and some kind of fine.
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3. Maxie's Mudcat Blues --- Tune: "Fishing Blues" (Henry Thomas)
Sung & played by Alan of Australia, NightOwl, Paul, Alison (Boyd), & Amos
This song was created as a Thank You present for Max Spiegel & was made by
Mudcatters sending computer music files to each other via the internet.
Mixing the files was done by Paul Evenden (Musicman)
Verse 1 - from West Coast,USA
Amos (A. Jessup) - Lyrics; guitar, vocal:
Well, folks, let me tell you people 'bout a place I stay On the WWW line
There's a gent out there from old P A , Built a site that's awful fine.
Now, old Maxie Spiegel said, "Ya gotta know,
I'm gonna build me a place for the Folkies to go."
Mudcat town is the place to go, Thanks to Mister Spiegel--
He even made it legal!-- Maxie Spiegel's Mudcat Show!
Verse 2 (& Instrument break) - from Australia & Canada:
Alan of Oz - Lyrics & Vocal: ; Musicman (Paul E.)- Guitar
Alison ("the faire one") Boyd - Harp & Whistle:
The Mudcat Website is a place of wonder, As every Aussie folkie knows
The length & breadth of the land down under, The place where every folkie goes.
Now, Mudcat's known around the world, because It's the best folk forum that ever was!
It even has members from Iceland to Oz, Thanks to Mister Spiegel --
He even made it legal! -- Maxie Spiegel's Mudcat Show!
Verse 3 (& Instrument break) - from West Coast, Canada & East Coast,USA.
Amos (Jessup) - lyrics; Musicman (Paul E.)- Guitar, vocal
Vocal & Guitar-Paul(Musicman); Night Owl - Autoharp
Now, baby, if it's blues that are on your mind, / Mudcat is the thing for you!
Just browse on over to the Mudcat sign / & find yourself a "clicky blue."
You can pull up the blues 'til the cows come home
And run down the threads 'til your blues are gone.
Mudcat town is the place to go, Thanks to Mister Spiegel---
He even made it legal!--- Maxie Spiegel's Mudcat Show!
Verse 4 - from British Columbia, Canada.
Amos (Jessup) - lyrics; Musicman (Paul E.)- Guitar, vocal
If you wanna know the story of the farmer's wife
Or the chords to "Buddy, Have You Got A Dime?"
Just come on down, &, you bet your life, You'll get you an answer in record time.
No use moaning, or feelin' blue, / 'Cause you can be a folkie too!
Mudcat town is the place to go! Thanks to Mister Spiegel --
He even made it legal! -- Maxie Spiegel's Mudcat Show
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4. Rolling Home To Old New England (trad?) -
Played & sung by Kendall Morse - concertina ?,
Call all hands to man the capstan. See the cable running clear.
Heave away, & with a will, boys, For new England we will steer
Rolling home, rolling home, Rolling home across the sea,
Rolling home to old New England, Rolling home, dear land, to thee.
Fare you well, you Spanish maidens. It is time to say adieu.
Happy times we've spent together, Happy times we've spent with you
'Round Cape Horn one frosty morning And our sails were full of snow.
Clear your sheets and sway your halyards, Swing her out and let her go.
Up aloft amid the rigging Blows a wild and rushing gale,
Like a monsoon in the springtime Filling out each well known sail.
And the waves we leave behind us Seem to murmur as they flow,
"There's a hearty welcome waiting In the land to which you go."
Many thousand miles behind us, Many thousand miles before
Ocean lifts her winds to bring us To that well remembered shore.
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5. If It Wasn't for the Song - W & M: Harvey Andrews
Harvey Andrews - vocals, instrumentals ?
I was raised like most on rock and roll and Elvis was the king,
Then washboards and those thrash guitars made skiffles seem the thing,
But deep inside I always felt that I did not belong,
And my life would not have been complete if it wasn't for the song
Songs to make you dance and sing, songs to make you sigh,
Songs to make you laugh or bring a tear to your eye
Then one night on the radio came ballads good and fine
They told me of the Herring Shoals, the Old Grey Funnel Line.
I vowed I'd learn their every word & sing them loud and strong,
And my life would not have been so sweet if it wasn't for the song
I found a club and every week I'd take the bus up west
And I'd sing out with the Spinners and McColl and all the rest
And then I met the girl who's been a partner my life long
But our lives would not have been so sweet if it wasn't for the song
And with the kids we took our tent to Gerryhinton Hall
And we saw the best the world has sent to entertain us all
To festivals we went each year and joined the happy throng
And those days would not have been so sweet if it wasn't for this song
For forty years our folk club's been a place where all could come
We started with no instruments but now there's bass and drum
There's some who say our day is past. They may be right or wrong.
But their lives will never be complete if they don't have this song.
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6. Deep Shady Grove (From the singing of Edna Ritchie Baker & Floyd Baker;
Arr., new & additional words & music by Kytrad (Jean Ritchie) © 1971 Jean
Ritchie, Geordie Music Publishing Company)
Kytrad (Jean Ritchie) - lead vocals; Peter Pickow - guitar & dobro, bass vocals; Jonathan
Pickow* - tenor vocals; Larry Packer - fiddle Produced, recorded & mixed by
Jonathan & Peter Pickow,* Greenhays Studio, 7A Locust Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050
Excerpted from Jean's CD, "Mountain Born" Greenhays label, GR70725.
* Jean's sons
"Floyd Baker, my sister Edna's husband, was born & raised on Hell-fr-Sartin Creek in
Breathitt County, a county next to ours, Perry. He had this song from his father. Amongst
us we have, over the years, somewhat changed & modified the lyric & tune." - Jean R.
www.jeanritchie.com email: JR@jeanritchie.com
I got up one May morning for to hear the birds sing sweet;
I seated myself in a deep shady grove to hear those true lovers meet.
To hear those true lovers meet, sweetheart, & to hear what they might say.
I wanted to know just a piece of their mind before they went away.
Don't you remember about three years ago, with your arms around my waist?
You could make me believe, by the false that you swore, that the sun rose up in the west,
That the sun rose up in the west, sweetheart, & turned away to the east.
And now I've returned & found you here, & found you on your knees.
Well I never will believe what another woman says, Let her be white, yeller, dark or brown,
Unless she is on some high gallows tree & A-sayin that she wants to come down.
And a-sayin that she wants to come down, sweetheart, For no one would like to be hung;
And the words of a young girl is so hard to believe, that has lied to everyone.
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7. Mingulay * (Hugh S. Roberton, founder of the Glasgow Orpheus Choir) 3:12
Celtic Soul (Pyrates Royale)
Heel yo ho, boys; let her go, boys; Bring her head round, into the weather,
Heel yo ho, boys, let her go, boys, Sailing homeward to Mingulay
What care we though, white the Minch is? What care we for wind or weather?
Let her go boys; every inch is Sailing homeward to Mingulay. (cho.)
Wives are waiting, by the pier head, Or looking seaward, from the heather;
Pull her round, boys, then you'll anchor Ere the sun sets on Mingulay. (cho.)
Ships return now, heavy laden, Mothers holdin' bairns a-cryin'
They'll return, though, when the sun sets. They'll return to Mingulay. (cho.)
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8. 100 Pipers (trad.)
Jeff Sturgill - Irish Bouzouki solo (taken from Solo Recording "Charcloth"
Jeffrey W. Sturgill (Charcloth @aol.com)
PO Box 13263 Hamilton Ohio 45013 (513) 523-6596
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9. The Creek (Paul Garfinkel © 2000 - Blind Fish Music, BMI)
The Ashley Gang - www.ashleygang.com - [Paul G. (Paul Garfinkel) - guitar,
lead vocal; Al Scortino - guitar; Kay Garfinkel - flute; Michelle Lowe - bass,
harmony vocal; Norm McDonald - percussion, harmony vocal]
"This is a song about Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings who lived in Cross Creek, Fla.
(where Lochloosa & Orange Lakes come closest together) & Marjory Stoneman
Douglas, who lived near the Everglades. Rawlings won the Pulitzer Prize
(literature) for "The Yearling". Douglas wrote "River of Grass." One of Rawlings'
short stories is titled "Jacob's Ladder" -- a favorite of mine. "The Creek" was
named Best New Florida Song in 1999 by the Will McLean Foundation." - pg
Marjorie sits on her porch, & it's morning, Chasing the words that spin 'round in her head.
Life at the creek can explode without warning,
Turned on a phrase that some neighbor had said.
Life is a joy between birthing & dying, Crackers, black faces, & white jasmine blooms.
Living is hard, but we soar in the trying.
Between the swamp & the scrub now there's plenty of room.
Where Lochloosa & Orange Lake come closest together,
Where pictures are painted on words that we speak,
We suffer our neighbors, our crops & the weather,
But living's like heaven out here at the creek.
Marjorie stands where the grass flows like rivers,
Where birds fly like angels untouched by the sun.
She thinks about progress; the thought makes her shiver.
How swift will her river of grass need to run?
Now, joy is the life between marshes & mangroves, Gators & wildcats & white jasmine blooms.
Living is hard, but we're judged in the trying.
Between the cane & the trail, now there isn't much room.
Where the straits & the keys come closest together,
Where pictures are painted on Florida Bay,
We suffer the cattle, the roads & the orange groves,
But living's like heaven out here in the Glades.
Beyond Marjorie's window the magnolia still grows,
And its blossom's still placed on the table inside.
She looks for her sister she never did know, & they sail on her river of grass, side by side.
Where Lochloosa & Orange Lake come closest together,
Where pictures are painted on words that we speak,
We suffer our neighbors, our crops & the weather,
But living's like heaven out here at the creek.
Living's like heaven out here at the creek.
We are climbing Jacob's Ladder, We are climbing Jacob's Ladder
We are climbing Jacob's Ladder, Soldiers of the cross.
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10. Why We Sing (Composed & sung by Jeri Corlew © 2001 )
"Inspiration: Big Mick & the Why We Sing threads." - Jeri
"I had always wanted to write a song based on my thoughts about the things I have seen,
& the struggles that we all wrestle with. But I never could, & once my dear friend Jeri
wrote this, I knew that I didn't have to. The minute I heard her sing it, I knew that the
thoughts had found their voice, as well. You would do well to read the thread that Jeri
linked to so you can see the inspiration. And hearing her sing that one song will justify
the cost of the CD. I don't know if I ever told you this, Jeri, but I am so proud to have
had a little part of your writing this wonderful bit of imagery. Thanks." - Mick
Despair is in our cities & the squalor in the street,
Where the grandest dream a soul can have is to find enough to eat,
And most of us just walk on past & do not meet their eyes,
For a soul just like ours looking back, we'd be hurt to recognise.
There are stories in the city, there are stories everywhere,
And children suffer horrors from a world that doesn't care,
And you'd think their hope would waste away--for who could stand the pain?--
And you'd think they're just like all the rest, & you'd better think again.
For there are souls behind those wisened eyes that have seen the worst of man,
And something keeps them going on & giving what they can.
Each phoenix spirit waits for passion's fire to give it wing,
To find a reason to rise up, & it's why we sing.
When we sing, a spark within us wakes & is fanned into a flame.
To those who hear our spirit's voice, it calls in them the same,
And soon that light within us grows & wells up like a spring,
And it fills the barren emptiness, & it's why we sing.
Though our hearts, they may be jaded, we still listen for that call.
When we find a spark in one soul, we can see it in them all,
And whether it's a greater power or a simple human thing,
It calls out to the best in us & it's why we sing.
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11. The Girl I Left Behind Me
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12. The Ploughboy Lads
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13. The Blacksmith (trad.)
michaelr - guitar, octave mandolin; Patricia Casey - vocals, whistle;Tony Blake -
persucussion From the CD "I Lie Awake" by Greenhouse,
(http://www.celticfusion.org/), the band I've had the pleasure (& pain) to nourish for 12 years. -
The CD is on Jackalope Records, (http://www.the-last-record-store.com/lrsjackalope.html),
a tiny roots-oriented label based in Santa Rosa, CA.
In the DT: http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=5918
A blacksmith courted me, nine months or better. He fairly won my heart, wrote me a letter.
With his hammer in his hand, he looked so clever, & if I were with my love, I would live forever.
O, where has my love gone, with his cheeks like roses?
He's gone across the sea gathering primroses.
Will burn & scorch, I fear, the shining sun his beauty,
And if I were with my love, I would do my duty.
Strange news is come to town, strange news is carried,
Sad news cried up & down, that my love is married.
I wish them both much joy, though they can't hear me,
And may God reward them well for the slighting of me!
"What did you promise me when you lay beside me? You said you'd marry me & not deny me."
"IIf I said I'd marry you, 'twas only to try you, So bring your witness, love, & I'll not deny you."
"O, witness I have none, save God Almighty, & may He reward you well for the slighting of me!"
Her lips grew pale & wan; her heart did tremble
For to think she'd had one love, & he proved deceitful.
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14. Skylark -
Hesperis - a capella vocal
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15. St. Kilda Wedding - trad.
Robin2 (Ten Penny Bit)
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16. Beans, Bacon And Gravy (trad. -) Tune: "Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane,"
published by George Washington Hayes in 1870.
Uncle_DaveO (Dave Oesterreich) - vocals, banjo.
(Mudcat Profile:
http://www.mudcat.org/photos/profile_page.cfm?file_name_sent=uncle_daveo)
Uncle Dave has been singing folksongs & related songs since about 1950, first with guitar
& of recent years with banjo, & now cittern.
I was born long ago, in 1894, & I've seen many a panic, I will own,
17. Sing With The Angels (Rick Fielding © ???? ) 2.59
I've been hungry, I've been cold, & now I'm growing old, But the worst I've seen is 1931.
Chorus:
O, those beans, bacon & gravy, they almost drive me crazy. I eat them till I see them in my dreams.
When I wake up in the morning & another day is dawning, I know I'll have another mess of beans.
We congregate each morning at the county barn at dawning, & everyone is happy, so it seems.
But when our work is done, we file in one by one & thank the Lord for one more mess of beans.
We have Hooverized on butter; for milk we've only water, &I haven't seen a steak in many a day.
As for cakes and pies and jellies, we substitute sow bellies,
For which we work the county road each day.
If there ever comes a time when I've got more than a dime,
They'll have to put me under lock and key,
Because I've been broke so long I can only sing this song Of the workers & their misery.
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Rick Fielding - vocals, guitar - http://www.borealisrecords.com/a_fielding.html
From the album "This One's The Dreamer" - http://www.folklegacy.com/cd/cd5053.htm
Chorus: I'm gonna sing with the angels when my time comes around.
This earth is just rehearsal for when I'm heaven bound,
And I'll be well prepared to take my place with harmony & rhyme
And sing with the angels when it's time.
Now some will bring their wisdom, some a weary soul.
A foolish few will try to buy salvation with their gold.
Some will beg forgiveness for all that they've done wrong.
The only thing that I know I'll bring is a lifetime's worth of song. (cho.)
I've sung my songs in churches, bar rooms & in jails.
Some roads were super highways & others merely trails,
And when it's finally over, I'll be there to take my place
With a new life on a new road, an eternal state of grace. (cho.)
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18. Wrangling Dudes Written by Peter (Midchuck) & Kris' daughter Andrea after
working on dude ranches in Montana & Wyoming.
Kristina - lead vocal; Sandy (bigchuck) - lead guitar, harmony vocal;
Peter (Midchuck) - rhythm guitar, harmony vocal:
You change their diapers; you lie awake the first time they're out past your bedtime;
you go into hock for the tuition - &, if you're really lucky, you get to steal their songs... .
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19. The Parting Glass (trad.) - 1:57
Big Mick with The Conklin Ceili Band
"It was Big Mick's writing that lies behind the inclusion of [this] song on this CD. He sang
it to a dear friend in the hospital, who passed on. It was perhaps the last communication
he & Mick shared before his dying. The poignancy & compassion that comes through in
Mick's story compelled me to insist he include this rendition of The Parting Glass in the songs
he sent in for the CD. I was adamant, & as usual, Big Mick came through." - Amos
"Amos, this from Contemplator : William Cole lists this as an Irish song. It was well known in
both Ireland & Scotland. Before "Auld Lange Syne," this song was the most popular
parting song in Scotland. It appears in Herd's Scots Songs & in the Scots Musical Museum
(1803-4). It was printed on broadsides as early as 1770* & saw a resurgence of popularity
in the late 1800s. Several copies of these broadsides can be foundat the Bodleian Library.
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The tune appears as early as the 1600s -- in the Skene Manuscript & in the Guthrie
Manuscript (c.1675). It is also in Playford's "Original Scots Tunes" (1700).** The song is
also known as "Good Night & Joy Be With You All." Sam Henry collected "The Parting
Glass" in Ireland in1938. In Folksongs of Britain & Ireland, Peter Kennedy relates it to
the Manx song "Te Traa Goll Thie (It's Time to Go Home)."
Oh, all the money e'er I had, I spent it in good company.
And all the harm that ever I've done, Alas, it was to none but me.
And all I've done for want of wit To mem'ry now I can't recall;
So fill to me the parting glass, Good night & joy be with you all.
If I had money enough to spend, And leisure time to sit awhile.
There is a fair maid in this town, That sorely has my heart beguiled.
Her rosy cheeks & ruby lips, I own, she has my heart in thrall;
Then fill to me the parting glass, Good night & joy be with you all.
Oh, all the comrades e'er I had, They're sorry for my going away.
And all the sweethearts e'er I had, They'd wished me one more day to stay.
But since it falls unto my lot, That I should rise & you should not,
I gently rise & softly call, Good night & joy be with you all.
20. Sally Free & Easy (by Cyil Tawney) - Published by Gwyneth Music 4:10
Morticia (Terri Messenger) - vocal; Steve Messenger - instrumentals ???
Sally, Free and Easy, that should be her name, ( x2)
Took a sailor's lovin' for a nursery game.
Though the heart she gave me, was not made of stone, (x2)
It was sweet and hollow, like a honey comb.
Think I'll wait till sunset, see the ensign down, (x2)
Then I'll take the tideway, to my buryin' groun'.
Sally, Free and Easy, that should be her name, ( x2)
When my body's landed, hope she dies of shame.
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21. Letter From Lilac Acres (Jed Marum ©2002, Celfolk Publishing)
Jed Marum - guitar, vocals; Rick Fielding - autoharp; Dennis Pendrith -
string bass; Don Reed, fiddles; Curly Boy Stubbs, guitar
"I've read so many many letters from the US Civil War era; husband to wife, father to son,
sister to brother, & all have a common thread. Expressions of deep faith, words of
personal affection, & wishes for well being are all mixed in, it seems to me with comments
about every day life. After the attacks on America of September 11, 2002, I saw a young
woman telling a TV camera crew just how blessed she felt when she discovered that her
husband was among the survivors at the World Trade Center. I remembered then, similar
expressions in letters from home to soldiers who had survived battles during the Civil War.
I wrote this song from the perspective of a young woman who might have been living in the
home of my wife's family in Southboro, Massachusetts (Lilac Acres)." - Jed Marum
Photos: http://www.mudcat.org/photos/photo_page.cfm?file_name_sent=jed_marum
Profile: http://www.mudcat.org/photos/profile_page.cfm?file_name_http://www.mud
Website: http://jedmarum.com/
"As I write you this letter, the lilac's in bloom; The color still lingers on the daffodils too,
And this springtime's as pretty as any I've known.
May the Lord keep you safely & deliver you home.
"There's a spot on the river down by the mill pond
Where the boys have been fishing since the first light of dawn.
How they've grown since you've seen them these long, painful years!
Now the winter is passing & the summer appears.
Bridge: "I've begged the Lord over & over again / To send you home safely to me.
When so many have fallen, so many good men, To hold you again is a blessing, indeed.
Now I'm counting the moments 'til you're home to stay."
Signed, "With love, your Louisa," on the 13th of May.
(Fiddle Break, then repeat verse 2 & chorus)
Tag: "May the Lord keep you safely, & may God speed your way."
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22. Old Man at the Mill (traditional) 2:15
ShoreGrass: Barbara Shaw - vocals, guitar; Frank Shaw - vocals, banjo; Larry Rothermel
- fiddle); Paul Pozzi - mandolin; Louis Audette - bass, on their CD "In Connecticut."
Website: http://pages.cthome.net/the.shaws/shoregrass.htm - B.Shaw@snet.net
There are many versions of this song. Bluegrassers know it as an old Dillards tune, & folkies
know it as "The Jolly Miller," which goes back to 1765. This is the way we sing it:
Same old man livin' at the mill / The mill turns around of its own free will
Hand in the hopper & the other in the sack Ladies step forward & the gents fall back.
Down sat an owl with his head all white, / Lonesome day & a lonesome night
Thought I heard a pretty girl say, "Court all night & you sleep next day."
"Well, then," said the raven as she flew, "If I was a young one I'd get two,
One for to get & the other to sew: I'd have a string for my bow, bow, bow."
Well my old man's in Kalamazoo; / He don't wear no yes-I-do.
First to the left & then to the right, / This old mill grinds day & night.
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23. The Song (Reprise) - Harvey Andrews
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* Lyrics from DT. Not sure if they are the same as on the CD. - Ed.