[I SAW MYSELF]

I saw myself
a ring of bone
in the clear stream
of all of it

and vowed,
always to be open to it
that all of it might flow through

and then heard
"ring of bone" where
ring is what a

bell does

-Lew Welch

The Fiddler of Dooney

When I play on my fiddle in Dooney,
Folk dance like a wave of the sea;
My cousin is priest in Kilvarnet,
My brother in Mocharabuiee.

I passed my brother and cousin:
They read in their books of prayer;
I read in my book of songs
I bought at the Sligo fair.

When we come at the end of time
To Peter sitting in state,
He will smile on the three old spirits,
But call me first through the gate;

For the good are always the merry,
Save by an evil chance,
And the merry love the fiddle,
And the merry love to dance:

And when the folk there spy me,
They will all come up to me,
With 'Here is the fiddler of Dooney!'
And dance like a wave of the sea.

-W.B. Yeats 1899

Loose Salute

As autumn creeps in to the Southeast, I offer up these albums as a way to spread the gospel of Ronnie Lane. He brought some light into this world. I encourage everyone to check out "The Passing Show," a documentary about his life and times (mainly post-Faces). Ronnie knew some stuff.


Anymore for Anymore (Part 1)
Anymore for Anymore (Part 2)


Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance
(This combine's Ronnie's 1974 Slim Chance album and One For The Road, from 1976, with a few omissions.)


Mahoney's Last Stand
(Soundtrack for the 1972 film known as Mahoney's Last Stand or, alternately, Mahoney's Estate; does anyone have a copy of this?)


You Never Can Tell: The BBC Sessions (Part 1)
You Never Can Tell: The BBC Sessions (Part 2)


How Come
(A compilation; mainly included here for the glorious "Kuschty Rye.")

21
I must launch out my boat. The languid hours pass by on the shore- Alas for me!
The spring has done its flowering and taken leave. And now with the burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger.
The waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane the yellow leaves flutter and fall.

What emptiness do you gaze upon! Do you not feel a thrill passing through the air with the notes of the far away song floating from the other shore?

-Rabindranath Tagore


*If any of Ronnie's people are out there and would like these links taken down, just say the word.

Holy Smoke

Groover's Two was a success. I thank all the great people who showed up to play and hang out. I drank too much and now I'm on the wagon. But I'm concocting an Autumn Groove that I think will be a lot of FUN. Maybe in October or November??

Over the last couple days I got a few electronic notes from Trad Gras och Stenar saying they liked Hiss Golden Messenger's music. Imagine that. Perhaps they send this sort of thing to everyone that "friends" them on MySpace, but it was pretty sweet nevertheless, and I was on cloud nine. I love Trad Gras, International Harvester, Parson Sound...all that stuff. It's all so good. Awesome breaking dirt on the commune vibe. Thanks for the kind words dudes, you have no idea how hard you stoked this guy (meaning me) out.

I wrote about The Hag's "Rainbow Stew" LP the other day. Amazingly, incredibly, footage exists of this awesome concert. Check some of this shit out, it's on a whole other level.
I'm thinking right now that "Misery and Gin" may be my favorite country song ever.:::