Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Andy Smith, Solo Acoustic Set, Thursday July 2nd

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. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" (a. smith)


Thursday, July 2nd @ Blind Bob's:

A solo acoustic set by
ANDY SMITH (of Andrew and the Pretty Punchers and formerly of the solo act Andrew & The Himselves).

Andy will be the featured performer at Blind Bob's Thursday "open mic" night.

It's free.

Bring your ears . . . and a musical instrument if you want to play.










***BONUS COLLECTOR PHOTO #1 FROM THE ANDREW AND THE PRETTY PUNCHERS ARCHIVE***



(The Andrew Smith Barbershop Quartet o' Three captured live at The Igloo)


Hey Kids!

This is Bonus Collector Photo #1 from the ANDREW AND THE PRETTY PUNCHERS Archive!

Collect Them All!

Be Cool For A Change!


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Group Therapy (a poem)

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Group Therapy

So here we are in a circle. I guess
it wouldn't be so bad
if everyone
wasn't so god damned depressed.


I'm thinking maybe all we need is a campfire,
songbooks, and some of that plastic fake leather
shit that you make wallets out of.








The guy next to me is very large. He breathes

audibly. For the next hour he does nothing but
breathe. I like him. The obese lady has not

stopped crying for exactly thirty-two
minutes. I slowly begin to realize that
it's never going to be over until the fat lady

dies. She mentions suicide. I leap to my feet and in
my best Dr. Jack voice offer my help.
She cries louder. No problem lady. Do it yourself then.










Two guys across from me have obviously just

returned from some type of Bernhard Goetz subway
shooter look-a-like competition. I'm thinking that









they won. They are very nervous and appear stressed. Their movements are sudden. I make a mental note not to ask them for lunch money.








We go around the circle and tell our stories.

When it's my turn to speak I say "I'm new here
and have nothing to say." The very large man next

to me responds to the therapist with a slightly more audible breath and just the faint hint of a grunt. Everyone shifts in their seats. We take a break.








I walk to the lounge and sit next to the very large man.
I tell him I agree with everything that he hasn't said. He breathes heavily, then surprises me with

a slight smile. I tell him that I agree with that also.
I spend the rest of our break wondering. Wondering
what this very wise man is doing in a place like this.










(from the chapbook ROCKING GENTLY OUT OF SYNC, 1997)

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Monday, June 29, 2009

Sadly Beautiful Song Series, Song #5




BOOTS OF SPANISH LEATHER
(B. Dylan)


Oh I'm sailin' away my own true love
I'm sailin' away in the morning
Is there something I can send you from across the sea
From the place that I'll be landing ?










No, there's nothin' you can send me, my own true love
There's nothin' I wish to be ownin'
Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled
From across that lonesome ocean.

Oh, but I just thought you might want something fine
Made of silver or of golden
Either from the mountains of Madrid
Or from the coast of Barcelona?













Oh, but if I had the stars from the darkest night
And the diamonds from the deepest ocean
I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss
For that's all I'm wishin' to be ownin'.

That I might be gone a long time
And it's only that I'm askin'
Is there something I can send you to remember me by
To make your time more easy passin'?















Oh, how can, how can you ask me again
It only brings me sorrow
The same thing I want from you today
I would want again tomorrow.

I got a letter on a lonesome day
It was from her ship a-sailin'
Saying I don't know when I'll be comin' back again
It depends on how I'm a-feelin'.















Well, if you, my love, must think that-a-way
I'm sure your mind is roarmin'
I'm sure your thoughts are not with me
But with the country to where you're goin'.



















So take heed, take heed of the western wind
Take heed of the stormy weather
And yes, there's something you can send back to me
Spanish boots of Spanish leather.






Please listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTCFhS7IIgM



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Six Days That Will Live In Infirmary

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CRACKING UP
(Nick Lowe)

Cracking up, I'm gettin' ready to go
Had enough, I can't take no more
No pills, that I can take
This is too real, and there ain't no escape

It scares the daylights

It makes a nightmare
I'm tense and I'm nervous
Everybody all around me
Shakin' hands and sayin' howdy

I don't think it's funny no more


Cracking up, like a worn out shoe

Ain't wet, but the world's leakin' through
I'd run, but I find no pace
I'd laugh, but it's wrecking me

(wrecking me)


It make a shiver
It make a shake

It make a monster
Just like an earthquake

Everybody havin' fun
I don't know how they carry on

'Cause I don't think it's funny no more


At dead of night time, at crack of dawn

It comes upon me without warning
If I were a gunman I would shoot
I'd tear my hair out by the root
I'd make a knife out of a notion
All at sea in an ocean of a emotion

I don't think it's funny no more


I don't think it's funny no more

[cracking up]

I don't think it's funny no more

[cracking up]



please watch and listen (song is 2:59 not 5:37):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCBm_IESaVA





















You Gotta Move

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YOU GOTTA MOVE

(Mississippi Fred McDowell)



















[as performed by The Rolling Stones]




















You Gotta Move


You gotta move

You gotta move

You gotta move, child

You gotta move

Oh, when the Lord gets ready

You gotta move


You may be high

You may be low

You may be rich, child

You may be poor

But when the Lord gets ready

You gotta move


You see that woman

Who walks the street

You see that police
Upon his beat

But when the Lord gets ready

You gotta move


You gotta move



please watch and listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1-eu0l69kw










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Sunday, June 28, 2009

You Must Leave Now, Take What You Need, You Think Will Last

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IT'S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE
(B. Dylan)

You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun
Crying like a fire in the sun
Look out the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense
Take what you have gathered from coincidence
The empty handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets
This sky, too, is folding under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home
Your empty handed armies, are all going home
Your lover who just walked out the door
Has taken all her blankets from the floor
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore
Strike another match, go start a new
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.




please watch and listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlTtLAEZ3AY



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Saturday, June 27, 2009

It's A Boy! (poem)

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Delaney Smith, boy


It's A Boy!

Wee little baby
Look at him shit.
Center of the universe
Thinks he's it.

Sweetest Day baby
Ain't you a treat
From your bald little head
To your fat little feet.

Peas on your cheekbone
Pears on your chin
Formula is on the stove
Ready to go in.

Spittin' out vegetables
Runnin' down your chest
Holdin' out for applesauce
'Cause it's the best.

Burpin' out one end
Crappin' out the other
Driven 'em nuts
Your father and mother.

Wowee! baby
Ain't you cute
Ready for bed
In your birthday suit.

Atta boy baby!
You ain't got a bother
Chew on those toes
Like there's no tomorrow.







(from the chapbook PRAYERS & LAUGHTER, 1990)


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IT'S A (BIRTHDAY) BOY!

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A great big HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY to Andy Smith! . . . "the best boy in the whole world"



SHOW ME
(C. Hynde/T. Pretenders)


Show me the meaning of the word
Show me the meaning of the word
'cause I've heard so much about it
They say you can't live without it

Welcome to the human race
With it's wars, disease and brutality
You with your innocence and grace
Restore some pride and dignity
To a world in decline

Welcome to a special place
In a heart of stone that's cold and grey
You with your angel face
Keep the despair at bay
Send it away, and

Show me the meaning of the word
Show me the meaning of the word
'cause I've heard so much about it
I don't want to live without it
I don't want to live without it
Oh, I want love, I want love, I want love

Welcome here from outer space
The milky way still in your eyes
You found yourself a hopeless case
One seeking perfection on earth
Some kind of rebirth, so

Show me the meaning of the word
Show me the meaning of the word
'cause I've heard so much about it
Don't make me live without it
Don't make me live without it
Oh, love, I want love, I want love, I want love


please listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdnTVp1QElM




. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "the best boy in the whole world"









































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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Home

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"godspeed my friend - be well and come home soon"
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(marley)

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I Think It's Going To Rain Today

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I Think It's Going To Rain Today
(Randy Newman)

Broken windows and empty hallways,
a pale dead moon in a sky streaked with grey.
Human kindness is overflowing,

and I think it's going to rain today.


Scarecrows dressed in the latest styles,
the frozen smiles to chase love away.
Human kindness is overflowing,

and I think it's going to rain today.


Lonely, lonely.

Tin can at my feet,

I think I'll kick it down the street.

That's the way to treat a friend.


Bright before me the signs implore me:

Help the needy and show them the way.

Human kindness is overflowing,

and I think it's going to rain today.

Lonely, so lonely.

Tin can at my feet,

I think I'll kick it down the street.

That's the way to treat a friend.


Bright before me the signs implore me:

Help the needy and show them the way.

Human kindness is overflowing,

and I think it's going to rain today.



Please listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60AChuvfzUo




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Monday, June 22, 2009

"I Need A Love To Keep Me Happy"

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.. .uncle kevin and kerr-bear, the kerriest of bears (i.e. niece kerry)



Happy

(M. Jagger/K. Richards)

Well I never kept a dollar past sunset,
It always burned a hole in my pants.
Never made a school marm happy,
Never blew a second chance, oh no

I need a love to keep me happy,
I need a love to keep me happy.
Baby, baby keep me happy.
Baby, baby keep me happy.

Always took candy from strangers,
Didn't wanna get me no trade.
Never want to be like papa,
Working for the boss ev'ry night and day.

I need a love to keep me happy,
I need a love, baby won't ya keep me happy.
Baby, won't ya keep me happy.
Baby, please keep me

I need a love to keep me happy,
I need a love to keep me happy.
Baby, baby keep me happy.
Baby, baby keep me happy.

Never got a flash out of cocktails,
When I got some flesh off the bone.
Never got a lift out of Lear jets,
When I can fly way back home.

I need a love to keep me happy,
I need a love to keep me happy.
Baby, baby keep me happy.
Baby, baby keep me happy



click to hear song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny4W3Yb32fc





A great big "Thank you!" to all of the lovely ladies of my life for "keeping me happy" over the years.

You gals were the best!


(click on photos to fully engage happiness):























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. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .or is it?!





"rosebud"
(citizen kev)

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