And I suddenly flashed on a song I hadn't thought about for several decades.
From their self-titled 1968 debut album, please enjoy Beantown band Earth Opera and their obviously conflicted plaint about how "The Red Sox Are Winning."
When you are gone I keep track of the time
In my diary line by line
And the past is behind
It was so long ago
When believing and beauty
Celebrated the birth
It was green, lovely green
We could fly like milkweed
But nowadays no one seems to care
They laugh at me when I ride my bike
Turn away in shame when I fly my kite
I spend my Saturdays
Alone in the mirror
Arranging my hair
In the end, what is there?
To talk of passing time
Should I turn off the TV?
Or go to the race track
And bet on the dogs
And the weather is strange
No summer this year
In the days of the war
But the Red Sox are winning
As you can tell from all of the above, these guys were very echt-late Sixties in their melding of folk-rock, psychedelia and general mishegass. I actually owned the album (and its successor, the even wiggier American Eagle Tragedy -- don't worry, I didn't buy them, but rather stole them from my college radio station). But the baseball song was the only one I played a lot; for some reason its sledgehammer irony really spoke to me at the time (Vietnam, and all that).
In any event, two members of the group -- David Grisman and Peter Rowan (who wrote the song) -- went on to much better things as members of Old and in the Way with Jerry Garcia and Vassar Clements; their self-titled LP became the best-selling bluegrass album of all time.
Meanwhile, if you want to hear more of the Opera guys, the full album can be listened to -- for free -- over at YouTube HERE.
You're welcome very much.
To this day for a variety of reasons this recording gives me nightmares.
ReplyDelete"Kill All the Hippies!"
Captain Al
one of my very favorite albums at that time - i was a boston area resident, and saw earth opera live, and in following years also peter rowan appearing with seatrain and on his own at a festival in new hampshire
ReplyDeleteearth opera's second album included "it's love" - a heartfelt relyricising of "house of the rising sun"
to my mind, rowan's greatest songs he's written are "moonlight midnight" and "panama red" - it was hearing "good morning, mr. timeclock" on a public radio bluegrass station a couple of years ago that made me decide to give my very old car to that station
Hey, "(Listen to the) Flower People" was a huge hit for Spinal Tap at the time, too...
ReplyDeleteBoston Red Sox @ New York Yankees: Four-game series, today thru Sunday. First game starts at 7:15 tonight.
ReplyDeleteTiming is everything, my friend.
DeleteI used to sing this a lot in '67/'68 but had completely forgotten it until this morning. One of my favorite albums of the time - thanks for posting. BTW, a few months before the album came out there was a riot on Boston Common with a large gang of Southie toughs chanting "Kill the hippies" while beating up all and sundry.
ReplyDeleteThe only concert where I saw Peter Rowan perform was in the fall of 1965, when he sang lead for Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. Bill Keith was the banjoist. I remember Bill wryly introduced them as being from Boston.
ReplyDeleteBluegrass my dirty secret since you kind of brought this up -
ReplyDeleteGrisman - Dawg Music.
Actually "Oh Brother Where..." took over that #1 spot from O & In W
I was disappointed that the Dirt bands "Wll The Circle Be Unbroken" only hit #4 - a text book intro
Remember what CBGB stood for 😉
The first, and last, time I heard this tune on underground FM, I thought it was a parody. The disc jockey Zach Zenor was less amused and pulled the needle off mid-song. Apologies followed. Thankfully, Rowan pulled his head out of his "experimental" ass and went back to his roots.
ReplyDeleteEarth Opera's albums have a handful of redeemable songs. But the only reason I have them is because I'm a total completist. I remember the second album being a bit better. And I kinda liked a song called "Dreamless," from the first album. The pedal steel song with Ben Keith, “Home to You,” and “Sanctuary from the Law,” from Eagle are pretty easy on the ears. John Cale’s involvement on the second album might be of interest to some.
Earth Opera seldom came to SoCal. Not that I wanted to see them. However, I almost saw them on a couple of occasions.
When I was 14, my mom let me and one of my boyfriends take her MGB to Huntington Beach. It was a weekday. I was ditching school but my mom didn’t care. My longhaired boyfriend had a couple of days off between construction jobs so we seized the opportunity. My mom was always supportive of fun. She packed a cooler for us with a bunch of ham and Gouda cheese buns. We scored a couple of half gallons of Tyrolia and headed for the beach with the top down and the wind in our sails. We drank one of the half gallons on the way up and put the other in the cooler for the beach. It was crap wine with a screw-off cap, but, served chilled, it was refreshing and highly drinkable. Tyrolia was sexier than beer. It was mild and gave you a good plonk buzz. It was a perfect complement to weed. Especially with whites. Plus, you could get a half-gallon for $1.50. Nobody I knew ever threw up from it, unlike that rotgut Boone’s Farm shit.
VR
more to come
site is sending my follow up comments to the pit of utter nothingness
ReplyDeletethey publish then disappear
VR
When we arrived at the beach we got a room at the Surf Inn. I had been teasing my boyfriend on the drive up and we were both pretty horny. My wanton nature was elevated by the weed, whites and wine. And his swollen promise. We didn't waste any time.
ReplyDeleteAfter an unrestrained and explosive flesh session, we headed out. My boyfriend suggested we grab dinner later at the nearby Golden Bear. We walked to the venue to see who was performing. When we arrived, George greeted us in his over-affectionate, handsy way. He knew and liked us from previous shows we attended. A few months prior we saw multiple concerts on Gordon Lightfoot's run. Also, several shows on Poco's run just prior to the release of their debut LP. Meisner was still in the band. Anyway, George told us he'd let us in for free and he'd reserve us a table in the sweet spot. Like that entitled him to grab my ass some more. Since there was no lettering on the marquee, I asked George who was playing, thinking it would be club mainstay Hoyt Axton. But it was West and Earth Opera. And tickets were not selling.
ReplyDeleteWe hit some waves on rented boards and made out on the beach. At some point we were smoking a joint and were approached by two sandy-blonde and tanned guys. They wanted to know if we'd sell them some smoke.
ReplyDeleteBeing mindful that they might be narcs, I cautiously declined. They hung out at our spot for a while and had a few tokes. We gave them some of our buns and one of the guys raved about how good the Gouda cheese tasted.
ReplyDeleteHe repeatedly said, "This is fuckin' gourmet, man! This is fuckin' gourmet." Feeling more comfortable with them, I rolled a number for them. When I pulled my boyfriend's bag of weed out, the "gourmet" guy, who amused me, said "Fuckin' A, that looks like rock star weed!" as he showed his friend. I handed him the jay and they were on their way.
ReplyDeleteAbout an hour later they came back to our spot and raved about how righteous our weed was. They were looking for an OZ and asked if we knew where to get any. By this time, we felt comfortable with them. I had my own personal lid in the map-pocket of the MGB. My boyfriend was a true gentleman. He always insisted that we smoke his weed when we were together. I told the guys I had a bag of Michoacan which was short a joint or two and that I'd let it go for ten bucks. There was a problem. They had just spent the last of their money on food and beers at Neptune's Locker. I asked them if they had anything to barter, like a rack of whites or something. The dudes had something better - two extra tickets to see Zeppelin and Lee Michaels in Irvine. Their girlfriends had flaked on them. Done deal!!
ReplyDeleteSo, instead of dinner at the Golden Bear with West and Earth Opera, we ate gringo Mexican food at Mi Casa and saw Led Zeppelin, Lee Michaels and Hard Luck Boy at Crawford Hall.
ReplyDeleteI almost saw Earth Opera again that very weekend. They were billed, along with 30+ other acts, for a festival in Soledad Canyon. They, and many other acts, canceled at the last minute. But that's another story. However, I will say that the Flying Burrito Brothers were terrific, Gram particularly. Of all the times I saw them, this may have been his best performance. Wish I had a tape. His star burned bright that day.
VR
Stuff like the story by the gal regarding the MGB, the swill, the beach, the, the weed, and the music are big reasons why I love this site.
ReplyDeleteI still have their LP on vinyl. "Roast Beef Love" - Yes, yes.
ReplyDelete