Lyr Req: Today (from New Christy Minstrels)

Subject: Today - New Christy Minstrels
From:
Date: 18 Feb 98 - 10:07 AM

The MudCat Cafe looks like the place to be!

1) I'm looking for lyrics to "Today", as recorded by The New Christy Minstrels in 1966. The song is included on The Minstrels' Greatest Hits CD released in 1988.

2) I believe the song may actually be an old folk song. If anyone knows a little history on it, I'd love to be enlightened.

3) Now, here's the tough part. I'm looking for an arrangement of the song for harp. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks, Pam

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Susan of DT
Date: 18 Feb 98 - 08:54 PM

Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine? It's in under the title Today. I searched for "today blossoms"

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Dawn
Date: 18 Feb 98 - 08:58 PM

Lyrics are in the DT. The song is pretty common in music stores but I can't say about an arrangement for harp.... Good luck.

Subject: Thank you
From: Pam
Date: 18 Feb 98 - 10:23 PM

Thanks! Both of you!

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Humdinger Folksinger
Date: 24 Feb 98 - 09:17 PM

The lyrics are in the "Rise-Up Singing Songbook" and on any old New Christy Minstrels lp or tape; don't know if it's on cd.

Subject: Lyr Add: TODAY (while the blossoms still cling to.
From: Humdinger Folksinger
Date: 24 Feb 98 - 09:32 PM

This should get you started ...

"TODAY"

CHORUS: Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine,
I'll taste your strawberries and drink your sweet wine.
A million tomorrows will all pass away,
E'er I forget all the joy that is mine Today.

VERSE: I'll be a dandy and I'll be a rover,
You'll know who I am, by the songs that I sing.
I'll feast at your table and sleep in your clover,
Who cares what tomorrow shall bring.

CHORUS: Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine,
I'll taste your strawberries and drink your sweet wine.
A million tomorrows will all pass away,
E'er I forget all the joy that is mine Today.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Shula
Date: 25 Feb 98 - 12:03 AM

Dear All,

What?!! Not even a snippet of sarcasm, a flicker of facetiousness, a dash of drollery? Must've stumbled into Mistress Matilda's Cotillion stead'a The Mudcat...

Toodles,

Shula

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Feb 98 - 01:58 AM

You tryin' to pick a fight or something, Shula? OK, OK, so it's a sappy song. But it's a song that brings back the heady feel of idealism of our youth. Come to think of it, maybe it was just hormones flowing. I guess that even way back then, I knew it was sappy - but I learned by heart so I could impress some long-haired beauty who just loved it. I didn't get the girl - I guess it's just as well. Don't know if I could handle a woman who liked that sort of stuff. Sounds like it came off a Kahlil Gibran poster, or something.
I still get stuck singing "Today" once or twice a month at song circle, and people never get the timing right. Guess I must be doomed to put up with it forever.
-Joe Offer-

---

Digital Tradition lyrics - any corrections?

TODAY
(Randy Sparks)

C Am F G7 / C Am F G7 / C Am F G7 / C Am F G7 C

Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine
I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine
A million tomorrows shall all pass away
Ere I forget all the joy that is mine today.

I'll be a dandy, and I'll be a rover.
You'll know who I am by the song that I sing.
I'll feast at your table, I'll sleep in your clover.
Who cares what tomorrow shall bring.

I can't be contented with yesterday's glory.
I can't live on promises, winter to spring.
Today is my moment, and now is my story.
I'll laugh and I'll cry and I'll sing.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Randy Sparks
@plant
filename[ TODAYBLO
DC

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Feb 98 - 02:01 AM

....still and all, I wonder what happened to her. Her name was Merri - long hair, long legs, big eyes....
See what a sappy song will do to a guy, Shula?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Humdinger Folksinger
Date: 25 Feb 98 - 10:33 AM

Go figure ... I, also, still get requests for "Today" I knew way back when that it was kinda sappy, but for some reason, I still like singing it. By the way, I sure wish we had had this site 30 years ago ... sometimes I felt like an itty, bitty fish in a huge sea. I was singing songs of freedom and those around me were singing "Wild Thing" ... Go figure ...

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Feb 98 - 06:01 PM

Can anybody point me to the tune for this song, like perhaps in MIDI form? If I'm gonna have to sing it with my song circle for the rest of my life, I wan't 'em to sing it RIGHT. Everybody seems to come in at a different time on the last "today" in the chorus.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Humdinger Folksinger
Date: 25 Feb 98 - 11:44 PM

Joe ... can't help with MIDI, but I think Glen Yarborough also recorded "Today" ... of course, it's going to be on an old album/tape. I could send you a tape of me singing it ... are you interested?

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 12:31 AM

Should I be interested, Humdinger - or should I be scared????? ;)
I've got the New Christy Minstrels singing it on a CD, and I think I've got it down. It's just those last two notes I have trouble with. I think that in the second-last measure, there's a half rest, an eighth rest, and an eighth note for "to." On the last measure, it's a dotted half note, I guess, for "day." I guess it's in 3/4 time, isn't it?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Shula
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 01:40 AM

Dear Joe,

Shoulda known better 'n t' getcha started.

Shula

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 01:45 AM

That's right, Shula....
Hold your tongue now, or I'll call and serenade you with Peter, Paul and Mary songs. I admit I used to know every word of every PP&M song by heart.
love,
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Humdinger Folksinger
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 02:09 AM

Shula and Joe ... It's those "used to's" and "way back when's" that are scary, not me ...made my living singing in clubs and coffeehouses "way back when" and I still know all the words to every Mitch, Skitch, and the Bitch song ever recorded. I've been away from folk music for a long time but it's drawing me back in ... maybe I'm feeling my mortality ...Humdinger Folksinger

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 02:13 AM

Shula refuses to admit it, but she knows all those songs, too....and she hates herself for having liked them.
But, darn it, how does "Today" end?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Humdinger Folksinger
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 02:23 AM

Joe ... it's definitely 3/4 time ... but the ending ... I probably sang it differently every time ... I've never been good at playing for others to sing along ... so I use a lot of poetic license ... so, Shula's a goil ... me, too. Humdinger Folksinger

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Alice
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 01:16 PM

No one has yet mentioned the origin of the song. I always thought it came from the Rod Mc-what's-his-name bucket of sap. ('nuf sarcasm?)

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 02:26 PM

Whoa, Alice, we could turn this into an interesting thread about stuff that we once thought we loved, but which now causes us embarrassment. And other stuff that our contemporaries liked, but that we were too cool to like (although we may have pretended to like it in order to attract the opposite sex).
And then there's the stuff that's embarrassing, but that we have to admit we like anyhow. I guess I have to admit that Randy Sparks and the New Christy Minstrels and Randy's "Today" fall into that embarrassing-but-I-like-it category for me, along with Peter, Paul and Mary.
Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary is a personal acquaintance, and he's been really nice to me. And personal considerations aside, I have to say I see room for criticism - but I really like just about everything PP&M recorded. Same with early John Denver, although Denver did a lot of stuff in his later years that I'd rather not listen to.
Glenn Yarbrough did some great stuff when he was guided by the other Limeliters, but then he fell under the evil influence of Rod McKuen.
I reserve a special place for Rod McKuen and Kahlil Gibran in that "appeals to the opposite sex" category. My ex-wife liked them, as did other women I may have been attracted to in the late 60's. I guess I have to confess that for that reason, I may have feigned an interest in the works of McKuen and Gibran. At times, their utterances almost started to make sense to me, and that got me really worried about myself. Now that I have been dumped by a Gibran/McKuen fan and free of her for five years, I can proudly state that I have always hated Gibran and McKuen, even if I am on peaceable terms with my ex. But I guess I have to admit that she and I both still like PP&M and the New Christy Minstrels and John Denver.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Alice
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 03:14 PM

Joe, I loved (and have engraved on my brain cells) PP&M, the Limelighters, and alot of the Christy Minstrels songs. I even sang "Today" at a campfire at the Feathered Pipe Ranch in 1979, and had people coming up to me asking where I had gotten that beautiful song... I thought everyone knew it. The only old record of the New Christy Minstrels that I have is the 'Ramblin" one. It doesn't have Today on it. So... once again, what is the songs origin??

alice

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: John Pennington
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 03:57 PM

Hey Humdinger, Maybe you could make a wave file and have it posted in the forum.

Seriously, John Pennington

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Alice
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 04:17 PM

I should have just checked the lyrics page in the database. it's ©Randy Sparks

alice

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 04:31 PM

R*A*N*D*Y**S*P*A*R*K*S, Alice. Copyright, 1964, by MGM. It was featured in the Western comedy "Advance to the Rear," starring Glenn Ford. The song was nominated for an Oscar and was the the title song of the New Christy Minstrels' "Today" LP, which went Top 10 and was the group's best-selling album.

Here are some excerpts from album notes from a New christy Minstrels CD from Collectables records:
The New Christy Minstrels were founded in 1961 by Randy Sparks, born July 29, 1933 in Leavenworth, Kansas, also known as the hometown of melissa Etheridge.
The history of the Christy Minstrels goes back to the 1840's. Edwin "Pops" Christy was one of the many traveling minstrels of his day, itinerant singers who wandered the country, offering new and old songs for an entertainment-starved populace. But Christy soon came up with what he thought was a better idea in 1842, declaring that the harmony of a group of singers could better deliver the folk songs they trafficked in than a solitary traveler.
The Christy Minstrels would continue for 80 years, helping popularize the music of a young Stephen Foster and including members like Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor. Despite their success, the group disbanded in 1921 after a long stint on Broadway. Sparks revived the group in 1961, and they debuted at the Troubadour, a popular Las Angeles folk club. Sparks, a California singer and songwriter, had written the first two Ricky Nelson singles. I think I saw somewhere that he also wrote "Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio," which was recorded by John Denver.
After Sparks left the group, he formed the Back Porch Majority, which recorded forgettable but cheerful folk music. Kenny Rogers and Gene Clark (of the Byrds - Clark died in 1991) were in the Christy Minstrels at one time, and another member was Barry McGuire ("Eve of Destruction," and the born-again "Bullfrogs and Butterflies"). The group disbanded in the early 1970's, but came back in the early 1980's. Sparks became a rancher in Calaveras, California, where he opened a Museum of Western Americana (never heard of the museum, and it's not far from me - must have failed, I guess). He formed a new singing group, Randy Sparks and the Patch Family.
Now when you consider other bouncy groups like "Up with People" and the Mike Curb Congregation, the New Christy Minstrels weren't half bad.
Still and all, I really want to know how "Today" ends.....
Hey, Shula, wanna know any more?????
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Humdinger Folksinger
Date: 26 Feb 98 - 06:37 PM

John Pennington ... Forgive my ignorance ... what's a wave file?

Joe Offer ... I can truthfully say that I cannot think of the words "Up With People" without slightly gagging. And re John Denver ... I really liked his early stuff and couldn't not stand his later stuff. I must say that I felt a little of my youth slip away with his death. And I never did like Rod McKuen or Kahlil Gibran ... sappy just ain't my style. I must say, however, that you are a wealth of info; mostly stuff that I've forgotten. Do I sound like Methusalah-woman? Well, I'm not, really, I just started young.

Humdinger Folksinger

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 27 Feb 98 - 01:51 PM

Joe--try the Folk Music MIDI Page.

I like this song (again because of youthful associations, partly). You know, to some musicians, everything in the DT is appallingly sentimental. So let's just forget folk music and listen to Schoenberg.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Feb 98 - 02:34 PM

I dunno, Jerry - what's wrong with mixing your hormones with your music? Ah, yes, she did have long, beautiful hair and long, beautiful legs.... And now that it's 30 years since I've seen her, she looks so much better.
-Joe Offer-

Thanks for the lead to the MIDI, Jerry. I didn't think to check on the Folk Music MIDI page - somebody told me "Today" isn't "folk." ;)

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Feb 98 - 03:20 PM

Humdinger Folksinger (gee, can I call you something for short? HDFS???)- anyhow, a WAV file is one of many ways of saving a sound file on a computer. It records the sound quite well, but it does make a pretty big file that takes a fair time to transmit over the Internet. That's while you'll see sound files like RealAudio or Shockwave on the Internet - the files aren't as big, so they can be transmitted quicker. A MIDI file, on the other hand, is not actually a sound recording. It's a set of instructions that tell the MIDI synthesizer on your sound card how to play a tune, kind of like a player piano roll. Make sense?
-Joe offer-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: rich r
Date: 28 Feb 98 - 07:38 PM

I saw this thread come up and thought, well somebody will post the words pretty quick so I don't need to copy them from RUS. Then suddenly there were a bazillion messages and I thought "the coup is on". Should have knowed that when the thread gets wordy, Joe's gotta be in there (snicker). It is kinda scary past through puberty and beyond listening to most of the same records that I did. Must be a mid-west heritage thing. I will even go one step farther than you all have ventured and say that there are some good songs on some of John Denver's more recent recordings. NOt only that but his 1997 album of train songs "All Aboard" garnered a Grammy this past week. Joe, I feel I have to scold you or something. Sining a "folk" song and worried about "getting it right"? Where's the folk process in that? So what if someone wrote it. I thought it was common knowledge that folksingers (maybe not Humsingers) either don't or can't count. Somebody wrote all the songs here, it's just that we don't know who was responsible for most of the older ones. As a folksinger it is your duty to transmogrify or as PP&M put it to become a "nasty unscrupulous modifier" (not to be confused with and adverb).

rich r

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Rodney Rawlings
Date: 28 Feb 98 - 09:09 PM

I loved that song - and that record - back then, and I love it now.

One should never apologize for one's values. See Ayn Rand on this. (See, here's an instance of someone who has backbone for his values.)

Rodney Rawlings

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: tproject
Date: 01 Mar 98 - 12:44 PM

I cant find any sheet music for folk artist bill morrissey.Can anyone help.Thanks.Tproject.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Humdinger Folksinger
Date: 01 Mar 98 - 03:13 PM

Hey Joe ... Thanks for the info on the WAVE ... you can call me Jen for short. HDFS

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Mar 98 - 09:15 PM

Hi, Tproject - you're better off starting a new thread when you want to change the topic of discussion, but you can Click here to get to the Bill Morrissey home page.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Crystal
Date: 21 Mar 98 - 03:24 AM

3/20/98

Am desperately seeking "The Hound Dog Song"...apparently, the New Christie Minstrels sang it before. Any ideas where I might purchase a recording of this song?

Crystal Taylor ( E-Mail: [e-mail] )

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Mar 98 - 04:46 AM

Crystal, is it the HOUND DOG SONG that's in the database here? That one's available from Folk-Legacy Records on their CD called "Golden Ring: A Gathering of Friends for Making Music."
If that's not the song you're looking for, give us a phrase or two to work with.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Art Thieme
Date: 22 Mar 98 - 01:47 AM

I'M AMAZED!!

I have NEVER, EVER met anybody (before this) who admitted liking the NEW CRUSTY NOSTRILS (as we always called 'em). But I remember a guy in Chicago singin' around who auditioned for and was accepted into the N.C.M.--His name was Bob Sheebner. He probably made ten times the $$ singing than I ever did. That's life. Difference of opinion is what makes horse races! (Pete Seeger said that.)

Art

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Anonymous
Date: 22 Mar 98 - 02:32 AM

I know it's hard to believe, Art. It's not something that I like to admit publicly, especially around here, but I guess I have to admit I like 'em. I find myself singing along when I play a New Christy Minstrels CD, and I hate myself for it. Is there a 12-step program for me? I'm so ashamed....
-Joe (not my real name)-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Art Thieme
Date: 22 Mar 98 - 04:09 PM

I'm not sure about a N.C.M. 12-step group, Joe. But I'm in one called : TWELVE STEP GROUPS ANONYMOUS------(for people addicted to 12 step groups).

The PROBLEM IS that JUST GOING TO THE MEETINGS ACTIVATES MY COMPULSION!!

A very real Catch 22!

Thanks to you all----

A.T.

Subject: TODAY
From: Lucia
Date: 20 Nov 98 - 07:09 AM

I heard this song once - sung by John Denver of all people but I know he did not write it. I think it is called "Today" and the opening line goes somthing like:

"Today, when the blossoms still cling to the vine I'll taste your strawberries I'll drink your sweet wine"

or something similar. Has anyone the entire lyrics and if possible tune.

Subject: RE: TODAY
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 20 Nov 98 - 07:22 AM

Lucia.....

You can find it in the database. Put "blossoms vine" (without quotes) into the search box, upper right corner, hit the search button, and you're there.

....Tiger

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Ross
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 04:21 PM

I don't mind admitting, I still like lots of their stuff. In fact, if anyone has lyrics for "This Old Riverboat" I'd like to get them.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From:
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 11:48 PM

TODAY may sound like an old folk song. Actually it was written as the title song for the Glen Ford movie "Advance to the Rear", a very forgettable western comedy. The song was written by Randy Sparks. Sparks had a so-so solo career, then made a habit of starting-up, nurturing and moving on to form humongous ensemble groups, the best known being NCM.

NCM was much more fun to watch in person than to hear on record. Firstly many of the members were already known in SoCal folk circles (Dolan Ellis, Barry & Barry[McGuire]). Secondly, on stage they performed as solos, groups and ensemble, while on record it was mostly ensemble singing.

Barry McGuire, of course, went on to have a huge record after he left NCM. Larry Ramos went on to become an associate in The Association. And one of the girl singers became one sixty-sixth of Sergio Mendes' Brazil group. Not bad for a commercial folk group.--John (not Jon)

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 26 Feb 99 - 12:48 PM

My God, what a thread! And with such humble beginnings too. I thought (as did some others) that a couple of people would provide lyrics, two more would be snarky, and at least one would shout "Look it up in D T", but no... it's flourished, reproduced and has provided wonderful insights into mudcat psyches. And perhaps best of all, it's got Art involved. Where's Sandy P.?

Joe, you done good. You've gotten to the nitty gritty of being a (male) folksinger. When I lived at 118 Yorkville Ave. in the Toronto village, my chances of interesting beautiful young hippie girls would have been slim and none without the occasional syrupy, sucky, pseudo-folk song. The gorgeous young woman who used to sun herself on the roof of the house next to where I lived (with six others) wouldn't even have removed her sunglasses for my heartfelt renditions of Tom Joad, The Titanic, or Hesitation Blues. Even Barbry Ellen, fell flatter than Mrs. Child's oat cakes. But one night I tried "Today", Greenfields, and God help me...Seven Daffodils!! WE BECAME AN ITEM for several weeks! In the late sixties 3 weeks was equivalent to a marriage.

In those days I could learn 3 songs a day (and then forget them). Why is it I still can sing "Today" today?

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 26 Feb 99 - 01:11 PM

I just remembered that Sandy Paton courted Caroline with an extremely traditional folksong. But there's only one Caroline....and Sandy was much better looking than the rest of us....so he could do it with P.D. rather than Randy Sparks!

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 26 Feb 99 - 09:30 PM

This thread has gotten way off track! I love it!!! In the early 70's at the Philadelphia Folk Festival they had a workshop on "Why I Play Guitar" led by some great pickers. They all said they were basically shy and they learned guitar to attract girls at parties.

Back in the 60's, some folks looked down on groups that weren't "ethnic," The roster of such groups included all these sappy players mentioned above (why have we left out the Kingston Trio?). They were fine singers all and left such folks as Joe to carry on.

Joe, that "today" comes on the off beat, "to" is the eighth note just before the first beat of the last measure which of course is "day." Now Willie Nelson does this all of the time when he sings most anything and drives me crazy, an eighth note early or and eighth note late. Most untrained singers are looking for that first beat of the measure to sing "to". In a singing circle, a little leadership is helpful. If your hands are free you can let everyone know when to pitch in. It isn't so much being right (though that is nice sometimes), but more "let's all sing at the same time."

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 27 Feb 99 - 09:02 PM

At the Folk-Legacy Festival that had Stan Rogers as the special guest (we had one non-Folk-Legacy artist every year), Jonathan Eberhart was trying to conduct a serious song-writing workshop. When he asked participants to tell why they had written a particualr song, Bill Staines said: "I'm a songwriter, and I realized that I hadn't written a song for a couple of months, so I sat down and wrote this one." (I have no recollection of which song he then sang.) Stan Rogers followed, in his super-macho manner, with "I wrote this song to get laid." (I have no recollection of which song he then sang, so please don't ask!)

I do remember that Eberhart was pissed, because he wanted some real answers to the question of what moves a person to create a song. Apparently, he was getting real answers and didn't realize it.

Yes, folks, it's true. I wooed my Caroline with the New England version of the "Riddle Song" that I mentioned in the thread about "Macaronic Songs," lo, these many moons ago, but I've never told Caroline that I once forced myself to learn and sing "Scarlet Ribbons" for lewd and lascivious reasons. That was years before I met her, of course. I don't think I've ever heard "Today," which clearly establishes the extent of my folk-purism in the early days of the great folk scare. Just today, Rick, someone called and was asking Caroline about "Seven Daffodils." I had to admit that I'd never heard it, either.

Sandy, the deprived former-fanatic.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Feb 99 - 11:31 PM

This thread is a hoot isn't it? It reminds me of a friend's courting experience. I am certainly no expert on courting as I didn't marry til I was 36. I'm not overly bright either as I will never forget a time when I was about 30, the money was rolling in nicely, and I was out for a little drive in my yellow 'Vette roadster. It's a beautiful summer evening and I stop at a light. At the crosswalk is a lovely and leggy young thing...corn fed, midwestern prime. She looks at me with a smile and says, "Hi...that's a really nice car." And boy did I have a comeback: "Uh yeah, I think so. Thanks." If I'd had a gun handy, I'd have shot myself right there. Is it possible she later related her story about this to a friend who came up with Homer Simpson? Me and the 'Vette just slunk off into the night.

Which brings me to my friend. If I couldn't get them with 'Vettes, there was no way a folk song was gonna' do the job. So my friend Mac, at about this same time (age 30) meets his future wife and begins courting her with Dylan lyrics for Chrissake. He doesn't play any instrument, doesn't really sing, basically just a fan and she had no idea who Dylan was to begin with. And Mac can't use any vaguely romantic Dylan lyric...NOOOO!!! He's courting her with lines like:

"I'm a good ol' boy but I been sniffin' too many eggs"

"Idiot wind. Blowin' every time you move your teeth"

"Dogs run free, why not me?"

Twenty years later, they have nice kids and a loving marriage...but somewhere here there is some brain damage or something I don't understand. Can one of you romantic devils explain any of this to me?

catspaw

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: rick fielding
Date: 01 Mar 99 - 12:29 AM

Sandy. Scarlet Ribbons?! It's on a par with "Today". BUT...this has got me thinking. Suppose "Scarlet Ribbons" had been written by a "legit, respected, socially conscious folkie" who was just feeling very sentimental at the time. Someone like Lee Hays, who could be mushy now and then. It wouldn't get the flack, would it? "Seven Daffodils" WAS written by Hays and is suckier than anything Randy Sparks ever wrote. Difference is that Sparks was a mainstream capitalist pop songwriter who jumped on the "folk" bandwagon for a few years.

I taught a class in folk music at Humber college about 20 years ago, much of which was playing records from my collection and then throwing things open for discussion. I enjoyed it immensely. One young man, (a bit of a folky, but not in awe of tradition) called me on several points over the the course of the year. Once I had played Leroy Carr's "Blues Before Midnight", and he asked me why Sinatra's "Blues in the Night" was not a "real blues" when the other was. I couldn't use the "it's got to be 12 bar" arguement, cause it doesn't. I tried saying "it's the motivation of the composer" but truth is Leroy Carr was a pro, and obviously wrote for money. He said "if Sinatra was black would it be real?" Well...I hummed and hawed and said "nope", that's not it. He finished off by saying, "does it have anything to do with you like Leroy Carr and don't particularly like Sinatra?" He hit the nail on the head didn't he? If this guy was still around he'd make a good mudcatter.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: rick fielding
Date: 01 Mar 99 - 12:31 AM

Catspaw, the answer is blowing in the wind.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Barbara
Date: 01 Mar 99 - 12:58 AM

Sandy, I bet the Stan Rogers song was "You Can't Stay Here", I think that's what it's called, where he tells this lady that she has to go home because he's married(?) and has to go to sleep, and the song keeps getting slower and slower, and finally just trails off...
I remember thinking when I heard it the first time that it was a sneaky come on. ("Gosh, Sweetie, I told her to go home, I guess I just fell asleep and she climbed in with me, and...")
Funny, I always thought playing guitar provided a little dry air between me and the other interested party, sort of a folk shield. (There was a scene like that in 'Fritz the Cat', anyone remember?) Or how many sad Joan Baez songs can you listen to before you get bored and go home?
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: vat
Date: 01 Mar 99 - 07:23 AM

As I scan through the replies I didn't see the second verse to 'Today'

I can't be contented with yesterdays glories I can't live on promises winter to spring Today is my moment and now is my glory I'll laugh and I'll cry and I'll sing.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: catspaw49
Date: 01 Mar 99 - 08:38 AM

I don't get it. Why are you putting the second verse to "Today" in here? I mean, what's the, uh,uh......hold on a second......yeah...oops, I see now...This is a thread about that song huh? My mistake...Never mind.

catspaw

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: GUEST,pm dawn "set adrift"
Date: 21 Nov 00 - 05:31 PM

HELP

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Barry T
Date: 22 Nov 00 - 02:29 AM

My midi fer yer entertainment. This arrangement pretty much clones that used for the instrumental theme in the movie Advance to the Rear. I've always loved those key changes!

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Robby
Date: 22 Nov 00 - 01:30 PM

Wow. I am amazed that there is still this much interest in NCM. I have long enjoyed their songs and have three of their LPs, At The Troubador, Advance to the Rear, and I forget the third. Learned "Today" from a 45 before the movie came out. "Anything Love Can Buy", also from the movie I believe, has always been one of my favorites. Guess I just a sappy kind of guy.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: GUEST,GAdams
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 03:52 PM

Considering the fact that many members of the New Christy Minstrels hated the music Randy wrote, they still performed and recorded the songs with great enthusiasm. Randy didn't want to get involved with songs that had to do with anti-war themes and other issues of the day, but rather, he wrote songs that were easily learned and could be hummed by anyone anytime. He wrote his songs with a particular theme in mind: Tall Tales, Ramblin', Land of Giants, Merry Christmas, etc. Some question his song writing ability. It was minstrel members Nick Woods and Art Podell that brought the songs to life with their arrangements. Regarding verse two of the song, the word is "story", not glory. Regarding an earlier message about a "hound-dog song", could this person be referring to the song "Gotta Quit Kickin' My dog Around" from the Cowboys & Indians album? this was the first post-Sparks era album by the Christies. What else do I know about this group and Randy? Well, I helped spearhead their 1993 reunion at the Ice House in Pasadena. It was a seven year project and most of the members participated except for Randy Sparks and Barry Kane. Second generation minstrels Paul Potash and Ann White also participated in the reunion. The group went on to open their theatre in Oakhurst, California in 1994, but due to mismangaement, the group went bankrupt and the members went back to doing their own thing. From May until September of 1994, the group performed six nights a week at their Oakhurst home, SierraLand, but received salaries only a couple of times. A sad ending to what could have been a "new" folk revival with this group.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: ray bucknell
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 05:25 PM

Whew! I suppose I'd heard the NCMs' version of Today but when I think of the song my mind drifts back to my college days when I was, by default, elected musical director of my sorority and altered the lyrics of the song so that we could use it at a rush party. "Today as we walk in the light of the flame; we'll always remember the Delta Z name ...." Pretty awful, but it served its purpose. I think I knew it more from the "An Evening with John Denver" album. Guess that means I can dredge it up to sing at one of the Dead Folksingers Society sing alongs I run occasionally.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: GUEST,DAN EVERGREEN
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 05:53 PM

Sorry I'm not a sophisticated as those of you who are bashing this song. I think the words and melody are simple but very pretty. And Gibran is sappy too? For God's sake.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Deckman
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 09:56 PM

If you've worked ALL the way through this thread, I'm impressed enough to ask my BURNING QUESTION! Does anyone remember TERRY WADSWORTH, formally of Seattle and Tacoma. He sang at the Pamir House in the "U" district in the late 50's and early 60's ... AND ... he did a stint performing with the N.C.M. He was a very fine songwriter, and performed "The Little Match Girl" and "Mary Of The Wild Moor." I'd sure like to get in touch with him and trade a song or two. Bob Nelson, Everett, Wa. e-mail [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: JedMarum
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 10:42 PM

Then there is the Texas version. We sing:

Today while the blossoms
still cling to the vine
I'll taste your strawberries
and you can taste mine ...

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Melani
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 01:54 AM

I have to admit, the Christy Minstrels did a version of "Stormy's Gone" that I still occasionally find myself singing under my breath. You couldn't possibly haul a halyard to it, but it sounds nice. I also really liked "Land of Giants". I used to sing "Today" with a church group. As long as we're all admitting our youthful indiscretions.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: LR Mole
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 12:46 PM

Youthful indiscretions? I was a part of the folk mass mafia of the late sixties. Not only did I perpetrate "Kumbaya" with every gerund known to the English language (someone's singing, praying, defaulting on new car payments, naming planets, inventing unusual tuna salad recipies, etc., my lord...) I believe I was also responsible for introducing "Love is All Around" by the Troggs into the liturgy. "Today" should be recycled any day now as a rap, anyway ("Today, while the BLOSSms, still cling, to the VAHN...") In any event, weren't all the First Edition (Kenny Rogers' band) former NCM's? David Letterman claims HE was too, but...

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Gwion
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 09:00 PM

last verse:

I wont't be contented with yesterdays glories I can't live on promises, winter thru spring Today is my hour and this is my moment I'll laugh and I'll cry and I'll sing.....

Today.....

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: GUEST,T.G.
Date: 21 Feb 01 - 10:47 PM

The New Christy Minstrels just happens to be one of my favorite bands, along with the Flamingos and the Platters.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 01:30 AM

Well, we folk purists may say we just sang the song to get laid, but we probably liked it, too. Heck, I'll bet even Bill Day liked "Today."
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: GUEST,creeper
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 09:50 PM

Somehow I came into possession of the sound track from "Advance to the Rear" during the 1960's. (I think I won it in a radio station contest but those things are a little fuzzy now.) I played "Today" on my Hi-Fi until the grooves were worn smooth, then packed the platter in its jacket and completely forgot it. Thirty-odd years later, on a trip through Missouri, one of the local radio stations played it and I had to stop the car so that I could listen to it without being distracted. What made the experience all the more remarkable was the fact that I could remember every one of the words (including "story") even though I hadn't heard or sung it since I was a teenager.

I've searched intermittently ever since then for a copy of that song but was hampered by the erroneous belief that it was written by Randy NEWMAN. (The radio station didn't bother to mention who did it.) Last week, in a blinding flash of inspiration, I remembered the NCM. Et voila! I am here. What a great thread!

I've long since outgrown my brief flirtation with Rod McKuen, though those slim volumes still gather dust on my shelves. Nothing else Glenn Yarborough did will ever equal "Baby, The Rain Must Fall." But I'll remember "Today" when I'm old(er) and gray(er).

Barry T, thanks for the midi. Except for my own shower concerts, that's the only time I've heard the music since the DJ in Missori excavated it last September.

Someone mentioned The Kingston Trio. When we were in high school my husband sang with a group who did all their stuff. Last month I stumbled across their Greatest Hits album at a music store. I bought it mostly for old times' sake but when I played it I realized that these songs are still as good as, or better than, anything coming down the FM pipline nowadays.

Thanks guys & gals for a wonderful flashback.

Subject: RE: Need lyrics:
From: Allan C.
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 10:23 PM

I just looked at the early posts on this thread. I just can't help it, I really do miss Shula.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Today (from New Christy Minstrels)
From: GUEST,The Doctor
Date: 07 May 10 - 01:50 PM

Pam... if memory serves the harp strings are laid out similary, in a linear fashion, to the piano... recently I got a version of "Today" from the net with just chords and lyrics (easily played on guitar or piano)... just punch up keywaords TODAY CHORDS AND LYRICS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Today (from New Christy Minstrels)
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 07 May 10 - 03:37 PM

Deckman:

I remember seeing Terry Wadsworth in the Tacoma area back in 1961 or '62 when I was soldiering at Fort Lewis. I wish I could tell you where he is today. A talented guy. You might try contacting Randy Sparks via his website. He and I have exchanged a few e-mails the past couple of years. There is a picture of Terry with one incarnation of the group on this site.

http://www.thenewchristyminstrels.com/

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Today (from New Christy Minstrels)
From: MMario
Date: 07 May 10 - 03:45 PM

A persistant rumour is that someone that performed with the New Christy Mintrels has retired to the southern Finger Lakes region of NY. Anyone know if there's any truth to the rumour?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Today (from New Christy Minstrels)
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 07 May 10 - 03:54 PM

It could be any one of several. One that comes to mind is Art Podell, former chief instrumentalist and arranger for Randy. He was from New York, I believe, and got his start with former partner Paul Potash in Greenwich Village in the late 1950's. It could be Potash, as well. He played with the Minstrels for a brief time.

PS to Deckman:

Beware! From the tour schedule, the re-constituted NCM is coming your way soon.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Today (from New Christy Minstrels)
From: GUEST,Jim In Wa. State
Date: 04 Aug 11 - 03:52 PM

In the 60's when you wanted to talk about making love, you couldn't do it with the crude unimaginative terms today's songs have.

The song talks about spring time (ref:blossoms) Strawberries (Women's nipples) and see if you can figure out where the wine comes from yourselves.