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SONGS
Four new songs from our exclusive and growing archive. Victoria Williams recorded Heaven’s Door with Jolie Holland, John Convertino and Joey Burns of Calexico, and Isobel Campbell (Belle and Sebastian). Jody Harris sent True Love, a love song and ballad of shining beauty. Kate Jacobs had some All Star overdubbing on Buy Gold, a suburban landscape with old age and money. Nicholas Hill celebrated the late Jeffrey Fredrick, recording his surreal Singing to the Dentist with the All Stars in their rowdier mode.
Victoria Williams
Heaven’s Door (Victoria Williams) performed by Victoria with Joey Burns, Isobel Campbell, Jolie Holland, John Convertino “it was in nyc and tucson. i recorded the track at jacks with jolie holland and then in tucson john convertino and joey burns recorded onto the track. sounds like they were there!”; Mumbletypeg Music (BMI)
Kate Jacobs
Buy Gold (Kate Jacobs) guitar and vocal, Kate; guitar and organ, Dave Schramm—recorded by Dan McLoughlin at The Vault in Hoboken; live overdub: Dave Schramm, Nashville guitar; David Mansfield, mandolin; Andy Burton, organ; Small Pond Music (BMI)
Jody Harris
True Love (Jody Harris) performed, recorded by Jody Harris; Copyright Control Jody Harris
Nicholas Hill
Singing to the Dentist (Jeffrey Fredrick) live with Dave Schramm, David Mansfield, Jessie Carrot, Sam Amidon and Gary Arnold. Beth Orton and Kate Jacobs harmonize.
The late Jeffrey Frederick on the difference between rock & roll and country-western: “Country-western is six guys in a stationwagon, driving 300 miles to play for $200. Rock and roll is what you do when you get there.”
Here are three new songs for you, from our astonishing collection. Let’s Travel Light was recorded live with the Radio Free All Stars when Peter Blegvad was in town from London. He says it’s his favorite version of this song. In Your Father Said, Dave Schramm practices a little self-plagiarism with unexpected and complex results. Peter Holsapple sent Bicycle Song, a Pink Floydish narrative about a girl, a bike, and a train.
Peter Blegvad
Let’s Travel Light (Peter Blegvad) live with Dave Schramm, David Mansfield, Andy Burton, James MacMillan and Paul Moschella
Dave Schramm
Your Father Said (Dave Schramm) performed and recorded by Dave; Hot Stove Music (BMI)
Peter Holsapple
Bicycle Song (Peter Holsapple) performed and recorded by Peter, Hospital Music (BMI) admin Bug Music
Here are three pastoral songs for you, here at the start of summer. A yearning, affectionate country love song from Laura Cantrell; an eerie, sweet patch of weeds from Robin Holcomb (our newest member!); and a bit of small town melancholy from the small town lad himself, Freedy Johnston.
by Laura Cantrell and Amy Allison; vocal and guitar, Laura; dobro, David Mansfield; guitar, Dave Schramm; piano, Andy Burton; drums, Paul Moschella; bass, James MacMillan; Thrift Shop Songs/Shop Girl Songs (BMI) admin Bug Music
by Robin Holcomb; piano and vocal, Robin; guitar, Dave Schramm; violin, David Mansfield; accordion, Andy Burton; St. Rose Music (ASCAP)
written and performed by Freedy Johnston; Trouble Tree Music (BMI)
Here are some new songs in classic styles. Tell it to the Marines is a sly ’40s scold from Kate Jacobs that ties up a timely scenario including war, financial ruin and a broken heart. Peter Blegvad’s Cote D’Azur swings into the hearts of the soul-searching rich; and Peter Holsapple ramps it up on Don’t Call Me Pete.
Kate Jacobs
Tell it to the Marines written and sung by Kate Jacobs;
piano arrangement and performance by Andy Burton;
recorded by Andy Burton, mixed by Gary Arnold
Small Pond Music (BMI)
Peter Blegvad
The Cote D’Azur written, performed, recorded by Peter Blegvad; Copyright Control, Peter Blegvad
Peter Holsapple
Don’t Call Me Pete Written and performed by Peter Holsapple with Tray and Kathleen Batson on background vocals; Hospital Music (BMI, admin. by Bug Music)
Vic Chesnutt’s death was a sobering event for us all. We’d like to share this collection of songs from the first few shows that were an unplanned response to the sad news. Victoria Williams sent us Vic on Vic, Syd Straw brought You Had Your Chance to play live on the show, Nicholas Hill sings Vic’s song Lucinda Williams, and Peter Holsapple brings us home with Don’t Ever Leave.
Vic on Vic (Victoria Williams) Mumbletypeg Music, (BMI)
Victoria Williams, piano & vocal with David Mansfield, violin
You Had Your Chance (Syd Straw/Mark Boone, Jr.) Strawsongs (BMI) Admin. by Bug Music, Inc.
Syd Straw & Mark Boone Jr, vocals, guitar; Dave Schramm, lap steel guitar; David Mansfield, violin
Lucinda Williams (Vic Chesnutt) Ghetto Bells (BMI), Administered by Bug Music Inc.
Nicholas Hill with Dave Schramm, guitar
Don’t Ever Leave (Peter Holsapple) Hospital Music (BMI), Admin. by Bug Music, Inc.
Peter Holsapple, vocal, organ and electric piano
Please make a donation to Vic Chesnutt’s family in exchange for this music. Kristin Hersch has set up a fund: Donation for the family of Vic Chesnutt
Here are three new songs for you from our steadily growing archive of exclusive tracks:
Something Went Wrong, Dave Schramm’s eerie, faltering lament from Third One Now.
We Fell Through a Crack in the World, Peter Blegvad’s track from Second Number, is spoken, sung and howled.
Mister Control, Jody Harris’s wonderfully cryptic song from Number One Issue sounds like a warning and an appreciation.
Dave Schramm
Something Went Wrong
written and performed by Dave Schramm
Hot Stove Music, (BMI)
Peter Blegvad
We Fell Through a Crack in the World
written and performed by Peter Blegvad with screams by John Guerrasio; copyright control Peter Blegvad
Jody Harris
Mister Control
written and performed by Jody Harris
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Beth Orton and Sam Amidon
Thirteen
written by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, performed by Beth and Sam with Dave Schramm and David Mansfield live on Radio Free Song Club: Fourth Time Around.
As we gathered on St. Patrick’s Day to tape show number four, we learned of the death of Alex Chilton. Beth Orton and Sam Amidon were in the studio that night and worked out a version of Big Star’s ”Thirteen”. Ted found the lyrics online, Sam picked out the chords and they sang it for the first time. Here it is.
photo by Ted Barron
Freedy Johnston
A Little Bit of Something Wrong
written by Freedy Johnston, performed by Freedy with Dave Schramm live on RFSC Second Number
Trouble Tree Music (BMI)
Laura Cantrell
written by Laura with Amy Allison; performed by Laura and Mark Spencer; recorded by Mark Spencer
Thrift Shop Songs/Shop Girl Songs (BMI) admin Bug Music
painting by Steve White
Peter Holsapple
Oh My (I Gotta Write a New Song)
written, performed, recorded by Peter
(Hospital Music, BMI admin. by Bug Music)
I’ve never experienced writer’s block like the one I’ve just tried to ramrod through with this song, which is all about ramrodding through writer’s block. The wonderful opportunity afforded me last year by my friends at The New York Times online to write about songwriting made me consider what I had done somewhat automatically for thirty-five years prior. Describing how and why I did what I did to make a song appear seemed to demystify the process, made me self-conscious and wary, and demagnetized whatever internal music ions that had caromed around freely beforehand. I couldn’t start, much less finish, a song for about a year and change. When Kate approached me about joining this group of songwriters, my fear that I was done for nearly capsized me into thanking her and declining. Instead, some tiny spark said I’d better do it, and that I’d better write a song. So I wrote a very ‘of the moment’ batch of lyrics, even more so than “Here and Now” had been.
This song is true confession time, expounding on my catatonic writing state, in an effort to dislodge the logjam and get going again. I think most every songwriter worries that his or her current song is the last one to come down the pipe. With any luck, this one of mine is merely the chemical agent that cleanses the system I’ve been fortunate enough to possess for years. And while it may not be the best song I’ve ever written, I can happily say it’s the most recent one.
wave form: ted barron
Victoria Williams
Fall Experience
written and performed by Victoria (vocal and long neck banjo), Jeff Fiellder guitar, Isobel Campbell cello and background vocals, and Jim the engineer background vocals
Freakwater
Mockingbird
written and performed by Catherine Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean, Jim Elkington helped record the tune and played mandola
Catherine Irwin of Freakwater on Mockingbird:
I have always been pretty crazy about mockingbirds. They are kind of scrappy. They are really territorial. They will sometimes chase cats out of their own backyards and they always have sort of an ”I will fuck you up” look on their faces. You can talk to them and they will make fun of you and they sing all night long.
Last summer a mockingbird flew in through the back door of my house and landed on my bed. I was pretty freaked out, mostly because of the eye-gouging beak thing but also because of the daggery lizard-chicken claws and the generally crazy blood-thirsty behavior of franticly flapping trapped birds. Maybe it’s a rare thing for birds or bats to get tangled up in a person’s hair, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t ever going to happen.
Oh, I forgot to say that the mockingbird pooped on my bed. That psychedelic purple mulberry poop.
I am not one of those annoying people who are constantly searching for meaning and who are, consequently, constantly finding it, but this event did strike me as potentially revelatory. Through the rosy lens of my ego-mania it seems as if I have perhaps at last been chosen.
bird: craig houghton
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Radio Free All-Stars
Radio Free Song
The theme song for the Radio Free Song Club. Written and recorded by Dave Schramm. Performed by Peter Moser (drums), and Dave Schramm (guitars, bass, organ)