Hound Dog, a twelve-bar blues by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, was first recorded by Willie Mae Thornton on August 13, 1952 in Los Angeles. I, whose birthday was on August 15, would have been turning three at the time, and have no recollection […]
Category Archives: Music
The Water’s Work Song
I wrote the words to this song when I was twenty-three; it came in a burst of writing three other songs as well, just the words, not any music. Over the years as I learned to play the guitar (always badly) I tried various melodies […]
Nine Albums
… … … … Bought this when I was a teenager, and it traveled with me during my hippie years. I would often upset the mood when everyone was stoned and or tripping by putting Ella on—it was like parent music at the time I […]
What Would You Give?
… Just practicing. I heard this song sung by Bill Monroe and Doc Watson—no one can do it better—certainly not me. I added some words, some verses that I think fit the times and also defines how I feel about the indefinable soul. I hope […]
Beautiful Sadness
… Stopped by to see my nephew Daniel in Philly and he suggested that we write a song in the spur of the moment, which intimidated me at first, but then he started to play on his electric guitar and I picked up the acoustic […]
Just Practicing
… … Somebody asked me to perform at a benefit in April, and I immediately said No, and then as we talked, I thought of course I should do it and said, Yes. I’ll practice, and that is what I am doing figuring out the […]
Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow
… I recorded this song, first recorded by the Carter Family in 1927 during the famous Bristol sessions, over a weekend in the South Mountain back at Ed Cox’s cabin in 2011 shortly after Hurricane Irene blew over many trees up and down the east […]
Blue Sorrow, Green Sorrow
I’ve been going through a lot of stuff, throwing out a lot of stuff, and came across this forgotten session, and liked it, was glad I found it, my nephew Daniel and I rehearsing before a performance, January afternoon, the first to be exact, western […]
Sweet Little Angel
… I performed a song at the Poetry Project with my nephew Daniel. May every day be full of love. Love, love, love, love, love, love, love. … … Sweet Little Angel I got a sweet little angel Sweeter than apple butter I got a […]
The Friday Night Apocalypse Stew
… Back in the early 70s in my early 20s while working at a lock and key factory in North Philly, I lost the inspiration to write, and came back to it partly by working on song lyrics, lyrics that there was no music for. […]
Writing Daddy Long Legs Blues
… When I was in my early twenties, I took a tent and camped out for a month along Walnut Run, a swift waterfall-filled stream, that splashes down the South Mountain where I grew up in Pennsylvania. I wanted to fast, meditate, read the Gospels, […]
Performances at Saint Mark’s Church, New Year’s Day 2011, 12, 13, 14 & 15
… I began to perform at the Poetry Project’s New Year’s Day benefit with my nephew Daniel in 2010. Our first performance wasn’t recorded, but in 2011 my partner Akram began to record us. The following are those five performances. I hope to continue this […]
