Cripple Creek

Cripple Creek is a standard bluegrass tune from way back. And this is one of my favorite versions, not by a country boy from North Carolina, but from an irreverant Scottish comedian who also happens to play frailing or clawhammer banjo.

Earl Scruggs who was not a comedian who plays Scruggs Style bluegrass banjo does a definitive version with Lester Flatt that you can listen to to see the difference and I'll post a link to his version at the end, but for now, I'll post Billy's version because it looks like he's having so danged much fun playing it.

You'll recognize Billy from parts he's played in a bunch of movies of late, including "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" with Jim Carrey. Billy's a very funny guy, but it's better if you catch him where there are some censors available to tone him down just a bit. He was also one of the voice actors in Disney's Brave with his rich Scottish brogue and played a part in the third of Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies "The Battle of Five Armies."

He's actually Sir William Connolly CBE, knighted by the Queen and everything. He's an odd little man, but very talented.

Here's Billy Connolly with Cripple Creek:

And you can find Earl Scrugg's version at this link.  I play a very bad version of Cripple Creek on my homemade banjo but I shall spare you that particular torture. Stringbean, a famous Grand Old Opry comedian does a clawhammer version similar to Billy's, but at much higher speed. In fact, if you play banjo, Cripple Creek is probably one of the first tunes they teach you.

Tom

Nothing Soothes the Soul Like Jesus

Steve Borth & small befuddled child

This song is by a guy I replaced at Valley Grande Academy. Steve Borth was a senior at Valley in 1971. I came along and was a senior in 1972.  Steve played guitar. I played guitar badly. Steve was the boy's dorm janitor. I was the boy's dorm janitor. Steve was in the choir. The choir director felt sorry for me and let me in the choir. In summer Steve wore a beard. I wore a beard in summer. Steve wore glasses. I wore glasses. We were often mistaken for each other around Adventist circles. He toured with the Texas Adventist Youth in Action Team. I worked at summer camp. At camp meeting, I used to get asked when I was going to sing next. At Lone Star Camp, Steve would get asked when canoeing class was going to start. Steve wrote some really great songs and sang them well. I wrote some really awful songs and sang them badly. In our old age, little kids are fascinated by our facial hair (see pictures above).

Tom with small befuddled child

Steve has, after years of personal mission work, restarted his
musical career, re-releasing an old album and working on some new music. This song is one of my favorites of his. It's very mellow, but I have to pitch it up a key or so to keep from bottoming out. My choir teacher, Bob LeBard called me a baritone with the lilt of a second bass. He stood me between two strong basses in order to keep me in tune.  It's funny that our lives ran so parallel. Steve worked in little mission efforts with homeless guys and veterans and such. I worked for 40 years in the nonprofit sector with abused and mentally ill kids, disabled folk, and was VP for the Tyler Homeless coalition. Steve's like my brother from another mother. It's probably good that God spread us out a bit. You get more good done that way.

But in heaven, I hope to get a chance to jam with Steve sometime. It's something I regret never having gotten to do.  Here is "Nothing Soothes the Soul Like Jesus":

Sabbath afternoon nap music if I ever heard it.  Thanks for the music Steve.

Tom King

Yuppies in the Skies

Tom Paxton among the early Yuppies

This is another great Tom Paxton song from the 80s. Paxton takes off on "Ghost Riders in the Sky" in a parody of the Yuppie culture. A lot of Paxton's songs are topical and have a fairly short shelf life. If you remember the big Yuppie culture though, this one's still funny.

Tom wrote another one about the coming plague of lawyers called "One Million Lawyers". His prediction has since come true. He wrote one about the planet Pluto's demotion to dwarf planet. The song is funny. Some of his stuff is poignant like "Hobo's Lullaby". And he does do some kids song like "Daddy's Takin' Us to the Zoo Tomorrow."

Here's Tom Paxton with "Yuppies in the Skies".

Tom Paxton has a website at http://www.tompaxton.com/

Check it out.

Tom

The Last Thing on My Mind

First time I heard this song, it was Peter, Paul and Mary who sang it. I didn't find out till I bought the music that someone named Tom Paxton wrote the song. Later on I took the kids to a folk concert in Fort Worth, Texas where both PP&M and Tom Paxton performed the same night. One of the songs Tom sang was "Last Thing on My Mind," a lament about lost love - the kind that's your fault. Tom writes a lot of protest songs. Some I agree with and some I don't. I'm funny like that about folk music.

Here's Tom singing "Last Thing on My Mind," with another favorite of mine, Liam Clancy of the Clancy brothers. There are much better sounding versions of this song, but I couldn't resist a live version with Liam.

Kind of a sad song, but the guitar part is very nice. I learned to play it on the guitar and used to sing it when girlfriend's broke up with me. That actually happened a lot. This song got me through some bad days.

© 2017 by Tom King

The Very Last Day

One of my early folk gospel favorites was Very Last Day by the inimitable Peter, Paul & Mary. Paul was actually a Christian and was responsible for the trio's inclusion of Christian folk music selections on many of their albums.  I actually performed this once for Sabbath School when I had the music crew stand me up. It's kind of a militant sort of Christian song - rather like Oh, Sinner Man, so I let 'em all have it with my rather aggressive version of Very Last Day.

PP&M do a terrific job of capturing the intensity of the song. Remember this was back when SDA pastors were preaching hard about the time of trouble and the return of Christ. This song seems to catch the determination of people holding on while waiting for the coming of the Lord.  Here's Very Last Day.

 


Love the way these guys work the harmony. Nobody does it better. They make it sound effortless, but they really worked hard to achieve that perfect sound. I still play this song when I feel militant about the Second Coming.

Tom

Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road

Ever once in a while you stumble across a weird little song and it just sticks in your head. This little ditty by Louden Wainright III celebrates an experience we've all had driving down a country road late at night. this is one of those songs you sing at the top of you lungs when you're driving along alone and feeling just a bit unhappy with the state of affairs in the world and you just want to express your frustration with the things.

Here's Louden Wainright III with "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road".

Now wasn't that just as uplifting as all git-out?

Tom

Polly Wolly Doodle

My Grandpa used to play this song on his harmonica when we were kids. He had a verse about a peanut on the railroad track, his heart was all aflutter, and along came a train with a clickety-clack and it was toot toot peanut butter. He could always get a laugh out of anyone ten years old and younger. 

"Polly Wolly Doodle" was my favorite one of his harmonica tunes. He could do this triple tonguing deal that I have never been able to pull off. My #2 favorite song of his was a somewhat risque ballad called "I Never Loved Her Like I Loved Her Last Night in the Back of My Cadillac 8".  I think there may have been a story behind that, because my grandmother tended to get flustered when he played it. As I learned later, Grandpa and Honeymama (my grandmother's grandkid name) went out on a date one night and drove to Itasca, found a preacher and got married. Then Grandpa took her home and they didn't tell her father, my great grand papaw, about if for two weeks cause they were both afraid of him. I rather suspect my Honeymama and Grandpa did NOT drive straight home from Itasca that momentous date night. I've driven on those back roads and there are plenty of places to park I can tell you. Grandpa always had a little grin on his face when he played "Cadillac 8". Honeymom just rolled her eyes and left the room.

A friend of mine hooked me on Leon Redbone years ago and I especially loved his bluesy mellow version of Polly Wolly Doodle. I learned to play the song on the harmonica by playing along with a Leon Redbone tape I recorded off the original vinyl album. It was a little scratchy, but that kind of goes with old Leon's style..............and Grandpa's.  Here's Leon Redbone with Polly Wolly Doodle:

Singin' polly wolly doodle all day...

Singin' polly wolly doodle all day...

Singin' polly wolly doodle all day...

That's the way I remember the ending.

Tom