Tuesday 25 February 2014

Another one down/Another one comin'...

 26th Feb 2014

So, after some more thought, I have decided to change the Bob song...Tombstone Blues it is. The imagery in the song has got me thinkin' of a mob scene. There's a host of characters, Ghost of Belle Star, Paul Revere's horse, Jack the Ripper, Gypsy Davey, John the Baptist, Cecil B. DeMille etc and the list goes on (see lyrics below).  also, as I plan the have the exhibition next year, it'll be the 50th anniversary of "Highway 61".
    E                          A          E
The sweet pretty things are in bed now of course
    E                           A    E
The city fathers they're trying to endorse
    E                A             E
The reincarnation of Paul Revere's horse
        E           A          E
But the town has no need to be nervous
The ghost of Belle Starr she hands down her wits
To Jezebel the nun she violently knits
A bald wig for Jack the Ripper who sits
At the head of the chamber of commerce
A
Mama's in the fact'ry
          E
She ain't got no shoes
A
Daddy's in the alley
     E
He's lookin' for food
A
I'm in the kitchen *)
                   E
With the tombstone blues
The hysterical bride in the penny arcade
Screaming she moans, "I've just been made"
Then sends out for the doctor who pulls down the shade
Says, "My advice is to not let the boys in"
Now the medicine man comes and he shuffles inside
He walks with a swagger and he says to the bride
"Stop all this weeping, swallow your pride
You will not die, it's not poison"
Mama's in the fact'ry
She ain't got no shoes
Daddy's in the alley
He's lookin' for food
I'm in the kitchen
With the tombstone blues
Well, John the Baptist after torturing a thief
Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief
Saying, "Tell me great hero, but please make it brief
Is there a hole for me to get sick in?"
The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, "Death to all those who would whimper and cry"
And dropping a bar bell he points to the sky
Saying, "The sun's not yellow it's chicken"
Mama's in the fact'ry
She ain't got no shoes
Daddy's in the alley
He's lookin' for food
I'm in the kitchen
With the tombstone blues
The king of the Philistines his soldiers to save
Puts jawbones on their tombstones and flatters their graves
Puts the pied pipers in prison and fattens the slaves
Then sends them out to the jungle
Gypsy Davey with a blowtorch he burns out their camps
With his faithful slave Pedro behind him he tramps
With a fantastic collection of stamps
To win friends and influence his uncle
Mama's in the fact'ry
She ain't got no shoes
Daddy's in the alley
He's lookin' for food
I'm in trouble
With the tombstone blues
The geometry of innocent flesh on the bone
Causes Galileo's math book to get thrown
At Delilah who's sitting worthlessly alone
But the tears on her cheeks are from laughter
Now I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill
I would set him in chains at the top of the hill
Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille
He could die happily ever after
Mama's in the fact'ry
She ain't got no shoes
Daddy's in the alley
He's lookin' for food
I'm in the kitchen
With the tombstone blues
Where Ma Raney and Beethoven once unwrapped their bed roll
Tuba players now rehearse around the flagpole
And the National Bank at a profit sells road maps for the soul
To the old folks home and the college
Now I wish I could write you a melody so plain
That could hold you dear lady from going insane
That could ease you and cool you and cease the pain
Of your useless and pointless knowledge
Mama's in the fact'ry
She ain't got no shoes
Daddy's in the alley
He's lookin' for the fuse
I'm in the streets
With the tombstone blues 
 
 

 


Electric Bob 1965. 
 
This era for Dylan was a change of direction, which started shifting with 1964's 
"Another Side of..."Lp
But if ya don't know ya Dylan history, ya'll can read about that yaselves...
There's a plenty written about it that's for sure. Or if ya too lazy to read about 
it check out  the Martin Scorsese documentary "No Direction Home".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOUtzHizr9A
 
Starting the lay out sketch for "Tombstone Blues" later today. Gotta start painting 
that sucker Friday...I'll post the lay out sketch next week. 
 
Finished the third piece of the series yesterday. Jimmie Rodger's 
"Waiting for a Train". 30+ hrs of painting, 20 in the last 2 days...
If ya's don't know much about Jimmie Rodgers, you can find out some here...
The father of Country Music...
http://www.jimmierodgers.com/index.cfm/biography/
also, check out this great clip of Jimmie featuring the song "Waiting For a Train"...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyHulWOZBpk
 
Jimmie Rodgers "Waiting For a Train" rough layout sketch.

And the Final piece completed yesty...



 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday 18 February 2014

"Let There Be Guitar" the exhibition-ArtByGreeny the first post.

 19th Feb 2014

Hey! This is my blog documenting the progress of an exhibition I'm currently working on. The exhibition will consist of 16 acrylic paintings, all based on the theme of American guitar slingin' singer/songwriters of the 20th (and 21st) century. Last year (2013) I completed 2 paintings in that theme that gave me the idea to make a series of 'em. The first 2 were "Kaw-Liga" by Hank Williams (see below) and "Do Re Mi" by Woody Guthrie (I'll add this to the blog later). The next in the series is the Jimmy Rodgers classic "Waiting For A Train" (Check below for lyrics and progress detail), with "My Back Pages" by Bob Dylan to follow. So, the series of 16 paintings will cover 5 decades, from Jimmy Rodgers, through to Bruce Springsteen, from Robert Johnson, to Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, to Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, from Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix, etc. Guitar playin' singer/songwriters that I (and millions of others) think are some of the most important and influential artists of the last (and this!!) century. The first 4 in the series, I (and many others!!) would say are the cornerstone, the absolute topper-most, best of the best...Jimmy Rodgers, Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams and Bob Dylan.

Being a singer/songwriter myself, I have great innerest in this topic I guess, hence the theme...Hopefully I can get friends and myself to play the featured songs at the exhibition opening...

Also, I have started a tribute series of portrait paintings of guitar greats that don't fit in the "American Singer Songwriter" category. From Elvis (See below) to Joni Mitchell, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, Ray and Dave Davies, John Lennon and George Harrison and so on...

Being Australian, I, of course really dig Australian guitar bands, and a small section of the exhibition will pay tribute to Lobby Lloyd, George, Angus and Malcom Young, Ed Kuepper, Steve Lucas and Dave McComb.

JIMMY RODGERS "WAITING FOR A TRAIN" Lyrics



All around the water tank, waiting for a train
A thousand miles away from home, sleeping in the rain
I walked up to a brakeman just to give him a line of talk
He said "If you got money, boy, I'll see that you don't walk
I haven't got a nickel, not a penny can I show
"Get off, get off, you railroad bum" and slammed the boxcar door

He put me off in Texas, a state I dearly love
The wide open spaces all around me, the moon and the stars up above
Nobody seems to want me, or lend me a helping hand
I'm on my way from Frisco, going back to Dixieland
My pocket book is empty and my heart is full of pain
I'm a thousand miles away from home just waiting for a train



 Being the 50th anniversary of "Another Side of Bob Dylan" this coming August I think I should do "My Back Pages". Great song, great imagery... Outta the hundreds of great songs Bob has written the decision  narrowed itself down to  this or "Tombstone Blues". I really wanted to paint Mid Sixties Bob, as I had done a painting of the contemporary Bob last year. Some say the mid sixties are his "greatest" period...I think he's still in his "greatest" period...

MY BACK PAGES Lyrics

Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin' high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I
Proud 'neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Half-cracked prejudice leaped forth
"Rip down all hate," I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull, I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Girls' faces formed the forward path
From phony jealousy
To memorizing politics
Of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists
Unthought of, thought, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

A self-ordained professor's tongue
Too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty
Is just equality in school
"Equality," I spoke the word
As if a wedding vow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I'd become my enemy
In the instant that I preach
My existence led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.



 Bob in 64'...



Woody Guthrie "Do Re Mi" Completed November 2013.