EXCERPT: “IT'S A LONG WAY HOME” CHAPTER 23: THE MUSIC NEVER DIES/”G-MAN”
& FORMING "AL & THE G-MEN"
The return of Rock This Town! Productions and Current Music(2010-today)
I had been out of music now for almost a decade. But I saw a guy one day at the building where I worked, and he was carrying a guitar on his back. I asked him if he played, he modestly said, “A bit”. But we kept running into each other there and started discussing music.
One Saturday afternoon, he dragged me down to see an ‘open stage’ at Irene’s on Bank St. I say dragged because I hadn’t really seen much live local music the past few years. There were some talented musicians playing and singing up on stage and they would get in jams together, especially with a Ray Charles-like voiced lap slide guitar blues player named Parker Estabrooks. And one particular singer on stage, especially, stood out to me. She had the best voice I’d heard since that first time I’d heard Diane Gentes in the back of my store, right before I’d left for Vancouver in 1980. Like Diane, there was something haunting about her voice, R&Bish but there was also a Latin accent to it. So we had to come back for more. We started attending almost every Saturday and Parker and that singer, NATALIA CABRERA, and her guitarist-husband, TONY COOK , were usually there performing too. And they had quite a story; Tony had been in the Ottawa 70’s band, OCTAVIAN, and had spent the past several years playing with the blues legend, JOHN LEE HOOKER, in California. They had met in Argentina when Tony had toured with John Lee Hooker’s daughter’s band and Tony and Natalia got married. Tony and Natalia had done shows with the likes of IKE TURNER, JERRY LEE LEWIS, THE WAILERS, etc. But they had recently moved to Ottawa.
Glen and I bought a basic video camera and we started filming the shows and putting, with the musicians’ permission, video’s up on Youtube. Luckily, my new friend, I nicknamed him,“G-MAN”also knew computers, because I was still, as I say, pretty well a Luddite. But he was very patient and gradually was teaching me more and more about it. I’d had a Mac before, but I had to learn how to use a PC now. And just a week later there, we saw another singer who I thought was special, a country singer, AMANDA BON. With her was this really good guitar player. My friend said that was DANNY ARTUSO. I hadn’t seen Danny in years. He had been the talented young guitar player with Diane Gentes, I’d first seen in the 80’s. I approached Amanda after, and said she reminded me of Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith in her songwriting. She said they were two of her favorites too. So I had discovered within a week in one place, two or three artists I could perhaps help. Now, as I say, I had thought music was pretty well behind me. But these people, especially, I thought, had real potential.
Both Natalia and Tony, and Amanda soon had some of the most respected Ottawa players as part of their bands. They even shared the same bass and cello player, Ken Kanwisher, who also played with Ian Tamblyn. By late 2011, they had each recorded and released their first CD’s. Natalia and Tony and their band “NATALIA AND MONTUNO” released “MOVING NORTH” and Amanda Bon released her “JUNIPER WEEKENDS”. They both started getting more shows around town and I’d attend and video them, which they said helped them see themselves and improve their performances. I had gotten to know Harvey Glatt more. As I said, he was a legend in Ottawa, and as well having had brought in many big name acts to Ottawa like Harry Belafonte, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash,etc., he had been part owner of the legendary Hibou Coffeehouse in the 60’. He may well have introduced Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills and Nash, to Joni Mitchell when they were both in Ottawa at the same time. He had also managed several successful Ottawa bands and musicians like”THE ESQUIRES” and “ 3’s A CROWD” with Richard Patterson, whom I had interviewed. I had also interviewed another pivotal musician/songwriter Les Emmerson of “The Staccato’s” and “The Five Man Electrical Band” for my original book on Ottawa’s music. Harvey also owned part of Bruce Cockburn’s label, True North, that Lynn Miles had been on, and had managed Ian Tamblyn too. So he knew talent, when he heard it.
Harvey could still often be seen in the clubs searching out potential talent, as he had when he would go see my friend and now landlord’s band “LISTER”. He especially liked Amanda and would go to most of her shows. I also told him about Natalia and arranged a meeting with her and Tony. What I especially liked about Harvey was that he always said what he felt, unlike some in the music business. He thought Natalia was talented too, but he thought she might do better in a bigger place like Montreal or Toronto, where there might be more of a Latin audience. I disagreed with him somewhat, because I saw her more in the line of an ADELLE or AMY WINEHOUSE, whom were currently very popular , whom Natalia liked too, but she had an added Latin feel.
I’d never thought I would again get back into music but maybe at the most, work on my long delayed book about my life and music. I ran into Ian Tamblyn for the first time in years, and he gave a free copy of his latest Cd (his 30th!) and told him I might be getting back into music again. He was very supportive and said “It’s your passion”. I ran into Lynn Miles again for the first time in a while at Irene’s and she was also very nice. I told her I had an old photo of her from Barrymore’s in the 90’s I wanted her to have; I had kept files on several musicians. She replied in her characteristic humour ,”Should I?” Once when I saw her at The Blacksheep Inn, a guy next to me yelled out ”Don’t you know any happy songs?” She was known for her sad, relationship songs. She replied, ”What?” I said,“That is a happy song” and she told the guy “Bite Me!” I rushed home to get the photo and asked her when she was performing and she said that next week in a church. My friend,”G-MAN” and I went and she blew us away; a combination of her hurting songs and her amazing humour. I always thought she could have been a standup comedian. Later I was to run into her on the street and she gave me her latest acoustic Cd free. And I told her I was attempting to write songs. Ian and her hadn’t changed since I’d first known them; still encouraging others.
I was now even trying to write songs; something again, I never thought I’d do. After seeing Amanda dance (she was also a dancer, having studied flamenco), I was inspired to attempt my first song. I saw a whole different side of her and tried to capture it in the words in my song, “Like a Dancing Star”. I would usually come up with the idea for a song (it sometimes came at night in a dream state) and then get up and write down the words. Later my friend,”G-Man”, would ‘doddle’ on his guitar until a melody would come. Often, I just knew when we hit it right, what I’d wanted to capture in the song. I guess just being around pop music all those years helped. Sometimes I would sing on some and add percussion, and sometimes he would add on other instruments at his place: harmonica, slide guitar, bass, etc. “G-Man” and I just seemed to complement each other, both musically and personality-wise. I was more the rocker and he the folkie. I was always trying to push him a little, to try something different with each song. And often, I think he was surprised what we came up with and liked it. He was more shy about being up front, so I named him “G-Man”. But it was the combination, I think, that worked. We called ourselves “AL and THE G-MEN”. Again I didn’t know I could; I had always been around music and had so admired people who could. I thought it would be so hard to write songs, but once they started, they just seemed to pour out. “G-Man” and I would occasionally go to ‘open stage’ nights like when he did “BALLAD OF HARVEY GLATT”, a tribute to Harvey Glatt, at the Spirit of Rasputin’s. And other musicians came up and congratulated us; so maybe we were doing something right. I said, at that point, I’d only been writing songs for a few months and a musician said, “No, you’ve been doing them for 30 years!” We had just started doing it for fun and would record them, usually in my kitchen, and make our homemade Cd’s on the computer. Soon we had written and recorded, very basically, over 50 songs in one year!
So it was surprising when we got several played on Carleton University’s CKCU-FM. My Beatles friend and co-founder with John Whelan of The Ottawa Beatles Site, Tony Copple, had a regular show and he thought some were good enough to play on the air. In October, 2012, Natalia and I co-wrote a song based on a Lynn Miles line for a CBC contest for a “25 Years “Tribute Show at the Ottawa Literary Festival. And believe it or not, we ended up in the top five finals and got CBC airplay too. We won free tickets for the event, which was held at the church on Elgin St. I hadn’t been in since Sarah and I had gotten married there in back in ’86. The girl, ERIN SAOIRSE ADAIR, who won and got to perform with Lynn, liked our song, and kindly contacted us. Later I met Erin and I liked her too. She was in an all female, politically-oriented, folk group ”THE THREE LITTLE BIRDS” who were developing quite a following. And before I knew it, I was putting on my first and biggest high profile show, the” 3 SONGBIRDS” CONCERT", I had organized since my two Ottawa Beatles Conventions in’95 and ‘96. Natalia and Amanda and “THE THREE LITTLE BIRDS” all agreed to play on one bill for me at the prestigious NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE. It was on June 14, 2013. As I say, I never planned to do any of these things and still wasn’t sure where this might all lead, but it was fun and creative to be doing it again. And I couldn’t have done any of it (including this book) without my new friend, “G-MAN”. Also the City of Ottawa Archives contacted me about being interviewed and I donated several of my artifacts for their exhibit on the History of Ottawa Music in 2013 and 2014. So I guess I’m back into music again! For as Ottawa’s Cooper Bros. sang in their 70’s hit, “The Dream Never Dies”.
'
& FORMING "AL & THE G-MEN"
The return of Rock This Town! Productions and Current Music(2010-today)
I had been out of music now for almost a decade. But I saw a guy one day at the building where I worked, and he was carrying a guitar on his back. I asked him if he played, he modestly said, “A bit”. But we kept running into each other there and started discussing music.
One Saturday afternoon, he dragged me down to see an ‘open stage’ at Irene’s on Bank St. I say dragged because I hadn’t really seen much live local music the past few years. There were some talented musicians playing and singing up on stage and they would get in jams together, especially with a Ray Charles-like voiced lap slide guitar blues player named Parker Estabrooks. And one particular singer on stage, especially, stood out to me. She had the best voice I’d heard since that first time I’d heard Diane Gentes in the back of my store, right before I’d left for Vancouver in 1980. Like Diane, there was something haunting about her voice, R&Bish but there was also a Latin accent to it. So we had to come back for more. We started attending almost every Saturday and Parker and that singer, NATALIA CABRERA, and her guitarist-husband, TONY COOK , were usually there performing too. And they had quite a story; Tony had been in the Ottawa 70’s band, OCTAVIAN, and had spent the past several years playing with the blues legend, JOHN LEE HOOKER, in California. They had met in Argentina when Tony had toured with John Lee Hooker’s daughter’s band and Tony and Natalia got married. Tony and Natalia had done shows with the likes of IKE TURNER, JERRY LEE LEWIS, THE WAILERS, etc. But they had recently moved to Ottawa.
Glen and I bought a basic video camera and we started filming the shows and putting, with the musicians’ permission, video’s up on Youtube. Luckily, my new friend, I nicknamed him,“G-MAN”also knew computers, because I was still, as I say, pretty well a Luddite. But he was very patient and gradually was teaching me more and more about it. I’d had a Mac before, but I had to learn how to use a PC now. And just a week later there, we saw another singer who I thought was special, a country singer, AMANDA BON. With her was this really good guitar player. My friend said that was DANNY ARTUSO. I hadn’t seen Danny in years. He had been the talented young guitar player with Diane Gentes, I’d first seen in the 80’s. I approached Amanda after, and said she reminded me of Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith in her songwriting. She said they were two of her favorites too. So I had discovered within a week in one place, two or three artists I could perhaps help. Now, as I say, I had thought music was pretty well behind me. But these people, especially, I thought, had real potential.
Both Natalia and Tony, and Amanda soon had some of the most respected Ottawa players as part of their bands. They even shared the same bass and cello player, Ken Kanwisher, who also played with Ian Tamblyn. By late 2011, they had each recorded and released their first CD’s. Natalia and Tony and their band “NATALIA AND MONTUNO” released “MOVING NORTH” and Amanda Bon released her “JUNIPER WEEKENDS”. They both started getting more shows around town and I’d attend and video them, which they said helped them see themselves and improve their performances. I had gotten to know Harvey Glatt more. As I said, he was a legend in Ottawa, and as well having had brought in many big name acts to Ottawa like Harry Belafonte, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash,etc., he had been part owner of the legendary Hibou Coffeehouse in the 60’. He may well have introduced Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills and Nash, to Joni Mitchell when they were both in Ottawa at the same time. He had also managed several successful Ottawa bands and musicians like”THE ESQUIRES” and “ 3’s A CROWD” with Richard Patterson, whom I had interviewed. I had also interviewed another pivotal musician/songwriter Les Emmerson of “The Staccato’s” and “The Five Man Electrical Band” for my original book on Ottawa’s music. Harvey also owned part of Bruce Cockburn’s label, True North, that Lynn Miles had been on, and had managed Ian Tamblyn too. So he knew talent, when he heard it.
Harvey could still often be seen in the clubs searching out potential talent, as he had when he would go see my friend and now landlord’s band “LISTER”. He especially liked Amanda and would go to most of her shows. I also told him about Natalia and arranged a meeting with her and Tony. What I especially liked about Harvey was that he always said what he felt, unlike some in the music business. He thought Natalia was talented too, but he thought she might do better in a bigger place like Montreal or Toronto, where there might be more of a Latin audience. I disagreed with him somewhat, because I saw her more in the line of an ADELLE or AMY WINEHOUSE, whom were currently very popular , whom Natalia liked too, but she had an added Latin feel.
I’d never thought I would again get back into music but maybe at the most, work on my long delayed book about my life and music. I ran into Ian Tamblyn for the first time in years, and he gave a free copy of his latest Cd (his 30th!) and told him I might be getting back into music again. He was very supportive and said “It’s your passion”. I ran into Lynn Miles again for the first time in a while at Irene’s and she was also very nice. I told her I had an old photo of her from Barrymore’s in the 90’s I wanted her to have; I had kept files on several musicians. She replied in her characteristic humour ,”Should I?” Once when I saw her at The Blacksheep Inn, a guy next to me yelled out ”Don’t you know any happy songs?” She was known for her sad, relationship songs. She replied, ”What?” I said,“That is a happy song” and she told the guy “Bite Me!” I rushed home to get the photo and asked her when she was performing and she said that next week in a church. My friend,”G-MAN” and I went and she blew us away; a combination of her hurting songs and her amazing humour. I always thought she could have been a standup comedian. Later I was to run into her on the street and she gave me her latest acoustic Cd free. And I told her I was attempting to write songs. Ian and her hadn’t changed since I’d first known them; still encouraging others.
I was now even trying to write songs; something again, I never thought I’d do. After seeing Amanda dance (she was also a dancer, having studied flamenco), I was inspired to attempt my first song. I saw a whole different side of her and tried to capture it in the words in my song, “Like a Dancing Star”. I would usually come up with the idea for a song (it sometimes came at night in a dream state) and then get up and write down the words. Later my friend,”G-Man”, would ‘doddle’ on his guitar until a melody would come. Often, I just knew when we hit it right, what I’d wanted to capture in the song. I guess just being around pop music all those years helped. Sometimes I would sing on some and add percussion, and sometimes he would add on other instruments at his place: harmonica, slide guitar, bass, etc. “G-Man” and I just seemed to complement each other, both musically and personality-wise. I was more the rocker and he the folkie. I was always trying to push him a little, to try something different with each song. And often, I think he was surprised what we came up with and liked it. He was more shy about being up front, so I named him “G-Man”. But it was the combination, I think, that worked. We called ourselves “AL and THE G-MEN”. Again I didn’t know I could; I had always been around music and had so admired people who could. I thought it would be so hard to write songs, but once they started, they just seemed to pour out. “G-Man” and I would occasionally go to ‘open stage’ nights like when he did “BALLAD OF HARVEY GLATT”, a tribute to Harvey Glatt, at the Spirit of Rasputin’s. And other musicians came up and congratulated us; so maybe we were doing something right. I said, at that point, I’d only been writing songs for a few months and a musician said, “No, you’ve been doing them for 30 years!” We had just started doing it for fun and would record them, usually in my kitchen, and make our homemade Cd’s on the computer. Soon we had written and recorded, very basically, over 50 songs in one year!
So it was surprising when we got several played on Carleton University’s CKCU-FM. My Beatles friend and co-founder with John Whelan of The Ottawa Beatles Site, Tony Copple, had a regular show and he thought some were good enough to play on the air. In October, 2012, Natalia and I co-wrote a song based on a Lynn Miles line for a CBC contest for a “25 Years “Tribute Show at the Ottawa Literary Festival. And believe it or not, we ended up in the top five finals and got CBC airplay too. We won free tickets for the event, which was held at the church on Elgin St. I hadn’t been in since Sarah and I had gotten married there in back in ’86. The girl, ERIN SAOIRSE ADAIR, who won and got to perform with Lynn, liked our song, and kindly contacted us. Later I met Erin and I liked her too. She was in an all female, politically-oriented, folk group ”THE THREE LITTLE BIRDS” who were developing quite a following. And before I knew it, I was putting on my first and biggest high profile show, the” 3 SONGBIRDS” CONCERT", I had organized since my two Ottawa Beatles Conventions in’95 and ‘96. Natalia and Amanda and “THE THREE LITTLE BIRDS” all agreed to play on one bill for me at the prestigious NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE. It was on June 14, 2013. As I say, I never planned to do any of these things and still wasn’t sure where this might all lead, but it was fun and creative to be doing it again. And I couldn’t have done any of it (including this book) without my new friend, “G-MAN”. Also the City of Ottawa Archives contacted me about being interviewed and I donated several of my artifacts for their exhibit on the History of Ottawa Music in 2013 and 2014. So I guess I’m back into music again! For as Ottawa’s Cooper Bros. sang in their 70’s hit, “The Dream Never Dies”.
'
“WE DIDN’T KNOW” lyrics by Alan Chrisman (Buddy Holly-like ballad)
intro
We didn’t know
We were so young
We were so innocent
It wouldn’t be all fun
We didn’t know-We didn’t know
“ “
We didn’t know
It wouldn’t be so easy
We could get hurt
It could take its toll
We didn’t know-We didn’t know
“ “
Chorus:
We didn’t know
It could break our heart
We could fall-- apart
But we could make a new start
We didn’t know-We didn’t know
“ “
Instrumental
We didn’t know
Some would justify
We would have to cry
We would have to say goodbye
We didn’t know-We didn’t know
“ “
We didn’t know
We could still fall in love
We could pray above
Through it all, that we could grow
We didn’t know-We didn’t know
Repeat
Repeat-know!
Repeat
Repeat
Repeat-fade
c. 2013
intro
We didn’t know
We were so young
We were so innocent
It wouldn’t be all fun
We didn’t know-We didn’t know
“ “
We didn’t know
It wouldn’t be so easy
We could get hurt
It could take its toll
We didn’t know-We didn’t know
“ “
Chorus:
We didn’t know
It could break our heart
We could fall-- apart
But we could make a new start
We didn’t know-We didn’t know
“ “
Instrumental
We didn’t know
Some would justify
We would have to cry
We would have to say goodbye
We didn’t know-We didn’t know
“ “
We didn’t know
We could still fall in love
We could pray above
Through it all, that we could grow
We didn’t know-We didn’t know
Repeat
Repeat-know!
Repeat
Repeat
Repeat-fade
c. 2013
Download and listen below to "WE DIDN'T KNOW":
| wedidntknowver1ghs.mp3 |
To hear REGGAE version by The Gee-Men and ORCHESTRATED POP versions by THE GENTS of "WE DIDN'T KNOW", produced by Bryan Anthony go to www.soundclick.com, and type song name in search.
BELOW: PARKER ESTABROOKS (lap guitar and vocals) and my old friend, SHAWN ROSSEAU ("ECANO")(Lead Guitar), & Friends jamming, Irene's,SAT.Afternoon "Open Stage", where in 2010; I also first met Amanda Bon and Natalia and Montuno.
ROGER DOREY(vocals, acoustic guitar), Shawn Rosseau(lead guitar), Ben Griggs(guitar) & friends at Irene's Sat. Afternoon jam-below:
SEE & HEAR BELOW NEW SHAWN ROSSEAU SONG & VIDEO (2014): "FREE AS AN IRISHMAN CAN BE" http://youtu.be/X3xbEFLMRxU
| free_as_an_irish_man_can_be-shawn_rosseau_mp3.mp3 |
THE "3 SONGBIRDS" CONCERT, JUNE 14, 2013 at the NAC marked the return of ROCK THIS TOWN! PRODUCTIONS:
“3 SONGBIRDS” are three separate Ottawa female singer-songwriters
with their musicians performing , a mix
of styles, all in one show:
“NATALIA AND MONTUNO”: Natalia Cabrera, originally from Argentina, writes and sings with a velvet voice, a mixture of jazzy/ R&B original songs but with a Latin twist. And she and her band ”MONTUNO”( Tony Cook, Kurt Walther, Ken Kanwisher) get people up dancing. They released their CD “MOVING NORTH” in late 2011. She performed at the 2013 Ottawa Jazz Fest.
“AMANDA BON and THE OUTSKIRTS”: Amanda writes well-crafted country-roots songs that capture everyday lives. And with her excellent band (Danny Artuso, Ken Kanwisher, Gilles LeClerc) they’ve gained a loyal following and performed at 2012 Junos. She released her 1st CD “ JUNIPER WEEKENDS” in 2011 and her 2nd. "Down The Road" in June, 2013.
“THREE LITTLE BIRDS” (Amelia Leclair, Erin Saoirse Adair, Angela Schieihauf) are carrying on that great folk tradition of acoustic melodies and songs on social and political issues. They have 3-part harmonies and world rhythms. They released their debut CD to acclaim in 2011 and were nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award in 2012.
“3 SONGBIRDS” CONCERT:
7:30 p.m. “NATALIA AND MONTUNO”
8:15 p.m. “AMANDA BON and THE OUTSKIRTS”
9:00 p.m. “THREE LITTLE BIRDS”
“SONGBIRDS”
As you weave your soothing sound
Like sweet aromas
That float through the air
Envelope and surround
We become lost in a dream
As we drift downstream
Each tune seems to fit
Like pearls on a string
As we reflect, our days
In our own separate ways
Our worries fly away
And it seems to stand still time
"Songbirds" lyrics by Alan Chrisman
c. 2012
Presented by ROCK THIS TOWN! PRODUCTIONS
“NATALIA AND MONTUNO”: Natalia Cabrera, originally from Argentina, writes and sings with a velvet voice, a mixture of jazzy/ R&B original songs but with a Latin twist. And she and her band ”MONTUNO”( Tony Cook, Kurt Walther, Ken Kanwisher) get people up dancing. They released their CD “MOVING NORTH” in late 2011. She performed at the 2013 Ottawa Jazz Fest.
“AMANDA BON and THE OUTSKIRTS”: Amanda writes well-crafted country-roots songs that capture everyday lives. And with her excellent band (Danny Artuso, Ken Kanwisher, Gilles LeClerc) they’ve gained a loyal following and performed at 2012 Junos. She released her 1st CD “ JUNIPER WEEKENDS” in 2011 and her 2nd. "Down The Road" in June, 2013.
“THREE LITTLE BIRDS” (Amelia Leclair, Erin Saoirse Adair, Angela Schieihauf) are carrying on that great folk tradition of acoustic melodies and songs on social and political issues. They have 3-part harmonies and world rhythms. They released their debut CD to acclaim in 2011 and were nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award in 2012.
“3 SONGBIRDS” CONCERT:
7:30 p.m. “NATALIA AND MONTUNO”
8:15 p.m. “AMANDA BON and THE OUTSKIRTS”
9:00 p.m. “THREE LITTLE BIRDS”
“SONGBIRDS”
As you weave your soothing sound
Like sweet aromas
That float through the air
Envelope and surround
We become lost in a dream
As we drift downstream
Each tune seems to fit
Like pearls on a string
As we reflect, our days
In our own separate ways
Our worries fly away
And it seems to stand still time
"Songbirds" lyrics by Alan Chrisman
c. 2012
Presented by ROCK THIS TOWN! PRODUCTIONS
LISTEN BELOW TO AUDIO EXCERPTS FROM "3 SONGBIRDS" CONCERT: "NATALIA AND MONTUNO"; "AMANDA BON AND THE OUTSKIRTS"
| nac_concert.mp3 |
ABOVE: 'AMANDA BON & THE OUTSKIRTS' & BELOW: 'NATALIA AND MONTUNO' WHO LATER PLAYED OUR " 3 SONGBIRDS " CONCERT NAC, JUNE 2013, ABOVE.
ABOVE: "NATALIA AND MONTUNO" and "AMANDA BON" released CD's in 2011. And "AMANDA BON & THE OUTSKIRTS" released "DOWN THE ROAD" CD in 2013. "NATALIA AND MONTUNO" are currently working on their 2nd. CD, 2014. LINK TO AMANDA BON: www.amandabon.com
LYNN MILES TRIBUTE SONG:
WRITTEN AS TRIBUTE TO LYNN MILES: “25 YEARS OF HER SONGS”:
OTTAWA LITERARY FESTIVAL, OCT, 2012
Based on her song titles, "THE TROUBADOUR", by Alan Chrisman
25 years since Bank St. Café, Rasputin’s, and “THIS TOWN”
We’re “STILL HERE”, growing with your voice’s heartfelt sound
Dues paid on the road, Austin, Nashville, L.A.
And the many other places you’ve played
“NOBODY’S ANGEL”, “SLIGHTLY HAUNTED”
“RUST” must take its toll
And perhaps when it could “UNRAVEL”
You finally get a JUNO, a JUNO!
CHORUS:
Some have called you Queen of Love and Sorrow
Expressing our “LONELINESS” and our tears
But the “ONLY WAY OUT” is to face our fears
Yet still “LOOK UP” to tomorrow
“FLAMES OF LOVE”, “DOROTHY’s” tight shoes,
“FALL FOR BEAUTY”, now”BLACK FLOWERS”
And that humour, Oh that humour
You’ve always been a stand-up lady, a lady
But you’d probably say, you’d probably say
You’re just a TROUBADOUR
Singing your songs, singing your songs
Trying for “THREE CHORDS AND THE TRUTH”, and the truth
(“YOU ALWAYS TOLD US THE TRUTH”)
Lyrics: Alan Chrisman/Music: Glen Hanson c. 2012
COLLAGE OF "25 YEARS of LYNN MILES" ALBUM COVERS, PHOTOS AND GRAPHICS, 1987-2012:
compiled by Alan Chrisman
OTTAWA LITERARY FESTIVAL, OCT, 2012
Based on her song titles, "THE TROUBADOUR", by Alan Chrisman
25 years since Bank St. Café, Rasputin’s, and “THIS TOWN”
We’re “STILL HERE”, growing with your voice’s heartfelt sound
Dues paid on the road, Austin, Nashville, L.A.
And the many other places you’ve played
“NOBODY’S ANGEL”, “SLIGHTLY HAUNTED”
“RUST” must take its toll
And perhaps when it could “UNRAVEL”
You finally get a JUNO, a JUNO!
CHORUS:
Some have called you Queen of Love and Sorrow
Expressing our “LONELINESS” and our tears
But the “ONLY WAY OUT” is to face our fears
Yet still “LOOK UP” to tomorrow
“FLAMES OF LOVE”, “DOROTHY’s” tight shoes,
“FALL FOR BEAUTY”, now”BLACK FLOWERS”
And that humour, Oh that humour
You’ve always been a stand-up lady, a lady
But you’d probably say, you’d probably say
You’re just a TROUBADOUR
Singing your songs, singing your songs
Trying for “THREE CHORDS AND THE TRUTH”, and the truth
(“YOU ALWAYS TOLD US THE TRUTH”)
Lyrics: Alan Chrisman/Music: Glen Hanson c. 2012
COLLAGE OF "25 YEARS of LYNN MILES" ALBUM COVERS, PHOTOS AND GRAPHICS, 1987-2012:
compiled by Alan Chrisman
LISTEN AND DOWNLOAD: "THE TROUBADOUR", song about Lynn Miles
| thetroubadourver4dr.mp3 |
Watch Below: "THE TROUBADOUR" for Lynn Miles; performed by Glen Hanson, Elmdale Tavern, 2012
“AFRAID OF THE DARK”
(Lyrics by Alan Chrisman; Music by Natalia Cabrera and Tony Cook)
FINALIST FOR CBC” ALL IN A DAY” Contest, based on Lynn Miles Line “ Late night phone Call”, OTTAWA LITERARY FESTIVAL Tribute, Oct., 2012
You wake up in the night
So full of fright
Like a bad dream
Makes you want to scream
It sends shivers up our spine
The walls you want to climb
Running in our heads
As we lay in our beds
We’re again like a little child
Sill afraid of the dark
Hiding under the covers
Thinking of lost lovers
Chorus:
Yes, it is the desperation of a "late night telephone call"
We,ve all been there before
Drowning out at sea
Can barely see the shore
We’re all afraid of something in our past
Worried that nothing will ever last
But we mustn’t give up
Blame others for our luck
We have to face each day
No matter what comes our way
Still take a chance on life and romance
And somehow still get up and dance
c. 2012
(Lyrics by Alan Chrisman; Music by Natalia Cabrera and Tony Cook)
FINALIST FOR CBC” ALL IN A DAY” Contest, based on Lynn Miles Line “ Late night phone Call”, OTTAWA LITERARY FESTIVAL Tribute, Oct., 2012
You wake up in the night
So full of fright
Like a bad dream
Makes you want to scream
It sends shivers up our spine
The walls you want to climb
Running in our heads
As we lay in our beds
We’re again like a little child
Sill afraid of the dark
Hiding under the covers
Thinking of lost lovers
Chorus:
Yes, it is the desperation of a "late night telephone call"
We,ve all been there before
Drowning out at sea
Can barely see the shore
We’re all afraid of something in our past
Worried that nothing will ever last
But we mustn’t give up
Blame others for our luck
We have to face each day
No matter what comes our way
Still take a chance on life and romance
And somehow still get up and dance
c. 2012
LISTEN AND DOWNLOAD: "AFRAID OF THE DARK", studio version, CBC Contest finalist
| afraidofthedark_natalia.mp3 |
CBC MUSIC LINK: "HUMAN REALITY" http://cbcmusic.ca/artists type in AL & THE G-Men in Search
"HUMAN REALITY” ( L. Cohen-like folk song) Lyrics by Alan Chrisman
1.There is no perfection Chorus:
Not everything is connected Everybody lies
There is no excuse Everybody cries
There is no simple truth Everybody dies
Not everybody flies
2.There is no black
There is no white 4. There is no smart addict
There’s only wrong There is no escape
There’s only right There’s only ourselves to blame
There’s only human joy and pain
3.There’s not always a reason 5. The Spirit is overrated
Things are never simple Our ego’s are inflated
They are always complex Most have already made up their minds
It’s always a changing season Few will take the necessary time
6.Doesn’t matter how much we say
Only what we do
Whether we deliver
And come through
7.We are not equal
We are not the same
We are all different
In more than a name
8.Only you can grow
Only you can know
And not be a slave
And can yourself save
c. 2013
LISTEN & DOWNLOAD: "HUMAN REALITY" below:
| humanrealityver1ghs_edt.mp3 |
