Liner Notes
Enjoying a set of David Olney's songs is like seeing your life pass before your eyes at the End. With only one minute left, your mind flips through the most unfortunate moments of feeling and drama, the strongest characters noble and vile, the detail of a certain morning frozen in your memory from childhood. Each random scene and feeling is accurate, intense and complete. You can see the sunlight, hear the sounds of the city, smell the musky perfume of the lover you left behind, all in a song. And in a set of David's songs, you have an entire vivid cross section of life.
It's not really fair to call Olney's craft music, for the category is too limiting. Each song is more like a scene from a Shakespearean drama, and maybe even more like a chapter out of Faulkner, where the listener beholds a picture in his mind created by the verse and melody, style and tone of the song. In the song "Baseball," three voices sing from three different perspectives, pitcher, batter, and announcer, all of which combine in the final chorus, mixed but individually distinct. The listening experience is like eavesdropping in a crowded restaurant to the conversation you want to hear, selecting with your ears from among the cacophony of voices in the room. This is as much drama as music.
Like Faulkner's characters reappear in different novels, Olney's sometimes reappear in related songs. Other songs are connected by common threads like scenes from larger story. "Thirty Coins of Gold" describes the haunting ghost of the beggar who agrees to pose as Judas for Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper. On other albums appear the related "Brays," as told by the donkey who carried Christ on Palm Sunday [Philo 1177 High, Wide and Lonesome] and "Jerusalem Tomorrow" [Philo 1117 Deeper Well], a savvy tale told by a miracle-shamming confidence artist who decides to serve Jesus in order "to find out who's behind him." Makes you wonder if he did. "Barrymore Remembers" and "Sunset on Sunset Boulevard" are similarly related songs which have a Hollywood counterpart on another Olney album. If you want to know which song and album, a complete and systematic search for the answer is recommended. The quest will be memorable.
Olney taps into a wide variety of folk, traditional, and classical musical styles. Listen to the Nocturne-like piano melody in the background on "Sunset Boulevard," the mariachi textures behind "Border Town," and the barrelhouse rawness which authenticates "House Rules." The song "Death, True Love, Lonesome Blues and Me" is as winsome as its title: you can't listen without rooting for the underdogs (us) and wanting to join in against old Mister Death. Then again, there's the story of how as an aging man, Bob Ford, shoots Jesse James in the back as James straightens a picture on the wall. In Olney's version of history, Ford's former boss brags once too often about a callous and ruthless encounter with a young saloon girl. Guess you never know who means something to someone, "but at least that picture's straight." Oh, I forgot to mention wry humor. Olney's work is as varied as it is rich, and his albums go on the short shelf with those few others you have that you can play over and over again without tiring or failing to hear something new you never noticed before.
Olney in real life is a sort of Everyman, or would like to be. The facts are these: he dotes on his wife and daughter, is an avid basketball and baseball fan and spends hours throwing the ball with his son, raises tomatoes in the summer, reread all of Shakespeare's works this winter, and always works the Sunday Times crossword puzzle in ink. What should we make of this? As an artist, Olney in each song seems closest in his craft to a painter, in seeking to capture fully the feeling and richness of a scene. He knows as well as any one person might be expected to know the depth and breadth of our experience as travelers here, but he is able to capture the feeling and emotion of this in a way that is equal to or beyond what many of us know firsthand, be it love, revenge, despair, determination. This is true in the same way that Monet, Van Gogh or Gaugin may paint a scene that is more intense on canvas than the original experience of the scene. These guys are Everyman in the sense only that they partake of Everyman. Their gifts lend us a lamp of illumination to parts of ourselves we don't always clearly see.
The first time I heard David Olney play, I became a fan. Twenty years later we became neighbors and friends. One of the nice things about getting to know David Olney is to find out that the man, like his music, takes time to get to know. There's a lot of ground to cover. But then again, doesn't that describe life?
Gordon Gilbreat
April 1997
1. House Rules (David Olney/Bug Music-David Olney Songs, adm. by Bug, BMI)
Play the red, play the jack
Play the ace on the jack
Holler seven come eleven
Like you died and went to heaven
Take it easy, play it cool
Out here they're playing
House rules
Put a face on your smile
Buy some clothes, dress in style
Put a rug on your skull
Get your marriage annulled
Think you're fox among the fools
But out here they're playing
House rules
Take a moment to reflect
There's a joker in the deck
There's a rope around your neck
What the hell did you expect?
Out here you're playing
House rules
When you can't pay the debt
You can't cover your bet
You think they're going to forget?
They're gonna plant you in cement
Out here they're playing
House rules
Play the jack on the ace
Act like you own the place
Play the black, play the red
In the end you're just as dead
So when you bet the family jewels
Keep in mind you're playing
House rules
Mike Henderson slide guitar
Garth Hudson keyboards
John Gardner drums
David Hungate bass
George Bradfute electric guitar
Tommy Spurlock electric guitar
Scott Musick cowbell and Serdo drum
David Olney acoustic guitar
2. Barrymore Remembers
(David Olney/Hayes Court Music-Irving Music, BMI)
Have I ever told you I was once quite the lady's man
My suits were Italian. My color vermilion.
My words soft as satin, the language of love.
My life was the movies. I was the leading man.
The dashing romantic with a touch of the tragic.
My profile was perfect and the language was love.
Yes sir Mr. Barrymore
You must have been something back then
They must have been wonderful years
And they won't come again
Yes sir Mr. Barrymore. Can I pour you another?
The women were lovely in the flickering Hollywood light
Of course there was Garbo and Dietrich and Harlow
The look was come hither and the language was love
And my God the parties - the nights were as bright as the days
The air smelled like honey. The stars shone like money.
In the roar of the twenties the language was love.
Yes sir Mr. Barrymore
You must have been something back then
They must have been wonderful years
And they won't come again
Yes sir Mr. Barrymore. One more on the rocks?
This was a gay town as wild and as free as the night.
We lived with abandon. We loved with a passion.
We were storybook heroes in the language of love.
But what was I saying? And where has everyone gone?
Quickly bartender pour me another.
Better make it a double. One more for the road.
Yes sir Mr. Barrymore.
Are you sure you can make it all right?
Yes the bar's closing down. Better call it a night.
Yes sir Mr. Barrymore, let me call you a cab.
John Prine guest vocals
David Hungate bass
John Gardner drums
George Bradfute electric guitar
David Olney acoustic guitar
3. Camille
(David Olney/Hayes Court Music-Irving Music, BMI)
She called me up on the telephone
Said, "Hello, baby, are you alone?
I'm feeling bad, I'm feeling blue.
I'm feeling lonely just for you
Now would it be too much trouble for you
To head here on the double?"
I said, "Hold on, my sweet Camille."
Out on the street, on the boulevard
On the avenue at the local bar
They're getting wasted. They're getting smashed.
They're talking dirty, they're talking trash.
They say, that woman's no good for you
I say, you don't know her the way that I do
And I just love my sweet Camille
Ever since I met her my life has changed
It don't get better, it just gets strange
There's something about her so doggone real
I guess that's why I'm crazy `bout my sweet Camille
When I get up it brings her down
When I'm broker she's out of town
When I'm worried she's never there
When I'm lonely she doesn't care
But then on the other hand
She makes me feel like a natural man
That's why I love my sweet Camille
John Gardner drums
David Hungate bass
George Bradfute electric guitar
Jim Brown piano
Marvin Watts harmonica
Tomi Lunsford background vocals
Tommy Spurlock electric guitar
David Olney acoustic guitar
4. Robert Ford & Jesse James
(David Olney/Bug Music-David Olney Songs, BMI)
"Hey, Bob, do you remember when we robbed the Glendale train?
And I shot that engineer and left him lying in the rain
You were shaking like a leaf, I thought you'd break and run
But my hands were never steadier than when they held a gun
The horses' hooves a-pounding, bullets flying in the air
The bleeding and the dying, hell, I didn't care
The chances that I took back then, I must have been insane
Hey, Bob, do you remember when we robbed the Glendale train?
"Hey, Bob, do you recall that little whore down in Kansas City?
Crazy as a bedbug but, man, she sure was pretty
You got mad as hell and you raged with jealousy
After buying all her drinks that night she went upstairs with me
You should have seen her, Bob, the way she'd fuss and fight
A scratching little hell-cat, man, I sure had fun that night
Now I'm sorry that I cut her. It truly was a pity.
Hey, Bob, what was her name, that little whore in Kansas City?
"Hey, Bob, do you recall when we really lived the life?
Now look at me, I've settled down, got three kids and a wife
God has surely blessed me with His mercies from on high
How come you never married, Bob? You never told me why
It ain't healthy for a man to always be alone
You need a woman's gentle touch, a family and a home
A man can't be a man without a woman by his side
How come you never married, Bob? You never told me why
"Hey, Bob, look at this picture. Does that look straight to you?
It needs to come up on the right just a touch or two."
But Bob he never answered for his anger and his shame
With steady hand he drew his gun and shot down Jesse James
He knew it was too little and he knew it was too late
And it gave but little comfort but at least the picture's straight
Garth Hudson accordion
Deanie Richardson fiddle
David Hungate bass
John Gardner drums
Tommy Spurlock Dobro
David Olney acoustic guitar
5. I'll Fall In Love Again
(David Olney/Hayes Court Music-Irving Music, BMI)
I'll fall in love again
One day I know
I'll fall in love again
And the dark clouds will roll away
And the world will be new again
My broken heart will mend
When I fall in love again
But all the world is cold tonight
The wind cuts me it two
One day I will be all right
When the springtime sun shines through
Then the spring rain will wash away
My tears and my pain
When I fall in love again
Jimmy Day steel guitar
George Bradfute electric guitar
David Hungate bass
Tomi Lunsford background vocals
John Gardner drums
Tommy Spurlock steel guitar
David Olney acoustic guitar
6. Basketball
(David Olney/Bug Music-David Olney Songs, adm. by Bug, BMI)
Some people just want to talk
They ride in their Rolls Royce
They watching me walk
They don't know I'm a busy man
Some people they don't understand
I don't want to be wasting my time
Sure don't want no one messing with my mind
So I say, hear what I say
Uh huh go to the hoop
Uh huh see you slam dunk
Uh huh go one on one
Uh huh take it to the bucket
Uh huh show me some D
But play loose and free
Like I like it you know that I like it
Don't blow smoke and don't you bother to flatter
I ain't got time for no idle chatter
Why don't you penetrate to the heart of the matter
Penetrate to the heart of the matter
Some girls they just want to flirt
They looking so good oh Lord it hurts
They're out looking for someone slick
Oh people it's making me sick
I don't want no one wasting my time
Sure don't want no one messing on my mind
So I say, hear what I say
Uh huh go to the hoop
Uh huh see you slam dunk
Uh huh go one on one
Uh huh take it to the bucket
Uh huh show me some D
But play loose and free
Like I like it you know that I like it
Don't blow smoke and don't you bother to flatter
I ain't got time for no idle chatter
Why don't you penetrate to the heart of the matter
Penetrate to the heart of the matter
Tommy Wells drums
David Vaught bass
George Bradfute electric guitar
Tommy Spurlock guitar, background vocals
Tomi Lunsford background vocals
David Olney acoustic guitar
7. Baseball
(David Olney/Bug Music-David Olney Songs, adm. by Bug, BMI)
The Pitcher
It should have been my year in `58
There weren't a hitter in the league
Who could even touch my stuff
My arm was loose and I was throwing great
The boys out in the bleachers, man
They couldn't get enough
The crowd would roar when I stood on the mound
The king of the hill and the toast of the town
I was painting corners on the plate
It should have been my year in `58
The Hitter
I was leaning in too far
I was thinking curve, he threw me high and tight
Caught a fastball just above the jaw
Since then I ain't never been quite right
Now there is a ringing in my ear
And I'm always stuck in second gear
You can find me here at the bar
I was leaning in too far
The Announcer
What a night for baseball, sports fans, and what a great game we got.
Two teams battling for first place in the American League; the New York Yankees
and the Boston Red Sox. One of the great rivalries in all sports. On the mound
tonight for New York, the Gotham Blazer, Bobby Coover. And what a great year
the veteran fire-baller is having: sixteen wins against only five losses and
leading the league in strike outs. And Boston is led by their rookie phenom,
Damon Young. Twenty-five homers, ninety-two RBIs. This twenty-one-year-old kid
has captured the imagination of the entire baseball world. Youth against
experience, strength against strength. This is what it's all about. So sit back and
enjoy yourselves, sports fans, because this promises to be a great one.
Young stands in against Coover. The cocky rookie is crowding the plate.
The crowd is really into it now. Coover gets his sign and goes into his windup. He
wheels, he deals¼. Young goes down! A fastball caught him in the head! Oh, this
is terrible! Young's career's over! He'll spend the rest of his days sitting in some
dingy dive reliving this one moment, never able to truly understand its profound
implications. It'll take Coover another couple of years, but he's washed up, too!
The once fearsome fastball is a thing of the past. Every time he rears back to
throw it, he'll see Young's face. he's lost his edge, fans! He's through in this
league. Is this baseball or is this Greek tragedy!?
David Hungate bass
Scott Musick drums
David Olney acoustic guitar
Stadium sounds courtesy of Leonard Wolf and Chip Taylor.
8. Leaf in the Wind
(David Olney/Bug Music-David Olney Songs, adm. by Bug, BMI)
Hard as a hurricane
Soft as a sigh
If sorrow should find me
I'd blow right on by
Rise up and go
Then I'd come back again
The one way to live
Is to fly like the wind
Take a deep breath
Then let go of the limb
To toss and to turn
And to float on the wind
All the joy, all the pain
All the love, all the grief
When it's my time to fall
Let me fall like a leaf
Sooner or later we all fade away
Why should that keep us from living today?
Lay down beside me
And look at the stars
Look at the moon
Look at Venus and Mars
Let the Earth fall away
We won't even cry
Oh let us be lovers
Who live in the sky
George Bradfute electric guitar
Tommy Wells drums
Tommy Spurlock bass & acoustic guitar
Adie Grey background vocals
David Olney acoustic guitar
9. Thirty Coins of Gold
(David Olney/Hayes Court Music-Irving Music, BMI)
Many years ago a man called Leonardo
Set out to paint our Lord at his last supper
So he sent his servants forth among the poor to find
The models for our Lord and his disciples
After many weeks of search all were found save one
For no amount of gold could hire a Judas
For the poor have their beliefs, they will not tempt their God
And not a one dared play the base betrayer
Then one day a beggar with a haunted kind of face
Accosted Leonardo on the street
have mercy noble sir and give what you can spare
And anything I'd do to win your favor
Leonardo gave a coin, the highest in the realm
And said thirty more to him who'll act as Judas
The beggar's eyes were blinded as the sun's light hit the coin
And he trembled as he fearfully accepted
For months the beggar sat until late into the night
As Leonardo worked his master's touch
But this of all the faces was most difficult to catch
For the features of this man were ever changing
A face that once was haunted was now like one possessed
Eyes that once were frightened now were tortured
But at last the task was done and the beggar got his gold
And he left that night and was never seen again
People talk about a man who goes from town to town
And he never stays in one place very long
And while no one knows his name a few have seen his face
In a picture that was painted long ago
And there is a story told of thirty coins of gold
And a man who cannot rest until he spends them
He might throw them in the sea in the darkest hour of night
In the morning he will find they are still with him
In the morning he will find they are still with him
Garth Hudson keyboards
David Olney acoustic guitar
10. Death, True Love, Lonesome Blues, and Me
(David Olney-Gwil Owen/Bug Music-David Olney Songs-Turgid Tunes, adm. by
Bug, BMI)
Start the clock, real and rock
Let's see what's shaking
Let's turn it upside down, see what falls out
Who knows what it might mean
It could just be a dream
Maybe I'm just running at the mouth
Let's go in here, whiskey and beer
How `bout some music
Strike up the band and let Piano Man play
There's ol' Barfly at the bar
Smoking a cheap cigar
Don't know the year much less the time of day
Who's coming through? It's Lonesome Blues
Don't try to stop him
His heart's a two-bit cufflink on his sleeve
He longs to feel his soul take wing
When he hears Miss True Love sing
If that's a crime then maybe we should leave
When True Love takes the stage she looks so pretty
But the song she sings is slightly out of tune
But that's all right `cause tonight nobody's perfect
And every song she sings for Lonesome Blues
Mister Death plays roulette
He never loses
His eyes are hard but his smile is soft and smooth
He acts so far above
He even thinks he owns True Love
`Cause it's his joint and he makes all the rules
When True Love leaves the stage her voice is fading
She makes her way back to the dressing room
Catches her breath `cause Mister death is there waiting
He says, "You better keep away from Lonesome Blues."
Now Lonesome Blues hits the booze hard and heavy
He tries to screw his courage to some sticking place
Barfly says, "If I had a spine
And sweet True Love were mine"
Then he rolls his eyes and falls down on his face
Mister Death is making threats. True Love ain't listening
She's had enough, she won't take anymore
Death grabs her by the arm
And says, "I made you what you are!"
Just as Lonesome Blues busts through the door
"Reach for the sky! I'll tell you why
This gun is loaded!
Don't bat an eye. Don't make any funny moves."
Death steps away and says, "Okay,
I'll catch you later."
And True Love walks away with Lonesome Blues
What can I say, they get away
Who knows for how long give
Death ain't the kind to give nothing up for free
In the end he'll get his due
Til then let's drink a few
To Death, true Love, Lonesome Blues and me
Jim Brown piano
David Hungate bass, trumpet & trombone
George Bradfute electric guitar
Scott Musick drums
Tommy Spurlock Dobro
David Olney acoustic guitar
11. Sunset on Sunset Boulevard
(David Olney/Bug Music-David Olney Songs, adm. by Bug, BMI)
The pretty thing with grand ambitions
She's going to be a star someday
So sweet, so young, so pure, so innocent
Unless you're standing in her way
The handsome face, the youthful body
He made himself a foolproof plan
He'd like to think that he was cheated
But you can't cheat an honest man
That's how it goes
This case is closed
Sunset on Sunset Boulevard
The aging star sips her martini
Then throws the glass at her TV
"Those filthy swine have all forgotten
How dare they turn their backs on me"
The fat man slips into his hot tub
Satisfied, his lust is spent
A thousand bucks to ease the tension
Just one more business expense
The sky still glows
But this case is closed
Sunset on Sunset Boulevard
"I'd like to thank God for my Oscar
But most of all I thank you fans
I love you because you love me
God bless you all, God bless you all"
The siren's wail fades in the distance
They've washed the bloodstains off the floor
The damning photographs have vanished
The body's safely in the morgue
Now there's an opening at the escort service
If you don't mind exotic tastes
The hours are good, the work is easy
Don't let this chance go to waste
On goes the show
But this case is closed
Sunset on Sunset Boulevard
Now the farce is finally over
Our tawdry drama's at an end
The players soon will be forgotten
There's no more reason to pretend
A cheap motel, a shot of whiskey
A neon sign like a ragged nerve
A one-way ticket to oblivion
We only get what we deserve
Everyone knows
This case is closed
Sunset on Sunset Boulevard
Garth Hudson keyboards & saxophones
Tomi Lunsford background vocals
George Bradfute ragged nerve
Scott Musick percussion
David Olney acoustic guitar
12. Border Town
(David Olney/Bug Music-David Olney Songs, adm. by Bug, BMI)
A storm is tearing up the coast
A mighty hurricane
Whoever rules the elements
Has surely gone insane
The forecast is for more
Than the usual fire and rain
It's your choice
You can burn or drown
Or pack your things and head
For a border town
I can speak the language
On both sides of the line
I can tell you what is yours
And I can show you what is mine
But what good does it do me
I'm only wasting time
In the end when the deal goes down
Nothing's all you get in this border town
At my back what's that I hear
Time's souped-up Chevy drawing near
Could be tomorrow could be next year
Until then I'll be found
In this border town
I'm standing on the corner
Where you once stood, my friend
Until they push you to the limit
Then off the deep end
And if I give them a chance
I'll wind up the same
But I won't let their kind drag me down
Not while I still stand in this border town
The king of soul arrived today
The drunken crowd went wild
But the sheriff's eye is on him
The complaint has been filed
They'll put up with his song and dance
Then they'll send him off in style
What a show, what a thorny crown
Held over for three days in this border town
Scott Musick drums
David Hungate bass & trumpets
Tommy Spurlock papoose guitar, electric guitar, Serdo drum
George Bradfute electric guitar
David Olney acoustic guitar
13. It Won't Be Me No More
(David Olney/Bug Music-David Olney Songs, adm. by Bug, BMI)
There's a chill in the wind
Winter's coming `round again
You'll need someone to build a fire
But it won't be me no more
While you're gazing at the moon
Someone's legs will give out soon
And he'll have to crawl on his hands and knees
But it won't be me no more
Someone will have to cry
When you say your last goodbye
But when it comes to losing sleep at night
It won't be me no more
So where do you think you're going
And what do you think you're doing
You're gonna kill somebody with those eyes
But it won't be me no more
Garth Hudson keyboards
Tomi Lunsford background vocals
Forrest Rose bass
Tommy Spurlock recorder
David Olney acoustic guitar
Trains courtesy of Cummins Station