Cyrus Jones 1810 to 1913 Made his great granchildren believe You could live to a hundred and three A hundred and three is forever when you're just a little kid So Cyrus Jones lived forever
Gravedigger When you dig my grave Could you make it shallow So that I can feel the rain Gravedigger
Muriel Stonewall 1903 to 1954 She lost both of her babies in the second great war Now you should never have to watch Your only children lowered in the ground I mean you should never have to bury your own babies
Gravedigger When you dig my grave Could you make it shallow So that I can feel the rain Gravedigger
Ring around the rosey Pocket full of posey Ashes to ashes We all fall down
Gravedigger When you dig my grave Could you make it shallow So that I can feel the rain Gravedigger
Little Mikey Carson 67 to 75 He rode his Bike like the devil until the day he died When he grows up he wants to be Mr. Vertigo on the flying trapeze Ohhh, 1940 to 1992
Gravedigger When you dig my grave Could you make it shallow So that I can feel the rain
Gravedigger When you dig my grave Could you make it shallow So that I can feel the rain Feel the rain I can feel the rain Gravedigger
In addition to his music, Russell also paints folk art, and has published a book of songwriting quotes (co-edited with Sylvia Tyson), a detective novel (in Scandinavia),and a book of letters with Charles Bukowski (Tough Company; Mystery Island Press).
Russell graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a degree in criminology and taught at schools in Nigeria during the Biafran War. He has also lived in Spain, Norway, and played music at a circus in Puerto Rico. He began his musical career in earnest in the early 1970s in Vancouver playing strip bars, then later relocated to Texas and formed a band with singer-pianist Patricia Hardin. In 1977, they moved to San Francisco, performing regularly in clubs there as Hardin & Russell, during which time they recorded the second of their two studio albums. They eventually split in 1979, at which point Russell drifted out of the music industry for a while.
While working as a taxi driver in Queens, Russell met guitaristAndrew Hardin (no relation to Patricia). After hearing his songs, Hardin convinced him that they should form a new band. Shortly after this, Robert HunterGrateful Dead was a passenger in Russell's cab. Russell sang him his song Gallo Del Cielo. An impressed Hunter invited Russell and Hardin first to join him on stage at New York's Bitter End, and then to become his regular opening act. Hardin remained Russell's full-time sideman until April, 2006. of the
Russell's albums in the 21st century have been heavily influenced by his current home city, El Paso. Albums such as Borderland feature a strong Tex-Mex influence and feature songs of life on both sides of the border. In 2005 Russell released Hotwalker, the second part of his Americana trilogy (the first part being "The Man From God Knows Where"). It was another conceptual work largely inspired by his correspondence with author Charles Bukowski. Subtitled "A Ballad for Gone America", the album features songs and spoken word pieces, many of the latter delivered by another friend of Bukowski, circus midget Little Jack Horton. The sampled voices of Lenny Bruce and Edward Abbey are also heard on an album which takes the form of a musical collage lamenting the passing of the America of Russell's childhood and the Beat generation.
In addition to working on new music, Russell also exhibits his original artwork and organizes an annual trans-Canadian music train, which combines song-writing and -singing workshops with live concerts aboard a vintage long-distance streamline train. This train trek was depicted in Russell's 2005 concert/documentary, "Hearts on the Line", produced by Canyon Productions, which features a concert with Russell and Andrew Hardin videotaped at Capilano College in Vancouver as well as behind the scenes footage of the music train experience.
In 2006, Russell released Love and Fear, a collection of original songs that were inspired by the highs and lows of his relationships with women. This was followed in 2007 by "Wounded Heart of America", a tribute album of Tom Russell songs covered by other artists, including Joe Ely, Suzy Bogguss, Dave Alvin, Jerry Jeff Walker, and beat poet legend Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Two new songs, "Who's Gonna Build Your Wall" and "The Death of Jimmy Martin", are also included on the album.
In 2008, Russell's new record company, Shout Factory, released a 2 CD retrospective album "Veteran's Day: Anthology" and Russell and Canyon Productions, Inc. released a DVD featuring Russell and Ian Tyson discussing the art of songwriting called "Mano a Mano." Russell is also working on a documentary film project called California Bloodlines and is currently touring, painting and writing new songs.
On September 15, 2009, Shout! Factory released Russell's new album "Blood and Candle Smoke" featuring twelve original songs. The album was recorded in Tucson, AZ at Wave Lab Studios with members of Calexico providing a world music beat to many of the songs. The album was produced by Tom Russell and Craig Schumacher, who has worked with Neko Case, Iron & Wine and Calexico. Russell will tour extensively through the U.S., Canada and Europe in support of the album for the remainder of 2009.
"Panco Villa crossed the border in the year of ought sixteen
The people of Columbus still hear him riding through their dreams
He killed seventeen civilians you could hear the women scream
Blackjack Pershing on a dancing horse was waiting in the wings
Tonight we ride, tonight we ride
We'll skin ole Pancho Villa, make chaps out of his hide
Shoot his horse, Siete Leguas, and his twenty-seven bride
Tonight we ride, tonight we ride
We rode for three long years till Blackjack Pershing called it quits
When Jackie wasn't lookin' I stole his fine spade bit
It was tied upon his stallion, so I rode away on it
To the wild Chihuahuan desert, so dry you couldn't spit
Tonight we ride, you bastards dare
We'll kill the wild Apache for the bounty on his hair
Then we'll ride into Durango, climb up the whorehouse stairs
Tonight we ride, Tonight we ride
When I'm too damn old to sit a horse, I'll steal the warden's car
Break my ass out of this prison, leave my teeth there in a jar
You don't need no teeth for kissin' gals or smokin' cheap cigars
I'll sleep with one eye open, 'neath God's celestial stars
Tonight we rock, Tonight we roll
We'll rob the Juarez liquor store for the Reposado Gold
And if we drink ourselves to death, ain't that the cowboy way to go?
Tonight we ride, tonight we ride
Tonight we fly, we're headin' west
Toward the mountains and the ocean where the eagle makes his nest
If our bones bleach on the desert, we'll consider we are blessed
Tonight we ride, Tonight we ride
Legendary rock n roll pioneer Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson hails from Austin, Texas. He is, in the words of music writer Richie Unterberger, one of "the unknown heroes of rock and roll." As singer, songwriter, and guitar player for the legendary Austin, TX band The 13th Floor Elevators, the first rock and roll band to describe their music as "psychedelic", Roky had a profound impact on the San Francisco scene when the group traveled there in 1966.
While bands such as The Grateful Dead and The Jefferson Airplane had the their roots in traditional acoustic folk music, the Elevators unique brand of heavy, hard-rocking electric blues pointed to a new direction for the music of the hippie generation. The Elevators only had one chart hit, the Roky-penned You're Gonna Miss Me, but their influence was far reaching. R.E.M., ZZ Top, Poi Dog Pondering, The Judybats, T-Bone Burnett, Julian Cope, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cramps, The Minutemen, Television, The Cynics, The Lyres, Teisco Del Rey, The Fuzztones and Radio Birdman have all either recorded or played live versions of Roky's songs.
In addition to these performers, Roky is an acknowledged influence on such diverse musicians as Robert Plant, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, Henry Rollins, Mike Watt, Sonic Youth, The Butthole Surfers, Jon Spencer, The Damned, Red Krayola, Pere Ubu, and current indie hit-makers The White Stripes. His songs have appeared on the soundtracks to the movies High Fidelity, Drugstore Cowboy, Boys Don't Cry, Hamlet (2000), and Return of the Living Dead. While he may not be a household name, Roky has enjoyed the support of a small but fiercely loyal cult following throughout his career.
Unfortunately, Roky's struggles with drug abuse and mental illness took a serious toll. His 1969 arrest in Texas for possession of a single marijuana cigarette led to his being committed for three years to Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he was reportedly subjected to Thorazine, electroshock therapy, and other experimental treatments. Most agree he was never the same after his release. Roky has had prolific periods of creativity in the intervening years, but unscrupulous managers and record label executives often took advantage of his condition, leaving Roky to live in poverty while others profit from his music.
Happily, today we find Roky in the process of being his own miracle and making an astounding recovery from nearly a two-decade long period of almost total tragedy. His youngest brother, singer/songwriter and former Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Principal Tubaist Sumner Erickson, was appointed Roky's legal guardian in June, 2001. Sumner has established The Roger Kynard Erickson Trust to address Roky's living expenses, medical bills, and other financial needs. From June, 2001 until July, 2002, Roky lived with his brother in Pittsburgh, where he finally began to receive the treatment and care he needs.
Roky is now back in Austin, where his health continues to improve dramatically. In March, 2005, Roky made his first public performance in 10 years performing 3 songs at the Roky Erickson Psychedelic Ice Cream Social at Threadgills in Austin. He was backed by the Explosives. In September, he is scheduled to play the Austin City Limits Festival (again with the Explosives) which will mark his first full concert appearance in almost two decades! Celebrate as the miracle continues! More information is available at the trust's official web site: http://www.rokyerickson.net
There’s a Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign Sitting there by the left turn line Flag on his wheelchair flapping in the breeze One leg missing and both hands free No one’s paying much mind to him The V.A. budget’s just stretched so thin And now there’s more coming back from the Mideast war We can’t make it here anymore
That big ol’ building was the textile mill that fed our kids and it paid our bills But they turned us out and they closed the doors We can’t make it here anymore
See those pallets piled up on the loading dock They’re just gonna sit there ‘til they rot ‘Cause there’s nothing to ship, nothing to pack Just busted concrete and rusted tracks Empty storefronts around the square There’s a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere You don’t come down here unless you’re looking to score We can’t make it here anymore
The bar’s still open but man it’s slow The tip jar’s light and the register’s low The bartender don’t have much to say The regular crowd gets thinner each day Some have maxed out all their credit cards Some are working two jobs and living in cars Minimum wage won’t pay for a roof, won’t pay for a drink If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO See how far $5.15 an hour will go Take a part time job at one your stores Bet you can’t make it here anymore
There’s a high school girl with a bourgeois dream Just like the pictures in the magazine She found on the floor of the laundromat A woman with kids can forget all that If she comes up pregnant what’ll she do Forget the career, forget about school Can she live on faith? Live on hope? High on Jesus or hooked on dope When it’s way too late to just say no You can’t make it here anymore
Now I’m stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store Just like the ones we made before ‘ Cept this one came from Singapore I guess we can’t make it here anymore
Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I’m in Should I hate ‘em for having our jobs today No I hate the men sent the jobs away I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams All lily white and squeaky clean They’ve never known want, they’ll never know need Their shit don’t stink and their kids won’t bleed Their kids won’t bleed in their damn little war And we can’t make it here anymore
Will work for food will die for oil Will kill for power and to us the spoils The billionaires get to pay less tax The working poor get to fall through the cracks So let ‘em eat jellybeans let ‘em eat cake Let ‘em eat shit, whatever it takes They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps If they can’t make it here anymore
So that’s how it is, that’s what we got If the president wants to admit it or not You can read it in the paper, read it on the wall Hear it on the wind if you’re listening at all Get out of that limo, look us in the eye Call us on the cell phone tell us all why
In Dayton Ohio or Portland Maine Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains That’s done closed down along with the school And the hospital and the swimming pool Dust devils dance in the noonday heat There’s rats in the alley and trash in the street Gang graffiti on a boxcar door We can’t make it here anymore
"The man outside he works for me, his name is Mariano
He cuts and trims the grass for me he makes the flowers bloom
He says that he comes from a place not far from Guanajuato
Thats two days on a bus from here, a lifetime from this room.
I fix his meals and talk to him in my old broken spanish
He points at things and tells me names of things I can't recall
Sometimes I just can't but help but wonder who this man is
And if when he is gone will he'll remember me at all
I watch him close he works just like a piston in an engine
He only stops to take a drink and smoke a cigarette
When the day is ended, I look outside my window
There on the horizon, Mariano's silhouette
He sits upon a stone in a south-easterly direction
I know my charts I know that he is thinking of his home
I've never been the sort to say I'm in to intuition
But I swear I see the faces of the ones he calls his own
Their skin is brown as potters clay, their eyes void of expression
Their hair is black as widow's dreams, their dreams are all but gone
They're ancient as a vision of a sacrificial virgin
Innocent as crying from a baby being born
They hover around a dying flame and pray for his protection
Their prayers are all but answered by his letters in the mail
He sends them colored figures that he cuts from strips of paper
And all his weekly wages, saving nothing for himself
It's been a while since I have seen the face of Mariano
The border guards they came one day and took him far away
I hope that he is safe down there at home in Guanajuato
I worry though I read there's revolution every day"
Robert Earl Keen, Junior (born January 11, 1956 in Houston, Texas) is a Texan singer-songwriter. He is popular with traditional country music fans, folk music fans, the college radio crowd and alt-country fans. Keen currently resides in Kerrville, Texas and maintains a ranch in Medina, Texas.
Keen attended Texas A&M University, where he majored in English. Disappointed in the College Station music scene, he began playing guitar and learned to read and write music, basing his style on folk, country, blues and rock roots. In 1974 he rented a house from landlord Jack Boyett, where his neighbor was a then-unknown Lyle Lovett. The two became fast friends and performed together on the front porch many evenings. This eventually grew into inspiration for a song entitled "The Front Porch Song", which both would add to their repertoire.
In 1980, Keen graduated from Texas A&M and moved to Austin, Texas, where he began writing for a newspaper. Soon he was performing in Austin's nightclubs and live music venues, building a solid following. In 1984 he financed the recording of his own EP and distributed it regionally. In 1986, He moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Discouraged by the polish of the new country sound and unable to land a recording contract, Keen moved back to Austin. In 1988, he was living in Bandera, Texas with his wife, Kathleen. In 1989 he released his national debut album, West Textures. His 1993 release, A Bigger Piece Of Sky, gained wider acclaim, both amongst fans and critics. Over the next ten years, Keen would continue to write, record, perform and tour. In 1994 he performed in the musical Chippy. Keen's 1997 album Picnic features a picture of Keen's own car in flames at Willie Nelson's 1974 Fourth of July picnic/concert. He tells the story on the No. 2 Live Dinner album in the introduction to the song "The Road Goes on Forever."
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