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Sleeve Notes
Between the Breaks … Live!
If I had known just how hard a live album was going to be, I think I would have run to Springfield Sound and done it the easy way. It's very easy, in the studio, to second guess yourself, and Springfield is such a relaxing place to work. Yet, now that I hear the result of what proved to be an immense effort on the part of everyone involved, I'm quite happy.
Last year, at one of the festivals, our friend Emily Friedman suggested that she would really like to hear us do a live album someday, since she felt that we sounded best in front of an audience and our other albums were over-produced anyway. (Easy, there, Paul!) We, of course, scoffed at the very idea, since we were and are very proud of our studio efforts to date, and were looking forward to doing it again. But, the more we thought about it, the better it sounded, until Garnet finally asked the fatal question; "So, why not?"
The rest was a simple matter of finding the right gig to record, finding a mobile sixteen-track recording facility that didn't cost the moon, frantically rehearsing Grit and Curly Boy in not only the tunes intended for the album but enough to do the rest of the show as well, arranging for a cover photograph, trucking sound equipment all over the place, helping publicize the week at the Groaning Board (a live album requires a live audience, preferably a large live audience), sending out nearly a hundred invitations, making endless phone calls, driving close to two hundred miles a day for two weeks, and most importantly, trying to do a good show every night for the folks who, to our immense relief, turned out in large numbers to see the whole thing go down. Paul Mills, as usual, worked his head off, and somehow-managed to keep his job at the CBC running smoothly (Touch the Earth went on the air — somehow) with the help of Bill Garrett, who also found the time to be in the recording truck every night.
The end result of all this you hold in your hands, and we're quite pleased with it. Valerie's fingernails are healing nicely, thank you, and she no longer trembles and sweats when the word "album" is mentioned.
Garnet and David would like to add a few words, and then we'll get to the songs.
I haven't much to add, except to say if I'd known how hard this was going to be, I'd have kept my big mouth shut. It was worth it in the end, though, and in that regard, thanks are due to all of the above-mentioned, most particularly those great audiences who were so warm and supportive, as were so many of the audiences we've played for in the last few years. To all of you who've come to see us, sung with us, fed us, put us up, put up with us, — thank you.
Garnet.
I enjoyed the hell out of myself playing on this album, as I do most of the time that I work out with Stan and Garnet, as our audiences will attest (I'm the short one with the Neanderthal club of a bass). The other two guys, (Paul and Grit) were icing. The measure of their contribution to the band is not only evident on this album, but in their legacy to our music. ... for weeks subsequent to the taping, I kept hearing their parts whenever we played. I'm sure it was the same for Stan and Garnet.
We probably won't be doing another live album for quite a while; it is too nerve-wracking, but as I listen to the finished product I think that this will always be my favourite no matter how many more we do. It is sometimes hard to remember that I'm only in it for the stickers.
David.
THE SONGS"The Witch of the Westmorland" — I first heard this song on Archie Fisher's beautiful album for Folk Legacy Records, "The Man with the Rhyme", FSS-61, where it is called "The Witch of the West-Mer-Lands". In a recent letter, Archie referred to it as simply "Westmorland", and I've used that spelling here. We have edited three verses from the original, and modernized the language a little for the sake of having the story understood by the average North American listener at the first pass. I highly recommend Archie's version to those of you who want all the verses. Write to folk Legacy Records, Sharon, Connecticut, U.S.A., 06069.
"Barrett's Privateers" — Ever since "Fogarty's Cove" (BS1001) was released, this song has been an integral part of every live performance, and has completely outgrown any expectations I had of it's popularity. I get reports from all over the world of people singing this song in the strangest places and under the oddest circumstances. This performance is, to my knowledge, the best on record to date.
First Christmas — There's a lot of people who seem to get mesmerized by the Muzak at any holiday season, and are so caught up by the give and get, buy and sell routine that they forget how the word "holiday" derives from "Holy Day" and that a "Holiday" is meant to be a time of reflection as well as celebration. This was my "reflection" last year.
The Mary Ellen Carter — I really like the guy in this song. He's every person who ever had experts tell him that what he wanted to do was impossible, then did it anyway. May you always be like the Mary Ellen Carter.
The White Collar Holler — When I first set out as a professional folk singer, I travelled with a fine guitar player by the name of Nigel Russell, who at that time concealed a talent for writing fine parodies of traditional songs. It wasn't until Nigel and I went our separate ways that he began to exploit this talent and wrote this song. This is dedicated to the City of Bramalea, Ontario.
The Flowers of Bermuda — I took my first trip to Bermuda in May of 1978, and loved it. While I was there I discovered that the whole area around Bermuda is a kind of ship graveyard. I found a map showing the location of most of the known wrecks, and the dates, and discovered that a coal carrier called the "Nightingale" sank off the North Rock in the early 1880's. The rest of the details are pure invention, except for the fact that Bermuda is lovely.
Rolling Down to Old Maui — Emily Friedman introduced this song to me in her hotel room at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1978, and I've loved it ever since. It may very well be my favourite chorus song.
Harris and the Mare — Somebody once said, "Never threaten a little man. He'll kill you." No matter how much each of us believes that violent conflict is to be avoided at all cost, there are some things that must be fought for. Even the most timid person can be brought to stand up for a belief.
Delivery Delayed — Until this album came along, I rarely performed this song in public. I had wanted it for the last album, "Turnaround", but it just didn't fit. It is the last of the songs which I wrote for the CBC Olympic Folk Opera "So Hard to be So Strong", and in many ways, one of the best songs I've ever written.