Song & Recording Notes
1. Jack of Diamonds 2:32 (traditional, arr. by Bluegrass
Intentions, Fifth Child Music, BMI) Phillip Glass goes country. We
appropriated the cockeyed melody from the playing of Wayne Perry,
recorded by Alan Lomax in Crowley, Louisiana, 1934. The words come
from "Swami" Tommy Jarrell.
2. Poor Ellen Smith 2:59 (traditional, arr. by Bluegrass Intentions,
Fifth Child Music, BMI) Peter Degraff wrote this song in 1863, after
being convicted of Ellen Smith's murder. He claimed to be an innocent
man, but our version is more like the William Burroughs story: a tale
about getting loaded and playing with guns.
3. On A Monday 2:58 (Huddie Ledbetter, Folkways Music Publishers
Inc., BMI) An old favorite from Leadbelly reinterpreted as Lester
and Earl might have done it. Beware the criminal justice system and
don't go ringing no pretty women's doorbells!
4. Polly Put The Kettle On 2:53 (traditional, arr. by Bluegrass
Intentions, Fifth Child Music, BMI) "Music is the for the up-building
of people; it's the most high thing," said fiddler Marcus Martin,
who recorded this tune in 1941 near Asheville, North Carolina.
5. A Lazy Farmer Boy (or The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn)
2:42 (traditional, arr. by Bluegrass Intentions, Fifth Child Music,
BMI) A droll (or drawl) song from Buster Carter & Preston Young's
1931 recording; Harry Smith included it on his famous anthology.
6. May You Never Be Alone 3:17 (Hank Williams, Acuff Rose
Music Inc., BMI) A bittersweet song by Hank Williams, learned from
the gorgeous singing of the Osborne Brothers. For every wrong, someday
you'll pay.
7. Bring Back My Blue Eyed Boy 2:59 (A. P. Carter, APRS, BMI)
Our version comes from the singing of the Lilly Brothers, who used
a slightly different tune than the 1929 Carter Family recording.
8. You Don't Know My Mind 3:36 (Jimmie Skinner, Acuff Rose
Music Inc., BMI) This song from the prolific pen of Jimmie Skinner
was made famous by the inimitable Jimmy Martin.
9. Sally in the Turnip Patch 2:20 (Benton Flippen, Happy Valley
Music, BMI) Composed by Benton Flippen, who has been producing hard-driving
oldtime fiddle music in the Galax area for over fifty years.
10. Girl on the Greenbrier Shore 2:22 (A. P. Carter, APRS,
BMI) Mother knows best. The lazy farmer boy was better off. Here girl
deserts guy after she's lured him away from his mom. The Carter Family
recorded this song in their final 1941 session.
11. Burn Another Honky Tonk Down 2:20 (Wayne Kemp, Tree Publishing
Company, BMI) Cajunesque arson and mayhem, courtesy of George Jones.
We don't recommend this way to resolve issues of jealousy; we just
sing the song.
12. Petersburg Gal 3:06 (Bill Evans, Fifth Child Music, BMI)
Probably the happiest banjo piece Bill has yet composed, this three
part tune features some nice interplay between Eric, Suzy and Bill.
13. You've Got To Righten That Wrong 2:38 (A. P. Carter, APRS,
BMI) Another gem mined from the Carter Family. Why not righten that
wrong today?
We like the old stuff...old as dirt. There is a great joy to be had
when five old friends sit in the living room with our instruments or
circle around one microphone onstage and put our whole bodies into this
kind of bluegrass music. The music we love has blues and rhythm, soulful
singing and deep grooves. These are the elements in common that we hear
in our elders, musicians like Bill Monroe, the Osborne Brothers, Benton
Flippen, the Stanley Brothers, Cousin Emmy, Flatt & Scruggs, Tommy
Jarrell, Rose Maddox, the Carter Family, Red Allen, Jimmy Martin, Kitty
Wells, and Otis Burris. Our list of heroes and influences goes on and
on, and veers into some unconventional territories. From these elements
we like to think we have fashioned our own Bluegrass Intentions sound
that allows each of us to come to life in these old forms.
But as much as we love the old tones, we surely live in a modern
world, with its joys and sorrows. The music we play as the Bluegrass
Intentions links past and present. Even though we course in the digital
realm—this is, after all, a CD, not a 78—our deepest satisfactions
are as relevant today as they were in the time of those petroglyphs
on the cover: hanging out together, eating good food, talking about
our lives, and playing bluegrass music. That’s what Bluegrass
Intentions are really about.
—Alan Senauke
About the Musicians
Bill Evans is one of the nation's top
banjo players and teachers with two solo albums to his credit, Native
and Fine (Rounder 0295) and Bill Evans Plays Banjo (Native and Fine
906-3). A co-founder of the influential band Cloud Valley, Bill has
also toured with Dry Branch Fire Squad, Tony Trischka, John Reischman,
and Suzanne Thomas & Don Rigsby. A monthly columnist for "Banjo
Newsletter," he is also the author of several instructional books
and videos for AcuTab Publications and Homespun Tapes, and hosts his
own instructional music camps in California.
Alan Senauke is a veteran guitarist,
singer, and music writer who has worked with many great players in
bluegrass and folk music over the years. Alan was editor of the folk
music magazine Sing Out! in the 1970s. He currently plays in several
Bay Area bands including the Aux Cajunals, Blue Flame Stringband and
the Earls. In the early 1980s Alan and Eric recorded an instrumental
album, Two Guitars (Flying Fish 393). His new solo album is Wooden
Man (Native and Fine 906-5). Alan is also a Zen Buddhist priest and
activist.
Eric Thompson plays (mostly) mandolin
here, but he's best known for his guitar work. A pioneer flatpicker
(and hippie), as a teenager, Eric played in bluegrass bands with Jerry
Garcia on the West Coast (check out the "zot sequence" in
the film Grateful Dawg), and David Grisman on the East Coast. Eric
is a knowledgable and patient teacher; he has three series of instructional
video and audio tapes available from Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop.
His classic album, Bluegrass Guitar has been reissued as Thompson’s
Real (Herringbone Disc ET 101).
Suzy Thompson is best known for her
Cajun fiddling, featured on two California Cajun Orchestra CDs. But
her soulful singing, highlighted on Eric & Suzy’s Arhoolie
album, Adam and Eve Had the Blues, is central to the Intentions’
sound. Suzy has recorded with Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher, Laurie
Lewis, the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, Del Rey, Any Old Time String Band,
Klezmorim and many others. Suzy is often called on to teach blues,
old-time, and Cajun music around the country, and is a regular contributor
to the "Old Time Herald."
Larry Cohea, originally from Springfield,
Tennessee, is best known as the powerful banjo player and tenor singer
with High Country for twenty-five years. We call Larry "the hardest
working man in Bay Area bluegrass" because his talents are in
demand by an astonishing number of local bands. He is also a highly
respected instrument builder and repairman. Larry's deep understanding
of bluegrass informs his strong bass playing, which supports the Bluegrass
Intentions' old-time sound.
Produced by the Bluegrass Intentions
Recorded at Bay Studios, Berkeley, CA. Engineered by Mike Cogan.
Mixed at Jim Nunally's, Crockett, CA.
Mastered by Paul Stubblebine at Paul Stubblebine Mastering.
Photography by Irene Young
Graphic design by David Lynch
Thanks to Kathy, Jesse, and Corey Evans; Laurie, Silvie, and Alexander
Senauke; Corrina and Allegra Thompson; Margie and Robert Cohea; Mike
Cogan, Jim Nunally, Ron Thomason, Fulani Offutt, Paul Hostetter, Harry
Yaglijian, and Jody Stecher.
For information and bookings: 510-848-5018
E-mail: bgintentions@nativeandfine.com
On the web at www.ericandsuzy.com/bluegrass.htm
Native and Fine Records
1185 Solano Ave., PMB #157
Albany, CA 94706
888-599-2233
E-mail: info@nativeandfine.com
On the web at www.nativeandfinerecords.com
