Concertina Valentine Cd Now Available

[Jody Kruskal]

My new recording is now available:

- Concertina Valentine -

16 Vintage Songs of Love, Lust and Romantic Notions

 

Choice stories of passion from the giddy to the glorious, featuring an eccentric collection of humorous characters... earnest lovers, self-satisfied gloaters, punsters, dreamers, wimps, heroes and cads in this happy selection of saucy songs from times gone by.

 

With:

Jody Kruskal: vocals, Anglo concertina, guitar, mandolin, banjo ukelele, bass, washboard.
Paul Friedman, Sam Zygmuntowicz, Michael Gorin: fiddles.
Bill Peek: guitar, banjo.
Bob Jones: guitar.
Mark Dann: bass.
Julia Friend, Heather Wood, Ken Schatz, Deirdre Murtha and David Jones: vocals

 

Playing:

She’s Got the Money Too

Handsome Molly

I Miss My Swiss,

(My Swiss Miss Misses Me)

When the Frost is on the Pumpkin

Captain Jonathan Smith

Prickly Bush

Once More A Lumbering Go

Get Away Old Man, Get Away

She Told Me So

Harbor Le Cou

The Storms are On the Ocean

She’s Like the Swallow

A Rovin’ Out

Rollin’ Out the Bunkhouse Door

Arnold the Armadillo
Meet me Tonight in Dreamland

 

How to order yours...

Go to my web page to browse this and other recordings:

http://jodykruskal.com/buy_stuff.html

 

Click on the image, and that will take you to the CD baby site where you can hear clips, read details and if you are so inclined, you can make your purchase.

Edited December 6, 2014 by Jody Kruskal

[Jody Kruskal]

Here are the Concertina Valentine detailed liner notes:

 

1. She’s Got the Money Too
Lockwood & Wild published this in 1869 as “He’s Got the Money Too.” Uncle Dave Macon switched the gender and recorded it with a very different feel in 1938. I like to think that my version mixes the best of both.

2. Handsome Molly
...was recorded by Grayson and Whitter in 1927 and many others since then. There is evidence that it was sung in the US at least as far back as 1866.

3. I Miss My Swiss (My Swiss Miss Misses Me)
To fully appreciate this song you need a certain knowledge of Swiss/French culture and stereotypes. This parody of the runaway hit from 1925 by Baer & Gilbert was penned by Christopher Pitt of the Hackney Martians with additional lyrics by myself.

4. When the Frost Is on the Punkin
A farmer’s romantic view of the Autumn season. I remember my delight as a youth when reading poetry out loud, especially this gem by James Whitcomb Riley (1849 - 1916). Riley was from Indiana and was known as the “Hoosier Poet” because his poems were mostly written in the local dialect. It took me 50 years to finally set my childhood favorite to music.

5. Captain Jonathan Smith
Words by Karl Nickerson Llewellyn, a prominent American legal scholar. He grew up in Brooklyn and was on the faculty at Columbia Law School and the University of Chicago. Llewellyn was an amateur poet and published this text in his book, “Put In His Thumb” (1931 ). The tune is a familiar one, “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” or “There Were Three Crows.”

6. Prickly Bush
An ancient ballad from England (Child #95, Roud #144) also known as "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" and "Hangman, Hangman.” Countless versions have been sung all over Europe and the US.

7. Once More A Lumbering Go
A romantic description of the logger’s life in the deep woods of the American Northeast. This song is known to go back at least as far as 1851 though I know it from the singing of Adirondack balladeer, Larry Older.

8. Get Away Old Man, Get Away
Musical comedian Frank Crumit wrote this song of advice to young ladies and recorded it in 1926.

9. She Told Me So
My mother graduated from Smith College, class of 1942. When she was in the mood, she would sing snatches of her old sorority songs, demurely forgetting the spicy bits out of modesty. Here is one of her favorites, spicy bits included.

10. Harbor Le Cou
By Jack Dodd [1902-1978] of Torbay, Newfoundland, based on a traditional song. In describing Mr. Dodd, Anita Best of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive writes: “In his life he plied many trades, of which seafarer, author, historian, fisheries advocate, poet and singer were but a few. In the early 1920s he went to sea. By the time he retired in the 1970s he had been shipwrecked, had sailed three times around the world and had many adventures.”

11. The Storms Are On the Ocean
Centuries old with many variants, this 1927 version by the Carter family is probably the most widely sung today.

12. She’s Like the Swallow
British folksong collector Maud Karpeles worked closely with Cecil Sharp. Before Sharp died he suggested that Newfoundland would be a good place to search for old songs and Karpeles traveled there alone in 1930, when she transcribed this haunting song, still beloved in Canada today. It and also set by composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

13. A Rovin’ Out
Doc Watson learned this from the singing of Dolly Greer. Doc lived in Deep Gap Western North Carolina where folks still remember the old songs.

14. Rollin’ Out the Bunkhouse Door
This came to me out of the blue on a long car ride home with my family. I had been recalling the college songs my mother used to sing. We entertained ourselves for hours by making up suggestive verses and giggling.


15. Arnold the Armadillo
 Poor Arnold is lovestruck by the concertina, as am I. Words: Les Barker, music: Ken Galipeau. Used by permission.

16. Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland
This sentimental waltz by Beth Slater Whitson and Leo Friedman was an instant hit in 1909, when Reine Davies (known as "The New American Beauty") introduced it with great acclaim to the vaudeville stage in New York City. Over two million copies of the sheet music were sold in its first year.