Paler Suns, by Michael Tarbox

Paler Suns

by Michael Tarbox

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1.	Ah! Sunflower 01:18	lyrics	buy track
AH! SUN-FLOWER Ah Sun-flower! weary of time, Who countest the steps of the Sun: Seeking after that sweet golden clime Where the travellers journey is done. Where the Youth pined away with desire, And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow: Arise from their graves and aspire, Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.
2.	Room Full Of Mirrors 02:08	info	buy track
3.	World Gone Wrong 02:39	info	buy track
4.	He'd Be A Diamond 02:31	info	buy track
5.	Little Moses 03:50	info	buy track
6.	Jack Of Diamonds 04:10	info	buy track
7.	Mountains Of The Moon 03:10	info	buy track

about

Paler Suns is my tribute to a few of the great musicians that have influenced me and kept me going over the long haul. Just imagining a phrase they played, something they said, or something about how they looked when I saw them play, gives me so much. They've all inspired me. Their gifts have no end.

William Blake wrote "Ah! Sunflower," and I put it to music. I recorded it out in the yard one fine morning in May. As far as I'm concerned, William Blake is at the center of the world. The sweet birds accompanying me make this Sunflower sound like a Song of Innocence, but it's a Song Of Experience.

And speaking of Experience... Room Full of Mirrors is my harmonium adaptation of Jimi Hendrix's song. God bless Hendrix for the incomparable sound and vision he shared with the world.

The monumental Mississippi Sheiks gave us World Gone Wrong, among many other treasures. How many songs can touch this tough-minded masterpiece?

He'd Be A Diamond is by Nick Saloman of The Bevis Frond. I'm always touched by the soulfulness of his songs, and I love his guitar playing. Thanks to Nick for allowing me to use my version of his song as part of this comp.

I first heard Little Moses done by The Carter Family. But it was the delicate version by Neil Morris on one of those Alan Lomax collections that really moved me and made me want to sing it. What a great song...

I recorded this version of Jack of Diamonds, with my pal Alan Kaufman on fiddle, over at WMBR in Cambridge. Alan is one of the finest musicians I've ever worked with. This version owes something to Blind Lemon Jefferson. Thanks to Jason Beek for engineering.

Last up: Jerry Garcia's Mountains Of The Moon. I came away from learning this song with an even greater love for, and fascination with, the otherworldly version that's on AOXOMOXOA, which I believe is the Dead's second album. I've always been a sucker for they way Jerry Garcia uses minor chords, and I think this song may be the best example of the master at work. That, combined with Garcia's fragile singing and Robert Hunter's great lyric, has kept this on my mind since I first heard it when I was twelve.

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released September 29, 2020

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Michael Tarbox Boston

“Homemade rock and roll with a dose of rattlesnake venom and gospel-drenched howling.” -- All Things Considered

"Tarbox is the most evocative and distinctive blues-roots artist to come down the pike in ages.” -- The Calgary Sun ... more

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