ADD: Flight 641 - songs by Lawrence Hammond

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Marte Cosette
Date: 08 Apr 10 - 11:44 PM

There were two other memories of the young Lawrence Hammond that I have from Paris. He had a friend from London, an older woman named Mary who was a South African in exile because of her anti-apartheid activity. This woman had a beautiful tape of a song by LH called "Empty Rails in Garfield County" on which the instruments were just guitar and one violin. I thought this performance was more haunting and desolate than the one on the "Coyote's Dream" recording, and I wish I still had it. One night I when visited with this Mary and Secorra Lawrence sang a song in French which I believe was called "Un Canadien Errant" (A Wayward Canadian). A beautiful song of exile. I almost wept to hear it. That evening the playwright Athol Fugard, a friend of this Mary, called and asked to speak to LH to say he had heard the "Empty Rails" song and admired it. LH, who loved this playwright's work so much was very touched. I believe this was one of the last times in Paris where we were all together. I saw Hammond very briefly once again when he was in London during his final year of medical school and visited Paris.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Seth in Olympia
Date: 09 Apr 10 - 09:59 AM

"Empty Rails in Garfield County " is also on LH's Takoma LP " Coyte's Dream" A really beautiful, haunting song. I would have to dig the record out of my garage to get the words.....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Carver in Marin
Date: 12 Apr 10 - 03:56 PM

I was always a fan of Mad River's slightly manic dark edge and saw them live many times. Friends with similar enthusiasm always wondered why MR veered toward country and folk on their 2nd album and how Hammond wound up with the solo career in country-folk like he did. In 1968 I was at a gathering at the home of Harvey Brooks. Nick Gravenites was there, and their band The Electric Flag was signing with Capitol. I believe the lawyer Richard Hodge was there with Mad River to discuss whether Capitol would be a good fit for them. I remember Hammond as a skinny blond kid hunched in a corner listening to one Merle Haggard record after another. That MR eventually veered from psychedelia and that Hammond ended up writing the music for "Coyote's Dream" never seemed too odd to me. He sure did it with a novelist's eye. It would be good to hear more from him. I discovered this site while looking to replace my MR albums online. Hope more folks do.

Subject: Lyr Add: LIGHT AS A COYOTE'S DREAM (L Hammond)
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 03:43 PM

I am reluctant to actually admit how long ago I promised Q that I would come up with the transcription for this. But anyway, here it is.

I solicited input from Arkie, Gene, Joe and Stewie and this is the final result, or at least as final as we could come up with. As you can see, there was one word that we couldn't seem to work out no matter how many times we listened. Hammond's rhymes aren't always all that exact, but style does come closest to smiled. Neither of the two choices makes all that much sense. You can listen for yourselves at the myspace link Suffet gave back on 24 Mar 10 - 10:45 PM. http://www.myspace.com/lawrencehammond There are four songs on the site, Coyote's Dream, Pale-Eyed Companion and the two previously unreleased songs Texas Fiddler and Nevada McCloud. All are worth the time it will take you to go to the site and give them a listen.

Dale

Light As A Coyote's Dream
Lawrence Hammond
As sung by Lawrence Hammond on "Coyote's Dream," Takoma 1047, 1976

The last tired stars are fadin'
The wind is cryin' low
The rollin' weeds go whinin'
Like tires down a far off road.

These brown hills of Nevada
So blue in the desert moon
But not as blue as her eyes like the Washoe County skies
Where the fallen stars once bloomed.

She was sweet as a mountain wildflower
With a voice like an easy rain
And the kiss that she laid on these tired old lines
Was light as a coyote's dream.

But with lights those eyes were smilin'
With such sweet laughin' ??sounds/style/something else??
That hard old man up in Heaven
Well, I think even he must have smiled.

Far cross them old Slate Mountains
Another man holds her there
Like mine, his hands tremble softly
Smoothin' down her long yellow hair.

She was sweet as a mountain wildflower
With a voice like an easy rain
And the kiss that she laid on these tired old lines
Was light as a coyote's dream.

Way down in the arroyo
Where the mesquite blooms so deep
Wakin' from his dark dog's dreamin'
Some coyote hears me weep.

She was sweet as a mountain wildflower
With a voice like an easy rain
And the kiss that she laid on these tired old lines
Was light as a coyote's dream.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,brdalton
Date: 20 Apr 10 - 02:24 PM

The lyric sheet on the inside of my vinyl disc sleeve says "style." think that makes sense, too.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,RobbiePreston
Date: 26 Apr 10 - 03:04 PM

I think there is a last "Coyote's Dream" verse that was not on the album cut. I have sung this song for over 30 years and can't remember where I got this final verse. It goes:

These hills ain't got no conscience
This valley ain't got no shame
To watch a good man cryin'
And never know his name

I have always thought those lines echoed the last verse in "Empty Rails in Garfield County"
that go:

As the mountains looked down without no understanding
A few hard tears were washed down in the flood.

I lived in Palo Alto in the mid 70's and used to drive over to Freight and Salvage to catch High Country, U. Utah Phillips, and Hammond and his very cool band fairly often. Also caught Hammond solo one night at a club in Palo Alto where he sang a gorgeous old jazz/blues song called "Lotus Blossom." I've hunted for that on the web and found a faster New Orleans-style band rendition, but it did not have the intensity and loneliness Hammond's version did. Anybody know that one?

Thank you guys lots for this thread. What a great find!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Rod in England
Date: 04 May 10 - 04:03 PM

incredible. See, I was always a huge fan of Mad River, which was a minor cult over here in Great Britain, and I actually heard MR's Rick Bockner play solo over on this side of the pond over a year ago. For some crazy reason, I was never really aware of Lawrence Hammond's solo stuff until quite recently when I scored a vinyl "Coyote's Dream" (mint copy still in plastic wrap with the lyrics on the record sleeve and all of the gorgeous lonesome-west photography). I paid a lot for it too! Although the studio quality was very much 1970's, the words really hit me--and I haven't been a huge fan of country. But, like the liner notes say "this is country music, and then it isn't. ". The instrumental playing on the album is top-notch, especially on "Trucker's Nightmare." And "Coyote's Dream" and "Pale-Eyed Companion" are just hugely memorable.

But...here is the incredible thing:

I worked in international relief projects for about 30 years and was involved in the Uganda refugee airlifts out of there during the Idi Amin rampage (have you seen "The Last King of Scotland?"). I am pretty sure I knew Secorra Plarres-Montes during that time, not positive, but she was fairly unmistakable. Think she was going by a different surname at the time though. Sad to think of that particular life cut so short, but what we did was often pretty risky. I contracted all kinds of crap, including malaria, in Africa. It would be an amazing coincidence, as I was already a fan of Mad River's two albums, which, by the way, seem to resist dying off. It would have been a kick to run into Hammond during that time. Is everyone aware of the extensive interviews with Hammond and MR on the web-archive about the San Francisco poet/novelist Richard Brautigan?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,L.E. Mondracer
Date: 21 May 10 - 05:02 PM

Holy Toledo! I have not logged on to this site for over 4 years and am just amazed at how this thread has grown and the amount of info it contains. There is just precious little else of worth on the web about this man. When I met him on a sunny day in the park in Silver City New Mexico he had 2 young children in tow. He was genial, but, I thought a bit dismissive of his time and his accomplishments in the music world. I got the impression these were painful times for him, but he did provide me with some song lyrics and spoke with some feeling about his US Public Health Service years on the Montana Indian Reservations. He was clearly in love with Montana and the southern New Mex landscape, and I wonder what made him leave there and go back to the Pacific Northwest. If I am remembering it right, he alluded to an upcoming chamber music concert (!) he and his wife and some friends were giving at a local church. I am pretty sure he said that he and his wife were going to play Debussy (!?) He mentioned she was a violinist and pianist and had been one of his teachers in medical school. I still sing "Empty Rails in Garfield County," and have been humming "The Pale-Eyed Companion" for years. Am grateful to BR Dalton for his hints on the chords! Keep this going. soldiers!!!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,herringbone28
Date: 22 May 10 - 02:54 AM

Hmm. Am thinking that "Coyote's Dream" line is actually:
"And the kiss that she laid on these tired old EYES
was light as a coyote's dream."

As for the "Lotus Blossom" query from Robbie Preston, I have heard on old jazz record by Julia Lee that seems maybe to be the same song. I wonder if that is where Hammond picked it up. The first line of that one goes:

"Sooth me with your caress, sweet lotus blossom, I'm beggin you
Help me in my distress,sweet lotus blossom, please do."

Is this the same one?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,RobbiePreston
Date: 24 May 10 - 03:42 PM

Think it is the same :Lotus Blossom."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 24 May 10 - 04:24 PM

Herringbone28, EYES was what I heard for all these years, but in careful repeated listening when I was transcribing the lyrics, I made the change to lines as that was what it sounded like.

It would have been a whole lot easier if I could have found the liner notes, but who knows where they might be after all these years? Brdalton and others have mentioned having them. He made the confirmation that the other line in question was definitely STYLE. I'm guessing that if the other was wrong he probably would have said so. Like I say, that's only a guess.

Getting back to my comment Neither of the two choices makes all that much sense. in reference to sound or style, that was a poor choice of words. What I meant was that I couldn't hear either of the choices, not that they weren't sensible.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,50Marks
Date: 01 Jun 10 - 03:23 PM

After scoping out these posts, I went to the Lawrence Hammond My Space site. Wow! Who do you suppose are the fiddlers on that "Red-Dirt Texas Fiddler" cut.? The gorgeous, moody "Nevada McCloud" song on the site really has echoes of Marty Robbins. I heard Hammond a couple of times in the mid-70's. Once at The Boarding House in San Francisco and later singing solo at UC Riverside in about 1977. Until now I had no idea why or how he vanished from the music world. Thanks to everyone who has posted to clear this up. If there are unreleased Hammnd recordings out there, SOMEBODY should rescue them somehow. Does Enrique Paredon know who has or owns these recordings. And if Fantasy Records has the "Coyote's Dream" masters, does Fantasy still exist?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Mickey
Date: 29 Jun 10 - 03:18 PM

Living here in Campbell River, B.C., we don't get a lot of live music, but we hear an amazing amount of good music on a little 50-watt station out of Cortes Island (about a 1 hr ferry ride away). Lawrence Hammond and Mad River were well before my time, and I only had read about them. About 2 weeks ago I heard a radio interview with all 5 members of Mad River, who were apparently having a reunion of sorts on the island. The DJ played some of their cuts, which were pretty intriguing, so I set about finding a way to get the music myself., which led me to this site. It was interesting to find that Lawrence Hammond's band mate Rick Bockner lives over on Cortes. He plays concerts around here sometimes. I have found a copies of both the Mad River albums and the Hammond "Coyote's Dream." which has some really haunting stuff. Also think "Cherokee Queen" on the 2nd MR album pointed to the direction Hammond would take after Mad River. Hope we hear more from this talented bunch.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,summerstorm
Date: 13 Jul 10 - 03:01 PM

Yes! I have loved that " Cherokee Queen" song forever and I REALLY wish Hammond had recorded it again on his solo album. We did ask him to play it again at a performance in Boston in maybe '76 pr '77. THe song was written by SDS founder Carl Oglesby who apparently was friendly with Mad River during their Berkeley years. Hammond when solo mostly performed his own stuff but I do remember him sometimes slipping in a Billie Holliday or Merle Haggard . The 2 songs that really got to the audience at the Boston thing were that rodeo song "Little Britches" and "Tornado's Coming Down". I wonder if I was at the same gig Barbara Lee Laughton cited above. My boyfriend (now my husband) and I approached him after the show. He was kind and friendly, signed a copy of his record for us and showed my BF how to do the Cherokee Queen chords and the kind-of-odd chords to the tornado song, but he seemed sad, as if keeping something painful deep under. Maybe the info posted above explains this, but I've always remembered this impression of him, especially when he was singing something melancholy (like Cherokee Queen" or "Coyote's Dream)"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Vern Slatter
Date: 15 Jul 10 - 03:43 PM

Is there a website that tracks Bay Area musicians careers? Sort of a where-are-they -now?

Subject: Lyr Add: CHEROKEE QUEEN (Carl Oglesby)
From: GUEST,djfrantz
Date: 17 Jul 10 - 03:50 PM

These are the words to "Cherokee Queen" ( by Carl Oglesby) that Lawrence Hammond sang on Mad River's "Paradise Bar and Grill:"

Said the Cherokee Queen
Are you goin' my way?
Is that a road map I see
Clutched in your tremblin' hand?
My warrior so brave laid his ambush
in a place where the moon made him blind.
And we couldn't get word down the river in time.
And all we could hear in the night
was the sound of him dyin."

My tall bronze man
with the cloud-colored eyes..
There was a ruby in the forehead of my love.
But the circle-of-silence was broken,
and no one could remember the plan.
And the wise-men just cringed in the temple all night
waiting for word or the newcomers' final demands.

Now the ceiling fan
turns slowly in the night,
and the winner deals me another hand of lies.
Oh yeah..playin' again with the master
I draw two, the old pair of freaks.
And prayin' again for disaster to come
bleeding with whiskey I dream of my old Cherokee.
Bleeding with whiskey
I dream of my old cherokee..

Lawrence Hammond had a pretty good sense for a good song. I have often puzzled over the words to this one. It seems to me to be sort of hallucinatory portrayal of the devastation and demoralization of native peoples ground under by the encroachment of Europeans, but it does not seem to be just a specific picture of the oppression of the Cherokee, the Trail of Tears etc.

The production on this track is so much like what Hammond ended up sounding like (think "Coyote's Dream") , simple and haunting. I heard him play when I was a student at UC Berkeley.We love him here in Germany!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,deliriousgirl
Date: 19 Jul 10 - 04:27 PM

never heard of this guy before. checked out the tunes on his MySpace site. "Nevada McCloud:" Nice!! Am only 19, so he could be old enough to be my dad! Will look up more of his stuff. Is he really a doctor?? That's unusual! How can he have any time for music?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST, Gendleman's agreement
Date: 28 Jul 10 - 05:01 PM

THis long thread is very interesting to me.. I have always thought the "Coyote's Dream" album was a bit uneven, but a way-too-long ignored 1st solo effort from a pretty amazing songwriter, poet actually. The production is uneven and a bid scratchy, although the instrumental work is fine. I imagine the budget was tiny, as for most Takoma issues. The dobro playing on "Dustcloud" is inferior to Hammond's own sparse dobro on the other tunes. The voice and lyrics on "Uncle John Mills" are too far down in the mix to highlight the great lyrics. The absolutely vivid words to "Tornado Comin' Down'" are poorly supported by a rather muddy instrumental track (highlighted however by some terrific whirlwind fiddle ending from Byron Berline). That said, how do you top lines like the picture of a tornado "writhing like the devil trying to wring his own neck" or ""The blizzard it sang, the cowbells they rang, the note in the wind got so strange. When I turned round in flight, two eyes in the night put the winter right into my veins." Or: 'I pray to God and Jimmy Hoffa, please fellas get me offa this rig's brakes are going right down to the floor." It was always my hope that a followup album would arrive with production values and marketing worthy of the talent. Yet it was always clear that Hammond was too far left of center musically, too literate, too adventurous to crack the country market. As the alt-country music world grew, he might have had a long musical career though. So he goes into medicine. Wonder if his career there was half as creative.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Aug 10 - 03:15 PM

As LH's daughter, I can tell you that he is working (in between long hours at the hospital) on self-releasing an album of remastered tracks of many of the songs mentioned in this thread (Flight 641, Little Britches, Nevada McCloud and others). Some of his best stuff, in fact. I'm sure more information on how you can get a hold of a copy will follow.


He's still writing music and has passed on that love to my brother and I. My earliest memories of my dad and music were of him playing San Carlos to me - a deeply moving and evocative song, even for a five year old.

By the way, Mad River recently had a reunion gathering and some old forgotten recordings were unearthed...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Jackalope
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 08:54 PM

Good news from young Hammond. Please keep us posted.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,queenmaureen
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 04:26 PM

I think I first heard him in San Diego in about 1976. After 35 years I can not get that song 'Empty rails in Garfield County" out of my head. Such a stark and desolate longing that the singer sets in a beautifully lonely landscape to an eerily gorgeous melody. I have tried to imagine another singer who might do it, but it is hard to imagine who might pull it off (maybe Merle Haggard?). I probably heard him do the song 3 or 4 times in person. While the singing on the LP version of the song is wonderful, I think I would have preferred it with just Hammond and guitar. A friend of mine had a studio tape of him doing this song with just a fiddle and guitar accompaniment. I copied that on to a cassette, which I played over the years until it disintegrated! Wish I had it now. Does anyone out there have such a tape? Does his daughter who posted briefly above? . It is encouraging to hear there ARE unreleased recordings out there and that they might one day surface. IT is fascinating in this long thread to piece together the life of this unique songwriter, who I had always assumed had died or dropped off the face of the earth. If he is still writing songs of the caliber of "Coyote's Dream" and"Pale Eyed Companion" that would be a treat for the music world.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Sybelle Brouilliard
Date: 20 Sep 10 - 11:28 PM

Many vivid memories! both of this blond cantador and of Secorra Plarres-Montes (2/20/46-7/24/76). Together we often searched out Brazilian, Latin-jazz, or bluegrass groups in 1974-75. Secorra and I sat through some memorable performances by LH, both with his band and singing solo. I still have quite a vivid memory of her in bare feet on a beach under a Ramada, dancing alone with a huge grin and eyes closed while Lawrence played some samba on the guitar. Secorra and I worked together over a 4 year period, mostly in Africa and Central America, and were working on the same Yucatan immunization project in late 74 when she suddenly fell ill and was flown to intensive care in Mexico City. She survived (after about 7-8 days), but was pretty fragile for most of a year after that. It is true that during this time her hair turned white, and she became an amazing-looking person. She did receive permission from her medical team to come back to work in 1976 (in Paris) and was very excited about that despite the separation. I believe that during this time Lawrence Hammond had already decided to enter medical studies. Her abrupt death was terribly upsetting for all of us and very devastating for him. She was kind of the lively glue that held a whole diverse community of friends together. There are many people who still miss her, and miss his music. It is nice to know that he is still making music and still is in medicine.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,herringbone28
Date: 25 Sep 10 - 03:51 PM

What is that Hammond song about the guy in the Border Patrol? Words included a chorus in Spanish. Seems to me it was pretty long and that he seldom performed it live. Wonder if he recorded it. Anyone know?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Robin
Date: 05 Oct 10 - 11:50 PM

I remember border patrol as one of Hammond's best songs, but I believe it was a sensitive subject with him. Given the subject matter I can see how it might be.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,RobbiePreston
Date: 06 Oct 10 - 09:42 PM

I think I may have words to "West Texas Border Patrol" and will look for them. Can't remember the melody though. I will post them if I find them and have time. It is true that he seldom sang this. I believe the only place I ever heard him do it was at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. I think this must be the same song Enrique Paredon posted about above, so that means he did record it. We have got to get those unreleased recordings out there somehow!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Dennis
Date: 22 Oct 10 - 02:18 PM

If the music is on tape there may be a hangup tansferring from analogue to digital. The numbeer of people still having pro-quality analogue equipment is really dwindling.

Subject: Lyr Add: BORDER PATROL (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,RobbiePreston
Date: 03 Nov 10 - 05:22 PM

OK: I promised I would post the 'Border Patrol" lyrics. I hope I've got them right. Not quite sure of the Spanish words. It looks like they mean exactly what the following English line in the chorus means.

BORDER PATROL
(Lawrence Hammond)

When I patrolled the Texas border at Terlingua
I was something of a honcho, I must say.
But if I knew a hungry man must swim the border,
I'd contrive to turn my head some other way.

'cause the mayor of the town across the border--
like the geese that wing together we was friends.
And the cross his oldest son wore to his christening
I'd gave to him with a proud godfather's hands.

But one election year they tightened up the border
while the Texas son it tightened up my heart.
Pity those who tried to swim into the Kingdom,
'cause our orders aimed our shotguns in the dark.

There's moving shapes upon the water,
there's crickets screaming out their tune
Oh, they swam in unprotected.
There's bullet splashes in the moon

Con tanto sange, Senor, nos ponemos infecundos.
With all this bleeding, My Lord, we're going dry,
and the big bird wheels round in the sky.

A sudden silence fell across the water
as I stumbled down to see what I had done.
Then it seemed they took my heart upon a stretcher
in an ambulance that took off at the run.

Cause a silver cross on the neck of that young dead man-
for a moment in the moonlight Lord it blazed.
Then I knew my heart was dead upon arrival
It might have been his father's tears upon my face,

Con tanto sange, Senor, nos ponemos infecundos.
With all this bleeding, my Lord, we're going dry
and the big bird wheels round in the sky.

My old friend, he met me in his doorway.
And as I held his boy and cried he held his gun.
And he said, "My friend, you are no longer welcome,
and I can't answer for the blood that's sure to come."

And so the Immigration service sent me to Montana.
They spoke of vengeance on the Rio Grande.
And for months I stared along the northern border
with my coffee growing cold there in my hand.

"til one morning revenge came to my window
and four shots split the wall above my head.
I cried, "Senors, pleased do not stand up with your pistols!"
But as they stood my rifle spoke and cut them dead.

Con tanto sange, Senor, nos ponemos infecundos.
With all this bleeding, my Lord, we're going dry
and the big bird wheels round in the sky

Now a bitter man named Saul, he stoned the Christians,
and later they say that he became a saint.
Saul, oh Saul, why do you persecute me"
When the lord spoke thus Saul fell down in a faint.

Oh, but me, I have been to see the padre.
He just laughed, he said, "My boy, now don't complain."
And the heavens are as hard as brass above me.
When I cry out my own voice comes back again.

Con tanto sangre, Senor, nos ponemos infecundos.
With all this bleeding, my Lord, we're going dry.
And the big bird wheels around in the sky
Oh Lord, give me a sign

THIS HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE MOST VISUAL SONGS I HAVE EVER HEARD.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,seth from Olympia
Date: 04 Nov 10 - 12:22 AM

I'm quite a bit grayer than I was when I started this from the middle of China in "00. It just tickles me to see it going on. Good on ya L.H. and all those words that flew by me in a stream almost forty years ago!-but I've still got the LP in my garage-had a roof leak one winter and lost a lot of records, but that one was high and dry .                     best to all....

Subject: Lawrence Hammond
From: GUEST,Guest and old fan and guitar student
Date: 08 Nov 10 - 01:53 PM

So happy to see people here posting about a truly under appreciated musician and story teller.

Having seen him so many times at the old Freight here in Berkeley, I still measure all other songwriters and songs against his songs ... so sensitive, thoughtful, vivid (and yes, clever) and heartfelt.

Lawrence, if you're out there and still like to perform, come out to Berkeley to the new Freight and Salvage in the downtown area and bring back your magic one more time.

And to his daughter, please keep us up to date on Lawrence's new recordings and where to find them.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 08 Nov 10 - 03:38 PM

Like Seth who started this thread just over 10 years ago, I am beyond pleased at how much information and love for LH and his music have flowed out of this thread over the intervening years.

I posted just an hour and a half after Seth, then the thread lay dormant for over five years before lemondracer (L E Mondracer) came up with the lyrics that Seth had requested. After a small flurry of posts, a couple more years went by before there was another post. Now look at it.

Old friends, family and fans have all contributed to one of the most interesting and eventually informative threads at Mudcat.

If LH himself has looked in, I suspect that "even he must have smiled."

Dale

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,JanineFoulks
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 08:44 PM

I think one of the things that slipped by people because his songwriting was as compelling as it was, was what a fine guitar player he is. Just listen to the intro to Nevada McCloud, or (if you ever were lucky enough to hear it), the intricate picking on Papa Redwing Blackbird, or the short sweet fill between verses one and two on "Coyote;s Dream." When he played with his group he (rightfully) deferred the guitar spotlight to David Robinson and later to the amazing James Parber, but when you heard him solo you realized what a lot he had going on on that instrument. I especially remember a long long double solo Hammond and David Robinson played one night at a show in Berkeley...that song about his hound.
I am somewhat embarrassed to say I sort of tried to pick him up one night 33 yrs ago in Riverside after a gig. He was gentle and politely distant and, after reading the incredibly rich threads above I understand why. It didn't matter, I still love his songs.
I also thoroughly expect to hear his voice and music, new and old, again.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,robertmarsden
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 10:32 PM

Does anyone know the words and chords to "Tornado's Coming Down?" I heard this tune recently on a college radio station and googled the singer and..here I am on a remarkable site. I have visited the My Space site and listened to the songs there, and would like to find more of Hammond's music and lyrics, especially the tornado song, which is a pretty good portrayal of where I grew up. Please post the words if you have them. If I had the chords I think I could remember the melody!

Subject: Lyr Add: TORNADO'S COMIN' DOWN (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Sienna Tenayo
Date: 21 Nov 10 - 12:21 AM

As best I can tell there are the "Tornado" words robertmarsden requested:

It's mighty still that this day's been sleepin"
Ain't been one bird a-peepin"
Thunderheads been creepin' cross the
golden Oklahoma fields.
Somethin' 'bout that that sky I've seen before
that sets a memory burnin, churnin' like the clouds are turnin'
in an angry wheel.
Well Jody run and get your sisters down from the hayloft
pray your mom gets held up down in town.
Tornado's comin' down

Above the quiet fields the sky is seethin'
Ani't one livin' thing that's breathin" easy
when the Lord of Light
Hurls down the demon of the sky.
Just now Greg MacCay drives up
rolls his window down and shouts, i just make out some words about
my haystack's gonna fly
Well, Jody, son I sure wish now
that we'd had time to bail them.
Just make sure you nail them windows sound.
Tornado's comin' down

And now we're runnin' for the storm cellar
Sky's a-turned that darkish yeller color
that a man don't wish to see but once in all his life.
Hurry, girls, Amanda don't you worry about Daisy
She's a big dog she'll run somewhere she'll be safe where she can hide
Hear the wind a-screamin' and
the air's alive with things of Man
whose rightful place was rooted on the ground.
Tornado's comin' down

And here she comes, touchin' down in sweet grain
Drivin' my poor windmill insane
Lickin' down the furrows towards the place my Pa was laid to rest.
A rattler twistin' down from some old hook,
strikin' like a scythe, writhin' like the Devil tryin' to
wring his own neck.
suckin' up long years of toil
as if that sky was cravin' soil
Roarin' down a curse on fertile ground
tornado's comin' down

Hope this is helpful. The Devil tries to wring his own neck! Jeez! Some image!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,robertmarsden
Date: 22 Nov 10 - 02:37 PM

Thanks, Sienna, for these words. It sounds like the chords to "Tornado" might be:
C-C-C-Dm-A7-D-G
A-A-D-D-
C#m-Bm-D-E
G-D-C-D-C-D--G then back to head of the verse.

Is this on the right track, for anyone who knows this unusual song?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,brdalton
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 02:23 PM

Have not posted to this for 9 months, but have watched it grow.
The "Tornado" chords are right. . Could be Hammond's shortest song, but a lot goes on in it, or rather, a lot goes up in the air. Some bluegrass band should pick this one up.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,seth in Olympia
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 06:02 PM

I'd like to get the chords for "George Gudger's Overalls". The lyrics sound as if he took them right out of James Agee's "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men". I think that WIllie Nelson covered this song, but I'm not sure about that....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 10:11 PM

Off hand, I can only think of the Doc Watson version that led me to post the lyrics back in 99. thread.cfm?threadid=16347#151816

I had forgotten about that. I'm no use when it comes to the chords, though. I expect someone can help sooner or later. Could be a few years in this thread, though couldn't it? :)

Here's a really nice cover by a fellow named rbutler at youtube. I expect you could watch his fingers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SocAB1TMv-s

Top flight job he did there; he's got good equipment as well, easy on the ears and eyes both!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,herringbone28
Date: 06 Dec 10 - 12:30 AM

Thanks to all who responded to my "Border Patrol" query and for the words to "Tornado's Comin' Down" These are probably the longest and shortest songs respectively that he wrote. As for Doc Watson's cover of "George Gudger," his cover of the song on the album "Portrait, "featuring Sam Bush on mandolin came out about 6 months after Doc and Merle wandered n to the Freight & Salvage one night while LH and his band were on stage. I was sitting a couple of tables behind Doc when they launched into the song. Always assumed that was the moment this unusual song changed hands. Pow! Witness to history!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,summerstorm
Date: 06 Dec 10 - 04:58 PM

Thanks, DWR for the link to rbutler's version of "George Gudger." A nice job. It catches that song's wry tone real well, I think. I've noticed the James Agee link in this song too,

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,birminghammer
Date: 12 Dec 10 - 12:25 AM

I am a college student writing a paper on photographer Walker Evans, who co-authored "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" with James Agee, in which the real Gudger 1st appeared, and somehow landed on this thread, so I checked out the song by Hammond, with whose music I was unfamiliar, as performed by RButler. Since I am from Alabama, the subject matter seemed close-to-home. Clever words and story! Reading through the Hammond lyrics posted above was a revelation. Lively writing! Am motivated to look up Hammond's recordings, which I gather are rather few. Did find the Doc Watson version of the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,brinnelsen
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 03:24 PM

At last a cache of info about Hammond! I interviewed Hammond in Spring 1976 in LA for an article that never got published. Had caught him solo at a gig in Northridge, I think. Song that struck me the most was that kid-in-the-rodeo song "Little Britches." Am pretty sure I must have the words to it among my papers somewhere, but where?? Have collected bits and snippets about Hammond through the years. He was with the graceful Ms. Plarres-Montes at the interview, as I remember. This must have been shortly before she died and less than a year before he disappeared from performing. It was clear Hammond had a keen intelligence , so not surprising he went to med school I guess. If anyone has the "Little Britches" lyrics and chords, would appreciate them posting them here. What a loss to American music! Notice his daughter posted above. Does she have lyrics to some of his lost songs? If he is still writing, what and how?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,JanineFoulks
Date: 03 Jan 11 - 04:04 PM

I had a copy of that version of "Garfield County" with just the fiddle accompaniment too. Agree it was a lonelier and more stark performance. It was made in an LA studio before Coyote's Dream was ever recorded. I got it from the engineer Doug on a cassette copy that also had a "Pale-Eyed Companion" version with just guitar and voice. That cassette has long-since come apart and was discarded, but sure wish I had them now. Looking at the "San Carlos Fiesta" words placed here years ago but L.E.Mondracer, I wonder if the musical feel of that lost song is similar to "Pale-Eyed Companion" in spookiness. Why doesn't this singer get up a REAL website? Please?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,L.E. Mondracer
Date: 14 Jan 11 - 08:57 PM

Musically I remember "San Carlos' Fiesta" sounding more like a Mexican Corrida, kind of like "Nevada McCloud" as posted on the My Space site

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Lou Judson
Date: 15 Jan 11 - 08:54 PM

Nice to re-read this old thread... I worked with him once or twice (I am a soind engineer) and now I have to go back and see if it was at the Freight, or back in the 70s when I did a live music program called People Playing Muaic on KPFA. I have tapes of all the old programs, and if I DO have that one it is time to get it out and give it a listen. I knew there was a reason to save everything!

Lou

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE BRITCHES (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Dan
Date: 16 Jan 11 - 11:25 PM

I went to a party up in Washington State over the holidays with some medical people, and this man was there with a beaut of an old beat-up Martin. He sang this song about a kid at the rodeo and I begged the words and chords off him. Found this thread when I went looking him up and it looks like people have been looking for the words to this song, so here they are:


LITTLE BRITCHES
(Lawrence Hammond)

I got the sulks this mornin' 'cause my Pa didn't let me know
They was gonna have the thing they call the Little Britches Rodeo,
When kids my age climb in the chutes to ride the bucking steers
And catch a case of bow-legs that lasts for 60 years.

Well Pa's friend Buck he's standin' 'round so I swallows back my tears.
He chuckles when he hears the words, "Son, wait just another year."
Then he says to Pa, "Remember back to your first time in the chutes?"
Pa hangs his head and draws a Texas map in the sand there with his boot.

Then he looks up proud and when he grins, I just can't hold a frown.
Then I think maybe I've won the match even though I've lost the round.
Pa walks off towards the chutes to see the horse that he has drawn,
And they say he's drawn the meanest bronc, the one called Short-Term Loan.

Near the fence this mangy pinto stands; his eyes are rimmed with white.
Pa stares back and he chaws a bluegrass stalk, and his jaw is clamped down tight.
Then I know that he's a conjurin' as he chaws the bluegrass down,
'Cause no sane cowboy feasts on fresh-picked herbs where horses are around.

CHORUS: Then he leans down to the outlaw, whispers in his wooly ear:
"You buckin' broncs you only work 3 minutes every year.
I aim to sign your unemployment check with the fine point of my spurs,
And I aim to make my workin' year a few seconds longer than yours!"

Eight seconds on the cyclone, the rider he must do.
Well, I've seen my Pa stay up for twelve and I've seen him dumped in two.
Now Short Term Loan's white eyeballs may mean anger, lust, or fear.
Yeah, but his nostrils say, "I'll waste the first vaquero that comes near.

"So you'd best take home your Daddy, son; my hooves don't fit this track."
Pa just grins and he grabs the beam and clumps down on his back.
Then the gate-man runs the big gate round; what's next I'm left to guess
From a hat up there in orbit between Austin and Juarez.

CHORUS: I can hear Pa's voice a-callin' as the cowboys give a cheer.
"You buckin' broncs you only work 3 minutes every year.
I aim to sign your unemployment check with the fine point of my spurs,
And I aim to make my workin' year a few seconds longer than yours."

Now in my chest some fool is marchin' round beatin' on a drum.
My shoulder finds Buck's hand has got a Vise-Grip for a thumb.
Then the bell it rings, Pa's made his time, and the pick-up man swings round,
But Short-Term veers sway and Pa's left hangin' upside-down.

His trailin' spur has snagged the strap, a freakish accident,
And Short-Term's tryin' to rub him off by runnin' along the fence.
The spur-points like a harrow-rake, they plow the horse's side,
And the furrows spring up roses that seem to blind my eyes.

CHORUS: Then the maddened pony turns his course and he pivots on his heel.
My daddy rolls across the sand like a slow-unfoldin' wheel.
Then from far away a kid's voice comes, I've known but long forgot.
In the sudden silence of the crowd it cries the words, "Git up!"

But a rodeo ain't a football game; I've heard the cowboys talk.
The stretcher is an insult; best to let the poor man walk.
Buck walks out in the arena like a feller on a stroll,
Leans down and slaps Pa on his butt, half to comfort, half to scold.

CHORUS: Oh so slow Pa gets up, and his silent lips they cuss.
Lord, he don't look up as he limps to where his hat lies in the dust.
I start for him, but Buck, he says, "Best let your Daddy be.
Son, an hour alone be better than the likes of you or me.

"But I don't reckon that your Pa'll be buyin' his own drinks for awhile."
Then I feel my face a-tryin' like hell for the first curl of a smile.
And later, there's a party; folks stop by to say nice things
About this man they say I favor, who's starin' down at his drink.

CHORUS: I can see his lips a-whisperin' as he leans down to his beer.
"You buckin' broncs you only work 3 minutes every year.
I aim to sign your unemployment check with the fine point of my spurs,
And I aim to make my workin'-year a few seconds longer than yours—
Just a few seconds longer than yours."

This really is just a cool piece of cowboy poetry. As he sang it, it fit real tight with the tune too. This thread was revelation. Had no idea who he was and that he had a musical career, although he came along a few years before I was old enough to be listening, I can't believe I was not aware of him. Will hunt up "Coyote's Dream" but sounds like it is hard to find

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,brinnelsen
Date: 23 Jan 11 - 10:49 PM

Wow. That is great, thank you Dan. Nifty song. Where was party? Seattle?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Dan
Date: 24 Jan 11 - 08:37 PM

Party was in Spokane, WA. LH said he has a son living in Seattle and did part of his medical training there.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,summerstorm
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 05:36 PM

Where can we hear the MUSIC to "Little Britches?" When oh when is there gonna be a CD release?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Brinnelsen
Date: 09 Feb 11 - 05:33 PM

Great! Thank you, Dan. That was a serendipitous meeting. I notice that Fretfly also posted above looking for this song. I am not always glued in to Mudcat, but am impressed what a catalogue of Hammond lyrics lies herein! I think somewhere I had a photo, taken at the time of my interview, of Hammond, myself, Ms. Plarres-Montes but am having trouble retrieving it, with my film files fragmented by passing years and many moves.

Now we have to track down the music and chords to that song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,fretfly
Date: 14 Feb 11 - 03:40 PM

"Little Britches" is a real find. Thank you, Dan! I had given up hope of finding the words and confess I had not been paying attention to Mudcat lately. If someone does not come up with the music somewhere, I am gonna be tempted to add my own! Would love to have any other news about this wonderful songwriter. Does anyone among the many who have posted above know if there is a recording somewhere of this classic rodeo story?