Woodpile: "Big Dipper" (Cracker cover)

For as much love as I have for the psychedelic and faux-world music of Camper van Beethoven (and my devotion indeed is mountainous), I must say that I've got just as much for David Lowery's equally long-lived, more traditionally rock-y band Cracker.  Sometimes it's that the craft of his songs stands out a bit better among less clutter.  Sometimes it's the presence of good ol' rock or funk comfort food.  Sometimes it's just the fact that Johnny Hickman and his Les Paul make some of the best guitar lines going. 

This one's a solo workout on a Cracker tune off their hit-and-miss "The Golden Age" rekkid (1996).  First heard this on a visit to Dan and Jesse's old place in Brooklyn Heights.  It floored me then, sticks with me to this day and, as songs may do, it somehow carries for me a truckload of nostalgia for some very disparate times and locales-- in this case NY and the SF Bay area (no offense to anyone in Santa Cruz, as I dunno what they consider themselves).  Maybe part of my weakness is that the song refers to the Giant Dipper, a 1920's era wooden frame roller coaster, not unlike my old Dragon Coaster at Rye Playland where I happily toiled away one warm summer years ago.  More on my amusement park escapades at some later time.  Suffice it to say, there is most definitely a place in my heart for carny life.

Giant Dipper, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, CA

Dragon Coaster, Rye Playland, NY

Anyway, been meaning to record the song for about 15 years now.  Here 'tis:

Big Dipper:
http://www.box.com/s/0e905b5a3c1b6e2a02a6

Big Dipper:

Woodpile: "That Pomade" b/w "Coffee and Wine"

Got a two-fer of semi-oldies today, or maybe a one-and-a-half-fer....  Each of 'em about a decade old by now.  "That Pomade" is a chilling, heartbreaking and stirring rockabilly tale of a man, a woman and the hair product that nearly tears them apart.  "Coffee and Wine" is a loping lecture about approaching bottom, though less a cautionary tale than a descriptive one. Somewhat appropriately, a recording glitch cut it off a tad early, hence the early fade-out.  Folk yerselves out:

That Pomade:
http://www.box.com/s/71dbac83e7ce76fe2943


Coffee and Wine (partial):
http://www.box.com/s/a8511e7a340864c1d0c7

Woodpile: "Peter Pan- Trailways"

Keeping it brief, here's another one from the woodpile.  Also an old Honcho band favorite, this song is an admittedly slight, stream-of-consciousness number.  The lyrics were basically pull as-written from a page of my "little black book", written on a Peter Pan- Trailways bus out of Baltimore headed to NYC, while gazing out at the splendor of North Jersey's Meadowlands.  This version lacks the guitar contortions of Paul B and the propulsive thwacks of Roadkill on the tubs, but such is the acoustic scene.

Should've a/b-ed this into a "single" with "Firefly" from the last post but crossed my wires somehow.

Peter Pan- Trailways:
http://www.box.com/s/beb52c6a71afaa0ae56a

Peter Pan- Trailways:

Woodpile: "Firefly"

Taking a break from the electricity and rock-y cacophony, this post commences a set that I refer to as the "Woodpile".  These are just from-the-hip, mostly acoustic versions of old songs of mine.  I recorded these in part to present what I think are some good tunes in more "hi fi" form than the originals, using better gear, some nicer instruments and (hopefully) a little improved playing skills.  Mostly, though, this project started as a simple means of learning how to play and record an upright bass that I'd acquired a little over a year ago.  Seemed like fun, and I've just commenced recording a second batch which should be complete in, oh, a decade or so....

Anyway, this one is the "Firefly", an old "hit" from the Honcho days.  Hopefully we'll get one of those Honcho versions posted at some point, with Paul B's ticky-tacky Telecaster picking and Road's rim-tapping and snare bashing, but for now, this one is a quiet version of a sweet-natured song that dates back to my days living in the Kacyznski Cabin behind the Anne Arundel Veterinary Emergency Clinic, down in "'Napp'lis, Merlin"....  It's a real summer evening backyard picker, and one that you can put squarely in the "Basically Stolen from the Charlie Chesterman Playbook" File. 


Firefly:
http://www.box.com/s/02a958b75a5bfb196f6c

Firefly:

Stackpole- Keating, Part 5: Who Do You Love?

We took some liberties with this one, we did, and turned out some kind of hybrid that I still don't quite know what to think of. I guess you all can be the judge. Nearly everyone's played a version of this old Bo Diddley hit, that's for sure. We started with the Band's version, took some liberties with the chord progression, dumped on a bunch of percussion and smeared some cheesy organ on top. Ended up here:

Who Do You Love (link):
http://www.box.com/s/2864d63c756d4a540290

Who Do You Love (stream/ download):