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Lyr Add: Cabbage Patch Waltz

01 Oct 01 - 08:11 AM (#562456)
Subject: ADD: Cabbage Patch Waltz^^
From: Wolfgang

Another song from Jerry Rasmussen. With a few words he paints a story from old times. Can you also nearly hear the music when reading the words?
This is my transcription from the LP, so there might be errors left. But I guess only minor errors this time. 'Lot' in the third line could as well be 'land', but I'm confident none of the remaining errors is vital.

Wolfgang

CABBAGE PATCH WALTZ
(Jerry Rasmussen)

Just over the tracks, take the first right turn
And then you just follow the lights.
You can hear the coronet from across the lot
At the cabbage patch Saturday night.

Chorus: And the last dance they played it was always a waltz
And they took it real nice and slow
And it made no difference who had the last waltz
You knew she'd be taking him home.

You could find her there every Saturday night
And she always came alone.
Not much to look at with not much to say
Just another old port in the storm.

A three piece band on a six foot stage
Was all the music they had.
But they knew every song that you ever heard
From polkas to dixieland.

As the night wore on and the band warmed up
They play a schottische or two
And the men would all joke who'd be taking her home
When the cabbage patch waltz was through.
^^

01 Oct 01 - 06:42 PM (#562900)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cabbage Patch Waltz
From: Art Thieme

Jerry is a great friend of ours. He, just last year, retired from his job heading up the Stamford (Connecticut) Museum and Nature Center. He held that position for many years. Most all of his earlier songs painted great pictures of ecery-day life in small town U.S.A. These days Jerry is involved heavily in the Baptist church that he and his wife Ruth attend. He and 4 other guys have formed a group called The Gospel Messengers and they've been doing folk festivals lately as well as other Afro-American churches around New England.

Art Thieme

01 Oct 01 - 06:59 PM (#562910)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cabbage Patch Waltz
From: Joe Offer

Does Jerry have CD's available, Art? CDNow has vinyl listed for Jerry Rasmussen, and tapes for the Gospel Messengers. Are there songbooks available?
-Joe Offer-

02 Oct 01 - 03:58 AM (#563221)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cabbage Patch Waltz
From: Wolfgang

No J. Rasmussen songbook said Rick last year.

Wolfgang

02 Oct 01 - 04:24 AM (#563232)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cabbage Patch Waltz
From: Wolfgang

May I add the little story why I add a Rasmussen song now and then?

In my before Mudcat days I never had heard much of North American Folk. Names like e.g. Rasmussen and Thieme (and many others I know now) were completely unknown to me. Then I 'met' Art as a witty poster here and I made the bold guess that a witty poster might be a fine singer too and bought the CD 'The older I get'.

My guess was correct and I liked the CD, nearly each single song. But I particularly fell in love with one song, that is 'Handful of songs' and then saw for the first time the name 'Jerry Rasmussen' as the writer of this song. Next time I ordered some records at Folk Legacy I saw a very cheap offer of vinyl records including an LP 'Handfull of Songs' by Jerry Rasmussen. I ordered it for that one single song without the slightest idea how the other songs would be and what kind of music to expect.

The more I listen the more I like this LP. Jerry Rasmussen is a fine singer and a superb songwriter. He has the rare ability to paint with a few words a whole picture of recollections and emotions. He 'teletransports' you back into the times he writes about. That's why you'll find a Rasmussen song added by me now and then and I'm not through yet.

Wolfgang

04 Oct 01 - 11:25 PM (#565402)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cabbage Patch Waltz
From: Art Thieme

Wolfgang,

Jerry and I were talking about you just last night. You are correct, sir, he is a fine fellow and you described his songs perfectly. A strange situation kept Jerry R. from getting back home to his state of Wisconsin for many years so he chose (pretty much) to travel back home in the songs he wrote about the town of Janesville, Wisconsin and the Rock River valley where he grew up. That the songs he wrote bring that place and time so vividly to life for others is a huge testimonial to the monstrous talent of this man. I'm amazed and glad that you, all the way over in Germany, were able to feel what we who know Jerry know. I told Jerry about this thread and he said he'll look in. So now I have a reason to refresh the thread so it'll be near the top where he can find it easily.

All the best---

Art Thieme

05 Oct 01 - 04:52 AM (#565527)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cabbage Patch Waltz
From: Wolfgang

Thanks for telling me that, Art. Just last night I transcribed two more Rasmussen songs but they are not in a shape yet to post. Still too many errors. The reason his song lyrics touch me over here in a different land and at a different time is that though the situations described are linked to a particular place and time, the feelings described are universal.

Wolfgang

05 Oct 01 - 07:20 AM (#565566)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Cabbage Patch Waltz
From: Jerry Rasmussen

Art directed me to this thread, as I am a newcomer to Mudcat. It's nice to see that some of my songs have meant something to someone else. Art and I have always been drawn to folk music as a way to get inside someone's life in another time, place, or even country. When I first started writing songs, I found it difficult to believe that anyone would fine anything worth listening to in them. They're mostly small town songs. In another couple of weeks, I'll be doing a one hour workshop at a festival in Connecticut titled Small Town Songs. My wife and I have retired to the smallest City in Connecticut. What goes around comes around.

I don't have any CD's out, although I am hoping to do one of the Gospel Messengers soon.