From: owner-good-noise-digest@smoe.org (good-noise-digest) To: good-noise-digest@smoe.org Subject: good-noise-digest V4 #143 Reply-To: good-noise@smoe.org Sender: owner-good-noise-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-good-noise-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk good-noise-digest Saturday, August 18 2001 Volume 04 : Number 143 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Gorka Interview x 2 ["Sheila Guilfoyle" ] Re: Gorka Interview x 2 ["cycle12345" ] My three favorite John Gorka songs, and why . . . ["cycle12345" Subject: Gorka Interview x 2 I had trouble with my original post. This interview was in yesterday's LaCrosse Tribune. smg www.lacrossetribune.com/rednews/2001/08/16/build/entertainment/00LV.php _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 08:53:08 -0400 From: "cycle12345" Subject: Re: Gorka Interview x 2 Thanks so much, Sheila; that was an excellent - and most revealing - interview with John. You're all so lucky to live so nearby . . . Steve in Virginia > I had trouble with my original post. This interview was in yesterday's > LaCrosse Tribune. > > smg > > www.lacrossetribune.com/rednews/2001/08/16/build/entertainment/00LV.php > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 09:06:13 -0400 From: "cycle12345" Subject: My three favorite John Gorka songs, and why . . . Hello, Gorka-gang! I really like this thread and am sorry that it has taken me a couple of days to get to it . . . My three favorite JG songs are "Silence", "Campaign Trail" and "Flying Red Horse". "Silence" because it is truly one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. It reminds me of favorite girlfriends in the summers of my youth as well as more recent friends in autumn . . . "Campaign Trail" because, as a career politician, it helped me get through my last re-election campaign two years ago. Helped me? Hell, it kept me alive and well, kept me focused, kept me from getting too serious about myself, provided me with a sense of humor and the proper perspective to keep walking through those neighborhoods and knocking on those doors and shaking those hands and making the news . . . I absolutely could not have survived that campaign without "Campaign Trail"! "Flying Red Horse" because it's one of the favorites of the two ladies (Paula and Bunny) who first insisted, demanded, that I listen to John Gorka's music a couple of years ago. Some say that the song applies to me and my personality, especially in regard to my penchant for riding my "Fast Red Motorcycle" (FRM), so very similar to a "Flying Red Horse" (FRH), but I say that this song applies to most of us who enjoy JG's music and understand how important it is to him, but especially to us. I mean, what would we do with ourselves without John Gorka's music? Don't even consider answering that last question . . . it makes me shutter just to think about it. Steve ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 10:13:00 -0500 From: "Achartz, Thomas" Subject: RE: Where did you first hear the music from John Gorka?? My first cd of John's music, similar to the hobars, was "Stranger With Your Hair." It spoke directly to my bittersweet poignant feelings at the time. Feelings of longing and yearning and loss. It seems as though as I grew, so did John's music. People used to tease me all the time for being into "sad introspective music." Thank God for new songs like "Good Noise" and "What Was That." One of the qualities I like about John's music is the way that the music and lyrics shift and change for me through the years and then bring new meaning. Some of the songs I've enjoyed have included: Stranger With Your Hair-Who can't identify, at some time with the lyrics.."Could you send it back to me. I'll buy the ticket." Branching Out-Horribly simple lyrics but I always find myself singing along and feeling good. Oh yeah..And raising my hands up towards the sky. Edgar, the Party Man-As a 44 year old man going through anderopause (I believe it really does exist!), a cautionary tale against holding on too tight. Carnival Knowledge-Out of the Valley-The instrumentation is just so tight. No one I know likes Carnival Knowledge except me. And, of course, in Out of The Valley, the most direct and beautiful commandment in all of Gorkism..."Go after what you love!" What Was That-Bouncy. Upbeat. My most recent favorite. - -----Original Message----- From: thehobars [mailto:thehobars@compaq.net] Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2001 8:11 PM To: good-noise@smoe.org Subject: Re: Where did you first hear the music from John Gorka?? My first tape of Gorka was "Stranger with your Hair" on a tape made for me by someone who I had just begun to date. Little did I know that when that relationship went bad I would turn back to that tape, buy the CD (I purchased the newly released Land of the Bottom Line) and find incredible healing in that music. To this day that CD has to be my favorite, and the one I recommend to everyone who is just getting to know his music. As far as my favorite song - it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to tell. There is one for every mood I'm in. Bitter, love-gone-wrong - Armed with a Broken Heart; reminiscent of a former love - Love is Our Cross to Bear; introspective - Down in the Milltown; in need of having my spirits lifted - Good Noise; wild and reckless - Raven in the Storm and Where the Bottles Break; and then there are Blue Chalk, Let Them In Peter, Night is a Woman, Good ... and many others I don't think I can live without. I don't think I've helped you decide which CD to purchase, but I hope I've given food for thought! So, there's a starting point. - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2001 1:53 AM Subject: Re: Where did you first hear the music from John Gorka?? > Thanks for your feedback. Since I am new to John Gorkas music I wanted to > pose the question, what CD is your favorite and why?? So Jos I think you > answered that for me, how about the others out there, which is your favorite > CD & which song?? I'm going to look for a common thread and thats the next CD > I'll buy. Look forward to hearing from you. ps to Bryn, how lucky for you to > see him on the 24th, fill us in OK?? JoAnn ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 11:39:56 -0400 From: Melanie Vandermark Subject: RE: Where did you first hear the music from John Gorka?? >Some of the songs I've enjoyed have included: >Carnival Knowledge-Out of the Valley-The instrumentation is just so tight. >No one I know likes Carnival Knowledge except me. Hey, Thomas -- my name is Melanie. Nice to meet you. Now you know someone else who likes Carnival Knowledge. :-) It is probably one of my top three Gorka tunes. The story and the character he created with it is just so poignant...can't quite explain why, but I've been known to hit the repeat button on the disc player more than once for that song when I've got Out of the Valley on. One of the things that most appeals to me about John's writing is the characters he creates in his songs. When trying to describe him to friends who know nothing about him, I've been known to compare him to Jim Croce and Harry Chapin, who were also masters at developing characters, telling stories in songs. John's characters can be quirky, colorful, intriguing or tragic -- some you can relate to, others are foreign yet you feel you'd want to get to know them better...some make you say "there but for the grace of God..." Other favorites along these lines are "Airstream Bohemians" from Between 5 and 7 and "Up Until Then" also from OOTV. - -Melanie ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 12:44:54 -0400 From: Rain Subject: RE: Where did you first hear the music from John Gorka?? I first heard Gorka at a Greg Brown concert in September, 1987, shortly before "I Know" was released. John was the opening act. I had smuggled in a tape recorder to tape Brown's show but didn't bring enough tape to record John's set, besides, I'd never heard of him before, why would I want to record it? LOL...I greatly regret that now! Shortly after that show, I moved to Arkansas (from MA/NY) and filled out the card he'd handed out at his show to order "I Know". A few weeks later, I had a copy of it in my hands (and in my stereo). While I liked his songs (as with many, "Stranger with Your Hair" is the song that I remember as standing out for me), at that point, I had little idea just how important his music would come to be in my life. Living in Arkansas, I was somewhat out of the loop on what was going on in the folk music world (Sing Out magazine was a saving grace at the time) so I was shocked to discover one day a couple of years later a copy of "Land of the Bottom Line" at the chain record store I worked at (in the pop/rock section, no less). I hadn't been aware that he had released a new album and I bought it instantly. From that point on, I was hooked. Over the years, as each new album came out, my love for his music has grown deeper and deeper. I have heard many of his earlier (pre-marriage and fatherhood) albums described as being "depressing", but I've never found them that way, but then, I have suffered from depression for most of my life and many of his songs have spoken to me in a way that nobody else's music ever has; it is very personal, showing the world in similar terms to the way *I* see it, portraying people that I recognize and understand. With the exception of "Out of the Valley" (which was simply too over-produced for my tastes; one of these days I need to give it a re-listen because I know there are good songs on it), I have enjoyed his later stuff and it has held meaning for me (especially as I got married and became a parent myself) but it is still his first few albums (Land of the Bottom Line/Jack's Crows/Temporary Road) that I find myself going back to over and over again. If I had to list my favorite songs of his, I'd include (in no particular order): Land of the Bottom Line (I can't seem to listen to this one without repeating it at least once) Treasure Islands Houses in the Fields (while this could have been about any place, I swear it was written about Delaware) Love is Our Cross to Bear Where the Bottles Break Jailbirds in the Big House Ballad of Jamie Bee Part of your Own There are probably some others that I'm just not thinking of at the moment.... Take care Rain ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 22:40:03 -0400 From: "cycle12345" Subject: My three favorite John Gorka songs, and why . . . Hi Gorkans, This *is* a fun thread. Here goes with my favorites ... Steve McGraw has already let the cat-out-o-the-bag with my mostest favorite JG song. That would be "Flying Red Horse". I have auburnish hair (like to fancy myself a redhead) but that's not the only reason that I identify so much with Pegasus (aka "Flying Red Horse"). I think that these lyrics are particularly powerful for a middle-aged woman coming into and discovering her independence in this new age of women's liberation. Anyone who knows me very well knows how strongly I value my role as a mother and would not turn my back on that. Developing strength, courage, and independence while maintaining those very earthy connections with my sons is the "hard combination" that I keep striving for. Another favorite is "Can't Make Up My Mind". This song is so much fun to listen to. I love all the silly double entendres and as I am oft' a person of much waffling, I can identify with the theme as well. Let us not forget, "Mercy of the Wheels". This song has such a sweet simplicity, and it makes me miss my father so very much. I'd love to "catch a train that would go back in time", and show him that I've made out ok, and that I'm taking care of Mom. Can I only pick three? There are so many ... "Treasure Island", "Gypsy Life", "People My Age", "Oh, Abraham", "Cypress Trees". Gee this thread is really tough... I'm going to bed. G'Night Gorkans, Wherever You Are, Bunny (who is in Georgia) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 02:51:40 EDT From: Togg4@gateway.net Subject: RE: Where did you first hear the music from John Gorka?? I'm sure the first time I heard John Gorka was on FolkScene - an LA based folk music show that is now exclusively on the internet at www.kpig.com I can't remember what I heard, but I am guessing that it was one of the live in studio programs that they are so famous for. It's so hard to pick favorites. I have always loved the album "Land of the Bottom Line" and have probably listened to that one the most. On that album, one of my most favorite songs is "That's How Legends are Made." And that is because it is about Stan Rogers. I wept when I finally figured that out. But, I have to admit, sometimes I don't listen to the lyrics. John's voice soothes me like a tonic and sometimes that is just all I want :-) Gina ------------------------------ End of good-noise-digest V4 #143 ********************************