Topic: songs that could last forever

[unezrider]

hey everyone,
last night i was listening to the grayson county railspliters' 'ain't that trouble in mind' song (from 'the stuff that dreams are made of' collection). & i found myself lost in the song & - BAM, it was over! has anyone else had that feeling of being completely lost in a song, to where they could play that melody for another 40 minutes, & you know you'd love every second of it?
this is something i haven't thought about in awhile, but it seems i have a new song on my list of songs that could last forever

not a complete list, but here's a few others..
uncle dave macon & his fruit jar drinkers 'sail away ladies'
blind willie johnson's 'dark was the night - cold was the ground'
robert wilkins 'that's no way to get along'
eck robertson 'sally gooden'

anyway... hope to hear i'm not alone on this one!
chris

[banjochris]

In a Gadda Da Vida. That lasts forever.

[Slack]

In a Gadda Da Vida. That lasts forever.

LOL!   

(I'm not sure an 18 yr old will get the joke however.)

But I'll throw in "Magic Carpet Ride" anyway...

[Rivers]

I'm a 3 minute guy myself which is one reason I love 78 recordings. There was a period in my youth where, for one band in particular, the song lasted the whole side of an LP, faded out and continued on the other side. I would make a cup of tea at half-time, flip the record and put the cans back on.

[Johnm]

Hi unezrider,
I would put the following in your category:
   * Uncle Bunt Stephens--"Sail Away Ladies"
   * Burnett & Rutherford--"All Night Long"
   * Charlie Patton--"Green River"
   * John Hurt--"If You Don't Want Me"
   * Shirley Griffith--"Shaggy Hound Blues"
There are many others, too.
All best,
Johnm

[uncle bud]

Curiously, with regard to Wilkins' "That's No Way to Get Along" that unezrider cites in the original post, when Wilkins was rediscovered and recast the song on record as "The Prodigal Son" it lasted a good 10 minutes as I recall and is a total groove tune.

JohnM, agreed about Green River. I have played that tune for verse after verse after verse, just hypnotizing myself.

[dj]

According to interviews with the old timers, a lot of songs that we think of as 3 minute gems went on and on when they were played in jukes to accompany dancing and gambling.

Thinking on this topic, the one song that immediately leaps to mind is "How Long How Long" by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell.  I'd love to hear a 15 minute version with Leroy and Scrapper throwing in a few solos here and there.  Also just about anything by Ed Bell.  That half bar pickup he tends to do at the end of one verse leading into the next just kind of sucks me in and makes me want the song to keep going.  And I'll second Johnm on John Hurt's "If You don't Want Me".     

It's not a blues, but I have to make mention of "I Dream A Highway" by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.  It lasts for over 14 minutes, and when it's done I always wish there were more.   

[dave stott]

let's see now --- here's a few that come to mind...

Hot Tuna's version of Keep your Lamps Trimmed and Burning

Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant - recorded = 18 1/2 minutes, live is always much longer

Anything done by the Greatfull Dead

Big Bill Broonzy's, Hey, Hey


Dave

[Peghead Howell]

Yes,,, I can recall a few that sent me to another dimension,, (a couple years ago)

1. Bob Dylan   Desolation Row
2. Canned Heat  Boogie Chillin
3. The Stones  (Her majesty's request) the whole album!!

This was before the "Early Blues Bug" had sunk it's teeth into me, and left me hooked for life

[unezrider]

'hello friend',
a couple of you mentioned some long songs that - for whatever reason, don't seem long. i'll agree w/ the gillian welch 'i dream a highway' (beautiful, beautiful song) & dylan's 'desolation row'.  & it is getting near thanksgiving... so it is time for alice's restaurant, of course. i hear arlo's on his 'solo reunion tour: together at last' ( i love that!)
but i had forgotten a song for the songs that could go on forever -
eliabeth cotten's 'honey babe your papa cares for you'
personally i prefere songs that are under 5 minutes, myself - but certain songs just grab you. & like andrew mentioned about 'green river' - certain songs i will sit & play through & through for 15 - 20 minuets at a time. ( a lot of open D songs, for some reason..)
chris

[Johnm]

Hi dj,
I know what you mean about wishing you could hear Leroy and Scrapper do "How Long" for fifteen or twenty minutes.  Have you ever heard the version Tampa Red recorded for Prestige in the '60s?  I think it is on "Don't Jive Me".  He sings it a great long time and does so many verses I've never heard elsewhere.  Instrumentally, it is very restrained, but it is some especially pretty "old guy" singing.
All best,
Johnm

[dj]

Hi, John,

No, I've never heard Tampa Red's version of "How Long".  I wish now I'd bought more of those Prestige LPs all those years ago.  I'm not necessarily a fan of "old guys" singing the blues, as I think that a lot the early blues repertoire was music for young hipsters.  But I liked the Tampa Red Prestige tracks that were on the Juke a lot.  Age and hard times tempered some of the superficiality that I think the younger Tampa Red sometimes had a little too much of.  (Not that I dislike the younger Tampa Red, mind you.  I just think that, at least vocally, he aged particularly well.)   

[Stuart]

I wish now I'd bought more of those Prestige LPs all those years ago. 

Don't we all! It appears that one has been re-issued on CD:

http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/albums/OBCCD-516-2/

[mr mando]

Don't we all! It appears that one has been re-issued on CD:

This is not the album Johnm is talking about. There were two Tampa Red LPs on Prestige/Bluesville: "Don't Jive Me" an "Don't Tampa With the Blues". "How Long" is on "Don't Jive Me". Your link is for "Don't Tampa With the Blues".

[GhostRider]

Howdy:

The CB tune I like to groove on for a long time (especially if I can attract a harp player) is Terry-McGee "Walk On".

In the Rock vein, "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed"

Alex