The words below the image were written on the morning of March 31st 2017 They came from seeing the photograph of 'Wendy Bread' aka Wendy Riley who ran the cafe and bakery on Haida Gwaii know as Moon Over Naikoon In a while i expect to record them and add them to a selection of other spoken word tracks which belong with my long ago and more recent days on the islands
Following on fast from PAST LOVES comes a spruced up RUN THROUGH SIDE A with the subtitle 'another one -off ' And rather than implicating strangers in my decision to re-issue this particular selection the culprits on this occasion are good friends And this is in spite of having tried very hard never to be swayed by their opinion But for this album, an almost thirty minute run through of eighteen unrehearsed tracks, those long adhered to restraints have been discarded and as a consequence it has become the fifth re-issue in the series Also, along with it, has come the discovery that the most enjoyable aspect of preparing the re-issued tracks for release may be the designing of their new attire
For me yesterday, and after days of messing about with the images, it was a delight to see the graphics completed and ready for the printer It felt like the equivalent of standing back as a child to admire a carefully made and well decorated sandcastle And for the album, rather than shells, stones and bits of grass, i had needed images Those which were used for this album are from the same source as for previous versions of RUN THROUGH - a painting entitled THE FALL BY THE DUCK POND But, as I think will be evident when it has been released (and the image above is only part of the 'picture') there are distinct differences The album is now available to be pre-ordered from Bandcamp at https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/album/run-through-side-a-2 The image below is a copy of the therapeutically influenced back cover of the digi sleeve in which the CD will reside
In many ways the songs on PAST LOVES are no more than
remembered remnants from a past life And, with GO AWAY FROM MY WINDOW, it is
difficult to know if I ever knew more than the two verses I sing on the album
However, in preparing the track for release it became
necessary to locate the composers of the songs and that task brought me to the
door of John Jacob Niles
I suspect he is very well known to folk singers throughout
the world But as I have never really been one I knew nothing about him until
now Of course I wish I had known about him sooner and I would very much have liked to know the complete lyric
GO AWAY FROM MY WINDOW has been recorded by many others but
I would recommend the very real performance of this superb song by the man who
wrote it
There's not much to say about my own bit performance but I
will feel better about it if it becomes in any way responsible for introducing
others to JOHN JACOB NILES
Below the image is more information about him and the song It was taken from Wikipedia
Composer, collector, and balladeer John Jacob Niles, was
born in Louisville, KentuckyApril 28, 1892.
Niles
came from a musical family. His great-grandfather was a composer, organist, and
cello manufacturer; his mother, Lula Sarah Niles, taught him music theory. In
1904, Niles's family moved to a
farm in rural JeffersonCounty
where John Jacob began collecting folk music. By 1907, Niles composed his first
song, "Go 'Way from My Window," based on a line of song collected
from an African American farm worker.
Concerning "Go 'Way From My Window," John Jacob
Niles wrote:
"In 1908 my father had in his employ a Negro
ditch-digger known as Objerall Jacket. As he dug, he sang, "Go way from my
window, go way from my door" -- just those words, over and over again, on
two notes. Working beside Jacket all day (I was sixteen at the time), I decided
that something had to be done. The results were a four-verse song dedicated to
a blue-eyes, blond girl, who didn't think much of my efforts. The song lay
fallow from 1908 to 1929, when I arranged it and transposed to a higher key.
"Go 'way from My Window" was first sung successfully in Berlin,
Germany, in 1930. It has
gone a long way since. The lyrics for the song are on the next post and the link is http://sosaidthesap.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/jjniles-lyrics-for-go-way.html
The fourth album in the series of re-issues is PAST LOVES It will be re-appearing in a newly designed digi sleeve
The encouragement to make this the fourth in the series came again from a preferred source - unsolicited comments from strangers
It will be available as usual on BANDCAMP but this selection and the previous three re-issues will soon also be accessible on itunes and Amazon The official release date will be March 7th 2017 but it is now available to be pre-ordered at https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/album/past-loves-2
Yesterday, late in the day, I added IN PRAISE OF LOVE to the words I had posted for St Valentine's Day They have all now gone back into hiding The 24 second spoken word recording on BANDCAMP has also been removed and will hopefully re-emerge another time The image is being allowed to stay
There is a - what will I call it - can't find the word - review on www.folking.com I was made aware of its existence this morning and after an unsettling read I have been wandering around, no wondering aloud - again - if it has anything to do with me! But it has and I feel very honoured to have someone write such positive things about what I do It can be found at http://folking.com/sheila-k-cameron-alone-on-the-road-glalell-skc1703cd/ The comments in the review also fully recognize how much the tracks are indebted to GEOFF ALLAN, master sound engineer, BRIAN MCNEILL who contributed in many ways to the tracks - including the chorus of the song Alone on the Road, FRASER SPIERS the incomparable player of the blues harp and BRIAN YOUNG, owner extraordinaire of the CAVA SOUND STUDIOS GLASGOW who has patiently dealt with my often idiosyncratic requests with good grace and much expertise for several years now
The title of this post is taken from the last paragraph of the review and I am smiling somewhat awkwardly as I reproduce it 'Sheila K Cameron is a unique artist whose work deserves a wider audience. Her songs cry out to be heard and will no doubt be reinterpreted by singers of the future. This album is a little treasure trove for lovers of the quirky, the downbeat, the blues'. Su O’Brien
There have been several different versions and mixes of the song BENEATH THE APPLE TREE and the latest one has acquired the differentiating title used in this post It is unlikely to stick but for now it suits present purposes Also, putting it out today is another example of my 'jumping the gun' The longer term plan is to include it in a selection of the songs which were not included in the three re-issues completed so far However, this new mix is fresh from the mastering magician and the tendency to get a newly completed track out there is not being resisted And there is another reason Since I rediscovered this version several weeks ago it has refused to leave me alone and this might rescue me from it The link to the song on Bandcamp is https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/beneath-the-apple-tree-2 and it will be free there for a while
Vaguely resembling the writer and the singer of the song
The image is a mock up which has been contrived from a painting called THE BARE TREE And, in the original painting, the tree is bare This image has been used and altered numerous times for other purposes A print taken from the original is featured on the home page of the GLALELL site at www.glalell.com The apple was added to this version of the image long ago There have been times when it did not merit a place but whenever it has made an appearance it has always been cherished - for as long as it has stayed around
AMAZING! It was either in search of an image to use on BANDCAMP alongside Joan Ure's song EVERY TIME NOW* - or it was a search involving the words Dangerous Women (more about this another time) that I came across the following link
It will take you to a page entitled THE DANGEROUS WOMEN PROJECT The image below is also from that site
I have read only two articles about Joan Ure's work: this one and Jan McDonald's entitled ‘Is it not possible to have a Poem made out
of Theatre?’ An assessment of the dramas and dramaturgy of Joan Ure This can be
accessed using the link below
For anyone who would like to know more about Joan Ure's work I would recommend both * A rough acoustic only version of the song Everytime Now can be heard on Bandcamp at https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/every-time-now
SHEILA K CAMERON with ALLAN, MCNEILL, SPEIRS and YOUNG
The enigmatic Sheila K Cameron has her mojo in full flow for Alone On The Road, which is the third in a series of reissues of her work. The 16 tracks which make up the album have been given more than a boost by Geoff Allan, Brian McNeill, Fraser Spiers and Brian Young.
Sheila K Cameron
Cameron's Cohenesque style of singing comes straight out of the speakers over the top of Spiers' blues harp which sets the tone for what is a real thumper of an album.
There's An Old Sadness in Me is a wonderfully ponderous 12-bar song on which Cameron keeps a tight rein and allows the gobiron of Spiers to have the last word.
This gives way to I Looked Alright This Morning which has a retro feel about it, with the production sounding similar to the rawness of the early days of blues recordings.
The song has more of a travelling cadence with a deep rumbling and almost menacing beat underneath her words which is once again accented by the blues harp. It's a song which almost defies you not to get into stomp mode.
The single strumming of the guitar accompanies Cameron as she sounds like she is standing too near the mic in a small and cramped studio to record Baby How Long.
Cameron's dour and understated way of singing adds a depth of character in the same way someone such as Bessie Smith did.
I'll Play You Sweetly is a great song where Cameron and co pick up the beat and it's one of those where you just can't sit still until she puts the handbrake on in the middle. Her call and refrain with the dancing sound of the harmonica is just a sheer delight to hear.
When The Sun Rose This Morning goes back to the most recognisable strain of the blues with the slow wave of the music and the repetition of the lines. Cameron's voice manages to sound both world weary and menacing at the same time.
It cannot be overstated how much the superb blues harp underneath so many of the tracks add such colour and character to her songs.
She Put My Baby In The Draw is one of those blues songs which is bordering on the nonsense rhyme, where the story is just a simple tale and never intended to be taken seriously. Cameron uses a stripped-back version with just the simple strumming of the guitar to accompany her repetitive verses.
Stay With It Baby runs more like a poem and, once again, that world weary sound Cameron does so well seems to be almost reluctant to move along to the sound of the harmonica.
Fraser Speirs. Pic Glasgow Herald
Like the previous track, When I Say You Owe Me Nothing is from poet Joan Ure, which was the pen name of Elizabeth Thoms Clark.
Cameron puts some real grit into the song and the way she crams the words to fit in with the rhythm moves close towards rap. It's the type of song which you could easily see Seasick Steve hammering out on his three-string guitar.
Things lighten up slightly for Bluebird Outside My Window which has more of a New Orleans' club feel to it. You can easily imagine a band passing under the balconies through the streets of The Big Easy.
I Don't Believe You Care brings back the world weary sounding Cameron with the blues beat once again lit up with the occasional incidental from the bone playing.
There is a softer and sadder tone to Cameron for Goodbye Baby Blues where she moves into speech and sounds more like a beat poet of the fifties than a blues singer.
Fortunately the blues harp brings her back into the mojo where she adopts an almost lazy and reluctant style of singing.
Motherless has more of an ethnic beat to it and feels like it wouldn't be out of place in Buffy Saint Marie's repertoire. The echoed blues harp underneath gives it the character of a film noir soundtrack. This gives way to the slightly out of sync Mr Moon: I'm Working Against Time which comes across as more of a doo wop than anything.
It's probably the most luxurious track on the album and Cameron gives it the feel of a torch song. This carries on with You Don't Know My Mind, where you can almost see Cameron behind a big lozenge-style microphone in a smoky night club where the customers are hidden in the half shade of small table lights. The slightly lazy sound of the blues harp is almost hypnotic behind her voice which has shades of the legend Billie Holiday.
Sounding more contemporary and carrying the electric sound of the Chicago blues makes When I Was Bad Girl stand out from the other tracks.
The third of the reissues
The combination of the faster pace, the electric guitar and driving percussion makes it feel like is has moved over into rock 'n' roll.
The final and title track keeps that more modern feel which tones down the blues elements.
You can still feel the 12-bar beat but the use of electronics muddies the waters so you are never such which camp the song is supposed to be in.
Cameron has been hidden away for too long and albums such as this one where she puts her own stamp on the blues style deserve to be listened to by a wider audience.
Anyone who has even a passing interest in the genre should listen to it and if you can keep your feet, hands and head still all the way through the album then your probably don't like the blues anyway.
Alone On The Road is available now online and through bandcamp
This is Danny And I have never met him He may have not heard the track that fell off the road but he has obviously listened to all of them on ALONE ON THE ROAD That in itself is an honour and a delight But more than that - he then piles in with comments that had me wondering if they were anything to do with me
I intend to contact him and ask if he agrees to being on the SAP blog - I can appreciate that not everyone would like to be associated with such a title But I am assuming he will not object and in the meantime, as I wait for his response, here is a link to his blog http://folkall.blogspot.co.uk/
Danny also uses the following image on his site
His detailed comments about the album can be found on the next post entitled Never Had a Mojo
A hint of what you'll find there can be found in the paragraph below
'The enigmatic Sheila K Cameron has her mojo in full flow for Alone On The Road, which is the third in a series of reissues of her work. The 16 tracks which make up the album have been given more than a boost by Geoff Allan, Brian McNeill, Fraser Spiers and Brian Young'
A FRASER SPIER'S version of the song I'VE WAITED A LONG TIME has been added to ALONE ON THE ROAD as a BONUS track It should have been included in the original selection and if anyone who has purchased the album would like a copy it can be freely provided via Dropbox = or in some other way? To hear it and decide if it is worth the bother please visit the link at https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/album/alone-on-the-road-2 and let me know at glalell@aol.com
Yesterday an old recording of a Joan Ure lyric appeared from within the mass of unsorted Dropbox files As I say elsewhere, the lyric is one of several which Betty (the name she used when I knew her) gave me to work on - at a time when I was beginning to write my own songs
Entitled EVERY TIME NOW it has now been professionally mastered to remove extraneous sounds and scratches and has been uploaded as a small single acoustic track on Bandcamp The link is https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/every-time-now
It will be there because, having been rediscovered, I know how much Joan Ure would like it to be there
Owner unknown - used without permission
Joan Urewas the pen name ofElizabeth Thoms Clark(22 June 1918 – 1978), aScottishpoetandplaywright. She was born Elizabeth (Betty) Thoms Carswell on 22 June 1918 inWallsend,Tyneside, of Scottish parents who moved toGlasgow. Her sister Joan provided the first half of her pen-name. The pen-nameUre was chosen because it sounded more Scottish to her.
Anyone familiar with the comments on this blog will know of my delight when an 'inadvertent stranger' hears one (or more) of my songs and has a positive response
And of all the various possible responses this kind takes the biscuit - which reminds me that the song which brought this particular stranger to my door was arranged by 'the biscuits' (aka Mags Russell and John Saich of www.wildbiscuit.com) The song is THE HOUSE WITH THE WINDOWS
Also from 'the stranger' came the title for this post: well not directly from him but from a pal he had invited (not sure if it would be his cup of tea) to have a listen to some of my material And it was the pal who had described it as 'Earl Grey with a twist of lemon'
But that is not all: the stranger (who is becoming less of one every day) first heard the song on the Iain Anderson Show and followed up by contacting the program and saying so And the song may be played again next week The link to the show is http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074hkv
The album ALONE ON THE ROAD is being prepared for release later this year
It will be the third in the series of re-issues which are intended to illustrate something of the range of material which has been produced since I began trying to write songs - several decades ago
In deciding what images to use on the Digi Sleeve the one below was a candidate It has much in it that I like: not least the puddles. And this has prompted the question - at what age do we decide to avoid rather than explore them?
And in finding a place for this left out image (it was the fifth in line for inclusion in the graphics for the album) a couple of puddles can also make an appearance
And not to be missed: on the telegraph pole a bald headed eagle can be seen watching over the scene. It is looking across the water towards a shore line I remember well and which evokes fond and powerful memories of this very special place in my life
The approach to Masset Dock from Masset Main Street
News of the album will be posted here as soon as I have any
A few tracks have been hanging around for weeks waiting for me to do something constructive about them Two of them were chucked on to Bandcamp as singles a while ago but they should probably be on there as part of an album - along with a few other tracks of a similar kind And I think I do have some others of a similar kind The two that have been out there as singles are LET'S PUT LOVE IN THE BACK SEAT - FOR A WHILE and DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAN ME (The first of these has recently been played over twenty times on Radio Six International at www.radiosix.com) Of the others ANOTHER DREAM has been arranged by Wild Biscuit Music And because the chorus is about a train pulling out of the station just before you get there - it is one of two OH NO tracks
The second OH NO track, called ALL THE WORDS OF LOVE, actually uses the words several times in the song. I may have spoiled the track by using a drum machine when it was recorded but sometimes I need a beat to keep going when I get weary trying to get a reasonable take Unfortunately the track then becomes less workable with by others
The four above mentioned tracks are npw on Bandcamp and the link is https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/album/love-in-the-back-seat The intention is to add more until it becomes a full album A long time ago I found an image for Love in the back seat and I have used it today on Bandcamp The ice skating rink is referenced in the first track
About the words OH NO: as I was recording the track - and I did enjoy the experience which is rare for me - I became aware of how often I say them in my everyday life And they are uttered most often a few seconds after settling down to read or write at night on finding I don't have my reading glasses with me
The official release date for the second in the series of re-issues is September 21st Entitled A PERFECT LANDING it can be pre-ordered at https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/album/a-perfect-landing-2 It is a selection of fifteen old love songs which includes acoustic only, spoken word with music and professionally arranged tracks They were chosen for this album during a stay on the island of Tiree With the exception of THE WATER IS DEEP most of the songs were written, and all were recorded, in Glasgow, Scotland As previously mentioned, the overall aim of the series is to present something of the range of songs which have been produced over several decades and to have them better dressed for the occasion The images which are being used to achieve this - for this album - are from photographs taken recently on Tiree in Scotland
Front cover image
For those who are familiar with the material they will not find anything new in the selection although it has been remastered and the order of the tracks will hopefully add to the listening experience The title A PERFECT LANDING has also been used before but using it again was unavoidable A list of the songs on the album can be seen on the back cover below
The selection of songs entitled OUT THERE SOMEWHERE originally consisted of three tracks The revised selection has ten The opening and closing tracks are the previously released singles GO ON THEN CONVINCE ME and ON THE ROAD TO HAID GWAII And in-between are eight spoken word tracks Some of these have not previously been 'out there' - although I cannot be completely sure about that What I can say - with certainly - is that the above selection and the planned series of re-issues of my material - is not motivated by a wish to make money It is, as the title of the post implies, a desire to present it in a more pleasing way - and this includes dressing it up in some professionally designed attire I would also like to alert those who are interested in the material on Bandcamp that OUT THERE SOMEWHERE has been revised There were two equally demanding ways to achieve this and the one I have chosen requires me to reload the tracks And in consideration of those who purchased the original three track version the ten track selection is free to download
Well it has to go somewhere and this morning it has The selection entitled OUT THERE SOMEWHERE, which has been on Bandcamp since last year, has taken on a few more of the 'unruly' words which I had lying around And having them on there is another part of the consolidation process The words are either tenuously or directly associated with HAIDA GWAII Also, in the text alongside the tracks, on Bandcamp, I have said that they are about loss - and they most certainly are! What I initially forgot to mention there and here is that the selection consists of two songs (the first and the last tracks) and in between them are eight of spoken words The link to the revised and topped up version of the selection is https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/album/out-there-somewhere
There is mention in the words of 'the roads you walked' and below is one of the roads
There is a sign nailed to a tree on the right of the road It has the word bread written on it and it lets you know that you are about to reach a cafe called MOON OVER NAIKOON And ending this post with something happier; here is Wendy Bread (as I refer to her) making pizza alongside some of the bread you will find there
PS There was a problem with the tagging on the selection which meant that no one was told of the re-issue This has I think been rememdied
This selection of nineteen spoken word tracks entitled IF IT HAD NOT BEEN SO DARK has been on Bandcamp since 2013 They have recently been improved and provided with a new image - see below The link to the words is the same
The title of this post is a reminder to me that I am presently consolidating as much as possible of my accumulated and somewhat unruly material i.e. both songs and words
The proposed next consolidation involving the re-issue of fifteen love songs was overtaken by a revised and topped up version of OUT THERE SOMEWHERE
Fulfilling the oft mentioned desire to discover that some of my songs had been heard and liked by a complete stranger - along came Ian D Hall - and this is surely the best liking I could have hoped for! Below is his photograph and below that is a link to a review for Ian Hall's recently published book Black Book: An Anthology, 2003-2015
And then there is what Ian D Hall said about MORE LIKE A RIVER THAN A ROAD
And as it provided so much pleasure I hesitated for only for a few moments before deciding to print it in full
'It is the voice, the spoken word narrative that entwines itself between the songs on the More Like A River Than A Road mini album by Sheila K. Cameron, that brings out the sparkle in the recording. The pleasure of the songs is enormous but there is something about the spoken word employed to very decent effect by Ms. Cameron that suggests the music is only half the tale, that the grip on the attention of the listener is enhanced by the monologue that weaves like a stream through fields and pastures in the ceaseless search for the ocean.
The road is one that comes from a human desire to shorten the distance between two points, it is efficient, practical, engineered so the flow of the country can be seen as perfect; yet somehow, like a well performed song, the real beauty resides in the course of the river, the turns, the twists and the sense of inner hidden beauty that runs underneath. It is a beauty that Ms. Cameron exploits and develops in this, the first in a series of re-issues of her work.
More Like A River Than A Road sparkles with the light touch, the smallest pebble found on the banks and yet thrown with dramatic force plumb centre into the onward current, it is the shock wave of the pebble that makes the music spread out, the wave spreading outwards and increasing the range in which it is heard and felt. The river is ongoing, it is natural and so is the appeal of Sheila K. Cameron, the resonance in the voice, the authority of her delivery and the songs in which tales she weaves, never once disappoint.
In the passages and songs, Where The Pebbles Grind And Scrape, Somehow (Everything From My Suitcase Has Got Scattered On The Road) and the wonderfully thought out but also daring, The House With The Windows, the feeling of innocence and warmth parade in view but there is also the undercurrent, the pull of the undertow which threatens to take the listener down into the murky depths to see what truly stirs beneath.
More Like A River Than A Road is a release of great emotion, one that cannot be avoided in life, Sheila K. Cameron bridges the gap between vocal and spoken word superbly.'
PS About reviews On receiving several of them for my book
BALANCING THE REQUEST TO BE GOOD I realised that they said much more about the
reviewer than the book (and by the way that book is probably more worthy of
interest than any of the songs and words that I write) And surely this one from
Ian D Hall is an example
And recently as I was walking down Huntly Gardens in Glasgow I remembered holding the hand of a small boy aged about three who pointed out to me that the word Grosvenor in one of the street signs was the same as in Grosvenor pie
I knew nothing of the pies then and I knew nothing of SONG DONG until this morning, but they both now belong for me with the son of the man in the tram And if you follow the link below you might work out why
And as i was looking around for other connections I came across the following comment
'I have always wondered how Grosvenor pie is made. Can
anyone explain how the egg goes all the way along?"
If I were the head of the Department of Philosophy at a
leading university I would insist that the above was a compulsory question on
the final examination paper. I would also award first class honours to anyone
brave enough to answer it'.
As for a connection with songs it belongs with one word only and working that out should be easier
