The Sea’s a swell that’s been there since the very beginning.
And, it will keep on heaving until time stops and God clangs The Bell.
Nowadays I don’t stir my stumps beyond this Headland.
Oh, but there was a time when I had an awful yen for things and places remote.
Nothing for it but to sail for forbidden Seas and sport on barbarous Coasts.
The wild call of the running tide.
Flung spray. Blown spume. Gulls crying and the white clouds flying.
White sails straining in a wind like a whetted knife.
I followed The Leviathan.
Sailed the length and breadth of The Whale Road.
A grand gypsy life.
Hermanus. Plettenberg. Luderitz.
Walvis Bay. Cape Lopez. Baia dos Tigres.
Ponta do Ouro. Tristan Da Cunha. Bahia.
Tierra del Fuego. Deseado. Wilson’s Promontory. Macquarie Island.
The Cocos Islands. Diego Garcia. Kiribati.
The Coast of Malabar.
The Coast of Malabar.
That’s where I met her.
Far away across the Ocean anchored under an Indian Star.
Sometimes I take a walk along the strand.
And, I scribe her name right there on the sand.
Ah Sure I know the rolling Sea will wash it away but as long as my legs hold out I’ll write it there again and again and again.
Some things you never forget though the decades pass and you grow old.
You might look at me and see a rheumy eyed Rummy.
Aye and you’d be right.
But, Tornado blasted as I am there’ll always be a part of me deep down, despite all the woes, that’s bathed in joy.
Until I reach the final harbour I’ll always have the memory of my dusky dark eyed maiden.
Shy and sweet with the wild waves at her feet.
Oh my thoughts keep ever turning to that far off distant shore.
To that dark eyed girl who loved me.
Loved me.
I hear her calling across the ocean wild and far.
From The Coast of Malabar.
In my heart I live forever on The Coast of Malabar.
On The Coast of Malabar.
The Coast of Malabar.
Ry Cooder and The Chieftains are great musical collaborators.
And, here their partnership casts an oceanic musical spell.
Together Ry, Paddy Moloney, Sean Keane, Kevin Conneff, Matt Molloy and Derek Bell set our spirits and imaginations surging far beyond our hearts harbour.
The deep sway of the recording is very rarely achieved since only imusicians of great technical resource, emotional intelligence and artistic humility can play with such transfixing simplicity.
Take a voyage with them to The Coast of Malabar.
This Post for my Brother Ger on his Birthday.
Three score years we have shared and supported each others dreams.
Sail on Brother. Sail on.
Notes :
There are fine versions of the song by Liam Clancy & Tommy Makem and Sean Tyrell.
Except he holds theses titles in Capital Letters while ours are lower case.
That’s because through his enormous gifts as a songwriter, singer and performer he has been able to make present experiences we have all had but are generally unable to express.
Experiences we so often let pass by.
Pass by.
Experiences he makes present in all their Revelation.
In all their Revelation.
And, it’s everpresent everywhere.
Everpresent everywhere.
The alchemy of his genius is through incandescent song to evoke, make present, states of being that are, at least in this world, necessarily fleeting.
A song like, ‘And it Stoned Me’ is a miraculous transmission from beyond the threshold (one of several such works of wonder on the Moondance Album).
An everyday event – a Boyhood fishing trip in the country blessed by Rain and Sun – gives us glimpses of Eternity.
Glimpses that once seen can neve be unseen.
Oh the Water. Oh the Water. Oh the Water.
Rest and Grace.
Coming to you like a mountain stream.
Oh, Oh, and it will Stone you right to your very Soul.
And, out of the corner of your inner eye you can see the steps of time dissolve.
And, see yourself and the world in a new light.
Hey! There You Are!
There You Are.
Just like going Home.
Going Home.
Van’s vocal here flows with the authority of a great River making its peaceful way to The Sea.
On Guitar John Platania, as always, plays with elegant passion.
Jeff Labes, on Piano, makes us feel the flow and dappled delight of that River.
The Horns of Jack Schröer and Colin Tilton bring us the warmth of the Sun.
John Klingberg and Gary Mallaber On Bass and Drums provide the motive current sweeping us along.
Together with their leader they bring us balm and blessing as they stone us to our very Souls.
My Uncle Joe was, in the hierarchy of his own mind, first a Kerryman, next a Gaelic Football fanatic, then an Irishman and finally a Farmer.
He was at once; very strong and gentle, full of strong opinions and quietly spoken.
He was not much given to offering advice – least of all to his bookish, non stop talking, citified nephew over from London for the Summer Holidays.
So, on the very rare ocassions when he did offer advice I listened closely.
As we were companionably going to The Creamery one August morning, our conversation proceeding at the steady pace of the donkey pulling the cart we rode, I told Joe I wanted a new pair of shoes, nay Beatle Boots!, for my 9th Birthday.
Joe was not a devotee of the four lads from Liverpool but it turned out to my surprise that he was very interested in the subject of Boots and the necessity, nay the duty, to purchase the very best Boots you could afford (and maybe those that were more expensive than you could truly afford) as a ‘Proper pair of Boots was an investment, an Investment, that would repay you many times over as the years passed by’.
He went further, ‘If you’re not going to wear a proper pair of Boots you might as well go barefoot. Barefoot!’
Accepting his argument a fine strong pair of countryman’s Boots we’re wrapped up before the week was out and once opened I barely took them off for the next year.
Joe died tragically young when he was not yet fifty.
I think of him every time I buy a new pair of Boots ; mentally composing a letter :
’Joe, I spent the money I got for my college scholarship on a pair of Tricker’s Boots – a pure investment!’
’Joe, you’ll never believe it! I found a pair of Redwing Boots (the ones from Minnesota) in a charity shop for £15!’
‘Joe, there’s twenty guys in this office and I’m the only one who had invested in a decent pair of Boots – sure they might as well be barefoot!’
‘Joe, if I get that pay rise I’m going to invest in a pair of New and Lingwood Chukka Boots (actually I’ve bought them already – bound to get that rise!)
Of course, in the right circumstances, being barefoot is just the thing.
If you ask people to supply an image of being carefree I’ll guarantee you a healthy percentage will paint a picture of walking barefoot along a sun kissed sandy beach.
Sure works for me.
I’m also reminded of a lovely (though possibly apocryphal) about two Irish athletes lining up at the start of the 1960 Rome Olympics Marathon.
Looking around at the assembled greats of the long distance running world they were startled to see a rail thin African runner who seemingly had neglected to bring his running shoes with him.
They agreed that whoever else they had to worry about they would surely have no trouble in outpacing this competitor!
As it turned out the mystery runner was none other than Abebe Bikele from Ethiopia who would run barefoot every step of the 26 miles through the glorious rubble of Rome before cruising to the Gold Medal!
Sometimes barefoot is just the thing.
Come on … Everybody get on your feet … you make me nervous when you in your seat … take off your shoes!
Barefootin’ … Barefootin’ …. Barefootin’
Doin’ a dance that cant be beat!
Barefootin’!
No word of a lie – can’t be beat, can’t be beat!
Robert Parker from 1966 with yet another classic from New Orleans which became a huge R&B and Pop Chart Hit.
Brilliantly arranged by the great Wardell Quezergue, ‘Barefootin” showcases the superb rhythmic sense of Crescent City musicians.
Robert’s vocal is graced by ambrosial guitar and a horn section that demands you dance and keep dancing as long as your feet hold out!
Robert Parker was already a veteran of the New Orleans music scene in 1966 when his name briefly hit the headlines.
Growing up with Huey Smith and Sugar Boy Crawford he haunted the Caldonia Inn to watch the legendary Professor Longhair strut his stuff,
By 1949 Robert was playing with The Shuffling Hungarians (got to get that T Shirt!) and recording Mardi Gras in New Orleans with the great man.
He moved on to lead his own band at The Tijuana where he backed up Bobby Marchan, Guitar Slim and Little Richard.
Taking his band, The Royals, on the road he laid down the groove for R&B stars like Roy Brown, Big Joe Turner and Solomon Burke – what I wouldn’t give to time travel back to those days to catch them burning the house down in a club in Florida or Texas!
Robert’s recording highlights before ‘Barefootin;’ include appearing in 1959 on the wonderful, ‘Don’t You Know Yockomo’ with Huey Smith and on Irma Thomas’ characteristically smouldering, ‘Don’t Mess with My Man’.
The same year he also made his solo record debut with, ‘All Night Long’.
All this time Robert was primarily a Sax Man and Bandleader who could handle a vocal when required.
Though Robert was well known around New Orleans and on the southern touring circuit I doubt anyone was expecting him to write and record an R&B classic that would sell a million copies and have a continuing afterlife in cover versions both in America and the UK.
Strange things happening everyday!
One day Robert fetched up at Tuskegee University in Alabama and he noted that as he began to play the college girls all took off their shoes in front of the bandstand.
This incident was filed away and when about to start a show in Miami he heard the Comic/MC announce – everybody get on your feet; you make me nervous when you’re in your seat’ the creative tumblers turned and clicked and Voila! a song was born.
Now when Robert took the song to Wardell at NOLA Records it was swiftly recorded … but.. but .. the other powers at NOLA didn’t hear a Hit so it languished in the tape vaults for a year until sharp earned local DJ Hank Sample heard it and persuaded NOLA to issue some copies to his Record Store.
They promptly sold like hot cakes and Robert had a great big fat Hit on his hands!
The crowd at New York’s Apollo Theatre went wild when Robert kicked off his shoes and kickstarted the band into, Barefootin’’.
Robert never had another Smash but he remained a much loved figure in The Crescent City and he was properly inducted into the Lousiana Music Hall of Fame in 2007.
Regular readers will know that I would take some persuading that any other city can truly rival New Orleans for the accolade of being dubbed the premier Music City.
However, one of the few cities that might be considered a genuine rival is Nashville.
And, from there comes the next version of, ‘Barefootin’’ featured today courtesy of some of the finest players ever to record there – Barefoot Jerry.
Key members Wayne Moss and Charlie McCoy had been part of an A Team that gathered around Bob Dylan when he brought his kaleidoscopic imagination to Nashville in yet another of his artistic rebirths.
Take off your Shoes!
We got ourselves a Hootenany and a Hoedown!
Next we move downriver to Memphis which cedes to no City in musical eminence.
So many great singers, songwriters, musicians and producers!
And, right at the very top of that tree undoubtedly one Willie Mitchell who is one of the all time great exponents of finding the secret alchemy for making classic records.
Find a great band of musicians and find the songs and the arrangements and groove!
It worked countless times with Al Green and Ann Peebles in particular.
Less well known are the addictive sides Willie made under his own name.
Once the band locks into the groove here even Zombies would be getting Barefoot with some despatch!
Take off your shoes and throw them away!
I was born far, far away from the fabled Music CIties above yet it turns out that London, the home of some of the most knowledgeable and fanatical music devotes on the entire globe, was just the place to imbibe the sounds of all those great American conurbations.
Whatever kind of music you groove to someone in London knows all about it in exhaustive detail.
Growing up in London, one Pete Townhend fed the creative muse that would make him one of the most gifted and celebrated songwriters of his age through deep immersion in the traditions of R&B, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Soul Music.
And, that love of the drive of those 40s and 50s sounds fed into the astounding attack of his records and live shows.
Wonderful to see him celebrating his musical heritage in the joyous performance below.
Surely Pete has been Barefootin’ ever since he was Two!
Anyone sitting in their seat as this one plays must have a serious back problem!
Doesn’t he cut a mean rug!
I like to Mambo.
I like to Samba.
Never go too long without Twisting the Night Away.
Always ready for The Locomotion.
I’m partial to a Polka and never weary of The Waltz.
That lucky old Sun, He got nothing to do but roll around Heaven all day.
All Day.
Now, you have lots to do.
You have goals and tasks and targets.
You have reflections and reviews to consider.
You have outcomes and KPIs to attain.
You have stratagems.
Things to do. Places to be.
Youre on the case. You’re in charge.
All day. Every Day.
Until, eventually, that lucky old Sun has rolled all around Heaven to set in The West.
Now, The Moon has dominion.
Now, you need your sleep before you can face another busy, busy Day.
And, with Sleep, unbidden, unstoppable, come The Dreams.
Everybody has them Dreams.
Dreamers find their way by Moonlight.
The Captain of the Watch and his Guards are no longer at attention – in fact they are carousing in the Town – AWOL.
And, if they should glance up from their cups all they will say is:
He is a dreamer; let us leave him : Pass.
Unfettered you slip the bonds of time and are free to wander the echoing halls of memory.
Free to peer into the open doors and to ascend/descend the Escher stairs to secret rooms.
Who knows who you will meet?
Perchance all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
Perchance dreams are all you will truly ever own.
Poor as you are you have your dreams.
You have your dreams.
And, you have to dream if you are to live.
Though you are nothing you have in you all the dreams of the world.
Life without dreams is a broken winged bird.
Some dreams will not survive the fluttering of your opening eyelids.
Some dreams will stay with you for ever after and permanently alter the colour of your mind.
Some dreams, though you are yet to know it, will be the last, the very last, dream of your soul.
Some dreams are nought but the gleanings of an empty heart.
An empty heart.
Why can’t I forget my past and live my life anew …
Instead, instead, instead.
Instead I’m having Sweet Dreams about you.
Sweet Dreams about you.
Don Gibson, the Nashville Laureate of Heartbreak, wrote, ‘Sweet Dreams’ in 1955 and singers have been launching it into the ether ever since.
Don put it out first but it was Faron Young who had the first Hit.
Don had another go in 1960 and emerged with a nice morose version that got even more people listening.
But, in 1963 Patsy Cline, who sang supremely in the Key of Heartbreak took the song to another dimension of feeling.
Patsy Cline had a voice that seemed to possess ancient knowing about the human heart.
Every Patsy Cline vocal is an intense drama that commands you to listen with deep attention.
Her bruised and anguished tones tell you; this is how it is and you know it too don’t you?
You might not want to admit it but Patsy makes it plain.
No good pretending.
Troublous dreams this night doth make me sad.
I should hate you the whole night through.
The whole night through.
Instead I’m having Sweet Dreams about you.
Once you’ve fallen asleep none can know what dreams may come.
Should you be grieved in the spirit visions in your head may trouble you all your live long days.
Jacob and Daniel and Joseph.
And in 1966 from Jonesville Louisiana Tommy McLain.
Tommy’s version of Sweet Dreams will play forever in your dreams from the moment you first hear it.
Surely this version was recorded direct from the soundboard of your dreaming soul.
Why cant I forget my past and live my life anew?
Why, Why, Why!
Tommy’s time banishing, heart stopping, ethereal vocal seems to surround your senses with the vibraphone adding further levels of sensual derangement.
Floyd Soileau recorded Tommy in his Ville Platte Studio but was not convinced this version would sell.
He changed his mind when it was reported to him by the owner of a local bordello that the song was No 1 on their Jukebox – a favourite of the working women and customers alike!
Later on as the song got picked up by national distributors and major radio stations three Million record buyers came to agree with the folks back in Ville Platte.
Emmylou Harris (a firm Jukebox favourite) has always found the sweet heart of any song she chooses to sing.
There’s an ache in her voice that it is even more emotionally affecting now that her hair has turned to silver and her knowledge of the trials of the world has deepened.
Here, live with The Nash Ramblers she sings like the angel always out of sight in your dreams.
The one you hope will return to those dreams again.
The one you could listen to the whole night through.
The whole night through.
Some dreams don’t need words.
Some yearnings cry out beyond syllables.
Roy Buchanan made his Guitar sound your deepest dreams.
Now some will tell you this is because he played a 53 Fender Telecaster and some will wax lyrical about overtones and pinched harmonics.
Maybe. Maybe.
Yet, there is something in Roy’s playing that’s undreamt of in philosophy or guitar manuals.
When he plays like this the valleys are exalted and the hills and mountains made low.
When he plays like this the hills and mountains are made low.
When he plays like this the rough places are made plain.
When he plays like this the crooked places are made straight.
Manhattan. Queens. The Bronx. Staten Island. Brooklyn.
Harlem. Harlem. Harlem.
Now for profound reasons of History Harlem has felt compelled to Shout!
Now for profound reasons of History Harlem has felt compelled to Scream!
But in all ages and conditions Harlem has lived and breathed through Song.
Harlem Sings! Harlem Sings! Harlem Sings!
Harlem sings in the photographs of Aaron Siskind.
Harlem sings in the poetry of Langston Hughes, Claude McKay and Georgia Douglas Johnson.
Harlem sings in the melodies captured by a Harlem Airshaft.
Harlem sings in the writing of James Baldwin, Countee Cullen and W.E.B. DuBois.
Harlem sings in the polemics of Hubert Harrison and Marcus Garvey.
Harlem sings at Olympic Field as the Lincoln Giants win again.
Harlem sings in the words and melodies of George and Ira Gershwin.
Harlem sings in the escapades of Harry Houdini.
Harlem sings in the crazed cavorting of Groucho, Chico and Harpo.
Harlem sings through Count Basie and Coleman Hawkins.
Harlem sings in the Knockout majesty of Joe Louis.
Harlem sings in the fleet feet of Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson.
Harlem sings through the inescapable Joy flowing from Fats Waller.
Harlem sings through Frankie Lymon and Garland Jeffreys.
Harlem sings through Ralph Ellison and Johnny Hartman.
Harlem sings as another winner pings off the racket of Althea Gibson.
Harlem sings in the firm Gavel of Thurgood Marshall.
Harlem sings at Club Harlem.
Harlem sings at The Alhambra Ballroom.
Harlem sings at Havana San Juan.
Harlem sings at The Lennox Lounge.
Harlem sings at Minton’s Playhouse.
Harlem sings at Monroe’s Uptown House.
Harlem sings at Small’s Paradise and The Sugar Cane Club.
Harlem sings at The Park Palace and The Park Plaza.
Harlem sings and sings and everybody, everybody, wants to sing, sing, sing at The Apollo Theatre.
You move it to the left – you go for yourself.
You move it to the right – if it takes all night.
Take it kinda slow with a whole lot of Soul
Do The Harlem Shuffle.
Do The Harlem Shuffle.
The Harlem Shuffle.
Harlem sings through through the raise the dead glory of Bob Relf and Earl Nelson’s, ‘Harlem Shuffle’ from 1963.
Don’t move it too fast – just make it last.
How low can you go?
Yup, even Lazarus himself, when he was laying down, would have got up off the bed and on to the floor once that brass fanfare kicked in!
Barry White (yes .. that Barry White) played Piano and did the arrangement (with Gene Page?) while Fred Smith produced.
Bob and Earl sing their hearts out through every line.
Now come on – don’t fall down on me now.
Just move it right here to The Harlem Shuffle.
The Harlem Shuffle.
Ride. Ride. Ride.
And that’s what Bob and Earl do.
They ride, ride, ride, slide and swoop so that we ain’t got no choice but to shake a tail feather for all we’re worth.
The combination of the urgent vocals and the insistent rhythms intoxicatingly surrounds you ’til you feel you can’t stand it no more.
That last for about a nanosecond before you want to be out on the floor again – head spinningly lost for another lifetime encapsulated in 162 seconds.
Yeah, yeah, yeah to the Harlem Shuffle.
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.
Do The Harlem Shuffle.
Do The Harlem Shuffle.
Take All Night.
Make it last.
Meanwhile ….
Far across the Atlantic Ocean in England in an unremarkable place named Dartford two young men found that they shared a passion for The Blues, Rhythm & Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richard were and are true aficionados of Black Music.
Maybe they heard Harlem Shuffle on the radio or through hipper than hip Guy Stevens DJ-ing at London’s New Scene Club.
It was Stevens running the UK arm of Sue Records who first issued the record in Britain in 1965.
Keith, in particular, was taken by the horn heavy blast of Harlem Shuffle and he knew that Mick could really shake a tail feather to this one on stage.
He also knew that he had in Charlie Watts the coolest drummer in the whole wide world at his back so the song would hit the groove and stay hit throughout allowing him to dig deep.
Being the wily old bird he is Keith kept putting Harlem Shuffle on tapes of songs he gave to Mick until one fine day Mick just sang along as Keith and Ronnie Wood ran the song down in a rehearsal studio.
And, when they hit the stage – all brass and backing singers blazing there can be no resistance.
You scratch just like a monkey.
Yeah you do real cool.
Real Cool.
Real Cool.
Do The Harlem Shuffle.
The Harlem Shuffle.
Tail Feather well and truly shaken!
Notes :
Bobby Relf died in November 2007.
Hailing from Los Angeles (born 1937) he was in The Upfronts with Barry White.
Harlem Shuffle owes a lot to a West Coast tune, ‘Slausson Shuffletime’ by Round Robin.
Bobby kept in touch with Barry White and provided lucrative material for his fabulously successful Love Unlimited.
Earl Nelson died in July 2008.
He had an earlier brush with fame when he sang lead on The Hollywood Flames’ hit, ‘Buzz, Buzz, Buzz’.
The Immortal Jukebox 