Barbara wrote this about a friend from Portland. It became her most requested song until she wrote North Sulfur River. But, then it was her only other song.
(c) 1990 Royal T Music
POTTER'S FIELD KEY Em Capo @ 3
Em……..(hold) Figure 1 is C G Am Em, Figure 2 is A A Em Em
F 1 - You might as well take me out and stand me up against the wall
F 1 - I don't want no bandanna, no cigarettes to ease the fall
F 2 - No…
THE CHILD WITH THE BEAUTIFUL NAME
(The story is @ iburymydead.com)
What remains of an eagle that's fallen
The roots of an oak tree now claim
To draw sap for the shade for the cattle
O're the child with the beautiful name
The law, it…
Firstly, W O W ! ! I wonder what inspired this. Reminded me of a neighbor, whose 3 yr old Grandaughter drowned in their pool, several yrs ago. The mother was selected in top 10, for Miss TX pageant. Beautiful Girl. Changed everything for their family. Very Sad. I have to say, You, SIR are very talented !! Writing, descriptive- phrasing, lyricism, vocally, musically, & the oration was Spot On !! I'm Truly Impressed !! I will definitely check out your other work, soon. After I finished listening, I had to clear my throat & wipe my eyes, before trying to think about what I could say. It was moving, touching, interesting, & left me deeply moved. Very Sad, but Very Awesome & Well-Done, in every sense. Thanks, Brother.
I never sing this song the same two times in a row.
The lyric below is pretty close to how I sing it now.
Listening again, this is an awful version of this song...
I have my recording machine working again...I must redo this.
I PLAY C…
I'm going to agree with your assessment, I've heard you do this song in person dozens of times and this is not one of your better versions. I think I'm going to blame it on the equipment.
Still struggling with this one...
Maybe not possible to make this work in a country song...MY DICK DON'T KNOW SHE'S GONE
1. She's been gone for three years now. Three years since she walked out
Friends and folks I work with ask me what it…
SOMETHING ABOUT THE NIGHT TIME - no Capo or Capo @ 4
(Am)Something about the (Bm)night time makes me feel alive
Makes me want to sing a song. Think about my life
(C)Maybe light a (D)candle. I like lemon grass
(Am)Something about the (Bm…
WHEN WE GET TO COLORADO
Capo @ 5 in C positions
C G
Thirty one years in this city
Thirty one yers on this street
Fighting in the morning
Fighting at night
This place has the smell of defeat…
THE CIRCLE OF NO REGRETS Key C
Capo @ 3
VIDEO - https://www.facebook.com/reel/629088762494393
https://fb.watch/lQdzfYTriA/
https://www.facebook.com/100007692130538/videos/122358790913196/. With Martha - practice
C. F. C…
THE CIRCLE OF NO REGRETS Key C
Capo @ 3
VIDEO - https://www.facebook.com/reel/629088762494393
https://fb.watch/lQdzfYTriA/
https://www.facebook.com/100007692130538/videos/122358790913196/. With Martha - practice
C. F. C…
I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE'S GONE Key - G
She's been gone for three years now
Three years since she walked out
Friends and folks I work with
Ask me what it's all about
Tho I can't find an answer
As the days drag on and on
My heart is damn near…
I heard this one today and I think it's one of your more commercially viable songs, it sounds like a classic country song. This is another one I think you should consider playing more on a regular basis.
Belinda Stephens
I think you wrote and produced it well, James. It’s got a beat for line dancing😊
If I may, I dedicate this song to a Republican Pres. Candidate.
Walking alone in late February
Thinking on friends I’d lost
John and Sean and Christopher
Ryan, Ian, and Mark
Some of them fell to fever and drink
Some to women or song
One of them made it to the good life
But all of them are gone
All…
Gwyn Henry said, "How random, Jim! What precipitated this sharing??? Don't get me wrong, it is very funny.
My reply, "This was about when Peggy, my fuck buddy for 29 years said no more for me. She was giving it to Doug. Not funny to me. So 15 years celebate."
I'M A STRANGER TO ME - capo @ 3 playing in C
I'm a stranger to me
I make the bed where I sleep
I cook the food that I eat
I fold the towel that dries
The tears in my eyes
I'm a stranger to me
I'm a stranger to me
Every morning we meet…
I randomly chose an old album to pick a song from to post and it turned out to be songs one year after Peggy left. I was at my lowest, loneliest, most unconsolable. STRANGER was a song that also spoke to me about my dad having lost my mom. to Gwyn Henry
THE ONLY THINGS
Any road that leads to somewhere
Any thought that comes to mind
Any sight on the horizon
Any friend that's left behind
Any meal that's ever eaten
Any quilt that's ever lined
Any concert that is set thru
Any document that…
"Somewhere between the stumbling and the falling..."
SOMEWHERE
G capo @ 2 - live @ 4
Somewhere between the summer and the winter
The leaves between the tree tops and the fall
Somewhere between my heart and circled letters
Somewhere…
It’s a small town. Woodlake, California. East side of the San Joaquin Valley. 14 miles from where all those “Lindsey” olives you see on your grocery store shelves come from. The Woodlake Echo, says, “In the foothills of the Sequoias”.
FOOTHILLS…
Scott - Thanks for the link. I love how descripted they were i never have smelled the orange blossoms but i bet they are heavenly.
Me -The first time it hit me, I was taking Kay Smart for a ride, top down just west of that bridge at Lemon cove. Nothing else like it.
Scott -
Enter
Scott
Scott Carson Ausburn
I bet ; ) Nothing like smell to jog your memories. I usta be in love with this girl named Belinda that lived up the street from my Grandmothers. We would go bicycle riding often. Her front yard had plum trees that smelled heavenly when the were in bloom. Now every time i smell a plum tree bloom it takes me back to the good times i had with Belinda and wondering what ever happened to her.
Me -So sweet. Peggy wore Sweet Honesty perfume. I’m sure if I met some girl with that I would be shaken.
Refuge into the imagination:
Is it crazy?
Is it survival?
Is desire to survive crazy?
THERE SHE WAS Key - G 102811
G
She'd been gone for three years now so he'd been on the road
Playing every truck stop bar and every song he…
I have a video called THE BROKE PIANO on line at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JON_poM_sdY
Ironically, it does not include this song.
Key D
D (figure is D D sus, D D sus)
I am a BROKE PIANO. Got no damper and no keys
G…
Gwyn Henry
I go farther and farther into my appreciation of you songwriting skills... lyrics poetic... ex Broke Piano.. The line that got me this time was "The only things that moves my strings is when somebody breathes" I once interviewed a popular musician in Tulsa, John D.Levan, in the late 70s. When I asked him where he got his ideas for songs, he laughed and said, "Heck, you just turn your head, and thre's a song!" Your line is saying the same, only more intensely... it's the inclusion of "human breath". goes even deeper.
I have a video called THE BROKE PIANO on line at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JON_poM_sdY
Ironically, it does not include this song.
Key D
D (figure is D D sus, D D sus)
I am a BROKE PIANO. Got no damper and no keys
G…
Gwyn Henry
That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide under the bed, take a crayon, etc.
jmt - You are broadening my vision of the video. Yes. Under the bed was always a place of mystery and imagined safety.
I have a video called THE BROKE PIANO on line at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JON_poM_sdY
Ironically, it does not include this song.
Key D
D (figure is D D sus, D D sus)
I am a BROKE PIANO. Got no damper and no keys
G…
Gwyn Henry
That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide uner the bed, take a crayon, etc.
key - C
I’m clinging to the memories as the world falls apart
The falling leaves, dead Everleys are pulling at my heart.
My quest for rationality, I can’t even start.
So, I’m clinging to the memories as the world falls apart
I’m clinging…
One day I was up on my ladder, cleaning the leaves out of the gutters when I realized why I was there, doing that.
YOUR VOICE
I hear your voice and I go get my ladder
I pull on my gloves. I climb up to the gutters
When the leaves gather…
Kat Angel
Wow! Through your words, I heard my mother, my father, my sisters and brother, my grandma and grandpa, myself talking to my husband, my best friend. I suppose we are all that predictable in time and in retrospect. You made me think and travel through time.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE NIGHT TIME - no Capo or Capo @ 4
(Am)Something about the (Bm)night time makes me feel alive
Makes me want to sing a song. Think about my life
(C)Maybe light a (D)candle. I like lemon grass
(Am)Something about the (Bm…
One day I was up on my ladder, cleaning the leaves out of the gutters when I realized why I was there, doing that.
YOUR VOICE
I hear your voice and I go get my ladder
I pull on my gloves. I climb up to the gutters
When the leaves gather…
One day I was up on my ladder, cleaning the leaves out of the gutters when I realized why I was there, doing that.
YOUR VOICE
I hear your voice and I go get my ladder
I pull on my gloves. I climb up to the gutters
When the leaves gather…
Belinda Stephens - Lovely, James. Who are you singing about?
James Michael Taylor
Belinda Stephens Specifically, Peggy. But we all have the voices of our parents and children and other loved ones that we live with.
Comments on James Michael Taylor's stuff
Great! Lovely song, sung beautifully! LG
I must say that I have come to like this one alot! LG
Firstly, W O W ! ! I wonder what inspired this. Reminded me of a neighbor, whose 3 yr old Grandaughter drowned in their pool, several yrs ago. The mother was selected in top 10, for Miss TX pageant. Beautiful Girl. Changed everything for their family. Very Sad. I have to say, You, SIR are very talented !! Writing, descriptive- phrasing, lyricism, vocally, musically, & the oration was Spot On !! I'm Truly Impressed !! I will definitely check out your other work, soon. After I finished listening, I had to clear my throat & wipe my eyes, before trying to think about what I could say. It was moving, touching, interesting, & left me deeply moved. Very Sad, but Very Awesome & Well-Done, in every sense. Thanks, Brother.
I'm going to agree with your assessment, I've heard you do this song in person dozens of times and this is not one of your better versions. I think I'm going to blame it on the equipment.
Wow. An amazing combination of emotions, all valid, each requiring the others to be recognized Robert Hayden
Leslie Young I like it but I agree about slowing it down.
Good song....ever thought about slowing it down adding some bluesy pian
What a great song. I like how you strung together these everyday phrases. Theo
Love this, James. Gwen Harry said it well.
I'm the songwriting king of the jungle around these parts I know because Jeff Prince said, and he's the king of the arts...
Wanda Slusser-Mullens Love it. The lyrics are wonderful recipe for life.
Leslie Young I like it. But it’s sad.
I heard this one today and I think it's one of your more commercially viable songs, it sounds like a classic country song. This is another one I think you should consider playing more on a regular basis.
Tina DeMaio This is a fun song
Morris Holdahl Had me crackin up! Nice one James Michael Taylor
Great fun songwriting JMT!
I just love a story wirh no ending, a.mystery with a punchiline and a moral with a.fill in the blank section for lonely hearts
Cathy Maxwell You are a great songwriter!!
Leslie Young Toe tapping!
Belinda Stephens I think you wrote and produced it well, James. It’s got a beat for line dancing😊 If I may, I dedicate this song to a Republican Pres. Candidate.
Comments made by James Michael Taylor
Great groove...
Such pathos. We could collect all the Ghost Town songs on Alonetone and have a very interesting album.
It would be cool to put the GHOST TOWN songs in a collection. A great subject with so much sadness... You really capture it here.
Gwyn Henry said, "How random, Jim! What precipitated this sharing??? Don't get me wrong, it is very funny. My reply, "This was about when Peggy, my fuck buddy for 29 years said no more for me. She was giving it to Doug. Not funny to me. So 15 years celebate."
I randomly chose an old album to pick a song from to post and it turned out to be songs one year after Peggy left. I was at my lowest, loneliest, most unconsolable. STRANGER was a song that also spoke to me about my dad having lost my mom. to Gwyn Henry
I also like These are the Only Times I Think of You... You are so prolific and so consistent in quality of work. Gwyn Henry
WoW! What an interesting counterpoint: slow recitation with snappy drum track.
Really snappy and tight. What an interesting lyric.
That pain is incredible and I understand it Alene Brandt
Scott - Thanks for the link. I love how descripted they were i never have smelled the orange blossoms but i bet they are heavenly. Me -The first time it hit me, I was taking Kay Smart for a ride, top down just west of that bridge at Lemon cove. Nothing else like it. Scott - Enter Scott Scott Carson Ausburn I bet ; ) Nothing like smell to jog your memories. I usta be in love with this girl named Belinda that lived up the street from my Grandmothers. We would go bicycle riding often. Her front yard had plum trees that smelled heavenly when the were in bloom. Now every time i smell a plum tree bloom it takes me back to the good times i had with Belinda and wondering what ever happened to her. Me -So sweet. Peggy wore Sweet Honesty perfume. I’m sure if I met some girl with that I would be shaken.
I sang this song at a Sunday night songwriter contest at The Playground in Fort Worth. No cigar.
Gwyn Henry I go farther and farther into my appreciation of you songwriting skills... lyrics poetic... ex Broke Piano.. The line that got me this time was "The only things that moves my strings is when somebody breathes" I once interviewed a popular musician in Tulsa, John D.Levan, in the late 70s. When I asked him where he got his ideas for songs, he laughed and said, "Heck, you just turn your head, and thre's a song!" Your line is saying the same, only more intensely... it's the inclusion of "human breath". goes even deeper.
Gwyn Henry That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide under the bed, take a crayon, etc. jmt - You are broadening my vision of the video. Yes. Under the bed was always a place of mystery and imagined safety.
Gwyn Henry That one would be my fav of all I have seen! They are all great, but my fav... will never forget you underneath that (was it a piano bed?) So many metaphors played into that... and don't we all just want to revert to childhood at times and go hide uner the bed, take a crayon, etc.
Bobby Huskins I like this a lot! Thanks for sharing.
Kat Angel Psychedelic sound. Felt like a brain massage.
Kat Angel Wow! Through your words, I heard my mother, my father, my sisters and brother, my grandma and grandpa, myself talking to my husband, my best friend. I suppose we are all that predictable in time and in retrospect. You made me think and travel through time.
Kat Angel James Michael Taylor great song. I love the melody and the words
Joseph Brunelle Haunting Sentimental heart on the sleeve and knot in the pine
Belinda Stephens - Lovely, James. Who are you singing about? James Michael Taylor Belinda Stephens Specifically, Peggy. But we all have the voices of our parents and children and other loved ones that we live with.