Albert Hammond: The Free Electric Band

 

This may seem a little cheesy in retrospect, but it was quite the catchy counter-culture tune...admit you loved it!

The Free Electric Band 
By Mike Hazlewood, Albert Louis Hammond


My father is a doctor, he's a family man,
My mother works for charity whenever she can,
They're both good clean Americans who abide by the law,
They both stick up for liberty and they both support the war
My happiness was paid for when they laid their money down,
For Summers in a Summer camp, and Winters in the town,
My future in the system was talked about and planned,
But I gave it up for music and the free electric band...

I went to school in hand-washed shirts with neatly oiled hair,
The school was big and newly built and filled with light and air,
And the teachers taught us values that we had to learn to keep,
And they clipped the ear of many idle kids who went to sleep,
My father organized for me a college in the East,
But I went to California, the sun-shine and the beach,
My parents and my lecturers could never understand,
Why I gave it up for music and the free electric band...

Well, they used to sit and speculate upon their son's career,
A lawyer or a doctor or a civil engineer,
Just give me bread and water, put a guitar in my hand,
'cause all I need is music and the free electric band...

My father sent me money and I spent it very fast,
On a girl I met in Berkeley in a social science class,
Yes, and we learned about her body, but her mind we didn't know,
Until deep rooted attitudes and morals began to show,
She wanted to get married, even though she never said,
But I knew her well enough by now to see inside her head,
She'd settle for suburbia and a little patch of land,
So I gave her up for music and the free electric band...

Grateful Dead: Terrapin Station

Classic version, clean sound. The Crescendo builds and builds and peaks, then video unfortunately cuts as the jam continues...


Terrapin station  (Hunter, Garcia)

Lady With A Fan:

Let my inspiration flow in token rhyme, suggesting rhythm,
That will not forsake you, till my tale is told and done.
While the firelights aglow, strange shadows from the flames will grow,
Till things weve never seen will seem familiar.

Shadows of a sailor, forming winds both foul and fair all swarm.
Down in carlisle, he loved a lady many years ago.
Here beside him stands a man, a soldier from the looks of him,
Who came through many fights, but lost at love.

While the story teller speaks, a door within the fire creaks;
Suddenly flies open, and a girl is standing there.
Eyes alight, with glowing hair, all that fancy paints as fair,
She takes her fan and throws it, in the lions den.

Which of you to gain me, tell, will risk uncertain pains of hell?
I will not forgive you if you will not take the chance.
The sailor gave at least a try, the soldier being much too wise,
Strategy was his strength, and not disaster.

The sailor, coming out again, the lady fairly leapt at him.
That's how it stands today. you decide if he was wise.
The story teller makes no choice. soon you will not hear his voice.
His job is to she'd light, and not to master.

Since the end is never told, we pay the teller off in gold,
In hopes he will return, but he cannot be bought or sold.

Terrapin Station:

Inspiration, move me brightly. light the song with sense and color;
Hold away despair, more than this I will not ask.
Faced with mysteries dark and vast, statements just seem vain at last.
Some rise, some fall, some climb, to get to terrapin.

Counting stars by candlelight, all are dim but one is bright;
The spiral light of venus, rising first and shining best,
On, from the northwest corner, of a brand new crescent moon,
While crickets and cicadas sing, a rare and different tune,
Terrapin station.

In the shadow of the moon, terrapin station.
And I know well get there soon, terrapin station.
I can't figure out, terrapin, if it's the end or beginning, terrapin,
But the trains put it's brakes on, terrapin,
And the whistle is screaming, terrapin.

Neil Young: Powderfinger

Classic version from Live Rust...

Powderfinger (Neil Young)

Look out, Mama, there's a white boat comin' up the river
With a big red beacon, and a flag, and a man on the rail
I think you'd better call John,
'Cause it don't look like they're here to deliver the mail
And it's less than a mile away
I hope they didn't come to stay
It's got numbers on the side and a gun
And it's makin' big waves.

Daddy's gone, my brother's out hunting in the mountains
Big John's been drinking since the river took Emmy-Lou
So the Powers That Be left me here to do the thinkin'
And I just turned twenty-two
I was wonderin' what to do
And the closer they got,
The more those feelings grew.

Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassurin'
He told me, Red means run, son, numbers add up to nothin'
But when the first shot hit the docks I saw it comin'
Raised my rifle to my eye
Never stopped to wonder why.
Then I saw black,
And my face splashed in the sky.

Shelter me from the powder and the finger
Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger
Think of me as one you'd never figured
Would fade away so young
With so much left undone
Remember me to my love,
I know I'll miss her.

Cubensis: Sugaree (Dead Covers Project)

The Lighthouse 1-14-2012
Hermosa Beach, California
Filmed by Grunzy Channel Video Productions.
Cameras by Tibor Grunsfeld and Lance Watsky
Audio provided by John Murchison (JRM Audio) and Wayne Stielau
http://www.cubensis.com
https://www.facebook.com/CubensisBand
http://www.dead.net/features/news/dead-covers-project

Nicki Bluhm is a rising star. Watch out for her!

Sugaree
(Hunter, Garcia)

When they come to take you down When they bring that wagon 'round
When they come to call on you and drag your poor body down

Just one thing I ask of you, just one thing for me
Please forget you know my name, my darling Sugaree
Shake it, shake it sugaree, just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it sugaree, just don't tell them that you know me

You thought you was the cool fool and never could do no wrong
Had everything sewed up tight. How come you lay awake all night long

Just one thing I ask of you, just one thing for me
Please forget you know my name, my darling Sugaree
Shake it, shake it sugaree, just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it sugaree, just don't tell them that you know me

Well in spite of all you gained you still had to stand out in the pouring rain
One last voice is calling you and I guess it's time you go

Just one thing I ask of you, just one thing for me
Please forget you know my name, my darling Sugaree
Shake it, shake it sugaree, just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it sugaree, just don't tell them that you know me

Well shake it up now Sugaree, I'll meet you at the jubilee

Just one thing I ask of you, just one thing for me
Please forget you know my name, my darling Sugaree
Shake it, shake it sugaree, just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it sugaree, just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it sugaree, just don't tell them that you know me

Mickey Hart Band: > Scarlet Begonias > Other One

Can't Wait to see Mickey Hart Band this summer! The video picks up this Grateful Dead classic in the 6th verse jamming into The Other One...

Scarlet Begonias 
Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter

As I was walkin' round grosvenor square
Not a chill to the winter but a nip to the air
From the other direction, she was calling my eye
It could be an illusion, but I might as well try, might as well try

She had rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes
And I knew without askin' she was into the blues
She wore scarlet begonias tucked into her curls
I knew right away she was not like other girls, other girls

In the thick of the evening when the dealing got rough
She was too pat to open and too cool to bluff
As I picked up my matches and was closing the door
I had one of those flashes I'd been there before, been there before

Well, I ain't always right but I've never been wrong
Seldom turns out the way it does in a song
Once in a while you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right

Well there ain't nothing wrong with the way she moves
Scarlet begonias or a touch of the blues
And there's nothing wrong with the look that's in her eyes
I had to learn the hard way to let her pass by, let her pass by

Wind in the willow's playin' "Tea for Two"
The sky was yellow and the sun was blue
Strangers stoppin' strangers just to shake their hand
Everybody's playing in the heart of gold band, heart of gold band

The Rainforest Fund's 2010 Benefit Concert, Carnegie Hall NYC 05/13/2010: DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'

 

Song Factoid: The odd thing about this song, is that there is no South Detroit and there never has been a South Detroit. Great rendition in this video by a great cast of singers. Sound quality: better than other smart phone attempts.

Don't Stop Believin' (Journey)
Songwriters: Schon, Neal; Cain, Jonathan; Perry, Steve;

Just a small town girl
Livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere

Just a city boy
Born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

A singer in a smoky room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people
Living just to find emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night

Working hard to get my fill
(From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/j/journey-lyrics/don_t-stop-believin_-lyrics.html)
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice just one more time

Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people
Living just to find emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlight people

Don't stop believin'
Hold on
Streetlight people

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlight people

The Band: Up On Cripple Creek

From the 1992 version of The Band, Up On Cripple Creek is performed on Levon Helm's instructional drumming video: "On Drums and Drumming."

Levon Helm 1940–2012, R.I.P.
Up on Cripple Creek

When I get off of this mountain, you know where I want to go?
Straight down the Mississippi river, to the Gulf of Mexico
To Lake Charles, Louisiana, little Bessie, girl that I once knew
She told me just to come on by, if there's anything she could do

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Good luck had just stung me, to the race track I did go
She bet on one horse to win and I bet on another to show
The odds were in my favor, I had 'em five to one
When that nag to win came around the track, sure enough she had won

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

I took up all of my winnings, and I gave my little Bessie half
She tore it up and threw it in my face, just for a laugh
Now there's one thing in the whole wide world, I sure would like to see
That's when that little love of mine, dips her doughnut in my tea

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Now me and my mate were back at the shack, we had Spike Jones on the box
She said, "I can't take the way he sings, but I love to hear him talk"
Now that just gave my heart a throb, to the bottom of my feet
And I swore as I took another pull, my Bessie can't be beat

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Now there's a flood out in California and up north it's freezing cold
And this living on the road is getting pretty old
So I guess I'll call up my big mama, tell her I'll be rolling in
But you know, deep down, I'm kind of tempted to go and see my Bessie again

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Uriah Heep: The Wizard

Eds note: Great song. Note the cheeseball costumes and hairdos and on-stage teenybopper dancers. 'Twas another time and place, folks.

The Wizard
(Mark Clarke, Ken Hensley)

He was the wizard of a thousand kings,
and I chanced to meet him one night wandering.
He told me tales, and he drank my wine,
me and my magic man kinda feelin' fine.

He had a cloak of gold and eyes of fire,
and as he spoke I felt a deep desire,
to free the world from it's fear and pain,
and help the people to feel free again.

Why don't we listen to the voices in our hearts
'cause then I know we'd find that we're not so far apart.
Everybody's got to be happy. Everyone should sing,
for we know the joy of life, the peace that love can bring.

So spoke the wizard in his mountain home.
The vision of his wisdom means we'll never be alone.
And I will dream of my magic night,
And the million silver stars that guide me with their light.