A couple weeks ago, my dad came by to bring me some mail that had gone to his place, and - as we often do - we headed to our favorite Chinese restaurant up the street from my apartment. In addition to the mail, he brought with him the final copy of his newest album, The Folksinger and we spent quite a lot of time at dinner talking about the CD and his favorite songs on it and how things turned out.
Nearly two years ago, I wrote this post, talking about growing up listening to my dad and his friend Tim playing songs and the way that music shaped my life and love of music. And just as the music produced by my dad's surfabilly bands and his duo with Tim had an impact, so too did all the solo music my dad wrote.
I've loved all the albums my dad has produced so far and the first three all contained a number of songs I remember listening to him play as a kid. But this newest album, this one is different. Like the others, there are a few newly-written songs mixed with "old favorites." But this album includes the ones I really remember from my childhood, the ones I still sing to myself on occasion, because the words and melodies spring up out of nowhere at times both appropriate and not. These words from Scrambled Egg Massacre, for instance, spring into my head in the kitchen, especially when a bit of extra smoke sends Rennie running into the other room:
And it's, "Good grief, holy smoke!
What's that awful smell?"
It's just me, cooking eggs again.
I can't cook too well.
The ones I remember most of the words to are, like "Scrambled Egg Massacre," the humorous ones, because dad used to sing these on request of visiting family and friends: "The Great Mt. Hood Skiing Disaster," "Life Insurance Blues," and one that didn't make it onto this album, "Made in Japan." I happen to know these aren't my dad's favorites - I assume for just this reason - but I get a kick out of them both because they invoke some nostalgia and also because they're just funny.
My favorites on this album, though, are a bit less "catchy" but infinitely more interesting. They are: How the West Was Missed, The Ballad of J.T. Baker and The Good Samaritan (this one has really beautiful music - 12 string guitar, I believe - in addition to the lyrics.)
Back in the Good Ol' Days: Years ago, before I was born and also when I was really little, my dad drove cab. One day he picked up fare, an older man, from Union Station in downtown Portland. As dad was driving him to wherever he was going, the old guy talked about living in Portland and growing up and - as my dad puts it - the song practically wrote itself.
I've always loved this song and the version on this cd has everything in it I remember hearing from when my dad first recorded it back in the 80s. Except, now my dad's a few years older and his voice is a bit deeper and, when I listen to this song now, it's as if I can hear that old man talking. For that reason, I think it's my favorite song on this album.
For those of you who are interested, the new CD is available for purchase here. You can also listen to some samples of the songs here too. And, although they're not up there yet, the songs from this album will also eventually be available from iTunes. More info here.
(Oh, and just because I know my dad will ask :), my favorite "new" song on the album is "Concrete and Steel." The other new ones include "Big Cow" and "I Don't Want to Talk to a Machine," and they are both good. But I like Concrete and Steel because ... welll.... I'm not sure why. The chord progression is interesting, the lyrics are clever and, well... it's just good.)
