Intro to “O Mary Don´t You Weep”
´´(speaks Norwegian) I´ve exhausted all my Norwegian right there (chuckles) there will be no more (chuckles) go ahead, Charles….´´
Intro to “John Henry”
´´How are you? (crowd cheers)….yes….yes….we missed, we missed the National Day by a day, we, we missed it, we came too late….somebody (?) we flew in and someone said ´Oh, there were parades and bands were playing….there were airhorns and people drinking in, in native costumes´ and I thought it was for me and then they said ´No, no, National Day, it´s National Day´ so….now, this song´s a true story….took place ´round the building of the eastern railroads in the United States of America in the late 19th century, of man versus machine….how´s my tempo?….it feels good….´´
Intro to “Eyes on the Prize”
´´Yes, yes….Charlie Giordano on the accordion….Marty Rifkin on the dobro, Greg Liszt on the banjo, Soozie Tyrell on the fiddle….oh yeah….woo!….this was a song originally a gospel hymn….it was known as ´Hands on the Plow,´ was rewritten in the 50s and, uh, became famous as a great freedom song….this is ´Keep Your Eyes on the Prize´….´´
Intro to “Erie Canal”
´´Curtis King….Cindy Mizelle….Lisa Lowell, baby (chuckles) woo!….(?)….oh yes, oh yes, I think I broke one of (?)(chuckles)….now, this is a, uh….a great work song….this is a great work song, was written, probably the only….pop song ever written to a mule….I can´t think of another one, there might be another one….there are some written to horses but not the mule (chuckles) and uh….uh, my previous experience with, with, with a mule was when I was about six years old in, in, uh, the cub scout uniform, which is a small club for boys, I rode one and it wouldn´t move (chuckles) therefore: ´stubborn as a mule´ (chuckles) but this was written, uh, when mules and horses were used to cart freight and bring goods to market up and down the Erie Canal in New York state….and uh….was originally called ´Low Bridge, Everybody Down, ´ ´Erie Canal´….yeah….you can give me a hand with the top….´´
Intro to “My Oklahoma Home”
´´Thank you….thank you….(people keep singing ´Erie Canal´) oh (chuckles)….yes….thank you, for a minute there I was worried that was some sort of a Norwegian war chant, I wasn´t sure quite what, quite what that was (chuckles) but uh….this is a song written during the Great Depression in the 1930s by a gal named Agnes ´Sis´ Cunningham and a brother Bill, it was during the Dustbowl when, uh, the Midwest was ravaged by enormous dust storms that sent entire populations of people out across the country into California, uh, something we never thought we´d see again but we did in the States and, uh, this is ´My Oklahoma home has blown away´….´´
Intro to “Devils&Dust”
´´Oh yeah….we got a….couple songs about war….a new one and an old one….but they still have to be written, which is a shame….´´
Intro to “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?”
´´We did our first show at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and uh….it´s hard to describe what New Orleans is like right now except to say that it´s, it´s just, the city suffered terrible devastation, there´s mile upon mile of, of ruined homes, uh, washed right off their foundations, uh, empty, completely empty neighbourhoods, the city lost half of its population, uh….it´s just struggling, it hasn´t, it hasn´t begun to get back upon its feet but, uh, if you´re a musician, it´s the mother city of American music, where everything that came from over here ended up over there and got stirred up in a big pot and turned into blues and jazz and rock and roll and….and all the music that we´re playing tonight….so this was a song originally written, uh, in the opening months of the Great Depression by a guy named Blind Alfred Reed….I, uh, I kept the first verse and I wrote three other ones, uh, in honor of our president´s visit to New Orleans where he managed to gut the one agency that might be able to help struggling citizens in times of distress….through, uh, political cronyism and….so this is ´How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?´….´´
Intro to “Jacob´s Ladder”
´´Thank you, thank you….alright, this is ´Jacob´s Ladder´….Jacob was a biblical figure, he was always, uh, kind of fucking up in God´s eyes and uh….but God kind of stuck with him, He kept giving him tasks to accomplish so (?) so Jacob would get to Heaven rung by rung, step by step, inch by inch, little bit by little bit, we´re all climbing Jacob´s ladder….´´
Intro to “We Shall Overcome”
´´(chuckles)….Well done, gentlemen….woo!….thank you, yes….that´s what it takes, you´ve got to work at it if you want it!….it don´t come for free….(chuckles) oh Lord…..(chuckles)…. alright, I gotta calm myself down for a minute, just for a minute, just for one minute (chuckles) before we take it! (chuckles) oh it´s coming! (crowd cheers really loudly) it´s coming!….it ain´t here yet! it´s coming!….oh yeah (crowd is really loud)(chuckles) oh yes it will….alright….here´s one of the most important political protest songs of all-time, sung around the world wherever people struggle for justice and equality, here´s ´We Shall Overcome´….´´
Intro to “Open All Night”
´´Are you ready? (crowd cheers) you don´t sound ready yet, no….are you ready now? (crowd cheers) you don´t sound ready yet….are you ready now? (crowd cheers) that´s more like it ….´´
Intro to “Pay Me My Money Down”
´´Oh, you´re ready now….´´
Intro to “My City of Ruins”
´´Well done, I´m impressed (chuckles)….yes, these are, these are new musicians, they don´t know when to stop, what can I tell you (chuckles)….´´
Intro to “Ramrod”
´´Yeah….we´re going to have….we´re gonna have a funky reggae ska mariachi party….right now, it´s gonna happen, baby….it´s gonna happen right now….I don´t wanna hype you (chuckles) I don´t wanna over-excite you but I need a little help….´´
Intro to “When the Saints Go Marching In”
´´Thank you, Oslo….(?)….thank you, thank you so much, thank you for a lovely evening…. yes….we got to spend two days here in Oslo, it was very nice, I want to thank everyone for their hospitality, every place we went people were very sweet to us, very kind, very welcoming….oh…..this is a song, was, uh, kind of the theme song of the city of New Orleans, I guess, it´s been sung so much and I found a couple of verses that I hadn´t heard very often before that sort of explain what our whole happy accident up here is about and, uh, take a moment and thank all, thank, I wanna thank my band tonight, thank, thank the band…..
Marty Rifkin on the pedal steel….Charlie Giordano, Cindy Mizelle, Curtis King, the lovely Lisa Lowell, Larry Eagle….the king of rock and roll tuba, Art Baron….the mysterious Clark Gayton….the very sexy Curt Ramm….the incredible Eddie Manion….Frank Bruno, my brother….Sam Barfeld on violin, fabulous Miss Soozie Tyrell….Greg Liszt on the banjo….ah, Jeremy Chatzky on bass….and the fabulous Marc Anthony Thompson on guitar and vocals….
yes, yes, I thank them, we´ve been having a wonderful, wonderful time here on the road and I was blessed to have them sent my way so this is a song, this is our song as a prayer for the city of New Orleans and for you…..´´
Intro to “Buffalo Gals”
´´Marc Thompson….thank you….(?)….thank you for coming out tonight, thank you….I will leave you with a song my grandmother used to sing (chuckles) and you can sing it too….
(….) let me hear you….Buffalo gals, won´t you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight, Buffalo gals, won´t you come out tonight, we´ll dance, we´re gonna do it one more time, then all hell gonna break loose….´´
| Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi. |
