Thursday, March 27, 2014

If the Satellite Went Down Tonight

This is a song done for the Cover Album Project Band's latest monthly challenge, Songs by Someone You Know. I suggested the topic because I wanted to do a Knees Calhoon version of a song by Terry Törnblom called "If the Satellite Went Down Tonight". So I took Terry's clear, simple song and added tracks until it was properly overproduced, and voila!


 Here is a link to the video on YouTube:




BONUS COVER!

Back in the late 60s I had an album by a Canadian band called the Paupers and years later I only remembered one of the songs, a C&W pastiche called "Another Man's Hair on My Razor". The Mighty Calhoon Brothers used to do it at the Las Cruces Inn in the late 70s. It has a pretty good plot.

2013 Version

1978 Calhoon Brothers Version

 


Sunday, March 9, 2014

Willin'

I don't know why I did this song other than it is a great old tune and it fits in with some of my other covers. I used the keyboard for the bass and actually played some piano, something I've been away from for the past few years.


 

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

That Time Will Come and Take My Love Away

I picked another line from Sonnet #64 to do, and this time it was actually a more normal line: "That time will come and take my love away." That's a fairly bleak sentiment and the words I wrote all pretty much echo it, blaming time for all that we lose in life. But, ironically, I seem to have come up with the happiest, bounciest music I've done in years to go with the dreary lyrics. I call it "artistic juxtaposition". But mainly I just strung together some 80s cliches and used my favorite guitar setting on the Fender G-Dec amp: Blues House. Fun times.

The video version features a musical slideshow for the Commodore 64 computer of a retelling of Poncielli's Dance of the Hours that was published on LOADSTAR back in the 90s. Artwork by Walt Harned.

MP3


Baby I saw it comin
It came screamin out of the dawn
Time was just playin a game with me
It was movin me like a pawn
Just when I thought I had it all worked out
I was just about to make my play
Time come along and take my love away.

We were just two young fools in love
From the very first day we met
We thought we’d live forever
We were ridin out a sure bet
But now there ain’t no doubt about it
Sure as nighttime follow day
Time’s Gonna Come and Take My Love Away

I told you all about my plans
All the things I was gonna be
You tole me that you shared the dream
And you’d do it all with me
But we were just kids, foolin ourselves
And sure as nighttime follow day
That Time Gonna Come and Take Yo Love Away

Baby we saw it comin
It came screamin outa the dawn
Time was just playin a game with me
It was movin me like a pawn
Just when I thought I had it all worked out
I was just about to make my play
Time come along an take my love away
That Time Will Come And Take My Love Away.




BONUS COVER!

Can you tell that one of Knees' favorite bands of the 60s was Buffalo Springfield? And that this is one of their best songs?




Friday, February 21, 2014

Advantage on the Kingdom of the Shore

In February of 2014 we (an online music-making group called the Cover Album Project Band) picked a Shakespearean sonnet, #64, and each was given a line from it to inspire an original song. For an added frisson, the song was supposed to feature the ii - V - I chord progression prominently. My line was "Advantage on the Kingdom of the Shore" and here is what resulted. Gavin O'Keefe, the Ramble House artist, provided the soaring eagle and seagull calls on his viola.

MP3
 
VIDEO


Who wouldn’t want to live
Where the tide sets the pace
Who wouldn’t want to hear
The ocean’s vibrant roar
Who wouldn’t want to have the great advantage
The advantage on the kingdom of the shore.

Who wouldn’t want to lie
In a gentle valley
Who wouldn’t want to fly
Up where the eagles soar
Who wouldn’t want to have the great advantage
The advantage on the kingdom of the shore.

Mountains to the east
Ocean to the west
Livin on the edge of land
Is like ridin on the crest
Of a wave that never ends
And never asks for more
It’s the seacoast advantage
On the Kingdom of the Shore

Who wouldn’t want to fight
With the water at your back
Who wouldn’t want to know
About the times that went before
Who wouldn’t want to take the great advantage
The advantage on the kingdom of the shore.

Desert to the east
Water to the west
Livin on the coast
Is like flyin on the crest
Of a wave that never ends
And always knows the score
It’s the seacoast advantage
On the Kingdom of the Shore

Sonnet 64 (c) 1609 by William Shakespeare, by permission of the author
 

 
BONUS COVER!

Are there any popular songs about zombies? You'd think there would be plenty these days. Here's one from the 70s by Asleep at the Wheel and I imagine it would go over well at a bar. In the old days it wasn't quite so ironic.




Thursday, January 30, 2014

Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

I was inspired to do this old Bob Dylan tune by hearing it done by Hit & Run, a band I was in back in the mid-70s in Farmington NM. I had found an old reel-to-reel tape of a night at Dizzyland Liquors (Dizzy's) and it brought back some wonderful memories. I asked Gavin O'Keefe to add a viola part, especially on the choruses, and our system of sharing files between Mississippi and Maine seems to be working.


Here's how it sounded back in 1974 at Dizzy's with Hit & Run playing it. Fender on guitar and vocals; Bill Smith on bass and vocals; Johnny Cunningham on drums.

TONIGHT I'LL BE STAYIN (HIT & RUN) 

You can hear the whole night at Dizzy's at this link:

 
 
 

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Honks

I actually recorded these back in June of 2006 not long after I bought a new amp, a Fender G-Dec, that had drums and all kinds of effects built-in. Back then I was recording a song a night and calling them "Nightsongs". I used to have them up at the Ramble House web site but I phased them out when I started Knees Calhoon's Midnight Ramble.

It occurred to me that I rarely play any solos in the songs I've been covering, so here's some picking, the way I did it back in 2006.


Bill Jourdan, a great and wise steel guitar player I used to play with in 1966, and I were listening to a Dixieland song one time and I remarked that it sounded like everybody was taking a solo at the same time. "That's exactly right," Bill said. "Everybody solo, all the time. That's Dixieland." So, in that spirit, I recorded about a half dozen solos over the same bass-drums track and played them all at the same time. As usual they weren't listening to each other.


Here are another two Nightsongs that are not technically Honks but I really liked the rhythm and the guitar tones the amplifier supplied.





BONUS COVER!
Here to temper the jangliness of the Honks is a comforting country tune by Buffalo Springfield.


by Buffalo Springfield

Monday, January 6, 2014

Holy Man - The Sequel

Our previous song was written by Richard A. Lupoff back in the 60s and recently put to music by Knees Calhoon. But when Dick heard the tune he was inspired all over again and wrote three more verses for it, bringing it up to date. Doesn't a song that was written in two parts, 50 years apart, deserve to be considered a masterpiece and sequel? Yes. So here's how the night that began as a druggy ritual of exploration ended up, two generations later.


Ommmmm Ommmmm
Holy man, Oh Holy man
Ommmmm Ommmmm
Get you high Oh yes he can

The years flew by, you’d think I’d hit the big fast-forward key
I look into the mirror and I say, this cannot be
My rocker friends no longer rock, I can’t believe they’re gone
But Bob and Nick have left this world, and Jerry too, and John
Old Mozart seems my meat these days, my energy is low
And weed no longer moves my soul, the time moves much too slow
The kids I see on TV now, I feel more like their father
And if they try to show me how I tell them not to bother

Ommmmm Ommmmm
Holy man, Oh Holy man
Ommmmm Ommmmm
Get you high Oh yes he can

The politics that once outraged, I called for revolution
Now I’ll leave it for somebody else to work out the solution
I’d rather drink a glass of wine and read a good whodunit
Than climb into a hotrod car and hit the gas and gunnit
But someone needs to raise his fist and smash the social order
And call upon the decent folks who wait there at the border
And so I’ll leave it up to you to keep the banner flying
And keep on living all your life and never think of dying

Ommmmm Ommmmm
Holy man, Oh Holy man
Ommmmm Ommmmm
Get you high Oh yes he can

It’s been a great and happy life, to start with Benny Goodman
Scarecrow, and Beast, and Toto too, and don’t forget the Tin Woodman
The lady that I met that night, her guru was a wizard
He got me high, he laid me low, my head was in a blizzard
She’s with me still, our life has been a long fantastic pleasure
Our kids are grown, they’re on their own, each one’s been a treasure
And so I leave you to your chores, do everything in style
So when at last you close your eyes you do it with a smile.

Ommmmm Ommmmm
Holy man, Oh Holy man
Ommmmm Ommmmm
Get you high Oh yes he can.

 
BONUS COVER!

Knees had never heard of Bruce Cockburn until he joined the Canadian group called the Cover Album Project Band, and found that Bruce was a fantastic songwriter, singer and guitar player. One of his songs, an instrumental, seemed like a candidate for Knees' first excursion into playing without a pick. He even made a video with a very lousy camera.




Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Holy Man

We've got a real treat for you tonight in the countdown, a long-forgotten song by a famous writer done up modern-style by Knees Calhoon. Richard A. Lupoff is the famous writer and if you've been into SF, mystery, fandom, criticism, ERB or radio during the past 60 years, you know of Dick Lupoff and his works. Ramble House has published several of his books and now he shows his chops as a songwriter. Check out his latest Ramble House book here: WRITER 4

The lyrics were written by Dick back in the late 60s and John Cippolina of Quicksilver Messenger Service played around with some chords for it, but it was never recorded. Dick had forgotten all about it until he found a carbon copy of the lyrics while looking through his files. He sent them to me and I, of course, laid down some tracks, using the first chords and melody that occurred to me. Here's what resulted:


After I'd done the drums and bass with Band in a Box and added guitars and vocals I sent the MP3 to Gavin O'Keefe in Maine and he added some viola parts to the choruses. That's how we did it back in 2013. 


Ommmmm Ommmmm
Holy man, oh Holy man
Ommmmm Ommmmm
Get you high oh yes he can

A lady took me home with her to see a holy man
He lived upstairs in a big old house that used to be a band’s
She said he’d get me super high, he’d put my head on straight
I think it was Mill Valley or it might have been the Haight
He let me in the door, I saw he had a holy look
He made me sit down on the floor and read a holy book
He started in to talk to me, I said I get the point
He performed a holy sacrament and handed me a joint.


Ommmmm Ommmmm
Holy man, oh Holy man
Ommmmm Ommmmm
Get you high oh yes he can

I looked around the room, the music must have been The Dead
It isn’t for your ears, he said, it’s strictly for your head
I coughed and asked him for a coke to ease my coughing spell
He said he never sold his coke to any infidel
He lit a funny candle just to make me feel at home
He looked me straight between the eyes and made me say an om
He handed me a bowl of rice – get ready for the land!
I said I’m just a rock and roll musician in a band.

Ommmmm Ommmmm
Holy man, oh Holy man
Ommmmm Ommmmm
Get you high oh yes he can

He looked like I’d spit on the floor, his face was a tip-off
That heavy ego-trip you’re on is an energy rip-off
The karma of your vibes is bad, you better meditate
Upon the great mandala, man, before it gets too late
Just then my lady friend came back with some ginseng tea
The holy man took one red cup and offered some to me
Before I took it from his hand I said – Here is where I stand
I’ll never make no holy man, I’ll just rock it with my band.

Ommmmm Ommmmm
Holy man, oh Holy man
Ommmmm Ommmmm
Get you high oh yes he can.


BONUS COVER!

This is one of the very last cover songs Knees recorded, and it turned out nicely, with Gavin O'Keefe's viola fitting the mood perfectly. I'm glad this was a folk song written back in the 60s. If it were a modern C&W song it would be called "If I Was a Carpenter".

Saturday, December 21, 2013

The House at Pooh Corner

This is one of my favorite songs by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band who were probably Colorado's biggest band back in the 70s. They seemed to us in Durango as the kind of band we wanted to be -- not very commercial but still hip. I sort of threw the song together and played some keyboard in place of a wahwah guitar. I could have sworn I had a wahwah pedal but it must have gotten mislaid when we moved from Shreveport 5 years ago. This song has good words and chords and should be redone by some modern band.


Thursday, December 12, 2013

Sometimes You Just Cain't Win

This song has a history and I'll try to keep it short. The first time I heard it was early 1970, when I and my pregnant wife, Joyce, were living in Farmington NM. I had just gotten out of the army and we were pondering our future. I had an offer of an electronics job from National Cash Register but it was in Gallup NM. We were living in a $50 a month rent house on Vine Street, about three blocks north of Main, and right there on Main Street was The Copper Penny, a bar once owned by a good friend of the Tucker family.

So one Friday night I walked down to the Penny and checked out the band. Before I went into the army in March of 1967 I had played in a couple of bars in town. I asked if I could sit in on a couple of numbers and it was fun. I hadn't played in a bar in over three years. At the break the bass player, Max Herrera, came over and spoke the immortal words, "Hey Fenner, wanna play some lead?" Of course I wanted to play some lead.

The job was in Cortez CO, about 70 miles away. Friday and Saturday night, $35 a night. The band was Max, a drummer, me and the front man, Smoky Stover. None of us knew the other, but Smoky knew many old C&W songs that were quite easy to follow. It was an excellent, low-pressure opportunity for me to teach myself some C&W licks.

The job lasted for the rest of the year and I got to know Smoky. He had been a "lawman" most of his life, but loved to sing so he did them both somehow. He even wrote some tunes and one of them was recorded by George Jones.


Smoky and his wife and I would drive up to Cortez every Friday and Saturday and she'd sit next to the bandstand, and Smoky would put on his huge cowboy hat and start singing. On the breaks I'd go out and smoke. It was a great way to spend those nights and $280 a month wasn't bad, either.

Later on, Linda Ronstadt sang the song on an album and my daughter, Naomi, used to sing it around the house when we were living on Gallagher Street in Las Cruces NM. I happen to have a recording we made on the 4th of July when Naomi was a teenager. Maybe 1985? You can tell it's the 4th because on the recording is the sound of a bottle rocket going off in the street outside the house.



 

Monday, November 4, 2013

American Illiad

In 1999 Dugym Qycfyl was inspired by an old song of Knees Calhoon's, Nocturnal Mission, to write a similar story song about an unfortunate trip he once made through the badlands of Texas. 30 ABAB verses later the story was completely told and written out for me to add music to. And I just now got around to doing the music. The song concerns intestinal woes while traveling but Dugym envisioned it as a pretty, sweet ballad in the vein of an old classic, Down in the Willow Garden, so I gave it a simple melody over major and minor chords and polished off my best Gordon Lightfoot voice for it.

Are you ready to give up the next ten minutes of your life for an explicit journey through the peristaltic bowels of Dugym Qycfyl's diseased world? Then click on it. I dare you.


I was on the freeway cruisin'
in an all-fired rush to arrive
I stopped and ate at a drive-in
and was lucky to get out alive.

The burger was pan-fried all greasily.
The fries they were oily like wax.
And though they went down rather easily
I knew pretty soon they'd be back.

   But I hit the road in a hurry.
   I had a long way left to go.
   I had no reason to worry.
   I'd brought lots of Tums and Pepto.

But I hadn't a clue of the power and the might
of greasy potatoes and beef.
And inside of ten minutes later that night
my intestines were giving me grief.

A gurgle began in the middle
and threatened to breach my behind
I held it in for a little
and set out a toilet to find.

   But I was out in west Texas that day
   The exits were distant and few.
   I could tell my rectum would surely give
   Before I could get to the loo.

I held it in as I made a dash.
I didn't have one thing to lose.
For if I let loose I would soon have a rash
from shorts full of viscous brown ooze.

The pain like a firebrand was sharp and was hot.
It was stabbing me all through my gut.
I knew it was time now to pick me a spot
as it dribbled out onto my butt.

   I nearly waited too long that day
   before pulling aside for relief.
   I was able to get off the right of way
   but was just too damn late with my briefs.

I hadn't stopped for a moment before
my intestines demanded release.
My jockeys filled up like brown water balloons
Cause my boxers were in my valise.

So there I stood by the roadside that day
brown glop running down past my knees.
There wasn't a moment to slink away
and do it in back of some trees.

   Right there on the shoulder I dropped my shorts
   and proceeded to wipe up the mess.
   The passing drivers were all out sorts
   when they noticed my state of undress.

But there wasn't a thing I could do about that
Diarrhea must always come first.
So I pretended I just had a flat,
and smiled, 'cause it couldn't get worse.

But hubris hit me back hard that day
and Murphy had taken command.
I’d barely gotten back underway
when the gurgling it once more began.

   I uncapped the Pepto and took a hit
   to nip this attack in the bud.
   And took an Immodium after it
   to stop the screaming crud.

The gurgle promptly subsided
and I grinned me a satisfied grin.
But then I felt nauseated
so I had me some Pepto again.

It wasn't long I had finished that jug
though it said not to double the dose.
I had to forestall this intestinal bug
and hoped that a bathroom was close.

   The nausea soon started rising up
   and I had to pull over once more.
   And though I gagged briefly I couldn’t throw up,
   though it made all my rib muscles sore.

Then on the horizon a gas station loomed.
I took the next exit at once.
But I knew as I pulled in that I was still doomed
to dreadful intestinal stunts.

I filled the tank up and paid the clerk
and asked for the bathroom door key.
She handed it to me and went back to work
and I went there to poop and pee.

   But as I sat on the toilet that night,
   brown slush spewing from my behind.
   I got me the feeling that maybe I might
   could vomit if I had a mind.

I turned and faced to the sink as I sat,
my tush still attached to the head.
As the gorge rose upwards I sat there and spat,
some drool out that tasted like lead.

I tried hard to put off the puking until
the dribbling had ceased from my butt.
But I couldn't stop gagging on my rising swill,
so I gave up and muttered, “So what?”

   I opened my mouth up and outward there spewed
   a pink milky fluid, kerplunk.
   You'd think, looking at it that it was just food,
   Like a milk shake with strawberry chunks.

I filled the sink up with quarts of spew
while my buttocks still spattered the john.
And I sat there whining, "This simply won't do,
I don't think that I can go on."

But then my buttocks blew hot dry farts,
My retches stopped coming up pink.
I felt a bit better so I took heart
and started to wipe off the sink.

   I flushed the toilet and flushed it again.
   It sparkled all clean, blue and fresh.
   I washed the vomit all down through the drain
   and pushed all the chunks through the mesh

Then taking a towel I wiped the place down.
But I'm really quite proud of my aim.
There was hardly a droplet of vomit around
That didn't get washed down the drain.

I left that bathroom all sparkling and clean
though I'd dashed through the door to be sick.
Still I asked the attendant to take Listerine
and wash up the mens room right quick.

   I was back on the freeway cruisin'
   In no special rush to arrive
   I just drove on past all the drive-ins
   It feels so good to be alive.



BONUS COVER!

Most rock & rollers won't admit that a big influence when they were young were the Kingston Trio. They weren't as hip as the folkies who followed, but one of their songs is a masterpiece of sophistication, and would sound great in any bar. Written by Dave Guard.




Monday, November 4, 2013

American Illiad

In 1999 Dugym Qycfyl was inspired by an old song of Knees Calhoon's, Nocturnal Mission, to write a similar story song about an unfortunate trip he once made through the badlands of Texas. 30 ABAB verses later the story was completely told and written out for me to add music to. And I just now got around to doing the music. The song concerns intestinal woes while traveling but Dugym envisioned it as a pretty, sweet ballad in the vein of an old classic, Down in the Willow Garden, so I gave it a simple melody over major and minor chords and polished off my best Gordon Lightfoot voice for it.

The unique thing about this song is that the recording below is the ONLY time it was ever sung. Dugym gave Knees the lyrics on two sheets of paper, both sides, and said he was thinking of a sweet 3/4 melody when writing it. So Knees figured out chords and a melody for the verse and practiced a few times on the first two quatrains. Then he wrote a chorus-like melody and chord pattern and tried it out on the third quatrain. Then he laid down the drums, bass, guitars and keyboards for the whole song. He used Band in a Box for the drums so getting the right number of measures was no problem, but Knees insisted on recording without looping anything, even though every verse and chorus (?) are the same. Try playing any progression, no matter how simple, 30+ times in a row without screwing up too noticeably.

So then it was time for the vocals. Knees had the first three quatrains down okay but would have to read and phrase the rest of the lyrics on the fly. Gulp! He had read the words of course but had never sung the bulk of the song. Listen closely and you'll hear a few vocal blips but you have to admit, even Frank Sinatra couldn't have told the story better.

It is conjectured that the one recording made in 2012 is the only time before OR since the song has been uttered or sung out loud, making it unique in the annals of music.

Are you ready to give up the next ten minutes of your life for an explicit journey through the peristaltic bowels of Dugym Qycfyl's diseased world? Then click on it. I dare you.


I was on the freeway cruisin'
in an all-fired rush to arrive
I stopped and ate at a drive-in
and was lucky to get out alive.

The burger was pan-fried all greasily.
The fries they were oily like wax.
And though they went down rather easily
I knew pretty soon they'd be back.

   But I hit the road in a hurry.
   I had a long way left to go.
   I had no reason to worry.
   I'd brought lots of Tums and Pepto.

But I hadn't a clue of the power and the might
of greasy potatoes and beef.
And inside of ten minutes later that night
my intestines were giving me grief.

A gurgle began in the middle
and threatened to breach my behind
I held it in for a little
and set out a toilet to find.

   But I was out in west Texas that day
   The exits were distant and few.
   I could tell my rectum would surely give
   Before I could get to the loo.

I held it in as I made a dash.
I didn't have one thing to lose.
For if I let loose I would soon have a rash
from shorts full of viscous brown ooze.

The pain like a firebrand was sharp and was hot.
It was stabbing me all through my gut.
I knew it was time now to pick me a spot
as it dribbled out onto my butt.

   I nearly waited too long that day
   before pulling aside for relief.
   I was able to get off the right of way
   but was just too damn late with my briefs.

I hadn't stopped for a moment before
my intestines demanded release.
My jockeys filled up like brown water balloons
Cause my boxers were in my valise.

So there I stood by the roadside that day
brown glop running down past my knees.
There wasn't a moment to slink away
and do it in back of some trees.

   Right there on the shoulder I dropped my shorts
   and proceeded to wipe up the mess.
   The passing drivers were all out sorts
   when they noticed my state of undress.

But there wasn't a thing I could do about that
Diarrhea must always come first.
So I pretended I just had a flat,
and smiled, 'cause it couldn't get worse.

But hubris hit me back hard that day
and Murphy had taken command.
I’d barely gotten back underway
when the gurgling it once more began.

   I uncapped the Pepto and took a hit
   to nip this attack in the bud.
   And took an Immodium after it
   to stop the screaming crud.

The gurgle promptly subsided
and I grinned me a satisfied grin.
But then I felt nauseated
so I had me some Pepto again.

It wasn't long I had finished that jug
though it said not to double the dose.
I had to forestall this intestinal bug
and hoped that a bathroom was close.

   The nausea soon started rising up
   and I had to pull over once more.
   And though I gagged briefly I couldn’t throw up,
   though it made all my rib muscles sore.

Then on the horizon a gas station loomed.
I took the next exit at once.
But I knew as I pulled in that I was still doomed
to dreadful intestinal stunts.

I filled the tank up and paid the clerk
and asked for the bathroom door key.
She handed it to me and went back to work
and I went there to poop and pee.

   But as I sat on the toilet that night,
   brown slush spewing from my behind.
   I got me the feeling that maybe I might
   could vomit if I had a mind.

I turned and faced to the sink as I sat,
my tush still attached to the head.
As the gorge rose upwards I sat there and spat,
some drool out that tasted like lead.

I tried hard to put off the puking until
the dribbling had ceased from my butt.
But I couldn't stop gagging on my rising swill,
so I gave up and muttered, “So what?”

   I opened my mouth up and outward there spewed
   a pink milky fluid, kerplunk.
   You'd think, looking at it that it was just food,
   Like a milk shake with strawberry chunks.

I filled the sink up with quarts of spew
while my buttocks still spattered the john.
And I sat there whining, "This simply won't do,
I don't think that I can go on."

But then my buttocks blew hot dry farts,
My retches stopped coming up pink.
I felt a bit better so I took heart
and started to wipe off the sink.

   I flushed the toilet and flushed it again.
   It sparkled all clean, blue and fresh.
   I washed the vomit all down through the drain
   and pushed all the chunks through the mesh

Then taking a towel I wiped the place down.
But I'm really quite proud of my aim.
There was hardly a droplet of vomit around
That didn't get washed down the drain.

I left that bathroom all sparkling and clean
though I'd dashed through the door to be sick.
Still I asked the attendant to take Listerine
and wash up the mens room right quick.

   I was back on the freeway cruisin'
   In no special rush to arrive
   I just drove on past all the drive-ins
   It feels so good to be alive.



BONUS COVER!

Most rock & rollers won't admit that a big influence when they were young were the Kingston Trio. They weren't as hip as the folkies who followed, but one of their songs is a masterpiece of sophistication, and would sound great in any bar. Written by Dave Guard.