From: owner-mad-mission-digest@smoe.org (mad-mission-digest) To: mad-mission-digest@smoe.org Subject: mad-mission-digest V4 #15 Reply-To: mad-mission@smoe.org Sender: owner-mad-mission-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-mad-mission-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk * If you ever wish to unsubscribe, send an email to * mad-mission-digest-request@smoe.org * with ONLY the word unsubscribe in the body of the email * . * For the latest information on Patty's tour dates, go to: * http://www.quackquack.net/patttyg * OR * go to http://www.amrecords.com * then click "tour" and fill in the blanks :) * . * PLEASE :) when you reply to this digest to send a post TO the list, * change the subject to reflect what your post is about. A subject * of Re: mad-mission-digest V4 #xxx or the like gives readers no clue * as to what your message is about. mad-mission-digest Friday, January 21 2000 Volume 04 : Number 015 Today's Subjects: ----------------- MM: Report on "Cruisin' with Patty" ["Donald Henn" ] MM: nothing of importance ["Paul Russell" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 23:05:22 -0500 From: "Donald Henn" Subject: MM: Report on "Cruisin' with Patty" MMers , People of America & All Ships at Sea , First , I have to amend the first few lines of my last post , to wit --- "I went & had a great time. Patty was as GREAT as ever.", & redundancy be damned! For those who were hoping for a lot of personal information on Patty outside of her concerts , I talked to Patty only briefly on our second day out & got the definite sense that she valued her privacy , so I didn't bother her for the rest of the trip. I saw her occasionally in the dining room & on deck during the rest of the trip , but not at any of the other concerts. She may have been there , but my attention was almost always on the stage. I seem to have lost my set list for the second concert & my memory is going to be very spotty because it WAS a weeklong party. Unfortunately , because it was a party cruise , Patty's audience was probably the smallest of the lot. My guess would be between 25 - 40 for each show. Patty gave it her all , as usual , though. Even joking that this was where the REAL party was one time. The set list for the first show , possibly incomplete , but mostly in order: Poor Man's House Change Moses Makin' Pies Nobody's Crying Goodbye Silver Bell Flaming Red Perfect White Girls Sweet Lorraine Darkness on the Edge of Town Swing Me Tomorrow Night Little God Mary By far , the highlight of that set was "Nobody's Crying" . Especially the part where the vocal tempo changes & she went into the lines; "May the dream you are dreaming in a warm soft bed and the voices inside you that fill you with dread make the sound of a thousand angels instead tonight where you might be laying your head." She went soaring & took me with her. I sympathize with anyone who wasn't open enough to her music to go with us. That is one great composition & Patty is the one great performer who can deliver it. I'll be disappointed if a great version of that is not on her new CD. She did say at one point that she would start recording in about two weeks. That should be one week now. The solo version of "Flaming Red" with the bluesy intro keeps growing on me , as does "Sweet Lorraine". I don't remember "Darkness" very well , & I'm hoping I didn't get it confused with "Stolen Car" . "Goodbye" , "Swing Me" , "Tomorrow Night" & "Little God" were my other favorites from that set. Without my set list to jog my memory , I can't recall too much from the second set. I think it was the second set version of "Tomorrow Night" that was the most sensuous one I've heard so far. One of the men in the audience couldn't stop raving about her when she finished. I think she found a convert there. She also did a song I never heard before called "Chief". A personal story about a Vietnam vet who was Indian or part Indian and used to walk the streets of her home town in Maine. I don't recall the music very well.Since I can't remember much of the second set specifically , I'll relate some of her personal remarks here. My favorite was during the third show when the ship was rolling & she remarked that she wasn't farting up there , but that her shoes were making funny noises as they moved across the floor. She then demonstrated & it did sound like farts. Very funny! She also remarked at one point that the only negative about the cruise was that she would miss her dog because she couldn't bring it. When introducing "Silver Bell" during the third show she said it was one of those songs that, when she wrote it , she wondered "What the hell does that mean? , & that she had begun to understand it better only recently. She also said that she had never been at sea before , & that it was a unique experience. I'll vouch for that. It was my first time too. A lot of people got sick , & I feel fortunate that I didn't & that Patty didn't. (At least not during her show) A cancellation by Patty would have ruined my day. At least one show was cancelled (My favorite next to Patty) & one brave bass player went on as scheduled even though he was sick. Whenever he wasn't playing he was bending over, occasionally leaving the stage & even playing offstage. I actually enjoyed the rolling most of the time. At one point during the worst night(The night of Patty's third show- Thursday) there were a number of us on the dance floor & it looked like a line dance because as it would roll one way we would all dance in the direction it was leaning & then go back in the other direction as it tilted the other way. I realized the first night I was back home , that I missed the gentle rolling as I tried to go to sleep. I also enjoyed walking the deck , listening to , & sometimes singing Patty's music as the ship rolled. Third set: Go Now Change Flaming Red Let Him Fly Makin' Pies Perfect White Girls Goodbye ???? Mad-Mission Silver Bell Top of the World Cain Stolen Car Tomorrow Night Mary "Cain"was easily the highlight of the third set , when she was hitting those stratospheric notes that I've come to know & love , & her playing was so rhythmic it made me wonder why she would ever need a band. Speaking of stratospheric notes , I was waiting for a show to start one evening when I heard what I thought could be Patty's voice. I followed the sound to the stage speakers where a band was setting up & kept listening for those distinctive high , powerful , notes or those quiet throaty ones that distinguish Patty from all the also-rans.After a song and a half , I decided that it wasn't Patty because I didn't hear any of those notes & because it seemed like studio produced music. I asked one of the stagehands who it was. Surprise , surprise ! Bonnie Raitt ! I continued to listen as I waited for the band to start & didn't hear a thing to compare to Patty. With all apologies to Bonnie & her fans - Another one bites the dust. Bonnie's top & bottom seem to be just a part of Patty's mid-range. Of course, Bonnie has been around for awhile & it's possible that her range has suffered in recent years. I taped Sessions while I was gone , just in case of a schedule change. When I saw that it was the Dixie Chicks , I couldn't resist checking out "Let Him Fly". The song seemed to be completely without the natural flow that Patty gives it. It makes me think that one of Patty's greatest strengths is her natural vocal rhythms. I said in one of my *Rave Reviews* that she could take you from the bottom to the top with such a natural flow that you don't realize it until it's over. Back to the third set. The question marks are for another song I never heard before. I think it was pretty good but it's hard to remember because I spent the whole song unsuccessfully trying to figure out what the name of it might be. I just remembered something else that I think was from the second set. When she was doing "Poor Man's House" she broke a string. She stopped for awhile , strummed for a little bit , & announced that she could probably finish w/o it. She was playing & singing very strongly when it broke , & when she resumed I thought she played & sang even stronger. When she finished she said that she was trying to get another one to go but she couldn't. I can't say that I've ever tried to compare her with anyone else , but I can't imagine anyone having a more charming stage presence. Whenever she runs into a problem , it seems to amuse her more than anything else.The line from "Perfect White Girls" , "If you kiss their asses long enough they'll let you kiss their asses." got a laugh each time she performed it. It was great to hear "Mad- Mission" again. I'd like to hear her do it more often. "Stolen Car" was also one of my favorites , but she didn't say "Bold" in the bold way that I like so much in her Rarities version.The rolling was very distracting during the third show , especially during "Makin' Pies" , "Goodbye" , & "Top of the World" . I think she got close to losing her balance a few times. I have no idea how much , or if at all , the ship was rolling during "Cain" because she took me away again. I guess that's about it except to say that it's too bad that Patty doesn't have her concerts professionally recorded. There are a lot of masterpieces being lost to posterity with just a few people being privy to them. If I were in a position to decide , I would create a new album by recording her appearances & collecting the masterpieces as they were created. I believe that the more creative someone is , the harder it is to be creative on cue. If I hadn't heard some of the great music on the Rarities tape , it would have taken me a lot longer to decide that she is , in fact , of First Magnitude brilliance. One more thing , they had a disco that was open after all the bands were done. It was dead the first night I went up , but they dumped the disco idea the 2nd or 3rd night & had musicians come up to jam after the shows. A few musicians from the bands were joined by others who may have been on the trip for exposure or to make connections. Some of whom were very good.I would have loved to see Patty up there.Just kickin' loose on the fly. I hope I helped satisfy all MMers who have a great thirst to see more appreciation of Patty's music. I enjoyed it. The elusive memory banks strike again. I just recalled that I saw Patty warming up on the piano the first night , playing a song that I hadn't heard before. I was anticipating hearing that , or "Peter Pan" , or "Night" but she never did play the piano. Perhaps she was planning on that for the last night , but passed because of the ship rolling. I imagine playing the piano while the ship was rolling would be tricky. When I went to see her , I was only concerned about getting a good seat. I kicked myself for missing part of her warm-up or sound checks. One night , they changed venues at the last minute & Patty fans & Kenny Wayne Shepherd(Great guitar player) fans were running back & forth. She was scheduled to play on Tuesday , Thursday , & Friday , but ended up playing on Monday , Tuesday , & Thursday. It's a good thing that I kept close watch on the schedules. If I remember anything else of note , I'll post it in the future. On to Lebanon , NH. When I'm deep inside of me Don't be too concerned I won't ask for nothin' While I'm gone Billy Joel "Honesty" Don ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 19:33:13 PST From: "Paul Russell" Subject: MM: nothing of importance Well, Thank you thank you Don for all that info. I'm glad someone went to that thing and got some inside scoop on the dig. I wish I could've been there to spew with the best of 'em. Really I do. I suppose I'll get my chance in a couple when I do the ski trip kind of thing with some college buddies. But I totally felt brilliant that MM eyes were on the scene, taking in the Patty Griffin sights. Thank you again. Great! In a roundabout sort of related way, my PBS channel has finally added Sessions to its line up. I hope I didn't miss the allmighty perform yet. Special note to Dave: My fiance' Laetitia is doing fine, but for some reason she keeps telling me not to write to her or else she's gonna call the police. Things will be fine once I fly over to France and talk to her face to face. That might be a good time to spring the news on her about me and her getting married. ;P How's your honey doing? ha ha. I kill me sometimes. peace love and veggie rights paul ****************************** * Your clothes. Give them * * to me. Now! * * --The Terminator * * from T2: Judgement Day * ****************************** ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ End of mad-mission-digest V4 #15 ********************************