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Only Children
Songs from the
Late '60s
Having grown up in the 1960s, I celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Summer Of Love, 1967, by remaking rarely heard songs by some of the great songwriters of the day like Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Smokey Robinson, Bob Dylan, and Donovan. There are also songs by groups like the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, the Byrds, the Steve Miller Band, and the Yardbirds, all performed in my own original arrangements.
Children
Of The Future Steve Miller
Only
Children begins with the song that opened Steve Miller’s first album
Children Of The Future. Simple questions, tough answers.
May This Be
Love Jimi Hendrix
At the time
I recordedthese songs I lived just a couple of miles from Jimi Hendrix’s grave
in Renton, Washington. No collection of songs from this era would be complete
without a song from the man who best epitomized the times and who
revolutionized what could be done with a Stratocaster.
Watching
The River Flow Bob Dylan
Robert
Zimmerman (a.k.a. Bob Dylan) grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota near the headwaters
of the Mississippi River. Maybe “Watching The River Flow” harks back to his
childhood days.
I’m Only Sleeping Lennon/McCartney
One of the
marks of John Lennon’s genius as a songwriter was his ability to step outside
the bounds of traditional love songs. This early ode to simple sleep is a great
example.
Shapes Of
Things K. Rolf/J. Beck
A gloomy
assessment of the state of the world that reflected the doubts many of us had
back then. Some of those doubts remain. The original recording by the
Yardbirds, with its intricately intertwined double guitar lead, opened the Acid
Rock genre.
I Come And
Stand R. J. Hippard
Told from
the viewpoint of a small Japanese child who died in Hiroshima at the end of
World War II, “I Come And Stand” is the quintessential anti-war song. I
recorded my version in response to and during the first Gulf War.
I See You McGuinn/Crosby
As founding
members of the Byrds, David Crosby and Roger McGuinn wrote some of my favorite
songs from the era, including this mystical, compelling love song.
The Hunter
Gets Captured By The Game William Robinson
A Motown
classic written by Smokey Robinson for the Marvelettes. A few years after I
recorded my remake, Jerry Garcia did the same.
Sitting On
A Fence Jagger/Richards
Jagger’s
lyric foretells a middle age plagued by doubts about youthful choices. Some
things never change.
Coming Back
To Me Marty Balin
Balin
released his lyrical song of lost love on Jefferson Airplane’s debut album Surrealistic
Pillow, and it has aged quite well.
Teas Donovan
Perhaps no
song on Only Children better captures the spirit of middle-aged ennui
than “Teas,” written by a folk singer barely in his twenties.