I posted a song called Watusi Rodeo by Guadalcanal Diary a while back and I got a great response. I’ve been listening to these guys and it gets better and better. This band had a sophisticated and spiritual bent to the band’s lyrics.
This song is off of the EP Watusi Rodeo released in 1983. The songwriting in this band was a step above many of their peers…clever lyrics with a mixture of jangle and country. When you start listening to this band later on you can see a lot of eclecticism as they could bounce from one style to another.
They did get picked up by a major label after this release. Their LP Jamboree released in 1986 was on Elektra. They unsuccessfully attempted a commercial breakthrough, adopting the style of a country-rock band with some religious sentiment.
Jeff Walls and singer Murray Attaway were friends in high school in Marietta, Ga., just outside of Atlanta. Along with bassist Rhett Crowe and drummer John Poe, they formed Guadalcanal Diary.
In 2011, Guadalcanal Diary briefly reunited to play Athfest, and celebrated their 30th anniversary there. Jeff Walls died, May 29, 2019, of a rare pulmonary disease.
Trail Of Tears
The Sun hangs low in the Western sky
I bow my head and remember now
Someone’s lips pressed close to mine
Her cool hand upon my brow
Hell burns hot for a killer ‘s heart
A shallow grave in an unmarked plot
Crack of gunfire in the dark
Hand in hand we’ll walk at daybreak
One wore black
One wore black
One wore black
The trail of tears is winding on
Many pass along the road
Dusty soldiers march along
As they file one by one
One wore black
One wore black
One wore black
Trail of tears is winding on
Frightened soldier run no more
Arm and arm with lovers gone
No one passes on the road
Two girls wait at the railroad track
For their soldiers to come back
Knowing this will be their last
One wore blue and one wore black
One wore black…
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They have a very distinct sound, nice music.
That’s a good one I don’ t think I’ve heard before…I have 2 of their cds
Which ones do you have Dave? They had one in the late 80s that sound a little more mainstream.
I have ‘2X4’ (which has ‘Litany’, a great almost-hit) and ‘Flip flop’, which I think was their last and has ‘Always Saturday’, statistically the only one of theirs to make any Billboard list.
Always Saturday…I do like that one and the video is unusual in a good way. Again I’m getting good comments on them which is cool.
it is – I like them and they seem like all very good people. Another one of those “Shoulda been” groups of the 80s.
Good sound and good lyrics. I wonder if this is about a particular war?
They supposedly did reference the real trail of tears… The most I found is they wanted to convey a lost of innocence.
I love how they tie their lyrics in with each other.
I guarantee that it’s about The Trail of Tears. Thousands of Native Americans died, being marched out West for “relocation.” There was a LOT of death including the soldiers. The “one wore blue” line is a reference to the US Army’s blue uniform.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that one or more members of the band were of NA ancestry. Marietta & Kennesaw, GA, sit in Cobb County which was Cherokee territory. Kennesaw is Cherokee for “burial ground.”
I agree…it was about that also no doubt…and where they live does make sense.
Thanks for the background info, Vic. It helps.
Welcome! I am a history buff and part NA but, my percentage isn’t high enough to be officially registered.
I like the clarity/clearness of both the voice and the accompaniment.
I do like the reverb on the voice.
Catchy tune and nice sound. I wonder whether part of the band’s challenge to break through is their not exactly easy-to-remember name Guadalcanal Diary – not even 100% sure how to correctly pronounce it! 🙂
I know what you mean Christian…it’s from a movie but geez…a simple name would have helped.
For some reason this song reminds me of Midnight Oil from Australia. I listened to some of some other GD after your last post – you’re right they did a number of different styles.
They sounded mainstream in the late eighties. A lot of energy in their early songs.
They didn’t go to my high school, they went to a rival high school, but I still don’t remember them which surprises me as I always loved it when local bands did well.
They were a good one…in the late eighties they had more of a main stream sound in a song called “Always Saturday”…it was an alt hit.
I need to go listen to that song to see if I remember.
It got into the Billboard 100…the only one that did.
I forgot about this band. I liked some of their stuff back in the day. Very 80s college radio. They landed hard about the same time REM did. as I recall. They just couldn’t build onto their success, consistently, the way REM did, until they–REM–exploded and Guadalcanal Diaries fizzled. Too bad.
For the past few months I’ve been trying to hit more alt 80s bands…at first just on Mondays then I said forget it…I started to do it everyday for a while.
This band had the writing chops to do well…it is a shame they fizzled… I’m a fan now.
This is so easy to like. I wish these guys had gotten played in my region.
I’m surprised I didn’t hear about them more. I have a reader that is from that town in Georgia who never heard about them…they are just a little older than him.
It’s a mystery for sure. I can’t believe they weren’t huge.
There is something about them…usually when I post an unknown band I don’t get a lot of comments but with this band I do. It tells me yes…they did have the goods.
I guess Ill have to bust out this record for a day of listening. Good stuff Max.
Thanks CB…their lyrics and music were top notch.
Another great tune from this band. I will have to give more of their songs a listen.
They change a little but not bad…a little more mainstream but sound good later on…they charted one song called “Always Saturday”
This is vaguely familiar and I like it…very much. I was just reading up on the band members. Jeff Walls was married to Rhett Crowe at one time. She is a yoga teacher, now, apparently.
I’ve become a fan..I really have…good lyric writing is what I like the best
It’s been a long, long time since I heard to Trail of tears for the very first time middle of eighties. GD was included in what they called Nuevo Rock Americano in Spain, with Smithereens, Long Ryders, even first REM… Today I heard the song and looked for explanations because I hadn’t heard of this tragic history about what ‘trail of tears’ was.
Thanks. Now I understand.
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