THE SONGS
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, TANGLED
UP IN BLUE, LITTLE BEGGARMAN, DOWN UNDER, DONT THINK TWICE,
FILL YOUR GLASSES MP3, I STILL MISS SOMEONE,
MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN, WILD WILD HEART, HULA LOU
MP3
HAVE A LISTEN:
THE CAST
DENNIS D'ASARO: Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
DICK SOLBERG: Fiddle, Piano, Tambourine, Train Whistle, Vocals, and Expostulations
PHILBERT MINNICH: Bass, Vocals, 103-Degree Temperature
STEPHEN MINNICH: Lead Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
ANDY GORDON: Banjo, Pedal Steel, Vocals
RICHARD BEACH Recorded the session, and sat in and, with uncharacteristic shyness, played percussion in the background
Produced by Dick Solberg
 |
WHY
NOW? WHY THESE PARTICULAR SONGS?
WHY
NOT? The liner notes
there wasn't room for on the CD
This is one of those things that Became Available. The Sun Mountain Band
assembled at the Grange on the evening of the American Coup d'Etat and recorded
two albums. We recall pleasantly that in the '70s Elton John gathered all
his European buddies together at his ranch in Colorado for a month, and
recorded "Honky Chateau;" but we don't have a ranch in Colorado. Anyway,
there is no malachaic significance to the list of songs here, other than
that the Programming Rasta, Mr. Solberg, put them in this order.
We have here simply some of the SMB material on
which I sing lead---hence, a Dennis D'Asaro album, and about time! This
is for fun---which it is; and for the band's fans who keep asking if we
have recorded any of that Dylan stuff. I'd like to tell you the album represents
the SMB's more contemporary side; but I catch myself thinking "contemporary"
equals the '60s to the (early) '80s. So this is really Dennis getting to
sing some rock 'n' roll with the boys. |
All
those nights on the stool at the Rolls Touring Company, dreaming: "Here
is where the lead guitar comes in..."
Songwriter teaches band songs; releases
second album next year!
|
THE PROGRAM
City of New Orleans (Steve Goodman)
Nice tune. One of the Eight Songs Everybody Will Always Sing Along With.
Tangled Up in Blue (Bob Dylan) Ain't
it the truth!
Little Beggarman (Irish Traditional)
In which the Fiddler saws "The Red-Haired Boy" while Dennis verbalizes the
sprightly tale of Johnny Dhu. Mirabili dictu! they fit; rather like
"Gilligan's Island" and "Stairway to Heaven."
Down Under (Colin Hay and R. Strykert)
Does the SMB cook with vegemite? Just listen to Steve and Phil reproduce an
entire Studio B session! Nobody here is quite clear about this
chundering business. We hope to God we are not in emulation of that notorious,
if probably chimerical, Madison Avenue firm who came within a whit of announcing
New Washday Miracle Dreck.
Don't Think Twice (Bob Dylan)
Michael J. D'Asaro, Ph.D, Speech Pathologist and my dad, taught me my first
three chords. (Am, Dm, and E7, if that's significant). This was his favorite
song during the period of his second bachelorhood, thirty-odd years ago, and
I learned it then to sing for him.
Fill Your Glasses (Robb F. McKay; additional
lyrics by Dennis D'Asaro) 1974,
give-or-take, I heard Rabbit McKay a couple of times at the Hootenanny at
the Troubadour, where I was the janitor. Never one to let the grass grow around
the telephone dial, in 1982, more-or-less, I called him up about this tune,
the chorus of which had stuck in my head for nine years. The gracious fellow
said he would send me a tape---and he actually did. (This was reel-to-reel,
children. It was a bunch more trouble than popping a blank into your dual
cassette deck and thence into a Priority Mail envelope).
Time alters memory---surely
that's a Latin aphorism!---and Rabbit's straightforward lyric had expanded
in my mental vacuum into some improbable saga which by now I dearly wanted
it to be. Never one to let the mold grow on my notebook [nor ever a stickler
for doing a song "correctly"---just ask them at any Irish bar] I fiddled the
tune around and arrived at the current version by 1991, plus-or-minus. It
has been a great joy to sing, especially of late with the band. I pray Rabbit
forgives me the license.
I Still Miss Someone (John R. Cash and
Roy Cash, Jr.) One sweet song.
I have to tell you, in all my years of singing in bars and taking requests,
when people young or old asked for something by Johnny Cash, out of all his
immense repertoire of songs this particular tune was the one that got asked
for........never! Silly people!
Memphis Blues Again (Bob Dylan) Another
manic Dylan spatter-painting. Oh, Mama---when it feels so good, who
CARES what it means!
Wild Wild Heart (Bill Staines)
Think the Road Warrior is Mel Gibson? Or a guy with a Thinkpad beside him
on the seat of his Lexus? You ain't met Bill Staines, troubadour supreme and
author of goldurn catchy tunes. Duet
with the Fiddler---he's got melody.
Hula Lou (Yellen-Charles-King)
My Dixieland mentor is Tom Lanphear, clarinetist and past president of the
Buffalo, New York, German Musicians Association. He has imbued me with an
abiding love for the Turk Murphy Band and a persistent effect on my guitar
accompaniment. The SMB are proud to join such luminaries as Mr. Murphy and
Tweety Bird in covering this tune. We've asked around but nobody admits to
having done any whistling on this track.
For Disco, who loves me unconditionally
For Sallie Ann, who loves me anyway
For Jessica, who will wear this CD out
For my Dad, who is my longest-standing fan
For Doug Carnahan, who brought this anal folkie back to post-Telecaster Dylan
For the boys in the band, who did this with me
---Dennis D'Asaro
May 2001
Album design and execution by Sallie D'Asaro, PKA
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