Liner Notes from "Mixed Bag"
Mike James; guitar, banjo, and vocals on all songs except Lady Juliana
Coal Tattoo-This Billy Ed Wheeler tune is best known from recordings by The Kingston Trio, Jim Croce, and Judy Collins. Its theme is true for anyone who has ever worked in a job that leaves a “coal tattoo.”
Mark Iler - harmonica
Michelle Cameron - bass
Steve Ackerman - mandolin
Joe Breskin - lead guitar
Sylvie- Written by Huddie William Ledbetter, this tune dates back to 1935. Harry Belafonte and others have helped keep it alive over the years. I do my version in drop D tuning. Huddie’s original title was “Bring Me Li’l Water, Silvy.”
Joe Breskin - lead guitar
Mark Iler - harmonica
Bill Kiley – congas
Lady Julianna - written by Val to commemorate the first convict transport ship to carry women and children to New South Wales (Australia) in 1789. Most people know about the male convict transports, but few know the story of the women (Who can start a new colony without women?). The song traces the story of Mary Wade, an eleven-year old girl arrested for robbery and assault, sentenced to death, but lucky enough to be part of the “cargo” aboard the Lady Julianna.
Val James, lead vocal - guitar
Jessica McKeegan - harmony
Michelle Cameron - cello
**Jamaica Farewell -Irving Burgie (Lord Burgess) is given credit for compiling several West Indies folk songs to create this tune. It was featured on Harry Belafonte’s album, Calypso. I had fun singing it with a hotel band in Negril many years ago. Ya’, mon!
Mike James, Val James, Mark Iler - harmony
The French Girl- Ian Tyson and Svlvia Fricker wrote this song back in the days of the 60’s and 70’s folk revival. A Seattle group, The Daily Flash, did a nice version of it.
Val James, harmony
Joe Breskin - guitar
Bill Kiley - congas
Black Eyed Suzy - a traditional American folk song which, in the style of Old Joe Clark, Cindy, Charlotte Town is Burning Down, etc. sometimes borrows lyrics from other folk tunes.
Val James - harmony
A-Rovin’- Like so many traditional sea shanties, as noted by Stan Hugill in Shanties from the Seven Seas, this one seems to have a mongrelized etiology. I’ve changed some verses to avoid arrest while performing at family settings.
Val James, Josie Solseng, David Hakala, Mark Iler - harmony
Steve Ackerman - mandolin
Michelle Cameron - bass
Danny Boy- The lyrics and original musical track are by Frederick Weatherly. The song, Londonderry Aire, was later used in place of the original music score. I found it physically and musically challenging, and should have recorded it twenty years ago.
Mike James - vocal and guitar
How Long Blues-A traditional blues earning some fame for Leroy Carr in 1928. I first heard a version on a Bud and Travis album. A country music version might include something about a dog and truck.
Val James - harmony
Joe Breskin - lead guitar
Steve Ackerman - violin
Michelle Cameron - bass
Bill Kiley - congas
Joe Breskin - lead guitar
Follow the Drinking Gourd-The North Star, aka the “drinking gourd,” guided runaway slaves northward on their escape route. If the song had a literary partner, it would have to be Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Peg Leg Joe is said to be the Mr. Leftfoot/Pegfoot whose steps were imprinted in turf and history.
Steve Ackerman - mandolin
Michelle Cameron - bass
Bill Kiley - congas
The Dutchman- I believe there is a bit of the Dutchman and
Margaret in all of us. This Michael Smith song came to mind as Val and I watched canal boats while we were landing in Amsterdam, on our way to Bulgaria.
Val James - harmony
Steve Ackerman - mandolin
Davis Lange - accordion
Michelle Cameron - bass
I Think It’s Going to Rain Today-Written in 1968, by Randy Newman, I first heard it at the Poison Apple in Detroit. A rubato approach seemed to fit best. It had to be on Mixed Bag.
Mike James - guitar and vocal
**Sugar in the Hold- Traditional sea shanties sometimes found their roots in shore side work songs. In this case, loose cotton was put in a large press called a cotton screw, compressed into bales and loaded onto outward bound vessels.
Val James, harmony
Bill Kiley, congas
South Wind-Travis Edmondson (Bud and Travis) wrote this song that has stuck in my musical memory since I heard it on a Kingston Trio album in the sixties. It lends itself to a haunting, bluesy delivery.
Val James, Mark Iler - harmony
Joe Breskin - lead guitar
Bill Kiley - congas
The Galveston Flood - NOAA still calls this the deadliest natural disaster to befall the U.S. When Katrina hit, I was reluctant to perform this song because of the obvious reference to tension and loss. Read Isaac’s Storm by Eric Larson for the whole story.
Val James, Josie Solseng, David Hakala, Mark Iler, Mike James - harmony
Steve Ackerman - violin
Michelle Cameron - bass
Coal Tattoo-This Billy Ed Wheeler tune is best known from recordings by The Kingston Trio, Jim Croce, and Judy Collins. Its theme is true for anyone who has ever worked in a job that leaves a “coal tattoo.”
Mark Iler - harmonica
Michelle Cameron - bass
Steve Ackerman - mandolin
Joe Breskin - lead guitar
Sylvie- Written by Huddie William Ledbetter, this tune dates back to 1935. Harry Belafonte and others have helped keep it alive over the years. I do my version in drop D tuning. Huddie’s original title was “Bring Me Li’l Water, Silvy.”
Joe Breskin - lead guitar
Mark Iler - harmonica
Bill Kiley – congas
Lady Julianna - written by Val to commemorate the first convict transport ship to carry women and children to New South Wales (Australia) in 1789. Most people know about the male convict transports, but few know the story of the women (Who can start a new colony without women?). The song traces the story of Mary Wade, an eleven-year old girl arrested for robbery and assault, sentenced to death, but lucky enough to be part of the “cargo” aboard the Lady Julianna.
Val James, lead vocal - guitar
Jessica McKeegan - harmony
Michelle Cameron - cello
**Jamaica Farewell -Irving Burgie (Lord Burgess) is given credit for compiling several West Indies folk songs to create this tune. It was featured on Harry Belafonte’s album, Calypso. I had fun singing it with a hotel band in Negril many years ago. Ya’, mon!
Mike James, Val James, Mark Iler - harmony
The French Girl- Ian Tyson and Svlvia Fricker wrote this song back in the days of the 60’s and 70’s folk revival. A Seattle group, The Daily Flash, did a nice version of it.
Val James, harmony
Joe Breskin - guitar
Bill Kiley - congas
Black Eyed Suzy - a traditional American folk song which, in the style of Old Joe Clark, Cindy, Charlotte Town is Burning Down, etc. sometimes borrows lyrics from other folk tunes.
Val James - harmony
A-Rovin’- Like so many traditional sea shanties, as noted by Stan Hugill in Shanties from the Seven Seas, this one seems to have a mongrelized etiology. I’ve changed some verses to avoid arrest while performing at family settings.
Val James, Josie Solseng, David Hakala, Mark Iler - harmony
Steve Ackerman - mandolin
Michelle Cameron - bass
Danny Boy- The lyrics and original musical track are by Frederick Weatherly. The song, Londonderry Aire, was later used in place of the original music score. I found it physically and musically challenging, and should have recorded it twenty years ago.
Mike James - vocal and guitar
How Long Blues-A traditional blues earning some fame for Leroy Carr in 1928. I first heard a version on a Bud and Travis album. A country music version might include something about a dog and truck.
Val James - harmony
Joe Breskin - lead guitar
Steve Ackerman - violin
Michelle Cameron - bass
Bill Kiley - congas
Joe Breskin - lead guitar
Follow the Drinking Gourd-The North Star, aka the “drinking gourd,” guided runaway slaves northward on their escape route. If the song had a literary partner, it would have to be Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Peg Leg Joe is said to be the Mr. Leftfoot/Pegfoot whose steps were imprinted in turf and history.
Steve Ackerman - mandolin
Michelle Cameron - bass
Bill Kiley - congas
The Dutchman- I believe there is a bit of the Dutchman and
Margaret in all of us. This Michael Smith song came to mind as Val and I watched canal boats while we were landing in Amsterdam, on our way to Bulgaria.
Val James - harmony
Steve Ackerman - mandolin
Davis Lange - accordion
Michelle Cameron - bass
I Think It’s Going to Rain Today-Written in 1968, by Randy Newman, I first heard it at the Poison Apple in Detroit. A rubato approach seemed to fit best. It had to be on Mixed Bag.
Mike James - guitar and vocal
**Sugar in the Hold- Traditional sea shanties sometimes found their roots in shore side work songs. In this case, loose cotton was put in a large press called a cotton screw, compressed into bales and loaded onto outward bound vessels.
Val James, harmony
Bill Kiley, congas
South Wind-Travis Edmondson (Bud and Travis) wrote this song that has stuck in my musical memory since I heard it on a Kingston Trio album in the sixties. It lends itself to a haunting, bluesy delivery.
Val James, Mark Iler - harmony
Joe Breskin - lead guitar
Bill Kiley - congas
The Galveston Flood - NOAA still calls this the deadliest natural disaster to befall the U.S. When Katrina hit, I was reluctant to perform this song because of the obvious reference to tension and loss. Read Isaac’s Storm by Eric Larson for the whole story.
Val James, Josie Solseng, David Hakala, Mark Iler, Mike James - harmony
Steve Ackerman - violin
Michelle Cameron - bass