Ain't No Time

 

You may know this lovely ditty by way of the Fairports, but here's the original, courtesy of beatnik folkies Richard & Mimi Fariña. Richard died at only 29 in a motorcycle accident, two days after his fine novel Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me was published. And for the trivia lovers among you: Mimi was the younger sister of Joan Baez.

Richard & Mimi Fariña - Reno Nevada

Keep On Riding

Sure could use another troubadour, so I'm off to church tonite to catch Jonathan Wilson in solo acoustic mode. Laurel Canyon calling, dude.

Jonathan Wilson - Moses Pain

Before attending the house of prayer though, I'll raise a glass to those who left us: Fairport fiddling great Dave Swarbrick (75) and boxing icon Muhammad Ali (74). Miss them.

Fairport Convention - Come All Ye
Tom Russell - Muhammad Ali
Derrick Morgan - Black Superman (Muhammad Ali)

Deadly Storm

"Last night I saw the new, new moon, with the old moon in her arm..." Impending doom or what? Take it away, Sandy.

Fairport Convention- Sir Patrick Spens

A Sailor´s Life...

...it is a merry life. That fado about Portuguese sailors in the post below made me think of other songs about that romantic but slowly disappearing profession. So while it seems that everybody else is busy blogging Christmas ditties (I won´t, promise...) here´s a six pack of delicious sailor songs for you. All hands on deck, lift the anchor, and hoist the main sail. The Titanic sails at dawn.

The alternative bluegrass trio Bad Livers tells all about Pee Pee The Sailor, in a hilarious Butthole Surfers cover. Anyone got the original btw? Never could track it down. Sandy Denny shines in Fairport Convention´s beautiful lament A Sailor´s Life, and master picker Leo Kottke finds a sailor´s grave in the strangest of places.

The Detroit Cobras do the marinero rock, while Tim Buckley goes way out there with some stellar vocal improvisation on Starsailor. Bob Dylan, in a rare live performance from ´92, relates of a female sailor. "In her jacket blue and trousers white, just like a sailor neat and tight, the sea, it was the heart's delight, of the female rambling sailor..." Heave ho!

Bad Livers - The Adventures Of Pee Pee The Sailor MP3

Fairport Convention - A Sailor´s Life MP3

Leo Kottke - The Sailor´s Grave On The Prairie MP3

Detroit Cobras - Hey Sailor MP3

Tim Buckley - Starsailor MP3

Bob Dylan - Female Rambling Sailor (live in Perth ´92) MP3