Going up the country - Canned Heat
A couple of songs from the 60s. I think Canned Heat are still going in some form, though Alan Wilson and Bob Hite have been dead for years. Alan Wilson wrote both these songs (on the road again adapted from old blues songs). He died of a drugs overdose at the age of 27 in the tradition of rock musicians.
The name "canned heat" came from an old song called Canned Heat Blues - a reference to drinking Sterno ( a cleaning fluid) by desperate alcoholics.
Donna Donna Donovan version
Donna Donna - lyrics
Donna Donna Wikipedia info
I remember this song from the Donovan version in '65. I didn't realise it had such a deep (but unclear) history. Some people say it was written by Itschak Katsenelson (1886-1944) in the Warsaw ghetto or actually in a cattle truck on the way to a concentration camp. The wikipedia version says that it was a Yiddish song written in Nazi Germany in the 30s and performed in a play called "Esterke" in 1940 - obviously not performed in Germany at that time.
Here comes the sun fingerstyle
Just stumbled on this one. Nice bit of fingerstyle guitar to try and copy. George Harrison wrote some good songs, didn't he?
Memphis Jug Band - On the road again
Great song (but dodgy lyrics!). Recorded in 1929. Just a photo accompanying it - what can you expect for nearly 80 years ago! I've got this song on a CD that came with a book of Bob Crumb drawings of old time American music.
Highly recommended. Yours for $20!
Days of Pearly Spencer
I also remember this from the 60s. It used to be played a lot on pirate radio. It turns out that the guy who started Radio Caroline also had a record label and this was the first release.
Mark Almond did a version in the 80s.
I was curious as to what the story behind it was. Apparently it was about a friend of David McWilliams who went down the tubes with alcohol.
David McWilliams was from Belfast and died in 2002.
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